We both knew it was going to be raining the whole ride, so for the most part we dressed for the occasion and made our way up into the clouds. On the way up we talked about this and that and how much drier it was in Kamloops. We decided that a run of Krazy Karpenter, Upper and Lower Toadstool, Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun was in order.
We geared up in the trees at Karpenter and then let go of the brakes. I started riding the long log ride near the top but traction was near zero so a quick wheelie drop off the log was in order and I was back on terra firma. Unfortunately Karpenter has not seen any maintenance for a while and there is broken woodwork and other issues all over the place. Considering how long it has been and how many people actually ride the trail it is standing up quite well, but it needs some work in places.
After Karpenter it was Upper Toadstool where Rob decided he'd make an attempt at bitching me into riding the long log on Upper Toadstool. Really I don't know why he said what he did, I ride the log every single time I am on the trail. Wet, dry, sleet, snow, I have never skipped the log......but what he said irked me. "I wanna see you wipe out on the log" were his words. Pardon? I had his voice in my head the whole way along it. Sure it was wet and slimy and slippy, but there was no way in hell I was going to wipe out. When I cleaned I gave out a big PFFT!!!! and rode out the rest of the trail thinking 'haha, in your face'. Turns out he never even made an attempt at riding it himself....punk! ;-)
We then made our way down to Lower Toadstool which Rob had not ridden in a long, long time. This was going to be the first time he had ridden it since the new woodwork was built on it over the past few months. Rob loves ladders so he was as giddy as a pig in mud. All the rework on Lower Toadstool has made a trail that was ordinary into a total joyous rip. Nothing techy, nothing huge, nothing overly steep, just a fun winding rip down the hill.
We then made our way over to Snakes and Ladders. After riding our trail countless times we have it totally figured out and ride it without a second thought. It has seen a lot of traffic over the past months and years since I started working on it, but she is still holding up well even with the rain.
Both Rob and I stopped to film ourselves riding a few sections of Snakes.
Dean at the rock drop.
Rob on the jump section.
So at the new part of the line we walked a few parts to see how the drainage was working and so far we see no issues at all. Total ripping fun. It was nice to see what Tim had done days prior.
At this point we were absolutely soaked to the bone, but our route took us over to Shotgun as our last trail. I was on the big bike today (Ollie) and I can say that without any doubt it eats up the trail. At the truck we dried off as best we could, loaded up the bikes and headed home.
Great ride with Rob....even if he's no longer a local.
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