Blasting Through the Badlands

The small hamlet of Wayne lays at the bottom of a 500 foot canyon in the prairies of Southern Alberta Canada. Wayne was the host of several coal mines in the area which closed back in the 50’s, decimating the population of the 2500 person town down to the current 27 inhabitants.

A friend of ours told us stories about how Wayne changed in the 90’s from a dying mining town to a gathering place for hundreds of riders. The main attraction being the winding roads running through the badlands and across the famous 11 bridges with the ultimate destination of course being the Last Chance Saloon. The Last Chance Saloon turned 103 years old this year but the bullet holes and stories about shoots outs and murders in the hotel are still as fresh as ever.

The mass flow of bike riders has been reduced to a trickle over the past couple decades but if you stop for lunch (all breakfasts named aptly named after the different generations of Harley engines) at the saloon you’ll probably still hear the familiar sound of a Harley pull up to the old hitching post out front.

We packed up our three 80’s Japenese road bikes with enough gear to explore the canyons and spend the night somewhere along the river. The path we chose is not one meant for these types of bikes.. golf balls sized crushed rock covered the majority of the trial we rode only breaking for the seemingly never ending supply of derelict bridges that cross the small canyon bed river.

Be sure to head over to their Instagram account @BrokeDownandBroke to stay up on their adventures!