Trail Maintenance

I have felt really lucky for the mild winter we have had, being able to train outside helps keeps me motivated and I look forward to each training ride. But after riding the highways and then fire roads for a couple months it starts to get boring, so two weekends ago I drove out to Hinton. I brought my hiking boots, axe, and bow saw with a plan to hike the big loop at the Hinton Nordic Centre and clean up the trails. I had also brought all of my mtn. bike gear hoping that the trails would be ridable. Unfortunately the trails were not ready, with areas of deep snow and a lot of ice it looks to a few weeks away. So I got my hiking stuff together and set off at a hight pace to clean the trail. I spent a little under 3 hrs hiking and sawing my way around the course, I believe I removed 20+ fallen trees and only leaving one behind ( to large for saw...). It was a beautiful day and I am excited to hit the trail once it clears up. I guess it's back to the highways, fire roads and trainer for a bit longer.

Winter Training in Edson...

As the 2009 bike season was coming to an end, I was looking forward to the 2010 season and trying to mentally prepare myself for a long winter on my trainer. I had a few good cycling DVD's, spinnervals and some workouts written up. But to my surprise and excitement it has been far milder this winter then what I was expecting, I have been able to ride my bike outside all winter long with only a 3 week period in December that was either to cold or I was away on holidays. I have still spent a decent amount of time on the trainer, but it is sure nice to mix things up and go outside. In January and early February I was working on my bike handling skills riding on hardened snowmobile tracks, these rides weren't long but they kept things fun. Since we returned from our Ski Tour across the Wapta Icefields in the middle of February I have been on my bike outside 3-4 times a week and riding well over 2 hrs. Now I'm waiting for the trails in Hinton and Jasper to clear up a bit more, hopefully I can get a few solid weeks in April before race season begins.