Singletrack School

I have been on the commuter bike more than the mountain bike this year.  That is to say, my 15 - 30 minutes of daily commuting adds up to much more than my trail riding, by far.  Not that this is a bad thing.  I like commuting, but there is something wrong when I live 15 miles from what I consider the best network of 3D singletrack in the province, yet I hadn't been there more than a small handful of times in a couple of years.

So when school ended I made a point of getting to Tinker Creek for Tuesday Night Ride.  Well in one sense, it was a Tuesday night ride (lower case), since only three riders showed up, but to me the ride was all caps.  

Gord and Alf also happen to be two of the trail builders from the area, and they were eager to show me the newer lines that had been cut and groomed since my last visit to the trail system.  And to make it into a quick learning experience, Gord assumed the role of singletrack coach.  

I've seen this done before, and it's quite an amazing skill.  He led out, keeping pace with me behind him, calling out all the trail features as we were about to meet them.  For example, while I huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, he was riding and calling "hard left... right then left, short grunt uphill... v-ditch... flow, gradual right, keep up your speed..." and on like this through the new section.  Singletrack school!

All the while, Alf was following on his singlespeed, balancing and waiting for me to clear the climbs so he could attack them.  

So which bike provides the most fun? 

Alf - 26" full rigid, single, steel

Gord - 26" full suspension, 3x9, aluminum

Me - 29" hardtail, 2x10, carbon

There could hardly be a better collection of different styles of bikes for trail riding.  And we all had the most fun.