It was cold, with a forecast for rain. A group of us had planned a family/no family bike trip to Revelstoke. As the weekend grew closer and the forecast for Revelstoke looked increasingly terrible, the families lost enthusiasm. But in a bold move, we decided to go anyway, sans famille.
Friday night we drove out to Revelstoke. Saturday morning we rode the McPherson trails in Revelstoke – I was feeling stronger than I expected, but a summer of no mountain biking hadn’t helped my fitness. Then it started to rain. We eyed off the sky dubiously, debated a little, then high-tailed it to BC.
As we drove, we started to be able to see a distant patch of blue sky. Would these hours of driving be worth it?
We reached Vernon. It was warm! It was dry! It was sunny! We rejoiced, and rode our bikes on the Kalamalka trails.
The dust got in my eyes, but I didn’t care, because I was finally riding a mountain bike again.
We soared back to the parking lot just before dusk, and it felt a little like we were getting away with something illegal.
The only problem now was – where were we going to stay tonight? It was a gorgeous warm long weekend. Surely no-one else had realised this, and the campgrounds would be deserted?
Nope.
We went from campground to campground, but found nowhere to stay. In the end we gave up and went to the sketchy campground in town. As we packed up the next morning, the guys in the permanent set up across from us had already started drinking.
The plan for Saturday morning was to ride the Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park trails, near South Kelowna. And they were amazingly fun too!
Somehow after that the afternoon devolved into go-karting though. I’d never been before. And now I never have to go again.
On our third night of BC we acquired luxurious private Kelowna accommodations, camping out by the house of someone’s family. Great views, lush green grass, and the weather was still perfect.
Day three of riding took us to Smith Creek. Which has an uptrack that inexplicably feels flowy and like you aren’t actually climbing. But then when you reach the summit, you have an amazing long downhill in front of you. And there are any number of interesting features along the way.
Three of us decided to go back for one more lap. I don’t know if it was a sensible decision. My dodgy knee certainly didn’t think so. By the time we reached the top I felt like my legs were about to fall off. But in a good way.
And then it was time for the epic 6 – 7 hour drive home. Worth it? Absolutely. Next year Moab?
