Whitehorse mountain biking

Typical riding in Whitehorse. Ryan Creary photo.

If you think it's getting dark where you live imagine what it's like in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory in Canada, where they have about six hours of daylight right now. But don't feel too sorry for these hearty folk they need to rest up from summer.

As one mountain biker told me on my recent visit to the north, "There's enough light after work that we'll go for a ride before dinner and again after."

I would too if their trail network was in my backyard and I had 20 hours of daylight, like they do in June. There's more than 10 kilometres of buff singletrack for every resident of the sprawling city of 26,000. Add in double track, paved paths and old mining roads and there's about 700 kilometres of trails to explore all within the city limits. And it's not just quantity.

During a four day visit in September with photographer Ryan Creary I rode some of the best trails of my life. The shot above is his from our first ride above the Yukon River. It's an out take, he's got hundreds more.  I am about to write an article for Canadian Cycling about the trip and I'm looking for an excuse to go back.