Cesar's Blog

More Point to Point riding as they are giving me a break from racing and a sense of adventure.. This time while I was camping on the weekend with Maria and Nick in Waterton I found a trail that connects from downtown to Crandell campground. So, after some fun hiking with Maria and Nick (Nick on my back of course) she dropped me off in downtown and drove with the trailer to Crandell campground. It is steep and loose, but the views are amazing !!>>> The main trail is supposed to take you up parallel to the road to about 6.6kms from Crandell CG. Then you have some fun descents all the way down to the CG (well, that is only if you don't take the left turn and get lost a bit..))) which took me a few extra ks. Yelling at the bears is a bit distracting, but certainly necessary as we had to close encounters on the last day of hiking !! Maria freaked out when she saw the bear in the bushes, but some hikers were right behind us and said that it was ok to continue as a group.....

So last weekend as I was camping with Maria and Nick over at Mt Kidd I decided to through in a night ride... couldn't find anyone to do it and Maria wouldn't be happy if I was doing it alone, so I had to change plans a bit. Since a bunch of friends where racing at 24 hours it was a good idea to come over and cheer them up !! so, begged Maria to let me go just before 5:00am on Sunday from Mt Kidd to Canmore and she was ok with the condition that I would carry bear spray :-). Left the campground with lights as it was still dark and road on the highway to Barrier Lake. Up Prairie View (amazing temperature and nice view from the top in the early morning :::::::: >>>>>>>> Started the descent to Quaite and was a bit nervous about a bear encounter !! but, kept yelling like crazy and I was feeling better.. Down at Quaite my next challenge was to find the TransCanada Trail to connect with Three Sisters and...

Well, after some time waiting for it I managed to get out and ride the West Bragg Creek new trails. Andy was the guide this time and he has been in the area already quite a few times. The trails are mostly xc trails, not super steep climbs, but long enough to be a good work out for these tired legs... The maps on the trails are awesome, easy to follow and in every intersection, so it is hard to get lost! We met with Pam, Andrew and Michelle and rode close to 18.5kms in under 2hours.. Andy as usual was hammering the climbs and don't even mention the downs.... but it was good as usual. When we got to the top of the first climb (ranger summit) we got this nice view of the river valley and a TV set where they use to film and old TV show with natives... (I have no clue as it either was in Andy's times or when I wasn't even thinking of living in Canada.....). Anyway, nice view, super nice weather and fun descents. Some more climbing about 4 kms befor...

After talking with Craig S. about the Great Divide he was about to start and then watching him for little over two weeks riding from Banff to New Mexico I got the adventure spirit in my head again and wanted to do something different. I email Andy because I knew he was the right guy for this and told him that I wanted to ride from Calgary to Fernie mostly on single tracks. Of course he got back to me in no time with the following email: We'd start at Little Elbow, over Tombstone, down the Sheep, over Rickert's Pass, down Mist Creek (one  of the best/remote single track's anywhere), down Hwy 40, through  Weary Gap (into BC), back over Fording Pass (Alberta again), along  the Great Divide Trail (haven't ridden this part), Hidden Creek to Atlas Haul Road (haven't ridden this either), Racehorse Pass and  then we are into the Crowsnest area where we should be able to hook up on good single track. > > > > We could probably do it in two maybe three d...

What an epic race this weekend in Fernie. Furious3, a 3 days stage MTB race in beautiful Fernie BC. This time I wasn't "racing" as I was one of the course ambassadors.. yeah flashy title, that is why I accepted it :-) along with 3 more ambassadors (Jon, Kyle and Ray) we were riding the entire course at a good pace, but stopping to help anyone in need to sort any mechanical issues.... Day 1 was a 42kms day, with only a stocked chain that I had to help get fixed and a flat repair.. I started back at the end for a good 8kms of flat paved road and quickly as we approached the climb I started to pass people as it is always the case riding a single speed :-))) oh man got to love my ss. Legs felt good and was picking up the pace every time I could (without getting in the way of racers of course as I wasn't "racing"). Up to hyper ventilation and I found my first customer with the chain stocked between the cassette and the spokes ouch!!, we had to break the chain ...