Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

670 Collective

Pandemic prompting increase in area mountain biking interest

Jul 20, 2020 | 6:41 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It may be a four hour drive from Medicine Hat to the Rocky Mountains, but its surrounding mountain bike trails are regarded as some of Alberta’s best.

Entering the dog days of summer, it appears as though more locals are catching on to what the local landscape has to offer.

The 670 Collective, who design and maintain much of the 60 kilometres of biking trails located in and around Medicine Hat, say popularity of the sport has taken off during the course of the pandemic.

“All of the bike shops are sold out, they’ve been sold out for a long time,” said board member Ben Suranko. “Getting orders in for any sort of product is next to impossible with everybody else in the world being sold out of bikes as well. So, there’s definitely an influx of popularity and introduction to the sport.”

Last year, the 670 Collective finished the season with just under 158 members. That number has increased by 20 percent over just the last few months, currently sitting at 190 riders.

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From Mr. Burnside in Medicine Hat and Redcliff to Mazama Drop in Elkwater, Suranko said the greater community is becoming more aware of these trails and biking community.

“A lot of people didn’t know we had these here,” he said. “Once you get on them, you realize how good they are and how much work the crews and our volunteers put into this. We’re ever expanding to make sure we have a great range from beginner-friendly to the advanced rider.”

A big draw to the Medicine Hat area has been the extended biking schedule that this area enjoys, as the hot and arid conditions mean that the trails are often open from early spring to late fall.

That is helping to put the city and its trails on the map, providing a boost to the seasonal tourism sector that has been hurting as a result of the virus.

“When we have that big window of riding, a lot of people get itchy to get out just like you would if you were a snowboarder,” said Suranko. “So, we see a lot of people come in at the beginning of the season and realize how good it is, make trips down here because they may have friends, family or what have you. We’re going to continue to push that.”

The 670 Collective have been able to re-introduce group sessions for trail riding recently thanks to the easing of some provincial restrictions, allowing locals and tourists to experience the local trail system together.

Suranko added his group continues to meet with the local municipalities to determine the best ways to grow the local trails in the hopes of adding more riders from both the local base and visiting thrill enthusiasts.

“Just because we don’t have huge elevation changes like you see in the Rockies, it doesn’t mean we can’t have great trails,” he said. “It’s all about what you make of it versus how much you have.”

All of the 670 Collective trail systems can be found on the Trailforks website and app.