Category: bikes
I rode for the CMH corporate team again this year – three laps (scoring the 10.30pm, a 6am, and then to make up for it, the last lap of the day around midday on Sunday). The Moosling and Alex did not camp up at the Nordic Centre overnight, being that at least that way they could get some sleep overnight. Even camped in the quietest area, it still isn’t a relaxing sleep-filled night.
The course was fast, and slightly modified (cutting out Killer Bees and a section of FYI) to avoid some of the storm damage from Friday night – uprooted and fallen trees left sections of impassable track.
Just a few random phone photos taken on some of the local rides so far this summer. We never usually end up getting any photos, so much of summer goes un-photographed, when it’s just lots of biking.
I had somehow never ridden the Lake Minnewanka shoreline trail before, but managed to get in two rides this year before the wildlife closure kicked in. Definitely not Chariot friendly unfortunately, otherwise we could do a family bike and hike up Mount Aylmer.
A good ride to hit early in the day if you’re going to be riding on the weekend too. Trail enjoyment is considerably reduced for everyone involved when you’re constantly having to slow right down and ring your bell to politely pass hikers. Fantastic fun if you can get a clear run at it though.
On the July version of the ride we actually made it out to the Warden’s Cabin (in May we’d had to turn back early due to work schedules). Sitting on the rocky beach and eating lunch, a deer wandered past and tried to eat our bicycles.
(And sorry for the slightly dodgy phone photos, but my camera is just to big to enjoyably haul out on single-trail bike adventures… and yes we are dorks with bikes. Thank you for noticing.)
The Elbow Loop is one of those rides I kept coming across in lists with descriptions like: “Classic K-Country Rides”. And in fact it is a classic – in the sense it comes from the days when mountain-biking was all about riding on rough dirt roads, back before the day when someone realised they could ride single-track, and that was actually a lot more fun.
With all that double track, we figured we may as well take the Chariot along. I’d never ridden the loop before. Alex had, but seemed to think it was worth doing again – and it was, in that it was one of the double-track rides around that’s possible to do with a Chariot. Otherwise, there are a lot of much more interesting rides in K-Country (although the scenery is quite nice, and maybe I’m just a little spoilt from living in the mountains now).
We headed out along the Little Elbow trail first, riding the loop anti-clockwise. After passing a few hikers we had the trail to ourselves for most of the climb up to Tombstone Pass. The climbing was pretty relentless, but we risked the perils of inertia and made one stop along the way so the Moosling could get out and throw rocks around (mostly at Mama).
The trail reports had threatened snow at the pass, but although there was a little hiding in the trees, the trail itself was clear. I’m increasingly having no faith at all in the trail reports out here.
We didn’t spend much time at Tombstone Pass, but dropped down into the Big Elbow Valley, where the trail narrowed, and became a lot more like single trail (although still passable on the Chariot). At the same time, the scenery got a little more spectacular, and I could see why people would rave about the ride.
Some of the more interesting sections were found on this side of the circuit, and I was glad I wasn’t towing the Chariot – so I could zoom on the single track, and so I didn’t have to haul it uphill after the stream crossings. A couple of sections here the Chariot was walked, both uphill and downhill, but never for long.
Eventually we left the hills behind, and followed the river out along the flat. And along the flat. And along the flat. That interminable flat track, it eventually spat us out back at the carpark, and we were relieved, as we’d had enough of riding mountain bikes along flat rocky roads.
Distance: From the campground carpark, the whole loop worked out to be a little over 42km
Elevation gain: About 850m of climbing. Basically it’s uphill for nearly 20km, to an elevation of about 2,230m, then mostly downhill for the 20km back home.
Chariot-ability: Mostly double track. A few sections narrowed to single trail, but it was always forgiving wide single trail that was easy to get the Chariot along. The creek crossings were numerous and interesting though, especially the rocky ones. And a couple of rocky downhill sections we opted to walk.
Rating: Nice views, fun if you’re bike packing through the area, feel the need to explore somewhere new, or have to pick an adventure that is Chariot/trailer friendly.