Come On, Cumberland!

Landing in Victoria late on Saturday evening, we dropped Gabe off to hang out with his Dad, and Ryan and I went to find a campground where we proceeded to pass out until late Sunday morning. In search of a place to both kiteboard and mountain bike, we headed Northwest of Victoria and drove some gravel roads looking for a good campsite. Spotting about 100 tents in a field, we pulled over at the sight of a whole lot of bikes! We had stumbled upon a huge bike race that had just started a few days before on Vancouver Island's southern shore. Of course, we had to investigate! Turns out this race is a really long trek on mountain bikes that starts near Victoria and ends in Vancouver. Thinking this might be a good omen, we liked the idea of staying in this area to look for some trails.

But after driving for a few hours, we decided we didn't like the prospects nor the vibe, and on a whim drove to Cumberland, 3 plus hours north. The first thing we noticed in town was Dodge City Cycles, with trail maps taped on the window, and the Ridin' Fool Hostel in the back. Perfect! Now this was the vibe we were looking for.

We found a place to camp really close to town on Comox Lake. We had it pretty much to ourselves after the weekend, and used it as a base to shred all of the classics in the area.

Turns out Cumberland is a mecca of twisty, rooty, technical climbs and descents with a few stunts and lots of drops. The top of the ridge overlooking Cumberland, a 500 meter road climb, had some hammering double black downhill trails diving off the east side down to the lake. They were super gnarly--I am pretty sure I only rode about 50% of the trails!

Ryan had the first big BC crash on 'Pity the Fool', rolling off of a heinous drop and pasting a fire-scarred tree, which left him with a sore shoulder, some cuts and scrapes, and a whole lot of black soot on his body to show for it.

After 3 days in Cumberland, we got to know all of the trails of course, the bike shop owner, and spent some time in the great little town. We also spent 4th of July here, all pretty much in agreement that shredding Cumberland trails was a far better option than watching fireworks and eating BBQ chicken back in the States. Instead we helped celebrate Canada Day, Aye. (I have a personal agenda to make this a yearly tradition).


Due in Whistler on Thursday to meet Bart, we had to tear ourselves away from this uncrowded little labyrinth of quality trails. Cumberland will definitely be a destination in the future!

Dates: 7/2-4/07

Area: Cumberland, BC

Trails: Mama Bear's Trail of Tears, Bronco's Perserverance, Buggered Pig, Skinny's Galore, Spanker, Short and Curly, Matt's Trail, Black Hole, Space Nugget, Big Log, Shaker, Swamp Trail, Grub, Stub, and Pity the Fool.

Miles: Many

Highlights: Too many to list.

Photos, top to bottom: Kites in Victoria; Tents Galore; BC Bike Race Finish Line, motorized sweepers done for the day; Follow the red arrow OR DIE!; Cumberland Gnar; Ryan Post-Mega-Crash; Classic BC Forest Floor + Trail; View from top of DH trails, Cumberland; "hmmmmm.....where to go next?" Gabe ponders the idea of Whistler; Ferry sunset, Whistler-Bound!