FVMBA Trail News - March 31, 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009 21:34
Vedder Mountain trails continue to be hammered by snow, snow and more snow. The ground in some area seems simply super-saturated. When Kurt and I were out riding near the entry to Twister on the North side of the mountain, there were large areas of slide that seemed to simply emerge from the forest with no signs of any activity or ground disruption anywhere near the slump.....weird. Speaking of the north side trails....most are only familiar in passing with these trails, having heard tell of them. Kurt and I went for a super fun ride two days ago on these unbelievably good trails.Twister is as fun a trail as you are going to find anywhere; steep, technical, old-school loaminess and non-stop fun. The Linkage trail will challenge and is a lot like Ditch Chicken on the south side but much, much longer with far more technical sections. These trails are a hidden gem and all are in superb shape with virtually no mud or standing water evident anywhere. If you are up for a challenge, go check them out (they will be sporting the new VMTA trail signs soon).
The trails on the south side (you know the ones, Dilemma, Hidden Pleasures, et al) continue to be hit hard by all of the crappy weather we have been enduring. While Dilemma continues to be good regardless of the amount of precipitation, the trails higher up don’t fare as well and the ground just never gets a chance to really dry up.....wet trails get thrashed by a far smaller amount of traffic than required to inflict the same wear and tear on dry trails. The road has been a soupy mess for quite a while now and is probably the only saving grace for the trails (crappy road means less shuttle traffic up and less bike traffic down.
For those wanting to earn tons of good Karma, mark Sunday April 26 on your calendar for the “Annual Vedder Mountain Trail Cleanup and Maintenance Day”. This event has been going off for many years now and is an essential part of our efforts to keep our riding area healthy. Each year we remove 5-7 tonnes of garbage and recyclables that are illegally dumped on the Vedder Mountain roadways, parking areas, trail heads and trails. The second half of the day will be dedicated to trail buffing and maintenance. Without this effort our playground would be a junkyard and no fun to ride. Every year there is a ton of free food and Swag provided and if you were there last year, you know that everyone got something good to go home with. In addition, anyone attending this year will be able to get your brand new VMTA Member stickers for $10 instead of the normal $20 price. Contact myself by email (via the Contacts page) or by phone ( 604-793-5265 ) or Rob at Jack Cycle ( 604-858-3011 ) to sign up.
Mark Steinebach, VMTA