Review Date
August 18, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: markemtbr ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This is a fun trail for being in the middle of London. It is not the greatest by any means since you have to switch b/wn trail and paved bike path, but if you are in the area it is worth riding. It is has a little of everything. Some very rooty technical spots, some free flowing runs and some tight turns. You defintely need to pay attention and be quick in your decision making. I found it to be a fun ride and I would go back since I am in the area. When following the paved paths there you need to keep a close eye out for where the singletrack picks up again. At times an entrance to the singletrack is simply a dead end so you have to turn it around and keep riding and trying each path you see. This gets a little tiring but once on the singletrack again it usually goes for some ways before ending. It is a good workout and a good place to hone some technical skills

Recommended Route:
Follow the directions of the first reviewer. I usually park on some back streets downtown, off of Talbot, and then proceed down to Gibbons Park. It should be easy enough to find a place in the area to leave your car and not have to worry about it.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Komoka Provincial Park & the trails by Kains Rd. technically i guess you are not supposed to bike there, but... they are great rides and worth a trip to get to.

Review Date
September 28, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: xcbikeman ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Not a Fanshawe Lake but considering it's in the center of the city a decent ride along the Thames - part of the Upper Thames Valley Trail. Hard to follow as it's not well marked other than a few blobs of white paint on trees here and there. Some sections along the river are just dangerous enough to be exciting. Some paved path and road required to connect dirt sections. Not many hills but lots and lots of technical - rocks, roots, dips, tight corners - making for perfect xc stuff. Plenty of trees, bushes and fast blind corners so having a bell is a good idea. I logged 16kms out and back.

Recommended Route:
Gibons Park can be found at the West end of Grosvner St. Trail entrance is directly across from the north parking lot. Directions above work but suggest you go with someone who knows the trail or get the Walking Map (not the biking one as it doesn't show the dirt trails) provided by City of London. If you're brave you can try the crappy interactive map on this website: http://www.london.ca/Mapphoto/bikepage.htm

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Fanshawe Lake, Boler, etc.