Gettin' Crafty on the Butcher

Crafty Butcher double teeter-totter

So apparently there's some mountain biking to be had in Cumberland, BC. So says the map that shows the piled-spaghetti heap of trails just outside of town. So says the mud-splattered hordes of dudes and dudettes wheeling down the main drag on knobby-tired bikes of all description. So says the groups we've recently had here at the hostel, one of which traveled from Whistler to ride here, and another of which included a couple of national champions and the rep for one of the largest Canadian bike manufacturers. So says the organizers of the BC Bike Race, the 7-day-long epic torture test for masochists. So yeah, I suppose there's some mountain biking in the area.

Jessie demonstrating the angle on the wooden berm

"Most Trails are Advanced." That's the beginning of the Cumberland entry in the Mountain Bike Vancouver Island guide book, and let me tell you, they're not kidding! If you learn to ride here, you get really good, really fast. Rocks and roots and ridiculous steeps are prominent features of just about all the trails in the area. Oh, and what about the woodwork? There's a strong community of trail builders in the area who have put an enormous amount of work into building and maintaining all the singletrack, and many of the trails showcase their creativity and skills with a chainsaw. For example, "Thirsty Beaver" is a newer trail with oodles of bridges and ramps and skinnies, most of which go a long ways to keeping the trail sustainable through all the crazy and wet terrain that it traverses. And yes, there's the "Crafty Butcher", a trail with a double teeter-totter in the middle of it - just because. Why the heck not?!?

Railing the corner on the Crafty Butcher

And just in case you get tired of what Cumberland has to offer, all of the communities in this area are host to mountain biking trails of various degrees of epic-ness. Courtenay's Forbidden Plateau is apparently festooned with downhill-friendly trails. I haven't ridden there yet, and my intel is based on the trail maps and oh-so-handy guide book, but it's on my list. Again, "Most Trails are Advanced." Campbell River's Snowden Forest (which I have ridden, "Most Trails are Advanced") is swoopy, flowy, just-keep-pedaling double- and single-track. Just watch out for the arrows labeled "50 km." I started following them for lack of any other plan, and while I can't attest to the actual distance of the route, I can tell you that it keeps on going, and going, and going... And there's Quadra Island ("Most Trails are Intermediate"), where apparently "the fastest man in the world" and owner/operator of Naked Bicycles can be found leading group rides.

Derelict canoe on the shore of Morte Lake, Quadra Island

I haven't even come close to exploring all the trails in this area, but believe me, I'm gonna try!