some real mountain biking, baby

Oh yeah. This is the stuff I live for. My Transrockies partner had a special treat in store for us today. We were going to tie together what would be three rides for most people. I couldn't wait.

Spent last night with my wife and my parents at the Mark Knopfler concert at Jack Singer concert hall. Man, what a show. Amazing band, amazing guitar. And I got to hear the full version of Telegraph Road live. All 14 minutes of it. Awesome. It also meant I got to bed late. Shit.

7:00 came early. I was a dumbass and didn't have my best bibs clean. So I stayed up late to make sure they went through the wash. This became a total waste of time, I'll explain later...

The Calgary Marathon was run today. This made it a lot of fun to get from my house in Harvest Hills to Bowness. We finally get there. And of course, the bag with my bibs my jersey and my digital camera is lying on the floor of my garage. Fuck.

Niall has extra stuff I can wear so we get moving. We drive out to West Bragg. We warm up by spinning up the fireroad (Tom Snow). We drop down on the bottom of Moosepackers for some fun singletrack descending, then climb up a steep pitch and head back down to Station Flats. Before we hit the parking lot, we hang a right and start on Sulfur Springs. The first part is climbing, climbing and more climbing. The Deadgoats ran the Summer (Suffer) Solstice race here a week ago and the trail is in excellent shape. The endless up finally gets us to the Moose Mountain fireroad and we stop for a snack and some much needed water.

We continue upward. Ugh. Niall is flying today. I am not. Well, I'm doing ok, I guess. He's just friggin fast!! We finally head down and take a shortcut to the highway. More spinning: we're headed for the dreaded Powderface. Powderface is one of our longer, steeper climbs. most people take the half loop. We're going all the way up. I can't remember the last time I did this one. No one is usually fool enough to want to come with me.

The trail is in decent shape. The upper part has always had some erosion issues. Did I mention this bastard is steep? Ugh. I actually pass two couples riding up, the only other riders I see going our way. I pull to the side of the trail to let a horse traverse a tricky rocky downhill. I'm impressed at the skill of horse and rider. But I still think they should be required to wear bags out here. I hate horseshit on the trails.

After what seems an eternity, I finally reach the top. That one hurt. I was close to bonking and had to scarf down some food to keep going. I eat a piece of cold pizza at the top. I hate pineapples and this thing tastes delicious. Our reward is a fun descent down to the Powderface trail, which is a fireroad.

We hit some good speed and head for, you guessed it, more climbing. Yay! Up we go, back through the half loop of Powderface via Prairie Creek trail. I don't think I've ever climbed up the half loop this way. It's a good, steady climb. I feel pretty good. Niall is cranking pretty good and isn't waiting too much (I hope). We get a fast downhill back to the parking lot. Niall has some hidden water, we replenish our supply and head back to the highway. A tailwind pushes us toward Moose Mtn fireroad. And more climbing.

My legs are feeling it now. I'm saving an energy gel for later on up the hill. We've got about 8km to get to the top. I think Jon Nutbrown can do this thing in just over 30 minutes. I really need to ride more. Niall kicks it into a gear I just do not have. I keep cranking along, enjoying the occasional dirt bath from the freedride shuttle assholes (ok, they aren't all assholes, but get a clue and slow down when you see someone riding up, ok???). Real mountain bikers ride up, too.

I blast an energy gel, refill my water bottle and get back on the bike. ALmost there, I just passed the 6km mark. There are two last evil pitches and I am finally there!! No more climbing. I like this ride because it saves a nice 14 or so km ride downhill back to the truck. We encounter Ryan Probert at the top, he's the guy who sold me my bike. He is also training for the TR. I also called him Mr Nugent as I was so tired, I couldn't remember his name. Sorry, Ryan. He's never ridden Moosepackers before and is in for a serious treat.

Moosepackers is a wonderful, downhill switchbacked treat. I encounter a second wind and head down. YEEEEEEHA!! Lots of blowdown on the trail, it's been cleared up nicely. They get some nasty winds on Moose Mountain. You know, I've never seen an actual moose here. Maybe they hate the switchbacks. Ryan enjoys his first experience on the trail, we head down Tom Snow and toward the end.

Whew. 74 km, 10,000 or so feet of climbing and 5 hours later, I'm all done. Great ride. Perfect weather. Is anyone else as glad as I am that chocolate milk is an acceptable recovery drink. MMMMMMM!