Summer has arrived, and with it comes a great opportunity to hit the road to check out new places. Through the power of the internet, blogs, twitter and the Stumpjumper Trail Crew, we have come to meet a few people who share our love for threads of singletrack.

While Vancouver Island is blessed with an abundance of trails to ride, having met many racers through the BC Bike Race, we’ve heard of great riding in so many other places. Mtnbikinggirl and I have chosen two locations to spend our time riding this summer. Sun Valley, Idaho and Bozeman, Montana. I’ve traveled these areas in the past but haven’t ridden the local trails.

Along the way we hope to sample various restaurants, brew pubs, fruit stands, bike shops, lakes, rivers and mountains.

Be sure to follow our progress.

Road Trip

Great ride today with some good friends. Trails were a bit damp in spots, but the sun which appeared later in the ride was very welcomed. Beautiful fall colours were enjoyed by all.

Forbidden Plateau XC / AM Ride

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Snowden Demonstration Forest is a network of trails just north of Campbell River, BC on the Gold River highway. Flowy singletrack through second growth forest ranges from overgrown railbeds to rocky and rooty technical trail. Recent funding initiatives by the federal government has provided for a trail crew which has been clearing back overgrown trails, improving drainage, rebuilding bridges and creating for a much need upgrade to this longstanding trail network.

Each Labour Day weekend, this network is home to the Campbell River 50k challenge, with each loop consisting of over 25km’s of singletrack. To put it simply, if you’re looking for endless singletrack for your xc rig, this is a top location on Vancouver Island.

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If you want epic loops on Vancouver Island, look no further than the 2009 Day 3 BC Bike Race course. Big climbs, great decents, lots of singletrack and a few rivers to cool of in. Logging in the fall of 2009 will affect some of the trails, but new trails will soon emerge.

BC Bike Race 2009 Day 3

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First night ride of the season (last ride we ended in a bit of darkness) so we headed for some simple xc trails to make sure my lights would work.

Moe’s Misery is an old school trail placed on the upper banks of the Trent River south of Royston, BC. Easy access has been good and bad for the trail as more recently ATV’s have been travelling the route and widening the once narrow trail. Just keep an eye out to the left as the trail comes close to some quite significant drops to the river below.

Moe’s Misery

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Had a great ride tonight with Teresa and Katie (the dog). Started with Cabin Fever XC down to the Cabin, turned left and joined up with Dirty Jane. At the top of the climbing section turned right onto Black Dog and then completed the ride with Puntledge Plunge, then Bears Bait and back to the Nymph Falls parking lot via Midline trail. Great ride – awesome sunset.

Cabin Fever, Dirty Jane, Black Dog, Plunge

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The many views of The kootenays

As resource industries fade and regions need to find other forms of economic stimulus, tourism has become a strong component of revitalization. From historic tours to recreation sites, rails to trails, summer chairlift operations and bike parks, many communities are diversifying.

Our recent trip to the Kootenays showed these changes in spades. We often saw views of quiet sawmills, mining sites, equipment and empty buildings. We also saw many tourists, people enjoying outdoor recreation and great heritage and tourism related sites.

The Kootenays have been so enthralled by the opportunity for mountain biking that they have created a great guide and websites for your travel planning.

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