The Fall that came and went..

...and that might be ok with me.



ABA Cup Final Race - Devin

Fall riding is by far my favorite; your usually fit, the trails are great, no bugs, temperatures are just right, awesome colors and most people are done racing so it's time to see your riding buddies again. This year the fall sort of came and went a bit too quick; traveling up north doesn't give me the mid week rides so it might add to this feeling of barley getting any great adventures in. And if I could only keep up with the blog I would have a record of the rides and I'm sure it's not as bad as it seem.

Shortly after Breck Epic I made ABA cup with the last race in Devon. Good fun, with a lucky trip up when I really should have lost my bike on the highway but with Andrea coming with me this day, I still have a bike :) And I got the ABA cup series in box. Not a great turn out, but happy to be up there supporting the event. Now I can say I've ridden in Devon too.








Start of day 1

As for racing, I ended the season with Moab Rocks, a new Trans Rockies event in Moab, UT. It's a 3 day event over the Canadian Thanks Giving weekend. It had some big names on the men's side, and Trish and a local, Heidi Rentz, would the be the two girls giving me the motivation to race hard in the open women category.

Trans Rockies always put on good event, and this was no exception. I was not sure what to expect as for the course as two days had most of the riding in areas I didn't really know. I did bring my full suspension bike, though knowing hard tail was probably going to be the choice of bike for most serious racers. At this point in the year I was really looking forward to just ride and have fun. And the trails in Moab are definitely more enjoyable on a FS :)
Day one; lots of road up front, and a little famous hike section, before some pretty fun descending. No big issues, besides keeping track of the dots on the rocks to not get off course. 
Day two; porcupine rim - about 2 hours of climbing before all the fun! Most people who have ridden in Moab will know this trail. The road was windy and long but knowing what you'll get to come down you just pedal with a grin. Had a bit of an issue with the front suspension when the seal came right out and let all the air out. Happy to be on a full suspension at that point. Made it down safe, but as day one, Heidi, the local girl, right on my tail.
Day 3; around Mag5 area - started down by the highway and went up Gemini bridges road. Quiet a bit double track to start, but not nearly as much as day one and two. A lot of the climbing continued on nice single track. The descending was a good mixture of slick rock, looser rock, little sand/dirt. Good fun day. One crash when I hit a sandpit but made it safely to the finish line and again, just ahead of the local rider, Heidi.

Overall a fun three days, as a first years event I'm sure we will see some improvements to the course over the years, though for Moab this was good I thought. Fun concept as well, as within the race there is also Enduro section (time down hills). We see this more and more in events and to my enjoyment! :) In the end I managed to take overall win in both. But it was not far back to Heidi, and Trish road really strong all weekend and into a 3rd.
Good representation from AB made the weekend extra fun. Opted out of staying for the week, and made it home to relax with a few days off in Calgary.

That wraps up racing for this year.

Craig, Andrea and I had a few good rides, Barrier area here.

Managed to get a few rides in as well before snow fell. Most of the rides have been shorter, never got in a "adventure ride" with Craig, but I'm sure there will be no lack of this over the winter. Now that Bragg Creek on the west side connects with all the Station flats accessible trails this seem to be the choice of riding for me.
Did get to try out the fixed up Jewels and the trail in this area. Manage to get in Skogan Pass loop on second attempt.

Now the mountain bikes are probably done for the season, gradually get plans in place for next year and get ready for a some great winter outings on cross bikes. The seasons are good for a forced break of pace and type of activities we do. The burn out seem to sneak up on you with little warning, and this time I think winter came just in time.

Next years plan is not all there yet, but the three days a week riding plan that I've been on with working up north seem to be possible but not sustainable. So though no great plan yet, it hopefully will have some changes to something, whatever it might be :)

Happy Winter Riding!