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Old 12-08-08, 06:31 PM
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Andy_K 
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I feel like I should offer a word of caution about the "pretty much flat" nature of the Banks-Vernonia trail. It's more "nearly flat" than "mostly flat" -- the distinction being that very little of it is actually flat, it's mostly at a continuous slight grade. For most cyclists this is virtually negligible. However, I have taken my 11-year old daughter and my wife, neither of whom ride much at all, out there on separate occasions, and they both reported to me that it was too hard for them within a mile north of Buxton. I tried to encourage them to downshift and push on, both with no success, which is just as well since they'd have been "pushing on" indefinitely without the trail really flattening out.

If your son is physically active, this might not be a problem. I'm still befuddled by my family's problems, so I guess I really can't gauge how hard this is for "most people". There is, however, a spot at the Tophill trailhead where the trail has a very steep grade for a few hundred feet, down then back up. Of course, you can walk that if need be.

By the way, I went out to the BV trail this past Saturday morning and it was amazing. It was like having my own private 20-mile trail. In two and a half hours I saw one trio of walkers, one bicyclist and a park worker driving the leaf-blowing golf cart. A few equestrians were saddling up just as I finished at around 10:30.
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