These rides will take place every Tuesday evening throughout the summer, rain or shine, and will be hosted by long-time Fairbanks cyclist Doug Burnside. The group will meet at 7:00 PM and start riding as soon after that as everybody is ready.

These rides will most definitely be rides, NOT races, and hammer-head riding will be discouraged. To me, the fun part of a group ride is riding in a group, socializing, meeting new people, and seeing trails I haven't ridden on before. My plan is to have slower riders (such as myself) lead the group and I will be dictatorial about keeping the group together. It's almost easier to define what these rides aren't than what they are. They are not races. They are not training rides. They are not rides for people whose idea of a good time is to push the limits, get a hard workout, or see how fast they can go on a trail. They are not highly organized rides. They are rides that will be fun even for novice riders with limited off-road experience, and there will be experienced riders to offer advice, riding hints and mechanical help. There are no entry fees for these rides, but for insurance reasons, all riders must be Fairbanks Cycle Club members. Rates are $30 for the season, or you can have a one-day membership for just $5.

Rides will vary in difficulty from easy ("Backdoor Trail") to difficult (Colorado Creek) to exceptionally hard ("Standard Creek" and "Pipeline Viewpoint"). Easy rides are scheduled early in the season, longer rides when there is maximum daylight. A difficulty level of 1 would be equivalent to riding your mountain bike on a gravel road with rolling hills for a half an hour. A level of 10 would be like riding from Ann's Greenhouse to the top of Ester Dome and back--twice.
 

5/7/02

"Back Door Trail"

8 miles, 2.0 hours, 800' elevation gain

Skill Low

Difficulty 4

Meet at 7 PM at the Ester Community Park, located next to the Fire Station on the Old Nenana Highway just before the turnoff into Ester. We'll ride up Henderson Road to the Mine, then turn left onto the Marathon Trail. About a half-mile into this trail we'll bear left and take what I call the Back Door Trail back into Ester. This trail is down hill for 90% of the distance (about 4 miles) and is my favorite trail I have ever ridden. This early in the season it may be muddy and not as much fun as it will be later, and there will be three puddles to ride through that could be as deep as 18--24 inches.

5/14/02

"Rosie Creek"

20 Miles, 3 hours, 1800' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 6

We'll meet and park at the intersection of Cripple Creek Road on the Parks Highway, about two miles past Ester. We'll do a boring five mile ride up the Parks Highway to the Rosie Creek wood cutting road, just past the intersection with the Old Nenana Highway. This will take about an hour, but it is a gentle climb. Then the fun begins: about six miles of downhill riding, some of it on very fast wood cutting roads, some of it on fun and technical single track. We'll come out on subdivision roads at the very bottom of the hill, at the Quist farm. From there it's about five incredibly long miles or so back to the cars. On our 1 to 10 difficulty scale, this ride is a six. It will take about three hours. Most of our serious crashes have occurred on this ride, so be careful.

5/21/02

"Skyline Ridge"

14 miles, 2.0 hours, 1500' elevation gain

Skill Low

Difficulty 4

Meet at the Dog Musher's Hall on Farmer's Loop where Liam Wescott will lead us on an excursion up Skyline Ridge. We'll go out on the Farmer's Loop bike path over to Auburn Drive and from there climb up Wolverine Lane past Rocky's House. Then we'll follow a trail along the ridge to an intersection with the Skarland Ski Trail system which will eventually (after a few twists and turns) put us at the intersection of Ballaine and Eldorado. We'll climb up Eldorado and Moose Trail (a fairly tough but short climb) and then hook up with a trail that takes us past the KUAC transmitter. We'll drop down the saddle of the ridge, climb back up and finally come out on subdivision roads at the top of the ridge. Then it's a short trip over Skyline Drive to Summit where we'll pick a fast, technical downhill trail that finally puts us out at the bottom of the hill where Summit intersects with Farmer's Loop.

5/28/02

"Ester Mine Trail"

10.5 Miles, 3 hours, 2310' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 6

Meet at 7 PM at the Ester Community Park, located next to the Fire Station on the Old Nenana Highway just before the turnoff into Ester. We'll take the Ester Mine Road all the way to the top of Ester Dome. This is an arduous climb, but since we won't be racing, there's no reason to thrash yourself doing it. Taking an extra 20 minutes up the hill makes it a fun experience. We'll go down the Alder Chute, then pick up the Back Door Trail back into Ester. You'll spend about 40 minutes pushing your bike up the steepest part, but when you get there, you have a seven or eight mile ride that is at least 90% down hill. Note: Riding down the Alder Chute is not a good idea for the faint of heart. This is a very difficult and challenging descent requiring above average bike handling skills. This will be the most dangerous trail we will ride the entire summer and if you are not fully confident of your abilities, you should walk your bike down this hill -- about 3/10 of a mile. Figure three hours for this ride.

6/04/01

"Ester Fireplug"

13 Miles, 3 hours, 2340' elevation gain

Skill Med.

Difficulty 7

We'll meet at the Ester Community Park and find some interesting way to the top of Ester Dome. We’ll then ride out to almost the turnaround point of the Marathon trail, veer left, and enjoy some fun downhill and single-track trail all the way to the Fireplug dogsled race trail. If the trail is soft, even the downhill will be hard work, but if conditions are dry it is a very long, very fast, somewhat technical descent. At the bottom, we finish by riding along Quartz road, about 2 miles, back to the cars.

6/11/02

"Birch Hill Ski Trails"

12 miles, 3 hours, 2000' elevation gain

Skill Med.

Difficulty 6

Follow the leader. 2 hours, as hard or easy as we want to make it. These trails are a LOT of fun. They are safe, fast, challenging and entertaining, particularly if I can find some cross-country skier who knows the trails to lead us. There are trails up there that are NOT part of the ski trail system that we can explore as well

6/18/02

"Death Ride"

21 Miles, 4 hours, 2900' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 8

Start at 5 mile Chena Hot Springs Road and ride the Death Ride Course. We'll put out the course markers for the Death Ride race which happens the following Sunday. Be prepared for a LOT of elevation gain (nearly 3000 feet), two stream crossings and a mile long swamp that can run thigh deep in places. What with laying out the course markers, this will be a 4 hour ride.

6/25/02

"Amanita"

16 Miles, 3 hours, 2300' elevation gain

Skill Med. +

Difficulty 6

This ride will start at 5 mile Chena Hot Springs Road, at Steele Creek Road. We'll ride out Chena Hot Springs Road for a couple of miles, then go out Amanita Road clear to the end of it and beyond, an amazing continuous climb, riding the trails and section lines until we hit the Gilmore Trail. We'll follow Gilmore trail to West Hubernite road, and follow the Death Ride course back to the start. This is a challenging course with a lot of elevation gain and technical riding.

7/2/02

"The Ride Formerly Known as O'Connor Creek"

23 Miles, 4 hours, 2400' elevation gain

Skill Med. +

Difficulty 7

Start at Ivory Jacks on Goldstream Road. We used to go up O'Connor Creek Trail, but it's been too muddy the last few years, so we'll go out Goldstream road a few miles and up Clifden road to a really good trail that takes us to the Pipeline and Old Murphy Dome Road. We'll follow that to the powerline that leads to Moose Mountain ski area and from there we'll take the road bypass trail and a very steep section line down to the subdivision roads where Rocky used to live, and from there back to Ivory Jacks.

7/9/02

"Colorado Creek"

21 Miles, 4 hours, 2100' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 8

Endurance Alert: This is a taxing ride. Be sure to bring food and water - you will burn a lot of calories!
Start at 31.9 mile Chena Hot Springs Road at the Colorado Creek turnout. We start on the Colorado Creek trail, but a few miles in we leave it and take the Four Mile Ridge trail which puts us back out on Chena Hot Springs Road about 5 miles from where we started. This is the best ride of the whole season from the point of view of challenging riding, fun trails, great scenery, and two exciting descents. You'll really be out in the boonies on this ride. If you only do one ride all season, make it this one, provided you are in reasonably good condition. DON'T MISS THIS RIDE!

7/16/02

"Standard Creek"

34 Miles, 5 hours, 2010' elevation gain

Skill Med.

Difficulty 8

Endurance Alert: This is a taxing ride. Be sure to bring food and water - you will burn a lot of calories!
This is the infamous Standard Creek ride. It's too long a ride to make a loop out of it, so let's meet at the gravel quarry at about 7 Mile Murphy Dome Road, where the pavement ends. Larry Katkin of Alaska Outdoor Rentals and Guides has graciously agreed to transport 8-10 riders and bikes in his van from the gravel pit over to the start, eight miles up the Old Nenana. We start with an eight mile descent on a dirt wood-cutting road, then a few miles along the bottom of the valley where we'll leave the road and pick up an old surveyors trail that finally puts us in the Lincoln Creek subdivision roads. There has been enough new road construction that the difficulty level is considerably less than before. Total distance is 34 miles, and it will take us 4--5 hours to do the ride. This is a really good ride if you're in shape for it, but it will leave you dragging regardless. You will want to be in better-than-average condition for this ride.

7/23/02

"Pipeline Viewpoint"

30 Miles, 4 hours, 3000' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 9

Endurance Alert: This is a taxing ride. Be sure to bring food and water - you will burn a lot of calories!
Start at the Pipeline Viewpoint on the Steese Highway just before Goldstream Road. We'll go up Gold Mine Trail to Gilmore Trail, (that's quite a climb on good gravel subdivision roads), take Gilmore Trail to the Trapper Trail which goes along the ridges to Cleary Summit, then up the hill towards the radar site to get to the wicked descent on trails down to the Pedro Monument.

7/30/02

"University Ski Trails"

10 miles, 2 hours, 1000' elevation gain

Skill low

Difficulty 4

We'll meet at the Ski Hut (up by the Geophysical building) and explore the ski trails until we get tired of it. Some of these trails are extremely bumpy (lots of roots), and some are very narrow. This is a great ride to develop technical skills on.

8/6/02

"Behind the Vallata"

20 miles, 4--5 hours, 2500' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 8

Endurance Alert: This is a taxing ride. Be sure to bring food and water - you will burn a lot of calories!
Up the hill behind the Vallata on Goldstream Road. We'll follow an old ski trail over to the Old Murphy Dome road, go to the pipeline corridor and take the second downhill to Goldstream road and back to the cars. This is a very bumpy trail requiring a high skill level: suspension is a good thing to have for this ride. If you have to be at work early the next morning, better skip this one.

8/13/02

"Burgundy Drive"

23 miles, 4 hours, 1980' elevation gain

Skill Med. +

Difficulty 7

We'll meet at Valley Center, about 24 mile Chena Hot Springs Road. From there we'll go up Burgundy Drive, a ferocious climb that is rideable, but granny-gear low all the way up. From there, we take the left fork at the top of the hill and eventually end up back on Chena Hot Springs Road near the Old Grange Road about four miles from where we started. We'll ride a loop around Jenny M hill, then take dog mushing trails back to Valley Center. This ride has a higher than average fun factor. Figure 3--4 hours, difficulty level 7.

8/20/02

"Two Rivers Ski Trails"

10 miles, 2 hours, 1000' elevation gain

Skill Low

Difficulty 4

Meet at Two Rivers School at about 18 mile Chena Hot Springs Road. We'll play follow the leader on the ski trails behind the school. There are some really excellent trails there and this is not a ride you'll want to miss. We'll ride for two hours, and the difficulty level will be as easy or hard as you want to make it.

8/27/02

"Kramer's Chena Ridge"

15 miles, 3 hours, 1500' elevation gain

Skill Low

Difficulty 5

Lighting Alert: You won't really need them, but lights could be a good thing to have on this ride.
Meet at Dave Kramer's house on Sherwood Forest Drive off of Chena Ridge Road. We'll explore a lot of really good trails up on Chena Ridge.

9/3/02

"Moose Mountain"

15 miles, 3 hours, 1980' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 7

Lighting Alert: You can probably get by without them... but you will really want lights on this ride.
We'll meet up at the gravel pit at 2 mile Murphy Dome road. From there we'll go over to the Moose Mountain Ski Lodge and take a "forgotten" access road most of the way up to the top, the regular roads/trails the rest of the way up. At that point, we'll have done 10% of the distance, and maybe 65% of the work. We'll follow the power lines over to Old Murphy Dome Road, follow it west on a long, shallow descent that can be ridden really fast, go through a few really big puddles, looking for a tiny trail to the left (the "rabbit trail") that is immensely technical and challenging downhill all the way back to the ski lodge. Rocky's Mountain Bike Stage Race used this downhill.

9/10/02

"Marathon Back Door"

16 miles, 3 hours, 2140' elevation gain

Skill High

Difficulty 6

Lighting Alert: You will really, truly need your lights on this ride.
We'll meet at the Ester Community Park, then ride out through trails and through the mine to Henderson Road, then up Ester Dome. We'll follow the Marathon Trail down the hill to St. Patrick’s Road. We'll ride St. Patrick’s Road over to Henderson Road, up Henderson to the mine, and ride the Back-Door trail back to Ester. If you have lights for your bicycle, bring them for this ride. You really, truly will need them. By general consensus, this was the second-most fun ride (after Colorado Creek) that we did last year.