Newsletter Issue No. 4 - January 2002
...and do we have issues!
www.mtbkanata.com
Newsletter Issue No. 4 - January 2002
...and do we have
issues!
www.mtbkanata.com
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In this edition: News From The Editors Back from Cuba... and well, it's cold here... Oh well, after my second winter ride of the year, I have concluded that snow is just as fun as dirt! Now, if we can just stop all the trail exclusivity issues... but that's another story! Was at Full Cycle this month, and checked out the 2002 Gary Fisher Sugar 2+ and 3+... now, if anyone wants to donate a few thousand $$$, I'll make sure to do a test ride... sweet bikes,... only one question, What's Gary thinking with those reverse brake-arch forks?? Our local wrench will try to answer all reasonable questions related to maintenance tips and will provide one article each issue on how to perform some type of maintenance. Send your suggestions for articles to wrench@mtbkanata.com Since our last newsletter we had no questions... This issue's "Sneaky Tip" Thinking of biking in the winter (or when the temperature is below freezing)? Here's a list of common problems and how to avoid them or at least reduce their frequency/impact. Frozen
deraileur: Frozen
brakes: Frozen
cleats: "Frozen"
suspension: The
solutions:
Important
to remember:
Coming soon: This issue we feature the Mountain Biking website http://www.mountainbike.nl. We first found out about these folks when I was looking at our site statistics and found that one of our top referring pages (ok, we're still new enough that 4 hits in about 3 days counts as one of our top ten referrals) was unknown to us. Doing some preliminary investigation (clicking once) I found that our video gallery was linked from their discussion group under: Mountainbike.nl Forum Index » » Passie » » Filmpjes. After some e-mail back and forth, we learned that Passie is Dutch for Passion (as in passion for the Ride) and Filmpjes is movies (Joe and I had guessed that one already). So In their own words (stolen shamelessly from their site):
Oh yeah... did I forget to mention the site was Dutch? Folks all over the world are into mountain biking. Check out their (far more successful)
version of a December ride at:
Take one look at the palms and the first thing you'll notice is that these are bike gloves! Ok, so that might not initially sound like it should be a big surprise... and it shouldn't be, but just go try to find a pair of winter bike gloves with palms that meet your expectations of an actual bike glove! I've got fat hands so the medium size fits a bit tight but the finger length is good. The Ride: I had these out for the first time on our "Decembrrr Night Ride" (December 30th, 2001) with the temperature running a relatively warm -5ºC (23ºF) and they were the best cold weather gloves I've ever used. I'll admit that previously I've only ever used summer DH bike gloves or tried all out ski gloves, wool gloves and a bunch of other typical "top-shelf-of-the-front-hall-closet" gloves. My earliest concerns were that they would get sweaty inside and then make my hands feel miserable. I've had this problem consistently with other "breathable/waterproof" gloves in much colder temperatures than this first test. Turns out that the gloves didn't feel even the slightest bit damp inside for the duration of the ride. To make sure I hadn't just got used to the feel of the gloves I put them on about an hour after the ride to be sure (ever put a full face helmet back on after "lunch break"?) and they did feel a bit damp inside but nothing that prompted any concern. I touched the outer blue stretch material to the spikes on "ExcaliTire" (reference: The Dec 23 Ride Chronicles) and was immediately worried about pulls in the fabric but the gloves got through the brush with the spikes just fine. The gloves are a bit more padded than my regular bike gloves so I lost some sensitivity on the grips and brake levers but after a bit of struggle I was still able to undo the D-buckle chin strap on my full face helmet with the gloves on. They didn't quite have the same sensitivity that I'm use to when doing things like operating the two-way FRS radio while riding, but I'm such a "creature-of-habit" that I swear I ride differently with an extra T-shirt on underneath my jersey. I can't comment on the waterproof concept since I didn't get them wet during my first ride with them, but if they work even half as well in terms of waterproof as they did in terms of warm and breathable, I'm taking these to the June 15-16th 24 Hours of Adrenalin™ in Kelso (it always rains on my lap). Short form: Thanks Mardi, for an excellent gift that helps make for a great ride. 2002 RockShox Psylo SL - follow-up from issue #1. So it's now 2002 and even though it's been a long time practice of releasing small quantities of the next model year's line a couple of months early my fork doesn't carry that "how did you get a 2002 fork a year early?" reverence anymore... not that it needs it. I still love this thing, bushings are nice and tight, maintenance is about as easy as on my 1998 Judy with some minor improvements/changes. The crush washers on the slider retaining bolts are nylon and although I never had any real problems "hand machining" my own crush washers with the Judy and having them seal the oil in properly these look rather reassuring. The slider reassembly procedure is a bit more complicated since you're advised to set the damping adjustment before winding in the bolts to prevent damage. I haven't done an overhaul on the "Pure™" damping system yet but we'll get the camera equipment out and do a full fork overhaul "How To" sometime when the snow is deep. Park Tools Bike Stand Now that Christmas has come and gone, we are left cleaning up the mess, and getting our routines back in order. Luckily for me, my routine has added the Park Bike Stand... how many times have you tried working on your bike leaning up against a wall... or hanging the seat of your shoulder..., of the popular, "can you hold this"? technique?? Not anymore! The Park Bike Stand does everything except make you lunch. The fact that it can hold my bike, and fold away nicely would be good enough, but this stand does more than that! Need a specific angle... like the bike upside-down? No problem. Any angel, anytime. Well enough babble from me.. if you want a stand (and unless you already have one, you do), check out Park ... oh yeah you can get them at MEC! Not Really Features, but Product Reviews! The list of reviews is slowly growing... I can only review so much, so if you have a product you have reviewed, send me the details, and I'll make a page for it! webmaster@mtbkanata.com Review
1 - Sigma Sport Cycle Computer Editor’s
introduction We are concerned about the
impact on the environment related to trail creation, presence and use. We
have taken the steps of asking someone that should know more than us and
then adding our own views. The following demonstrates how far we are with
our review of the situation. Over the next while we will be compiling data
and opinions on the “environmental question”. This was spawned not from
the numerous environmental studies that have been performed but from the
idea that many of the trails we ride, walk or ski were either established by
native “critters” or are have been adopted by animals. In terms of “Multi-use”,
we’re either using the game trails, or the animals are sharing our trails.
The following article starts with a summary of the most commonly covered
topic of a cyclist’s impact on soil erosion and then initiates discussion
on further environmental impact of all trail users.
*** Rick’s Article: With the increase in the
popularity of mountain biking over the past few years, there has been a lot
of debate, some of it very heated, concerning the impact of mountain biking
on established hiking trails. Hikers
complain that mountain bikes “chew up” the trails promoting and
exacerbating trail erosion. Much of the conflict between hikers and bikers
is caused by intrusion of fast, noisy, thrill seeking bikers into an
otherwise peaceful setting. Consequently,
bike use often threatens to displace hikers seeking the type of experience
for which the trail is intended. However, there’s no question that heavy
use by mountain bikes can quickly lead to trail erosion and degradation. The
degree of such damage depends on soil conditions, and the level of
responsibility and extent of bike activity. However, most trails are not
designed to withstand bike traffic. Tire tracks can provide an uninterrupted
course for water flow, quickly leading to trail erosion. Once a trail is established,
people will continue to use it, whether or not good principles were used to
locate, design, or construct it. Many of the well established mountain
biking trails have evolved from a loosely joined network of maintenance
roads, equestrian trails, scramble trails, and game trails -
none of which were designed with mountain bikes in mind.
In her article “Bike Hike” (Erosion Control e-zine, May/June
2001)
Martha S. Mitchell discusses the impact of biking on trails, and ways
to lessen/mitigate bike related erosion.
Although bike use does contribute to trail erosion, the ultimate
cause of erosion on any trail is the elimination of the vegetation that
holds the soil in place. On any
one of the many hiking trails that criss-cross the Gatineau Park, or any
other heavily used park, you can find evidence of hiker induced trail
erosion. A recent study
conducted by the University of Guelph examined the relative impact of hiking
and biking on trail erosion.
Original
CBC
News Online article reprinted with permission The
good news is that mountain biking doesn’t appear to tear up the trails
anymore than hiking does. So,
in order to maintain a good public image and encourage further trail
creation, what can we do to lessen our impact on the trails and help to
reduce trail erosion? Hank
Barlow offers some suggestions in his article “The
Art of Riding Softly”.
For those interested in building or maintaining trails, the
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)
has a web site dedicated to techniques for building and maintaining
trails (see “Building Better Trails”); definitely worth looking
at. The IMBA also provides the
following suggestions for “Riding Softly”:
Original IMBA material reprinted with permission Our
goal is ensure that those involved in building new trails are aware of any
sensitive habitats and to avoid them as much as possible.
Disturbing or destroying ground cover is the most obvious consequence
of trail construction, but there are often unseen consequences as well.
Some species shy from human contact and require undisturbed habitat
(some bird species for example). Although
the Kanata Lakes are far from pristine wilderness (more like a shelter
belt), they do contain some interesting and sensitive habitats that may
provide shelter for rare or endangered species. Thus, we at mtbkanata became
interested in learning what impact we as mountain bikers are having on the environment and the animals that use the existing trails.
I asked a friend of mine (an underwater archaeologist, who also just
happens to be an amateur naturalist) what this impact might be.
His response provides some clues about how we should go about
answering the question:
The bottom line when
either repairing existing trails or constructing new ones, is to be aware of
ecologically sensitive habitats. Avoid soft soil and vegetated areas,
particularly grass-sedge meadows. Their
drainage patterns can be disrupted by trails running through them. These
grass-sedge meadows are critical feeding habitat for wildlife. If you remove
or disturb vegetation, soils will be exposed to the elements resulting in
erosion damage. When
constructing new trails, keep in mind the potential for erosion damage;
trails constructed through loose soils can start a potentially unstoppable
erosion process. It is exactly this kind of activity that gives mountain
bikers a bad reputation. If you
chance across a game trail, go ahead and take advantage of it.
Its unlikely that the animals that use the trail will be unduly
disturb by your occasional presence. In
urban settings such as Kanata Lakes, the game trails are most likely deer
trails. Since deer are highly
adaptable, they wont be too put out by the addition of a few rumbling bikes.
But once again - use common sense: if the game trail leads to
sensitive habitats it’s best to steer clear and, if necessary,
cut a trail in a different direction.
If you don’t know whether your proposed trail will go through
sensitive habitat, contact your local university; someone there will either
be able to help you or put you in touch wit *** Editor’s
Summary (for now): We,
by default, consider any human activity to be an “unnatural” event,
while other stochastic events such as forest fires, floods, wind storms etc
are considered natural events. In our trail use we instinctively draw the
lines that indicate that the more unnatural an activity is the more impact
it must have: Walker -skier-equestrian-biker-motor vehicle operators are all
possible users that have their effect. As we may be surprised to learn
above, biking and hiking have been determined by at least one study to have
the same impact on trail erosion. However there are many different types of
damage that human use can cause – animal habitat, animal habits, soil
erosion, environmental contamination, and plant habitat. To truly understand
our impact we must understand our environment. This includes understanding
the flora and fauna and how it uses the areas in question. We need to
determine how our presence impacts anything from water tables to noise
levels and what direct and cascading affect this may/does have on the
environment. Our next step: compile a list of the area’s native Flora and Fauna. For now the way we will define a trail will imply a negative impact on the environment because we cannot argue otherwise. We choose to acknowledge that a trail or pathway is a compromise between no impact and uncontrolled impact. Staying on the trail limits our impact on the environment. Letting people into the environment allows them to assess the area and become involved with it (for better or worse). For
now, we continue to use the following as our definition of a trail. Trail:
a ribbon of environmental damage that lets you get into and through a
natural area to enjoy the undamaged parts of the environment. We are pretty close to confirming (ok, speculating since we can't go back and play "What's My Line?") that the critter spotted high in a tree during the Decemberrrrr Night Ride December 30th was an ERMINE! A member of the weasel family, with a body scarcely 30cm (12") long, the ermine is a carnivore that preys primarily on mice but will also hunt porcupines, rabbits, small hares and squirrels (porcupines for crying out loud!). Ermines are hunted by foxes, coyotes, badgers, owls and wolverines. They are occasionally seen during the day but are definitely nocturnal critters. They are a rich brown colour in summer but turn completely white with the exception of a black tip of their tail in winter. They are described as being muscular agile and curious and while mostly ground dwellers they are extremely adept at climbing trees and just about anything else. The identification process took a huge leap when Mardi asked one of her co-workers "What's all white, climbs to the very top of trees, is about the size of a squirrel and is out at night?". The answer was essentially definite that this had to be an ermine and that he had photos. Jason took the included photos of an ermine at a hunting camp. As far as "muscular agile and curious", the pictured ermine actually weaseled his way (no pun intended) into a hunting cabin and proceeded to explore apparently undisturbed by the humans present until it eventually decided that even though it was the size of a red squirrel it was worthy competition for food. The ermine then demonstrated it's tenacious and carnivorous nature, fortunately without any casualties (see warning below).
For those on the Decembrrr Night ride, you'll recognize the size of the eyes in proportion to their body. As Mike said: "If that's another reflector up there, I'll call it, but someone else can go claim it". WARNING: Ermines are, as pictured, very cute. Please note that they are carnivores and occasional "porcupine-eating-predators". Mardi suspects that the "killer-bunny" in the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was modeled after an ermine. They have been reported to clamber up people's clothing for food or attack people when released from traps. Keep this in mind next time you're in the woods eating a mouse or squirrel flavour energy bar.
December 23rd Morning Ride review and photos available.
The Decemberrrrr Night Ride Dec 30th What can I say about the Decembrrrr Night Ride? Well, the trails where excellent, it was cold, the trails where excellent, it was dark... good trails... and cold... and cold... and cold... :) We even managed to grab a few frames of video!! Make sure you check it out: http://www.mtbkanata.com/video.html The video is called Ice Riders - Kanata Style. There is only a few minutes of actual riding.. but I think it's worth the download. Seriously though... for a December Night Ride, we not only had a good turn out (four riders) we also met someone on the trail! Imagine that! Rick provided really good prizes which were given out at the end of the reflector hunt. After that... it was video time. Everyone made the ride without a problem... my new rear spiked tire will come in really handy next time... but even with the regular tread, the snow was packed enough to get some traction. Make sure you check out the site often, as the next night ride might be right around the corner! You will not want to miss out!!! About the "Flat Tire Award": Category: The XC skiing has been of exceptionally poor quality this year for a combination of little snow, warm weather and continued traffic. There has been no opportunity to establish a XC ski track-set. A trail user (wearing skis) approached a number of trail users (with bikes). The conclusion was that since there was no XC ski track-set and that bike tracks were visible on the hard-packed and footprint covered trails that "Bikers" destroyed the ski tracks. We acknowledge that ski tracks are fragile and easily destroyed by other traffic and have always asked that people respect other trail users but it appears that at least for some limited numbers of trail users, the approach continues to be that of confrontation between trail users with apparently different interests and an assumption that if you have a bike you are not interested in any other activity. I'm again encouraging you to get involved with both mountain biking organizations such as www.NCMBA.com to increase their numbers and the strength of their voice and to also join multi user trails groups such as www.kanatatrails.com to make your voice part of their mandate... I still believe that we can share the trails without finding or creating conflict and resorting to exclusion. The latest test was on the Decembrrr Night Ride. We've found the coverage to be from March Road and Terry Fox to the inner Beaver pond while the radios were still warm. It was great to know Rick was about 5 minutes away from the parking lot while Joe and I were just finishing up placement of the reflectors. When Rick got to the parking lot he radioed in to let us know that Mike was there too... Stuff that you normally would have left up to assumptions but that was really nice to know. The place where We've found the most value in the radios is for communication between riders between 25 and 100 meters (~80 - 320 ft.). Yes, at this short distance it sounds a little silly using a radio to communicate, but this is the exact (ok: wild guess at the) distance where visibility can let you loose a rider and shouting is no longer an effective method of communication... besides, shouting is annoying to other trail users. Rick was the last rider in the pack when his 15W light failed. In a couple of seconds he was about 25m (~80 ft.) behind us, just far enough that visual contact was lost. He was able to used the radio to let us know to hold up. We found that the radios dropped their range significantly by the end of the ride, Joe and I were in the parking lot with the truck fully loaded and our gear off at the end of the ride. Rick was on a mission to retrieve his helmet cover/hat. The radio worked great to let Rick confirm that he was on the right trail to find his hat and to let Joe and I sit in the brand new, warm, truck while Rick was riding alone in the woods. Without the radios we never would have sent Rick (or wanted to go ourselves) alone into the trail on an equipment rescue mission. But we found that at the furthest point out (around the base of the trail that leads to the offshoots) the the radio communication was faint and a broken up. I'm guessing that the radios were affected by extended exposure to the cold. We plan to do much more testing (cold and warm) to confirm coverage. These would have been truly reassuring during a solo "battery-hunt" just a month or so earlier.
Answer(s) to last issue's question on environmental impact: Environmental is an issue often quoted by an individual group trying to keep another group out of a trail system. But when you get right down to it, How the heck else do you define a trail? As Joe stated in his summary it's up to each and every one of us to act responsibly. Okay... so no one has a dream bike... that's cool... we'll start this back up in the summer. In the meantime, if you have a dream bike, send it to me (Not the bike!) joe@mtbkanata.com Okay, it's my time to write about the website again... We have an online forum hosted locally from our site now, no more going outside or getting other folks adds! We've had folks sign up for the forum that aren't the original core MTBKanata members in spite of the fact that the discussion forums are somewhat "light" on content. Joe refreshed the "Tire Navigation Bar" to fit more of the frequently accessed features. We've added text links below the "Tire Navigation Bar" for anyone who was having trouble with the JavaScript running (so far only one user that we know of). Please consider this as a reminder/request to let us know about anything you can't get to on our site... Even if "it-works-fine-for-us" we'll try to help you out with using the features the site has to offer. "Top 50 Sports Sites" has us as # 9 in the Cycling category as of December 31st 2001 Just a quick view of our site statistics:
When reading the following statistics please note that the primary server that does our performance monitoring "lives" in Washington U.S.A. - We've signed up for hourly monitoring so subtract about 744 of the hits reported below.
webmaster@mtbkanata.com. (it's Eric this month)
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Make sure to
visit http://www.mtbkanata.com
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Newsletter is © 2001 MTBKanata.com. All Rights Reserved. No part of this
Newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission. All
guest articles are copyright their respective owners and are reproduced with
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