Esterhazy Trail Weekend - submitted by Donna Shire

On August 15-16, 2009, two Regina mountain bike clubs (South Sask. and AdventureHers) joined forces for a weekend of trail work near Esterhazy, Sask.

Nine club members traveled from Regina for the event. We were joined by several members of the East Qu’Appelle Cartel bike club. Tom Landine, from Esterhazy, graciously offered his family cabin as accommodation for the Regina workers.

While the weekend proved too wet to actually get on our bikes, the weather did cooperate by not pouring on us while we were working on the trail! We spent about six hours brush cutting and building a bridge across a swamp on Saturday. For lunch, the workers were actually treated to freshly made deli sandwiches right at the trail site! (Compliments of the two Regina clubs – thanks!)

That evening, back at Tom’s cabin, we had a wonderful group supper. This included Jeff Hovdebo setting up his deep fryer and cooking up the most amazing wings we have ever eaten! An enjoyable evening was spent with members of all three clubs, relaxing, playing games and of course telling biking tales and dreaming about new adventures. 

On Sunday five hardy Regina souls stayed to help Tom L. work a little more on the trails.

We finished the bridge completely and cleared a few hundred more yards of trail.

It felt very satisfying to accomplish so much work in one weekend. The bonus was having such great fun in the process. The fact we didn’t get to ride just makes us more determined to travel back to Esterhazy sooner rather than later to experienc their lovely scenic trails!