The trails are drying out quite well. Ride 'em!

Sick.

Eville is absolutely in perfect shape.......

Hello all,

I’m planning to ride the IMBA Epic route this weekend (actually Sunday). I have a few questions!


Most importantly how are the trail conditions?

Does anyone have a map of the actual route? I’ve seen the topo maps but there is no highlighted route for the Epic ride

Are the trails well marked for people coming out of town riding on their own? If not, would someone be interested in joining us to guide?

Is there a way to avoid the climb out of Holimont / Holiday Valley? Is there a parking area at the top of the hill and how to get there?

Is there a place to dump water / food at some sort of halfway point?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!!


Thanks in advance!

Phil Szczepaniak
Ontario, Canada

You might want to try this ride, it's similar to the IMBA Epic.

[url:223ezkl8]www.wnymba.org/viewtopic.php?t=1989&highlight=eds[/url]

I usually park by the by the tower on Mutton Hollow Rd. Take RT 242 to Whig Street, then make that sharp left onto Mutton Hollow Rd. follow the dirt road up to the tower. If you want to aviod the training center hill.

I was just about to post that exact same link.

That link was in response to this thread:

http://www.wnymba.org/viewtopic.php?t=1986

Note, Hurricane Ernesto is scheduled to flood the area on Saturday, so it might be better to wait a week. Conditions are great right now, but...

That's why a night ride is scheduled for this evening at 8 PM. That will probably be pretty epic if you can make it.

If you guys ride Big Merlin - keep a look out for that gnome that caused my crash!

Hey - I also heard from Mack that someone got hurt badly running on Big Merlin too... crazy eh?

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses! Thank you Geoff and Jon for the map link. I will be watching the weather hourly on Saturday night with my fingers crossed. If anyone local can post any bad weather tomorrow in the E-Ville area that would be awesome.

What’s ‘Big Merlin’? Now you’ve got me afraid, I’m terrified of gnomes

So if we’re not from around there, are the trails well marked? I don’t want to be doubting myself 20 miles into a ride :shock:

Thanks again,

phil

The trails are well marked, but be sure to bring your MAP and perhaps a compass or GPS. If you are not familiar with the area its possible to get turned around.
I am going to try to make it down Monday if there is 36 hrs for the place to dry out. I will be riding south from the tower..

philshep wrote:

Big Merlin is one of the more tame trails we built (but still technical enough). But because of this, one is tempted to go pretty fast on it, so in the end it becomes more dangerous.

I always laugh (or get frustrated) when I hear land managers or trail advocates say MTB trails have to be wide and smooth for safety reasons. The safest trail is a super technical rocky and twisty trail!

So hypothetically speaking lets say it rains but not downpours. Are these trails susceptible to rainfall or do they drain out well?

I will definitely bring the trail map, but I don’t have a GPS unit (yet… the Garmin 205 is looking quite tasty )

I LOVE technical. This ‘Bent Rim’ trail sounds exciting. We have a Bent Rim trail at a place we ride (Hilton Falls) that is pretty heinous.

Just wondering, when you reach the top of the ski resort, how much climbing is there for the rest of the ride? Is it mostly rolling or steep ups / downs?

Thanks
phil

philshep wrote:



If you are attempting "Ed's Annual Epic Insanity Ride", I would hope Big Merlin or the hills after climbing up from the training center would be of little concern to you.

If you have to park up top, maybe a 30+ ride is too far. Not busting here, but many people from out of town, bite off more than they can chew, and injuries or getting lost results. Just be careful out there!

Show up tonight to be shown around properly!