About cycling & running in KamloopsKamloops Training Notes
Running: Locals run the river routes, the hills, and the steady park loops when base miles matter. Kamloops Ridge Runners keep it simple with club runs on Tuesdays at 8:30am and 6:00pm, Thursdays at 8:30am and 6:00pm, and Saturdays at 8:30am. You can do 40 km with 190 m of gain when you want a proper aerobic day. You can do 80 km with 19 m of gain when you want smoother Z2. Walk in the Park and Ranching Life sit on the local race calendar as easy anchor events.
Cycling: Locals ride everything here, from smooth pavement to dusty gravel and singletrack. Kamloops Velo Club runs gravel, road, and youth programs, with weekly rides and the Grassland Gravel series keeping the pack moving. Sun Rivers to Lafarge Bridge down Shuswap Road is very popular. Westsyde road out to Vinsula is a nice ride up the North Thompson Valley. Barnhartvale road gives you 50 km out and back from the nature park parking lot, and Barnhartvale loop is the best route. The climbs live on the steep hillsides along the south portion of the city, the lower northeast hillsides, and Robbins Range Road.
Season: Locals can train year-round because the semi-arid climate usually plays nice. Summer brings hot, dry, sunny days, so runners shift intervals earlier and riders stack Z2 before the heat kicks in. Daytime humidity often drops below 20% during dry periods, and that cooling at night helps a lot. Occasional summer thunderstorms can change the feel fast. Winter brings short cold snaps and more cloud between November and January, but Kamloops still has the third mildest winter of any non-coastal city in Canada. Cyclists move between road, gravel, indoor Zwift, and machine-groomed singletrack.
