Pandemic Pedaling: From Banff to the Okanagan on the Great Trail
Solo, first time bike packing for 12 days, 1,100 km and 10,000 metres during the pandemic. A ride with equipment failures, trees falling into camps, bears, a dog swarming, occasional crashes, amazing scenery, great towns and a lot of gravel.
The Great Divide, Bear Bell and Dirt: Banff to Fernie
I Got This - Minus the Dog Swarming: Fernie to Crawford Bay
Trees Falling, Flat Tires, Beautiful Rides: Crawford Bay to Grand Forks
Bringing it Home with a Bear: Grand Forks to Penticton
My new plan started after COVID-19 canceled a bike trip abroad and I was casting about for some sort of challenging replacement that would work in a socially distant yet still fun way.
I stumbled upon an online story about the BC Epic 1000 - a self supported gravel trail bike race across British Columbia starting in Merritt and ending in Fernie with the winner doing it in under 3 days in 2019. As a regular road cyclist and soon to be first time bikepacker I was unlikely to do such a race out of the gate but the overview of the Trans Canada Trail, now called The Great Trail (June 2021: Renamed back to the Trans Canada Trail!), was eye opening.
A gravel trail, occasionally singletrack, sometimes logging road, relatively local across BC; it seemed to be both achievable and a compelling alternative adventure. My spouse Kelly rolled her eyes given I still needed a gravel bike!
In early July, thinking I had plenty of time, I narrowed my bike choice down to a small brand called Bearclaw and their Beaux Jaxon drop bar gravel bike. I was led to this decision by a lot of online research, chatting to the Bearclaw folks and a similar choice by an old work friend of mine. I figured 4 weeks delivery, 4 weeks of breaking it in - probably with an overnight dry run - it would be no problem to be on the road in early September.
Sorting through some of the great online suggestions of the burgeoning bikepacking community, I decided to complement my bike with a Revelate bag system - a 6 litre half frame bag, a 14 litre seat pack, a feedbag, a top tube bag and their smallest 7 litre handlebar bag. Surely 27-28 litres of space would accommodate all my stuff.
Also, being new to this, I needed to expand my regular backpacking gear with a smaller single person bikepacking tent and a modern camp quilt and lightweight sleeping pad.
And, finally, because I am a worrier about bears and accidents, I topped up my electronics - existing Garmin Fenix watch and Apple iPhone - with a Garmin inReach Mini so I could text and be tracked outside of cell service, which would be a somewhat regular occurrence throughout the trip.
The Route
I debated my route on the Great Trail - west to Vancouver from Banff or east to Banff - and decided it would be easier flying to Calgary, starting in Banff and heading west. Downhill to the coast, I thought.
For those looking for the big picture map, here is my Ride With GPS route after the fact. It was 1,098 km over 12 days with about 10,488 metres up and 11,514 metres down. So slightly downhill.
The plan was if I got within 4 hours driving distance of Vancouver Kelly would drive to pick me up. Turns out to be closer to 5 hours but fortunately she still drove out!
The Ride With GPS route and elevation profile The Bike Arrives Now it was time to wait for the bike. Supply problems on the parts meant delivery kept on moving out so the overnight pre-trip was canceled in favour of using an old bike to do a weekend exploration of the Kettle Valley Railway - part of the route - in Penticton. The 70 km tester gave me confidence though I did realize that section was particularly nicely groomed due to the density of tourists in the area.
To keep my bike fitness up ahead of the trip I kept to a summer schedule of road biking and adding in a bit more hill climbing to build up endurance. Despite realizing my trip was coming soon, the maximum weekly distance I managed was about 250 km which was quite a bit less than what would likely be closer to 500+ km per week when traveling. It was going to have to do.
Schedule-wise things started getting more tense as the month of August wore on with no firm bike arrival date yet. I had picked Sunday August 30 to fly from Vancouver to Calgary and was planning to be on the road Monday August 31 starting on the Great Divide route out of Banff to Fernie. Hotel and flight were booked, relatives Tony and Cheryl in Banff were warned I was coming, bike packs were loaded, bike fitter was booked the Friday before the flight … but no bike. Ack!
Finally, the supply chain issue was resolved and all the parts came into the bike shop to ship out. By the time everything arrived in Vancouver it was Friday August 28, midday. I put the bike together, loaded all the bags and equipment and all seemed well. I managed to shift the appointment with my great bike fitter - Noa Deutsch at Performance Training - to Saturday so I had a fighting chance to be somewhat comfortable on the ride.
With all of 24 hours to get everything together, the final step was to take it all apart and put it back in the cardboard box the bike arrived in and get ready to fly the next morning. All good!
Bike put together
Bags packed!
Bike loaded
The flight was seamless - no problems getting the bike on and all worked well following the new normal masking procedures in flight. Before long I was in my rental car picking up the last supplies that were not allowed to come on the plane - bear spray and butane gas for my camp stove.
In Banff I spent the afternoon at Tony’s and Cheryl’s yard assembling the bike and in a couple of hours it was all together, working well. A great dinner with them was the perfect send off back to my hotel room to do last minute tweaking and organizing.
The Great Divide, Bear Bell and Dirt: Banff to Fernie
Waking up in the morning it was a quick breakfast and I was off. I had fretted overnight on whether to have a bear bell or not. The advice is mixed with some saying they are not needed but others noting that they might be helpful for cyclists since they can more easily surprise bears. In the end having it made me feel more comfortable.
My starting route was following the Great Divide into Fernie. I figured my first day would be a rolling, slightly uphill ride to Peter Lougheed Park. It looked to be 80 km - 6 -7 hours - so I didn’t mind waiting for the store to open at 10 AM to get the bell. Of course, as I sat at the head of Goat Creek Trail, a minor family emergency came up causing me to spend time on the phone doing my bit … oh well, first day, on the road by 11 AM!
The ride out of Banff is truly spectacular - riding alongside towering Rocky Mountains and glacial lakes, all on a mixture of groomed gravel, well-ridden singletrack and mountain roads. It was a great start. My only problem was missing a turn off from the High Rockies Trail to jump down to the gravel road into Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.
High Rockies Trail - trailhead
One of many bridges - High Rockies Trail
Stunning scenery everywhere
Many kilometres like this
That mistake cost me about 10-15 km of hilly hike-a-bike trail and backtracking. My 6-7 hour 80 km ride was turning into a 9-10 hour, 95 km ride. Eventually I navigated back to the road and rolled into Canyon Campground in Peter Lougheed Park close to 8 PM.
I worried a little when the campsite stated only Albertans were permitted due to COVID but since it was half full my BC resident status seemed to not be an issue. In the end, it was a great first day with all the postcard crazy scenery and fun singletrack but I was tired!
This first night was the full test of my systems - while everything had worked independently at home, this was the first time using the tent, sleeping system and cooking system together in real life. Amazingly it all worked well - tent was up in minutes, butane stove cooked dinner perfectly and the sleep quilt/mat was comfortable to sleep on.
The main thing that didn’t happen the first day was washing my bike kit — my plan was to have 2 bike kits (jersey, bibs, socks with a shared mountain bike overshort between them) washing one kit each night and one set of camp clothes (pants, t-shirt, long sleeve merino wool shirt, under clothes washed every 2nd or 3rd day).
While I did keep to that kit washing schedule everywhere else, I was too tired on that first night. And, in that particular case the camp bathrooms with running water, unlike everywhere else, were closed due to COVID. Dirt was an ongoing part of the fun in this style of travel.
Typical end of day dirt
A wash tree
Next day was a 90 km ride to Elkford over the imposing Elkford Pass - a ~1,000 metre climb. This turned out to be straightforward - there definitely was a bit of hike-a-bike but it was relatively short, steep and over soon.
After summiting Elkford Pass, it was a 65 km logging road ride downhill into Elkford. As it is an active logging area, there were occasional logging trucks but the ride was a lot of fun and upped my confidence that I was capable of riding the trip.
I celebrated in Elkford by eating a steak at Emi’s - the only in-house customer as everyone else did take out - and listening to the owner and waiter regale me with stories about the Great Divide riders who do in 1 day the distance I did in 2 …
From Elkford my target was Fernie. This was an 80 km day with the most singletrack of the entire trip on a part of the Great Trail called the Elk Valley Trail. I was riding on 2.25” tires on a drop bar bike, fully loaded but it was a ton of fun. The route went via Sparwood where I took the obligatory photo with the world’s largest coal truck.
The final 20 km into Fernie seemed to be mostly downhill and rolling fast singletrack riding - a heck of a lot of smiles and whoops - and me looking a little out of place loaded down with packs and riding a drop bar bike against all the mountain bikes. Another good day and topped off with a great dinner on an outdoor patio in downtown Fernie.
Made it to the top!
Sample singletrack
Hello Sparwood!
Elk Valley Trail
Riding with the mountain bikers
Here I ran into my first gear problem. I am more of a road biker with clipless pedals so was new to mountain bike SPD clipless pedals and could not for the life of me figure out why my right foot was not clipping out cleanly but stupidly never stopped to fully diagnose the problem.
By the time I got into Fernie Provincial Campground it was apparent that the screw on the SPD clip had come undone and fallen out. Duh! Next morning meant a quick run back into Fernie to Straightline Bicycle and Ski to get a new SPD clip. Cranking it on fixed the problem right away. Back to riding.
I Got This - Minus the Dog Swarming: Fernie to Crawford Bay
My next leg was going to be setting up for Gray Creek Pass from Kimberley over to Crawford Bay/Nelson. I was late getting going due to the shoe issue but still got in 75 km to Kikomun Provincial Park, which is set amongst a group of beautiful lakes, via a small town with a handy gas station store, Elko.
It was smoking nice singletrack out of Fernie, a good stretch of gravel road, with a healthy dose of several kilometres of very painful, rough rock road, some beautiful backcountry dirt road and finally a pleasant bit of singletrack into Kikomun Provincial Park.
I had an eye opening slightly scary encounter mid-morning when I ran into a dog walker with a massive pack of 20+ dogs, all unleashed, who were super excited to see someone on a bike. After a few tense moments with the dogs swarming me, barking, lightly nipping and jumping up with me trying to be friendly (“Good dogs! … Hi there! … Look at you! … Aren’t you a nice dog!”), the walker managed to call them off and calm them down. Phew!
This was also the first day of the trip I also ran into a couple of fellow bike packers coming from Vancouver to Fernie so it was great to exchange notes and pre-warn them about the short stretch of rock pain they were about to encounter ahead of their final stop in Fernie.
After Kikomun, next was Cranbrook. This ride started with 30 km of washed out but very rideable backroad gravel in an area called Koocanusa into Wardner for a road lunch followed by 35+ km of groomed gravel trail riding into Cranbrook. The last section was a rolling ride in the woods with streams and forest all around - probably one of the most pleasant sections of the whole ride.
Heading into Cranbrook
Of course a trip would not be interesting if there were not more equipment problems. Shoes again! My Boa for closing my shoe continued to get harder and harder to open as time went on - I suspected the wire was wonky and Gerrick Sports in Cranbrook confirmed this was in fact the problem but they did not have a replacement.
As it was the top Boa locking my foot in place, finding a solution to this was fairly important - I did not want to be sleeping with my shoe on for the rest of the trip. The working plan was to take a slack day and head to Kimberley to check if a suggested shop there had a spare. Taking it easy seemed ok given the following day would be the 90+ km ride over Gray Creek Pass.
The next morning I visited Bootleg Bike Company in Kimberley where the mechanic/owner there had the idea of switching the broken Boa to the front of my shoe and putting the working one on the top locking spot. Obvious in retrospect but needs someone smart to think of it! Problem solved until I get a new Boa.
One big takeaway so far was bike shops along the way are the superheroes for bikepackers as they always are friendly, helpful and when they don’t have the answer or part point you at their fellow shops for more help. All had pragmatic COVID protocols - some only did door service, most limited customers, hand sanitizer was readily available, masks were appreciated sometimes mandated and all were friendly and keen to help.
The last leg to Crawford Bay was over Gray Creek Pass. I had worried a bit about this as it was a guaranteed 90+ km ride, significant uphill - about 1,500 metres - and steep exit downhill.
Signs don't lie!
A little hike-a-bike on Gray Creek Pass
Oliver Lake, top of Gray Creek Pass
In my head it was singletrack and logging road but in reality it turned out to be a maintained logging road that was straightforward to ride uphill (east to west) with ~5-7 km of push-a-bike (not really hiking) for me. Coming west to east would have been brutal as it is 16%+ grade hills for ~15 km - excellent riding down for me though.
Once on it, I could see it was for many abilities when I ran into an older woman (not that I am young but she seemed a few years older than me) riding her electric mountain bike across the pass and telling me that I would be on one before I knew it!
Trees Falling, Flat Tires, Beautiful Rides: Crawford Bay to Grand Forks
I spent the night in Crawford Bay in an RV campground and was fortunate to have a shady, covered picnic table both because it was hot the afternoon I arrived and it was expected to be stormy, cold and raining early in the morning. I planned to put my tent and gear under it when packing up.
The storm hit at 6 AM and was mostly a windstorm initially with trees and branches flying everywhere - a 5 metre top of a tree literally fell just a few metres away from my tent sending me into a frenzy of packing up. I was lucky not to be not hit by the tree and branches and, just as I got my gear under cover, the rain started coming down in buckets.
As I pondered my next move - catching the 9 AM ferry to Balfour and riding to Nelson - a neighbourly RV owner invited me over for coffee and a chat. Seemingly no worries on COVID though we did stay socially distanced. It was a friendly way to end my stay in Crawford Bay.
After catching the scenic ferry to Balfour, the sun was back and I had a pleasant ride on the highway into Nelson. Traffic was stopped due to power lines across the highway from the windstorm so the ride was mostly traffic free as the alternate route let the bikes through first. Nice!
In Nelson after having lunch, I picked up a new $15 nuisance lock at Gerick Cycle and Ski to make it a little harder to take my bike at night or at highway stops. My old one - $85 worth - was seemingly randomly changing its combination and I had been guessing through brute force and luck what the new numbers were. The bike shop also suggested a scenic back way into Castlegar using Pass Creek Road, adding a worthwhile 10 km to my route.
It was a hot 100 km day from Nelson into Castlegar but given it was all backroad paved riding it was nice and relaxing. The excitement of the day was camping at Pass Creek Campground where the manager warned me to be careful with the camp bear that likes to visit looking for food - hang it out of reach!
Ferry ride from Crawford Bay to Balfour
Hello Nelson!
Lots of outdoor eating options
Bridge into Nelson
Pretty (but dusty!) campsite
Tunnel warning
Lots of tunnels - longest was Bulldog, 1 km with a curve
The final stretch in this leg was getting to Grand Forks. It was a bigger than usual day - ~ 50 km uphill to a target stop called Farron via a 1 km tunnel with a curve (glad I had a light!) and then ~60 km downhill ride into Grand Forks.
Without properly checking, my mind was made up that Farron was a town with a store so when I reached the top of the climb and found out it was a picnic table with a Canadian flag, it was pretty funny. Still a great place for lunch and a rest before heading down.
My descent into Grand Forks was unexpectedly slowed when I accidentally hit a sharp rock while checking my phone. I had punctured my front tire. As this was my first time riding tubeless and this seemed serious (sealant spewing out), I was uncertain if it would self seal.
I was pondering repair vs spare tube when I noticed the air leak was slowing so I thought I might pump it up a little and ride some to swish the sealant around. It seemed to hold so I carried on cycling into town and setting up in the Grand Forks Municipal Campground.
For peace of mind I stopped by Chain Reaction Ride and Slide and bought some extra tire sealant. Fortunately, overnight my tire stayed sealed and could handle the normal 25-26 PSI I was running at. Yay!
And, before leaving, I visited yet another bike shop, Seasons Outdoors, to get some chain lube - my chain and gears were starting to sound off with all the dust so I needed to do something. Keeping bike parts clean on such a dirty ride is self evident but had fallen down on my list of to dos.
Bringing it Home with a Bear: Grand Forks to Penticton
From Grand Forks I was headed into Rock Creek and the Kettle Valley Provincial Campground. As I left Grand Forks I ran into my second set of bike packers coming out of Vancouver who gave me the lay of the land - rail grade uphill with some rough, sandy sections - for my morning ride into Midway. They were on the mark and after 10 km it turned hard and smooth with a couple tunnels to entertain me as well.
The weather was staying hot so I spent a bit of time in Midway relaxing outside the local market and waiting for the afternoon sun to lessen. The ride out of Midway was a bit rough and sandy transitioning from the Columbia and Western Railway to the Kettle Valley Railway. After about 10 km it turned more into farmland and a dirt trail with farm gates to open and close, keeping in the cattle and other animals. All good … it was a pleasant ride into Rock Creek and the campground from there.
Once in Kettle Valley Campground, I ran into my next bike packing compatriot who made me look like a gadget obsessed crazy guy. He was a retired triathlete, towing a trailer with paper maps and a phone seemingly out of the early 2000’s on a multi-day local tour of the Okanagan. Compared to me with my Garmin Fenix watch, Garmin inReach Mini, Apple iPhone and backup Garmin eTrex GPS, he was riding old school!
As I was nearing the end of my ride, I was starting to plan meals and stops to coincide with my pickup in Penticton. First up was the 75 km ride through Beaverdell to Arlington Lake Recreational site (no services but a beautiful fishing and swimming lake). After an unexpectedly rocky and sandy rail grade uphill out of Kettle Valley Campground, it was groomed gravel into Beaverdell.
About 35 km into my ride to Beaverdell, between the Taurus and Dellwye train stops, I saw my first bear. I was carrying bear spray in my feedbag readily available to grab while I cycled. I also had a bear bell that I generally ran ringing.
To be heard even more, when I was in more closed or isolated areas, I developed a chant (not much of a singer) that went something like “Dude on a bike; Mike on a bike; coming through, coming through” with various permutations but spoken loudly as I rode.
Here, about 250 metres in front of me, I saw a large dog sized black animal do the characteristic bear trot across the trail. Uh oh! No mama bear but it was clear the little bear heard me as it looked at me and all my noise making and tore off the trail into the bushes.
I waited for a few minutes chattering away loudly and ringing the bell hoping I would see the mama bear go by but no luck. It was either turn back or move on so I made the decision to ride on with noise and, after passing the section where he had been and riding another kilometre, all seemed well. I finished in Arlington Lake for the night.
Next up I was off to Chute Lake. I was quite keen for this leg as the Myra Canyon trestles and tunnels en route rank right up with the Banff to Fernie Rocky Mountain scenery and this upcoming 75 km ride did not disappoint.
It was beautifully packed gravel, particularly once I was in Myra Canyon, and just an outstanding, easy riding, beautiful area with seemingly dozens of trestles and one tunnel after another. This was the first area of the trip where there were lots of other bikers and walkers but it was comfortable with people generally exercising good social distancing practices.
I was starting to feel chuffed about my ride as I was now over 10 days into my riding, survived a bear sighting, dog swarming, tree crashes, navigated a few minor mechanical issues and had nearly covered 1,100 km.
However, as I sat on one of the Myra Canyon trestles eating lunch my fourth bikepacking set of visitors of the trip stopped by for a chat: Mom, Dad, ~5 year old son being towed on a bike by Dad and a baby in a 2 wheel chariot behind Mom.
Hmmm … compared to them I was taking it easy. They were on effectively the same trip as me - Banff to the Okanagan but on the “45 day plan”, as they put it, versus the “2 week plan” I was on. I was doing ok, but they were knocking it out of the park!
Uphill bridge en route to Farron
Myra Canyon trestle
Tunnel enroute to Castlegar
Tunnel outside Greenwood
Beaverdell store
Rock Creek
The last part of the day was the ride into Chute Lake - about 15 km - was strangely one of the roughest roads of the trip. Apparently last year significant flooding and rains had washed away the manicured gravel surface. I worried about the couple powering through it with their kids but saw they were happily eating dinner at camp later that night.
At Chute Lake campsite I indulged at the lodge with a burger dinner and bacon and eggs breakfast. The ride into Penticton was going to be 50 km downhill groomed trail so I was going to enjoy my last day with good fresh food and a fun last ride.
I arrived in Penticton at noon and had a late morning breakfast. There was one more bike shop to visit - Freedom Bike Shop where I had bought my shoes online -and they happily ordered my replacement shoe Boa. Kelly was there a few hours later to celebrate the end of the ride with a meal out and a couple of nights at a local AirB&B.
Somehow I managed to time all of the trip to avoid the smoke from the US wildfires as it arrived that first afternoon in Penticton. No complaints from me having had 12 great days of riding!
As is probably apparent, traveling during COVID-19 in my home province felt comfortable. There are lots of campers out there but all were kind, calm and safe, following the oft repeated guidance of Dr. Bonnie Henry who is steering the province of BC through the pandemic.
The general rule of thumb I noticed was the further west in BC and the larger the city, the more masky and COVID sensitive things became. It makes sense as in BC the pandemic has more cases in the larger western population centres.
Banff in Alberta was also very COVID sensitive as it still has so much local tourism from Calgary and elsewhere that they have been more proactive on recommending masks and other social distancing protocols, even in the downtown outdoor areas. Regardless, as long as I followed the local guidance, all seemed good.
On the campgrounds I stayed at, all had some sort of rational, well-articulated COVID protocol. Typically this included limiting bathroom/shower access to a certain number of people, having hand wash or sanitizer readily available and providing signage and guidance in natural areas of high use or gathering.
The bottom line was: Being respectful, following the local guidance/practices, doing the obvious of cleaning hands regularly, masking where needed and social distancing made everyone comfortable and safe.
Riding Solo
Riding solo for 2 weeks was a new experience for me. I think what made it work is that bikepacking is a fairly busy and intense activity leaving little time for anything else.
Between packing up in the morning, eating, finding drinking water, keeping devices powered, dealing with equipment failures, finding a safe camping location, making noise on the trail, planning the next day, texting with family, chatting with passersby and just plain riding, every day was full and busy, sometimes too busy!
Certainly being 50-75 km away from everything with no other people, no cell and the potential of an accident or bear encounter weighed on me but there was a nice working day rhythm that developed that seemingly pushed away these worries.
Probably the thing that concerned me the most were the random cars and trucks in the middle of nowhere that were empty but clearly recently driven there. It was probably hikers or dog walkers or forest, mining or other workers but they often seemed spooky.
All that said, literally every day, I ran into at least one or two other people on the trail hiking or biking or was in a town or store eating or working supplies or was at a campground chatting with other folks. Bikepacking solo is still a pleasantly social activity in spite of the pandemic!
I was happy with my gear and clothing choices overall. As noted, I was set up with two biking kits (bibs, 7-Mesh jersey, socks and shared 7-Mesh mountain bike overshorts) and one camp kit (Lululemon pants, t-shirt, long sleeve Kuhl merino wool shirt, wool socks, under clothes). I also carried a 7-Mesh Gore Tex rain jacket, Patagonia puffer jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, a light toque, half biking gloves and full fingered cycling gloves. And, I carried one cloth mask, 3 backup paper masks and a neck gaiter.
I never used the leg warmers or full bike gloves but regularly used the rain jacket as a windbreaker/warm layer as well as the arm warmers. I used the puffer jacket at camp, typically late at night and early in the morning. I did not bring rain pants mostly as a calculated gamble. I hoped if it rained, as long as I kept my core and upper body dry, I would be ok. Fortunately it only rained one morning and I was fine with the rain jacket.
Having only one camp clothing kit was a little difficult as I never had a chance to really wash it entirely - always doing it piecemeal so perhaps might want one or two more pieces here though space was a premium so I seem to have met a reasonable compromise.
I did get cold several early mornings (i.e. 3-4 AM). Fernie, Crawford Bay, Castlegar and Arlington Lake had me sleeping with pants, puffer jacket, Gore Tex, two shirts, toque and wool socks! I wasn’t freezing but definitely aware it was cold outside - perhaps 1 or 2 celsius.
One area that is still an open question for me is camp shoes. I had a pair of Specialized Recon 3.0 clipless shoes and, for a more relaxed shoe in camp, brought along a pair of Tevas. Teva's worked great - it was really nice to put on something different at the end of day - but they always had to be strapped on to the outside of my packs. Having something that packed away would have been nice.
I carried a number of electronics to navigate and track my trip. These included:
A Garmin Fenix watch for tracking my rides
A Garmin inReach Mini for people to track where I was even when I did not have cell coverage
My Apple iPhone which I used Ride With GPS as my primary navigation tool using GPX files downloaded from the http://bctrail.ca web site
A Garmin eTrex GPS - never used but brought out of an abundance of caution to have a battery powered GPS with all the same GPXs I had loaded on my phone
Apple Airpod Pros - I had loaded up on various podcasts but literally did not listen to one and never used them on the road
A battery that, when charged, could easily charge up a phone and a watch with a bit more left over
Overall, this setup worked very well. The Garmin inReach Mini was handy on the first few days when family weren’t sure where I was and I did not have cell coverage. And it was fun for them during the trip as I turned on the route tracking which enabled them to look at my travels and location through a web site.
Probably my biggest challenge here was powering my battery, phone and watch. Generally most campgrounds had power so I was typically able to get a reasonable charge up but often it was in a public location so this meant you had to keep an eye on things just to be safe.
Strangely as I got closer to the most populated areas in the Okanagan, I started having less power options and was running a bit low on my last day. Not sure a power generating dynamo hub is the solution to this but was an ongoing concern.
I was riding a titanium Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon drop bar gravel bike with SRAM Force 1 groupset, clipless SPD pedals and 2.25” tubeless Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires on Enve carbon wheels. I loved this setup - can’t speak highly enough about it.
I learned about the company from a friend in California who rides another of their models and is passionate about his bike. I was predisposed to titanium vs carbon as I hope to travel to places where a metal bike can hopefully stand up a bit better to being banged around. That said, there are many carbon bits on it so my rationale is admittedly flawed; I just like the bike!
End result: it was a blast on singletrack, ate up chunky rough gravel, was happy riding long on pavement and was fun when I was rolling down all that groomed gravel in the Okanagan.
For the bike packs I ran a full Revelate pack set. This included:
A 14 litre Terrapin seat bag,
A 6 litre Tangle half frame bag (large)
A 13 litre Specialized dry bag on the Revelate Pronghorn handlebar system. I started with the small size 7 litre Revelate bag but couldn’t make it work so upsized to the Specialized dry bag.
A Revelate mountain feedbag
A Revelate top tube bag
In my seat bag I carried my clothing, food, cook kit (Primus Trail Stove, butane tank, cooking pot), toiletries and my sleeping pad. In my frame bag I carried my bike tools, medical kit, eating utensils, extra bits of food and electronic charging gear. In my feedbag I carried bear spray and snack food for the ride. And in the top tube bag I carried my Garmin inReach Mini, mask, neck gaiter, phone and suntan lotion. In my handlebar bag I carried my Thermarest sleeping quilt, my tent (single person bikepacking Big Agnes), my leg/arm warmers/toque and my puffer jacket.
My biggest challenge was really getting all the pieces to fit into the space I had. The hardest place to pack and load was always the seat bag. I think at 14 litres it was simply a couple litres too small for what I was carrying. I didn’t want a full frame bag as I liked the external bottle water access. I felt my handlebar bag was just at the limit of being comfortable so the place where space could be added was in the back. I was always trading off food vs clothing in that seat bag - neither were good tradeoffs!
Eating while bikepacking was a bit of work though this route is dotted with great towns and supply stops along the way. I bring an additional challenge to the table in that I am celiac and can’t eat gluten/flour/bread based food.
For breakfast this is easy as there are plenty of gluten free instant oats available. And for dinner, whether cooking from store bought ingredients or bringing pre-packaged dehydrated camp dinners, there always seemed to be a good set of choices.
Where I was generally challenged was lunch on the road - if there was no market or store, for me it typically meant beef jerky, chocolate/energy bars and peanuts/corn nuts. Given I was so space constrained, road lunches turned out to be my ongoing difficult meal but with a bit of planning and lining up halfway lunch points with towns, it all seemed to work out.
From a COVID perspective the weather was so nice that anytime I ate out it was almost always outside and every restaurant seemed to follow similar masking, handwashing and social distancing practices. I felt safe and reciprocated by following their recommendations.
For drinking, I carried two water bottles and typically went through three to four bottles a day. I used plain water in one and water with an electrolyte tab (Nuun) in the other. As I was staying in campgrounds most of the time, there was potable water most mornings. On the trail I either found more potable water, bought water or made water using Aquatabs. I had a Steripen for sterilizing water but despite working prior to the trip on some backcountry backpacking trips, it stopped working the first time I tried it on this trip.
My worst area for water availability was from the Arlington Lake campground (where I made water from the lake as there was no running water there) to Chute Lake - there were limited water options mid-ride on that very hot day. Other days I always seemed to find a reasonable campground, store or stream/lake. On future trips, I do plan to add a 3rd bottle as it will give a little more leeway when water is scarce. And I expect I will carry a pump filter in place of the Steripen!
I was fortunate to have good restaurants wherever I went. It could be I was always hungry from riding! My diet leaned a little protein and meat centric but every place here had great choices and were very accommodating to dietary requirements.
Elkford - Emi’s - https://www.facebook.com/emiselkford
A bit of everything including Chinese. It is part of the Elkford Motor Inn. Not too fancy but I had a tasty steak dinner and the chef and waiter entertained me with stories about Great Divide riders coming through in June.
Sparwood - Yama2Go Sushi - https://yama2go.com
Korean BBQ Beef Bowl was the perfect lunch break en route to Fernie at this food truck right outside the visitor centre.Fernie - Brickhouse Bar and Grill - http://thebrickhousefernie.com
Perfect end to a solid day of singletrack riding - had Tuna Tartare salad followed by a hamburger on the patio.Cranbrook - The Heidout - https://www.theheidout.ca
Until this trip I always had driven through Cranbrook without realizing there is a very pretty downtown and a good set of restaurants. Had steak again with nachos for dinner on a nice outdoor patio.Kimberley - The Shed - https://theshedkimberley.com
Compact and walk centric downtown with many restaurants and interesting stores. Lunch on the outdoor patio of the Shed was the Roasted Chicken Baked Potato. A very loaded potato!Nelson - The Broken Hill - https://www.brokenhillnelson.ca
Lunch again on an outdoor patio but a sandwich this time - the Cheeky Pig Pulled Pork Sandwich. A bit messy but hit the spot. There is a lot of choice in Nelson given it was one of the larger towns I went through and it seemed hard to not find a good restaurant.
Grand Forks - Clyde’s Pub - https://www.clydes-pub.com
I had never stopped in Grand Forks before but like many of the towns I went through surprised me with a nice downtown and this pub where I had a burger and cider on a outdoor balconyGrand Forks - The Wooden Spoon - http://www.thespoon.ca
Sometimes I would have breakfast at camp and follow it up with another breakfast before leaving town. This was a popular place where I had the bacon and eggs breakfast along with a coffee on their patio before hitting the road.Chute Lake Lodge - https://chutelakelodge.ca/dining
The day before the end of my trip I stayed at the Chute Lake Lodge campground and had both dinner and breakfast at the lodge. Funky indoor restaurant and nicely spread out outdoor picnic table dining was perfect for the good food and service.
Penticton - The Bellevue Cafe - https://www.bellevuecafeandgallery.com
Was a great place to end my final ride for a bowl of porridge with a solid helping of blueberries and a latte.
There were a few things that don’t fit any category but are worth mentioning:
Packing up, for me at least, takes time. Every morning between getting up, eating breakfast and having coffee, tearing down camp and reloading the bags, making sure my devices were charged, it was almost an hour and a half before I was on the road
Falling! Carrying the extra weight on the bike and not being quick enough to unclip, typically while stopping on trail hills, humbled me with a few tumbles, earning me some scrapes and bruises. I even saved one for my last day in Penticton, scraping my thigh one more time while stopping to turn around on a sandy chunk of highway - I was looking at the next part of the trail out of Penticton that I wouldn't get to on this trip. Sigh. Builds character as my mom and dad used to say.
I debated clipless vs plain shoes at the start of the ride and I found I really enjoyed being clipped in on singletrack trails as it gave me a lot of confidence to maneuver the bike around. And as one might expect, they definitely helped on all the long rides and hill climbs throughout the route.
Sore bum! Yes, it did hurt but regular chamois cream kept me going and fortunately nothing serious developed.
My rides averaged ~80 km a day typically 5-6 hours with a couple longer days (100+ km) and a few shorter days (35-50 km). I felt good at this pace - each day had accomplishments and was generally comfortable.
While I am a newbie at bikepacking, this was a heck of a fun way to start this new way of travel for me. I would have preferred to have done at least one break in trip ahead of setting off but due to good weather and a reasonable plan, everything seemed to hang together.
I have more plans to do bikepacking and bike touring with Africa, COVID allowing, as one target and more of the Great Divide, high on the agenda.
While this was a big trip to start bikepacking with, I was fortunate to have a flexible schedule and the option to bail if I got over my head given the number of towns along the way.
Next self supported ones I suspect will be in the 3-5 day range though I can easily see a few more as long or longer ones in my future. Not to oversell it, but this style of travel is not only amazing on its own, it seems like a great fit for these COVID times as well.
Some great online references helped me be successful including:
Site: Bikepacking.com - http://bikepacking.com
Site: Great/TransCanada Trail in BC: http://bctrail.ca
Article: The BC Trail - https://bikepacking.com/routes/bc-trail
Congratulations, Mike! What an accomplishment. I really enjoyed "following along" with your FB updates and photos during the trip, but reading your extremely well written story detailed what an amazing adventure this must have been. Well done! Is adventure travel blogging you next career?
ReplyDeleteHa! That would be a lucky job :) More planned locally in BC and abroad (when things open up) so we will see. Old Semi grad tries to defy aging ...
DeleteGreat ride review Mike! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteReally wish you had found the www.trailsbc.ca website.
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DeleteThanks for taking the time to write this up and sharing. Super super helpful. I’m also a first time backpacker planning same trip for summer 2021 and going much of these same decision points. Cheers.
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