Gravel grinder # 3, Tuesday, November 11.

[Paul C.]

Not the GG #2 Malahat route in the rain!!

Some enthusiasts have suggested we do an "easy " GG on November 11.
That newbies can join us on or do part of it.

Tentative plan:

Leave Alpha st. Drive thru Starbucks at 7:30....you won't need lights.
On the goose out to the back trails of Thetis Lake, then on trails to Hartland Dump.

Explore the easy Mtn. Bike trails with directions from someone, other than me. Perhaps Neil"Foz"
A few more trails and back via an undetermined route to the Goose and on to Coffee and home by lunchtime.

What do you think? Who is in?
Do it on a Mountain bike or old road bike with narrow knobby tires.

Its a Gravel Grinder Adventure. The newest cycling and CX craze sweeping the nation.

[katew]

Be mindful of the Thetis Lake Relay - there will be runners on the inner trails circling Upper and Lower Thetis starting at about 1:00, with setup happening before then.

I know, I know, you'll be all home and drinking hot chocolate by then, but just in case you have an Unexpectedly Long Adventure (because nobody ever, ever, ever gets lost in Hartland, no no no), consider coming back by way of PISE instead of Thetis.

[Fozzy]

Sounds like a plan to me.
I probably have very limited knowledge of the trails at Hartland compared to others in the club and definitely no knowledge of how to get to Hartland and the surrounding trails via Thetis Lake.
Any other interested parties know the trails better??

[mshepard]

OK I am in. I nice route is to go Goose to Interurban and pick up the Panama Flats trails cross over Viaduct to Prospect Lake then connect to the power lines which will drop you onto Munns then turn up Woodridge which will lead to the back end of the dump. Not sure how those CX bikes are going to work with all this rain but I guess you guys are good at running with your bikes on your shoulders. A couple of options Epic: We could go do a ridge ride Fun Trail/Southridge/Dave's Line/Lost Trail/Old Payoff/Who's Your Daddy/Night Shift out to Hartland and then home or we could stay to the Blue Runs which would be more CX friendly Crossover/Two Trees/Shock Treatment/Little Face and catch Night Shift and out to Hartland Rd. Back via Interurban and coffee

http://www.trailforks.com/region/hartla ... &m=roadmap

[katew]

Not sure how those CX bikes are going to work with all this rain...

...Fun Trail/Southridge/Dave's Line/Lost Trail/Old Payoff/Who's Your Daddy/Night Shift...

^

This man is insane.

[John D]

Anybody got a mountain bike they'd be willing to loan me for a day to join this craziness?

J.

[stevierooks]

Ya, count me in! mshepard seems to have a good route plan to the dump. Once we get to the dump though, I will be lost. Let's just do the CX friendly, easiest path. Im not gonna feel like carrying my bike around too much but I want to do a good tour of the area. Thanks for offering to guide the way mshep (r u one of the Marks?)

Here's hoping for warm rain

Rooks

[Fozzy]

Both routes sound good to me, and from memory I would say doable on a cx, albeit slower where things get technical and rocky.

[wonger]

Couple weeks ago we took the Panama Flats route, rode up Executive trail, across the park on the fire road all the way around Pooh Corner, then up to the top of Trillium, down Trillium and out the fire road to Willis Point road, across from Durance Lake. It was a really good option on cx bikes and I definitely would not recommend anything more technical than that. Cx bikes simply don't have the gearing required to ride MTB trails. With the skinny tires every little root and rock is your enemy so take on technical terrain with your eyes wide open! Have fun.

[DavidB]

I would be extremely leery of the route through hartland that is being proposed. Probably sticking to fire-roads and possibly green/blue trails, especially on CX bikes in the pouring rain.

[mshepard]

(r u one of the Marks?

Rooks

Yup I am one of the Marks and rode on GG #1 on the hardtail MTB out to Leechtown. It sounds like Geoff has a point so we can take the lower less technical trails and if folks are feeling good we can head down Trillium to Willis. MTBing is kinda like cooking - a little bit of this a little bit of that and you can decide how much spice you want.

[Paul C.]

Thanks all for your comments , suggestions and cautionary notes. Sounds like between Mark Shepherd, Rooks and my paper map of Victoria, we will be OK.
Lets meet about 7am @ Starbucks Alpha on November 11 for a "route consensus meeting"....
and a 7:30 departure.

Encourage others to join us for part of it ,and also with mountain bikes or CX.
Good warmup and practice event is this Sunday, Nov. 9 at CX @ Shawnigan lake.

cheers, pc

[stevierooks]

I'm out I broke my cyclo-cross and cant fix it tonight.

My road bike is good so I may go on the Holiday route

Rooks

[Fozzy]

Sounds like a lot of folk are doing either the normal Tuesday, the Sunday road rides, or both. Who's still on for this ride? I am still up for this.

[mfarnham]

I'm planning on starting with normal Tuesday sprints and then heading over to join you for some gravel.

Martin

[Fozzy]

Great ride today, but should be renamed to "There and Back Again, a Cyclocross Tale".
Once upon a time in the Inn of the Shire (Starbucks), were three cyclocross riders and a lone mountain biker. They were discussing the great adventure they were about to embark on.
After some caffeinated substances, they mounted their steeds and set of to Mount Work by use of some strange paper thingy called a map.
The mountain bike rider had the best knowledge of their route and didn't require the use of the paper thingy, so the others followed on.
Unfortunately by the time they reached the Bridge of Switch, the lone mountain bike rider had to turn back. That left the three cyclocross riders to carry on with the epic adventure without him.
The three had a sort of vague idea of the route, and happily pedalled along.
The pedalling went on and on until paved surfaces were no more.
On the trails of Thetis, the riders climbed and climbed until the trail split. The paper thingy was consulted but their exact location was not posted. They made a decision to carry on towards Mount Stewart and on towards the edge of Mount Work.
Once at the trailhead of Mount Work, they met some hikers and asked which woul be the best route to get to the hallowed trails of "The Dump". The hikers seemed to know the best way, so the three took their advice and followed their recommended path.
The path seemed very rideable at first, then started to get very technical with large rocks and routes to negotiate. The gradient started to get very steep, but being cyclocross riders, they carried their steeds up the trails.
Undeterred, the three carried on climbing up to the summit of Mount Work where they would consult the paper thingy. Yet again, their exact location was somewhere in a big green area. One of the three thought it would be a good idea to use the compass app on his phone. This provided them with a bit of direction within the green area on the paper thingy.
A further 3 hours passed with little success of finding the hallowed trails of the Dump. The compass and paper thingy were consulted on many occasions, until they found some ribbons on some trees.
One of the three kind of knew where they were. They needed to follow the trail to the East.
The three managed to mount their steeds and ride along the Trail of Fun, which linked with Southridge, Say Aah, and into Connector before linking to 2nd Avenue.
At the peak of 2nd Avenue, the three spotted civilization (the car park). Thankfully paved highways awaited their return.
Thanks to Paul and Martin for a good day. We found some new trails that we probably wouldn't be able to find again, but it was fun nonetheless.

[Paul C.]

In other Words...
It was another EPIC GG.
Good CX practice,as we carried and pushed our bikes for about 3 hours. I believe our average speed for the 7 hours was about km an hour. And of course we hammered the final 8km on Burnside.

We can call this a recon. ride for future GG.

Thanks again Neil and Martin .

Watch for information on an EASY Gravel Grinder # 4 , probably 2nd Sunday in December.

CX and winter riding TIP: Go Outside and Get Dirty.

cheers pc