Time is ticking away with worse weather and colder temps arriving daily. I'd like to do this route at least twice more this season before calling it quits for the year. I'm looking at either this Saturday or Sunday for a ride plus one day during next week. Given the cold mornings, I'm probably looking at 10:30 or 11:00 am starts in hockley valley, arriving in Creemore about two hours later for a late lunch and then about two hours or so coming back (the routes there are not the same as the ones coming back so it's worth joining for the whole ride). Creemore has lots to offer in terms of lunch spots and there's plenty of fuel to buy there. Any bike can reach Creemore of its fully fuelled when we begin (fuel is available at airport road and highway 9 which is a ten minute drive from the starting location).
What to expect from the routes:
1- lots of straight and twisty gravel that is used to avoid pavement and connect from one trail section to the next
2- some pavement like about 4 minutes on hockley valley road, about seven minutes on river road and one or two other paved sections plus some pavement going in and out of Creemore so if you're not blue plated, you're responsible for your own risk - technically you need to be blue plated for the gravel and trails as well but we rarely ever run into other people and/or riders and the authorities
3- there will be mud - it's been raining with nearly zero warmth and sun to dry things up. Riding in a group helps make riding through mud more manageable given that we will get stuck here and there
4- trails will have a ton of wet leaf coverage - this hides rocks and other obstacles on the trails. We will not be riding some crazy race-pace, just trying to get some quality riding in before the big-chill
5- there are a few sandy ascents - the wet weather actually makes these easier to manage. If you hate sand, you'll hate it less now
6- there are a few rocky ascents and descents - some of those hills with "potato rocks" and one particular descent with sharp shale rock and lots of slippery crab apples (not terribly challenging, just take your time)
7- there's an optional route section that takes us into a forest for some single track - the route itself through there takes fifteen minutes but there are many more single tracks in there if we decide to spend more time in there. Tight, narrow forest loam / dirt with so,e small but steep ascents and descents and narrow passes between trees. You'll need some clutch feathering skills and good balance but it's not terribly hard and very very fun
8- there are some downed trees across parts of the trails - I have generally jumped over most of these easily but there are two places in particular where the trees are massive and we have found ways around them (Nam actually caught one of those in his video that he posted) - no big deal and we are a group and will help each other for anyone who is challenged
thats it - chime in if you're interested and indicate which day this weekend plus which day during next week you prefer. I can share the route files with anyone in advance of the ride. If you use a Garmin GPS, it will just populate with all the proper waypoints, etc. if you use something else like an apple or android based device but you still want the route, download a GPX viewer app (I have one on my iPad and it's really good) so you'll have it on your device. Don't worry if you're a bit of a newbie, we are not racing and you won't be holding anyone back. Just be sure that whatever you're riding has appropriate tires and that you're appropriately prepared with armours, guards, etc protecting your body.
What to expect from the routes:
1- lots of straight and twisty gravel that is used to avoid pavement and connect from one trail section to the next
2- some pavement like about 4 minutes on hockley valley road, about seven minutes on river road and one or two other paved sections plus some pavement going in and out of Creemore so if you're not blue plated, you're responsible for your own risk - technically you need to be blue plated for the gravel and trails as well but we rarely ever run into other people and/or riders and the authorities
3- there will be mud - it's been raining with nearly zero warmth and sun to dry things up. Riding in a group helps make riding through mud more manageable given that we will get stuck here and there
4- trails will have a ton of wet leaf coverage - this hides rocks and other obstacles on the trails. We will not be riding some crazy race-pace, just trying to get some quality riding in before the big-chill
5- there are a few sandy ascents - the wet weather actually makes these easier to manage. If you hate sand, you'll hate it less now
6- there are a few rocky ascents and descents - some of those hills with "potato rocks" and one particular descent with sharp shale rock and lots of slippery crab apples (not terribly challenging, just take your time)
7- there's an optional route section that takes us into a forest for some single track - the route itself through there takes fifteen minutes but there are many more single tracks in there if we decide to spend more time in there. Tight, narrow forest loam / dirt with so,e small but steep ascents and descents and narrow passes between trees. You'll need some clutch feathering skills and good balance but it's not terribly hard and very very fun
8- there are some downed trees across parts of the trails - I have generally jumped over most of these easily but there are two places in particular where the trees are massive and we have found ways around them (Nam actually caught one of those in his video that he posted) - no big deal and we are a group and will help each other for anyone who is challenged
thats it - chime in if you're interested and indicate which day this weekend plus which day during next week you prefer. I can share the route files with anyone in advance of the ride. If you use a Garmin GPS, it will just populate with all the proper waypoints, etc. if you use something else like an apple or android based device but you still want the route, download a GPX viewer app (I have one on my iPad and it's really good) so you'll have it on your device. Don't worry if you're a bit of a newbie, we are not racing and you won't be holding anyone back. Just be sure that whatever you're riding has appropriate tires and that you're appropriately prepared with armours, guards, etc protecting your body.
