Use the form on the right to contact us or email us: info@bikehinton.com
Hinton, Alberta
Hinton Mountain Bike Association. Our goal is to develop, maintain and promote the best possible mountain biking opportunities around the Hinton area, while ensuring responsible and safe practices in environmental conservation, trail construction, trail maintenance and riding.
The Yellowhead County Parks & Recreation is adding some pump tracks in communities along the Yellowhead Highway. The first track, built in Wildwood, is now complete. Two more still to be built! A Grand Opening will be announced on September 24th.
Site Prep
An instant hit with the community!!
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Hot and dry weather in April created very, VERY, dusty conditions on the Robb Road adjacent to the Hinton Bike Park. After contacting the Town of Hinton and West Fraser about how to best remedy the situation (i.e. to stop chocking on dust while executing the Superman at the Dirt Jumps - hey, it happens!), West Fraser used calcium chloride (retains moisture) on the road which did the trick!
Then it started to rain. And rain some more. And it kept coming all summer. (Has it stopped yet?) Rain is good after such a dry spring, but it did create new challenges for our Bike Park, namely erosion. Again, the Robb Road became a source of sediment (just too much rain!) which flowed into the park at various points along Flow Master, the Dirt Jumps and the Skills Area.
After positive discussions regarding the process of water diversion, West Fraser has re-graded the ditch and culvert area along the Robb Road, near the bottom of Flow Master. With a few touch ups, HMBA volunteers were able to make some additional small changes to the drainage which will hopefully prevent further erosion from culvert problems. Repair is still needed on some sections on Flow Master (TBA later in September!), but the source of most of the problems is greatly improved.
Thank you to the staff at West Fraser for listening to our concerns and working with HMBA to resolve them!
Working on channel diversion after the road was re-graded.
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In July, a guest sign-in book was placed at the Hinton Bike Park. The park has had quite a few visitors sign-in! These two images show where they were from. Hint: the larger the name, the higher the number of visits from that location.
These are locations across Alberta and excludes Hinton.
These are locations beyond Alberta.
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Amp test
The Happy Creek Trail system has a new addition in the form of a short but sweet 0.6 km technical downhill trail option. Similar to "Fast Trax", this trail is located along the Bighorn Trail (town connector) and deposits onto Happy Creek East. This is an advanced trail, walk before you ride!
"Rock Band" started as a mapping day-dream, with layers derived through GIS to spot a clearly elevated band of bedrock. Once in the field, some of the rock was exposed with protruding ledges and faces with features that a few riders commented would make for some gnarly drops. Rock Band is designed as an advanced trail that can be rocked or rolled, depending on the amps you're cranking! Thrash it or groove it, whatever way you choose it, just don't blow your speakers!!
Making it official!
The band at work
The trail will evolve as it is ridden with new lines and potential, so watch for changing conditions and additional work. Big thanks to a solid crew of builders led by Rock Star Mike Langford who did the bulk of layout and building!
The last 40m of Rock Band, before connecting to Happy Creek Trail, challenged (and keeps challenging) our rockin' crew. A wet area made very wet during the last few months with many frequent rain events amped up the band's efforts in finding a sustainable solution. The final phase is 'slated' to be completed by the end of September if the weather finally cooperates!
Once onto Happy Creek (East), you can choose a longer ride (left) or continue the descent back to the town trail (right).
Rock Band is a black diamond trail that descend from Bighorn Trail to Happy Creek East.
Rockin`Start
Rockin' Drop
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Awesome work done by HMBA's own Maureen Harper and Bill Heir. They have volunteered many hours of their time in the past few weeks getting our second seacan all spiffed up at the Hinton Bike Park. This is part of the Hinton Community Grant project which was awarded to HMBA back in April this year. The final step will be the installation of a light for the parking area.
Maureen Harper, HMBA Directory at Large, on the far right.
Bill Heir, HMBA Treasurer,
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Recent visitors to the Hinton Bike Park would have noticed that several trees have had to be cut down mostly due to mountain pine beetle infestation. Crews have had to carefully navigate some of the main trails with a small motorized vehicle for this work and may have left a second or wider "track". Help us preserve our wonderful park trails by staying on the main trails/paths and avoiding all other disturbances so that they have a chance to grow back to their original states. Thank you!
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A second seacan was installed at the Hinton Bike Park, part of the Hinton Community Grant project granted to HMBA in April 2016. The extra storage was needed to help store a growing inventory of tools and equipment for builds, maintenance and winter grooming activities. Thank you to Tyson Boutin and his helper in the delivery and installation!!
Expect to see some work done on the new seacan in the coming weeks, as it will get painted and roofed. Make sure to thank the volunteers when you visit the Bike Park!
Maureen Harper and Bill Heir, both HMBA Directors, have been instrumental in managing this project. Got questions? Email us at info@bikehinton.com
Bill likes the new space!
Maureen enjoys the awesome community support, with Tyson and helper.
Tyson working on the installation
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After two years of inventory and planning, map signage at the Hinton Bike Park and on the Happy Creek System trails have been refreshed! This important project had many phases, including:
All our awesome signs!
In total, over 200 volunteers hours and community support via donations made to HMBA have made this project possible.
RBC Vollunteers
Six staff members from Hinton's RBC Branch came out on June 8th to volunteer their time. They helped with staining and gluing at the Hinton Bike Park.
A special thanks to all the volunteers who have helped getting the signs out on the trails!
Julie Duval
Gabrielle Duval
Bill Heir
Maureen Harper
Tim Trahan
Jeff Morris
The handy bike trailer has seen a lot of mileage in June! A special thank you to Bike Boy who had donated the trailer to HMBA over 5 years ago.
The sign caddy!
Going up!
An up!
Great travels under summer sunshine
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The Hinton Sprockids had a bumpy start this spring. After a very sunny, hot and dry April, the May and June sessions were met with rain, rain and even more rain. 3 of 5 sessions had to be cancelled. Still, the coaches and kids are having a blast enhancing their riding techniques and general biking know-how.
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Thank you Bill at Dig That Stitch Embroidery in Hinton for donating HMBA branded vest to all our Sprockids coaches!!
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At a recent monthly meeting, HMBA's Board of Directors voted in another member to complete our roster! It is a sign of a healthy board to have both seasoned and fresh faces on the Board as it helps to minimize volunteer fatigue and ensures board continuity into the future.
At our AGM in April, Brayden Langford stepped up into the role as HMBA's new VP. Brayden is definitely not new to HMBA. He has been involved with HMBA in different roles, both as a Youth Coordinator and as a valued volunteer for trail/bike park maintenance and for the Beaver Bike Fest. Welcome Brayden!!
Bill is another long-time HMBA member and avid volunteer. With 30 years of riding under his belt, Bill enjoys our trails systems and routinely volunteers his time to help maintain them. At the AGM, Bill had volunteered to help out the Treasurer (Julie Duval) with bookkeeping. Later, he offered to step up as Treasurer and allow Julie to fill the Secretary position - a role that suits her well. Please welcome Bill as HMBA's new Treasurer!!
HMBA wouldn't be where it is today without it's committed members. Two board members had stepped down at our last AGM. Marie-Soleil Pinet (past Treasurer) and Jenn Hunter (past Secretary) were valued members and their positive energy will be missed! Thank you Marie-Soleil and Jenn!!
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A BIG thank you to Steve at a1 Signs Design Company in Hinton for giving us a super great deal on directional signage! Expect to see signs refreshed at the Hinton Bike Park and on Happy Creek Trail System in the near future!
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Six staff members from Hinton's RBC Branch came out on June 8th to volunteer their time. They came with smiles and ready to work - it was so great to have such wonderful volunteers! A lot of work got done, despite the dark clouds looming on two sides of the town. Unfortunately, after an hour, the first lightning was seen in the sky, and was soon followed by more. These ladies quickly finished up what they were doing, and got out of the park in the nick of time! The skies opened with heavy rain, more lightning and nearby thunder. It was quite the storm!
The RBC staff volunteer their time to local groups such as HMBA and in return, their employer grants $1,000 towards that same group. HMBA has been a recipient of this generous "double" donation in the past and we want to thank these wonderful volunteers for their time and for choosing our association as a worthy group to support!
The old maps on the main kiosk were taken down and the wood given a fresh coat of varnish. Unfortunately, because of the incoming lightning storm, there was no time to place the new maps! 10 more minutes was all we needed!
These ladies glued our new signs to plywood. Thanks so much for the help!
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Devon's DBA Bears and Edmonton's Juventus Sprockids are going to be at the bike park all afternoon of Sunday, May 29th. These two groups have been making the annual trip to Hinton as part part of their programming.
Expect a busy afternoon at the park! Line-ups on Flow Master will be a given!
A group of local individuals is hosting an 'MD Slope Wars Challenge' at the Hinton Bike Park on June 4th. This event is in conjunction with the annual MD Walk, BBQ, and Car Wash at the Hinton Fire Hall on Eaton Road. The MD Walk is Saturday, June 4th from 10am - 2pm.
Registration can be done from 11:00am-1:00pm at the MD Walk (Hinton Fire Hall) on Saturday morning or at the bike park from 4:00-4:30pm. Come out and take the challenge or just cheer on your favorite rider!
See you there!
If anyone has any questions, please contact Stacey Cherry.
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Just a reminder to all our bike park and trail users! Please don't ride when conditions are unfavorable.
Thank you!!
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Another big thank you to Steve Sevcik's family for their continued support! This Edmonton family, also HMBA members, have recently donated $500 to the Association. Please view last year's post about this great family!
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