By Corrine
WOW Ride #18 – The Penultimate WOW ride of the season and maybe forever - Birch Hill Single Track Mountain Bike Ride
Five WOW showed up on a beautiful fall day. The weather was crisp and cool, and that Fairbanks autumn aroma of highbush cranberries was in the air. It was a great night for a single-track ride. Several of the WOW had never ridden the Flow and Jump Trails on base and I was excited to show them. We headed up Tower Direct and then cut through the woods to the top of the downhill ski area. We took a selfie at the top then headed to where the Flow Trail takes off.
There was one tree down across the trail right at the start that we had to lift our bikes over (I was wishing Eric was with us with his trusty saw) but that was the only one we saw all night. All the trails were in great shape!
I let the others go first as I knew they would be much faster than me around all the nicely banked turns to the bottom. Everybody had a great time. We then crossed over the downhill ski area to the Sonot Connector and rode Chinook and Blackhawk trails on our way back up. I love these trails. So fun and not that technical. A good time was had by all. When we got back to the top, Hannah had to head home as work obligations were calling. The rest of us decided to ride the Jump Trail. I knew it had features and I was a little nervous, but Hannah told us you could easily get around the tricky parts. On our way there, we saw the Alaska Range was out so I made the others bike back so I could get some photos.
I tried to get ahead of the others to take pictures on the Jump Trail, but they were too fast for me. I didn’t have enough speed for the first high banked turn and I slid out and hit the ground. Luckily nothing was hurt except my pride and my confidence! I was even more conservative in my riding after that but everybody patiently waited for me at the bottom.
Then it was the long grind back up Cliffside and Sunnyside and Outhouse to get back to the parking lot. The temperature was quickly dropping, it was about 43F at the low spot as we started to ascend. Brrr, but at least the climb kept us warm. The Birch Hill single-track trails are great fun especially in the fall.
Next week will most likely be the last WOW ride. I’m inviting all previous WOW riders to come join in for a final ride (it will NOT be a typical hammer ride) and then go get dinner and reminisce about all the fun we have had over the past 20-25 years! Let me know if you plan to come so I have an estimate for dinner: csleistikow@gmail.com
