Category: bikes

I woke around 4.30am to the sound of birds. I’m not sure why birds are always so excited about the impending sunrise, but for half an hour or so there, they just wouldn’t shut up about it. At least I wasn’t in a tent in Australia, where the birds really know how to make a convincing racket.

Some more sleep, and more sliding around in the tent, and off the short sleeping mat, and over to one side of the tent, then the other, and it was after 6am. A quick snack and then packing up and hitting the road. I was due at Elk Pass around 7am – or maybe 6.30am – to meet Kate, who would be riding to Elkford with me.

After a few kilometres on the road, I was stomping about in the misty carpark at the trailhead, eating a little more food and trying to keep warm in the cool damp air. Kate was dropped off, there was a flurry of activity and excitement, and then we set off up the frozen earth and snow of the Hydroline trail at around 7.30am.

Climbing up and up to reach the open section of trail under the powerlines at Elk Pass was basically the only steep climb of the day, and it didn’t take anywhere near so long as I was worried it might. A lot more snow had melted off in the last week, and the snow that was there was mostly solid enough to be quite rideable.

We came across our only set of bear prints there – what I think was a black bear, that had definitely been heading in the opposite direction on the trail for a while.

By the time we reached the Elk Pass picnic table, we were actually feeling awake! Then sun was out, we snacked some more, then were nearly trampled to death by an enormous herd of backpacking teenagers.

The far side of the pass was already getting muddier in the full sunlight. And there was more snow! How rude. But the valley was opening up in front of us, and there were new mountains to see!

We turned out onto the road near Elk Lakes and were astonished to find that we were in a beautiful wide open valley with a really nice well packed gravel road. The weather was looking great, the day was warming up, and the road started trending downhill. It all seemed a little too good to be true.

The route we were following was along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Which means it is where the Tour Divide bike race travels each year. Which means this was also a little bit of a scouting mission, because I’m planning to try and race the Tour Divide next year, which is an exciting and alarming prospect.

On the gear testing side of things, my bike was holding up well, the load was easy to pedal along, and I love my Porcelain Rocket bags.

As we pedalled along, gradually losing altitude, the Elk River got bigger and bigger. And the road kept disappearing off into the distance, wonderful and car-free, with no bears, gorgeous views, and the occasional elk or squirrel.

Eventually, we did start standing up on our pedals a little more often. Behinds that aren’t used to long days in the saddle do eventually complain. My knees got a little sore. And we finally saw a couple of cars. But then somehow it was 3pm, and we were in Elkford!

There isn’t an awful lot in Elkford. Kate wasn’t due to be picked up for a while yet, so we decided to just keep riding together on the highway to Sparwood. It’s a small highway, with a lot of mine traffic (there are mines in both Elkford and Sparwood), but everyone was very polite, and gave us lots of room. Which was good, because we were beginning to feel the distance at that point. And once you’re back in civilisation, it’s hard to re-gain the “cycling forever through an isolated wonderland” feeling. So 35km couldn’t be over quick enough – although it was interrupted at one point by Alex, who found us, offered to take a couple of my bags, and to give Kate a lift to Sparwood if she wanted – tempting, but no, we kept riding.

And we made it!

The Sparwood truck is an awesome landmark, and everything is awesome.

But I still wasn’t done – my friend Kat met me in Sparwood, and after farewelling Kate, we set off towards Fernie. Thankfully Kat is a strong rider, experienced cycle tourer, and apparently also a super-domestique. She pulled me along to Fernie easily, and I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw the Fernie welcome sign. Not too soon though, because we were staying in the provincial campground – out the other side of town and up an enormous hill!

But I made it!

Distance: 154km
Elevation gain: 1123m

And in honour of the song that was stuck in our heads all day… now it can be stuck in your head too:

My very first solo overnight trip! For all that I’ve done plenty of solo daytrip adventuring, I’ve never headed out to sleep alone somewhere. Because the night is dark and scary, and full of wolves and axe murderers.

The plan was to ride my bike on Thursday evening from Canmore to Kananaskis Lakes – about 70km, mainly on dirt roads.

I left work early, with my gear nearly all organised, and got on the road around 5pm. Of course, then my bike bags started rubbing and misbehaving, so I spent some time organising them and redistributing my load. And then riding up the enormous hill of enormousness. It’s much smaller and easier when you’re on an unloaded bike, with friends, on a still and sunny day with clear blue skies. This day was not still and sunny. The wind kept gusting up, and there were dark patches of threatening weather lurking around the mountains. The weather forecast had been threatening showers, and before I left, people had been making helpful suggestions like “Why don’t you put it off for a day?”.

But I made it to the top! This was goodbye to cell reception for the next 20 hours, so with farewell messages and photos of myself looking slightly concerned, I rode up and over the pass, and into the relative wilds of the well-travelled roads of K-Country.

With a dubious forecast and threatening clouds, I had all of my rain gear handy. This conveniently seemed to repel the worst of the weather. I was caught in a couple of brief snow-showers, but they never lasted long, and were very much in the ‘easy to brush the snow off and forget about’ category. Obviously my weather girl powers have not yet failed me entirely.

Soon enough I hit the Spray Lakes Reservoir, and it was snack and photo time. Travel was fast and easy, and there was very little traffic around to throw dust in my eyes. I hadn’t seen any bears, and the whole thing was starting to settle into standard bike riding rhythm, instead of panicked “Help, I’m alone and going to be eaten by a bear” rhythm.

The clouds that had been atmospherically winding themselves around the mountain tops began to dissipate, and the patches of blue sky were multiplying. It was actually turning into a nice evening!

I even managed to take a photo of myself riding without dropping the camera. Still looking worried, but that’s mainly because I was concentrating on not dropping the camera.

Then, my 70km nearly complete, I arrived at the final hill which would drop me down to Kananaskis Lakes. Still with plenty of daylight to spare! I’d seen an elk (my designated spirit animal of the trip), a few deers, and a few squirrels, but no bears. So I carefully picked my way down the stony road, keeping an eye on the speed to avoid silly crashes within a couple of kilometres of finishing for the night.

I pulled onto the asphalt of Kananaskis Lakes after safely negotiating the loose and stony hill of doom. Winding my way into the complex of campsites there, I tried riding the cyclist pathway for a while. The still-closed campsites towards the northern end of the lakes were a bit spooky though, so I opted to pick my way a few kilometres further south, into the relative civilization of the handful of other campers who were about.

After wolfing down some cold leftovers (quiche, mmmm) I put up my little tent, and dived in for a good nights sleep. Phase one of Mission Ride To Fernie was a success!