Kanata Lakes [SMH]
Trail photos
Welcome to the Mountain Biking section
Note this section was replaced by the 3D Printing section so if you need to get back here use the homePage links Here
So where do we start I guess the beginning would be a good place!
The origin of the sport started on a Mountain called Mount Tamalpais in the 1970's. A group of guys took some balloon-tire bicycles up the Mountain and decided to try and ride them down the Mountain. They used coaster brakes to slow down (not that it helped much) and the brakes would overheat the wheel hubs often requiring them to be repacked with grease for each descent. As they enjoyed the new sport they worked on fixing the brakes issue by designing new types of brakes. When they grew tried of lugging the bikes up the mountain they added gears which allowed them to pedal up the smaller grades. Then they started building these strange bikes for friends and before they realized it they had invented the Mountain Bike. Those Guys are Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Cunningham ,Keith Bontrager, and Tom Ritchey.
Everyone knows what a Mountain Bike is but many don't realize that under the general heading of Mountain Bikes there is a specific set of bikes designed for different riding terrains and styles, below is a description of the most common categories:
- Cross-Country (XC) is the most popular form of mountain biking. It generally means riding trails that consist of a mix of rough forest paths, singletrack, gravel/rough roads, and even paved paths connecting other trails, technical complexity of the trails is easy or moderate. A typical XC bike weighs around 20-30 lbs, and has 0-5 inches of suspension travel in front (and sometimes rear).
- All-mountain (AM) includes all the stuff in the Cross Country category but the technical complexity of the trails is moderate to hard and contains more steep downhill sections. The bikes have 5-7 inches of front suspension (and sometimes rear) with stronger components than XC models while trying to keep the weight between 30-40lbs
- Downhill (DH) is riding mountain bikes down long and extremely steep downhill sections. Because of their extremely steep terrain (often located in summer at ski resorts), downhill courses are one of the most extreme and dangerous places for mountain biking. They include large jumps up to 40 feet with drops of 10+ feet, and are generally rough and steep top to bottom. The bikes are equipped with front and rear suspension that has 7 to 10 inches of travel along with large disc brakes and weigh around 35-45 lbs.
- Freeride is a style that includes Steeper long descents that allow for jumping and may include elevated trails made of interconnecting bridges and logs. The rider often performs stunts that require much more skill and techniques than XC. Freeride bikes are a hybrid between downhill and All-Mountain where the suspension is similar but the overall robustness of components is lowered to save weight.
- Slopestyle combines big-air, stunt-ridden freeride with BMX style tricks. Slopestyle courses are usually constructed at already established mountain bike parks and include jumps, large drops, quarter-pipes, and other wooden obstacles.
- Dirt Jumping (DJ) is when riders take to shaped mounds of dirt or soil becoming airborne, the goal is to perform tricks and hit the landing. The bikes are smaller hardtails and have less components so that when a crash occurs there are fewer parts to break.
- Trials riding consists of hopping and jumping bikes over obstacles, without touching a foot on the ground. It can be performed either off-road or in an urban environment. Trials bikes look almost nothing like mountain bikes. They have very small, low frames with a very low saddle.
June 3rd 2011
I added new photos of the Ridgetop section of
SMH/Kanata Lakes trails, have a look Here
May 31th 2011
Added some photos of the SMH/Kanata Lakes trails, have a look Here
May 29th 2011
Finished article about my Bike build, have a look Here
May 5th 2011
Added the Mountain Biking Section, the rest is under construction but for the interm have a look at the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association they work on building trails and hold events in Kanta lakes.
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