March 2013 ETtR - Augusta Canal Trail CANCELLED

[Angela]

Come join our third Explore the Trail ride for 2013 at the Augusta Canal Trail. This is great little urban trail is only 3 miles long but packs a lot of fun into those miles.

It’s also home to the AJBW/SORBAcsra Canal Crown Time Trial Series as well as the quirky winter Moonlight Time Trial come see what all the buzz is about.

We'll meet at the railroad tracks by the pumping station at 130pm on Saturday, March 2nd. The trail is directional so if you are late you can ride fast and catch up (or wait by the fire ring, I'm sure there will be several laps ridden by some)!

You can park by the Kroc Center (about a mile and a half) or Savannah Rapids Pavilion (about three miles down the towpath) and ride to the meeting spot or park in Eisenhower Park where a short ride will take you to a bridge across the Augusta Canal delivering you right to the meeting spot.

You do not have to be a member to join these rides, bring your friends, family, everyone who loves to mountain bike!

Here is the link to the SORBA-CSRA information:

Augusta Canal Trail

Keep an eye on the website, we will not ride if weather or trail conditions are not good!

Let us know if you have any questions! [e-mail]

[dgaddis1]

Canal trail is awesome fun. Lots of tight but fast corners, a few short steepies, and overall great flow. Very fun trail, even if it is less than 3 miles long.







contour.com/videos/watch/razors-edge-and-riders-without-helmets

[Mark Y.]

On a per mile basis it is one of the more physically challenging trails around because there is little to no coasting. It is pedal, pedal, pedal. Beautiful little trail in close that is perfect for beginners to get a feel of MTB'ing, while not having to worry about getting gassed or breaking down 3 miles deep in the woods.

I rode FATS/Skinny before signage was up as one of my first forays on a trail, and I was petrified that we would get lost, I would bonk out, or something unplanned would happen. That was the longest 5.5 miles I've ridden before or since. That happens at the Canal Trail and you are a short walk to your car.

[Angela]

Mark you are bringing back some great memories here, I actually learned to mountain bike on that trail. There was no FATS or Bartram Lake trail so that was the closest trail to us.

In the beginning my hubby and a friend of his started doing a couples ride there every Friday evening. I can remember she and I would end up stopping two or three times to rest along that almost 3 mile trail. I laugh about it now but it was challenging and we weren't in shape. Learning to actually shift my new mountain bike was dicey in the beginning and that trail brings home the need for that skill pretty quickly. Benefit to couples riding was the guys could ride on and not wait and she and I worked through the obstacles that bothered us in those days - Bald Hill, the big gully (much more frightening in the old days, going CCW there was a big root near the top of that gully that you had to get over to continue to the top), and of course the part down by the river.

We also rode our first night ride on that trail as well. Great little urban trail with a long history!

[Angela]

The Augusta Canal Trail is starting to dry out but we will err on the conservative side and cancel this month's ETtR. Hopefully see you next month at April's ETtR at Big Rock/Tower Trails out at FATS!