ROAD TRIP!
Road Tripping Through Savona & Kamloops
This trip was produced with support from your Pacific Toyota Dealers. To find out more about the latest Tacos, Runners, and Tundras - including the hybrid-electric 2022 Tundra - click here now.
It's road trip season, and we couldn't be more excited about warmer temps and taking our bikes to new places this summer. BC is as good as it gets for loading up the vehicle and hitting the open road with bikes, friends, and endless possibilities.
Spring has sprung here in British Columbia and even though there’s still some stubborn snow up in the mountains, the interior of the Province is largely good to go for mountain biking. So, on one particularly cold April weekend we packed up the trucks and headed North East on the hunt for new riding spots. We brought along a crew of good friends who were also keen to trade in the coastal moisture for some drier conditions. With a few trucks full of bikes and a very loose plan we made our way up the Duffy Highway to Savona.
Yotas on Yotas...on Yotas.
Trading loam for dust.
Nothing like a good long jump contest to get everyone warmed up.
Was that my stick… or yours?
We're not in coastal BC anymore...
There's something about road trips that makes everyone want to stop and session jumps. And Kamloops has a lot of jumps.
If you bring Ollie Jones on a road trip, you have to understand he's going to tweak the hell out of body and bike every time he's in the air (which seems like always).
Word of advice: never be last in the train.
After a day of riding in Savona it was time to pack up and make the short drive to Kamloops. The light was fading fast so we hustled to find somewhere to camp for the night.
Footage transfers, powered by whiskey.
The next morning we made our way to a legendary Kamloops spot: the gravel pit. For a few of us, it was the first time and for the others it was an old favorite. After a short learning curve and some excessive foot dabs everyone got the hang of it and honed their inner Brett Tippie.
If you listen closely, you can hear Tippie’s laugh echoing in the hills.
No climb trail here...
Before we knew it the sun faded and after pouring an absurd amount of gravel out of our shoes it was time to drive home. We may have missed a few spots on our hit list due to an excessive amount of sessioning but regardless it was awesome to get everyone together for a weekend of riding. As for the other spots, there’s always next time.
Please enjoy the outdoors responsibly and adhere to all local bylaws including fire bans and other important public alerts.
Comments
Kenneth Perras
1 year, 10 months ago
Kamloops is a great riding destination, and should part of any mountain bikers' pilgrimage, but there are many reasons why some trail networks and locations are left off Trailforks and other mapping apps.
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kamloops_rider
1 year, 10 months ago
Exactly. It doesn't help out the local bike community to post videos on riding with skidding, I mean roosting, unsanctioned trails and in the case of the gravel pit, privately owned/business owned property. Not cool Mahalo My Dude. Also ironic after this article --> https://nsmb.com/articles/do-dentists-actually-ride-mountain-bikes/
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Cam McRae
1 year, 10 months ago
So the Froriders have been poaching (and filming and shooting) that for 30 years?
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Mahalo My Dude
1 year, 10 months ago
We spoke to the a member of the Skeetchestn responsible for the range management in the area and provided our contact information to him as well. They asked us to refrain from riding anything below a certain point and pointed us in the direction of trails that were able to be ridden respectfully. All of the trails in this video adhered to those boundaries.
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kamloops_rider
1 year, 10 months ago
Mahalo My Dude - thanks for replying and for reaching out to the land managers!
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kamloops_rider
1 year, 10 months ago
Cam - that’s the history of free riding isn’t it? Look at the old NWD and Kranked videos - back when there wasn’t nearly as many people riding, not many bike clubs, social media, gps tracking apps, etc. It was definitely a fringe sport. With the exponential growth in riders and technology we need to approach things differently to keep what we have (or build more trails) as we are much more visible. Or at the very least be more aware of the effects of our actions as we all get painted with the same brush as mountain bike riders unfortunately.
On a side note, I remember the days when the only way to find some trails was going with someone who knew and was willing to share or they drew you a crude map which didn’t always help.
BTW - always been a fan of site since it first fired up.
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Cam McRae
1 year, 10 months ago
I agree. I just assumed it was public considering how often we have seen the pit and continue to see it.
Glad you’re still tuning in and thanks!
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Sethsg
1 year, 10 months ago
Drool over my awesomer (new word) Toyota that actually goes off-road. (sorry I couldn't figure out how to upload them directly into the comment)
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22613863/
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22613869/
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22613866/
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22613862/
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22613864/
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 10 months ago
You need to submit that thing to Deniz's lens for Pistons n Pivots. Send us a note and we'll make that happen.
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Sethsg
1 year, 10 months ago
The only problem is it is not in Canada. It was my family's vehicle when we lived in Angola, Africa (you need a vehicle like this because the roads are so bad there) before we moved to Canada two years ago so it isn't sadly possible, otherwise I would love to. Thanks though!
Now in Canada, we just drive a Rav-4, which is not near as cool or awesome as the Landcruiser.
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Shoreboy
1 year, 10 months ago
Click where to enter? I think you forgot your hyperlink.
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 10 months ago
Thanks, I missed that. It's fixed now (the correct link is also near the top of the page).
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danithemechanic
1 year, 10 months ago
So there's a Savona in BC and a Savona in Liguria, nearby Finale Ligure.
Now i wonder if all Savona's in the world have great trails.
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Cam McRae
1 year, 10 months ago
Have you ridden the trails in Savona IT Dan? I’ve ridden Finale but I think I’ve heard there are good trails near Savona as well.
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danithemechanic
1 year, 10 months ago
Yeah i did, they are awesome! The locals are stoked and put an outstanding amount of work on them.
But the uphills are some of the punchiest i've ever tried to pedal!
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OldManBike
1 year, 10 months ago
This would be more fun if Toyota weren’t the largest corporate funder of seditionists in US Congress.
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 10 months ago
I'd be curious to hear/read more about that if you've got any links that point to it. Otherwise I'm just going to change your user name to 'SnarkyOldManBike'.
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OldManBike
1 year, 10 months ago
Sure. Here are two:
Toyota leads companies in election-objector donations
Toyota resumes PAC donations to GOP election objectors after pause
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Sethsg
1 year, 10 months ago
This comment has been removed.
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