Our tour started on the 16th of July. Splitting the 12 hour drive in half we each took a shift. Nelson was a sight for sore eyes. It was beautiful. Like hitting the beach in Miami but with colder more clear, sharkless waters :) They had it all from a beautiful small town with white sandy beaches and of course the Sacred Trail Bike Shop. Having down hill bikes we can feel any kind of incline or leveling of the ground when riding...so to solve the problem of hiking our bikes up the mountains around Nelson we decided to shuttle it. This is what we did in most cases if not all. We 4x4'd up the poorly kept logging roads most of which were abandoned. We had run in's with many a fallen trees, which eventually made their way rolling down the steep side of the road.
These trails were quite the sight. Good rocky down hill, single track and the like. How could I ever go back to Edmonton after being spoiled in the hippy populated Nelson, BC. After a few days of biking we packed up our whole operation and headed to Kamloops, but not before stopping in Ainsworth to check out their hot springs.
These hot springs were like no others. They had caves where you would wade into. We found the point at which the hot springs started...the source. It was great. The caves were all natural. After this hot springs detour no other hot spring could ever compare.
After arriving in Kamloops we found a beautiful campsite not even 10 minutes away from Harper Mountain. This mountain was where we spent the majority of our biking. Not only could we 4x4 shuttle all the way up to the head of the trail, but the whole mountain was covered in trails and North Shore. North Shore being built bridges, specifically placed logs even spirals as a neat way to get down a drop or steep hill as seen bellow. I did it three times. Amazed every time by how fun it was.
Sad as we all were after 4 days in Kamloops we headed on to Canmore. Canmore is close to the town of Banff. Being located in the mountains we were disappointed to find they had only two down hill trails. One of which was well worth the coming for. Technical at first but half way down became the most flowy trail I have ever been on. Two thumbs up for the trail builders on this one. They called it the Reclamer.
Canmore is home to an Olympic park for cross country skiing. In the summer, they use it for cross country biking (lots of peddling and up hill). However, they did have some dirt jumps in their set up that were the smoothest I had ever been on. They had the perfect lip. Just right for me to learn how to jump with my bike.
I do believe with that hot weather and pushing of my bike up hill to take the jumps over and over I lost some weight. Only to gain it back with hardy camp stove cooking :)
We were only on the trip from the 16th to the 25th. But it felt like forever. I was the best vacation I had ever had. The guys and I ripping down the trails at lighting speed. Out of the three places I found that I liked Kamloops for its biking. I would like to live there some day if it weren't for the absolutely horrid set up of the roads. You get lost with in 10 minutes of being in the silly city.
My bike is now clean and I'm back to my old routine. Its to bad too. That precious dirt and mud collected from those great trails. I should have kept some to remind me of the fun times that we had. On the Prairie Boys (and girl) Bike Tour.
Live long and...bike!
