Join us for a Virtual Ride!

Hello Flock!

We are excited to slowly and safely get our mountain biking community back together over the next couple of months – and to kick things off – this week we are going to host a virtual ride for our members to participate in!

First thing – you must be a BlackSheep member to participate. Due to the COVID pandemic, and the uncertainty around when we will be able to truly kick off our race season, we have made some adjustments to our registration. In order to participate in this event, each person must have either a “General” or a “Race” Membership.  If you only want to purchase a General membership for now, we will allow you to upgrade to a Race membership at any point in the season by crediting the full value of the General membership towards the Race.

HOW IT WORKS:

• Riders have the next 9 days (any time between May 23 and 31) to ride the route and submit their results. You will register AFTER you complete your ride.
• There are 4 courses available to suit your level or category.
• Links to the course maps and details are below.
• We recommend that you ride it once beforehand to get familiar with the turns, cut-offs, features, etc.
• The courses are “flagged” but in a different way that usual.  Instead of blocking off the trails you are NOT supposed to go down, you will now “follow the flags.”  The flags are just hanging off a branch or on a small tree on the side of the trail.  So when you get to a junction, you look down the trail to find the colour of the course you are doing.
• Keep in mind, these flags are only there to help, you should not rely on them.  KNOW YOUR COURSE before you head out.

VERY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:

This is a first for us, and we are counting on you to make it a success. We expect you to be COURTEOUS and show exemplary TRAIL ETIQUETTE while performing your timed loop. As always, the trails are open to all other users (including walkers and dogs), so riders must ride in control and yield to others. DO NOT yell at anyone to move out of your way. If you are coming up behind someone, let them know you are there and that you’d like to guy by. But don’t shout things like “on your left” as you would in a race; there are a lot of new trail-users this spring, and most people won’t know what you mean. Just slow down, and make sure everything is safe before you go by.  And then say “Thank You!”  We ask that you try to avoid popular times of the day so you can get a ride in without as much traffic. Early mornings and weekdays are best! And do NOT ride in groups – all social distancing rules still apply. Lastly, because this event is held over the entire week, the course is not monitored; our trail maintenance crew will do their best to keep things clear, but exercise caution as obstacles like fallen trees or changes in terrain are possible show up throughout the week.

COURSE INFO:

• Lamb/MiniLamb courses are not marked.  Please see the maps.  They START at the parking lot, and head down the Prospector Skills Trail. Then follow the gravel path towards the washrooms.  Head up the hill and do one lap of Fools Gold in the clockwise direction.  Finish when you exit that trail at the washrooms.
• START: All other courses (Sport, Advanced, and Elite) start on the Centennial side of the bridge at the tree with the flagging tape.
• ALL courses are 1 lap (and are not even really a lap – they are more point-to-point because they do not return all the way back to the start).
• SPORT = 6.4km = BLUE flagging tape;
• ADVANCED = 7.9km = PINK with black stripes;
• ELITE = 10.7km = YELLOW with black stripes.
• Everywhere that the 3 courses are together, we hung all 3 colours together on the same branch.  Where the course differ from each other, you will see 2 colours going one way, and the other colour going another way.  The first split of the courses is just as you enter Shuniah Mines, where Sport does Upper 2K, while Advanced and Elite go down Lower 2K.
• The finish line is at the TOP of the big hill on the Blue.  There is a large Birch tree with signs on it (picture below). PS. Don’t touch it… its very dead and could fall and crush you.

TIMING and SUBMITTING:

• AFTER you have completed your course, register for the event on Webscorer (see link). Remember, you can attempt the course as many times as you want throughout the week, but you can only register ONCE. During the “registration” you will be asked to submit your best time and select which course you did.
• If you can use Strava, we have created full segments for you to use (thanks Steve!)
• Otherwise, use the Trailforks links provided which will work with any smart phone.
• While we prefer Trailforks or Strava, feel free to use whatever app you normally use (MapMyRide, Garmin, etc), and attach a screen shot showing your time and the distance which matches the course you did.
• While we encourage everyone to try this event, only those wishing to be considered for the “Virtual Podium” (top 3) need to submit proof of their complete course/time.

OK! That’s it. This is a first in BlackSheeps 23-year history; we hope you enjoy it, but please remember to be extra courteous to all trail users, and have fun!

Trails are open to all users during this time. Trails are not monitored or supervised. Participation is at your own risk. Participants and/or guardians are responsible for their own safety and the safety of all trail users.

We will be offering options to upgrade a regular Blacksheep membership to a racing membership in the future for those who have been waiting to sign up due to an uncertain racing season.