[Closed] Canadia Road trip - Ultimate Trails

aaaaah should mention jeycore lite, wheels mostly on the ground innit

you'd be better asking this on NSMB, sounds like a fun trip though.

That looks like a lot of driving to me...

Johnny Smoke is the man t hook up with apparently.
http://bushpilotbiking.com

Me too Plumber - fly to Calgary on Sunday.

Some people have offered some really good suggestions in this thread [url] http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sorry-canadian-tyres-and-holiday-questions [/url] and I have made notes ready for the trip.

From what I have ridden I would say

Revelstoke - keystone - standard basin, a great backcountry out and back high alpine singletrack ride.
Kamloops - Silverstar bike park
Whistler - Bike park, babylon by bike, any valley trail!
Vancouver - Sexboy on cypress - pure northshore steep gnarlia
Nelson, British Columbia - 49er, easiet freeride trail and still hard!
Fernie - Project nine - amazing

nelson is awesome

eitherway, johnny smoke is the man.he knows every trail in freeride heaven

Agree with Keystone - Standard Basin, you might still encounter snow even at this time of year. The track to the trailhead is a challenge.

North Shore - CBC, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, 7th Secret.

Fernie (Bikepark) - Rumplestumpskin

Nelson - Paperbag, Goldmember(s) to Waldorfian, Highballer to Placenta Decender to Wake 'n' Bake.

Not ridden much at Squamish, but Powerhouse Plunge was good IIRC.

Silverstar Bikepark is good too, though not in WHister's league. It is a great place for riders to progress. We spent a summer in Vernon last year and has season passes for Silverstar.

At Sunpeaks, trails with sugar/sweet names are good - Sugar, Sweet One and Honey Drop.

Revelstoke -- drive for 3 hours to..
Kamloops -- drive for 4 hours to...
Whistler -- half an hour to.. .
Squamish -- an hour to ...
Vancouver -- 8 hours to...
Nelson -- 4 hours to...
Fernie --

Add 6 hours to get to Revy from either Calgary or Vancouver. Just sayin', you're going to be behind the wheel for longer than you'll be on the bike.

While we're tracking silly statistics...

BC = 944,735 km2
UK = 244,820 km2
France (largest in EU) = 632,760 km2

OK, now that we're straight on the scale, let's look at what you should be checking out for XC-ish style riding...

Revy - Keystone Standard Basin (50km north of Revy. Easy access with any 2WD. 4 hour out and back)

Kamloops - not good XC. Great FR riding at Harper Mtn.

Whistler - OK XC. Must do 1) River Runs Through It and 2) Thrill Me Kill Me to the 1st part of Comfortably Numb, then exit on Young Lust.

Squamish - the Plunge is beat to ratshit (it gets a race on it every year). You're better off doing a big loop up in the Four Lakes trails. Get a map from Tantalus Bike Shop and ask for local advice. You may score a guide.

Vancouver -- best conditions are on Fromme, due to no shuttle access. For the mellower rider, Upper Oilcan to Pipeline. Take Baden Powell to the left back to the base of the mtn, then go back up 500m to Natural High. Upper Oil is maybe a bit on the gnar side, but it's incredible and not to be missed.

Nelson -- Paper Bag. Or drop in to the Sacred Ride and ask Mark what's good. You should be staying here for a week at least. Also, you just passed Rossland (7 Summits).

Fernie -- If you're gonna only do one, it's Dirt Diggler. No contest there...

you need to make sure you do the jumping pound trail near canmore, and the 7 summits trail in revelstoke.

Thanks everyone, I knoew I could depend on you.

Domino and family - if you fancy a beer in Calgary let me know 🙂

Ta

Plum

7 Summits is in Rossland, roughly 3.5 hours south of Revy.

1st part of Comfortably Numb, then exit on Young Lust.

Hmmm, I made this "mistake" once. The 1st part on CN is a long, tight, semi-technical climb [which is superb, if you're on your game and like that sort of stuff] but Young Lust is just a rough plunge to the valley
floor. The bike you take for CN is NOT the one you'd want to use on Young Lust or vice versa!

For the mellower rider, Upper Oilcan to Pipeline.

Upper Oil Can has a lot of mild woodwork on it. If it's wet, you might be better off riding up hill for another 100m or so and pick up 7th Secret. Less woodwork and more manageable for Shore virgin 😉

Silverstar Bikepark is good too, though not in WHister's league.

I think that's a good thing! Silverstar = less crowds & less beat up trails.

Oh come on...Young Lust is not a hard trail, and it's only about 10 minutes long. The alternative is to either suffer through another 18 km of Uncomfortable Bum or ride back the way you came.

Really, of you cleaned even a small portion of the Numb to get to that point, Young Lust is a cake walk.

Young Lust is not a hard trail

Never said it was... 😉

it's only about 10 minutes long

Exactly! Personally, I'd rather reverse the outward route from the bridge or carry on for the full CN marathon. I actually enjoyed the full suffer-fest but I'm weird like that...

Upper Oil can is great

peronally if i wasn't using Mr Smokes fine hospitality and bike tomfoolery skills (and i don't think i'd go to canada without, it'd be like smores without marshmallow) then i'd get some basic (basic for canada that is) skills training in on the first few days which would open up a good few more trails then i'd hit up the good bike stores and see where it went from there. Most of the shop rides seem to be of mixed ability and all the woodwork usually has chicken runs but you'll be wanting to have a go after a few runs.

Comfortably Numb - in reverse starting in Lost Lake. First ascent (Foreplay) is rideable in sections with a bunch of steep hike a bike. Probably 45 minutes or so to the top but the descent back to the Al Grey bridge is superb. Young lust on an XC bike is totally manageable as ultimately if you're riding comfortably numb, you have to be pretty handy technically. I'd choose to ride my Spark or Genius in any of that stuff.
Another great loop is the time trial course that slopeside supply use for their loonie race. Westside trails are often overlooked but offer great riding.

I'd definately second Smokes Kill me Thrill me into North Secret (CN) down Young lust [u]or[/u] 5k into CN past the bridge before peeling off onto Green Lake loop and a lap through lost lakes superb Zappa link trails. That first few kms of the trail gives a good idea of the technical challenge that the trail offers without killing you.

Squamish. The plunge is definately a challenge but still a fun trail.
Link the top half of the plunge into a fire road climb to the new trail Hoods in the Woods for a fun but challenging loop starting and finishing around the University. Beer on the uni's deck afterwards and enjoy the views.

Failing that, the Gearjammer is a superb race and you can ride sections of that course and see some of Squamish's best XC.

www.gearjammer.ca

The trails around Alice lake are good plenty of achieveable challenges. You can put together simply superb sets of riding from either near where I live in the Highlands or if you park out at Alice Lake.

Definately try and get a guide.. you'll get far more from you're riding which if you're on a tight schedule is super important!

Enjoy the trip!
Jonny at Bear Back