Vancouver Island MTB trip

Not content to be relaxed and actually complete my University work, I headed to Vancouver Island with Alex to take advantage of the long weekend for Canadian remembrance day. Waking up at 3 am, we drove to catch the first ferry to Nanaimo, about half way up Vancouver Islands east coast and 2 hours by ferry.

Our destination was Cumberland, a small town put on the map, as far as I can tell, solely by mountain biking. The Cumberland area has an impressively large trail network literal minutes from the door of your accommodation. What a hostel it was as well!

A local cafe had these giant teddies out the back

The "Riding Fool" hostel is aimed at mountain bikers, which a bike storage area, a bike wash and knowledgeable staff. Its one of the coolest places I've stayed, but even if you weren't into mountain biking it was a really nice wood building with good facilities.

As we were there mainly to ride, we wasted no time getting out there despite the drizzle. A full day of riding saw us pretty wet and muddy. The rain never stopped and the puddles on the trails were deep. Despite this, I had a blast on the sweet trails.

Top of the first climb

The aftermath of day 1

After a long day driving and riding we were too tired to do much in the evening, but we did find an arcade in town (as close as you can get to nightlife) which we killed some time in.

The next day saw nicer weather, even the sun! Such was the size of the trails, we spent the entire day riding again and didn't repeat a single trail. In fact we only did one repeat for the entire weekend. We found some really steep stuff to ride. The variety and quality of trails in Cumberland truly is amazing. It has been probably my favourite place to ride so far due to the mix of everything.

Again that night we were too tired to do much, getting some burritos and heading in early.

The next morning saw real rain arrive, and we ended up being completely, utterly soak by the end of the day. The puddles were becoming ponds and potholes and grip was a thing of the past on roots. However, we rode even more fresh trails that were all a tone of fun. I managed to have a bad crash on the easiest section of trail, but no permanent damage.

Such was the nature of our dampness and tiredness we only rode for about two hours. This was a good move, as due to a series of mishaps and horrific traffic, we almost missed our ferry off the Island. We were only 8 minutes short of having to sleep in the car overnight. A good way to finish off the mountain biking season, bring on the snow! Thanks to Alex for putting up with me and taking these shots, and Dylan back in Adelaide for recommending the area.