Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Distribution
  • ML TRAVEL
  • Podcast
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Follow Us
0
0
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Distribution
  • ML TRAVEL
  • Podcast
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Mountain Biking
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Repurposed

  • July 29, 2022
  • Sarah Bulford
Total
3
Shares
0
0
3
0
0
Total
3
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 3
Share 0
Share 0

There’s something about the gravel scene here in British Columbia that seems exceptionally rad. Having moved here just over two and a half years ago, I’ve come across some unreal people and places that have given me nothing short of some amazing life experiences, and the goal of this project was just to show some level of tribute to that. From perfect gravel roads to gravel hotels, bike festivals, stacked local groups rides and everything in between, from my perspective, this place is a mecca for gravel, and it deserves some level of recognition for the amazing things happening here.     

JMC9458
PHOTO: Josh Mcgarel

Having lived on the coast, the island, the city, and a couple places in the interior, I’ve still only scratched the surface of the gravel scene around here, and it genuinely seems endless the number of adventures that you can get up to. Every region has its own look and feel to it, adding this level of diversity and type of access to riding that I’ve found extremely special. Dusty rolling hills around places in the interior, contrasted by shaly, wall-like climbs in the Sea to Sky, to coastline riding on the island and Sunshine Coast – even after exploring it for the last few years this place still seems crazy to me.

JMC9208
PHOTO: Josh Mcgarel

At the heart of it all is this network of over 650,000+ forest service roads that span across the province, originally intended for logging, but now being repurposed for things far different than this. For gravel riders, we’re able to use these roads for adventure and exploration, linking together single day routes and bikepacking trips alike, leading to some pretty epic days out. 

With gravel being just one of the ways that this infrastructure is being used for something other than forestry, this seems to be creating another layer of value for this network that wasn’t there before, and there seems to be something profound about that to me. We’re able to access these wild places on bikes because of this extensive forest road network, and I think that’s partially why BC is such a unique place for this kind of riding. 

So, for what it’s worth, I genuinely wanted to give a weird thank you to the forest roads that we ride on, the viewpoints we’re able to see from, the painful climbs we suffer up, descents we enjoy, and all the people involved in the gravel scene here doing what they’re doing. Not only do we have this insane network of roads to explore at our fingertips, but we have this rad community of people doing some pretty cool things with it. Events seem to be exploding left and right, new routes popping up around all corners of the province, FKT’s are being attempted, group rides getting bigger, places are being explored, and I’m just stoked to have been introduced to it all. 

JMC9124
PHOTO: Josh Mcgarel

To everyone in the gravel scene here, and for BC for being the place that it is for all this, big thanks to you – looking forward to seeing where it all goes from here. 

We acknowledge that we work and play on unceded traditional territory of the Squamish Nation where this project was filmed.

// Storyteller Chris Hatton www.instagram.com/chrisrjhatton
// Project Partners Teravail https://teravail.com We Are One Composites www.weareonecomposites.com 7Mesh https://7mesh.com/
// Film & Production Pierre-Luc Arseneau www.instagram.com/plarseneau
// Photos Josh Mcgarel https://www.joshmcgarel.com/

Total
3
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 3
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • B.C.
  • gravel
  • mountain bike
  • MTB
Sarah Bulford

Previous Article
TonyMclane052106-DailyUniverse2_Kieran-Brownie
  • CLIMBING

Finding Common Ground

  • July 28, 2022
  • Mountain Life Media
View Post
Next Article
Screenshot 2022 08 18 10.02.01 AM
  • Food & Drink
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

Ale Trails: Squamish

  • August 1, 2022
  • Editor
View Post
You May Also Like
087A0188
View Post
  • Mountain Biking

No Prize at the Top

  • Editor
  • August 17, 2026
Paddling the upper reach of the Howse River, looking downriver to a storm rolling in.
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Trips & Expeditions

The Forgotten Divide

  • Editor
  • August 5, 2026
2024.08.BJP .MBMTRUAX 26887
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Photography

Made by Mountains

  • Editor
  • July 27, 2026
040821182009
View Post
  • Mountain Biking

Laurentians : Beyond the Final Descent 

  • Mountain Life Media
  • July 7, 2026
Copy of pg. 43 credit Reuben Krabbe Location Mount 7 Launch Site 1
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Rockies

BC’s Best Riding Isn’t Always Where You Expect

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 29, 2026
Casey Brown Dark Horse freeride event and Academy3
View Post
  • Mountain Biking

Building the Next Generation of Freeride Women

  • Editor
  • June 25, 2026
202507SaultSteMarie 126
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • Ontario

The Soo’s Mountain Bike Boom Keeps Rolling

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 15, 2026
Mountain bike getting air in Ontario forest
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Mountain Biking
  • Ontario

When to End Full Send

  • Editor
  • May 25, 2026
RECENT POSTS
  • MEC FRONTCOUNTRY tents night campfire
    Camp, Ride, Paddle, Repeat: A Gear Shed for Summer’s Best Days Outside
    • August 19, 2026
  • 087A0188
    No Prize at the Top
    • August 17, 2026
  • Ray Zahab 1
    ML Podcast: Ultra-Adventurer Ray Zahab
    • August 13, 2026

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe Now to our Newsletter

Mountain Life Magazine Logo white
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe to ML Print
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

{{playListTitle}}
  • {{ index + 1 }}
    {{ track.track_title }} {{ track.track_artist }} {{ track.album_title }} {{ track.length }}
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_title}}{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_artist && typeof sonaar_music.option.show_artist_name != 'undefined' ? ' ' + sonaar_music.option.artist_separator + ' ' + list.tracks[currentTrack].track_artist:''}}
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].album_title}}
{{ list.tracks[currentTrack].album_title }}
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_title}}
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_artist }}
{{classes.speedRate}}X
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_title}}
{{list.tracks[currentTrack].track_artist }}
{{ cta['store-name'] }}