[Northendzone]

i took the wife and kids out on sunday and we rode Redearth (the parking lot for this trail is about 20 km west of the town of Banff on hiway 1). I really enjoyed this trail.

the trail itself had more climbing that i thought it would as it is shaped a bit like a pyramid. Kids (son is 11/daughter 8) complained a lot, intially, but that being said, they both had single speed bikes. we wound up riding about half of the trail and then turning around. going back tot eh vehicle was fun as you hardly had to pedal. My daughter was pretty fierce on her bike and she was right behind me for the most part. she did have a bit of a crash though as she lost traction on a sharper turn with some loose gravel. Had to laugh at her as somehow her shoe came off and landed about 5 feet away from her.

The bottle of bug juice I grabbed was lower than expected, so lesson learned there as I am covered in bites. Other lesson I learned was that I need to strategically position myself at the edge of sharp turns to try and ensure my daughter does not have trouble braking and run off the trail and get herself into some trouble.

Looking forward to a couple of more trips out to Banff to try a couple of more family trails, and I hope to get out with a friend to really be able to hammer.

Can't beleive how easy it is to hammer downhill with a full suspension bike.