Canadian research - the riding

As many people will know (I kind of had been driving people nuts going on and on about it a bit!) I've been in Canada for the last month. Why? Well just for the hell of it! Obviously my luggage included a bike. So instead of giving you all the blow by blow account, here are some of the highlights...

Warning: I have a sh!t camera and couldn't be bothered using it much, so most of the photos are stolen

Urban Rampage
Before anyone starts pointing out that Seattle is not in Canada, you have to admit it is kind of close. So I thought an American detour was worth a try. I didn't do much in the way of "normal mountain biking," but I did go and check this place out:


I stole these photos from this site: http://evergreenmtb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Trail:I-5_Colonnade

Built under an expressway, this is a really cool park. Should we build one in a NZ city? Of course!

Squamish
Despite having to climb a lot of mind numbing fire road, the downs were worth it!
Favourite Squamish trail? Half Nelson - basically a downhill pump track!

That might not be me...

Whistler
Well what can be said about Whistler that hasn't been said already?
My favourite? This run: Ninja Cougar - Karate Monkey - Samurai Pizza Cat - Ho Chi Min - Heart of Darkness
Rocks, roots, berms and a few surprises to make sure that you are on your game and not just letting your bike get you out of trouble!

My favourite section of the track, the bridge is A-Trail

Nanaimo - Vancouver Island
I have saved the best till last...








These trails were not super groomed roller-coaster rides, just good old fashioned rough trails that made you appreciate suspension. There were steep switchback corners that reminded me of Choppers in Belmont. But here there was more of them and they were rather hard. This was the most enjoyable ride I went on in the entire trip. While it's hard to navigate here and there are rednecks about (story to follow...), you won't leave Nanaimo dissappointed.
I recommend you go see the folks at Arrowsmith Bikes, they were really friendly and suggested a loop that left me wishing I had spent more time in Nanaimo!

So if you are heading to British Columbia, get in touch. There were so many places I wished I spent more time (in particular Vancouver Island) that are not the most well known places for riding in an area spoilt for mountain biking.

Right time for a banana split...


More stories from Canada to follow... stay tuned!