Showing posts with label Mountain bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mountain bike. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Ontario Trails News - find your favorite of-riad trail, and check out fat-biking at Hardwood Hills

Find all your favorite fat-bike riding trails in Ontario!



OUTDOORS TIME: Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are no longer your only options. You can also take a bike on the snowy trails. Hardwood Bike and Ski north of Barrie offers Fat Biking (mountain bike with big fat tires) from Monday to Friday. The colder the conditions, the easier it is to pedal and the faster you will go. Have a look:


For the even more adventurous, head to Ancaster, Elora or Muskoka for some ice climbing.
And if sitting is more your outdoors style, there are ice fishing huts for rent on Lake Simcoe. (For the fair-weather fishermen in your family, the Spring Fishing and Boating Show is on this weekend and has lots for the indoor anglers).

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Ontario Trails News - news from around Ontario's 2500 trails, including trail activity, like cycling

Check out our funding targets - we can't do trails without you!

As reported by the Daily Commercial News

Article

Wheels get rolling on new Sunnyside Bike Park

by PETER KENTER 
September 20th marked the official opening of Sunnyside Bike Park, Toronto’s first official off-road bike park, located near the shore of Lake Ontario, west of High Park. It was also the 50th park either built or designed by Jay Hoots, considered the most experienced bike park designer in North America, with projects located as far afield as the U.S., Israel, Australia and New Zealand
Wheels get rolling on new Sunnyside Bike Park
Photo: CITY OF TORONTO
Hoots Inc. is based in Vancouver, not far from where Hoots first developed a reputation as an extreme mountain bike rider in the pro circuit.
"When we were little kids in North Vancouver, my brother and I used to build dirt ramps in greenspace using stuff we stole from construction sites," says Hoots. "We had difficulty understanding why the city would knock them down. We saw skate parks built for millions of dollars, but nothing legal for bikes."
Hoots graduated to the mountain biking circuit and developed a line of high-impact sports equipment. He sold the business in 2002 to found DIRT Club for Youth, a non-profit group lobbying for the creation of authorized dirt jump parks. The organization's first success was at Myrtle Park in North Vancouver on the site of an abandoned BMX biking oval.
"From a park perspective, there's no difference between us and dog walkers or mushroom pickers," says Hoots. "We're all competing for the same space. Originally we would put parks wherever we could find space. But, eventually we saw a paradigm shift over five or six years. Cities, towns and landowners started seeing the value of dirt bike parks or bike skills parks, where they would incorporate plans for maintenance and long-term viability of the parks."
The minimum size for a bike park is 1.5 acres, although Hoots has worked on parks as large as 140 acres. While the company will partner with local contractors, it employs six full-time workers and counts on 26 project specialists, who can be called in to develop specialty features. These include world-class dirt bike racers who will ride a feature before signing off on it. The company maintains an equipment fleet that includes a pair of John Deere compact excavators, a Bobcat and a Ditch Witch skid steer.
"We had to develop our own criteria and standards for what makes a good bike park," says Hoots. "That was necessary because most contractors don't understand this extremely complex and specialized field. For example, carpentry contractors were making everything plumb based on CSA park standards, which doesn't work at all for a bike park and the parks suffered for it. The tires of bikes also react differently to an asphalt surface than car tires. If we apply asphalt, we apply it in rough grade, often mixing it with the road base and blended with clay to get the consistency we want. Unless you understand the rider nuances and experiential side of the park, you'll lose the flow during the construction process."
Hoots recommends that any contractor interested in bidding on a bike park project should, at the very least, read two guidebooks produced by the International Mountain Bicycling Association: Trail Solutions and Managing Mountain Biking, to which he contributed.
Hoots begins each project by bringing in big iron to grade, profile and shape the park. A typical project involves the use of 200 truckloads of additional clean fill. Feature installation comes next, followed by shaping with smaller machines and shovels. The final touch is hand finishing.
Sunnyside, a 10,000-square-metre park, was built in collaboration with Ferdom Construction of Woodbridge and Toronto landscape designers Victor Ford and Associates.
"It was an incredible partnership with both contractors and the City of Toronto," says Hoots. "The folks from Ferdom were among the first we encountered to admit they didn't know anything about building a bike park and were willing to work with us in the way we instructed."
The park offers typical Hoots features: log tracks, elevated ladder bridges, dirt berms and rollers, dirt jumps and rock trails.
He knows each feature intimately. "Like every one of our parks, we hand-finished all of Sunnyside," Hoots says with satisfaction. "Every square inch."

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Ontario Trails News - News from all around Ontario's Trails

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Fat Bike Photos – AKA: The Frozen Tundra Mountain Biking ...
jpd - Well, as it turns out, a fat bike is a type of mountain bike that has frickin' huge ... winter mountain biking extreme sports fat bike photos jp danko toronto ...
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A multi-sport sensation
Orillia Packet & Times - She also cycled to top spot at the Tremblant Cup, the Sudbury Canada Cup, theOntario Mountain Bike Provincial Championship and was first at all ...
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blogTO
Some new ideas for Toronto
Toronto Star - Here's a different approach: make Toronto smaller, or at least no bigger. .... Robert Zaichkowski, Cycle Toronto Ward 14 Advocacy Group, Toronto.
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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Ontario Trails News- lot's of trails, races, running, mountain biking all on Ontario Trails!






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Featured Hike: Buddies are going back to camp!
September 20th to 22nd, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, camp fires, games, descending down cliffs for those that are brave, sauna and wine for those that are not…lol This camp has such a magical effect on those that come to experience it! If it’s not the most fun you has all year, it will be right at the top! Link to camp

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Laurentian 8 mountain bike relay coming to North Bay

Wednesday, August 14, 2013   by: Mark PareThe Laurentian 8 is set to test mountain bike riders young and old, and of all skill levels.

Laurentian Ski Hill and Pro Sports Management have teamed up to bring the first eight-hour mountain bike relay to Northern Ontario on October 5, set in the North Bay Nordic Ski Club trails.The funds raised from the event will go to the ski hill. Co-convenor of the event Tim Simpson says all ski hills have to be four-seasons nowadays to be viable financially.

“Laurentian has traditionally been a one-season resort so this is all part of turning it around. This is going to be the first of more than just one event,” he said.

“This will help what we hope to eventually expand maybe into the BMX, into the road race, into the trick biking and that’s where it really comes from, the idea of it. The mountain bike because of our beautiful trails, the fall colours, it just seems like a natural fit for our area.”

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Ontario Trails News - Mountain Bike Championships and Run for the Toad announcements - taking place on Ontario Trails

Hardwood Hills prepares for games

Orillia Today
The countdown is on and staff at Hardwood Ski and Bike is well aware nothing short of perfection will be acceptable.
On July 10-26, 2015, elite mountain-bike riders from around the world will descend on the Oro-Medonte facility, looking to win gold at the Pan Am Games.
“I think it's really exciting for our area and it will give us a chance to showcase some of the great facilities," said Hardwood facility general manager Jack Sasseville.
A total of 14 municipalities will host events, with many building new facilities as part of Toronto’s $2.4 billion bid.
The fact Hardwood was chosen to host mountain biking events was not a big surprise to Sasseville.
"We feel we have some of the best facilities in Ontario, if not Canada, and being chosen to host this event in mountain biking reinforces what we have believed all along.
“There are few other facilities who have the kinds of challenging trails that we do," he said.
Since receiving the news, Hardwood has been holding regular on-site meetings with Pan Am Games staff.
Earlier this month, staff at Hardwood faced a major pre-Pan Am Games test, when it hosted the Canadian championships. Various members of Canada’s Olympic team, including Emily Batty, Catharine Pendrel, Geoff Kabush and Max Plaxton, were on hand to compete at Hardwood and get a feel for the new trails.
Hardwood will also host the 2014 nationals next July.
John Sustersic, Hardwood spokesperson, said the national finals offered a preview of what to expect in 2015. About 2,000 spectators and racers flooded the course at nationals.
Hardwood also hosted a recent spartan race, an obstacle course event that attracted close to 10,000 individuals.
“By comparison, if we look at the number of participants at the Pan Am Games, it will probably be under 100,” he said.
But the Canadian finals created the foundation for the on-going work, in preparation for the Pan Am Games.
“This year, Hardwood has invested heavily in trail building and, through an Ontario Trillium grant the Ontario Cycling Association received, they were able to hire a crew to work on the course at Hardwood for the national finals,” said Sustersic.
“We’ve added a couple of rock jumps. We’ve added an MBX course. On that course, we have redone one of the turns. We’ve added a walled berm,” he said.
Sustersic noted a lot of the features built into the course were added as a result of feedback from riders.

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Run For The Toad To Host ACU Canadian 50km Trail Championships At Pinehurst Lake

Preview of Event , Athletes This Weekend
Published 07/23/2013 | By Kw Now! Local Sports News
ACU, Run For The Toad, 50km marathon, Kw Now Media
ACU 50 K Event To Attract Big Names In Sport
Run for the Toad To Host ACU Canadian 50km Trail Championships

The Run for the Toad has been selected by the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners (ACU) to host the 2013 Canadian 50km Trail Championships.

The Toad is entering its 12th year and is Canada's largest trail running event garnering 1250 athletes in the 25km run, 25km walk and 50km run and 50km relay distances offered at Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area 4km north of Paris, Ontario.

Many of the top runners in the sport have taken part in the Run for the Toad over the past decade including Canadian Olympian Reid Coolsaet and World 100km Champion Ellie Greenwood. The event draws competitors from all over Southern Ontario, across Canada, from all over the US and even a delegation from Great Britain is committed to taking part in this years event.

This year offers a $7000 prize purse in the 50km event which is attracting some of the top names in the sport to attend. Cleve Thorson, the 2012 winner and course record holder, will be back to defend his title. Roburt Tranter from London, Ontario who just represented Canada at the Wold Trail Championships in Wales will be competing to challenge Cleve for the win. On the women's side Stacey Cleveland and Stacie Carrigan, both from the Okanogan Region in BC, will be competing at the 2013 event. Both represented Canada as well earlier this month in Wales leading the Canadian women to a 4th place finish in the team event. Stacey Cleveland finished 7th overall in the field and Stacie Carrigan close behind in 13th.

In addition to the athletes listed above, a total of 11 individuals who have represented Canada at a World Championship are on the entry list to compete this October 5th.

To highlight some of these athletes the Run for the Toad and the ACU will be hosting a press conference to kick off the Toad Training Run Saturday July 27th at 8:30am. The training run itself garners more participants than most trail races in Canada with numbers ranging between 350-400 turning up to get a preview of the trails they will be racing on in October.

In attendance for this training run will be the Race Directors George & Peggy Sarson, Armand LeBlanc as the representative for the ACU, Nadeem Khan, the Media & Communication Representative for the International Association of Ultra Runners, defending champion Cleve Thorson, Pinehurst Lake Park Superintendent Brad Straus, Grand River Conservation Foundation Executive Director Sara Wilbur.

Please join us Saturday July 27th at Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area at 830am to take part in this exciting panel of athletes and officials to kick off Canada's Largest Trail Race at the 2013 Run for the Toad. Just a reminder registration for the Toad Training Run closes at 6 pm on July 24, 2013.

Related Links:
Run For The Toad Website
Learn more about Run For The Toad competition
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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Ontario Trails News - City of Toronto joins OTC, Georgian Bay Coastal Trail, Hub Trail and more Ontario trail news!

  • Ontario Trails Council 
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    Ontario Trails Council

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    Ontario Trails Council

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    Ontario Trails Council

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    Ontario Trails Council

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