Quark Expeditions partnered with locals to provide another active adventure on the Gems of West Greenland itinerary: mountain biking in Sisimiut (July 22, 2024). We pedaled a newly-constructed trail. With more use, the loose dirt and rocks in some stretches should settle in, improving the overall experience.

Like kayaking, the mountain biking excursion required advance sign-up and payment of an extra fee. Quark’s website advised that “participants must be fit, and intermediate to intermediate-strong mountain bikers. Riders should expect a combination of single track and remote gravel roads. Riders should be able to roll over small obstacles (like roots or rocks), and shift gears comfortably when anticipating and responding to changing terrain.”

Briefing

There was a mandatory briefing the day before our ride. We saw familiar faces when we walked into the Ambassador Theatre. Five out of eight mountain bikers also belonged to the kayaking group (including us)! Mélanie, our lead mountain biking guide, ran through an overview: meetup time; expected duration, distance and route; the bikes we’d be riding; and an introduction to head local guide, Krister Støvlbæk.

Krister shared the story of the volunteer initiative to construct the trail, with funding and in-kind donations from the town of Sisimiut, Greenland’s Self-Government and local businesses for materials and equipment. He explained they’d only just completed construction, with a bridge installation just days before. We’d be the first tourists to ride the route!

I was delighted to find this short article in Sermitsiaq, Greenland’s most-read online news portal, about the volunteer trail building project.

Sneak Peek

We got a sneak peek at the bikes when we gathered on the wharf in the morning to start our guided walking tour of Sisimiut. Mélanie, Krister, another local guide (Malik) and a few members of the expedition staff were heading out on a sneak peek ride, so that Mélanie could assess the difficulty of the route first hand.

Getting Organized

After a morning learning about the town of Sisimiut, we refueled at the buffet lunch aboard Ultramarine. Everyone gathered on the wharf at the meetup time shared in the previous day’s briefing. Mélanie was excited – she said the trail was in better condition than she’d expected, given it was only just finished.

Then we moved on to making sure everyone was fitted with a bike, with seat heights adjusted appropriately. I’m not sure whether Quark or the local guide provided the helmets. Anyhow, we were soon riding short loops around the wharf, with Mélanie commenting on braking techniques! She didn’t want any of us to put undue wear on the brakes of this fleet of new bikes. 🙂

The Ride

Once everyone was squared away in terms of bikes, helmets, etc., we were ready to go. We headed generally east along the waterfront, then north across a bridge to begin the clockwise loop that Krister called Kangerluarsunnguaq (Harbour Bay Trail). We stopped for our first check-in at the end of the pavement in the new neighbourhood of Akia. Our ride to that point was on paved road, gently uphill. We’d worked just enough that some group members removed their outermost layer of clothing.

From there, we pedaled on a dirt road for a bit, and then it transitioned into new trail. I confess I walked my bike down a couple of the steepest hills, where loose rocks (some bucket-sized) and mud had me a bit intimidated. I was not the only one who walked. Mr GeoK was in the majority who rode the whole way!

Second check-in.

More riding, generally downhill.

Scenic highlight = waterfall about halfway along the route. Only our local guides, Krister and Malik, rode through the creek downstream of the waterfall. There were lots of larger, sharp stone still on the creek bed at the crossing. I imagine that over time, biking enthusiasts will move the worst of them so that this becomes an easily rideable crossing.

Group photo, minus one rider who was camera shy.

The back half of the route was pretty straightforward. The strangest parts where when we rode right overtop juniper bushes – very springy!

The new bridge. Krister explained that getting it into place was challenging, because they couldn’t bring heavy equipment this far backcountry.

Approaching Dog Town. The newly constructed trail tied into the gravel road that winds through Dog Town, summer home of most of Sisimiut’s population of more than a thousand sled dogs.

Sled dog photo stop.

Final check in and route-finding instructions from Malik, one of our local guides.

More Sisimiut public art, this time outside the cross-country ski club’s “igloo” clubhouse.

Back at the wharf, we returned our helmets and bikes, thanked all of our guides, made a contribution to the local guides’ trail-building program and then headed up the gangplank onto Ultramarine. We waved farewell from our cabin balcony a short while later, as Krister and crew drove away with trailers loaded with bikes.

SUMMARY

Our total riding distance, mainly on the Harbour Bay Trail, came in at 11.1 km. Total elevation gain = 235 meters. Total expedition time = 3 hrs 30 min, which is a l..o..n..g time to ride such a short distance. But that includes bike fitting time, lots of check-in stops and a long stop to visit with the pups in Dog Town. All-in-all, it was a great afternoon of riding a trail that should only get better as it settles with use.

Side note – this was our first time riding fat bikes! Definitely fun, but I confess I prefer the speed rush that comes when I pedal my road bike!

Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap of this ride can be viewed here.