FMIJ ALTERNATE ADVENTURE

June 22, 2005

While many teams were left scrambling for something to do when the Full Moon in June was postponed, the Stadium Dogs packed up their bikes and a few friends and headed over to Nakiska for an epic ride.

The day started at Ribbon Creek with an easy ride over to the start of Stoney Trail and the fun commenced. All the recent rain had created additional challenges for riders on these trails and we knew it would be a long day when we were knee deep in fast moving water within 15 minutes. A quick route adjustment after we blew by our scheduled turn at Skogan Pass had us on our first long climb up to the lookout at the summit of Prairie View, where we admired the sights, chatted with the hikers, and had a little lunch to fortify us for the next few hours. A fast, fun and highly technical descent gave way to a 2 hour hike-a-bike over hill, gorge and more fast water on the Quaite Valley Trail, with Mother Nature astounding us with her destructive powers. Most of the bike trail was under water and the rest of it was pitted and piled high with rocks and fallen trees that were almost impossible to cross. We arrived at the start of the Trans Canada Trail 5 hours into the ride, looking forward to the ride home - until the first corner disappeared in a several metre deep washout. Crossing this required bringing a fair amount of navigational experience into play, but we were on our way quickly and climbing once again. The Trail was beautiful, with minimal damage, and all the riders were somewhat disappointed when the winding single track came to an end and signalled the start of our second climb of the day. After refilling our water supplies courtesy of the Banff Mountain Resort, we hit the cutline and dug deep to find the reserves we would need to summit Skogan Pass and head for home. The views were astonishing, the weather was perfect, and once we hit the fire road heading back to Nakiska we were well into catching our second wind while having a blast on the quick descent.

The ride closed out at just over 10 hours with a total of 3600 feet of elevation gain and everyone still had enough energy to spare for a spirited discussion on which pub to hit for post-ride refreshments.