Ride Chronicle

Oregon Adventure Anniversary

2011-09-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Iz & I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary this weekend by taking a mountain bike trip to Oregon.

We took off Friday morning about 10a from Coquitlam and headed south. The border crossing was as expected, under an hour, and only two questions asked!!

The traffic through both Seattle and Portland was disgusting. It ended up turning what we expected to be about an 8 hour drive into nearly 12!!

We arrived in Oakridge about 9p, and met with Randy of Oregon Adventures... at the McDonald's: hey, they had free WiFi! He led us to what would be our campsite for the next few nights. A great spot near the river on some private land. Thus the only folks camping there were folks on the tour! Our group consisted of Julie (from Vancouver) & Naoko (from LA) who were doing a 5 day tour, joing us on their day 3, our day 1, plus Beth (from Australia), Brett (from Rhode Island, Kurt (from Tacoma) and us.

Camp was pretty rad
Saturday we were up at 7:30a, eating breakfast around 8 (yummy French toast, thanks Dave) and got rolling to the trail head by just after 9, arriving and dropping in just before 10a.

Our first trail was a 99% downhill funfest called 'Moon Point'. Fun is an understatement. So much smiling, it was just great. Loose, sandy, mellow descending is a blast: going as fast as you can/want is the name of the game on this trail.

View before dropping in to 'Moon Point' trail

Rolling across the meadow before dropping in
Our next trail was a bit more pedaling, but oh so worth it. Ultimately a loss of elevation means you're having more fun going down then you have working uphill. The trail was named 'Middle Fork' and is a flowy fun rolling trail running along the Middle Fork of the Willamette River - hence the name. The only thing that wasn't fun about this trail was Iz & I being stung a combined 7 times!! We followed Brett over a wasp nest apparently. No good!! Lunch was trailside about 1/2 of the way down 'Middle Fork' set up by Paula. It was a feast!

All rides should be trail side served like this!
Total on bike time on Saturday was about 4 hours.

Sunday started off the same as Saturday - another delicious breakfast, and off to the trailhead for a 10ish start. Things went south though after we got our bikes off the roof.

When we got to the drop point, my bike was the last to be unloaded. Only to find that I had no rear brake. None. Nadda. Not your normal Avid brake pump issue either, it was plain not functioning. How could this be? It was working when I put it on the van? It worked yesterday!? Bizarre. We couldn't fix it.

Luckily Brock, one of the guides, was generous enough to lend my his. Sadly that meant he didn't get to join us. Though he admits he'd ridden the trails we were about to hit about 47 times.

With an operational brake now installed, we headed for the trailhead of 'Alpine'. It was a short pedal up the gravel road before we hit it. Then more up, but this time on nice, technical singletrack. Glorious singletrack it was. I don't mind this sort of climbing, when your mind is as engaged as your body. Actually having to pick a line and spin those legs.

We reached our peak at an entry to a meadow and dropped our seats. It was time to descend. Oh how we went downhill. So much fun!! Long, flowy sections with subtle curves and excellent sight lines into tight switchbacks. Then repeat. SWEET!!

A couple of the views....not bad
We got to the bottom, and climbed up again. We then took a turn up off the main 'Alpine' trail toward 'Tire Mountain'. A bit more climbing up over a ridge, and down we went again. This time a bit more turns on the way down, super fun and fast again until we hit another split at 'Clover Patch' where it was time for our last climb of the day.

Up and up we went. Our legs were pretty spent by now, but knowing it was our last measurable climb, we spun up quickly. Cresting the top was a stupendous occasion knowing that it was all downhill to the bottom.

Again, more fun, fast and nice and easy singletrack was ahead of us. Loads of visibility ahead, so going fast was easy, and did we go fast. When we hit the road where the van was awaiting, the tail guide Paul said that was the fastest he'd descended 'Clover' and that was seconded by the rabbit Hollis.

Hollis in behind Iz after a sweet decent
That was sure a lot more exercise than we did this same day last year. I guess we did do a lot of dancing, laughing, and even a bit of crying: but signing some papers, eating a great meal with friends, and ultimately getting married to my beautiful wife Isabelle, wasn't as exerting as this - what the locals call 'ATC'. Another 4+ hour day.

Monday was our last day of riding in Oakridge. Our day promised to be more down than up, riding a 'double' as they call it.

The day didn't start off super well as Iz got stung by a wasp again! This time as we were taking down the tent and packing the car up! Ugh, these damn yellow jackets are everywhere in this state!

The first trail was 'Lawler' which featured some amazingly fun curvy downhill on nice loamy dirt. Simply spectacular trails. Not technical, just high speed and fun!!

Just a taste of what these trails looked like
Lunch was waiting for us again at the bottom of the trail. The absolutely delicious homemade cookies by Paula were the biggest hit!!

We loaded up and headed back up to ride 'Hardesty'. The ride started out with about a 2 mile gravel road climb followed with about 1/2 mile singletrack climb to the peak. Around 1000' was ascended in that short climb.

Drop the seats, and it was all downhill. The lead guide was Hollis on his Giant Reign. His nickname 'Haul-Ass' was obvious - this kid could rocket downhill. I was following Kurt who had a little oops at one point letting Iz & I by. We ripped it up and caught Hollis, but only cause he flatted.

Brock caught up and the three of us opted to head off as a pinner group. We were bombing this trail, so fast, so fun. Brock and I hit the road and there was no Iz with us. "Uh oh" was my initial gut reaction.

Sadly it turned out to be true. After about 10 minutes Kurt came out to let us know she bit it. Apparently, Iz says, she got complacent with the straight runs to switchbacks and missed seeing a rare root, causing an unscheduled over the bars flight to the dirt. She smacked her knee pretty hard and re-aggravated a previous thumb injury.

She wasn't a happy camper, so Hollis took her down the road to the highway. Brock and I pinned it down the trail to the parking lot and I drove over to meet them.

Sure she was injured, but I think that it was her ego that' was hurt most. She shouldn't have crashed on that trail as it was pretty easy for us, all things given. Ah well. Live an learn - never get too comfortable, no matter how 'easy' the trail is. Speed makes any trail hard!

Icing the sore parts
The day finished off with a swim, and we headed off, exchanging emails with everyone and promising to meet up again sometime. A quick stop at the Woodburn outlets (number one tourist attraction in the state = sad) then dinner and a night in Tualitin. If ever here, I'd recommend the Country Hotel (bikes in room ok!) and attached Hayden's Grill restaurant.

Bikes belong inside too
All photos from the trip here.

Where "dingledoink" came from

2011-09-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

This is sort of bike related, and I don't have any other public blog to post this, so this seemed like a good enough place as any.

Here's the story: when I was like 15, my best friend since grade 2 and I had started dabbling in both computer stuff (think dial-up to BBS time-frame here) and 'higher end' bicycles. You are now wondering how these things could possibly be connected, read on.

We lived in a smaller town called Richmond, just outside of Ottawa where nobody else was really into higher end bikes, but one day we saw a guy go whizzing by on a snazzy bike. We chased him down, and had a conversation. He took us to his place, and showed us the bikes he had and we were pretty keen to get to know him better. He was like 2 years older than us we figured. Got his name, John Dingledine, and went back home. You're likely already guessing, and you're pretty much right....

A few days later, we decided to play around on the computer one afternoon. We then started logging in to some new BBSes where we hadn't been on before, and had to create 'handles' to get on. We naturally tried "coolguy" and "theman" but they were already taken. We were dejected. Left the computer, and went for a bike ride.

While riding, we were talking "what was that guy's name again?? Dinglenuts? Dingledoink? Dingledine?" (think Dumb & Dumber) We didn't remember it, but rode over to his house anyway. He wasn't home. We rode back home and jumped back on the computer. Tried a few more variants of "thebest" etc. and finally got so fed up we tried "dingledoink" and "dinglenuts" as we thought they were hilarious from our conversation early in the day. Go figure, they were available.

So ever since, when I sign up for something new I try webhead first (highschool nickname due to my last name and being a bit of a computer geek) and if it's not available I go with dingledoink, which is very rarely taken.

There you have it!

Mt. Washington BC Cup DH

2011-08-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Yet another weekend on the road. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it - especially when it involves bicycle riding!!

Iz & I took off after work this past Friday to catch a ferry over to the Island for the second to last BC Cup DH race of the season. We got in to our to be home away from home for two nights, Deer Lodge, about 11p and turned it so as to be rested for practice Saturday.

We got up on good time and had our cup of Joe. I put together some yummy egg-bagel-sandwhiches for us for breakfast, and the nit was off to the lifts for some laps on the track.

This past winter Mt. Washington saw a record amount of snow, and thought that's awesome in the winter, it impacted the summer. They only opened their bike park a few weeks ago, with only a couple of trails. thankfully by the time this weekend started the weather had cooperated, and all but a few trails were still closed.

The race course was pretty new this year due to one of the aforementioned closed trails being what was normally the race course. It had been about 6 years since I'd ridden Mt. Washington, so it didn't really matter to me. It would have felt pretty new still to me!

The course went down "MHT" to "Lower Monster Mile" to "Monster Hawk Connector" to "4 Cross", which meant "pedal" to "technical" to "pedal" to "jumps", which translates ultimately to FUN!

We did 4 laps of training, as Iz was still resting her thumb/hand from Kicking Horse the previous (See: 'Whirlwind Week') weekend.

We hung out with about a dozen fellow racers, which was super fun, that night. Still managed to get to bed on good time after watching a classic movie, Speed on VHS! It was pretty funny, this place had a closet full of VHS films.

Sunday, SUNDAY, Sunday!! RACE DAY! Iz & I did another nearly top-to-bottom practice lap in the morning, along with an easy run on a blue track to keep loose, before our race runs in the afternoon.

I was first, and ripped down clean which made me super happy. Participating in this series of DH races on a 'freeride' bike has been challenging. I know I cannot go as fast as guys on real DH rigs, but am happy when I get down clean. That is all I'm looking to do, since I'm 32 and and have no aspirations to become a pro! I often finish mid-pack, and this weekend was no different. The cool thing this time was though that there were 5 riders in my category and I came second! My first podium of the season!

Iz had her run about an hour after mine, which was nice, as it allowed me to run up the hill and catch her in the jumps section. She's been pretty consistent this year (when she stays on her bike) and is currently tied for second in her category! See: http://t.co/716xaVQ for up to date standings.

She did well once again this race, and found herself also on the podium!

Here's another view of the awards area that is a bit better lit.

Where will we go this weekend?

UPDATE: some sick videos recently posted on pinkbike.com from this weekend can be found here: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/BC-Cup-Provincial-Championships-2011-Videos.html

Fromme: New Trails, and New Old Trails

2011-08-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was invited to go for a lap with my good old pal Andrew.

SMILE!

Yeah, he didn't know I took that photo.

Anyway, we were a pack of 6 - a nice size group of varying abilities from ex-National XC champion Bruce to the bike shop owner to the girlfriend of one of the other guys. That said, nobody held anyone back, and the pace was sweet.

We climbed up past the 6th switchback and headed down a super old school trail I'd never even heard of and hesitate to name on here as I don't know that anyone else would enjoy it.

Well I did, it was super fun! Starting out with a nice log climb and continuing with some classic drops, and rock faces, this trail had it all. Ultimately spitting us out into the bottom of "Seventh" which took us back to the rode.

See between points 4 and 5 where that happened here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/sjNGIqIBpsA (yesterday I used MapMyRide, today trying endomondo as suggested by some pals)

Pedalling back up a bit more and it was down "Executioner" which now has many nicknames as it's a completely new trail after the entrance. I'd say for the best! Wow, super loamie - a must ride for anyone out here ASAP!

"Executioner" dumps you into "Dreamweaver" which is another super fun pumpfest of an XC trail.

All in all, another super fun ride, and a good workout too!!

XC Ride on Eagle

2011-08-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

My good buddy Steve has been riding in the TriCities area for something like 20 years....there abouts anyway.... and knows the trail system like the back of his hand.

Thus, I like riding with him! He shows me good routes, and gets me pedalling in areas I've not explored.

Tonight was no different as Terry and I got out with Steve he took us up on a lap of Eagle Mountain. I couldn't even tell you the trail names, but here's the "MapMyRide" track and info - click!!

Was a nice treat to hit up these super sweet trails right in our backyard. A 2 hour XC ride that starts higher than it ends is also pretty awesome! The climb up, as you can see, was about 2.5km long, while the remaining 17km was essentially downhill. LOVED IT!

Sadly, I forgot to use my camera on this ride. next time!

A Whirlwind Week

2011-08-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Iz and I took a little vacation starting Saturday, July 30th.

We started off with a sailing and mountain biking trip with our friends Amber & Cris. It was their wedding gift to us. It was very enjoyable overall, but I don't think Iz is ever going to be a sailor! We headed over the Saturday morning to Deep Bay (click for map, between Nanaimo and Campbell River) where they picked us up in the boat. We ended up sleeping on the boat in Deep Bay that night, though the original plan was to sail to Hornby Island (click for map), because it was stormy outside the bay. The winds died down over night, and that caused issues with the anchor - we ended up bumping into a dock near where we'd anchored twice in the night! No damage thankfully, but it woke Cris & I up, and we went top ship to fix it up.

The Sunday we sailed to the island, and used the zodiac (no motor) to make two trips over with our bikes to the beach. That was a pretty funny process! We rode our bikes, and then had to do the same trip on the zodiac back in the evening. Worked out well, and was super fun.

The Monday we had a LONG day of sailing all the way back to Campbell River - nearly 11 hours! We got to see their new home and puppy, so that was nice. Turned in for the night, and then Cris drove us back to Deep Bay Tuesday. We took advantage of being where we were to ride our bikes on some other fun trails there in Cumberland.

Click for More Photos

Next up was our trip to the interior for some riding and racing, it was a blast! Phil (the brother in law) drove us in his truck which was super, and made it so much easier than trying to pack everything in to our car - I don't think we could have fit everything actually!

We first went to Sun Peaks resort Wednesday, Aug. 3 and rode their bike park Thursday. Had an AMAZING camp site not 10 minutes from the resort. It was/is what is called (Iz will correct me if I'm wrong) a Forrest Service Road Recreation Site. Very remote, very small, very beautiful.

Click for More Photos

We camped there again after riding Thursday night (washed up in the lake) and then drove to Golden Friday. The race organizer was kind enough to allow us to set up our tent in the yard of this 'palace' that he had been 'given' by the resort for himself, his family, and a bunch of other folks that were working for the race.

Most of those folks were professionals that Phil & I knew from magazines and movies from our younger days! Was very cool to hang out with them inside the house (race organizer offered us access to the home too - we really just slept in the tent) for the time we were there. I would say that we may have even started some friendships with a few of them, pretty cool!

The riding at Kicking Horse resort in Golden was super fun. The race track was good, had it's tough sections, but overall fun. Sadly Iz had a crash on the Saturday in her last practice run, and hurt her thumb. She iced it up though, and still raced Sunday. I'm so happy she did, even with taking her time, as she then was able to 'conquer the fears' of where she crashed, and also is now still eligible for the overall in her category - if she'd not finished, she'd not then be able to complete 5 out of 6 races!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29937947@N07/sets/72157627274236469/ (not many really of the racing etc. in our stream, but loads here: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Western-Open-Alberta-BC-Cup-Recap-2011.html) and a little video: http://www.pinkbike.com/video/211446/

SHAW was there too: http://sexley.pinkbike.com/channel/Western-Open-2010-SHAW/

We drove home after the race on Sunday; Phil was a trooper and did the whole 7+ hours himself! I napped early on in the trip expecting him to want to sub out, but I ended up just riding along shotgun keeping him awake for the last part.

Monday was a nice day to relax and get things back in order and do some errands before it was back to work yesterday.

Crankworx 2011

2011-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend Iz and I and 5 of our friends made the annual pilgrimage up to Whistler to be a part of the biggest event in mountain biking - Crankworx.

Crankworx is a 10 day long event hosted on and around Whistler, showcasing many different disciplines of riding from downhill racing, to endurance stage events, to trial riding, to slopestyle trick riding! I know I've missed some, but that'll happen when there're 10 days of events!

Sadly we could not get up to be there for all 10 days, but headed up late Thursday afternoon so that Isabelle could participate in a 'Ladies Only' event being held at the 'Air Dome'. The idea being that ladies who've never tried "dirt" jumping before could come to a no-ego event with ladies in the same situation. Mind you there were a few experienced riders there coaching them too, so it was also a learning event.

Well, learn she did! Check out this video of her doing a back flip!! This is, 100%, the first time she'd ever tried this sort of riding. This is her 3rd or 4th attempt, and actually over rotates this one!!

www.twitvid.com/B452H

I am stoked to try this out myself some time. We're thinking we may rent the 'Air Dome' in the future for 15-20 of our cycling friends who are interested in trying their hand at this.

Friday was a day spent riding the 'Bike Park' which is always a joy. Our friends Linda & Nicole are just getting into riding, and had a blast by way of a 'Sampler Pass' which gave them 3 runs down the mountain, and the option to upgrade to a full 'unlimited' day after that if they wished. They chose to quit after 3 as it is tiring if you've not really done it before.

Here's Nicole getting some air!!

http://www.bikeparkphotos.com/Trail-Side-Photos/2011/0722-CrankitUP/18174479_NXX4k3#1396230633_HW7S6zv-XL-LB

Saturday we went for a cross country ride, then watched the Joyride event - the "pièce de résistance" for the festival, watch this to see why: http://www.ridebikess.com/2011/07/kokanee-crankworx-2011-red-bull-joyride_4015.html

Sunday was a chill relaxed day for us, but our good pal D'Arcy raced the Enduro event, which was a pretty cool staged race consisting of 5 different 'stages'. He came 8th in his category, in just over 30 minutes. The winner of the Pro Men’s was Brian Lopes, in around 25 minutes. That guys is SO fast!!

We were blessed with glorious weather, what a great west coast weekend.

BC Bike Race 2010 - what happened, day by day

2010-08-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

A great 7 article series posted recently talking all about the trip!! Written by Drew Rohde for decline magazine, not me...

B.C. Bike Race - Day 1 Nanaimo, Vancouver Island

B.C. Bike Race - Day 2 Cumberland:

B.C. Bike Race - Day 3 Powell River

B.C. Bike Race - Day 4

B.C. Bike Race - Day 5 Sechelt

B.C. Bike Race - Day 6 Squamish

B.C. Bike Race - Day 7 The Finale

Click above to see photos from lungsnot of the event, starting with some of us of course!

Cypress After Fromme

2009-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Whooie, what a day! As you can see from the previous post, I rode a pretty killer lap on Fromme with the Brodie Boys, Andrew & Bruce, and then headed to Cypress for some laps with Alex & Lindsay.

We first hit up Sex Girl which is a killer stunt trail, with a few steeps on it, and a wicked hard switchback section, ending out with some fun flow corners. I love that trail.

Then we went back up and did a marathon ride down Sterl's Trail which is always good times. Unfortunately for Alex, he did not have his best ride ever. Lots of bike attacks, and skinny bail-outs causing his first experience on the trail to not be his best. Thankfully he does see the potential in the trail through his clouded hatred of the ride.

Greatest thing about today of all; no flats! I am hopeful that my bike is back in love with me, and is going to be good to me the rest of the season.

The Brodie Boys

2009-08-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

Just finished some rips with Spicer and Summers up on Fromme. The ride up was a hammerfest. Spicer is an ex-Canadian National mountain bike champion, so he just doesn't know how to go slow. My god I've never been to the top that fast; under an hour!

They took me up to a secret trail that has no name. It's short, but totally fun. Nice an loamy, natural and fun. It pops you out at 6th switchback, so we headed back up again. Past 7th Secret; to drop into Bookwis;, which is another loamfest of a trail. A super fun morning!! Now off to Cypress for an afternoon rip with Lindsay and Alex!

Welcome to Cambodia

2009-08-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight Andrew took Alex, Terry, Dave (Alex's neighbor) and I to a secret trail on Seymour called Cambodia. It was a heck of a hike in to get to it, but was pretty worth it due to it's super loaminess. Below are some photos from the riding on it I took with my iPhone, hence the super blur.

I got another flat this night, I'm beginning to think my bike hates me. Maybe it can sense that it's for sale?

A Ride Down Ned's

2009-08-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

Below are some photos I took from our ride on Ned's tonight. What a gong show for me; a flat and a broken chain. Before those things happened, the ride was rocking good fun! It was just Alex, Lindsay & I ripping it, so we were of course cruising quick.

Crankworx 2009

2009-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

This was yet another great long weekend. This time a big crew (Lisa, Don, Alex, Lindsay, Scott, Katherine, Gina, Iz, Terry & I) spent time in Whistler.

We had a great place rented in the Blueberry Hill area before the Village that slept us all comfortably.

The majority of us arrived Thursday night, and had a good night of catching up.

Friday was a day spent in the park. Wow it was busy! We knew from the get go that this weekend would not be a weekend dedicated to tons of runs, as it is insane during the Crankworx weekend. We did a few runs though, and it was a good day, just a bit overcast.

Saturday Iz, Terry & I took advantage of the demonstration tents and hit up an XC ride on 'Kill Me Thrill Me'. It was super fun! Iz & I both demoed top-of-the-line Specialized dual suspension XC bikes (mine a Stumpjumper, hers a Saphire) that weighed around 25lbs! Terry rode a Giant bike, and Lindsay rode her own bike. The trail was epic! So fun, super flowy, and the climbs were actually enjoyable, challenging but fun! The trail was only about 5kms long, so the total ride was around an hour.

We spent the afternoon watching the craziness that is the 'Slopestyle' event. Guys launching themselves off of crazy stunts, doing ridiculous tricks. Very cool to watch indeed.

The night was debauchery as expected, starting at Merlin's with burgers and beers, and ending late back in the Chalet.

Sunday was a few more laps in the park for Terry, Lindsay & I while Isabelle did an 'all-mountain' ride with a group of her MuddBunnies firends.. Terry took out a Giant Reign SX for a spin, as that's the bike he's leaning heavily towards purchasing next year. I'm looking at the Giant Faith 0.

After our laps on the course, Scott, Terry & I went up and watched the Pro. Men race the DH course. They were CRAZY fast; very impressive stuff.

Click here to see all the photos Iz & I took.

Crankworx '09 DH Race Photos

2009-08-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

3rd Annual Road Ride to Halfmoon Bay

2009-08-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

For the third straight year, Terry & I rode our road bikes to the Sunshine Coast. This time our party increased by 2 more, and we had a peloton of 5 with Alex rejoining the ride, long with Lindsay and Isabelle coming along as first timers.

Saturday the weather was a bit overcast, but that was alright as it kept the heat down. The ride to Terry's aunt Patti's is a bit more uphill there than home, which is good in my opinion as you're pretty tired after riding around 80kms no matter how you cut it.

When we arrived Patti treated us to a welcome home as always, with some beers and relaxing while we all took turns showering. Dinner was amazing again (she's not giving us any reason to stop this tradition) with pork tenderloin in a blackberry sauce along with yummy potatoes, a couple of different salads, spinach and grilled vegetables. Dessert was ice cream, and some wafer cookies, which you can not go wrong with!

We all turned in pretty early (I am sure I was asleep by 9) as we were tired to say the least.

Sunday we were put to work before our delicious breakfast as Terry's parents had some split wood delivered. The five of us made short work of stacking a bit over a chord of wood, then devoured blackberry pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon on the side.

The ride home was a bit nicer weather as even the sun made an appearance.

All in all, a ride I enjoy doing, and look forward to annually!

Check out all of the photos by clicking on the one below.

Team Rebec & Kroes (aka: team awesome!)

Floatplane Biking from Warner Lake

2009-08-03T16:50:00.001-07:00

What an amazing gift Isabelle gave me for my birthday (back in March) this weekend. Terry, she & I left early Friday afternoon in Phil's truck (thanks Phil, wish you could have come!!) headed for Tyax Resort on Tyaughton Lake. The reason being that Isabelle booked a floatplane mountain bike trip for us from Warner Lake back down to Tyax Resort.

We got to Pemberton on good time, had a great meal there and then headed for the Hurley Forest Service Road to get through the pass to the resort. It was a heck of a trek, as you can see by the video below.

The photos (link below) show the forest fires that were occurring at the same time too.

We arrived around 9ish and set up camp, then hit the sack as we had an early morning Saturday.

We woke up on good time, about 7a, so that we could eat and get our things together for the plane. We loaded up our bikes into the plane, and off we went into the sky! The plane was a 1961 De Havilland Beaver built in Toronto we were told, and it was so loud! The take off was smooth as butter, as was the flight and the landing. Two others and our guide had gone up on an earlier flight and we met them at the trail head.

Note: The Sopranos' theme by Alabama 3 called 'Woke Up This Morning' is used as the theme tunes for this as that is what the pilot had playing in our headsets!
The ride itself was epic. Such amazing singletrack, the photos and videos don't do it justice!! I can see why The Collective boys filmed some of 'Seasons' there. Simply awesome! It was a 6.5 hour ride, my goodness that was the longest ride I've done in a long time, and in fact ever.

Sunday was a lazy day. We spent it on the lake, paddling around and exploring the shore. Dinner was great; imported Vij's Indian curry, mmmmm.

Monday we had to book it back through the pass as the main highway through Lillooet (the way we planned to return, even though it added time) had been closed due to forest fires. Even the pass was only being kept open for a short time due to the fires on the Valley side. Check out these shots to see how close we were coming back, craziness!!!

A Little Video of the Fires

We made it unscathed, and stopped in Whistler for a quick valley ride on 'A River Runs Through It', both my and Terry's first time on them. It was capped off with a dip in Alta Lake at Rainbow Beach. Perfect day, perfect weekend, all perfect!

Click here to see all the photos from the trip.

Click here to see all of my videos on YouTube, and thus all of the other video from the trip.

Click here to see all of Terry's photos from the trip.

Click to see the photos taken by our guide, Claire

2 Laps on Mt. Seymour

2009-07-16T12:27:00.001-07:00

Last night the crew (Adam, Sam, Terry, Lindsay, Alex, Jeff) & I hit up Mt. Seymour. we ran two laps, it was killer!!

Lap ¹took us down CBC to Pingu to Team Pangor. I was super happy as I hit the two drops at the split between Ping and Salvation that I'd never done before. Photos will be taken next time!

Lap 2 was CBC to Pingu to Boogie Man. It was appropriate to ride Boogie when we did, as it was getting dark!! Good riding down that trail, but still lots to conquer for me as it's gnar!!

All in all 2 wicked laps with a great bunch of folks. no serious injuries, and only a flat tire by Alex, and a broken chain by Jeff slowed us down.

Can't wait until next time!!

The Boys Scoping Out The Big Boogie Man Drop

Trail Day on Seymour

2009-06-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today was an IMBA trail day up on Mt. Seymour, dedicated to CBC trail. It started at 8:30a, but there was NO way in heck that Iz & I were going to get up that early after such a long a(and fun) day on the Big W.

So we joined up at about 11a, and got right in to it. I think us coming late was good, as we had fresh energy! Found some rocks here, dug some dirt for others there. Felt nice doing something on the trail that we ride so much. I think that the other 100+ people agreed!

It was fun, saw some familiar faces, and even got some free schwag as there was a pretty good dosage of sponsors out supporting the efforts.

The day ended at about 4p. Iz & I dawned our gear, and ripped down the trail we'd just finished working on, with goals of hitting up Ping and Team Pangor. Well, Iz got to complete the plan, but I got a flat at the end of CBC so I hitched a ride down with a fellow rider in his truck, and met her there. Iz tells me she had a great ride, no falls, and only walked a couple of sections!

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Extended Day of Play

2009-06-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

Alex, Iz, Lindsay, Phil & I headed up to Whistler today. The weather finally has cooled down, but it was still a gorgeous sunny day.

We rode from about noon to 6:30p, and it was amazing.

No one got hurt, we hit up some super tech trails, and conquered some fears.

For me, I finally let go of the brakes on the lower part of A-Line and hit the transitions on the last 3 big jumps. In fact, the last jump I landed half way down! It felt so great, finally am getting comfortable on the new bike.

For Iz, she hit some super gnarly sections on Joy Ride that even Phil & I found pretty sketchy, and made it look easy! It is so fun watching her progression; she's rocking!! She also hit the creek gap at the end of Dirt Merchant which is awesome!!

After the day on the hill, we hit up the local Irish pub for some beers and grub, and to catch the end of the hockey game. Poor Pittsburgh, hope they can rally the troops for the next two games!!

We got home at about 10p, and hit the sack for a well deserved sleep.

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A Small Whistler Group

2009-05-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

Gina, Alex, Lindsay, Iz & I all rode today up on the Big W. Yet another gorgeous day, with highs around 26, and not a cloud in the sky.

It wasn't too crazy busy which is good, but we did see a lot of friendly faces. Landon from Williams Lake is now living there, and we ran into him at the end of the day.

Aimee of MudBunnies fame (the club Iz has joined to get out with more girl riders) was there with her crew. Her fiance is pals with Brett Tippie, The Grandfather of Freeriding, so we got to do a lap with him. That was fun.

Only two small mechanicals today; Gina a flat tire, and me too. Mine was worse, as the puncture ruined the tire too.

All in all, I'm glad I was out here, rather than back in Ontario where I understand it snowed and hailed! What a way to welcome June in!?

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Carnage on Cypress

2009-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight Sam, Terry, Phil, Alex, Lindsay & I hit up Cypress for some fun. We had all intentions of ripping two runs, but bicycle carnage slowed us down.

We headed up to the head of Mystery Downhill to get us going, with intentions of continuing on Fire Hose. We accomplished the first part of the trip, but not with Terry ripping his rear derailleur (or mech as Sam calls it) off, and Sam himself destroying his rear shifter. Before the run even started, I found that my left pedal was broken too, so it was a challenging run for me.

We all still had a blast, but with the added wait time of Terry needing to pull his chain off, by the time we popped out on the road to head up to Fire Hose it was evident that the sun would not permit a second run.

Ah well, we still climbed the road back up and hit Fire Hose for some last fun before heading down to the parking lot to meet Terry and his broken bike.

We all then went to the local "Earl's" for some food and beers.

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First Whistler Day of 2009

2009-05-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today was our (Terry, Iz, Gina & I) first day up on Whistler, and it rocked!

Danged near every lower trail was open, the weather was spectacular, and no one got hurt. What else could you ask for? Oh, how about seeing a momma bear and her 3 cubs WAY up close... might even say too close. Check out the photos below.

It's awesome to see Isabelle getting so much faster and more confident. This should be a good season I think!

Click to see all photos

Kelowna May Long 2009

2009-05-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

I'd say the title says it all, but for some more details, photos and some videos too, read on!!

We (Terry, Iz, Phil, Nic & I) headed off to Kelowna Thursday night for a long weekend of fun at Scott & Katherine's. We arrived close to midnight, and went straight to bed.

Friday we got up late in the morning, and just got settled, unpacking, working on our bikes etc. Scott and Katherine both got home around 4p, so we then got out on our bikes!

The ladies hit the pavement, while the boys hooked up with Johnny Smoke for a quick lap over on Westbank (aka West Kelowna) down a trail called 2.5.

The trail was awesome, lots of fun stunts on it, and super fun flow riding to it. There was a big road gap on the trail called 'Shenanigans' that Phil hit up. He didn't land it quite right though, and clipped a tree with his left pedal causing his pedal to break, along with his toe!

Phil landing the gap; take 1

I came down with a wicked cold Friday that I just couldn't shake, so it was an early night for me, which was fine as Saturday was to be a good day of riding once again!

We hooked up with Johnny and his group (of nearly 30 riders!) at around 10a and headed over to Smith Creek for a pedal UP! Something we were not prepared for really, but it was worth it. The decent had so much flow, little hits, and berms, it was worth the over hour climb.

Some guy rolling down the trail

Our second lap was shuttled, again to one of the trails in West Kelowna, this time we hit up Builders Only, a trail Terry, Iz & I rode last year. It's really fun, lost of stunts (hence the name) and an fun drops too.

Phil rides one of the skinnies on Builders

Sunday we headed up to West Kelowna on our own as Johnny's group was heading to Oliver for a big trip, but it would have eaten up our whole day. Oliver is about an hour from Kelowna!

Our first run down was on 3.5 which has the 'Big Money' stunt on it. Both Phil & I hit it, as it was pretty cool. A big long steep to a gap to another gap. The first part wasn't hard at all, but the second gap had something wrong with the take off as both Phil & I bailed on it!

Phil hits the Big Money stunt

I hit the Big Money stunt

3.5 runs in to 2.5 so we railed that trail back to the finish.

I ride some skinny on 2.5

Second run was a tame ride, as we took up Nicole on Iz's bike, and Katherine came up too on her new bike. We hit 2.5 as it was the 'easiest' of the trails, and it still took us almost 2 hours to get down! Ah well, everyone was smiles, so that's what matters. The best part of it all was that Phil hit the 'Shenanigans' drop again, and made it look like it was nothing!

Phil makes the Shenangians gap look easy

We went up for a third run so that Iz could have some fun too. It was a ripper, just under 40 minutes down Builders by Iz, Terry, Scott & I.

Both 2.5 and 'Builders' drop in to the Mouse Trap stunt. Phil nailed it the first time down, but Terry & I didn't conquer it until Sunday. We're OK with that!!

Terry conquers the Mouse Trap

Monday was a travel day. We got up around 10a and all headed for breakfast. Then it was on the road time. I was hacking up a lung all the way home, dang chest cold!

See more photos here.

An Adventure

2009-05-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Terry, Iz & I headed up to Mt. Seymour today with the intentions of exploring, and that we did.

Our first run was pretty uneventful, as we headed over to a very well maintained and mapped trail called Boogie Man. It's a pretty crazy trail, with some steep sections, and wicked huge stunts. We rode around pretty much everything, but it is still a fun trail to ride even without doing the stunts.

One of the long log rides... Terry & Iz opted not to ride it... I did!

Run number two we headed to 'The Dark Side' (named as it's technically 'illegal' to ride) and hit up a trail called Three Chop. A very old trail, soft and loose, and super fun. It pops you out on a road that we should have taken that takes you back to the parking lot... but we decided to cross the road to the other trail we saw. Bad move, as we were thus dumped out in Deep Cove. OOPS!

So Terry & I hitch hiked back up to the parking lot, and then hitched another ride up to the top to fetch the vehicles.

A funny little side note: when we were getting the ride up the mountain, we rode up with Johnny Smoke of Bush Pilot Biking, as he was in town and hitting up Seymour for a few laps. We're riding with him this coming weekend, and it should be epic!!

Old School Trails with Tourists

2009-05-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

This morning we (Terry, Phil, Sam & I) met up with a friend of ours from Kelowna who was in town, Marcus, and his brother in law Colin.

We headed up to Mt. Seymour and got to the trail head by about 11.

Our first run was down the classic favourite Pingu to Salvation to Pangor.

Unfortunately for Sam he had a little bail on a very easy section that cost him $60. There was no bet on the section, it was due to his tacoing his front brake rotor, and thus needing to buy a new one.

Sam Installs New Rotor

We headed back up for a second lap, and decided to explore a classic trail called Cunt Buster (hey, I didn't name it!) thought on the maps on the government run signage it's only called C Buster I think for obvious reasons.

Sam After Rolling The Steep Stunt In Background

The trail was super fun, having a good mix of stunts, drops and steeps. It is definitely on the list of trails to include in rides at Mt. Seymour now!

Terry Walking Along A Skinny... He Was Tired

Sadly Marcus & Colin got split from us at one point, and didn't end up riding the trail with us, instead taking a gingerly pedal down the Baden Powel trail.

Sex Girl on Cypress

2009-04-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Now, not to be confused with the oldest profession, the title is referring to the name of the trail we (Terry, Phil, Adam, Sam, Simon & I) rode tonight called Sex Girl. This was a trail I'd never ridden, and will now want to ride again and again!!

So many stunts (gap jumps, step down gaps, drops), sweet berms and natural rock faces combined with tight, steep & loose switchbacks, it's a trail that gets you smiling ear to ear!

The best part of it all was that we all rode nearly all of the stunts. That's SUPER gratifying!!

Super Deception

2009-04-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

Terry, John, Iz & I headed to the hills over in Belcarra for a race today called the John Henry West Coast Super D. We were fully expecting there to be SOME climbing, but this was basically a one rune XC race!! The climbs were killer.

Ah well, we all had fun, and all got free swag too. For a $15 race, it was well organized, and the weather was great, so being out on the bike made us smile!

Iz did her run in about 19 minutes
Terry at about 17:40
John at 17:30
I turned around a 17:10

Full results here.

Terry & I were in the largest category of 30+, and came 28th and 26th respectively.

Iz was top 5 for her group, though there were only 5.... I'm still super proud of her, and am glad she partook.

Johnny P. came second last in his class, but he was competing against yahoos that are like 21 and ride every single day... oh, and his bike was at least 10lbs heavier than all of theirs!!

We all then headed over to a pub in Newport Village to have some beers and food as it was a long morning->afternoon!

All 709 photos!!!

Photos of John
Photos of Iz
Photos of Terry
Photos of me
another shot of me

2 Rips on Woodlot

2009-04-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day, slept in, had a good breakfast of bacon and eggs, then headed to Maple Ridge with Iz, Phil, John, Terry, Nick & his pal Alex.

The destination was The Woodlot.

We started out with a hike up to Tsuga as we'd ridden it before and knew it was tame enough for a warm-up run, as well as the fact that Iz, Nick & Alex are still getting comfy on the bikes. We then hit Snakes & Ladders to finish off the first run. Fun time, even though Nick blew up his rear wheel. Nick, Alex & Iz finished off the day from there hitting Shotgun.

Here's Phil dropping in on a sweet rock face while I was fixing Nick's wheel

Nick & Alex had to run, and Iz was feeling tired, so it was just Terry, Phil, John & I who hiked back up, this time higher, in order to hit up Crazy Carpenter. Once we dropped in, we could see why - lots of wood stunts, and lots of work cutting logs. A really cool trail for sure, and the nicest thing was that every 'crazy' stunt had a nice round-a-bout for losers like me, err, people not comfortable with the stunts. We then hooked up with Toad Stools that hooked up with some unnamed trail, or at least unmapped trail, the dumped us out on to Shotgun to finish off the day.

We then all headed back to our place for a BBQ and some beers. What a blast!!

Fromme Take 2

2009-04-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight we (Sam, Isabelle, Terry, Alex & I) rode up Fromme together for the second time this season.

The trail we came down was Espresso and it was my first time down it. I've not ridden Fromme a lot since living out here, as you have to pedal up. Something that I'm finding pleasure in doing again, now that I'm 30... odd?

Anyway, the trail was fun, very old school, and not ridden a lot. ('Yet' I bet is the operative word to add here)

When we got to the bottom, we all climbed in to the car, and I drove them back up for a quick jaunt down Natural High and then met them at the bottom of the trail. It was a bit trick, since we had 5 people, and our car can only carry 3 bikes. Sam hung on to the window frame, Terry sat in the back 'trailering' his bike, while Iz, Alex & I rode inside like normal passengers, our bikes on the roof.

We rode Natural High last week too, so I know what I missed, and it super fun. Lots of wood/built up stunts on it, that are a blast. I wasn't feeling too super well today though, and my energy level was low, so that's why I opted out.

Iz treated us to some DQ Blizzards at the end of the ride to cap things off!

"Team Pangor" on Mount Seymour

2009-04-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Dan Webster riding "Team Pangor" on Mount Seymour
Originally uploaded by orbital-vancouver

This was the first run on the new bike on Seymour. Andrew caught a pretty good shot of me rolling down the rock roll on Pangor.

First Ride of 2009

2009-03-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

It was a bit cool, but sunny, and the plan was already set in stone to get out and get dirty. So we (Isabelle, Phil, Terry & I) did!

The rides got started about 1:30p with us all loading in to Phil's truck, and heading up to the top of Burnaby mountain - aka SFU.

The first run down, I sat out while the rest headed down 'Gear Jammer'. I knew it was going to be messy for at the top there was snow, and at the bottom it was dry. So somewhere in between, the snow HAD to be melting! And it was, have a look at Phil.

The next run down it was Terry's turn to sit out, and so Les Deguise et moi headed down 'Mel's Trail', and I got to experience first hand what the conditions were like. Though there was some snow, it was bearable, and super fun!!

Isabelle sat out the next run so that Terry, Phil & I could hit up 'Nicole's Trail', then Phil sat out for another run down 'Gear Jammer'. I sat out one more run, and the other 3 hit up 'Gear Jammer' one last time.

Iz took a photo of her dirty bike while she waited for us

After the ride, we had to clean up all of our crap, which wasn't much fun, as that included our clothes - and the water was cold!!! Terry dropped his pants before washing them. Smart in that he didn't get as cold as us, but dumb as it allowed me to snap the following photo! All in all, a super fun time!!

YES!!

2008-10-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

I love it when plans work out. Yesterday we rode and hoped to ride again today, and we did!

I took the SkyTrain in to town for 10:30, meeting Terry at the 'Main Street/Science World' stop. We then headed up to Seymour, and met Alex, Adam & Sam there. Terry works with Adam, and Adam invited Sam.

We loaded the truck up, and rode 'CBC' to 'Pingu' to 'Team Pangor'. Pretty much the usual warm up run.

As you may know, poor Alex broke his collarbone earlier in the season, and this was one of his first times back on the bike, so he was not his usual speedy self.

A rare still photo of Alex riding; normally he's too fast, and all you get is blur!

About 3/4 of the way down Adam got a call from his friend Matt (somehow heard the name Michelle?), so Adam invited him to join us for our next lap.

Once we got to the bottom, Alex took Terry back up to get the truck, I grabbed a sandwich, and then before I knew it we were back at the top again!!

'CBC' is the only way I know how to get in to the trails from the top lot that we park at, so it was that trail in again. This time though, before hitting the road, we snuck on to 'TNT'. A very old school trail, a bit more pedally than anything I've ridden on Seymour before, and super fun!

'TNT' was our way to get over to 'Severed Dick'. Don't get mad at me for the trail name, I didn't name it, we just rode it. It was one FUN trail, and well worth the trek across to it's head. Lots of sweet drops and jump on it, mixed with a bit of great steeps and roots. Check out the video of some of the riding from today below!

Sterl's Take Two

2008-10-25T17:20:00.001-07:00

Dom, Terry & I met at about 11:30 to ride our bicycles.

We started off by heading up and hitting "Sterl's Trail". I wanted to show it to Terry, so that he'd know it for the future.

The weather was great, nice cool fall weather. Both TB & I nailed some of the steeps, as well as the gap jump. Super fun!

What the forest looks like around the trail.

The adventure began at the end of the run though. This being only my second time on the trail, I ended up guiding us out the wrong way. We wound up being 2 exits past where the entrance to the mountain parking spot is!! The right way out takes you right to the spot. Ah well, we got some road saddle time in!!

Dom took Terry back up to grab the truck (thanks Phil!!) so that we could hit one more run and call it a day. And that we did! The run we did was a bit shorter, and I knew where to go when we popped out on the road. A great day all around.

Stay tuned, I may be hitting up Seymour tomorrow with TB!

Woodlot Take Two

2008-10-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Fall is upon us. The riding is cooler, and the trails are damper. So why not use people power to go up for a change!?

Terry came over about 10a and we loaded up and headed out to The Woodlot out in Maple Ridge.

This is the second time we've been out there now. The last time was two years ago. Terry, Pasko & I ventured out one evening. We had no real good idea where we were going, and it got dark on us. As such that Woodlot experience wasn't as fun as we'd hoped.

This time was better. We got there before noon, and had a clearer sense as to where we were headed.

Using the map we had from last time, and paying closer attention, we managed to find our way to the trail choosing wheel. Since we had no idea about any of the trails anyway, we used it. We were directed to ride "Cabin Trail" to "Snakes & Ladders".

Terry walking up a path by the hydro cut to figure out where we needed to go.

The trail choosing wheel

We met a couple of other guys at the entrance to "Cabin Trail" and they suggested we hike half way back up to hit "Tsuga" before finishing off with "Snakes". We took their advice, and the hole experience was much better than last time!

Some of the views around the trails

Another nice view

We will visit The Woodlot again. Maybe even again this year!?

Terry is giving the thumbs up on riding here again
Here's Terry riding through the clear cut

Thanksgiving in The Puddle

2008-10-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Isabelle & I spent Thanksgiving in Williams Lake with our friend Amber, some other friends and her parents. It was so nice of them to have us up, housing and feeding us.

The riding in Williams Lake is something else. Very flowy in some cases, very steep and sandy in others. My favourite was riding through trees on very shallow grade trails, with super soft ground.

The weather treated us super well, no rain the days we rode and the temperature was great on the Sunday. We arrived the Saturday about 2p and rode until nearly 6p, that was a bit cool at around 5 Celsius. Sunday was much nicer; very sunny and around 15 Celsius.

Have a look at the videos and photos below to get an idea about what went on!!

Click Here To See All Photos

Whistler Season Shutdown

2008-10-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

Last Whistler weekend of the year and it was a good one. Phil, myself and Jake (from BSP) headed up for the last sunday of the year. What can I say other than, "Best day of the year".

Sun was out, temperature was awesome, no whistler dust storms......just pure awesome.

We were there for first chair and must have gotten in at least 8 or 9 runs. Conquered some fun stuff and nobody got hurt. Jake got some photos, so there might be some to put up if they find their way online.

It's going to be a long 7 months till the park opens up next spring, maybe I'll take up shuffle board....or knitting.

-tb

Last Weekday Whistler Ride of the Season

2008-09-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today was my last weekday Whistler ride of the season, for I start my new job on Monday!!

Iz, Phil, Jake & I headed up for a day of fun. The weather was phenomenal, and we got off to a good start getting in to the lot before noon!! A first for a weekday trip for us. Usually we get stuck due to construction, but not today.

First run down was our usual "Crank It Up" warm up run. About 3/4 of the way down, I landed and heard a wicked screech in my rear end. I got off, and found that my rear wheel came out in the air, and when I landed it didn't go back in correctly. Damaged rear brake was the result.

I brought it over to Fanatyk Co Bike Shop, and they got it fixed up pretty quickly. We had lunch while we waited.

A few more laps were had. No one got hurt badly, and no more bicycle carnage occurred. All in all, a great day. It's always good to just be out when the weather is so nice!!

Iz had a couple bails today, and got some wounds.

I try my best to keep up with Phil down "Dirt Merchant" to "A-Line"

Seymour w\ Friends

2008-09-29T17:01:00.001-07:00

This afternoon Phil, Iz, Joe, Cam, Krista & I went for a ride up on Seymour.

We did your usual CBC->Pingu->Salvtion->Team Pangor. Fun times, no one got hurt, and a lot of challenging stunts were conquered.

Both Phil & Joe rode the big drop off the end of the skinnies on Salvation. I nailed some other skinnies that I'd not ever ridden. And since this was only Iz's second time on these trails, she conquered the demons that bothered her last time!

Some photos.

Phil looking cool while we wait for others to catch up up on CBC.

Iz rails a corner on CBC.

Check out the video!

Forced Vacations Rule

2008-09-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you reading this, but not in the 'know', I was let go from Strangeloop Networks Wednesday, September 3/2008. It was a huge shock, as I thought I was doing very well. They cut half the sales team (3) and are moving to a different sales model is what they said, which I apparently didn't fit. Ah well, it's forced me to take time off, and it couldn't have worked out better!

Isabelle recently quite her job (around the same time as I got canned) and doesn't start her new gig until the 1st of October. I just accepted an offer to work for FinCAD, and don't start until October 6th.

This time off together has given us more time to ride, and it's been great! We really couldn't have planned it any better, as the weather has been amazing during this time too!

We were up in Whistler this week, Tuesday the 16th staying overnight to the 17th, and got lots of runs in.

I'm not going to bore you with a blubber blabber about what trails we rode over the two days. Let me just say this; Iz has improved SO much, it's awesome. She was timid, to say the least, of "skinnies" and was not too keen on steep stuff either, but that's all changed as you can see in this video.

Some highlights are that we rode "Goats Gully" together, as well as "Fatcrobat" which Iz is telling me now is one of her favorite trails! We hit up "Schleyer" and "Dirt Merchant" a bunch. Great times!!

Whistler With Iz

2008-09-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Another gorgeous day out west. This forced time off has given me more time to ride. And, since Iz has time off between jobs too, we're able to spend time together. What better place to spend time together than riding in Whistler!?

Today we got up around 8 and took our time heading up. With construction stoppages, we arrived close to 1!!

The day almost didn't happen though, for at one of the construction stoppages (if that's a word?) Iz & I decided to pee. No big deal, right? Well, Iz went deeper in to the woods than I to avoid showing off to the other folks stopped, and stepped in a wasps nest!! We had to run out and around for a couple of minutes until they left us alone. Iz hadn't been bitten/stung in a while, and felt a bit of an allergic reaction. Thankfully a Benadryl solved it.

First run of the day, the classic warm up run of Crank it Up to Heart of Darkness. Love it!!

Next we headed to the top and did a jumpy run if Freight Train to Dirt Merchant to A-Line. Sweetness.

Another gondola ride to the top, and another Freight Train ride but this time to Duffman in to Side Track, finished off with A-Line.

Next run was a midway run of Angry Pirate to Whistler Singletrack to Devil's Club to Heart of Darkness.

Iz was rockin' out today, so she decided we needed to step it up a notch. Thus we headed to Schleyer next. We did the top bit and then tore off to Smoke & Mirrors. Near the bottom we linked up with A-Line again as Iz wanted to hit the GLC drop again, and she did it so nicely.

Next was a sweet booter down Crank It Up. We got half way and saw that the bottom was closed at the drop center. So we zipped over to World Cup Downhill and then finished off with Monkey Hands.

A sweet day, finished again with a burger at Splitz Grill, where we witnessed an electrical fire...we almost didn't get our burger!!

Whistler in the Fall

2008-09-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Terry, Phil, Jake & I headed to Whistler today.

The drive was a heck of an event, taking us 3+ hours!! We left on good time, but weren't on the him until after noon!!

No matter, this time of year there is NO line up to speak of, and we got 5 solid runs in before lift closing.

First was a warm up down Dirt Merchant. A sweet jumpy and flowy trail.

Next we headed to the top, and did a top to bottom run of jumps. Starting with Freight Train, heading in to Sidetrack to Renegade. We the finished off with Dirt Merchant and A-Line.

Back to the top we went, for a sweet technical run. We dropped in to Original Sin which put us in to Goats Gulley. Then we headed to In Deep which took us to Fatcrobat. We then took Too Tight to the mid station.

Phew, we're not done yet, and I'm getting tired describing the run!! Imagine how draining it is riding it!!

At mid station we headed to Schleyer, likely my favourite trail on the mountain, and I think it is both Phil and Terry's too.

After Schleyer it was in to Rock City. A great little run in itself. At a split Jake & Phil decided to take Clown Shoes, while Terry & I zipped over to finish off World Cup Downhill. All of us hit Heart of Darkness to get to the chair lift.

That is the epic run, as Terry & Phil call it. Awesome!!

We headed back up for a quick run of Angry Pirate to Crab Apple Hits to A-Line. A sweet flow run that is.

Our last run of the day was a nice green trail run down Crank It Up to Heart of Darkness. Sweet!!

It was a great day with nothing but a flat tire slowing us down by yours truly. Capped off with some sweet burgers and a beer at Splits Grill.

The four of us on the way up the mountain.

I flatted near the end of In Deep.

Phil rides the 'triple hump' on Fatcrobat.

Heading Home

2008-09-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Waking up at about 8:00am, Terry's aunt made us a great big breakfast. Bacon, eggs, blackberry pancakes and juice. Just what we needed to get started!

We took our time getting ready to go, as we were aiming to get on the 2:30 ferry, so no rush.

I felt way better this day than I did on day 2 last year!! Never the less, my goal was to tale it easy, and just make it to the end without bonking!

Heading home was much f the see as getting there. Lots of hills, lots of Alex locking his wheel up on decents, lots of watching Terry & Alex kick my butt up the hill.

In the end we all made it without bonking, and made it to North Vancouver in time for an early dinner at a pub that Alex suggested. It was delicious, and the drinks were great too!!

I look forward to next year!

The three amigos in Sechelt.

Terry & his big drink.

Alex & his big drink.

Mmmmm, big drink!!

Ride to the Sunshine Coast 2008

2008-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

The day started with me getting up at about 8:00. I scarfed down some cereal and then headed for the SkyTrain. I was to be at Terry's for 9:30 in order to meet Alex in North Vancouver for 10ish. Well the train wasn't on time, and the bus at the other end of the line was nor leaving for 15 minutes, so I rode to Terry's, arriving at about 9:45.

No problem, we then booted to the Lions Gate bridge, and met with Alex. Then the fun really began.

Riding Marine Dr. is a blast. Lots of undulating hills. Terry & I had a blast, but poor Alex was riding a fixed gear bike, with no brakes. He had to work going up and down hill. Not as much fun in my mind, but he was smiling

We arrived at the ferry terminal just in time to make the 11:20 ferry to Lonsdale. Once on the Sunshine Coast it was time to climb. We hammered up the long ascent and got to the Wheatberries Cafe in Gibsons in time for a late lunch.

Back on the bikes for about another 40km of riding until we got to Terry's aunt's place in Halfmoon Bay. Arriving around 4ish, she had beers, guacamole and chips waiting. Awesome!!

After having ridden a bit over 80km, we were tired to say the least. Bed time came at 8:00!!

This was what I saw most of the time....Terry & Alex's backs as the zipped away.

The view of the land around us as we ferried away.

My two riding buddies relaxing on the ferry ride.

Same two goofs, pointing at different things!

I was on the ride too.

The glorious destination.

One Run on SFU

2008-09-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

The weather has been super this week, so Iz and I made the plan to ride a few laps on SFU tonight. The only problem was that everyone else had the same idea! The first bus that came was already full (only 2 bikes/bus) and if we'd waited for the next one it'd bee too late for a second run. So we pedaled back home and grabbed the car to get up for our first run. We had a quick lap down "Nicole's" and went back to the bus stop. The bus came, and again, not enough room for us both. So I headed up alone to get the car. Ah well, one run is better than none!! Plus, no one got hurt, so that's always good.

SFU Road Ride

2008-08-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

I hit 78.21kmh on my way down SFU on Aug. 27/08

Introduction to Sterl's Trail

2008-08-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm not going to tell you where this trail is, but if you're a good friend of mine I will likely take you on the trail some day.

The ride started with a good buddy of mine leading me in to the trail for my first time. It was pouring rain, and we were soaked before we even go to the trail head. Ah well, that's west coast riding for you!

Sterl's is a pretty cool trail, very tight, and has lots of single track on it. There are a bunch of really old stunts built on the trail too, which are in different levels of ride-ability. I didn't hit much of them, as it was slippery to say the least, and I was tired beyond belief today for some reason.

One flowy fun trail that I highly recommend. Sorry, no photos of this one, as it's a 'secret trail' that you must ride with me to experience!

Here's what my bike is looking like after the sloppy ride on Sterl's.

About The Blog

2008-08-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

The idea is simple. I'm going to blog bout my riding. I like to ride bikes, and thought I'd use this as a means to share my love for riding, and to describe some of the rides.

I ride mountain bikes, mainly downhill, as well as road bikes. I ride a little folding bike to the transit station too, but I'll not post about it daily as it would get a bit boring quick!

I'll post about my friends who ride with me too, and hope that maybe they'll even want to get involved in writing about the rides from their perspective. I've enabled them to do so, should they want to.

Stay tuned!!