MountainbikingX.com » Trails

Sturgis, SD BAM festival.

Dale — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:50:42 +0000

I have gotten my hands on a poster a couple of days ago(thanks Fitzy) about festival coming up on July 11th, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Now for those of you that don’t know a group of us local guys and gals went down to Rapid City in May to the Fat Tire Festival and I have to say riding in the Black Hills is a mondo good time to say the least. Now with word of the Sturgis BAM the excitement has perked back up once again. BAM by the way stands for Bike, Art, and Music add in a few brews and sounds like a good time to me. The endurance bike Race/Ride/Tour registration starts at 7:30 and the shuttle leaves at 8:20. It sounds like it is going to be the section of the Centenial trail from Piedmont to the Sturgis City Park. The cost of the ride 25 dollars and that is for the Shuttle out the the Piedmont trail head. It sounds like they expect you back into town by around 2:00pm so you still have time to take in some of the other events. They will have bands playing starting at 11:00am with the last band taking the stage at 9:00pm. Actually looking at the poster they have all kinds of activities for the whole family going on all day so this is a good event to bring the family to and squeeze in a ride in the AM. Make sure to check out all of the events going on at www.sturgisbam.com, one final note the best part is this event is free!

Tour de Barry’s Ride

Dale — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:46:37 +0000

This coming Saturday the 16th at 10:00am there is going to be a group ride that is a must do. It is called the Tour DE Barry’s and it will tour the singletrack trails in the Bismarck/Mandan.

This group will meet at Barry’s Bikes at 10:00am. From here we will ride to Sleepy Hollow park where we will do 1 lap around the Singletrack trail there. Then it’s onto Pioneer Park doing 1 lap, then riding over to the Mandan side along the Ski Trail eventually ending up at Sunset park where we will ride the Eagle trail also doing 1 lap around the singletrack trail. Then it is onto Fort Lincoln State Park where we will surprise, surprise do 1 lap, and then it is back to Barry’s Bikes for some refreshing brews. We will also more than likely be stop off somewhere along the way to have some lunch so please remember to pack some money.

This is going to be a good ride open to all, you can ride all of it or just a portion. If you time it right you could probably join up later on someplace along the way. Hope to see you there.

Race to Sunset 2008 results

Dale — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:40:07 +0000

2008 is in the books for another 12 hour Race to Sunset, and what a race it turned out to be! The final rider tally with dropouts and some additions turned out at a record 101 riders. The weather for most part of the day was good to go with only the afternoon getting windy with a storm skirting the park just to the north. Everyone more or less survived with only minor crashes except for Tony(I hope that is correct) from Minot, here is hoping you heal fast man! A big thank you goes out to all of the sponsors and volunteers who make this such a great event. I would list each and every one of you but I know I would mess that up badly so let’s just say “you know who you are and Thank You”! It was great to see Epic Sport’s there turning some wrenches and helping people out. Kudos also goes out to Barry’s Bikes guys and gals for lending a helping hand to people and kicking out some free swag. It was great to once again see some people from out of state that showed up just to give the locals a fit. Kelly Magelky always fun to see you ride, you are an animal man, thanks for making this a stop every year, good luck with the 24 hour race!

The pictures have been added to the photo gallery all 373 of them for your viewing pleasure. I take no responsibility for either embarrassing or incriminating photos; complaints will be accepted and ignored as always! A big thank you to Jodi for all of the hard work she did during the racing. Many of you probably saw her lurking in the trees.

Until 2009, keep the rubber side down.

Race to Sunset 2008

Dale — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:56:59 +0000

The Race to Sunset is right around the corner and I have a few things to report on it. There will be 104 riders competing, or like myself surviving, the race this year that almost doubles last year’s numbers. For those of you that were there last year know the parking lot was almost full so I can only imagine what it will be like this year. I definitely can see people laying stake to there plot of land the night before or getting up a the butt crack of dawn to find there preferred spot. So far the weather looks good and the course is in excellent condition for riding.

Sleepy Hollow

Dale — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:14:48 +0000

Location: Bismarck, ND

Trail head coordinates:
Skill Level: Intermediate to advanced
Trail Type: Loop
Length: 3.5 miles, option to shorten by .75 miles with shortcut

Description:

The trail is located on the east side of Bismarck, ND, in Sleepy Hollow park, hence the name. This trail loops through the park, using up most of the real estate of the park land to lay out a nice loop with varying terrain and challenges. The builders did a good job of combining some technical treed areas with a couple climbs, and a few sweeping down hills to enjoy. The best way to ride this trail is counter-clockwise which for most trails is backwards; you will thank me when you see the hill on the back part of the trail. If you would like to more physically challenging ride the trail clockwise and a couple of the fun down hills turn into leg burning climbs. There is also a short cut so the less experience or tired riders can take out a portion of the back section of trail, this will shorten the rider by about three quarters of a mile.

This trail has become one of our groups favorite rides since it has something for all range of riders. The park itself offers a nice area to chill out after the ride and share a few brews and B.S. awhile. The trail is very well maintained, with the grass always being well mowed and the brush and trees kept clear of the trail. This trail hosts the Race to Sunset MTB race in June every year so after this time the trail cement like and even faster.

The Good:

Trail offers fun ride for both beginner riders since nothing overwhelming and experienced riders who will find the speed they can get out of the trail rewarding. Great trail for group rides. Trail very well maintain, and always in great shape. Easy to find and clear cut trail. Cell phone coverage is great so if you bite it hard and need rescue you are good to go. Only a couple of miles from Paradiso Restaurant for a well deserved post ride Corona and some chips and salsa.

The Bad:

Trail in the middle of urban sprawl; don’t expect to feel like you are one with nature. Bathrooms are only open during the spring and summer.

The Bottom Line:

Sleepy Hollow has something for everyone in the group. The newbie will find the trail a great way to break into singletrack with out breaking themselves, while the more experienced rider will like the speed you can get out of the trail. Counter-clockwise is highly advised for your first time on the trail. This trail has become a staple on my/our weekly rides. I highly recommend you check it out sometime soon!

Click here for the map

Adventist Academy

Dale — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:29:04 +0000

This trail consists of 15 miles of singletrack in pasture surrounding the Adventist Academy north of Bismarck, ND. To get there go north on highway 1804 until you see the Adventist Academy, keeping going about another half mile past the sign until you see a group of trees to the right side of the highway this is the parking area for the trail head.

This is a tough trail for me to rank for some reason. It definitely is not a beginner trail but to call it an expert trail is not true either, and novice may not be strong enough. This is due to a few things, the length and the number climbs involved you definitely get a workout, and there is a technical aspect to this trail. For the novice there are plenty of areas where you can shortcut the trail so donâ€™t be too intimidated by the length. Taking in account the fact this trail is fairly new with many side hills this adds heavily to the technical aspects. So remember to take it slow when you need to. This trail has a history of many crashes.

We all have really begun to like this trail. In my opinion it is better to do this trail counter-clockwise than clockwise but like I said that is just my thing. It is definitely one of those trails that seem much different depending upon which way you ride it. Please remember to not ride on Saturdays, this is for religious reasons of the Adventist Academy.

Check out the link below for a Google map with the GPS route of the trail. Thanks to Brian for the GPS file.

GPS Route, it takes a second so give it time

View Larger Map