Mountain Biking in British Columbia (Canada)

“Nelson is known for having challenging free ride stuff with big stunts, steeps and rock slabs. (Free ride means that there are manmade stunts and or natural obstacles that are meant to be ridden rather than avoided in addition to typical single track). I experienced a cross section of this with everything up to, but not including, big free ride stunts. I started out by climbing a logging road up and up. Along the way I encountered some other friendly riders near the top that had stopped to pick huckleberries. I stopped and ate a few handfuls. Yum. From here I finished the climb and searched for the route down. I decided to step it up and ride one of the signature trails, Paper Bag. Paper Bag is steep, meandering and littered with huge rock slabs. These slabs are crazy steep with wicked exposure at times.”

“I’m grateful that the list of injuries stopped when the race started. The only medical issues I had was a baboon butt from not enough chamois cream, one small blister on my left hand and a chain ring bite from lack of attention when putting my bike down at an aid station. Despite hot and dusty trail conditions that made traction challenging at times, I managed to keep the rubber side down throughout the race.”