Canadian Club
Cycling gold in ’dem hills
Wildhorse Cycling Club
The gold rush might be over, but there’s treasure to discover in the East Kootenays. Named for the creek that drew 5,000 prospectors to the area in the late 1800s, the Wildhorse Cycling Club now enjoys more than 230 km of beautiful cycling terrain as its modern-day wealth.
“Our calling card is that we appeal to the green circle/ blue square style of rider, but still provide fun for every level,” explains club president Ryan Hamilton. “Not so much big uphills or downhills, but lots of rolling up-anddown type of terrain that’s accessible to everyone.”
Throughout the Rockies, there are many great mountain biking scenes; the small town of Cranbrook is no exception. A growing membership has helped the club to expand its presence in the community, fostering a key partnership with the Community Forest Society to build new signage and maintain trails.
“Relationship building has been pretty important and the municipality’s recreation manager has been awesome to deal with,” Hamilton says. “We’ve had lots of success in building trust, which has allowed for the expansion of our trails and systems in a legitimate way.”
The club’s healthy membership numbers have also included a large contingent of women riders, which continues to grow with the weekly Tuesday women’s ride. Hamilton credits the accessible terrain found in the area with helping to make the sport more inclusive for newer riders who might otherwise be scared off by the steep, rocky downhill routes typically found in mountain towns.
“Every week there’s new names I don’t always recognize, which is a good sign that new people keep coming to the sport,” Hamilton says. “I think we’ve got a great scene here for that. Everyone’s very supportive with lots of social activity in the pubs after our weekly rides.”
While Cranbrook is a mountain town, there’s no lack of great road riding. North Star Rails to Trails provides a 28-km route along the St. Mary’s River up to Cranbrook’s sister town, Kimberley, which is also part of the Trans Canada Trail. It will also connect to the Cranbrook to Wardner Trail, currently in the final phase of development, adding roughly 40 km of rustic and scenic road riding.
Wildhorse club members have helped with all of these projects. They’ve also spent many hours volunteering to support races and events put on by other squads in the area. “Our goal is just to pay the bills and raise some money. We’re still really a grassroots club,” Hamilton says.
The club may be humble, but its gold-mining roots continue today. It has helped in the pursuit of Olympic gold. Paralympic athlete and club member Tristen Chernove brought home three medals from the Rio games this past summer, including gold in the individual time trial.
Chernove was diagnosed with the degenerative muscle disease Charcot-marie-tooth just after moving to the area in 2009. The club has helped with cycling and, in turn, the fight against the disease.
“Once my wife and I started cycling in the club, we met the people that would become our good friends and found our place in the community,” Chernove says. “They provided constant encouragement and messages of support while I was competing, and they’re still the people who I want to be riding with.”
“We appeal to the green circle/ blue square style of rider, but still provide fun for every level.”