Is Electric Bikepacking Is The New Black? - The Final Chapter

Ebike designs are getting crazy and we decided that we'd see how crazy we could get with by heading deep into the forest service roads of eastern British Columbia.

For more perspective on the potential fun and potential limitations that ebikes can offer bike touring and bikepacking adventurers - have a look at these other trips we've done.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Scroll past the video for images and trip details.

Bikepacking Old Porcupine's Choice Loop Alberta Canada

Flashback to the middle of winter 2017-18 when, on a winter's day off I asked Nadia if she'd join me for a day in the car exploring some country roads I saw in the Backroads map book. On this day we ended up finding one of the most lovely country roads I have ever had the pleasure of driving and so it began: Trying to loop together a new gravel/bikepacking route on roads (I was sure) that most local cyclists - even the adventurous ones hadn't ridden.

Further map studying showed me there was, what looked like, a road that ran north-south, west of the Forestry Trunk Road in the Livingstone PLUZ and after some more car-based exploring I was convinced it was there.

The last piece of the puzzle was some more car-based exploring of the Skyline Road in the Porcupine Hills PLUZ  and BOOM! - a loop was possible.

So here is the ride report. Connor from AccessCourier.ca agreed to ride it with me and we set off on a Friday night after work so we could start early the next day.

Is Electric Bikepacking Is The New Black? - Chapter 2

Check out THIS link for Chapter 1.

Bikepacking The Devil's Gap Alberta Canada

Last year, a few of us rode from the Waiprous area out to the Ghost River Valley to spend the night and I was blown away with how beautiful, rugged, and remote the place seemed. Fast forward about a year and here we are.

For the last 3 years, my brother and I (and sometimes a few others) plan a bike trip of some kind. Getting away for a week like we did for the Castlegar -> Pentiction trip is a little harder now as he has 2 little tykes at home so it was decided to go for a shorter trip together to keep the streak alive.

So, with these things in mind we decided to do something a few days shorter, a little closer to home, and something neither of us had done before.

Is Electric Bikepacking Is The New Black? - Chapter 1

Ebikes have finally started to catch on with North Americans in the last couple of years and people are starting to use them for all manner of reasons. Electric mountain bikes are a thing. Electric city commuter bikes are a thing. Electric cargo bikes are definitely a thing. But electric touring bikes? Are they a thing?

They are indeed a thing, and we believe they are poised to propel more people into bigger/longer adventures as more and more companies design bikes with bigger batteries and faster chargers.

The BikeBike Passport Rides - Pathway 100km

This ride is part of our "BikeBike Passport" rides around Calgary. Complete all the rides earn a special BikeBike prize. 

All rides are mostly off-street/pathway and are of varying lengths/difficulty level to accommodate all of you that love adventures.

The longer routes do require some level of route finding/navigating as Calgary does not yet have very good (well, barely any actually) route finding system. We've attached links to Map My Ride routes to make it really easy to use your smartphone. 

Other rides in the series - 

* Chestermere Lake 

* Fish Creek Loop

* Bow River Explorer

Distance: 100ishkm

Difficulty Level: Hard-Very Difficult

Ride Time: 5-7 hours

Strava Link