Over the next week I will be writing about my experiences at Singletrack 6, a 6 day marathon MTB race in mountain biking’s greatest hotspot, British Columbia, Canada. Singletrack 6 moves to different locations in BC every year and this year the Rocky Mountains are featured. The event stops in legendary outdoor meccas such as Fernie, Cranbrook, Kimberly and Golden.
My game plan for writing this article is to document the experience of Singletrack 6 as opposed to the ‘race’. The event attracts some of the best high level racers from all over the world, but I am not one of those. I am 30 pounds heavier than when I was a Cat 1 racer, and despite racing thousands of races through my life, I am more interested in the experience and the memories it gives than the race itself. Lets just say this guy will not shy away from the post ride beer. For me, this ‘race’ is an attempt to discover singletrack enlightenment through 6 days in the Canadian Rockies. What I do, what I eat, how I ride is a reflection of that journey.
Meet Bruno – My Home Base for Singletrack 6
No one can find enlightenment staying in a 5 star hotel. For this adventure I wanted to get back to the grass roots of riding, and my trusty(or not so much) 98 Subaru Legacy is the perfect vehicle for that. Instead of camping, glamping, or staying in hotels(S6 offers great hotel packages) I wanted to travel and live in ‘Bruno’. Part of this reason is that I have to make my way to the start of the stage every morning(there are shuttles available from S6) and the other factor is that I didn’t want to move 6 days worth of gear every morning. Bruno would be perfect.
From home base in Penticton, BC to Fernie it is roughly a 7 hour drive. For you International folks reading this, that is roughly driving time from Paris, France to Munich, Germany. Canada is a big place!
Unfortunately, Bruno didn’t like driving through some of the hardest driving conditions North America has to offer, and he lost a small bolt in the caliper of the rear right brake preventing me from stopping and causing a lot of banging noises. After some frantic phone calls and experimenting with the powers of zip ties, I decided to drive the 90km to the nearest town through a Canadian mountain range with only the emergency brake.
After a rain storm and about an hour of finesse braking I arrived at the nearest Canadian Tire, which is basically a do-all hardware store here in Canada. Luckily, Josh helped me out and I was on the road again!
With that bit of foreplay, let the adventure begin!