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Rossland’s Devine leads early season rides on area trails

Rossland area giving mountain bikers an early chance to start the season
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Cindy Devine invites beginner and intermediate riders on a series of free rides that will include local trails like the Sunningdale single tracks

While the region’s top mountain biking Seven Summits is still wrapped in snow, spring has decidedly sprung in the Rossland area giving mountain bikers an early chance to start the season, and there’s no better way than with some tips from former mountain biking world champion Cindy Devine.

The Rossland resident and physiotherapist invites beginner and intermediate riders on a series of free rides that will include local trails like the Sunningdale single tracks, the Miral Heights lookout and bluffs on Tuesdays from Apr. 15 to May 6.

Devine said the purpose of this event was to keep beginner riders in their comfort zone, while more advanced riders can go at their own pace, and hopefully learn something as well.

“So that’s what I am after is getting your fitness up,” she said. “I’m hoping that it breaks into pods, where you just go as a group and the slower people create their own pod at that middle level of fitness, and the faster ones create theirs.”

Devine will help out riders with their shifting, anticipating obstacles and technical

areas, and knowing when to get off when necessary.

“That’s what group riding is, it is really riding with someone at your fitness level because you can always just jump over a technical section, but it’s how you do the climb in the end.”

The focus will be on having fun, meeting friends and potential riding partners, and getting fit for the upcoming season. The first trail on the list this week was the Miral Heights’ lookout trail.

“It’s such a beautiful trail and everyone should know it,” said Devine.

“I call it little Moab for trails. It’s a beautiful trail once you start to ride the bluff, you get that sense what Moab offers, which is riding on rock slabs and then you’ve got the river beside you … it’s very exciting.”

Founder of Devine Ride, she learned to mountain bike in Whistler in 1987 and by 1990 was world champion. By 2000, Devine had achieved two more bronze world downhill medals, and several American and Canadian championships.

 

The group will meet at Gericks Sports in Trail at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. For more information contact Cindy at cbdevine@telus.net.