Uni of Calgary v Carleton Uni, Ottowa - where should a MTBer spend 6 months?

Hey guys,

A few members with very good memories might remember me (Gotham certainly will - he got my stuff from Whistler after I got airlifted out of the bike park!), my name is Andrew, I'm an Aussie who has had two stints living in Vancouver, during which time I was a member of West Coast Racing (awarded best club by CyclingBC 2009! yeh I remember that still.

Anyhow, the option is open to me to spend another University Semester MTBing, Skiing and travelling around Nth America, but sadly Vancouver is not an option this time :( (still I should probably get some variety :p)

Anyhow, my choices are:
University of Calgary
Carleton University, Ottowa

I'm a endurance XC racer (several 24hr solos under my belt), All Mountain Rider (think Neds on Seymor, Nicoles Trail on Burnaby, plus all the blue trails at WBP (A-Line and Angry Pirate were as far as I delved into the black runs) I'm also ashamed to say I'm a casual roadie but this won't influence my decision to any great extent).
I'll be there for 6 months, so Snow is a relevant concern (but lesser than the biking obviously) - I'm comfortable on Whistler/Blackcomb Black runs but not their double blacks.

I guess the quality of the Universities (particularly their law faculty) and the awesomeness of the parties at these institutions is also a relevant concern, but really I'd rather just race/ride my bike :p

Where would you guys rather spend 6 months?

which 6 months?

you will need to drive to the ride more in Calgary, but the resulting rides are bigger and better
more XC racing in Ontario/Quebec though
Chinooks may allow more in town riding in winter in Calgary

which 6 months?

First what he said… I know both city's well but for what you are saying I think Ottawa is a good choice. Lots of XC and it's not far (Gatineau park) not to mention Montreal, Quebec, etc… the scene is far better. There's a reason why Mt St-Anne has the world cup since the beginning…

You should probably not worry about riding and concentrate on school and learning to spell.

All your Ottawa MTB needs can be found here.

http://ottawamba.org/cms/

Camp Fortune is near Ottawa,
http://campfortune.com/summer/mountain-biking/

Race series for Uni, though neither Carleton and Ottawa Uni have teams.
http://mtnbike.sa.utoronto.ca/oumrc/oumrc_home.htm

i dont see how any mountains in Ottawa could compete with the Rockies, Brag Creek, Kananaskis, Canmore which are near to Calgary. Canmore has the xc sking training area you would need as well as superior terrain for mountain biking.

Another vote for Calgary.

We have some fun newer XC (a lot of this was built in the past year):
http://www.cmbalink.com/files/WestBraggCreekTrailMaps.pdf

We have some great shuttling
http://www.mmbts.com/members/trails/2011-maps/

We have lots of great all mountain rides:
http://www.bikepirate.com/x-country-trails/jp-ridge-to-cox-hill/
http://www.bikepirate.com/x-country-trails/prairie-view/
Razors Edge
etc…

If you are willing/able to drive a little: Invermere, Golden, and Fernie are all about 2-3 hours away and add a huge amount of riding options.

Carleton may have a better law faculty, but Calgary has great riding. The access to the alpine is close, but a lot of the West Bragg creek trails can be ripped after school in the spring and fall. Cowtown is where I lived and it was fun, but it also was 15 years ago, and the Jumping Pound trail is still there and rad.

which 6 months?

What he said:-) ^^

That being said, your are an endurance XC guy, so Calgary is for you. You will find ALOT of guys that are just like you there, doing huge XC loops. Big AM loops on your XC bike on Moose is similar to riding to the height of CBC, but with a real singletrack climbing. Kaninaskis has some wonderful old sckool trails, with amazing views. If you are stuck in town with no ride to K-Country, you can easily get a 3 hour XC mostly all on dirt linking up Boumont, Sideshow Bob area, 12 mile coulee, and the COP Eastlands. That's all near the university as well.

Bow Cycle has XC groups that go out weekly, and Calgary Cycle has the All Mountain Alliance. It has a great scene. Group rides 3+ times a week. Just post around at the shops that you want to do 4 hr loops in the evening, and I'm sure you would get a group for that LOL!

Don't forget to do some hiking!

Try to stay through the summer, you can ride untill almost 11 PM without lights.

Personally, I would prefer Calgary due to it's relative proximity to some world class mountains.

However….it will depend on your access to transporation.

Carleton is an easy ride to the Gatineaus. While they don't offer the majestic scenery of the Rockies, they certainly make up for it with miles of quality x-country trails….in fact, you could ride through the Gatineaus [HTML_REMOVED] into the Laurentians via a vast network of trails.
Mt Tremblant is an hour or so away….so is Mt St Anne….both have been on the WC circuit a few times.

PS Winter sucks in both locations. Depends if you prefer humid deep freeze or a dry deep freeze.

I have lived in both cities, and did a bit of time at Carelton many years ago. I started riding in Ottawa (Gatineau Park actually) about 20 years ago so I have some fond memories of the trails there, but they are not real mountains. I rode elsewhere a bit in Ontario and never found anything appealing. From what I hear though, pretty much everything I used to ride has been shut down and the new places are not as good. I have a friend who just moved back there with the military and he's not too happy about it.

Like others have queried, it depends on which months you are talking. You are pretty much out of luck for riding for a really good chunk of those months if it's over the winter. I think if I had the choice betweend the two cities if MTB was not in the equation, I would choose Ottawa. It's a nicer looking city, it's closer to other cities that can be worth a visit and there just seemed to be more going on than in Calgary in the winter time. If you want to ski a bunch though, Calgary is a clear winner but expect to travel for a couple of hours or more to get there.

For riding, there really is no comparison with Calgary being the clear winner. You will have to drive to get to the goods. What I have to say about Calgary riding is, if you don't drive at all it sucks, if you drive 20 mins it still sucks, if you drive 45 mins it's great, if you drive 1-3 hours it's world class, if you drive 3-10 hours, the world of Western Canada MTB is at your fingertips. You won't find that in Ottawa. But then again, if it's October to April, you might get skunked out of anything. But Fernie, Sunshine and Lake Louise and the odd trip to Revy for some pow might float your boat.

Winter sucks pretty hard in both places weather wise. I left Ottawa mostly because I hated the winter. Then I left Calgary for the same reason. Maybe I'm hard to please, but I'm pretty damn happy on the coast now and don't mind the rain at all.

Ottawa has trail, but it's no where near the same league as what's out west. Calgary wins hands down there.

I assume that Ottawa knows how to get down, but I lived there post-uni so I don't really know. I've had some wicked times in Calgary though…I guess that's another one in the win column for Calgary.

What he said:-) ^^

That being said, your are an endurance XC guy, so Calgary is for you. You will find ALOT of guys that are just like you there, doing huge XC loops. Big AM loops on your XC bike on Moose is similar to riding to the height of CBC, but with a real singletrack climbing. Kaninaskis has some wonderful old sckool trails, with amazing views. If you are stuck in town with no ride to K-Country, you can easily get a 3 hour XC mostly all on dirt linking up Boumont, Sideshow Bob area, 12 mile coulee, and the COP Eastlands. That's all near the university as well.

Bow Cycle has XC groups that go out weekly, and Calgary Cycle has the All Mountain Alliance. It has a great scene. Group rides 3+ times a week. Just post around at the shops that you want to do 4 hr loops in the evening, and I'm sure you would get a group for that LOL!

Don't forget to do some hiking!

Try to stay through the summer, you can ride untill almost 11 PM without lights.

Isn't there trails around Canada's Olympic Park?