Field Notes from the BC Cycle Tourism Society

Registration is still open for the BC Cycling Coalition's Active Transportation Summit in Victoria, October 28 to 30. Bursaries are still available and take 50% off registration for all three days. If cost is a factor, you're eligible. When you register, you can also ask to be matched with others to carpool, share a taxi, or cycle in together. Day 1 is half-day workshops, $59 each, on topics like walking and biking to school and the Motor Vehicle Act, and they're filling up fast. BC Cycle Tourism Society (Colleen and Heather) are presenting on Thursday afternoon. Bursary → Workshops → Register →

October 2026 Dispatch

Amtrak Cascades has started running its new Airo trains. Each one has racks for 18 bikes, some of them in the passenger cars, so you can keep your bike near you rather than only in the baggage car. Two Airo trains are running so far: one arrives in Vancouver from Seattle at 12:30 pm, and one leaves Vancouver for Seattle at 4:45 pm. The rest of the fleet switches over by early 2027. You still need a bike reservation, and Amtrak's booking system may cap them at six per train until it catches up. E-bikes are allowed under 50 lb, with tires no wider than 2". Amtrak →

October 2026 Dispatch

Building Momentum Bikepacking runs a free gear library for women and gender-diverse riders: bikepacking bikes, bags, tents, and other camping gear, borrowed for up to a week (two with a renewal) and picked up in Nelson. Since it opened in late July, 35 people have borrowed 67 items. Gear library →

October 2026 Dispatch

Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) is a US non-profit, but a few of its routes run through BC, including the Vancouver Crossing Loop, the start of its Pacific Coast Route, and part of the Great Divide Route. (This month it also launched an Eastern Canada Route, 1,500 km from Toronto to Québec City, roughly two-thirds car-free, swoon!) ACA members get Adventure Cyclist, a beautiful touring magazine, in print or digital. New this year are Campfire Chats, small monthly online conversations for members. October's is about eating on tour (Oct 21, 4 pm Pacific). Campfire Chats →

October 2026 Dispatch

Not a trip report exactly, but a lovely ten minutes of riding in the South Cariboo. Kelly Servinski and Erin Yeo sold everything to open the Tutti Gravel Inn in Clinton, which they call Canada's first gravel bike hotel. The film follows them and a few riders out on the gravel roads around town. It was made with support from the region's tourism association and two bike brands, it's a polished look at what a stay built around bikes can be like. Since filming, wildfires have hit the area hard, with an evacuation order and homes and businesses lost. The inn came through fine, but the community has a hard road ahead. It's a great time to consider making the trip and supporting local businesses along the way. Video on YouTube →

October 2026 Dispatch

Nine riders from Building Momentum Bikepacking rode from Winlaw along the Slocan Valley Rail Trail to lunch in Slocan, then climbed to camp at the Little Slocan Lake rec site. They hung their food in a tree. Ride report on Substack →

October 2026 Dispatch

A northern BC rider linked the Babines loop to Telkwa Pass: 205 km over three and a half days, including 30 km of purpose-built alpine singletrack. Cronin Pass still had snow in mid-July. Their tip: if you time it right, you can take VIA Rail from Terrace back to Smithers. Trip report on Reddit →

October 2026 Dispatch

Eden Sun's second bikepacking trip: 400 km over four days, along the Juan de Fuca coast to Sombrio Beach and back through Lake Cowichan. Three crashes and two falls along the way, and a bus to get past a stretch closed to bikes. Trip report at the UBC Varsity Outdoor Club →

October 2026 Dispatch

A photo trip into the Valhallas near McKean Lakes, then down to Burton on a recently decommissioned ATV road. No bears, though lots of bear scat. Trip report on Reddit →

October 2026 Dispatch

Twenty-four Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society riders based themselves in Penticton for a week of hub-and-spoke riding: Summerland backroads past the Trout Creek Trestle, Oliver and Okanagan Falls, and a last ride through the Little Tunnel to Naramata, just after the Bald Range fire. Trip report in the CCCTS Newsbrief →

October 2026 Dispatch

Kate Bradley rode about 2,190 km of the Great Northern Bikepacking Route in 43 days, through Nelson and Fernie. Her rear hub failed at Elk Pass, on the Alberta border, and that ended the trip. Trip summary on Substack →

October 2026 Dispatch

Heading for the Tsawwassen ferry? The free bike shuttle through the George Massey Tunnel has moved, it now picks up southbound riders at the Highway 99 on-ramp at Steveston Highway, not Rice Mill Road. Each trailer takes up to eight bikes, and e-bikes under 25 kg are fine. Schedule →

September 2026 Dispatch

BC votes twice this fall: local elections October 17 and the provincial election October 24. Going in, local governments at the Union of BC Municipalities convention voted on two asks for the province that matter for cycling. First, treat rural highways as active transportation routes and maintain them with cyclists in mind; chip seal on roads with no usable shoulder was their example. Second, restart its paused grants for bike paths and other active transportation. The Okanagan-Similkameen regional district also asked Premier Eby to keep sections of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail near Princeton. The resolutions → Regional district →

September 2026 Dispatch

Nick Dormaar took the train from Prince George to McBride for a solo overnighter in the Robson Valley: a washed-out forestry road, a night near the alpine, and back to the station just ahead of the rain. Weekend Snapshot →

September 2026 Dispatch

Emily Heron's sixth 10 Lakes Overnighter ("bring tents with floors in mice territory"), and Miles Arbour's crew on the Powell River Sampler, taking transit south to Saltery Bay. Heading to Texada? Boomtown Bike Shop has illustrated zines for the Texada Ridge Runner. Snapshot #247 → Snapshot #249 → Zines →

September 2026 Dispatch

Two new sections opened August 5: a paved stretch along Airport Way at Kelowna International Airport, and 3.2 km of gravel from Old Vernon Road to Beaver Lake Road that closes a gap riders used to bridge on the Highway 97 shoulder. Only 2.6 km remains before the trail runs unbroken from Kelowna to Coldstream, pending a land transfer involving the Okanagan Indian Band. And Vernon received $3 million to strengthen the connections between East Hill and the rail trail. Castanet →

August 2026 Dispatch

BCBusiness named the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (KVR) to its bucket list of five BC bike trails, alongside the Cowichan Valley Trail and the Slocan Valley rail trail. Travel writers keep discovering Coalmont, too, a tiny ex-mining town right on the trail near Princeton with trailside camping and swim spots. August's fire near Trout Creek burned close to the trail, so check current conditions before you ride. Bucket list →

August 2026 Dispatch

The City of Nanaimo and the Island Corridor Foundation are adding about 900 metres to the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Trail's south end, from Junction Avenue to Extension Road, with $550,000 approved by council. Short, but it's another piece of the corridor Island riders hope to one day follow end to end. Island Corridor Foundation →

August 2026 Dispatch

Building Momentum Bikepacking, the Nelson crew whose gear library we covered in July, is running a year-end overnighter in the Kootenays: 80 km, applications close September 10. Apply →

August 2026 Dispatch

The BC Cycling Coalition brings its Active Transportation Summit to Victoria October 28 to 30: three days, 30 sessions, and more than 80 speakers on making it easier to get around BC by bike and on foot. Heather will be one of them. Registration is open. Summit →

August 2026 Dispatch

Last month we pointed at Rick McCharles's 11-day, 750 km ride across BC's rail-trail spine. The rest of the series is worth your time too: the pre-trip gear list, Myra Canyon's trestles on video, the first flat tire of his riding life, and the snapped rear rack that ended the trip in Fernie. BestHike →

August 2026 Dispatch

Anna Dong wrote up the Cowichan Valley 8 for BIKEPACKING.com's Friday Debrief: a 20-person group ride from Seattle friends, 210 km over three days of trestles, lakes, and gravel, rolling into Victoria. Friday Debrief → and the route →

August 2026 Dispatch

Yeti Adventure Films is a small BC YouTube channel making proper bikepacking documentaries: five friends riding gravel from Kamloops toward Abbotsford, until a washed-out climb forced a rethink partway in. Their earlier films circle Shuswap Lake. Watch →

August 2026 Dispatch

Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth confirmed the province will keep the former BC Rail corridor, Squamish to Prince George, in public hands. Two days later we met with MLA Jeremy Valeriote to talk about how cycling could fit into the corridor's future. Ministerial statement →

July 2026 Dispatch

Building Momentum Bikepacking, a Nelson group creating space for women, non-binary and gender non-conforming riders, launched a free gear library: bikes, bags, and camping gear on 7 to 14-day loans, donations welcome, and borrowing open to everyone. An Okanagan group is already asking how to copy the model. Gear library →

July 2026 Dispatch

The Outdoor Recreation Council of BC wants to know which resource roads matter for your riding, and has a new guide for weighing in on the forest landscape plans now underway around the province. Resource road survey → and Forest planning guide →

July 2026 Dispatch

A new 14 km section between Rosemond Lake Bridge and Grindrod is open, celebrated with a July 17 ribbon cutting at Mara Trailhead alongside development partner Splatsin te Secwépemc. About 32 km of the Sicamous to Armstrong corridor is now rideable, across three separate segments. Castanet →

July 2026 Dispatch

The province stepped partway back from decommissioning the damaged Kettle Valley Rail Trail sections near Princeton. Repairs to three priority segments are now on the table, pending federal disaster-assistance funding and a long-term maintenance commitment from the regional district, whose board decides by the end of 2026. The hardest-hit 17 km near Coquihalla Lakes is still being decommissioned this summer, though the railbed stays, and the province says it is open to reroute proposals from Trans Canada Trail. Progress, not a rescue. Province's announcement →

July 2026 Dispatch

Wildfire smoke, road closures, and heat are part of BC summer riding. Our Be Prepared page gathers the checks worth doing before you roll out. Be Prepared →

July 2026 Dispatch

The Gravel Buddies crew rode out of Victoria through fields, wildflowers, and oak meadows to camp at Sooke Potholes, lunch spot overlooking Matheson Lake included, and posted it as a ready-made plan for the long weekend. Trip report on Instagram →

July 2026 Dispatch

Rick McCharles logged about 750 km across the province's rail-trail spine: the Okanagan Rail Trail, Myra Canyon, the Kettle Valley, and the Columbia & Western. Trip report on BestHike →

July 2026 Dispatch

A self-supported Reddit trip report, Banff to Vancouver, taking in Paleface Pass and the Kettle Valley Rail Trail through Myra Canyon, with a lively question thread. Trip report on Reddit →

July 2026 Dispatch

Leigh McAdam's Victoria loop for Trans Canada Trail, out the Galloping Goose and home by the Lochside, is also a stop-by-stop case for how bike travellers spread their spending through small communities. Read at Trans Canada Trail →

July 2026 Dispatch

A long read on the 1,000 km gravel loop from Comox around northern Vancouver Island. Read on BIKEPACKING.com →

July 2026 Dispatch

A reflective photo essay on a close-to-home BC overnight, riverside camping and all. Read on BIKEPACKING.com →

July 2026 Dispatch

Revelstoke Cycling Association and Revy Outdoors are hosting a beginner-friendly bikepacking weekend, with an in-town social Friday and an overnight campout Saturday–Sunday. Register →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

Vélo Canada Bikes is running Pedal Poll / Sondo Vélo — a national bike and micromobility count to help build the case for safer cycling infrastructure across Canada. Pedal Poll →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

A section of the Okanagan Rail Trail between Kick Willie Road and Kekuli Bay Provincial Park will be closed for erosion-prevention work. RDNO notice →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

Go by Bike Week runs May 30–June 5. Log rides, win prizes, and find a Celebration Station near you. GoByBike BC → and HUB Cycling →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

Province confirmed in Hansard that it will not sell or dismantle the CN Rail Sea to Sky corridor. Farnworth's Hansard commitments →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

The Narwhal reports that KVR decommissioning would create the first permanent break in the Trans Canada Trail, placing it in the broader context of BC Parks' maintenance backlog. Read the piece →

May/June 2026 Dispatch

Alberni Pacific Railway extended service along Port Alberni's Quay-to-Quay Railside corridor, with renewed participation from Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations. Read here →

May/June 2026 Dispatch