Kinnaird Ravine | Zen Cyclist

Today may be the day to break my winter cycling hibernation. I was out for a run yesterday and had a chance to assess some of the paved and dirt trails. There are enough good ones to give it a go and with a high of 12C forecast for this afternoon the only thing standing in my way is getting the bike ready. This is what has held me off so far more than the road/trail conditions. I will need to clean and lube my chain which even with the ease of modern products tend to put me into procrastination mode.
Here is how trails through Dawson Park looked yesterday:

Caution required on deteriorated path

And on the dirt trails east of Dawson Park to Capilano Bridge and on towards the 50th Street Bridge it looked like this:

Beside the trail, looking east towards Capilano Bridge

Dry gravel path

Looking across the river

While the sun-exposed north bank of the river valley is nicely dried, shaded areas such as Kinnaird Ravine, up from the east end of Dawson Park are ugly. I had trouble walking here a day earlier and wouldn’t chance it on two wheels.

Kinnaird Ravine's icy/slushy trail

Enjoy your ride – maybe I’ll see you on the trails and road.

Happy November Cyclist

I figure anytime I can be out on my bike in November that is pretty good and today, November 7th I did just that. It was a lovely afternoon – sunny with a temperature of around 5C. Fortunately there has been no snow yet this year so the trails were dry.

I did about 15km, on my mountain bike taking the paved trail through Dawson Park, then the dirt trail beside the river to the 50th Street footbridge. On the way back I took the trail up and down the Kinnaird Ravine and then the paths on the north slope of Dawson Park.

Although it was not a long ride by any means, I ended up being out for a couple of hours as I was stopping so often to take pictures. I will just let those pictures tell the story of my afternoon: