New to the site - CX Route Question

[tenmile]

Hi all,

Recently stumbled across the Tripleshot forum. I've seen y'all out riding the roads from time to time and hope to join some of you.

I'm starting to explore some of the bike routes in our region and having a great time. I have a couple different bikes (CX, Road and MTB) and try to get out on all of them. The whole CX/Gravel bike riding I'm finding pretty fun as I like getting away from traffic.

I work at the Tech Park by Camosun and have been riding some of the trails out that way. I've seen a recent post on a route that takes the Glendale trail up to the Interurban trail - Wilkinson, Willis Point over to Durance Lake - riding the trails around Partridge over to Ross Durrance road and eventually over to Corry Road, hitting some trails at Mt.Work and eventually Thetis Lake.

I plotted a loop I could ride from the Tech Park here: www.plotaroute.com/route/728447 - there are a few trails here between Corry Road to Munn Road, and then from Munn to the Scafe Hill trails I am unfamiliar with and was hoping for some feedback on making a loop. Is this loop rideable on a CX bike? I understand that there is a new trail now (that all you wonderful riders recently built) that links Francis King to Camosun. Its not on the map of course, but can anyone point me to it?

[JTyre]

Welcome to the TSCX subforum, tenmile. You may wish you never stumbled across us.

Regarding your route question: Corry to Munn, then Munn to Scaife on Bellamy is excellent fun on a CX bike. However, Scaife Hill Loop Trail (North) is hike-a-bike, and the exit under the power lines is private property and strictly verboten. Better to follow Bellamy to Scaife Hill Loop Trail (South) through to Westoby, Barker and Panhandle. From Panhandle you can cross Munns onto a trail to Prospect. Crossing Prospect gets you on the Hector Connector and eventually back to Camosun. There are other fun routes out of Thetis but this one's kinda a classic.

Hope to see you out with us some day,
John (aka: Johnny Tyre, SteelBuns, Posterboy, acrnrjf, Bruce Willis)

[Rolf]

Hi tenmile, welcome! If you have any questions about our ride meet-ups and joining us out on the trails, let us know. We're very much open to all comers.

I posted that route you mentioned. Here's what we ended up doing that day. The trail north of Willis Pt. Rd. is called Testament. Riding it east to west is pretty tricky and technical; some folks on that ride hadn't spent sufficient time MTB'ing to really enjoy it. By the time we hit Durrance Lake, we left by the lakeside road, rather than climbing up to Satellite Road.

A few other points:

• What John said on Ross-Durrance to Bellamy: it's all shits 'n' giggles, as they say.
• But he's right, the north part of the Scafe Hill Loop Trail is fairly miserable (very steep ramps up extremely dodgy surface) with little payoff. Better to keep enjoying the gorgeous flow down Bellamy to the south Loop Trail.
• To get back to VITP, you're pretty much stuck with Westoby/Barker. The route you've marked to the north below the power lines is private property owned by a friend to Tripleshot Cycling who has been opening his land up for a once-a-year event (the stupendous Tripleshot CrossFondo) on the condition that trespassing the rest of the year is strongly discouraged. So please don't hop any fences or ignore any signs in that area.
• The new trail our Club built this summer along with the South Vancouver Island Nature Trails Society, is called the Hector Connector. Here's a Strava segment that covers most of it. It's also on private land, so please stay on the trail. It's challenging to stay on the pedals but fun, and offers a beautiful viewpoint.

I hope we meet you someday and you let us know your real name. Please let us know here, or in a private message through the forum, if you'd like any more details on riding with us. Or just keep an eye on this subforum for a meet-up time and location. Happy trails!

[tenmile]

Excellent, thanks for the feedback. Have to pick up my daughter at PISE this afternoon, so I am going to head out and ride part of the trail today and try to find the Hector Connector, Panhandle, Scaife, Bellamy etc. as I've never ridden these. Should be fun.

Replotted my loop route based on the feedback. https://www.plotaroute.com/map/728447

My real name is Terry. This is me on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/7065882. I'll watch the board for meetups. I'm not a particularly fast rider so if you have any 50-sh Dad-bod type groups that go out, I'm your poster boy.

[Rolf]

50-sh Dad-bod type

Dearie me, Terry. That describes about 70% of us to a tee!

If approaching the Hector Connector from the Hector side, look for the white gate at 305 Hector, go down the driveway and look for the trail off to the right as the driveway starts to climb.

[schouten]

I've just started riding with my gravel bike and dad-bod and can attest that the group is very welcoming and fun. Pace is good and nobody seems to mind letting stragglers (me) catch up.

[tenmile]

Thanks for the directions to the Hector Connector -- would never have found it otherwise. Nice job on the trail build. A bit tough riding from Hector up with the tight switchbacks so it was mostly a hike for me. Odd icy sections on the way over to Panhandle under the power lines -- froze the dirt like a thin skin and the bike would go crashing through -- almost sent me over the bars a few times.

Rode Panhandle to Highlands road - made a wrong turn on the roadway (despite using my GPS), but eventually figured it out when I could hear the TransCanada. Backtracked and then eventually found Bellamy. Great riding out that way - thanks for the tips. Looks like there are some great trails in that whole area.

[Rolf]

Nice, Terry.

Our exchange yesterday inspired a fun TSCX route this morning that took in the Connector (getting more and more rideable every time I see it!), a new branch off Panhandle, a loop up Munn's and back down Kallie's Korner/Stewart Mountain Rd., Electric Ave/Light, Bellamy and out via Francis King. There are endless combinations of tasty trails out there. The icy mud was very weird and tricky in places.