Goldstream Sports Fairbanks Alaska

Bicycles per 1,000 people

• United States 385
• Germany 588
• Netherlands 1,000

Percent of urban travel accounted for by cycling

• United States 1
• Germany 12
• Netherlands 28

Percent of adults who are obese

• United States 30.6
• Germany 12.9
• Netherlands 10.0

For a limited time receive a $150 Cycle computer with the purchase of a bike over $750, or a $100 cycle computer with any bike purchase.

You must mention this post.

Unfortunately, riders that could not wait until the trail dried out before riding it have in effect vandalized what they love. The trail now has deep wheel gashes in the berms and the water drainages have been backed-up by ruts. It will take many hours of work to fix the damage done to this point.

The trail was built to sustainable standards, meaning that the entire trail was built with a five degree out-slope on the tread, grade reversals, drainages, and other construction methods of preventing erosion. The five degree out-slope is vulnerable to damage, especially during the first year, because the trail has not had enough time to fully harden. When ridden in soft conditions it forms a groove in the line most ridden by users. The water then runs down the groove and erosion becomes a serious problem. The best line, usually the most ridden line, becomes an erosion rut. All areas where this rutting occurs will need to be re-graded if the trail is to last for future riding enjoyment. The repairs will take many hours of hard work and manual labor.

Don’t be a trail vandal! Please stay off the trails until they are dry, and the trail has a chance to harden.

If you have ridden the trail this spring, please come and volunteer with us this summer.  Contact us at Goldstream Sports for days and times of volunteering.  The more help we have, the easier it is to build and repair the trail, and everyone can enjoy a fun and beautiful trail.  Thank you.

Ester Dome Single Track has had great reviews from those who road it last year. As we look forward to the mud drying up and being able to get out on the trail we are planning additional miles of trail to be added this summer.

Last year we build 3.5 miles of trail and we have 5 more miles planned for this summer. We will break ground on the next 5 miles of the project mid June. We still have hand finish work to do on the trail built last year.  We will be putting out a call for volunteers soon.

Ester dome Single Track has received $105,000 grants to cover the bulk of the construction cost to this point. However we are still about $10,000 short of our goal for this year. We are hoping that the requests for funding we have out will cover $5000 of the shortfall.  We still need your help in funding the last couple mile of this summers trail. Donations can be made though Alaska Trails. http://www.alaska-trails.org/

I am attending a meeting this morning to look at plans for a Down Hill Bike Park at Birch Hill. If all goes as planed it will make use of the ski lifts to get bikes to the top and provide gravity courses for those who want to launch themselves off the top of the hill over jumps, drops and more. More info will be coming soon.

The Ester Dome
Singletrack project just got another financial boost.
Alaska Trails was awarded $5,000 from Bikes Belong to help build the singletrack
project on the flanks of Ester Dome. The money will go toward construction of another 5-mile
loop that will encircle a 3-mile loop and half-mile loop built last summer. This is the first grant
Bikes Belong has awarded to a project in Alaska.
The Ester Dome project features the first singletrack trail built in the Interior to sustainable
standards. It has received two Recreational Trails Program grants and a lot of local support,
including from Alaska Trails, Goldstream Sports, Fairbanks Cycle Club, National Park
Service – Rivers Trails Conservation Program, Gold Hill Imported Beer & Fine Wines, Golden
Valley Electrical Association, and Running Club North. It also received a substantial donation
from Ben Barton, a local trail user.
While the project’s singletrack trails have been built with intermediate level mountain
bikers in mind, they are open to non-motorized use and have attracted hikers, runners, and
snowshoers.
In granting the award, Bikes Belong noted that the singletrack trails will help reduce user
conflicts on the motorized multi-use doubletrack trails that already criss-cross Ester Dome.
Bikes Belong, based in Boulder, Colorado, is sponsored by the U.S. bicycle industry
with the goal of putting more people on bicycles more often. It has nearly 400 members—
bicycle suppliers and retailers combining resources to improve bicycling in America.
For more information the group see: www.bikesbelong.org/.