Another Saturday Ride...

I was SO excited to get back to the coast after a solid 11-day road trip through British Columbia, Alberta & flood-addled Saskatchewan.  The time on the road was nice and it's always amazing to drive from Vancouver through the Rocky Mountains and out into the Prairies.  It's also fun to ride as much as possible and appreciate the local flavor, that is of course, unless you're stuck in Lethbridge on a super rainy evening.............

.......or avoiding the dirt, dust and tumbleweeds while criss-crossing the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan on your stay in Lloydminster.

However, when you have been driving an average of 7 hours a day through the Prairies even a small river valley constitutes being a Provincial Park...............

It's a whole different ball-game when you roll into Waterton Park in southern Alberta.  This place is absolutely stunning, with huge mountains, amazing lakes, incredible hiking and biking!

These prairies, hills and mountains are fine but it's good 'ol west coast singletrack my heart yearns for at this point in a trip and it was last weekend that once again, I hooked up with Billy to shoot some photos on the Shore!  Billy was still jonesin' after riding and cleaning most of Boundary earlier in the week.  Fueled by that success he had some specific spots in mind for us to visit and photograph.  The real challenge for me was that I hadn't been on the Shore in a couple weeks and he was asking ME to ride things I had never been on.............................

Ladder-bridges, slimy burnt logs, slippery rocks and cold creeks initially had me wondering if I could ride the spots Billy had in mind.  But the amazing thing about riding to a specific area and having the time to photograph is that you can slow down and assess the trail (without the usual adrenaline-crush that comes from being on your bike for the last 20 minutes careening downhill)!

So lo and behold I managed to ride everything requested and hit it all multiple times, go figure?!

Be sure to keep your eyes open for the next installment of "Another Saturday Ride...", sounds like we're hitting up a sweet little spot with awesome late afternoon sun that will hopefully deliver some nice cycling nuggets!

........and here's a lovely parting shot of the photographer who brought you all those sweet bike shots from the Shore!