Night Vibe

Night riding. There really is nothing else like it. How many sports are there out there where people participate in by the light of the sun but when the sun sets a whole different breed of folks come out to the play in the dark. Tim and I had a wicked night ride. It was like the night ride gods had issued us a free pass and covered us with flow and a positive vibe that radiated from our beings. The location was The Woodlot, the route was Krazy Karpenter, Blood Donor, Giant Killer, Snakes and Ladder and finally Shotgun.

The last time I was up riding these trails last week, the upper trails were covered in wet compact snow which made riding the woodwork quite treacherous but since then we have had some rain and warmer weather so the trails were free of snow. Riding with a HID on the handle bars and a 50W headlamp is an absolute dream so shredding the trails at night is a total blast. Krazy Karpenter has recently seen some maintenance and a very classic wood structure has recently been fixed and is now again safe to ride. Tim and I rode the ladder around and through stump a couple times each and even and went on to inspect the handiwork of the builder (Bill). The wood work on his structures is unlike any other I have seen. Rather than using round stringers or poles for his support beams he mills his own beams into 6"x6" or larger. If I ever wanted a rustic log house built, I would call on Bill to build it for me.

Well after Tim and I had a good look at all the woodwork we continued on down the Karpenter to Blood Donor. The gaps are not something we hit in the dark, but the drop into the compression is always fun in the dark. Doing a 7 foot drop into darkness takes a little getting used to. After Blood Donor we hit Giant Killer and then on over to Snakes and Ladders. Cat and mouse as always on Snakes and then a quick pedal over to Shotgun where we played cat and mouse once again.

Snow Day

I love snow rides, there is just something that makes a ride extra special when you are riding in the snow. The plan of attack to day was for Tim and I to arrive at 7:30am and get up the hill and do some maintenance on Snakes and Ladders until Rob arrived at ~8:45am then head up for a ride. Well needless to say that due to the abundance of snow on the trail our plan was quickly thrown out the window and the day simply consisted of a ride.........we weren't really complaining.

Tim and I headed up the snow covered hill with one hand pushing our bikes and the other holding a hot Tim Horton's coffee. Once we were past the steep part where you can pedal with only one hand on the bar we rode along sipping Java taking in the cool morning air on the snow covered forest floor. As we were nearing the part of the climb Tim had a bit of a mechanical (his chain snapped) so we both decided to just push our bikes the rest of the way up and fix his ride later.

This was my first ride on my newly built up Heckler and my first impressions were really good.

Tim and I rode half way down the trail to wait for Rob and attempt to work on the trail a little but once Rob arrived we ripped as a trio down Snakes and Ladders.

After the quick blast down Shotgun, Tim had too leave but Rob and I stayed around for a while to test ride some Cannondale bikes that were brought to the Woodlot by the local dealer Experience Cycling.

I chose to ride the Prophet MX and Rob got the Prophet XC. We climbed to the top of Shotgun and blasted down at a good pace. Overall not a bad ride, but my first impression of the Heckler was much better. Once at he bottom we thanked the shop for letting us try the bikes and we were on our way.

Not a bad day of riding in the snow.