nostromo

Funny how things can change in just a short time. About a month ago I new next to nothing about MTB, now I'm totally into it and have found a new passion. I love being outdoors and challenging myself, and MTB sure does both in spades.

After hitting a ravine last weekend and getting a taste I learned (from this forum) about a conservation park called Albion Hills. A friend and I went up Thursday this week, paid our entry ($5) and parked. Almost no one around, but some guys were setting up tents and signs for a 24 hr MTB race.

Silly us, we start following the white signs with black arrows, noticing the trail going from very easy to interesting, to downright hairy and hairer still. We just kept going, doing probably 10K total, and really learning our limits and how cheap our bikes really are. I met a guy with a Specialized S-Works bike (over $7000 Cdn!) who races and loves this park. I saw other guys decked out in riding gear with expensive looking MTBs on the same trail.

So what's next? I'll do the Hills again, as many times as I can to get better at it (yes, still with my cheap bike). But I was at Blue Mountain this weekend and they have a class and rentals of Norco Six bikes (and body gear) for $80 for 2 hrs, you can ride the top of the moutain trails and finish by going downhill.

Has anyone here done this and how did you find it?

cream.soda

hmm i'm thinking of going to albion hills soon... where do you take up residence?

nostromo

I met my friend near Mississauga (near Etobicoke) and we drove up 427 to 410, then King St. to 50. We stayed for about 4 hours and drove back going south on 50 into 427 which is a more direct route and quicker.

rasheed

i rode blue mountain for the first time last year and had a blast; posted up a write up of my experience here. unfortunately i haven't been back there since. timing hasn't been all that great, and i haven't really been able to ride as much this summer (in general) as i've hoped. they've also added a bunch of new features and a couple of new trails i think this year.

if you want, check out the dropmachine.com forum. it's a forum frequented by many southern ontario riders. they've got a sub-forum for blue mountain and dh racing in ontario.

nostromo

Thanks, I'll check out your links. I'd like to try blue mountain within the next month. They had a 2005 Norco Six for sale from their rental fleet, price listed at $650, but when I asked inside they said $950. It was in rough shape though.

jm01

you can also rent Kona DH bikes at Kamikaze in Collingwood

https://www.kamikazebikes.com/

there are some great XC trails in the area as well...Kolapore, 3-Stage, and some on the east side of the bay as well