MS Mountain Bike Tour

This weekend was the Rona MS Mountain Bike Tour in Hinton, Alberta. Doug and I were invited to participate by Jasper Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem. I had training all weekend at the Fire Department, so I wasn't able to attend (lack of conditioning and family responsibilities were also considerations…), but Doug made the trip and joined Greg's team, the Rockhoppers, for the 2-day event.

The drive up to Jasper wasn't as long as anticipated - only 11 hours from Nelson to Hinton. Leaving at 6 am and arriving at 6 pm (with a 1-hour time change), Doug and his friend Bruce Hardy enjoyed the amazing scenery on the drive, passing through Kootenay National Park and then up the Icefield Parkway through Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Arriving in Hinton, they found a campsite reserved for the Jasper Rockhoppers team and got set up. Later, the Jasper Fire Chief's truck pulled up, carrying Greg and a few other essentials, like a keg of Rockhopper ale. The next morning the team joined over 330 riders at the start line and set off by 8 am. The sun hadn't reached the trail yet, so it was a cool 8 degrees.

This is apparently the only mountain bike tour in Canada, so Doug was interested in the kinds of trails that they would see. The tour started on a gravel road, then headed through the forest on a single track, crossing a small foot bridge over a creek, then down another dirt road. After about an hour of peddling, the sun had joined them, so everyone stripped down to t-shirts.

The riders then turned onto the highway for about a KM so that they could cross the Athabasca River. The tour had closed 1 lane of the highway for the riders, and had a pilot car take traffic around. After crossing the river, the riders turned off onto another dirt road to the first checkpoint, which were all well-stocked, making the riding very enjoyable.

The rest of the day's ride passed through grassy fields, heavy forests and up old logging roads, covering about 50K and climbing 3500 ft. The ride finished at about 4:30, where buses were waiting to bring everyone back to the campsite.

After a fun evening (which I'm sure didn't include beers OR campfires) and a good sleep, all the riders were bussed back to where they left the bikes and set off for the day. They covered a lot more beautiful trails, including some real downhill, and reached the finish at about 1:00, where they had a BBQ.

Altogether, the group raised about $350,000, traveled about 100K, and climbed over 5000 ft. Bruce, Doug's riding partner raised over $2500, and Doug raised just over $1500. We would like to thank everyone for their generous donations in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. If anyone else would like to donate to the MS Society in support of Doug, Bruce and the Jasper Rockhoppers, go to:

https://msofs.mssociety.ca/2009Bike/Sponsor.aspx?&PID=1143661&L=2