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TR2. ©Mark Karau |
“We’ll be driving for a while,” Andrew said, “you could have brought some
casual clothes for the drive.” Leif seemed unfazed, but a little disgruntled; “I didn’t get the memo! I’ll
be fine, I just need some food.” The rest of us had lots of extra clothes that
could be shared in a pinch, so after picking up Mark at his house we
were on the way. We got Leif a breakfast of champions at McDonald’s in Mill bay (he’s
contractually obligated because of Team Partyboy-Oakley-McDonald’s) and
Cruised up to Honeymoon bay on Cowichan Lake.
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The Gordon. ©Halldor Gunnarsson |
For this mission, Andrew and I were riding road bikes with fat tires and Leif and Mark were
wisely on CX bikes.
We hit the gravel just out of Honeymoon bay and would remain
on it for the rest of the ride. The logging roads in our neck of the woods are
in great shape this summer so the Gordon was smooth and the
going was good. Mark and Leif set a brisk pace out of the gate.
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©Mark Karau |
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©Mark Karau |
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The obligatory logging equipment shot. ©Halldor Gunnarsson |
The first real climb of the day was up Tr2 and it was a
brute. When we got to the top we were sitting at about 666m. The Tr2 used to connect Gordon Main and McClure Main but was
taken out by a landslide some time ago. However, if you’re on a bike, you can just hike across the
gap. We got our first flat of the day just on the
other side of the landslide and got to take a breather and look at the view. Then we descended on a sketchy
overgrown doubletrack all the way down to the McClure main line.
Tr2. ©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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Land slide on TR2. ©Mark Karau |
At this point, Leif's breakfast and the beer carbs
from the night before started to kick in. He promptly ramped up the
pace to the outer edge of comfortable. We rode tempo past McClure Lake and
towards Walbran main where we got the second flat of the day, again a nice
break. Shortly after this point the views started opening up and we got
glimpses of the Walbran valley. It’s a spectacular area, heavily scarred by
logging but beautiful to behold nonetheless.
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©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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Climbing down to Looper Creek. ©Mark Karau |
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©Mark Karau |
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©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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©Halldor Gunnarsson |
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Climbing out. ©Mark Karau |
After soaking the legs and climbing the slope back up from
Looper creek we headed to Nitinat to see if the gas station was open. The skies
opened just before Nitinat and we ended up sprinting for the safety and comfort
of arguably one of the shittiest gas stations on Southern Vancouver Island.
This gas station is sufficiently terrible and worth a visit for the overpriced
coffee and the awesome lack of selection. Somehow it stays open though, a real
rough in the diamond of the Carmanah Walbran area.
We fueled up on surprisingly decent coffee, terrible pepperoni sticks and chips. Even though the cultural tour of Nitinat’s gas station was worthwhile, we were burning daylight so we got back on the bikes.
We fueled up on surprisingly decent coffee, terrible pepperoni sticks and chips. Even though the cultural tour of Nitinat’s gas station was worthwhile, we were burning daylight so we got back on the bikes.
The Nitinat Main is the real grinder of this ride. It didn’t help that we got soaked as we were heading into it when we got caught in an impressive downpour. But regardless of that, the road is harsh. It’s a very gradual incline, a false flat a lot of the time. It’s socked in by trees on both sides and for some reason it just grinds you down mentally and physically. Leif kept on his driving off the front and Andrew, Mark and I rode more or less together, hugging whichever side of the road that had fewer potholes. We had to deal with a couple of flats but things went pretty smoothly even if it was mentally a difficult section. This was the only part of the ride when we had any traffic and that somehow adds to the droning monotony. We were all relieved when we got to the intersection of the South lake rd.
Fatigue was beginning to set in at this point but
the South
Lake road at least provided some views and was a much more pleasant ride
than the Nitinat. Leif took his “off the front” group riding tactics to
new heights and after
our last flat and around 10k out from the pavement he took off
altogether,
getting that second wind big time and wanting to crush some souls. Us
three
stragglers rode in together, which made sense since we were running low
on
tubes, gas and will. Nevertheless the last climb was a pleasant one with
nice
even gradient and beautiful views. The descent was equally nice with
fast and
flowy turns that required little braking. Leif was waiting for us at the
bottom
and we cruised together into Honeymoon Bay after about 8hours on the
road. A
great day on the bike.
Stats:
Distance: 130km
Elevation: 2000m
Flats: 6
Mechanicals: One lost chain ring bolt (NJS(no!)).
Flats: 6
Mechanicals: One lost chain ring bolt (NJS(no!)).
IG: @curbwzrd @darknorth @numberonephotog
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