As you'll see in this edition of our newsletter, our summer was busy one. After a lot of hard work, we've reached an important milestone in our efforts to build the Edmonton Bike Park with a government grant.
Another exciting development surrounds the announcement that Edmonton has been awarded the 2027 World Triathlon Multisport Championships https://www.sportspromedia.com/announcements/edmonton-wins-bid-to-host-world-triathlon-multisport-championships-2027/. Included amongst the disciplines is Cross Duathlon, which utilities off-road singletrack trails. Over 4,000 athletes from around the world will be here to experience our urban singletrack network and that potentially gives us the opportunity to have trails officially recognized by the city. The next two years will be critical to legitimizing our singletrack network and will be probably be calling on you for your support to help us in that task.
The EMBA Executive
In this Edition
Major funding announcement for the Edmonton Bike Park
Summer trimming and drainage work
Cassette Collective YEG comes through with a donation and trail work
Bike Check: Chris Reckhard's Specialized Camber
Level up your riding with a coach
RPFIP Grant awarded for the Edmonton Bike Park Project
We are thrilled to announce that the City of Edmonton has awarded the Edmonton Bike Park project a generous $407,000 grant through the Recreation Partner and Facility Investment Program (RPFIP). This significant funding boost will help us move forward with the construction of Edmonton’s first dedicated mountain bike park.
This RPFIP grant strengthens our bid for the provincial $617,000 grant application through the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) and Active Communities program. With this additional support, we are hopeful to secure most of the remaining funds needed for the project. Together, these grants will cover a significant portion of the total project cost for the Edmonton Bike Park.
While we are making great progress, there are still numerous opportunities for sponsorship of various features and amenities within the bike park. We are also seeking long-term partners to help fund the ongoing operational and maintenance needs of the park. This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses and organizations to get involved in a project that will benefit the entire community.
Our next step is to work with Fiera Consulting to complete the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Supplemental Environmental Screening (SLS), which are crucial steps toward obtaining the development permit for the bike park. In addition, we are focusing on securing City Council and Leadership approvals, aiming for completion before fall 2024, with the latest target being spring 2025.
We continue to have productive meetings with various city departments, including Parks, Forestry, and Urban Planning, to ensure that every aspect of this project is meticulously planned and executed for complete success. We are also exploring potential sponsorship and naming opportunities and confirming engagement with First Nations communities to incorporate their input and support.
We encourage everyone to stay connected with us for updates and opportunities to get involved.
For more updates and details about the Edmonton Bike Park, visit our website at edmbikepark.ca and follow us on social media
Summer trimming and drainage work
The river valley has seen a fair bit of rain this Spring and Summer and the trails are getting overgrown. It seems like trimming work comes all at once and our power trimmers and rakes are on overtime these days. If you have a trail in need of a cut, send us an email to aatlead@edmmtnbike.ca and we’ll add it to the list. If you can help us organize volunteers or put in a few hours yourself, that is much appreciated!
On most trails, we like to run crews of at least 4: two people to work the battery-operated hedge trimmers and two people to rake. If the network is big, we’ll have crews start at each end and meet in the middle.
On those nights, we try to do what Jesse calls a “2 year trim”. We trim a solid arms’ length from the edge of the singletrack. If done properly, it should last us 2 seasons.
We generally get 1 weeks’ notice from the city, so check our events calendar often at https://www.edmmtnbike.ca/events
For any trail night, all you need are closed-toe shoes, gloves, protective eyewear (sunglasses are great), bug spray and water. We provide the tools and guidance. If you’re new to trail nights, trimming is a great way to get started. It’s pretty easy.
Josh ran a big trail night in Terwillegar on Lower Corkscrew and that perennially-muddy corner. It’s the one with 2x6 planks someone put down. Some of our board rode the trail and discussed a few ways to fix it. It was pretty interesting to see how the solution unfolded.
The crew ended up slightly shifting the trail uphill and digging to the left to allow water to drain off. They also dug a large trench to collect water. You can see the Before & After below. That was a really big job and they moved a lot of dirt!
If that fix holds, we can go back to address the lower section, which runs towards the parking lot. We’ll need another large group for that one – stay tuned for an email with an invite to volunteer.
Cassette Collective YEG comes through with a donation and trail work
Our friends at Cassette Collective YEG came through with a $400 and we would like to extend a special thank you to them. Their group is very active on trail nights and they're a big help with keeping our trails in great shape. Shout out to Mallory and Alyssa and all of the crew at Cassette Collective! Check 'em out on Facebook and Instagram. (just look at how much fun they have)
Bike Check: Chris Reckhard's 2017 Specialized Camber
Chris joined the EMBA executive last year and like me, it’s his first time serving as a board member on a volunteer organization. This year, Chris is our new Treasurer, which is a 2-year position.
We both live in the Terwillegar area and when I asked to review his bike, Chris suggested we go for a ride and I thought that was a great idea.
Like Josh’s Devinci fat bike, Chris got his current Specialized Camber under warranty. He’s built it up himself over time and replaced the shock last year. He went with a BikeYoke, which allows you to run a standard, non-proprietary shock
Up front, he has a Rock Shox Pike and for wheels he went with a sweet set of DT Swiss XMC1200 carbon hoops with 240 hubs. He thinks the hubs are 36T and finds that’ plenty of engagement. The cranks are from eBay and he managed to get a matching decal set.
For the drivetrain, he’s running SRAM Eagle 1x12 with Guide Ultimate brakes and a RaceFace turbine dropper post. For tires, he’s running the Specialized Purgatory and Ground Control setup and really likes it. One neat feature on his bike is a hidden multitool under the top tube.
In my opinion, Chris has a great bike for the Edmonton river valley – snappy, responsive and all the travel you need. If you ride with Chris, you’ll soon discover that he’s fast and his bike is fast.
Personally, I’m sorta on the lookout for new XC/gravel shoes. Chris has a pair of the Shimano XC7’s which have a full carbon footbed with Michelin rubber soles. They are plenty stiff for when you want to put the power down, but you can also walk in them when things get sketchy. Super cool shoes.
Thanks Chris!
Level up your riding with a coach
by Gavin Radzick
We ride our bikes to have fun. A lot (most?) of us spend a fair chunk of change on the bike in hopes of maximizing our fun. But are we spending anything on the rider?
In my world, life took me away from mountain biking for about 10 years. When I got back into the sport, the bikes got a lot better and the trails got a lot harder.
I decided that this old dog needed to learn some new tricks and 6 years ago on my first trip to Whistler, I took a 2-day camp from the former Trek Dirt Series. And it completely changed my riding.
Although no longer around, the Dirt Series was a structured 2-day camp that worked on basic skills like pedal ratcheting, braking and body positioning. For someone who was used to hanging off the back of old-school mountain bikes, the camp helped me unlearn a lot of bad habits.
As good as the camp was, I wanted to move onto smaller groups and individualized coaching. I consider myself a solid intermediate rider and I like to take lessons and clinics in the places I travel to bike. If you’re in the Exshaw and Bragg Creek area, I highly recommend YYC MTB out of Calgary https://yycmtb.com/. Owner Mike Quesnel and his coaches run excellent sessions. My first outing was on Prospector in Exshaw and they helped me navigate this spicy little ridge/spine.
If you want to get faster, you need to get better in the corners. I went back again for a cornering clinic, which was great, Mike gave me a some drills to work on and my cornering got noticeably better.
YYC MTB runs clinics for the beginner to the advanced rider. They have their Adult Performance Program, which is geared towards enduro racing. If you want to get better on the DH tracks out at Moose Mountain or Valemount, this is your ticket.
If you haven’t been to Whistler or Squamish, it should be on your bucket list. The trails on the coast from North Vancouver to Pemberton are some of the most challenging – and rewarding – anywhere. I’ve done 2 sessions with Ride BC https://www.ridebc.ca/ and they're great.
One of my all-time favorite trails is Leave of Absence in Squamish, which is ‘Squamish Blue’. My goal was to clean all of the features and I was lucky to have Oliver (Ollie) Lowthorpe as my coach. You can follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ollielowthorpe/
I did manage to successfully ride every feature on LOA, including the steep rolldown – twice. For me, I’ve always had the best trips when I start out on Day 1 with a coaching session. When I go back, I’ll have Ollie take me on Rupert.
If you consider yourself a Beginner to Intermediate-level rider, our trails in Edmonton are excellent training ground. When you work with a local coach, you have the benefit of practicing the skills you learn before moving onto the big mountains.
I had the chance to sit down with 2 local coaches – Tiffany Baker from Your Edge coaching and Ken Germaine from Rubberside.ca
Tiffany Baker
Your Edge coaching
We Edmontonians are lucky—our trails bring together a close-knit mountain biking community. And did you know that within this group, we’ve got some top-notch certified coaches who focus on 1:1 rider development?
Meet Tiffany. A roadie turned mountain biker (but we’ll forgive her for that), who wrestled with a lack of confidence, fear, and the daunting switch from pavement to dirt for longer than she cares to admit. Sound familiar?
And now she’s a Level I PMBIA certified mountain bike coach, channeling her experience into helping others overcome similar challenges. As a coach and ride leader with Women on Wheels YEG, skills coach and rider leader with the Edmonton Road and Track Club (ERTC), founder of the Women of ERTC, and lover of gravel riding—Tiffany’s passion for elevating others’ skills and stoking their love for riding is undeniable.
How Does She Coach?
Tiffany generally coaches in 1-on-1 sessions. Which in my opinion, is a great way to get dedicated attention and instant feedback on your riding. Her typical clients are 75% female-identifying and 25% male-identifying.
What I found interesting was her differentiation between teaching and coaching. Her clients range from complete beginners to intermediate riders, so she has to flex her instructional style to meet the needs of each rider.
For beginners, it’s about teaching—delivering skills and techniques, doing demos, and transferring knowledge.
But once the basics are nailed down, she shifts to coaching, focusing on mindset and problem-solving. Instead of dictating, she’ll ask, “How are you going to tackle this?” or “What concerns you about this section?” It’s a refined method that helps riders develop self-assessment and regulation skills, in addition to riding techniques.
Looking for ways to improve your riding?
For beginners, Tiffany emphasizes time on the bike—ride with a group weekly, and if you can, squeeze in some coaching sessions a few times a season. Stepping outside your comfort zone (within reason) and seizing learning opportunities are keys to progress.
For intermediate (and beyond) riders, it’s all about refining your skills. This is where the mental game kicks in, and coaching can prevent bad habits or development plateaus.
What common rider mistakes and challenges does she see?
Having coached a lot of riders, she often sees people struggle with:
Bike/body separation (especially if you’re coming from a road/triathlon background
Not using their dropper post effectively (Edmonton trails might not require it, but practice here pays off when riding bigger trails elsewhere)
Unlearning bad habits this was my problem before I took coaching
She also notes that while muscular power seems like an advantage, it often masks poor technique. Which I’ve experienced as well. And coaching is a great way to blend power with skill.
Interested in coaching?
Tiffany and I are both strong advocates for coaching and skill development—we’ve taken plenty of private and group lessons ourselves. However, common mindsets often hold riders back:
“I’m not good enough”
“I’m not racing”
“I’m pretty good – I don’t need it”
“My bike isn’t good enough”
None of these are true, Tiffany insists. And many riders don’t even realize professional coaching is an option. Hopefully, this article changes that.
What and where does she ride?
Tiffany rides a 2020 Norco Optic C3 with 2.6-inch tires—a solid, all-around trail bike. While she doesn’t necessarily have a favorite trail, she’s drawn to Blue Man Group, Andre’s, and Canada Cup in the Oldtimer’s network, both for her own rides and when coaching.
Friendly, approachable, and with coaching in her blood (it’s her day job, after all), Tiffany has a gift for pushing riders out of their comfort zones while fostering a supportive environment for growth and development.
Edmonton has a wealth of skilled coaches, and Tiffany is the first to promote her peers as fantastic options too.
____________________________________________________________________________
What to connect with Tiffany?
Email: tiffany@your-edge.ca
Instagram: tiffanybaker_
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/coachtiffanybaker/
Ken Germaine
780-966-9907
Ken has been riding bikes forever. When we met, I mentioned that my last XC race was Provincials at Nordegg in 1994. Ken won that race in Expert class. We also both owned Mouldens at one point, so I knew we’d hit it off.
Ken has a long history of coaching – he took the National Coaching Cycling Program (NCCP) in the 90’s and was the Junior Program Director with Juventus for 7 years. He took his Level I PMBIA certification in 2015 and started coaching professionally again in 2018. He also completed his PMBIA Leve 2 Trail class in 2023.
Although Ken does work with small groups his preference is 1-on-1 sessions. That enables him to meet the rider at their skill level and build skills and confidence from there. He has an inventory of trails in mind, depending on your skill level. I talked about taking a dirt jump course and he mentioned that the Devon bike park is great for that.
Ken’s typical clients tend to be professionals and/or post-secondary educated. His split is about 50/50 male and female and half are Beginner and half are Intermediate. Like me, he gets clients who are going away on a mountain bike vacation and want to level-up their skills.
It’s all about Progression
We talked about progression, which seems to be a universal theme I mountain biking. On my last trip in Squamish, I was talking to a guy about my coaching session and trying to get better. He was telling me about his rides with Jesse Melamed and his goal to keep getting better and progressing to harder (double black) trails. No matter what your level, even the best riders are trying to get better.
The idea behind progression is riding something just ever-so-slightly harder than you’ve done before. Injuries usually happen when you go too big, too soon. Coaches like Tiffany and Ken can assess your ability, put you on a feature just at your comfort zone that you can ride – and then move you onto the next one.
As an example, Ken has taken clients down the toboggan run at the Savage Centre to simulate riding slabs. Slabs are all front brake. Judging by the beat-up trees on In-N-Out Burger in Squamish, more people need to learn how to ride slabs.
Ken helps Beginner riders work on balance and being comfortable on their bike. For Intermediate riders, he has them work on brake control, braking, trail awareness and pressure control.
When I took my cornering clinic from Mike at YYC MTB, we got off our bikes and looked at lines. He commented that on Green and Blue trails, the best line might not be the popular one – a lot of riders are taking the wrong line. On Black trails, chances are the worn-in obvious line is the best one.
When Ken talks about pressure control, he compares it to downhill skiing. In my cornering clinic, we worked on un-weighting and weighting the tires in the corner. It not only gets you that cool “Brrrrrpp!” sound of Velcro being ripped, but also gets you more traction and a safer corner.
Some of the biggest mistakes Ken sees are:
Using the wrong brake (back vs. front)
Hanging off the back – this was my bad habit for years
Going too fast into corners
For Edmonton trails, Ken’s go-to bike is his Norco Revolver 120, which I think is a great choice. For coaching, he uses his Norco Sight.
Ken is passionate about riding and coaching and it shows.
If you want to be a better rider, have more fun, avoid serious crashes and look awesome doing it, you owe it to yourself to give Tiffany or Ken a call.
September 2024 Updates from EMBA
Support Edmonton's Single-Track Trails, Get Discounts on Gear! EMBA members can enjoy discounts and special incentives at a growing number of local retailers. Check out our list of participating stores below and be sure to show your support!
Don't have a membership yet? Get one today:
EMBA Membership Perks
Members get 10% (or more) off regular priced items at these amazing stores! Head on over to these incredible bike shops, show them some love, and take advantage of this incredible deal!
*Certain exclusions and limitations apply. Contact any of these stores for full details. Certain stores may offer other discounts.
Don't have a membership yet? Get one today:
Check out the EMBA Merch Shop! can enjoy wearing the swag and support EMBA as we continuing efforts to advocate as well as maintain single track trails. Plus the merch is pretty cool. Thank you for your support!
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