With a tinge of fall in the air, we gathered Sunday afternoon to mark a changing of the season. Craig was back, Erik & I were back on-continent, and Kate still had a few more mountain bike races to win next week. But it was time for some Cyclocross again, and what a way to mark the occasion...
Although we were tired from yesterday’s 150km ride, and the residual Jetlag only 3 sleeps behind some of us – I had been staring at Google Maps for a good while now trying to piece this ride together, and it had gotten me excited. My objective was a loop to connect the best gravels of west Springbank, Highway 68, and West Bragg into one super loop of off-the-beaten-path adventure. http://www.strava.com/activities/184987352
In the end, ~90km of pavement, gravel and singletrack were covered:
- No one got shot (Although as we rode through 5km of gun range along Homestead Road, I was really glad Kate had worn her hunter-orange Leaders jersey from Breck Epic).
- Only 2.5 flats, and the first time I’ve ever seen a barbed-wire fence-climbing flat.
- As we came through the West Bragg trail system, and onto ‘Braggin Rights’ trail, I thought the name was quite appropriate for the occasion. Some people we passed had their minds blown at the sight of Cross bikes on these trails. A guy in the West Bragg Parking lot watched us exit the trailhead and snarked “how’s the cross ride?” - I said “Great, we started in Calgary” – and his expression changed noticeably J
- I’m sure bikes have traversed these lands before, but maybe not in a single loop. To me this ride represents all that is great about the potential of cross bikes, they have just enough of everything for the road and the trails.
Friends and adventure across what I think is some of the most beautiful land in the province. Winning.
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