chad and deanne lazaruk

ep·ic adj \ˈe-pik\ : extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope.

One word to describe the 2011 Trail Care Crew season; epic. Thirty two official visits, 9 provinces, 290 days on the road and over 50,000 kms travelled. We drove through snowstorms, a hurricane, a tropical storm and endured a heatwave. We started the season digging into frozen ground, we finished the season in a wind storm.

Campbell River is definitely a great place to check out if you are planning your next riding vacation. A short drive north of the Comox Valley (which also has fantastic riding) and near Mount Washington (for the gravity lovers), the Snowden Recreation Area has about 100 kilometers of singletrack.

We are no strangers to the mountain bike trails located in Golden, BC. Ever since we started travelling west for mountain bike holidays we've made a point of stopping in Golden. What first brought our attention to this destination was the Mount 7 Psychosis downhill race that was run yearly from 1998-2008. Top racers from around the world would come out to race on this 1200 meter descent that would take the pros 12-20 minutes to complete.

Many communities adopt and use old legacy trails or forestry and mining roads to extend their trail networks. Some of these old road beds are not always suitable for trails since when they were initially built water management and recreational use was not part of the design. There are, however, ways to manipulate old road beds into beautiful singletrack. Road to trail conversions are becoming more popular, especially in parks and other ecologically sensitive areas.