Rob Britton’s incredible backcountry bike packing trip with Svein Tuft and Ryan Anderson

Update: Many readers wanted to see the exact route of Britton et al’s trip. Here’s what Britton, Sparling, Tuft, Anderson and Little did on this amazing adventure.

Day 1: Gold Bridge – Churn Creek, 125.81 km. Check out his ride on Strava

Day 2: Churn Creek – Yalakom Valley Ranch. 217.11 km check out his ride on Strava

Day 3: Yalakom valley ranch – Gold bride, 71.51 km check out his ride on Strava

Rob Britton may have retired, but that doesn’t mean his biking days are over. Far from it. The 35-year-old recently went on a trip with his also-retired pro pals, Svein Tuft, Ryan Anderson, Jamie Sparling and Taylor Little.

The ride was something Sparling and Britton had originally talked about doing during the COVID19 lockdown last summer. It wasn’t possible then but it was something that was just sitting on the back burner over the winter. With a lot of these trips, once Britton gets the idea in his head he will keep planning it, tweaking it and polishing it until he’s able to bring it to life. “I’m really fortunate that I have a lot of very flexible friends or maybe more so I have friends with very patient wives and flexible careers to be able to do these types of trips with me,” Britton said.

Facing the unknown

Britton has put together a decent amount of multi-day bike packing trips over the past few years, but this was his favourite. The route they took “literally had us going into the unknown and that’s not something I take lightly. When you’re in the backcountry you always have to be aware of your surroundings, managing time/daylight, how much food you have as well as overall capacity for the entire group to pass the day’s challenges.”

Thankfully that last part was never really an issue as his crew are riders he’s known for a long time now. Tuft, is of course, as Britton says the “OG of Canadian bike packing.”

What could freak out Svein Tuft?

The journey began in the early morning in Pemberton BC, where Jamie Sparling, Svein Tuft, Ryan Anderson, Taylor Little and Britton loaded up or bike and gear in to Little’s Tacoma truck and opted to drive up the Hurley pass, a 1000 m climb to start the ride in Gold Bridge. Originally the plan was to ride the entire pass, with a start/finish in Pemberton.

They modified the route as initially the trip was to take place in the heat of July. But now the temperature would be 20 C, versus upwards of 40 C.

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The middle of the middle of nowhere

The route itself is rugged, remote, stunning and brutal. It was 500 km with 8000 m elevation gain, totalling 23 hours of riding over three days. Almost the whole route was off-road, and the first two days were entirely self-sufficient. “Food, water, mechanicals were all on our own as there is literally nothing out there and in some spots if something happened to you or your bike it would be a long walk or a long wait for a helicopter to come and pick you up,” Britton said. “So when I say uncharted I really do mean it.”

Britton said that in all of his travels all over the world, of all the rides he did, nothing compared to this ride. “From camping on the white sands of the Fraser river to one of the cruelest and steepest climbs I’ve ridden my bike up to spending the night at a free range cattle ranch, sharing stories and just enjoying each others company with some of my best friends over an incredible spread of food.” The trip culminated with a dip in the river and a cold beer, before they headed home.

Backcountry in their backyard

“When I look back at that adventure I always find myself with a smile on my face,” Britton said. “The stars really did align for those few days in the mountains and I cannot wait to get back up there for more in the years to come. British Columbia is a very special place and it’s times like these you realize how fortunate we are to have a playground like this in our backyard.”

Britton was grateful to mountain biker Seamus McGrath who gave them tips on the trails on the route, and to Chris Collbeck the Yalakom Valley Ranch, where they stayed the second. He’s especially grateful to all the rider’s wives for being patient and letting them go “play bikes in the mountains one more time this year.”