Singletrack 6 2024 - Stage 1 (Castlegar) Recap
Stage 1: Castlegar
Tired of 5-hour gravel slogs? Want something shorter, sharper and more engaging?
We found the solution: Singletrack 6.
Today’s deceptively difficult, short stage—22 km, 1,200 m of climbing—delivered full-value mountain bike racing. First, a beautifully built climbing trail traversed cedar forests and rushing mountain streams, its playful nature belying a quick gain of over 1000 m. From there, the descent, with steep boulder gardens, countless delightful rock rolls, and rowdy straight-line rooted sections presented an opposite challenge. During pre-ride, several such sections had us off our bikes scratching our heads and asking, “we’re riding down that?” But as race-brain took over, we found flow through the melee.
The 7am start times ensured we’d beat the heat—in fact we were scarfing finish-line watermelon and sipping fizzy water by 9am, contemplating second breakfast.
What a treat.
Other Highlights:
Soaking in the mighty (icy) Columbia River, post-race with competitors/new buddies
Impeccably marked course (in a world of gravel races which aren’t marked at all)
The surprise and amusement from local bike shop employees upon seeing our cute little XC bikes and their suddenly puny-seeming XC tires.
Quote of the day:
“I saw a lot of dust [on the downhill] and thought I was catching somebody. Then I saw the hind-end of the biggest grizzly bear I’ve ever seen, running down the trail” - Rob Britton, 3rd place overall
-James Williams & Carl Decker