Gravel adventure in Chiliwack - Tamihi challenge

Ride for Water is a charity that raises money to help Ethiopians with  getting fresh water.  The fund is raised by charity bike rides and runs.  The pandemic didn't them from raising money and they are doing it by setting up gravel ride challenges in Fraser Valley.    There are 3 challenges, and I did m first one today.  

After breakfast, I loaded my bike and gear to my car for a 85km drive to Chilliwack.  It had been a a long time since I last headed east on Hwy 1.  Morning traffic on Saturday and I let my Mazda3 loose  for 40 minutes.  It had been a while I drove on the fast lane.  I backed it down to a more manageable speed not because speeding ticket, but to save gas.  

Once I was off the highway, the windows and sunroof was open.  The early spring air was warm and mixed with manure smell.  I was in the country side after all.   I was just glad that I was able to be out riding my bike.

The ride started from the the coffee truck at Vedder Park in Chilliwack.  In the next 30km, I explored trails on the Tamihi area.  The trails are mainly used by dirt bikers and ATV, but you also see the mountain bikers in the area too.  Because this is a gravel ride, there was no technical trails.  Just fire roads climbs and descents.  It reminds me of the early mountain biking days.  We only rode fire roads as our bikes had no suspensions and had geometry similar to the road bikes. 

Before I started my ride, I was afraid that my bike may not have low enough gear to tackle the climbs. After I settled into a pace, I realised that I was able to ride all of them.  At no point that I needed to get off the bike and push.  The climb was also short and punchy.  I only had to use my lowest gear at a one spot.  I was able to settle in a steady pace for the majority of the climb.

What goes up must comes down.  My drop bar mountain bike didn't preform too badly.  My hands were on the drop, and my butt was hanging over the rear tire.  Without any suspension part, my body was loose enough to take the bumps.  I was very comfortable on the bike and I was grinning from ear to ear.    The large volume of the 29" tires had something to do with it too.  The big tires were so much better than the 26er.  More traction and more air.  They were awesome, but this down hill also killed my rear tire.  The side wall wasn't very strong and the side wall was gone.  I managed to ride back to the car without have a flat.  I must thank my lucky star.

The ride back to the car park was just on the road.  It was kind of boring because I could only go so fast on the mountain bike.  Also, the side wall is giving out and the ride wasn't very stable.  But the view was good.  country side.  Green grass.  Quiet life.  Beautiful day. Then I heard gun shots!  WTF?  That's because I was near a gun range.. lol

The rest of the ride was okay.  Before I head home, I got cheap gas in Abbotsford and a donair..Hopefully I will do another ride next week.

#upstreamchallenge #rideforwater #gravelbike #trekxcalibur #dropbar29er #dropbarmountainbike #partypace