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Probably my favorite place to visit in North America but it’s so so far, but I’m due.  It’s been 11 years and it's time!  To break up the drive, I made a quick stop in the Black Hills of SD.  Two days of riding on the Centennial Trail.  One day was all single track, the second day was a mix of single track and 4WD trails.

A good break and some fun riding but after a couple of days it’s time to move on for a another quick stop at Glacier NP and a quick climb up Logan Pass and a lot of pics!

On to Bragg Creek and the Kananaskis Country for some crazy mountain biking!  First stop, the Jumpingpound Ridge and Cox Hill.  Super fun loop.  A lot of steep climbing with a hike a bike to get up on the ridge for the good stuff and a crazy DH Cox Hill.

On to Powderface loop the next day.  Again a lot of super steep climbing which somehow I kinda like, I know NUTS!  And again another crazy DH to end the ride.

Off to Barrier Lake, the last time I did this ride was 11 years ago.  Basically before Enduro riding and hey a new trail.  Razors Edge is a double diamond so I’m thinking there might be some stuff I couldn’t ride and maybe some B-lines but I’ll give it a try.  OMG what a mistake!  This was the craziest trail I’ve ever seen!!  When the warning signs come up, you better take them seriously!  In a few places I couldn’t even see a rideable line and I’m not kidding.  It’s the wildest, raw, untamed trail I could ever imagine.  I won’t be doing that again!  Not XC friendly!  The rest of the ride was fun as I remember.  Jewels Pass was great and a little easier than the last couple of days which was fine.

A couple days off the bike was due, so a couple days of hiking in Banff NP sounds good.  I know this is a biking site but one plug for a super hike, Parker Ridge to watch the clouds dance on the mountain tops above the glacier.  A good way to end the day.

Back to the K-country for a couple more days of riding.  By this point I’m ready for some easier riding.  Did a day of riding on the Tom Snow Trail, which is a XC skiing trail as well so a good day of riding but on the easy side.  Boy, I bet the XC skiing here is great.  Another day of riding which I thought would be a moderate day of riding but again the last time I’ve ridden this area was before Enduro riding.

Started the ride by missing a turn and headed up the Race of Spades trail.  Oh shit.  By the time I realized what I did, I just kept thinking OMG I hope no one is coming down this trail because this is a one way trail and dangerous as hell to see some idiot like me going up.  The only plus of going up this trail was I got to see all the ramps, jumps, catwalks and stuff.  This Enduro trail was insane with all the stuff.  I love you guys for all the B-lines so someone who is a XC guy could enjoy themselves without putting my life on the line but WOW, if you're brave what a playground!

The second up, I found the normal trail up and a steep as hell dirt road up to do another Enduro trail.  The last time I was here there was no network of Enduro trails off Mouse Mountain Road but now it’s an Enduro playground, how cool!  My second run, I found a flow trail that was just awesome.  Normally I’m not a super fan of flow trails but this one was a blast!  Wildest roller coaster I’ve ever been on.  One section when I noticed I was picking up speed and it was getting steep on the downhill, I looked up and went what the hell!  No brakes!  This steep section leads down and up a hill side with the turn on a vertical slope on the hill side so no braking.  I’m not kidding, you couldn’t walk this part of the trail if you wanted to.  No Stopping!  That was nuts and fun as hell!

Well, I was planning on doing one more day, then the weather people were saying the next day I would be waking up to pouring rain with temperatures in the upper 30’s.  Rain all day and maybe not even reaching 50.  Plus I think I had enough and it was time to go home.  I seem to hit a wall after 2 ½ weeks but somehow I managed to drive home in 2 ½ days which I almost couldn’t believe.  I hadn’t slept in a bed in over 2 weeks, that might have been the reason.  I think I need another week of vacation to recover but it was good!

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