Oasis

Cycling with Caitlynn in Cypress Hills had a different feel than Revelstoke. The trip to BC was laid back and focused on friendship, but cycling with Caitlynn was just as much about pushing our bodies to the limit as it was about enjoying each other's company.

Caitlynn and I are pretty well matched in our technical skills, so neither one feels like they're holding the other back.

The trails in this park were created for cross-country skiing, but work well for biking, too. The handful that we picked were not too technical, but they were physically demanding, with grueling climbs to lookout points before rewarding us with roller coaster descents. Evening rains made things a little messier. I'd say we tackled about 30 kms of trails in 2 days.

I felt really proud of myself, especially after the muddy, rooty, rock-strewn ride down the Beaver Creek trail. More advanced riders will have a blast on that one.

Cypress Hills is an amazing anomaly; a mountain getaway smack in the middle of the bald prairie. It's like a trompe l'oeil. Everything looks normal and then suddenly, as you come over the crest of a gentle hill, boom. The lookout points are breathtaking. I bet we could see for 60 kms. It looked like a fairy tale kingdom, all shimmery in the heat and humidity.

Lodgepole campground was the nicest one in the Elkwater area. There was a cute little forestry museum dedicated to Tom Trott at the top of the Beaver Creek trail, and the wild flowers were in bloom everywhere. The biggest highlight for me was seeing the swarms of dragonflies along the Horseshoe Canyon trail. Every time we rode into a little clearing they filled the air. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. I could hear the hum of there wings all around me, and see the sun glinting off their transparent wings. It was other-worldly.