Video: How to Run Out of Daylight while Mountain Biking in 'Sandbagger's Choice'
My first ever visit to the Chilcotins was an exercise in having my ass handed to me. Josh Hall and Chris Clark were world-class fit, and I thought I was ‘close enough’ to hang. I was wrong, and the weather didn’t help me out. So when they returned a couple weeks later to complete their planned route without me, the ride stuck in the back of my mind.
Six years later and many, many trips to ride in South Chilcotin Provincial Park, and I have become intimately familiar with the mountain ranges, routes, lakes, and streams that make up the region, and the distances between them that compound to a huge scale. Late last summer, I finally felt ready to take another stab at that first ride—if only to get it out of my mind. I called on Zanny Venner and Joel Ducrot to join me on the big ride… and what better way to sandbag our chances of success than to bring a camera and tripod to tell the story?
For anyone interested, I’d highly recommend our approximate route (Relay>Elbow>Deer>Windy>Lick) as a bikepacking trip with one or two nights camping along the way. For most riders, I would specifically not recommend it as a day trip. Even with a detailed, first-hand knowledge of the route, a clear understanding of and preparedness for the consequences of coming up short, and a very high tolerance for discomfort, pulling off a ride like this deep in the backcountry is on the ragged edge of 'dumb.'
Zanny, Joel, and Woj looking at the map, more for the comedy of seeing how far they are from the car than to figure out how to get there.
Chris and Josh, cold, wet, and a loooong way from the car.
Josh will rip your legs off, even when he needs a space blanket to warm up.
All three goofballs riding away from the camera to get the shot... only to have to come back for it. This behaviour didn't last long.
Joel following Woj on Deer Pass, one of many looong descents.
Woj would like to acknowledge that this ride took place in Big Creek and South Chilcotin Provincial Parks, which are really the unceded territory of the Tsilhqot'in, St'at'imc, and Secwepemc First Nations. We're lucky to be able to respectfully ride the trails and routes in those parks, that have been used by those First Nations for long before parks were ever a thing.
Mentions: @konaworld @PeterWojnar @TheDirtySwiss @ZannyVenner @Mystic_Braves
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Member since Jun 13, 2012
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Something I always wonder when I see these kind of films or photos from BC or other parts of the Rocky Mountains in the US is how are the trails not all overgrown? I've seen several films like this one where they tell use that they're wayyyy out far from civilization but the trials are clear and not full of grass or bushes growing over or trees fallen during winter or whatever. Who clears them? Does the vegetation in teh Rockys just respect he trail?
I'm comparing this to the netowrk for 10-12 trails nearby my town in Norway that needs strimmed on a regular basis and often have windfall or some of the trails above the tree line that don't get used much and have the heathers growning over them.
It is hard on the sit bones, but so is biking for 19 hours without a pack. If you want to do big rides, you'll accept some level of discomfort to do it (first aid, survival shit, gear repair, warm clothes, and FOOD adds up quickly. Cameras, lenses, and tripods also add up quickly.) If you're unwilling to accept the discomfort, just go for shorter rides.
I was quite worried about getting saddle sore in general as they were much bigger days than I'm used to and I had a largish pack.
I was totally fine and I think the reason was that in reality you don't spend a whole ton of time actually sitting in the saddle, at least relatively speaking.
It's a lot of up and down and a lot of hike a bike, so your ass gets regular breaks.
Most people on multi day trips have 30-40L packs. Like anything this just depends on your packing style/personal preference/risk tolerance for things like bad weather.
I packed a lot of "spares" like 5 sets of chamois shorts for 4 days. I should have brought two and washed em.
I didn't bring riding pants and it snowed. That was a mistake. Riding in shorts sucked.
I also hated only having the option of crossing streams in bare feet (didn't like the idea of a cut foot or rolled ankle in the middle of nowhere) or getting soaked feet.
Next time I'll bring some sandals or water shoes. Quite a bit of extra weight/bulk but for me that'd be a very nice creature comfort.
I wore my shoes through, with wool socks it was not too bad, and in warm weather it'd be fine, but again, it snowed several inches on my trip. Wet feet through the snow with temps hovering around zero sucked. Keeping shoes and socks dry would have been worth it.