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Posts tagged ‘Mountain Biking’

Banff

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The town of Banff is a juxtaposition I cannot capture easily.

It is typical of *destination* resort towns – small, absolutely packed with tourists, cars, & tour buses.

There no shortage of kitschy commercial offerings of all types.

Really, it is pretty much a shitshow.

However, with only the slightest effort – and the willingness to take any one of multiple uphill trails – it’s easy to get lost for hours and effectively escape the nonsense.

Having been here a few days, I am nicely settling into a cadence of morning hikes with Kelly followed by an afternoon spin on the bike while she does yoga.

We’ll make it work here.

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Kananaskis Fire Lookout

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The uphill was long and steep.

The views at the top were amazing.

The downhill was fast.

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Whitefish Bike Retreat

 

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It was love at first site.  I was smitten for the Whitefish Bike Retreat – they had me at Cold Beer.

Never-mind the fantastic network of local biking trails surrounding the venue, there is onsite communal lodging and RV/tent camping available, enabling quick and easy access to flow trails, pump tracks, and skills courses.  

What’s not to love about this place?

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Maybe my visit – a Tuesday afternoon – was not an accurate representation of the place?  I highly doubt that.  The overall vibe is very laidback which suited me just fine.

Oh, I almost forgot – the variety of cold beer available (bottles and cans) is quite stellar.  

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Galena Grinder

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With our time in Ketchum (Idaho) winding down, I’m scrambling to find (new-to-me) high alpine riding areas that are open for the season; many locations remain buried in snow/mud or are temporarily off-limits due to seasonal closures aimed at protecting mothering elks and their newly born calves.

Hmm … now what?

Enter the #galenatrails, or more specifically the #galenagrinder mountain bike course, to the rescue.

One of Idaho’s longest running races, the course is steeped in history and hits most of the trail network over a 25 mile effort.

Checking off multiple boxes (mixed terrain, hills, beautiful scenery, etc.), it was a no-brainer to download the course to my GPS, drive 30 minutes to the trailhead, and under deep blue skies get lost in the backcountry for a few a hours.

While places like Moab and Sedona routinely get all the MTB love (and deservingly so) these big mountain trails will always be my preferred scene.