“Ok. We leave at 5:45am,” confirmed Dre, before I headed home to get a few short hours sleep.

Relaxing on the couch of the Riding Fool Hostel in Cumberland BC with BC Bike Ride and the Mountain Biking BC tour, Andreas Hestler told Seb Kemp and Nicolas Teichrob of the great loop of Bear Buns, 42nd Street and Off Broadway.

“It’s a shame we missed those trails today” he added.

The group had been busy, their trek beginning in the Whistler valley, onto South Vancouver Island, and now into the Comox Valley, splitting the time between Cumberland and Forbidden Plateau trails. One can spend days on each area, but this quick tour was looking for the best of both sides of the lake. Tomorrow they would leave at 7:30am for the ferry to Hornby Island.

“Who’s up for a dawn patrol?”

The sum total of four people stepped up and decided to go for it. The ride should take about an hour and 15 minutes, and we have to be back by 7am… So we’re pulling out at 5:45am!

Considering it was approaching midnight already and some were planning a forray over to the Waverley Hotel, it was time to call it a night and head for bed.

A quick pack job at home making sure all the important stuff was ready to go, it was lights out.

5:25am

I had coffee ready to go and after a short 10 minute drive arrived at the hostel looking for signs of life.

Seb was first, followed by Nic and Dre.

The air was still and the temperature was just about perfect. There was some dew on the ground, the official sunrise was 5:45am and we were on the trail 10 minutes later.

@sebastiankemp: Rode three of the funnest and most imaginative trails today. All before 7am. Today will be a good day twitpic.com/5xp2ks

We rolled back to the Hostel just shy of 7am. Smiles all around. A quick stop at the Kumberland Grind for a fresh coffee and we headed to our respective offices.

It may not my first dawn patrol, but by far one of the most enjoyable!

“Is he ok?” John asked Teresa as they watched me pick myself up off the ground and check that everything was still attached and in one piece.

While racing down a beautiful descent of Montana singletrack, I came to realize that not all regions have jumped on the 710mm handlebar choice. the lodgepole pines were a smidge too narrow and after clipping my left grip lock-on, I pin-balled for another 20 or so feet down the trail, my bike coming to rest perpedicular to the trail direction.

We were just about finished a great ride with John Friedrich of the inaugural Stumpjumper Trail Crew, and finishing up our 10 day road trip through the northwest US. Bozeman was our final stop before the trip home and a Sunday morning ride near Butte Montana seemed like a great idea.

After being rained out the last few days the sun shone down on us. The trails were very dry no matter what with a base that closely resembled crushed granite. It made for great traction and smooth flowy trails.

Our days of travel and ride at elevation were finally helping as this much climbing would have destroyed us early in the week.

We had noticed Forest Service vehicles in the parking lot and a few horse trailers. The trail maintenance in the area is funded and provides for additional resources not found in our home region. We came upon their handy work as we approached Beaver Ponds.

The trails in Montana were like home with the trees roots and rocks, but in many ways completly foreign to us.

Different than Sun Valley with sage brush and wild flowers, flowing through forests of pine, it was the smooth and buff trail that set this ride apart.

A shared beer at the end, we parted ways and started our trek back to Vancouver Island.

Continental Divide Trail & Beaver Ponds, Butte Montana

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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.

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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