Singletrack 6 returns to West Kootenay

A cross-country mountain biking race is returning to the West Kootenay and kicking things off in Castlegar.

The TransRockies Singletrack 6 mountain bike stage race will begin on July 11 on Rialto Forest Service Road. The next two stages will take racers to Nelson, and then they’ll be onto Kaslo and New Denver. The event wraps on July 16 with stage 6 in Nakusp and the winners taking the podium. 

Approximately 250 people are expected to participate, and Ryan Bell, marketing manager for TransRockies, says 30-40 of those who’ve already signed up are from the West Kootenay.

“We usually have a majority from the Calgary, Edmonton region … and then we also get a decent chunk from Vancouver and the Okanagan. We also get a number of different people from all over the U.S. … and a number of people from New Zealand and Australia, and the U.K. and the rest of Europe.”

When choosing how to participate, riders have some options. They can choose to race all six stages, or they can choose the three-day flex pass, where they can choose which three stages they’d like to race. 

In addition to choosing how many races they participate in, cyclists for the first time in the race’s history can choose either a full pipe or a half pipe, with the half pipe being about half the distance of the full route. Bell says it gives people who may not be fully trained racers an opportunity to come out and participate.

“It’s an option to do a little bit less, but still be out there.”

Racers who sign up for the full route but find themselves hurting or tired have the option of switching to the half pipe. Bell warned that a switch would exclude a racer from podium contention.

Bell says a lot of the routes are “blue trails with a little bit of black mixed in.” While some of the stages involve more climbing than descending, others alternate more between climbing and descent. 

This is at least the third time the Singletrack 6 has hosted stages in the West Kootenay. All six stages were held in the region in 2017, while the final two stages of the 2022 race were held in Rossland.

Bell says it’s the trails and the communities that keep bringing the event back to the area.

“It’s a little hidden gem that most people who come to do these events have never heard of and never expected to get those types of amazing trails, the scenery, the climbs, the descents.”

Registration for the event is still open and those who are interested can find details at singletrack6.com.

For those who’d like to cheer riders on, they will set off at 8 a.m. and Bell says the frontrunners are likely to finish anywhere between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Maps of the routes are available on the website.