Jasper Mountain Biking Trip

So I figured by July last year that it was about time for a quick mountain biking trip. I hadn't been up the Rockies' biking trails yet, so where else to start but the well mapped out Jasper, AB area?  Freewheel Cycle rented us the full-suspension bikes, and I couldn't have been happier with them.  They def. weren't new, but that's what you want when you're going to abuse a piece of rental machinery.  In total during the trip, we had to adjust a couple of derailers so they wouldn't shift on auto-pilot when you're pedaling uphill, and I broke my chain.  I'm still not complaining about rental mountain bikes if that's all the trouble is.  Things happen with rentals and it's to be expected.  And we had Greg, he fixes bike things.

Day 1: Saturday July 25, 2009
Moab Lake/Whirlpool Fire Road - 11.5 kms

Ok so I know all the hype about real mountain biking vs. fire roads... boring etc. etc. Not today. This was a wicked sweet time we had. Not too challenging but definitely sweating, it was a good first day.  It was mostly clear except for a few fallen trees we had to either hop or stop and climb over.  Even stopped for a quick dip in the river...

Quick as in it was a bad, cold idea.

On the way down, we were lucky enough to see a little black bear cub.  Sorry no pictures, it just ran off to mom.  And obviously then we gave them time to disappear before we picked up the pace again.  At the bottom of the trail, we stopped to head down to check out the river and what do you know, a moose.  All in all, good day.  Time for dinner and a BLL.

It rained quite a bit that night, but we devised a shelter for the picnic table with a tarp and bungees.  It might've be wet and a little cold but it smelled like the Rockies and that's far better than Saskatchewan as far as I'm concerned.  I loved it, and the campfire blackened chicken and cold beer did wonders.

Day 2: Sunday July 26, 2009
Saturday Night Lake Loop - 27.4 kms

Gruelling. This was hard-ass from the parking lot, I don't know how the hell we made it all the freakin way to the top. Well the scenery was fantastic, but I seriously needed to pack more than 2L of water and a few snacks. I think the group's feelings were mutual.  Stopping for breaks was a necessity, but what was sad was the fact that at one point Greg's wheel sensor recorded 13 kms of biking, and my compass said we were still travelling North-West in an overall straight route.  Coming down was a blessing.  After all the hard climbing, to just sit back and roll down was an exhilarating break.  Except for Shane's rocketing over the handlebars, the weekend was mostly rackout-free.

All in all, good trip.  I'd definitely do it again, just taking on different trails.  With a playground as big as Canada, there's always something new waiting.