[This is a favourite loop of mine, and also many of my riding pals. I’ve done it many times, but the loop documented here remains one of the best, as the forest just had something extra magical about it that day.]
I had this particular route in mind when I bought this frameset from Joe. It’s just outside of town here in Vancouver BC, and its quite unique and special. We have an immense wealth of trails on our north shore, though most are technical mountain bike or hiking trails. I love those trails, but this route features the only extended stretch of gravel that is fully closed to motorized traffic (except service vehicles, which I’ve never come across) as well as the only paved parkway that extends into the wilderness in this region.
I can ride it from my doorstep; it’s about 11km to get to the ‘good stuff’, taking bike routes and a bridge to get there. The climb in is significant; this is a mountainous area. After pedaling up the access road, the first few kilometers into the forest are along the paved parkway – a special gem that is shared with many cyclists, walkers, rollerbladers etc in the summer. Now that the temperatures are barely above freezing and it’s usually raining, the path is much more empty.
This path carves through the rainforest for about 5km, leaving cell service behind, until a pretty hard-to-miss singletrack turnoff takes you down a steep embankment to this grand clearing, known as The Spot among friends here. Despite its established looks, it’s both well hidden and hard to access, and therefore goes unknown to many who ride this region.
From here, my route follows a steep downhill stretch of singletrack to a marsh, where a gravel access road begins and will take me a further 7km into the valley and away from the city.
Above is a trail that loops around the marsh, the backside of which requires riding through about a 40 foot wide drainage area that is between 6 and 12 inches deep. Tough to get through with dry feet!
This access road, called Spur 4, used to be charming double-track with grass up the middle but it was graded this year with fresh gravel. Unfortunate, to me. Bears and cougars inhabit this area and humans are few and far between – combine this with the lack of cell service and the fact you’re now over 10km into the woods, it can be pretty humbling to ride alone.
A connector trail brings you back to the main parkway, where most people are. It was a little wet today, but that’s fine by me. I can’t imagine life without full-coverage fenders!
Above is the view of the lake, which is as far as you can go. It was only about 2:30 but already the sun was falling behind the tall peaks to the west; I’m far enough north that it’s getting dark shortly after 4pm now.
Above is just a little more appreciation for this bike. What a capable machine for such multi-surface adventures.
The first leg of the return route is called the Hatchery Trail, and it’s the highlight of the whole route for me. It’s a non-technical trail that winds through the moss-rich forest, including placards with information on local wildlife. It’s beautifully maintained and quite wonderous, considering the nearest vehicle parking is 10km away!
There is a beautiful bit of sandy beach along the river here, which is visible on the way up Spur 4 from partway up the hillside on the other side of the river.
This trail puts you back on the paved parkway, well north of where I had turned off to head down to the ‘back route in’. Just a few hundred meters up I noticed a large mammal immediately beside me; a deer who had no concern of my presence at all.
I followed this parkway the full 10km, it’s beautiful but I didn’t stop for any more photos. Once I reached the end, where most park their cars, I followed a trail eastward which dropped 120m in elevation in no time at all. It was STEEP! This is not one of the steep spots, but it gives a good sense of the trail.
As I dropped in elevation I entered a pre-sunset fog. Combined with the beginnings of a sunset, it really made for a cool effect with the moss and lichen covered trees.
The rest of the ride out looked similar to below. The trail ends at the end of a long residential street; bombing down that for a kilometer or two brings you to a major road that funnels to the bridge which brings me home.
The full route from my door falls a bit short of 60km, which is a nice length for me – big enough to be rather epic, but can be done in about 4 hours and leaves me with a bit of gas in the tank so I’m not a wreck for the rest of the evening!
Thanks for following along with my ride report / coming to my TED Talk! This bike rules.
Leave a Reply