My Riding Journal

I have moved My Riding Journal to my own website

2011-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have moved this blog to its own website.

Please go to http://www.mtnbike.ca

Hot summer day at The Woodlot

2011-08-03T17:57:00.001-07:00

My bike of choice today was my Rune and the location yet again was The Woodlot. Recently I received information about the logging that is going to take place and I wanted to see if any progress had been made.

At the bottom of the climb there was a sign posted on the side of the trail to inform the area users that logging and trail closures are on their way.

Further up the climb I took another picture of wall of rock. It keeps growing every week I ride. Unfortunately it's going to get knocked down when the logging takes place in a month or so.

Not too far past the wall of rock there are a number of piles of gravel that are going to be used as the road base for the logging roads. This material is going to make the climb even easier than it is now up the main logging road. Another new thing I have noticed are road markers that mark the distances along the woodlot main road.

At the powerlines I turned left to climb to the top and gain access to Krazy Karpenter. Karpenter is in decent shape given the amount of traffic it sees and the nasty wet year we have had. It never seems there is enough time to work on all the trails that I'd like to, but there is one stunt that Tim and I would like to finish some time soon and it involves a lot of ladders. Maybe by the end of the summer.

I then hit Upper Toadstool which is always a blast and then over to Giant Killer. Ryan has been hard at work dialing in the trail and recently he has put a lot of work into a slight re-route of a corner on beside the long log section. We had talked about his re-route since Christmas time of last year and I'd say it is one more work day away from completion.

I then hit Snakes and Ladders and then Shotgun to finish off my ride ride for the day. It was SMOKIN hot today and it felt great to ride in the summer heat.

Misty Golden Ears

2011-07-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to go for a bit of a pedal today. With my bike loaded on my car I headed to Golden Ears park and Alouette Mtn.

My route took me up the Eric Dunning Trail and then along the Alouette Mountain Fire Access Trail to the second shortcut trail. Along the way I spotted a few not so well known off the map trails that I one day hope to explore.

On the fire access road between the two shortcut trails is this lookout. Over the years the view is getting smaller and smaller due to the trees growing and blocking the view. My guess is in 5 years some trees will need to be removed.

Once at the top, I started my descent which is about 20 minutes or so with next to no pedaling. It's not a bad ride when a nice easy pedal is desired with a fun descent on a smaller bike.

Morning of Repairs

2011-07-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I met Mitch at The Woodlot to go for a ride and to give him an introduction to trail building. Mitch wants to help out on the trails, but he hasn't ever done any trail work.

While I pedaled my Rune and he pushed his bike up, we were able to talk about some trail basics and other things bike related.

At the top of Cabin Trail we geared up and I began riding down to one of the last bomb hole sections that I plan on repairing on Cabin. I had Mitch collect most of the rock while I pieced everything together.

Within 20 minutes the hole was fixed and we began riding down. Once the trail leveled out and the pedaling began, Mitch's chain snapped and needed repairing. Then when we rode down Snakes and Ladders, I had a flat. By this time Mitch had to leave so I rode Shotgun solo hoping that nothing else was going to break on me. I didn't have a good feeling seeing a couple Turkey Vultures circle me in the clearing.

I've had many days without a mechanical, but all it felt like I did today was repair things.

Wrong Turn

2011-07-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

My plan today was to go for a spin for a few hours and see if I could find an easier way into the UBC Research Forest. I seem to have found a decent route. It needs a few trees cleared off it and there is a significant creek crossing that requires your feet to get wet but it is a lot faster to get into the area than my previous route.

The picture below shows where a bridge used to be located. Several years ago the road in the area had some huge washouts so the road was shut down and the bridge was removed.

If you look really carefully you can see and imprint across the cement that reads "UBC FRST 78"

My plan was to ride to Jabobs lake and then turn around to come home. I made on wrong turn and decided to continue on a logging road that went up to a clearcut that isn't really shown on many maps. The climb was easy and gradual and ended with an okay view of the Fraser Valley, but is wasn't what I was looking for.

The Fraser Valley with through the haze.

Looking west to Gloomy Peak and Gabbro Mountain in Coquitlam.

Once I snapped a photos I headed back to my car and home. Not a bad exploratory ride considering a wrong turn.

View Clearcut East of Jacobs Lake in a larger map

Rock!!

2011-07-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

I hit the Woodlot today on my Rune. I had a few tools in my pack to do a little trail work on Cabin Trail. I must say that I picked a pretty nice day to go for a ride and do some trail work.

Off to one side of the climb, somebody has been stacking rock for the past several months. This formerly small pile of rocks is getting rather impressive.

On Cabin Trail / Goldmine Trail I have been making an effort to fix the bomb holes that have appeared over the past few years. Most of rocks used in the picture below were collected by a small group of us (five riders) a few weeks ago. Today I pieced them all together to make this section flow again. The rocks are all locked together by gravity (weight of the rocks), wedging of small rocks in cracks and a few pinned pieces of cedar that I staked into the ground. Before this rock was put in place there was a 3 foot deep bomb hole that you nearly came to a stop on when riding the trail. Now it is nothing but rocked in flow.

The rest of my ride consisted of the end of Cabin Trail, Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. A sweet ride, a good build and lots of rock!!

Google Earth Epic #7: UBC Research Forest

2011-06-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to get up to the Malcolm Knapp UBC Research forest for years. There are three different lookout points that I'd like to explore and today I did one of the three.

My ride started at Mike Lake and using the research I did ahead of time I navigated my way on up into the hills. While climbing the fire road just before Loon Lake, I ran into this bear. At one point it seemed as if he wanted to walk over towards me, but I made a lot of noise that sent him packing into the bush.

The forest in this area is as lush as they come so I paused to take a picture of one of the creeks.

At the top of the logging road that runs North East of Loon Lake you are greeted with this pretty sweet view. For anyone that knows the area they know that not many people get to see this area from this viewpoint. This spot is 15km up a logging road and to say that the logging spurs are like a labyrinth would be an understatement.

I was running out of time when I took this last picture and I needed to turn my bike around and head home. It was pretty cool navigating to these view points and I can't wait to make my way to some of the other higher viewpoints in the area.

My total ride time was 3 hours and a little over 32km round trip. I think some of the view points further into the area might turn out to be a whole day affair. Next time I'll invite a few friends to enjoy the view with me. The super cool thing is that I can start this ride from my house if I want to add a couple hours of XC singletrack to the ride.

View Route to UBC Views - Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in a larger map

First official ride of the summer 2011

2011-06-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Today was my first official ride of the summer. In usual fashion it was raining.

I decided I'd push my big bike up the hill for a rip and hit a few drops and gaps. The first trails I rode were Giant Killer and then Bloggy Style. At the bottom of Bloggy I met up with Ryan and Curtis where we started back up the mountain to hit some more trails. It turns out that Curtis hadn't ridden Blood Donor in a few years so that was the first trail on the list. On Donor there are a few wooden features that are broken right now that really break up the flow. Hopefully they are able to be repaired soon.

At the bottom of Blood Donor I hit the little jump and then pressured Curtis to hit it for the first time. After a few deep breaths he had this simple little jump under his belt.

We then rode Giant Killer that is running better than it ever has. Ryan has done a bang up job in making this trail ride dry with a ton of flow.

Hoots was next. Ryan took a brush saw down the trail a few weeks ago and now you can actually see the trail in the clear-cut as you ride along. Curtis and I managed to convince Ryan to ride the rock for the first time. It's cool watch people get excited about riding difficult features for the first time.

We then rode Shotgun and had a beer or two at our cars. It was a great summer weekend ride.

Today's ride.

Bear Mtn. DH 2011 - Day 2 (Race Day)

2011-06-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

I arrived bright and early to do some more volunteering at the DH race. I ended up carrying and setting up the tent at the start line, helped to get the power set up for the start line, carried and set up the umbrella for the rock drop and did the sound check for the the announcer. A sound check is something I've ALWAYS wanted to do....check!, check!, one, two.......Thank You Vancouver!!.......

After my moment of glory I then went back to bike loading and unloading for the practice shuttles and the racers. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do a practice run today before the race, but I was so damn tired that I think it would have killed me do do more than my race run today.

When my shuttle time was announced I once again loaded bikes and rode up to the top. At the start line things weren't really what they were suppose to be. There wasn't anyone wrangling the riders getting them in their race start order. Basically the start line was calling names out two at a time with a buffer of 2 minutes. Anyone that has raced before knows this is a recipe for disaster and it was stressing the race commissaries to the brink.

Once it was my turn at the start line I felt okay; not good, not great, but okay. My left knee has been swelling on a regular basis and all the stand up pedaling required for this race makes me wince in pain. For this reason, I love the top of the course where there is limited pedaling and it's all about bike handling in the steeper sections. The rain doesn't really affect the top of the course, so it remained in great shape. However once you hit the first gap on the course, things get soupy and the pedaling begins.

In the race I think I hit 50% of the jumps. I just simply couldn't get the speed needed to make the rest. Most corners were super moto rutted and the run ins were slick as snot.

I was able to pass the rider in front of me which made me feel good for a bit, but when I did a 180° powerslide to a complete stop, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the podium.

At the finish line I felt okay. I'd negotiated the course in one piece, though muddy and out of breath. I finished in 12th place.

I then made my way to the concession area where I spoke with a few of the race organizers letting them know that there wasn't a wrangler at the top of the course getting the riders in order. After some discussion I volunteered to do the job. I changed and boarded a shuttle truck to get things in order at the top. When I arrived I grabbed the start list and proceeded to get people in order. With a few minutes I had things in control and the racers were lined up ready to race.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me my mom and daughter had, come to see me at the race . They saw me ride past in the mud, but I didn't get to see them at the bottom because I took off to volunteer before they could find me.

Once the race was over I helped pack up a few things at the top and then caught a ride to the bottom with Steve in his pick-up. At the bottom I caught up with a few of the B-Team (Darryl and Stan), watched the awards and drove home.

Maybe next year.

Bear Mtn. DH 2011 - Day 1 (practice)

2011-06-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

I arrived bright and early to attend the XC course marshal meeting, but it turned out that there were far too many race marshals for the race so instead I worked as a bike loader for the DH shuttle trucks.

The weather today was rather miserable. Raining and cold. By the time I was able to grab a shuttle to the top and do a mandatory run, the course was ripped up and a sloppy, muddy mess.

Dave Mackie (photographer extraordinaire) and fellow rider snapped the sweet picture of me below at the the rock drop double gap section of the race course. Dave never fails to impress me with the photos he takes especially today given the wet conditions.

Photo by Dave Mackie

After loading some more bikes, I did my second run of the course and then called it a day. The course up top is in great shape, but further down it is wet, muddy, rutted and ripped up.

The weather tomorrow should certainly make for an interesting race.

A Golden Hour

2011-06-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I had a very limited amount of time to ride today. I grabbed my little bike and headed to Golden Ears Park. The single track climb into the park is a sweet escape and a good workout when you pedal at a decent. I pushed as hard on the climb and turned around well into the park near Mike Lake when I reached the 40 minute mark.

The ride back is mainly downhill so what took 40 minutes to climb only took 18 minutes on the return.

It was a sweet ride given the short amount of time I had.

Helmet.....what helmet!!!

2011-06-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today I was riding my Rune at The Woodlot with Brody, Craig, Jen, Ryan. The weather was actually rather nice which made for a pleasant group ride.

When I ride I have a normal routine I follow when I unload my bike and pack my gear into my backpack. Today when I arrived Brody and Ryan both chatted with me as I was getting ready. I must have been a little distracted because I forgot my damn helmet. When I realized I forgot my helmet I was past the point of no return on the climb and decided to just ride without it.

While climbing, Craig, Brody, Ryan and I talked about the changes that will likely happen with the trails in the area with the upcoming logging and what will be needed to fix the damage from logging.

At Cabin Trail we all got ready and headed down the trail. The few spots that I have stacked a rock seem to be working out. I'm not buffing the trail, just filling the bomb holes. At one particularly nasty corner we all stopped and I showed everyone a spot that needs a big pile of rock. We all spent about 10 minutes stacking rock and filling the nasty spot to make it much more rideable. The next time I am up on the trail I will bring a couple tools with me to dial in this section but for now just placing the rock will suffice.

At the junction of Snakes and Cabin Trail, Ryan I split off and headed down Snakes and Ladders while Craig, Brody and Jen headed up to Mandatory Caution.

Ryan and I casually rode Snakes and then made our way over to and down Shotgun. A good ride nonetheless, but I found riding without a helmet really hard to get used to.

Bear vs. Unicorn

2011-06-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

I did a little modification to my latest camera mount creation.

After asking people online about my first run with the Unicorn-Cam, I gained some feedback on what needed to be improved. I tweaked my set-up by adding a fish-eye lens to my camera and tested my newly modified Unicorn-Cam by doing a top to bottom run of the Bear Mountain DH course in Mission.

My opinion is that it turned out pretty damn good. It's a little difficult to keep your head up and focused on the trail at times, but I can see myself doing a few runs every now and again with this camera angle.

Peak views

2011-06-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

It had been quite some time since I went on a long ride to grab an epic view, so today I revisited a ride I did 18 months ago. With my GPS in my pocket I headed up to see what the views were like today and see exactly what it looks like at the peak.

It hot and sunny today and while starting my ride I crossed paths with a bear near the bottom of The Woodlot. Fortunately for me I scared it away when I rolled up on it, but for the remaineder of the ride I had my head up and ears open looking for any more wildlife.

When I negotiated my way to my destination I was met with some pretty sweet panoramic views.

The view looking east.

The view looking south.

Nothing like a turkey vulture circling you at the top of a climb.

Stave Lake from the top looking south east.

The ride back to The Woodlot is a super fast blast down the mountain and then a logging road climb back up to to The Woodlot and then a sweet ride down the trails I have come to intimately know for the past 8 years.

This ride is a nice long pedal with a rewarding view and then a sweet return ride on singletrack.

Unicorn at The Woodlot

2011-06-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

I went for a build/ride/test-run on my Rune today and brought my pruning loppers to trim back some of the spring growth on the trails edge.

I pedalled up Stovetop and then up the logging road to the skidder road that leads to Blood Donor. An excavator has been up the road recently that cleared the trees that line the road to Blood Donor. Looks like the logging is going to start soon.

I then rode up to Cabin Trail. On the way I met up with a group of older riders. Some were friendly, some were not, and one was quite simply grumpy.

I stopped in a few spots to repair some bomb holes on the trail by doing some rock work. If quads avoid the trail, the rock work should hold up to the traffic the trail sees.

Further down the trail I hiked some rung to a rather dangerous bench section of the trail. If things go to plan, the ladder will make a formerly dangerous section a total blast.

I then made my way to Blue Ribbon and cleared a few fallen trees as well as trimmed a few bushes near the exit. Today I brought with me my newest camera mount. It is a 'Unicorn' cam that puts the camera in front of the riders face looking back. I rode the whole ride with my camera filming to test this new angle.

This is the view down Shotgun with my new camera mount. With a few tweaks I should be able to get a dialed setup.

Unicorn-Cam - Test Run

Friends Help Friends

2011-05-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Tom from the FVMBA put a call out to people to help relpace a bridge on Red Mountain. The bridge in question is a 35 footer on Red Rider that is a little over 4 feet wide that sees a fair amount of traffic during the year and the Red Mountain XC race. It is super sketchy due to flexing and slipperiness.

At 8am the group (Tom, Steve, Kim, Gary and I) was assembled and shuttled to the top of Red Rider. I was the only on that brought a bike so it was a quick little zip for me down the trail to the bridge we were replacing.

Before

Tom gave us all the rundown on the situation and we split off in crews to get the job done. I worked on splitting rung, Steve hauled the rung, Tom, Gary and Kim gathered new stringers and demolished the existing structure.

Kim starting the demo

Due to the length and width of the bridge, a lot of log rung needed to be split using a froe, wedges and a couple axes. Most of the rung I split were 4-5 feet in length and an inch or so thick.

Tom 'supervising' Kim's Demo

Dragging the stingers out of the woods took six people and a lot of effort.

The stingers getting put in place.

I was able to stay until the framing began but then had to leave due to prior commitments. The guys were able to finish off the structure a few hours after I left.

The bridge completed and only needing a trim and little rock work.

I finished off the day by riding the rest of Red Rider, Momentum and Black Tie.

It was a really productive day and a welcome change to build with a group of people equally passionate about building great trails.

Rocking on Cabin

2011-05-21T14:07:00.001-07:00

This morning I arrived around 7am at The Woodlot and was met with two piles of garden waste dumped in one of my usual parking spots. The Woodlot is a somewhat remote area and has seen it's fair share of waste dumped here. Most of the time it get discarded on the side of the road but this time the ass hat decided to dump in the middle of the road. Luckily today I had a shovel and bucket with me in my car that I was going to use on the trails. The clean-up didn't take all that long, but it's things like this that just make me shake my head at people's stupidity.

With the clean-up complete, I boarded my bike (Rune) and pedaled up the mountain. It was raining today but not so heavy that I was getting soaked, just a little wet.

When I made it to the powerlines I was literally in the clouds and hardly see in front of me. I'm normally met with a view of Mission to the east, but all I could see was white mist. Seeing as I had a shovel with me and my goal today was to get some trail work done, whenever I rode up to a big puddle on the road to Cabin Trail, I went work draining it. I was able to drain three large puddles that should remain dry until the snows come in December.

Last week I decided during my ride that I would begin doing some much needed rock work on Cabin Trail / Goldmine trail. A couple years ago a pair of quads went down this trail, got stuck and had to winch their way out of the trail. (Here is a link to some mountain bikers meeting the quads - WARNING- Explicit Language used) In doing so, several sections of trail that had previously been armored with rock were left in very bad shape and have since significantly eroded. I have made it a goal of mine to 1.)repair the vandalized cabin just off the trail and 2.)fix up eroded sections on Cabin Trail to make it safer and more sustainable by the end of the summer. Below are pictures of 3 sections that I repaired this morning.

When I finished the rock work, I stashed the tools I brought up to the trail and then began my ride down. I made a pit-stop at the cabin to see what kind of condition it was in. Structurally it is in okay condition but the roof needs a brace replaced and a few roof slats need to be installed. Also a few walls have been kicked out so they need fixing and the door needs to be re-installed. It may turn out to be a lot of work and I might need some help from friends, but I feel it is worth the effort to fix this old mining cabin rather than watching it disintegrate and rot in the forest.

After passing a couple younger riders on their way down Cabin Trail, I zipped down Snakes and Ladders, the over to and down Bloggy and then down Shotgun. It was a very productive day of building and a great ride even in the May spring rain.

Change and Renewal

2011-05-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

Two weeks off the bike really made me want to go for a spin. This morning I took my Trance to the Woodlot and began pedaling. The weather was rather nice for a change and I was even met with a few rays of sunshine when I passed by one of the clearings. I had to pause and take the picture above because I couldn't believe I was actually witnessing sunshine.

I made my way up the skidder road and then up Stovetop. I have been in touch with the managers of the Woodlot recently and it looks like there are going to be some changes to some trails in the near future with new skidder access roads and logging to take place soon. Unfortunately Mandatory Caution and Upper Toadstool are going to have skidder spur roads cut across them. I walked the flagged spurs with my GPS to see where the skidder roads are going and put the data onto a map. Hopefully the impact will be minimal on the trails, but things can always be rebuilt once the logging is complete.

Proposed spur roads shown in purple

After walking the proposed spurs with my GPS in hand I jumped back on my bike and pedaled up to Cabin Trail. By this time the weather had gone from sunny with clouds to just plain old rain. At Cabin Trail I began my descent and then stopped to have a look at the trail in one of the particularly nasty spots. I decided right then and there that I was going to make this trail my summer trail improvement project. I am going to fix the nasty spots of Cabin Trail /Goldmine without dumbing it down and while keeping the trail all natural.

I then put on my work gloves and went to work stacking rock in a big bomb hole section of trail. I didn't have a shovel around to move any dirt, but I was able to get the rocks in place that I'll cover in dirt when I bring up a shovel.

When I finished stacking rock, I boarded my bike and rode the trail down to the powerlines, then Snakes and Ladders and finished my ride off with Shotgun.

It seems I may have unintentionally started a hefty project but one that is much overdue and in need of some TLC.

Big Bikes Rock!!

2011-05-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I rode my Rune. It's a solid 6x6 bike that climbs well and rips on the downhill. Today I rode basically the same trails I did last week, but this time I was on my Legend MkII and what a difference the bike made on the downhill.

The ride started around 8 am where I met up with Curtis and Mark where we started the push up tot he top. Pedaling the Legend just isn't in the cards and Curtis doesn't really like to pedal, so we chatted during the push to Cabin Trail. There was a little less snow on the road this week compared to last week which means I can soon start doing some epically long rides into the wilderness.

The three of us (along with Mark's dog) rode Cabin Trail down to Snakes and Ladders. We then stopped for a few minutes to fix a section of trail that was in need of a little repair. Once we were done, we finished riding the trail and pedaled over to Bloggy Style. However on our way to Bloggy, we made a little pit-stop to check out a new line that someone has started working on. This trail is unsanctioned and work needs to be stopped. Fortunately for me when I walked down the trail there were two guys working on the line. I basically told them the reasons why they needed to stop building and about the options they had if they want to work on trails in The Woodlot. Hopefully they will stop building and remove their tools. If they follow my advice, I'll be able to get them working on another trail and show them some better trail building techniques.

Curtis, Mark and I then headed up to Bloggy Style where I put my helmet camera on and chased them down the trails.

The good times were topped off with a beer at the cars.

Spring has Sprung

2011-04-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Spring seems to have finally sprung around here. We've had the coldest and wettest spring on record this year so when the sun was shining today I was ecstatic that I was able to get out and ride wearing only a t-shirt and not my typical thermal layers plus a jacket and a toque.

Several weeks ago I had fixed a bridge on Snakes and Ladders that sustained some damage from a fallen tree. Until today I had not had time to clean up some of the mess in the area or trim the edges of the bridge to give it the finished look. So with my pack loaded with building supplies, I made my way to the bridge and went straight to work finishing it off. Once the bridge was trimmed, I started dragging the old broken pieces away into the forest. Luck for me, three guys rolled up the offered to help me move the heavy stuff. Without their help this work would have taken much longer so their help was really appreciated.

Before and after.

After things were cleaned up, I pushed my bike up the trail and back up to the skidder road. I then pedaled up the road where I met up with a big group of riders that I have known for several years now. We were all headed to the same trail, so I joined their crew for the remainder of the climb.

Once we hit the powerlines there was little snow here and there in the shade, but nothing that stopped us from enjoying the ride.

I rode with the group down Cabin Trail but then split off at the powerlines to ride Snakes and Ladders and then Shotgun.

The weather today was amazing and it was great to do some trail work and get in a nice ride with some fellow riders.

Caution is Mandatory

2011-04-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

I hit the Woodlot for a quick ride today on my Rune. I pedaled up to Karpenter which is running really well especially considering the wet weather we've had lately.

I then hit Mandatory Caution. It's been a few months since I last rode Mandatory with Brody and was I ever in for a pleasant surprise. Brody and Craig have been busy on the trail building lots of fun hits scattered along the trail. I wasn't feeling 100% on my game so I skipped a few of the bigger hits, but the trail oozes with flow and fun.

It was then a quick ride over to Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun.

Great ride today and a bast to hit some new stuff on Mandatory Caution.

FVMBA Sumas Super-D Toonie Race

2011-04-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today I took part Fraser Valley Mountain Bikers Association Sumas Toonie Race.

The race consisted of a quick climb up a logging road, and then a descent down some sweet single-track and then another climb and another fun descent.

When I arrive I was greeted by the race organizers and volunteers that make the race happen. There were a lot of familiar faces and I talked with a bunch of people I've met over the years while involved in biking and trail building. Dave showed up and he shuttled a few of us lazy ones to the start line where we did a quick pre-run of the upper course. My knee has been feeling like crap lately so my took it easy and cruised on the pre-run.

Once all the racers were in place, the race officials released racers in packs of 15 in 5 minute intervals to keep the trail congestion at a minimum. I was in the first pack and headed out up the course. My results were somewhat what I expected…….near the back of the pack. I’m out of shape, haven’t been riding very hard and I have a badly torn meniscus, posterior cruciate ligament and anterior cruciate ligament. Needless to say I am happy I’m still able to ride but my ability to haul ass on the climbs is lacking in a BIG way.

Dave attended the race to take photos of the racers and once again he didn’t let us down. He picked a nice spot in the downhill section of the race where people are a little tired but still generally pinning it a rocky section. The photo below was taken by Dave http://www.davemackie.ca/

After the race Dave snapped a shot of me sporting the FVMBA colors.

My trusty steed all muddy after the race.

Rockin on Giant Killer

2011-03-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

My ride today took me to the Woodlot where as part of my ride I decided I was going to work on rocking the top part of Giant Killer.

Today I chose to ride my pedlally bike (Trance) and made my way up to the top. I started my ride on Karpenter and then down Blood Donor. Though the Trance is capable of taking on these trails, riding the trails at speed is a little hairy on a bike that is kind of meant for XCish riding.

Once at the top of Giant Killer, I surveyed the area to see what I wanted to get completed which extended what Ryan had started a few days earlier. I then gathered the tools and went to work laying rocks and dirt in place. In no time at all I was done the work I wanted to do for the day so I packed up the tools and snapped the photos below to see what I had completed.

The section rides a 1000 times better and should last a long time. After riding the rest of Giant Killer I hit Bloggy and then Shotgun were I hit the jump near the end of the trail a little too fast and aired way past the landing.

It was a super productive day of building and a good rip to finish it off.

Death to Gordon!!

2011-03-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Such a wicked ride! The day started with a pedal up to Blood Donor and then a mellow rip down to Giant Kiler and a traverese over to Snakes and Ladders.

Today I finished off the apporach to the bridge that I have been repairing and began some of the clean-up of the area. All I really need to do is trim the edges of the bridge, but I ran out of gas for my chainsaw, so finishing it off just wasn't in the cards.

Steve after a couple rounds of chemo.

As I was finishing up, I was greeted by a whole pile of riders. Craig and Jeff came down with Steve Sheldon and his nasty tumor Gordon. Steve is in the middle of chemotherapy to treat a tumor he has in his chest that he has called Gordon. Words cannot begin to describe how much life he brings with him wherever he goes and to see him enjoying a ride made my day.

Another group of 9 riders showed up and in total there were 12 people mulling around at the bridge. So as not to miss an oportunity, I put them to work moving some HUGE watersoaked logs that were in the way of where I was building. Once all the logs were moved the Steve and the other riders continued on down the trail.

Riders finally crossing the fixed bridge.

All it needs is a trim.

I finished cleaning up the tools and then headed down to Shotgun and home.

Death to Gordon!!!

Winter Drainage Work

2011-03-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

10am at the Woodlot. I meet up with Ryan and we head up to look at the entrance of Giant Killer to determine how to handle the issue of water flowing down the trail when ever there is heavy rainfall.

On our way up we fixed a few quick spots on the trail and then at the top we discussed some options and went to work on the most appropriate solution to the problem. In no time at all, it was fixed. A HUGE drain was put in as well as a grade reversal/damn to stop water and make sure it flows where we want it to.

After the water control was complete, we discussed how to fix the current state of the rooty mess at the beginning of the trail. My guess is that after a couple days worth of rock work, the trail will gain its flow back and you'll be able to ride the first section of the trail without any worries of going down on a root.

By the time we had finished the drain and the other little stuff we were both soaked to the bone from the heavy rainfall and were getting cold pretty quick. It didn't take up long to decided we'd just ride down Giant Killer, Bloggy and Shotgun to our vehicles.

I'm glad we were able to get the drainage work complete so that now the real rock work can be installed at the top of the trail. It's been a long time coming but should be well worth the wait.

Slushy Mucky Shore

2011-03-11T22:48:00.000-08:00

I was out in the North Van area to drop off my shock (Rune) for servicing. Being that I'm not out here all that often and I had a few hours to kill, I decided to go for a ride up Fromme. I'd heard that the snow level was pretty low but it didn't deter me from having a go on Fromme.

Basically the snow starts at the 2nd gate at the water towers and once you hit the first switch-back you have to walk due to ZERO traction. Lately Bobsled has seen a lot of attention and was rebuilt to be a north shore DH pump track. I figured what better time to give it a go than in the snow, on my little Trance, with clipless pedals. One thing is for sure, this trail is a total hoot. Lots of twists and turn and many places to pop and boost for a little added fun. I did however have a bail of enormous proportions off a bridge. It involved a big wedge of ice diagonally across the trail in a corner before a bridge that just doesn't quite line up. I knew as I blindly came around the corner that I was going down. I was just lucky I picked a soft spot to land.

With my bail under my belt and the trail over, I climbed a little further up to ride Natural High which was a load of fun and then I rode a trail I'd never really noticed before Imonator which I'd refer to as an old school skinny wood laden trail that was a load of fun to ride but a real eye opener with clipless pedals. Next time I'm wearing flats when I ride that trail. I know Rob would love to ride this trail.

From there it hooks up to Baden Powell and then out to my car. I was soaked to the bone from the rain and covered with a bit of mud from my bail on Bobsled, but I had a smile on my face having just rode two new trails.

Good times on the slushy mucky shore.

Mucky fun

2011-03-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

The weather today started off rather nice: overcast and a little bit of wind. I was free in the late afternoon, so I decided to hit The Woodlot on my Legend.

There weren't really any indications of snow down low on the hill, but once I was a third of the way up the snow and slush appeared on the climb. I decided to avoid the inevitable death march through the snow that would greet me at the powerlines so I climbed to Blood Donor.

At Donor I started my descent with few patches of snow here and there in the corners which made for a few exciting corner drifts as I negotiated the upper part of the trail. Given that there had been a lot of wind lately, I was pleasantly surprised there weren't any blow downs on the trail at all.

I then stopped at the top of Giant Killer to have a look at a few 'problem areas' that I hope to be able to address with Ryan in the coming weeks. Apart fromthe very top of Giant Killer I'd say the trails has not been in this good of shape for MANY years. The trail has seen a fair amount of drainage work and sculpting that has made the trail gain back the flow it's lacked for quite some time. I was truly impressed the work that has been done lately.

I then made my way over to Snakes and Ladders and along the way it began to rain. I guess the gods knew I intended to do some trail work and deserved to be rained on. I rode down the to bridge that was broken a few weeks ago and began working on bracing the bridge I had built. Due to the length of the span this bridge covers and the lack of large diameter stringers available, I had to used mid size wood for the bridge. These mid size stringers flex a little too much for my peace of mind, so I put in a large brace near the center of the span. The bridge is now solid as a rock and only needs a hour or so to finish the approach and clean-up and it will be open for business.

The remainder of Snakes is in okay shape and really only needs a little little raking and TLC to be buff once again. Considering I have not needed to touch the trail for close to a year I'd say I am quite pleased. Next time I come up, I need to bring some gas, bar oil and a chain file for my saw and a few trail supplies (nails and a rake).

The ride down Shotgun was a drift fest for me. I seem to have picked up a few corner techniques that is allowing me to ride a lot faster in turns and drift my bike trough the corners with a little more confidence.

Good times in the wet muck.

Escape to the snow

2011-03-04T22:46:00.000-08:00

I managed to sneak out for a quick rip today. I had a very small window of time where I had no commitments, so I grabbed my pedally bike (Trance) and quickly drove to Maple Ridge park. I pedaled from the park into Golden Ears park via the horse trails and up towards Mike Lake.

For the first time ever I forgot my hydration pack. This goes to show just how big of a rush I was to get out and ride (either that or I was just so excited to ride). Fortunately I had a spare set of gloves and a toque in my car for the ride. The climb was rather pleasant and I rode at an easy pace. After a while I ran into more and more snow on the trail until it became a real pain to ride on, so at that point I turned my bike around and headed home.

It took me next to no time to get back to my car and back to reality. Start to finish my ride was an hour and a half. I felt refreshed and ready to get back to the grind.

Dawn Patrol

2011-02-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

I was up early today, so early that I watched the sun rise over the mountains to the east and climb in sky warming up the cool morning air as I climbed up the mountain. It's been months since I've actually seen the sunrise. Every time I see it I make sure to pause a moment or two to take it in.

At Goldmine (the top of The Woodlot) there were a few centimeters of snow which made the ride oh so entertaining on the frozen icy roots.

Goldmine is the trail that I always use as the barometer of a bike's performance. I use it as the shakedown run for any new bike I get. Todays run down Goldmine solidified my opinion of the Legend MkII. This bike is truly fantastic. It's fast in the rough stuff, corners really well and has a solid pedal platform which makes picking up speed a very simple task. One thing I did notice is that it sits higher in it's travel than the MkI which means less pedal strikes (thumbs up).

There is one section of trail where I've never been able to go completely brakeless until today. I was able to pick a line and stay on the gas with 100% confidence and then lay the bike over in the corners without any issues.

After Goldmine I hit Snakes and Ladders where I've been doing some work recently to fix a broken bridge. Today I rolled up on the section to do some more work only to find that another tree had fallen in the area directly onto the teeter totter. Thankfully Tim and Rob had solidly built the teeter so once I cut the tree off, no repairs were needed. I then got to work framing and gathering rung from the broken ladder bridges. By the time I left today the ladder was fully runged and rideable. I'd put it at 80% fixed and rideable for those that really want to.

I only had time to put two nails in each piece of rung and then I packed up my tools and headed home. Shotgun was in great shape but hadn't quite thawed by the time I made my way down so in spots I was little sideways over frozen roots.

The weather today was amazing and when coupled with a decent ride on a fabulous bike and a productive morning of building, I'd say I was one happy rider at the end of the day.

Legend MkII - Installation Lap

2011-02-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

Today I took my Legend MkII for it's first ride. I must say I love the look of this bike.

The build turn out to be rather light.

A little artistic flair

My ride took me to The Woodlot. I made my way to Karpenter, Blood Donor, B-Line, Bloggy Style and finally Shotgun. Usually the first ride on a bike requires a bunch of tweaking of suspension settings and adjustments, but today I didn't touch a thing. I left all the settings on this bike the same as they were when they were on my Legend MkI and I don't really see myself adjusting anything in the near future.

The MkII rides really well. One thing I really noticed is that on roots and larger square edged hits, I just kept rolling over things and kept my momentum up. I'm not sure how he did it, but Keith made a good bike even better with this 2nd Gen Legend.

One this I should also mention is that people are starting to build again at The Woodlot. Tim is back to work on Karpenter and Lou, Eric, Garrett and ??? fixed the broken bridges on Blood Donor. Seeing this new building took this ride from good to great.

Krazy Karpenter

Blood Donor

Back-up Plans

2011-02-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Today I met up with Ryan late late in the afternoon at The Woodlot to start work on fixing a bridge on Snakes and Ladders that was in pieces from a tree falling on it.

I brought some nails, a hammer and my chainsaw. Once we were at the bridge I went to start up my saw and on my first pull, the starter cord snapped. I let out a BIG F-Bomb!! and then thought of how we could still get some trail work done.

Ryan and I went for a walk to my stash of tools where I have my bush saw. It's a McCulloch Eager Beaver that I inherited. I hadn't started it in over 8 months and had never used it on the trail, but she started without any muss or fuss and Ryan and I were able to dismantle the broken bridge and get the necessary materials for the replacement bridge. My parents always raised me to be prepared for the unexpected and today that preparation paid off.

A before and after summary

We packed up when we ran out of light and rode down to our vehicles a mellow pace because we couldn't really see the trail. It was was nice to be able to get out on the bike, but a little sad that I had to spend the entire time doing repairs to a broken structure.

Hopefully my next ride will involve more riding than work.

Sunrise ride: started good...ended bad.

2011-01-30T22:57:00.001-08:00

This morning I was up before the sun and on my way to The Woodlot. I had a few hours to escape reality and I could think of nothing better than sneaking in a ride at my favorite hill.

I arrived just as the sun was starting to rise over the mountains and was greeted with this breathtaking view.

I climbed made my way to the top aboard my trusty Rune. At Cabin trail I geared up and let go of the brakes. One this is for certain, the Rune is WAY FASTER on the DH than my Trance. It had been a while since I was up on Cabin trail but overall things looked okay with only one or two spots that need some TLC. It's an all natural roots rocky rip that keeps getting better every time I ride it.

I then made my way to Snakes and Ladders where I spent a little time removing some trees that had fallen across the trail in the last few weeks and needed to be removed. I grabbed a stashed axe I had nearby and had at the errant trees.

A few trees that were blocking the trail

After the tree removal I rode down Snakes and soon discovered that mother nature had played a nasty joke lately on the trail and broke one of the bridges on the trail leading to the teeter totter and long log ride.

Considering the amount of woodwork on the trail and the number of bridges that have the potential to get broken, we've been really quite lucky with Snakes and Ladders. I hope to get back up here soon to fix this bridge by either replacing it, or piecing it back together with braces.

After viewing this scene of carnage, the rest of my ride kinda sucked. I rode the remainder of Snakes and then hit Bloggy Style that had seen a Freelap race down it last week which caused a whole pile of damage. This put me in an even better mood. Shotgun was alright but at my car I had the image of the broken bridge on Snakes in my mind. I guess I'm just forced to do a little more building in the near future.

Neapolitan Wood

2011-01-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

This is the first real ride I've had in over a month, even though I have been up to the Woodlot 5 times in the past 30 days. Those 5 times were spent building on Giant Killer to replace a bridge section that had degraded over time and needed some tender loving care. It had been raining hard for the last 4 days so there was no snow on the trails and they were in great condition for a ride.

My route took me up Stovetop and then the road to the powerlines. My bike of choice today was my Trance which proved to be a good choice for the climb. The recent snow and wind has resulted in a fair number of fallen trees on the trails that will need to be cut out with a chainsaw (Stovetop, Blood Donor, Snakes and Ladders).

At the top, I geared up and snapped a shot of my new ride. It's a fun bike that gets you to the top with ease, however I just need to tune it a bit more for the DH side of my riding.

Once I was geared up, I made my way to Krazy Karpenter which was a lot of fun but a little hairy at times given that I have a hard compound summer tire on the front of my bike. After Karpenter it was up to Blood Donor. Overall it is in okay shape but for the fallen trees mid way down the trail.

So after Blood Donor I rode down to Giant Killer which I may be riding a fair bit more in the future to do trail work with Ryan. I stopped at the new bridge section to snap a few pictures and take in the aroma of the cedar of which the scent can be detected from far up the trail. The Neapolitan color of the wood is quite magnificent in person.

After Giant Killer I traversed over to Snakes and Ladders where I discovered that even more trees had fallen in the forest. Fortunately the trail is not blocked, but about 8 trees are snagged and hanging dead in the air above the trail and therefore need to be removed before they fall on their own. Apart from the trees, the trail is in good shape with only touch of dirt work/rocking needed on one jump landing.

I had a great ride on Snakes and then rode over to Shotgun which is sooooo damn fast nowadays and my ride was done. In the parking area I bumped into Cory so we talked a bit about bikes and trails and I departed home.

It was really nice getting out for a real ride and a little bit of trail work rather than it being the other way around. It was satisfying to see the fresh built woodwork of the bridge with the snow melted away on Giant Killer.

Mission Complete - Giant Killer Pt.5

2011-01-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Finally it is complete.

Ryan and I met today at The Woodlot around 8:30 in this chilly morning. In the last few days we've had a little snow and the weather has turned down right cold.

I fixed my chainsaw since the last time I was building so I had it with me in my pack with one mission in mind. FINISH THE LADDER. Ryan and I climbed at a nice easy pace to the build location and took in the sweet view along the way.

The view today.

So once we were at the building area we went straight to work on the bridge. Our plan: trim the wood edges of the bridge, rock in the beginning, rock in the end, remove some dead trees, modify the exit with the removed trees, tweak a few things for flow and fix the ladder section a little further down the trail. Today EVERYTHING went as planned. There were zero hiccups and all the work was done within 3 hours.

Overall, the bridge took longer than I had anticipated to complete, but the goal was to replace the old bridge with one that will last a long time and not need any additional work for many years. This new bridge is solid and adds a much needed easy line for those that don't want to ride the log ride. I found it better to take our time than to rush the work and in the end the results speak for themselves.

A before and after of some stump removal. This section now FLOWS!!

Murphy's Law - Giant Killer Pt.4

2010-12-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today was suppose to be the last day for working this ladder section on Giant Killer. It won't be.

We had a plan: finish the framing, find more rung, nail rung and do the dirt work. All was going well until I went looking for some more rung. I found a fallen cedar that was perfect for some rung. I start to cut then 3/4 of the way through the cut the tree shifts and my saw is pinched. Stuck. Not moving a bit. F@#K!. I hike up the hill to get Ryan to help me get it unstuck. With us we take a hatchet, axe and folding saw. We managed to cut my saw loose with the axe, but I managed to hit my chainsaw with the axe and I snapped the chain brake. So now the saw is stuck with its brake on and there isn't a thing I can do with it until I get it serviced. I was glad that I managed to finish the final bit of framing before my little axe meets chainsaw incident.

After we went back to the ladder, Ryan and I began nailing in the rung and as it turns out we really didn't need any more rung. We had just enough rung to lay all the decking of the riding surface and a few okay ones to spare.

To finish this thing up, we need a few more nails to hold the rung in place (4 per rung), rock in the lead up to the bridge, rock in the exit, modify the exit turn on the trail (remove a few trees) and last but not least trim the edges of the rung on the ladder. I soooooo wish I hadn't broke my saw because the rung looks a little ghetto without being trimmed. I think I may be grabbing my other saw to do the trimming if I can't get my trusty Stihl fixed quick.

Al things said, I am really pleased with the amount of work Ryan and I completed today especially considering we had a somewhat surprise snowfall in the morning. The ladder is 100% rideable and built to last.

A little summary of what Ryan and I finished today.

Framing Complete - Giant Killer Pt.3

2010-12-21T22:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I once again met with Ryan at about 9:30am and we headed up for a few hours of building before the two of us had to attend to prior commitments. He worked on cracking more rung and I worked on finishing the framing of the ladder section.

I'd put the framing at 98% complete. All I need to to tweak a few runners and nail in a few more pieces. Once we have more rung we can do the final assembly. This ladder section has turned out to be a little more work that I had expected.

The ride out today was a little less hair raising than yesterday. My little bike is turning out to be a good bike for hauling the chainsaw.........or maybe I am just getting used to riding with a chainsaw in my backpack.

A video and pictures of the framed ladder section.

It was interesting balancing and filming the beams at the same time.

Demo and Framing - Giant Killer Pt.2

2010-12-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

This morning I met Ryan at the parking area of the Woodlot and we headed up to Giant Killer to continue work on the ladder section that we started gathering materials for the other day.

Last night when I packed my building back pack I went to pick it up and could not believe how heavy the thing was. I hung it on my scale and it was 44lbs (chainsaw, 15lbs of nails, hammer, axe, and other tools). I bitched a little when I met up with Ryan this morning and he kindly offered to carry the 15lbs of nails. So with our loaded packs we made our way to the building area and immediately got to work.

I bucked up a log for rung and then left Ryan to learn/practice how to split rung and I headed over to the ladders to dismantle them and then started framing for the new ladders. Things never seem to go as quickly as you want and there was one particular stump that I spent an hour or two on getting things right.

After a few hours a couple of younger riders showed up that I had invited to help out. Garrett and Nick packed the rung, hauled away the old ladders and did the necessary cleanup for the area. Without their help there is no way we would have got as much accomplished as we did. People often think that the 'grunt work' is a waste of time but if fact it is VITAL to getting trailwork complete. While talking with them, Garrett mentioned that he needed volunteer hours for school and I wisely told him that the trail work he was helping with today is considered volunteer hours. The look on his face was the classic 'get the F-outa here!'. Needless to say he'll be back.

Overall I'd say the section is 75% framed and we have 1/3 of the rung we will need. I'll likely be back tomorrow in the morning with Ryan to continue getting rung and framing in the ladders. It will be nice to ride this section again on some solid woodwork.

The ride out down Giant Killer, Bloggy and Shotgun was fun on the little bike (Trance). Riding with a pack can be a handful at times though. I had a moment or two where I though I was going to get up close and personal with a big old spruce tree.

Here is a short video walk-through and some before photos of the section we are working on.

Time to Build - Giant Killer Pt.1

2010-12-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've been able to commit any time to building, but I have a few weeks to relax.........and get to work on the trails. Giant Killer is a classic trail at the Woodlot that has been around since the 90's. In fact it is one of the first trails I ever rode at the Woodlot. However in parts, the trail has seen better days.

Recently Ryan has started to do a little dirt work on the trail and is putting in some time fixing up the trail. However he has never done trail work before and woodwork on trails is something totally new to him that he needs to be shown. I have been meaning to fix a particular ladder section on Giant Killer for quite some time now so with Ryan's help, we can get the section completely rebuilt and he can learn a few things about working with the cedar. I can remember when I was shown how to split rung and construct a sturdy ladder bridge by Tim and now it is my turn to pay the knowledge forward.

So the day started early at 8:30am at the parking area and we headed up to Giant Killer with me on all things...........a Giant Trance. I had my chainsaw in my pack and a few tools for splitting rung. The goal today was to get the cedar poles necessary for the stringers and also to begin getting rung for the ladders.

We managed to get all the poles we needed from fallen trees in the area and we also managed to get a few rung, but we weren't able to find the big haul of cedar we will need for all the rung.

Once our time was up, we rode down the trails to our cars: Giant Killer, Bloggy Style and Shotgun. One thing is for sure, when you have a chainsaw in your pack, riding smoothly is a difficult thing to do at times.

Woodlot Rip with Cory

2010-12-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

This morning I met Cory at The Woodlot. He is currently reviewing a Spitfire for Pinkbike and he wanted to ask me a few questions about Banshee and get my take on a few things about the frame. Seeing as he's been an owner of a Trance for the past few years, I was also able to ask him a few questions about my newly acquired frame. The Spitfire he has is one sweet ride that has the full SRAM X0 groupo as well as a set of Tioga tires, both of which he is also reviewing. Given the amount of riding Cory does and the number of bikes and gear he has ridden over the years, he has insight into what makes a great bike or piece of gear.

Banshee Spitfire: Photo by Cory Hemminger

Our ride consisted of a pedal up Shotgun, Stovetop and the skidder road and then an descent down Krazy Karpenter, Upper and Lower Toadstool, Bloggy Style and then Shotgun.

Lets just say I am out of shape right now and Cory is in much better shape than me. He was doing a fair bit of waiting on the climb and at times I felt like puking trying to keep up with him on the way up.

At the top there was about 3-4 inches of fresh wet snow. At the trail head of Karpenter we dropped our saddles and rode down the trails making good time ripping along. We stopped on one trail where Cory showed me a little trail work that he is doing which will be oh so sweet when it is completed.

My new little bike was a blast to ride but one thing I noticed was that I was only getting about 3" of travel on my 5" fork and I was blowing through the travel in the rear a little too easy. A few tweaks to my suspension will make this bike even better.

Cory and I had a pretty good ride. I certainly noticed that I am lacking in the cardio department but the DH was a lot of fun. Hopefully I am able to get out with him one more time in the next week or so before my life once again get too busy for weekday rides.

Burke on a new bike

2010-12-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

I usually break out the hardtail in the winter. I use winter as a time to get back to the basics and ride technical terrain on the hardtail to keep things honest. But to be completely honest, I hate riding my hardtail (Cove Stiffee) and put quite simply, it beats me up.

The other day I went to the Giant factory sale and picked up a sweet replacement for my hardtail: a Trance. The price was impossible to pass up on a brand new frame that comes with a lifetime warranty frame. Once home, within a few hours I had all the parts from my Stiffee swapped over and I had myself a new ride.

Given that I will be using the Trance as a winter AM bike, I figured what better place to break it in than Burke. I parked at Shaughnessy and David in PoCo and pedaled up in the pouring rain. One thing is for certain, this bike pedals substantially better than any bike I've owned and pedal feedback or bob is non existent.

The pedal up Burke is a good test of a bikes climbing ability and today's pedal up was by far the easiest pedal up I've done to date. The Trance climbs without a single hiccup and has ample traction when it is least expected.

I chose a true old school trail to test out my new steed. Sawblade. Judging by the lack of tracks in the snow leading to the trail head I'd say I was the first person to ride here in at least a month. My uphill impressions of the bike were really positive, the downhill impressions we just about as good. The bike took the edge off the bumps and gnarl and is quick and snappy in and out of the corners. It certainly gets a little rough when the speeds increase, but it is a very predictable bike.

After Sawblade I made my way to the Coquitlam River Connector Trail. It seems as though someone has been doing some work on this trail since I was last up here in the summer. The trail is now all clear of blowdowns and is freaking amazing to ride at speed. This trail is a hidden gem here in the lower mainland that I'd rate as a 9.5/10 for AM riding. I don't think I could have picked a better series of trails to test out this bike.

Once at my car I was soaked to the bone and completely bagged. The Trance proved to be an über capable bike that has truly impressed me. I can't wait to get out on this bike some more this winter.

Winter Tires

2010-11-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

Winter weather is upon us in this part of the world and that means rain, rain and more rain. In order to adapt to the wet slippy conditions one needs to change their tires to a softer compound for additional grip. My winter tires on my Rune this year are a Minion UST Super Tacky on the front and a Michelin Comp 16 rear. They are both super heavy but oh so grippy.

With my sticky tires installed, I pedaled my Rune up to Giant Killer and descended down with a ton of confidence inspiring grip. The thin layer of snow was no problem at all with the right rubber on my bike.

I then hit Snakes and Ladders. Apart from a little section of ice, the trail was fabulous from top to bottom.

I then finished the ride on Shotgun. I think there always an inversion that hovers over Shotgun because there was twice as much snow on Shotgun as there was on all the other trails today.

A fun ride for sure and with snow and ice covering the ribbons of trail there is bound to be lots of slippy drifting fun to be had in the coming weeks.

A Damp Spin

2010-11-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

I managed to escape to the woods for a couple hours this morning aboard my Rune.

As I pulled up at the Woodlot there were cars parked everywhere. Brody had also just arrived so I joined him and Craig Findley for the first part of the climb along with Craig's his dog Brew.

Brody and Craig were working on Mandatory Caution today. They've put in a fair amount of work to make a trail that was abandoned into a trail that is now fully on the radar of trails to ride when you're at 'The Lot'.

I kept climbing past their building section to the powerlines and started my ride on The Gate. This trail is one that requires some commitment with it's ladders and logrides as well as the few gap jumps that litter the trail. The Gate is a fun rip right up to the old slimy woodwork that is about 2/3rds down the trail. From that point forward (especially on a wet day like today), the woodwork is quite treacherous.

From the Gate I rode Tsuga and then Snakes and Ladders where I stopped in a few spots to nail in a few loose or broken rung on some ladders. While doing a repair, the elusive Taylor rolled through riding his XC bike down Snakes.

With my repairs complete, I then rode out to Shotgun and then home.

I was really nice to get out.

Quick Ride in the Park

2010-11-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was able to get out for a short 2 hours ride in the rain into Golden Ears Park. I took my lights with me so that I`d be able to safely get home in case I was out a little too long.

I pedaled up the horse trails to the peak before the descent to Mike Lake. It was a super fast rip back and an easy pedal home on the road. Surprisingly I saw a few trail runners on the trails as the light was getting scarce.

I had a good quick ride on my trusty Rune and was soaked to the bone by the time I reached home.

Two Flats

2010-10-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

What was suppose to be a quick ride turned out to be a massive PITA. I ventured out to The Woodlot on my Rune with some tubeless Bontrager tires. In the past they have been really good to me when ran tubeless.

I pedaled up to and down Tsuga and then made my way down Snakes and Ladders. I proceeded to hit a little jump on Snakes that I've hit many, many times. This time however I got a flat due to a puncture of the tire which spewed tubeless sealant all over the trail. I think it is karma getting back at me for chuckling at Tim when he got a flat on the same jump a while back.

I threw in my spare tube and continued on down the trail. Near the bottom of the trail I could feel the rear end of my bike getting loose and I knew I was getting another flat. It was cold, raining and I was out of time for what was suppose to be a quick ride.

I said F-it and just rode out on the flat tire. I had been planning of replacing the rim and tire for some time so I just rode on the metal.

I wasn't a happy camper by the time I got to my car but any ride is better than no ride at all.

Trailside Grouse

2010-07-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

I hit the Wooldlot today on my Rune. It was a cooker of a day and the bugs were about as bad as I've seen them in the trees. I climbed to Cabin Trail and then turned off mid way down Blue Ribbon and then traversed over to the bottom of Snakes and Ladders on the TCT connector. I brought some clippers and a hatchet with me that I used along the way to clear some Blackberry bushes and a decent size tree that had fallen on the TCT connector.

Once I passed Snakes and Ladders I ran into a Grouse on the side of the road. It really didn't move when I came up to it but then I noticed it had two young babies hiding in the bush near it.

After snapping off a few pictures, I made my way back up to the top of Snakes and Ladders and then rode down. It's been a while since I rode it in such dry conditions. I then rode over to and down Shotgun and my ride was over. Not a bad little afternoon ride.

Bear Mountain with some fellow riders

2010-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

I put out the call for anyone that would like to join me for a spin at Bear today and two guys replied on NSMB. Basically we met at 12:30pm and decided on the trails we'd ride while we climbed. It turns out Adrian had never ridden a few trails on the menu but he knew of a trail that neither Mike or I had ridden so it was new trails for everyone.

It seems the three of us are all bike gear heads to a certain degree so the ride up was filled with discussions about tires and forks and just about everything in between.

Once at the top we rode Backdoor to Lorax and had a fast rip all the way down. Adrian was hooting behind me. To say he liked Lorax would be an understatement. We then hit Smoke 'n Bobo which is a really fun trail that I really need to memorize. I nearly went off the line half a dozen times hitting blind corners or going over slight rises.

We then climbed back up the road to the tower and rode Microwave where Mike had a funny little tumble missing a corner just ahead of me. It seems pine needles aren't all that great for holding a line. Once at Corduroy we decided to ride this other trail that Adrian knew about from years ago. It was actually a pretty nice trail that offered a bit of variety rather than the fast straight shot down of Corduroy.

We then pedaled back to our cars where I loaded up and headed home. It's nice riding with others during the week and finding some new trails to ride. Hopefully I can try to make this a bit of a regular thing.

Seymour Dawn Patrol

2010-07-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's been at least 6 years since I've ridden Ned's so I figured what better trail to ride today.

I've been doing the shelf shuttle thing lately and the weather was sweet this morning so I enjoyed a nice long pedal 17km all the way up to top (all the way to the ski lodge).

I'd heard whispers of a somewhat unknown line that descends from one tower to the next so I had a quick look around and once I found it I made my way from one tower to another. It's pretty much an overgrown straight shot down the hill that exits just above the CBC trail. To be honest, it's nothing great, but it's certainly better than riding down the road if you shuttle up.

Once I was on CBC one thing became immediately apparent; I am out of practice riding skinnies. I was all over the place on anything less than a foot wide. I'd had a nice clean ride down the trail but on the narrow woodwork I was looked a little rusty.

This elevation profile shows the elevation gain and distances of the climb and the descent today. 28km of riding, 17km climbing and 11km of descending. I also marked where CBC and Neds are on the descent. I would have thought that CBC had more elevation gain/loss than Neds, but the GPS doesn't lie.

After CBC it was over to the top portion of Corkscrew and then Ned's. I had a fun ride down Ned's on my Rune today. I'd say it's the perfect bike for this kind of trail. Had I been on my big bike, I could have definitely gone faster, but riding a smaller bike you can use finesse rather that monster trucking to keep speed and skip over the million or so rocks that make up Ned's.

Ned's on my Rune

It was 10am now and I was at the bottom of Ned's so pedaled over to my car on Riverside Drive and loaded up to head over to the Cove Bike shop to see what new bikes they had in. Another great ride on "The Shore".

Stave and Allouette Epic - The Redux

2010-07-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

Call me crazy but the ride the other day to Stave and Alouette was so damn sweet, I did it again today. Nothing really different this time around except that the weather was even sweeter than the first time. My legs felt great and I enjoyed another trip into the wilderness.

Google Earth Epic #4: Stave and Alouette Lakes

2010-07-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

I'd been near the end of Alouette Lake about 18 years ago with a buddy of mine. We ended up with near terminal mechanical issues with our bikes and needed to be plucked off the side of the lake by a boater and taken 15km back along Alouette Lake to the boat launch and then a 20km pedal back to my car on the other side of the mountain. My ride today didn't have any mechanical but was epic due to the sweet views and distance ridden.

Once again my ride started at the computer. I found the spot I wanted to get to in Google Earth and then I proceeded to plot the route, printed the map and loaded the info in to my trusty GPS.

The starting point for today's ride was at the parking lot for the boat launch for Stave Lake where I fired up the GPS and began pedaling on Burma Road/Florence Lake FSR and the end was at the viewpoint where you get a view of both Stave and Alouette lake at the same time.

Stave Lake has a long history of being a party place where people take their boats, trucks, dirt bikes and quads to play in the woods and on the mud flats. Often when mixed with alcohol or simply by unfortunate circumstances people get hurt and or die. There was on section of the road where I saw three memorials for people that had lost their lives while in the area. It was a little creepy pedaling past these tributes.

I continued past the memorials and simply kept on pedaling. The route is a nice logging road that weaves along the west ridge of Stave Lake and then turns slightly west upwards to get over to Alouette Lake. There is a junction about 5km from the end where you could descend a switchbacked road that leads to the shore of Alouette lake and the BC Hydro water tunnel that connects the two lakes. In fact this was the spot where my buddy (Greg) and I got stuck many years ago.

This time I was far more prepared and just pedaled past on my way to the viewpoint. In the end it was a little over 22kms to the view point and a hair over 1500ft of elevation gain from my starting point with lots of up and down sections.

This little foray into the woods netted me one of the most spectacular views I've seen in a while aboard my bike.

Florence Lake

Mount Robbie Reid

The narrows on Alouette Lake

The view of Stave Lake (left) and Alouette Lake (right)

The view down Stave Lake

The view of the narrows on Alouette Lake during the descent from the top.

The very end of Alouette lake. The creek on the far right feeds the lake.

Me enjoying the view

Looking south on Stave Lake

The panoramic view from the top and my trusty steed: My Rune

After I took these photos I started the long pedal back to my car. Thankfully the return trip has more downhill than up and it took a lot less time to get back. Another epic ride with an epic view.

For those interested in the route:

View Allouette / Stave View in a larger map

View the route in Google Earth

Two hours to kill

2010-07-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

I had 2 hours to kill today so I took off out the garage to get in a ride. I rode my 2 hour Golden Ears/Alouette route and did it in great time.

My photo above really doesn't do this waterfall any justice. In person it is sweet and is about 3/4 of the way into my ride. If needed I'd be able to stop and wet my face or get water from this creek that's fed by melting snow and ice in the hills above.

I had a sweet ride and actually seem to be getting used to riding clipless pedals again. Blasphemy!!!!

Aloutte 2 hour loop

2010-07-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

I have been on a quest to find a 2 hour loop from my house and today may have just found the perfect loop that starts at my front door.

Basically I get on the green belt from my place and head east to Alco park and cross the Alouette river to get onto the horse trails. From there I pedaled to the lake for a view and then headed back west along the trails and up the Loop trail.

Once at the peak of the Loop trail you are greeted with a nice view of the lake below and you begin the descent along the Eric Dunning trail.

I pedaled up the road that leads to Mike Lake and turned up the horse trail that leads west. After a short steady climb the descent is fast and twisty on a horse trail to a horse corral. From there I follow some trails to Fern Crescent and then cross the Alouette river again at the 240th horse crossing and make my way home. By skipping the visit to the lake, the ride will take just under 2 hours. I'm stoked to have found a great rolling ride so close to home.

2010 Bear Mountain DH - Race Day

2010-07-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Race day. One could say I've raced bear a few times; this was my 6th time racing Bear and I've been on the podium 4 times. I was prepared both physically and mentally for this race but for some reason I was tentative this race.

I'd had one prerun earlier in the day and I had the course and all the jumps dialed, but come my race run things just didn't feel right. I came up short on one jump in particular that I've always cleaned. Something just didn't feel right.

My bike felt amazing during the race and performed flawlessly but I as the rider just didn't let it all hang out in my race run. I am happy with the result and getting on the podium in my class, but I am just a little let down at my personal performance because I know I could have and should have ridden to a much better time. I just rode too cautious but there is always next year.

Andrew Knott 2nd, Todd Kaulback 1st, Dean Wilkes 3rd

2010 Bear Mountain DH - Practice

2010-07-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

My schedule was full today. All I had time for today was one practice run at around 9am and then I had to get home for a family function.

I've ridden Bear so many times now that any more practice would just make me slower. I think my only problem is just keeping the pace high and letting it all hang out rather than riding conservative and clean. I must be getting older.......and wiser.

Bear DH Course Pre-Runs (Follow Cam)

2010-06-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

I tested out my Follow-Cam again today on Bear Mountain. It's much rougher than Rio and has a few more jumps and trees to avoid. I figure a DH race course littered with jumps is a good test for durability and stability. From this ride I have determined the changes that need to be made for improved stability and ease of use.

I ran into Darryl and Todd K. doing some work on the trail in preparation for the race next weekend. The DH course is dialed which should make for a really good race.

I also ran into Todd E. and Dave one course where they has a laugh at my camera set-up but were rather impressed when they saw the footage. Todd E. was also nice enough to give me a shuttle ride up to the top for a second run of the course. I had such a wicked ride today and look forward to the race next weekend.

Woodlot Rip with the Timster

2010-06-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Tim and I met at The Woodlot for a really quick rip and to work a little on the upper wood section on Karpenter.

I was on my Rune climbing up the skidder when I looked back to see Cory on his way up as well. We basically hooked up for the remainder of the climb and he departed once we were at the top.

When Timmy and I met up we chatted for a bit a bout the new section he was working on and then we got to work moving a few logs around. After a bit of work we hit the trails down and took the fastest line straight down. Karpenter, Upper and Lower Toadstool, Bloggy Style and Shotgun.

At the cars I had a few beers waiting for us.

It's far too long between our rides, but when we are able to meet up it's always good times.

Arduum practice

2010-06-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I am racing Arduum this coming weekend so I figured it would be wise to get some time on the trail to get sections dialed and scope out my lines. The weather today was wet with light rain which is also forecasted for the weekend so today was the ideal time to get in my sessioning practice.

I pushed up the trail at a nice pace so as to see any changes that were made to the course since I last rode it. There were a few but nothing too drastic. The lower half of the course below the rock drop is super buff and lined with ripping berms and gold dirt. Above the rock drop the course is much more rooty and has snotty dark organic dirt. Overall the course is dialed and should make for a very entertaining ride not only as a participant, but also as a spectator.

The upper section will likely determine who has the fastest times come race day. It's the nastiest section and is super slick in the wet. The lower section will still be slippy, but it should still be business as usual due to the gold soil and rocks you ride on. Near the bottom of the course I dialed in my line for the huge hip and the final tree gap. I think all I need to do is put a new tire on my rear wheel for a little added grip.

Guiding Girls in Golden Ears

2010-06-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today I showed some ladies around some of the trails in Golden Ears Park near Mike Lake. The plan was to pedal up the fire access road to the lookout and then descend down the Shortcut trail and Eric Dunning. However running short on time and overcast weather made it necessary to change the original plans.

Stephanie, Jennifer, Stacey and I made our up to Mike Lake and along the UBC Research forest road to ascend the first part of the ride. The pace was easy and the conversations were interesting which helps on a long climb. After a couple stops for snacks and what not, we were at a point in the ride where a decision needed to be made about the route. Long and easy or short and painful.........I chose the latter. Our route took us straight up a steep rooty trail and proved to be a little difficult at times for my companions and I helped at times by carrying a bike and a pack on my shoulders while pushing my own bike. I figured I had got us into this mess so it was my responsibility to get us out. The overcast skies had eliminated the possibility of a view of the lake so once at the top we paused for some food and water and then blasted down the fire road.

Even with a few tumbles and very tired bodies everyone seemed to have a good time. Once at the Eric Dunning trail my companions were tired but still loved the descent.

One thing I can say is that it is certainly different riding with ladies. The lack of testosterone makes for a much more laid back and enjoyable ride.

View Girls Guided Ride in a larger map

Anthem Demo

2010-06-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

I took up a offer to demo ride an XC bike today. I strolled into Local Ride and chatted with Barry (the shop owner) and walked out with a Giant Anthem X1. Once I was home with this shiny red bike I slapped my clipless pedals and seat on it and adjusted the suspension to my liking.

I decided to hit up the trails in Golden Ears Park to see how this XC machine performs. I figured the Eric Dunning trail would be a good test of it's climbing ability and man was I ever impressed. This bike hooked up in spots that I would not even consider in the past. Given that it is Giant's top end XC bike one should expect that it would climb well, but it was shockingly good.

Once at the fire access road I ripped along to check out the access of the road at a few different spots and then it was time to test out how well the bike descended. To say I was surprised would be a massive understatement. I have never been more impressed by a bike after one ride than I was riding this Anthem X. Considering how little front and rear travel the bike has and the XC aggressive 71 degreee head angle the bike the Anthem descend far better than I expected and was a trail shredding machine. After riding the kinds of bikes I've had over the past 8 years, calling a 4" bike plush is something I never thought I would say. When it came time to hand back this bike it was a very hard thing to do and I am seriously considering adding this bike to my quiver by dropping one of my existing rides.

Jamieson in the Loops

2010-05-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row our family spent the Victoria Day long weekend in Kamloops. It's a weekend of play where the wives have a girls day, the guys have a boys day and all the children run wild.

The girls had their spa day on Saturday and on Sunday it was all about the boys. We went golfing in the morning then biking in the afternoon. Rob decided it was time to show me what Jamieson is all about.

Jamieson is a shuttle ride way out of town, which ensures that the trail stays in great shape. There had been some rain over the past few days resulting in minimal dust, traction galore on the twist bits and super steeps where you just hang on and surf your way down.

We both ended the ride with high fives and big smiles on our faces.

Jamieson is a whole lotta fun!!

Alco Entrance

2010-05-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

After living in the area my whole life, I decided it was time to do some real exploring of the trails in my area. I has a close look on a few maps and realized I can ride from my house and cross Allouette River a few minutes from my place to gain access to Golden Ears Park.

After the river crossing I pedaled into the park along some single track and then made my way back home crossing the river at a different point. This may turn into a very cool way to ride from my front door into the single track trails of Golden Ears Park.

Kamloops Race the Ranch 2010 - BC cup #1 - Day 2 - RACE DAY

2010-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Race day.

It's when the whole weekend and all the training culminates into a 3 minute test of the mind and body. To be honest, I don't really take racing very seriously until I am on course. I don't really train apart from riding a fair bit, I don't collect UCI points in the quest for World Cup glory and I certainly don't have any sponsors to please apart from my lovely wife.

Given the wacky weather we'd had yesterday the course was tacky in the morning and then dry come race time but without the typical powder dust that Kamloops is famous for.

The course this year was in amazing shape due to the work put in by the course designer Wayne Parsons. We've know each other for years in a round about way. In fact, I bought my Devinci Ollie from him a few years ago. When I spoke with Wayne, he said how he did all he could with the terrain to make the course technical and sustainable for future races. I must say I was impressed.

My race run was okay, but I royally screwed up several sections. I crapped the bed on the top flat sections and then messed up the rock face a bit giving the crowd that gathered a good show of how to drift and monster truck your bike on the razors edge of control down a nasty rock section. Due to my "line adjustment" on the rock face I ended up having to ride around the road gap because I was simply unable to line it up. The rest of the course went fairly well. I hit all the jumps that I'd been hitting in practice and flew over and through the rock section at the bottom.

Here I am mid way down course.

Rob and I have an ongoing joke called 7 seconds. Rob is getting faster in Kamloops. I used to beat him by 10+ seconds in races but last year I only edged him out by 7 seconds and yet again this year it was 7 seconds. I told him that when he beats me, I retire from racing. I vow to ensure that will never happen.

After our race, Rob and I locked up our bikes and headed on course to spectate and heckle the rest of the riders. I brought my cowbells that I had during the 2010 Olympics so I was there to have a good time and make a lot of noise. We soon had a bit of a rowdy crowd around us watching the race at a gap jump. Good times for sure.

Johnny mooning Daryl from PinkBike

Some dude throwing out some style.

At the end of the day I placed 5th in class and no spills during the weekend. I had some shoulda, woulda coulda thoughts right after the race but in the end I did the best I could. Hopefully next year I'll be back for some more fun in Kamloops.

Kamloops Race the Ranch 2010 - BC cup #1 - Day 1

2010-04-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

This morning Rob and I made our way to the Kamloops Bike Ranch to pick up out race plates and get in some practice on the Dh course. While strolling through the paddock I saw many familiar friends and faces from the lower mainland.

Rather than doing shuttles in the bus and trailer that were provided by the race organizers, I hooked up with Kim and his group which worked out really well. During practice I managed to get in 5 laps with little to no waiting and lots of time to look over the course.

Overall the course was flowy, fast and full of jumps. The upper section was a slow rock strewn wasteland that takes a bit of finesse to ride fast. Then after that, there was "THE CORNER" which was steep, rocky and had a lot of riders falling all over the place. I seemed to have the inside harder/steeper line under control which then led into the roadgap. Once lined up, the roadgap was quite easy and offered as much or as little hang time that you might want. I hit it a few times and was confident for my race run tomorrow.

The lower section of the course was flowy with jumps all over the place. The final leg is a blind stepdown to a nasty rock garden and then a all out pedal on flat to a table jump. The one crazy thing about today's practice was the weather. We had rain, hail, snow and blazing sun all in the the span of 5 hours. Hopefully tomorrow we get a little sun for the race.

I was confident with what I was able to do on the course so with that, Rob and I ate lunch and then headed out to ride Rio.

I had my new Anti-Gravity Follow-Cam with me so Rob was stoked to get in a run on what is quite possibly the most popular trail in B.C. apart from A-Line.

After this run of Rio we headed back to Rob's place and our day of biking was over. I had a good nights sleep dreaming of the race and Rio all night and couldn't wait to get back on the race course the next day.

Back to my roots

2010-04-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

The first place I rode a mountain bike was Golden Ears park up on the Mike Lake fire road access and the trails that linked up the switchbacks. It was when bikes were fully rigid with cantilever brakes and under the BB U-brakes (around '91).

For the first time in many years I ventured up there to the Look-Out and a little beyond. At the parking area I ran into another rider that I had not seen for quite some time (Jamie Blog). We chatted for a bit and then took different routes to get up to the top: he pushed and I pedaled.

I made my way up familiar trails and logging roads to the top and turned around when I hit snow. It was a little over an hour to pedal up to the snow and then about 20 minutes down. The trails are a lot easier now on my Rune than when I rode a rigid bike in the past. There was one trail that had several larger blow downs on it that need clearing. I may just sneak up there one day with the proper tools to do a little maintenance on these nearly forgotten classics.

It's cool every now an then to ride the trails of yesteryear to see how far your riding and building practices have come.

Sweeeeet!

2010-04-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Sweeeet! That just about sums up the ride I had this morning. You know you had a good ride when you forget you had a flat tire at some point during the descent.

I was up at sunrise and on the road to Fromme before 6am. I started my pedal up with not a soul in sight. The sun was beaming through scattered clouds and even the birds were chirping in the trees.

I pedaled up the mountain to try out a trail I'd never ridden before: Bookwus. It was suggested to me by a friend of mine and with a few pointers of where to find the trail I was on my way to find it. Once I found the trailhead and geared up, I snaked down this all natural, rooty, steep and twisty trail. It's a trail that likely sees little traffic and because of this, there is no need to armour up the soft spots or pave the trail. I thoroughly enjoyed the trail and will likely hit it again some time soon. My Rune with it's newly installed head angle reducer cups made the steep tricky bits less scary and allowed me to ride the trail sight unseen without issues. Well......one issue. I had a pinch flat half way down, but given the fun I was having it didn't phase me at all.

Bookwus finishes on 7th secret near the bottom, so once was out on the road, I made my way down to Ladies Only. I've ridden ladies once or twice before about 7 years ago, so really I have very little memory of it at all. Ladies was suggested to me by my friend that also suggested Bookwus. He said it's recently seen a bunch of work and my god was it awesome. Ladies is completely DIALED right now. It is quite simply amazing. Everything has been buffed and or rebuilt while keeping the trails original character. I wish I had my helmet camera going for this ride because I would have liked to hear my comments that I whisper as I ride.

I rode Ladies Only straight into Lower Ladies which isn't quite as super dialed as Ladies Only, but it is still in really great shape. Did I say I wished I had my helmet camera going today? Next time for sure. Riding these North Shore classics makes me glad I have the bikes and ability to enjoy such a sweet trail system.

At the bottom of Lower Ladies I turned left up the road and hit Natural High. It was my second time down this highly buffed, armoured and sculpted trail. Its a nice way to end a ride on Fromme.

As I was on my way over to my car the skies turned a little darker and it began to rain. I must say that today the weather gods were on my side as I enjoyed a warm dry ride on The Shore. I guess this early bird caught the worm.

Gap, Gaps and more Gaps!!!

2010-04-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Catching some air time is damn fun. I don't think anyone will ever hear me complaining about a lack of trails to ride in my area. Within a 30 minute drive of my house, I can ride The Woodlot, Burke, Red, Bear Mountain and depending on traffic even Sumas. So today I figured I would hit Bear and Red to practice up on jumping my big bike.

I first made the push up Bear to check out the condition of the trail and see if there were any new additions to the DH course. With a bunch of jumps to catch some air I progressed down the course only skipping two jumps that I simply refuse to hit any more due to some massive wipeouts I've had in the past. I have a good handle on most of the jumps there so I sessioned one or two for a while and moved on when I'd had enough.

I then made my way to Red where Arduum has very recently seen some new work. There is a new gap/hip near the bottom that will most definitely separate the pros from the bros. In addition to this new jump further down the trail, the final tree gap has a new case pad. I decided it was time to pop my cherry on this jump as it's been a nemesis of mine for a couple years. After a couple run ups, it was smooth as silk.

FVMBA Burke Ride

2010-04-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

This morning the FVMBA had a meeting and then a ride on Burke. I was not able to do the whole ride with the group because of time constraints, but I was able to get the boys pointed in the right direction up the hill and gave them a good mental map of their way back down. Turns out the kind of got lost but eventually made their way back to their vehicles.

All I rode was Bullet Dodger. This week I had installed some head angle reducer cups (HARCs) on my Rune, so I was riding with a slacker head angle than a stock Rune. I must say that I really liked the feel of my bike with these HARCs. Going from my standard 1.5" reducer headset to my new set-up the front end is lower in height and slacker by about 1.8°s . This might not seem like much of a change but now with a 65.7° head angle the Rune goes from a capable all mountain bike to a single track killer with mini DH manners when it is pointed down hill. I thought that having a slack angle on the front might numb the bike, but the cups lowered my front end and slacked out my bike just enough to keep technical climbing still in the books and made going downhill even more fun than before. The only real change that I needed to make was to adjust my weight on the front of the bike to get the nose up for drops. This is due to the lower bar height from the integrated style headset that the HARCs use. I even dropped some weight using this new headset configuration.

Bullet Dodger has a few steep spots that in the past were a touch........dodgy but with a slacker front end, they were substantially easier and a lot more fun. The added stability my Rune now has when going full out is amazing. I had a blast on this ride and can't wait to get out some more on my newly tweaked Rune.

1 Week Post Vasectomy

2010-04-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I had the snip snip performed and so I've been off the bike for a week but with the go ahead from the doctor I headed up to The Woodlot for an easy ride.

I decided that I'd try out my Legend in the 7" mode and put a 6" single crown on the front to see how it rode. I was pleasantly surprised and could see this being a really fun bike set-up for days where steep twisty trails prevail. Vedder comes to mind.

A low, slack trail eating machine

I rode Karpenter, Tusga, Snakes and Ladders and then Shotgun. Overall my ride was good. No post op pain and the trails are in really good shape. I got a little wet from the downpour but it's BC, and that's what we get in March.

Altered Persective

2010-03-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

For those that know me, I tend to think outside the box and believe that almost anything is possible if you put your mind to it. With that said, I've been known to do a lot of helmet camera videos that some call "point of view" filming and for the most part all the camera set-up I use are custom with mounts hand made by me. I've thought for a long time about making a mount that is different, I mean really different and never really done before. So with a bit of work in the garage and a few mock ups out of different materials, I made a mount and decided what better way to test it than on THE SHORE.

I had to drop off a fork to get looked at by the legendary James of Suspension Werx, so while my fork was getting worked on I pedaled up Fromme and went for a ride with my new creation.

The District of North Van was doing some hazard tree removal today and I just happened to pass by as they were taking the top off a pretty big tree. I must say the guy up the tree is truly fearless.

I was riding my Cove Stiffee that usually gets ridden maybe once or twice a year, but with both my full suspension bikes in pieces with both forks and rear shocks in the shop, it was my only bike.

The pedal up Fromme is a nice sustained climb that is rewarded with some of the best trails in the world. I rode 7th Secret, Pipeline, Lower Ladies and Natural High. With my new camera mount I recorded 7th and Pipleine. The video below is my new perspective that I will offer from time to time in the future. This is the first time giving this new mount a try so I can pretty much guarantee it will improve over time as I dial it in.

Rip with Timmay

2010-03-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Tim and I managed to hook up for a ride at The Woodlot. It's been a while since we hooked up just to ride. The weather was agreeable and we decided our route was Krazy Karpenter, Fluffy Kitten, Snakes and Ladders and then Shotgun.

I brought along the GoPro HD camera that I had on load from PinkBike.com and I had made up a new way to mount it. Once we figured out where to mount the camera on Tim's bike, we were on our way.

A little ways down the trail the camera got knocked and moved but maybe another day I'll get this perspective dialed.

Tim and I had spoken the Brody earlier in the day and Brody said that he was going to be on Fluffy Kitten doing some work. When Tim and I arrived we talked with Brody and his buddy for a bit about building and we were on our way. It's going to be nice to have another resurrected trail to make our way down the hill.

Snakes is dialed, it has been for a while. It has certainly taken some time to get to this point, but the trail needs no work and has not needed any work for quite some time. Tim a I paused at one point on the trail and discussed how pleased we are with the condition of the trail. Finally!

After Snakes and Ladders it was down Shotgun and the a pedal out to our cars. It was a great ride once again with Tim.

New gear!!

2010-03-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today's ride was about as sweet as they come.

I had all the time I needed, I had a freshly tuned suspension that had just been serviced by Suspension Werx and I had a new Race Face Carbon SixC bar as well as a new helmet. Nothing gets a guy more stoked to ride than that.

I was on my Rune with my Boxxer affixed to the front and I decided to see how well the bike would climb with a 8" fork on the front. I climbed up The Woodlot via Stovetop and the skidder with no issues at all. Even with the taller front end, the bike climbed with ease.

Once I hit Cabin trail, I lowered the seat and set off down the hill. The fork and rear shock were butter smooth and the SixC bar actually felt like it reduced vibration on both the descent and the climb. I never thought I would say it, but this bar impressed me.

After Cabin Trail it was over to Snakes and Ladders and then Shotgun. I had an absolute rip of a ride and was impressed with every bit of new bike swag I was on today. Turns out I had the full Race face kit today as well: jacket, shorts, knee pads and handlebar.

Hard tail trails

2010-03-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

Rob and his family were in town and at the last minute they decided to spend the night at our place and in the morning Rob and I went for a spin at The Woodlot.

Rob brought his hard tail and the only bike I had in one piece today was my hard tail, so we loaded up the bikes and hit The Woodlot.

Rob is now living in Kamloops where it is dry and desert like. Whereas down here on the coast it is moist about 80% of the time. His re-introduction to the wet slippy roots was a little hairy at times today, but we both had fun and nobody got injured.

Our route took us down Karpenter, Fluffy, Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. It's been a long time since I rode my hard tail at the Woodlot. To put it simply cannot jump my hard tail anymore. I was rear wheel casing everything and was getting bucked on every tranny and drops were rather brutal. I think I even heard Rob snicker on a few of my choice moves.

When it was all said and done, Rob and I had a great ride and enjoyed catching up on things while physically getting beat up by our bikes. I certainly have a renewed appreciation for people that ride hard tails on technical trails.

Google Earth Epic# 3: Eagle EPIC

2010-03-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

My ride today took me to the top of Eagle Mountain that rewarded my efforts with yet another epic view from the top.

Eagle is a mountain that not many people ride for one simple reason. The unrelenting and brutal climb up. Ask anyone that rides Eagle and they basically groan when they mention the climb. For this reason, it is rare to run into people riding up Eagle even though it is rather accessible at the base by roads. Lately I've been on the hunt for local epic rides so I looked around on the net and found what I needed to plot a route to the top. With my GPS, camera and map in hand I made my way up Eagle on my hard tail.

The first couple lookouts are ones I had been to in the past, but I had found some really great photos on the net taken by hikers much further up the hill, so I ventured further up the slope.

At points I was pedaling over snow and carrying my bike up some steep hiking trails but what welcomed me at the clearings was nothing short of spectacular.

The view at one of my stops was nearly a 180° view of the Fraser Valley. The second view point revealed a spectacular view of Deep Cove and Vancouver. Unfortunately for me the weather was nice when I started my ride but clouds and snow rolled in on me. As soon as I took my last photo I donned my jacket and headed down the mountain to get out of the coming snow.

Once the warm spring weather is upon us I will definitely go up there again to take in the spectacular views.

I made my way down Massage Therapy, Man Handler, Randy's and The Backyard Trail. Lots of very, very nice work has been done on Man Handler lately and it was a joy to ride.

Google Earth Epic# 2: McNutt EPIC

2010-03-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

After dropping the kids off at daycare I looked up at the local mountains and saw a clear view of the peaks and a thin layer of high cloud.....to me this means no rain and epic views.

I raced home, grabbed my bike and the appropriate gear (food, water, GPS, clothing etc.) for an epic ride and headed up to the Woodlot.

A few years ago I found a unique route that links The Woodlot and McNutt so today I decided it was time to do this epic ride for the view from the peak.

For the first 3 hours of the climb things were good: the ground was damp and the trails were clear. Then I hit snow. First it was only a little on the ground, then it increased in thickness as I gained elevation. Being the stubborn person that I am, I carried my bike when it started getting too hard to push through the snow. In the end I carried my bike over 4kms of the ride up the hill on the snow.

What would normally take only one hour took 4 hours. But as I said before I am stubborn and determined. I'd been to the top a few times before about 20 years before on a rigid XC bike so I knew what to expect from the terrain but if my memory serves me correctly I last made my way up to the top in the summer.

The view from the top is quite spectacular. There are views to the south of Mt. Baker and to the immediate west of The Golden Ear as well as a view of the Fraser Valley and the North Shore mountains.

I took as many photos as I could as quickly as I could because I knew that if I didn't start heading home soon, I'd be hiking out in the dark. Even though I always ride with enough emergency supplies to spend a night or two in the bush, it wasn't something that I wanted to test today.

As quickly as one can descend in the snow I made my way down. Once I was on solid terra firma it was 5pm and I was loosing light pretty quick so with a fully head of steam I ripped down the skidders and logging roads back to my vehicle as fast as I could. Round trip, my ride was 6 1/2 hours.

View McNutt Epic in a larger map
View the route in Google Earth

At my car I asked myself: was it worth it? hell yeah!, would you do it again in late winter? Hell No!!

Canada-3 USA-2

2010-02-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

This morning I rose out of bed early and made my way to The Woodlot. I was the first person to arrive there today for a ride at about 7:45am. Being that it was the final day in the 2010 Winter Olympics I figured I would slip in an early ride so that I could catch the gold medal men's hockey game that had Canada taking on the USA.

My route today took me to the top via a climb on Stove Top and then up the skidder road. Considering how I have my Rune specd right now I found it surprisingly easy to climb on.

A bridge on Stovetop

Once at the trail head of Krazy Karpenter I started my descent down the freshened up trail. I then hit Blood Donor and then finally Giant Killer. I think I may try to spend a little time on Giant Killer some time to fix a few things.

Wide bars can get stuck!

After Giant Killer I raised my seat and went over to Snakes and Ladders for a blast down the trail and finally a super fast run of Shotgun.

Burke Classics

2010-02-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

I was prepared for a long ride today. Extra food, water and a good riding jacket just in case it rained. I used everything I brought with me.

Today my bike took me to Burke Mountain. I parked well off the mountain along the Coquitlam River because my route today would bring me down along the Coquitlam River Trail. My climb started on the road and then it became a gravel road then a skidder road and then single track. I rode down Bean and then up to Sawblade. There is something special about Burke because these trails have been around almost since the beginning of mountain bikes and still survive today in their raw rooty original form.

The Sawblade is a hidden gem in these parts. It's off the beaten path so not everyone rides it because you need to be shown where it is. It's steep and tight and really a lot of fun to ride on nearly any bike.

After Sawblade I made my way down and over to the Coquitlam River Connector trail. This is likely the most under-rated trail I have ever ridden. It's such a sweet twisty lush trail. It certainly needs a little trail work (lots of deadfall) but it flows well and uses the terrain so well.

At the bottom of the Coquitlam River Connector trail is Crystal Falls that can be rather tricky to cross when the waters on the creek and river are high.

Crystal Falls

By the time I was at the bottom of the connector trail the skies had opened up and it was pissing down rain. So the pedal back on the river trail sucked. Apart from the rain, I had a really good ride and can't wait to explore some more of the somewhat hidden trails in the area.

Randon Woodlot Meeting

2009-12-20T19:46:00.000-08:00

Recently I was given a few items to 'test out' and provide my honest opinion about them. So on this ride I had a new set of grips, a new set of knee pads and a new helmet camera.

I figured I would try out these new parts on my shakedown trails: Goldmine. So with a pair of cameras rolling, I rode down on my Rune on this cold rainy overcast day.

Once at the powerlines I traversed over to Snakes and Ladders and ripped down the my most familiar of trails. Near the end of Snakes I caught up to a guy who stopped to let me pass. Then at the end of the trail I ran into two very familiar faces: Dave and Bryan. It turns out the guy I passed was a riding partner of theirs.

We all decided to ride up again and hit a few trails together. Bryan, Dave and I are bike obsessed so all we talked about during the climb was bikes and biking politics. Once at Toad Stool I decided to put a camera on Bryan so that I could get a different view from the camera with him both leading me and chasing me. Bloggy Style was the next trail and finally Shotgun.

Running into and riding with Dave, Bryan and their friend was a pleasant surprise and even though it was pissing down rain, we all had a great ride.

Google Earth Epic #1: Epic Rides = Epic Views

2009-12-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

I went on what many people would call an epic ride today. I looked on a few maps of where I wanted to go and then plotted the route in Google Earth, printed the map and started pedaling. It's been a while since I went on one of these view finding epic wandering rides. I always go prepared with the necessary gear (GPS, maps, compass, tools, camera, phone, food and clothing) so extending my ride a few hours past my normal time isn't too much of a worry.

The views today were quite simply amazing.

I the photo above you can see Mt. Baker and even Mt. Rainer that is 300km away in the distance. Visibility like this is rare in the summer but today the air was crisp, clean but chilled you to the bone in the shade.

I had ridden in this area a few years back but recently there has been a few new cutblocks of logging and a couple new logging road spurs cut in. I remember a few weeks back hearing heavy machinery in the area and I can see why.

My climb ended when I ran into a fresh cutblock where there were loggers still hauling logs off the slope of the hill. I managed to snap a few photos for this panoramic photo before I departed down the hill.

An amazing view looking east across Stave Lake.

For the most part my ride was on logging roads to get around from peak to peak but to finish today's ride I was on the more familiar trails of The Woodlot (Goldmine, Snakes and Ladders, Shotgun). All I can say is that without a bike under me, I would never get to experience such breathtaking views.

Frozen waterfall

Vedder by moonlight

2009-12-03T23:21:00.000-08:00

Today I was invited by Tyler from Pinkbike.com to hit up a night time shuttle of Vedder. Seeing as I have never ridden Vedder and I was itching for a night ride, it was an opportunity hard to pass up.

So with my lights all charged up and directions in hand I set out from Maple Ridge to Chilliwack and met up with Tyler, Gerald and Spencer at the base of Vedder Mtn. Tyler had a bit of a chuckle when I got out of my little family sport wagon when the three of them were driving lifted 4x4 trucks. It was soon apparent to me that the shuttle up Vedder was a little more that gravel road.

Once the bikes were loaded on the trucks and the lights all checked, we headed up to the top of Vedder. Gerald and Spencer rode up in Spencer's Jeep Cherokee and I drove up with Tyler in his highly modified Chevy powered '95 Toyota pick-up. I'll be the first to admit that my 4x4 experience is somewhat limited so the drive up to the top of Vedder gave Tyler a bit of a laugh when he said this isn't really 4x4ing because we aren't in 4 low or needing winches while I was bug eyed whispering holy crap on some sections near the top.

Once at the top we unloaded and powered up the lights, then pushed up the hill a bit to get to The Den. Lately the weather has been dry and quite cold so traction was abundant on the dirt and the air was icy cold on this clear moonlit night. The video below shows clips from my helmet camera that I had on for the duration of the ride. The trails we rode included: The Den, Two Cents, Skidder, Turd Ferg, Ditch Chicken, Electric Lettuce and Femur. I really enjoyed getting the tour of Vedder by these guys as they really knew their way around and showed me a variety of different trails. For me a few standout sections were a gully where you carve up and down the two sides like a half pipe and Ditch Chicken (Gerald's trail). The trails on Vedder have a lot of fun natural flow that is distinctive all to itself when compared to most other areas of the Fraser Valley. I hope I'll be back some time soon to sample the trails in the daylight.

Karpenter on Film

2009-12-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

I met Tim and his brother up on Karpenter today. He had bucked up a bunch of wood for the next part of the tune-up he is doing on the trail so I helped with splitting the rung. It was DAMN COLD today with ice on the trail on the way up but by the time I was at the top it had warmed up to melt most of the ice and frost.

Once the rung was split we talked about the next sections that will be worked on and then Tim and his bro took off for home.

I made my way to the top and decided to do a helmet camera run of Krazy Karpenter. It's hard to believe that I've never once done a helmet cam run of this trail.

After Karpenter I made my way up to Tusga then Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. I managed to clear a few fallen trees on the trails so everything is clear and safe to ride.

I had a great ride on this dry cold December day and I can't wait to see what is going to develop on Karpenter in the near future.

Trail Buffing with Zach

2009-11-24T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today I met up with Zach who contacted me to see if he could help out with some maintenance at The Woodlot. His timing could not have been better. Recently all the trees have lost their summer and fall coats and the trails are littered with needles and leaves plugging drains and blanketing the trails. With rakes and shovels in hand we started at the bottom of Snakes and Ladders and cleared all the drains and raked the trail from top to bottom.

Zach was an absolute trooper with the rake and for about 5 hours he raked his way up the trail cleaning up the line and buffing it up for the winter season.

At this point because of the over the top effort that Zach put in with me, I don't think I will need to touch this trail again for months to come.

After finishing the buffing we enjoyed the buff fruits of our labor and rode down Snakes and then over to Shotgun.

Thanks Zach for the help and I hope you continue to help with the trails.

Belated Remembrance Day Ride

2009-11-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

This year I had to delay my annual Remembrance Day ride by a few days. I always pay my respect to veterans and on Remembrance Day I go for a spin on my bike to honor their sacrifices. It had recently snowed a little on the mountains but for the most part it didn't stop my progress and very few trees needed to be removed off the trails.

I rode up to Goldmine/Cabin Trail and then ripped down to Snakes and Ladders and finally out to my car along Shotgun.

It was a little wet and chilly today but with the right clothes and a few pairs of dry gloves the ride was very enjoyable.

Nothing quite like fresh tracks in the snow.

Logging Soon

2009-10-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

It rained today. Non stop. From the time I woke up until this very moment I am typing this it has rained. Earlier in the day I went for a walk in the rain with my whole family and watched my daughters and nieces jump in puddles up to the tops of their gum boots. So to say it was wet today is an understatement. Anyways....I arrived at The Woodlot at 1:30pm today and made my way up with some pruning loppers in hand. With the wet weather and snow coming our way I figure it is time to trim back some of the brush that causes issues when it snows. I pedaled up and when there were low branches over the trail they were clipped back.

The timing of my doing some trimming could not have been more ironic. As I was riding up past Quick Hit, there was a piece of heavy machinery with the biggest weed whacker attachment you could imagine. It was there prepping the road for the upcoming logging. This machine was nuking everything on the edge of the road and sheared off Dogwood saplings that were 4" in diameter. I wish I had that to cut my grass at times.

I made my way up to John's new trail. This new line is handling traffic really well and there was very little standing water on the trail given the amount of rain we've had. A new hip after the big drop was a little unexpected for me, but it was a fun hit nonetheless.

After that I went back up and rode Mandatory Caution and then made my way over to Snakes and Ladders. I stopped to have a look at something that didn't really look right with the ladder that leads to the Teeter Totter and I had to shut down the stunt. I'll be up there soon enough to fix the rotten log that has given away.

I then rode over to Shotgun and then out to my car in the fading light. I was soaked to the bone and tired from the ride, but I managed to get in a few good climbs and practiced keeping my momentum going on certain parts of the climb. Speed and momentum are your friends on bumpy technical climbs.

Burke in the DARK

2009-10-06T22:17:00.001-07:00

In the past Tim would be the guide when we rode Burke, but tonight I gave him the tour of a few newer trails up on Burke.

The view 3/4 the way up at 6:30pm in the fading light.

We met around 6 pm and made out way up the hill via the back side. Once at the trail head we donned our lights and helmets then started the descent down Six, Slayer, Hustler and Dawg.

We then went back up to hit another trail and stopped to take a couple night shots with a few blinkers.

Tim blinking past

Me blinking by

The final trail of the night was Bullet Dodger. Having only riding this trail once before it was an interesting trail to ride at night. Ripping this trail in the dark was a hoot and made for a sweet backdrop to some photos. We then retrieved my car and called it a night. The weather and trail conditions were simply amazing. My knee is feeling a little better but I am no where near 100% but with amazing rides like the one tonight I see my recovery to 100% in a month or so.

I'm Spoiled

2009-10-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

This morning my kids woke me up right around sunrise so I got them their morning cup of milk and made my way out the house for a quick spin at The Woodlot on my Rune. I wanted to keep this ride short so a pedal to the top and a simple ride down was my plan.

The view this morning was one to make you stop and appreciate. Blue skies and miles of visibility were well worth a pause for a photo.

The Woodlot is just that, BC Timber 0007 Woodlot and rom time to time there is some harvesting of trees that takes place. Currently there are two areas slated for harvesting and I happened to ride past one of the cut blocks as they were actively harvesting this morning. I hiked through the forest and watched the action from a safe distance. In the photo below you can see a track feller buncher in the lower center of the photo with a tree in mid fall. It is truly impressive to see the action in person.

After my stop to watch some heavy machinery at work, I pedaled up to the top via Stove Top and the skidder road. I geared up at the power lines and made my way down to The Gate. Over the past year The Gate has seen some much needed work from Lou and some friends of his. They started at the top and the greasy sketch that was The Gate is no longer. The original line was awesome, but due to the lack of traffic it sees the skinnies became green and down right dangerous. Now the grease is lined with perfect grippy rung. They've made some good progress on the trail and I can see this being added to my regular riding list when the work is complete.

From The Gate I went over to Tsuga and straight into Snakes and Ladders. I stopped mid trail to check out the work I did the other day in the rain. The rocks looked to be solid and I doubt I'll have issues with this tranny ever again. The trail needs a once over to clear the drains, but I will wait to do that after the leaves and needles fallen to the forest floor in a few weeks.

At this time of year it is nice to ride familiar trails with the forest in its transition to the winter and damp ground to ride on. I will never deny that I am spoiled with my accessibility to such amazing trails and friends to ride with and build on them.

Ledgeview....night ride

2009-09-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

Tonight there was a Fraser Valley Mountain Bike Association meeting at the base of Ledgeview at Trevor's place, what better thing to do afterwords than to go for a night ride after the meeting.

Tom, Trevor and I were all that took part in the ride but we had a good ride nonetheless. The weather tonight was perfect where all that was needed was a light sweater.

I honestly had no idea what trails I was riding at all during this foray in the night, but I had fun sliding around on the clay dirt that lined the trails. [Edit- the trails were Little Buttafuoco, Paper Route and LeBite Me]

Another great night ride with good people that share a passion for mountain biking and the trails we ride on.

Transiton for the trail gap

2009-09-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I did some real building where there are a pile of tools used and where rock, dirt and wood form the final product.

I've had my eye on the transition for the small trail gap on Snakes & Ladders for some time. Today I donned my building pack overflowing with tools with the goal of building a sweet tranny for the gap. One thing I never really took notice of before was the size and weight of my building pack when loaded with tools. My wife commented as I was about to load it in my car so for giggles I weighed it.........41lbs. I always up the pressure in the rear shock on my bike to compensate for the additional weight, but I never really thought my pack weighed that much. Climbing with it isn't too comfortable, but as many have said: what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.

The 41lb pack

Once I climbed to the trail I went straight to work getting the cedar stringers needed and cut them to size. One really good thing I took away from a building course IMBA Canada put on at The Woodlot a while back was to peel the bark off the logs you use. It took a little extra time to do this and in the end the final result was well worth the effort.

Once the logs were peeled, sized, notched and nailed in place, I filled the structure with several HUGE rocks and then filled in the rest with rocks that were piled by other trail users in a spot near the tranny.

Rain water on the lens made the after shots a little sub par, but end result in person is quite nice.

I spent a few more hours than I had planned on this, but doing things right takes time and I am very proud of this bit of trail work. The weather today was what many call 'typical BC weather', wet and rainy with a few rumbles of thunder and lighting thrown in for fun. I hit the jump a couple times to make sure it was all lined up and then packed up to go home.

I had a nice mellow ride down to the car soaked to the bone from the rain but oh so satisfied with my effort.

Rob rides Burke

2009-09-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Rob was once again down in the valley for a weekend so we made sure to squeeze in a ride on a local hill.

Today Rob, Dave and I did a full lap of Burke: Triple Crown, Red R, Slayer, Dawg, Hustler and then back up for a little dodging of bullets.

We had a great ride with wicked weather and no hiccups.

Riding can't get much better than this: great trails shared with good friends.

Training Ride - #2

2009-09-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

Once again I had a bit of time to kill so I went for another ride up to Thornhill from my place but this time on the hard tail. A slightly different route got me into some nice double track and into a newer subdivision development where I ran into a friend of mine from soccer. After a brief stop to say hi I was on my way.

15km of riding with a door to door time of 50 minutes with a stop to talk. Not bad and the legs felt good on this ride. Next week hopefully I have more time to explore.

Me......training? - ride #1

2009-09-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

I had an hour to kill and the weather was freaking spectacular, so I boarded my Rune and went for a spin from my house. I've been kind of lacking in the speed department when it comes to climbing and I've been reading about simple ways to improve speed, so today I did a training ride.

It was mainly a steep road ride climb to get to an area that has some mellow single track, but it worked well to get my heart rate up and practice some mid tempo climbing. In total I did 12km up Thornhill.

If I keep these regular rides up I am bound to improve and at least I am exploring the trails that are within a short ride from my house.

1 hour door to door and a good sweat was worked up. Considering I have a 60% healthy knee I was generally pleased with the ride.

I think I'll keep track of the number of 'training rides' I do just to see if I keep it up.

Working with a Krazy Karpenter

2009-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tim and I were finally able to get out and ride/build together today. Krazy Karpenter is getting a make-over by Tim and we decided to work on an old stunt that he has earmarked for a fresh new look.

Once we made it to the section we were building on we unloaded our tools and nails that we hiked up and got to work.

Tim fired up the bush saw and I did the groundwork and transition for the stump roller. The stunt is essentially an old stump with a ladder leading to it and a steep roll down the other side. Due to weathering and rotting, the stump has rotted out but Tim intends to fix the rotting problem and keep the feel and nature of the original stunt with the new work.

Below is a shot of Tim shaving the stump with the saw.

Not too long after this shot, the pull cord on the saw decided it was time to die and it snapped. Without the saw we could not finish the wood work that we intended to do, so we did as much of the ground work we could and called it a day. When we left we figured there is maybe one more days work for this feature to be finished and dialed in.

We pushed part way up the trail and rode back down the new features Tim has been working on lately.

On Upper Toadstool I had a little spill and sacked myself pretty good. I can tell that my knee is weak and affecting my riding lately. I kind of feel like I've lost my quick agility and ability to 'stay out of trouble' on my bike. Hopefully soon I'll gain back the strength in my knee and leg, but until then, I am riding at 60% and staying away from jumps and drops.

Lower Toadstool and Bloggy Style were next and then Shotgun. After the build and ride we were both pretty beat and headed home. It has been quite some time since we worked together and as a pair we can get quite a bit done to improve the trails. Hopefully I can make it up to Karpenter with Tim again sometime soon to finish off the stunt we were working on.

A new tool and an old friend

2009-09-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's been months since I've ridden in the rain and today it rained........pretty hard. My plan today was to hike some tools to Snakes and Ladders as well as go for a spin .

I learned something a few weeks ago when I raked the Bear Mountain DH course in preparation for the race: a good rake is one of the most valuable tools you can have when you need to clean up / buff a trail. I find that carrying multiple tools on a trail is a PITA, so I killed two birds with one stone with a mod I made to some rakes I had. I made a double ended rake that I call The Buffer.

Once I dropped off the tools on the trail, I continued up to the top pedaling my Rune. I geared up and rode Krazy Karpenter which is getting a once over by Tim. Things are really beginning to take shape in spots and it is a lot of fun. I do however really need to put some soft compound wet tires on my bike because I was slipping everywhere on my summer tires.

One particular section that Tim has recently worked on was a skinny section that just plain sucked in the past. The ladders and lines just didn't line up until Tim worked some magic. Now, it freaking rocks. Timmy made the skinny section a challenge to ride, yet still fun. The photo below is me riding the section for the first time ever.

After Karpenter I made my way to Fluffy Kitten and then to Snakes and Ladders. Snakes is running quite well and from top to bottom there was only one puddle on the trail. I stopped in the jump section to fix the lips and trannies on a couple jumps and put my new rake to the test and it worked flawlessly.

After Snakes and Ladders I headed over to Shotgun to ride out to my car. Shotgun wasn't bad and with my current tires, the wet roots kept things on the edge for me in sections.

At my car I ran in to Greg and Denise as well as a long lost friend of mine, Keith White who I used to ride with 15 years ago. Man how time flies.

Burke Guiding

2009-09-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Burke really seems to be on my radar lately. I arrived at the hill and set off on the climb right away. On the way up I met up with a few guys I've seen at The Woodlot before (Andy and Steve) and Steve's wife.

Funny thing is it turns out they were on Burke looking for some trails that they had seen some helmet cam videos of.........hmmmmmm I wonder who's videos they were referring to? ;-) So after the introductions were made I agreed to guide them down Triple Crown, Six, Slayer, Dawg and Hustler.

We had some good conversations about different things and I was able to test out a new camera mount I made. The footage did not work out well and some additional tweaking is needed.

I had a great ride even with a pooched knee but I know in time it will heal.

The Woodlot a 'Test Run'

2009-09-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago I had a nasty spill at Whistler. After over a week of icing my knee and lots of ibuprofen I thought today I would test out my knee and also my chest camera mount that I made.

I rode my Rune and climbed up via Stove Top and made my way to Upper Toad Stool and then back up to Tsuga, Snakes and Ladders, Bloggy Style and finally Shotgun.

To be honest my knee felt like crap and hurt the whole ride. It ballooned up after the ride and caused me a fair bit of pain for the next few days after the ride.

Sweet view on the climb up.

The video below is a grab bag of the footage I got on the ride. The chest camera mount worked okay for the first test of my design, but it needs to be tweeked a little to offer more stability. I was neither impressed nor let down by the initial results BUT I know where the improvements can be made.

Whistler - Thrills 'n Spills

2009-08-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

I managed to hook up with Steve and Daryl to get a ride up to Whistler where we then hooked up with Dave, John and a few of Steve's friend. 7 guys in total.

The day started off well with a warm-up run on Dirt Merchant and then it was up to Garbanzo. At the top I set up my camera to be a reverse view chase camera. Some of the footage turned out pretty damn good.

I must say that letting others take you on trails you've never ridden before can be a hoot at times. Blue Velvet is a wicked intermediate trail that I have never thought of riding in the past, but turned out to be the most fun trail I've ridden in a long time.

Below is a helmet cam run of Freight Train, No Joke/New Joke.

During that run an incident took place on the roller coaster which took out one of Steve's friends for the rest of the day. He didn't have enough speed to get up the face of the roller and then fell backwards where his head then hit a big rock on the side of the trail. FORTUNATELY his helmet did its job and took the blow. He had a minor concussion and was out for the remainder of the day.

After the Freight train run, we rode over to Angry Pirate which is a tight trail of turn after turn after turn.

Angry Pirate was a hoot but after that twisty trail I hungered for some air time, so A-Line was next on our list. A-Line can be a love hate type of trail and today my love turned to hate after my run. The video below shows how an amazing trail can very easily rear its ugly head and turn a great run into down right ugly one.

I consider myself very, VERY lucky because things could have been a lot worse given my speed and distance traveled going over the bars of my bike. I'll be off my bike for a while but at least I spent the rest of the day at the GLC patio taking in the sights and drinking beer.

Woodlot night ride

2009-08-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Tim and I hit The Woodlot tonight.

We rode Krazy Karpenter, Mandatory Caution,Snakes and Ladders and Shotgun.

Our ride started at 6:30 in light and we descend in dark. My Dinotte lights proved to be a good choice for this ride.

Golden Ears Park - Lush Single Track

2009-08-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

I went for an afternoon rip today. Nothing special, nothing technical, nothing but a nice ride in the woods.

I drove into Golden Ears Park and did a helmet cam run of the most lush trail I've ever ridden. In the spring the ferns glow even more than they did today.

A short section of the West Canyon Trail

After a rip on the West Canyon Trail I drove to the park entrance and hopped onto a random trail. Then for fun at each junction I picked up a stick and spun it in the air and let random luck decide where I would ride depending on where the sharp end pointed.

I finally ended up at Mike Lake down a decommissioned road. The ride back to the car was a blast on a double track horse trail. Random spins in the woods are a great way to ride somewhere new and keep it fun.

Burke Mountain Flow

2009-08-09T21:13:00.001-07:00

Several months ago I was approached after a ride at The Woodlot by someone who recognized me as the guy that rides a Banshee and does a lot of helmet cam filming. The person that approach me was a builder on Burke who has over the last few years built several trails on Burke that he wanted to show to others in the form of videos. Pete (the builder) drew me a map of his trails and described to me how they link up. Today's ride was for Pete and his request for some video footage of his hard work.

The really cool thing about his trails is that they are all natural with no drops, jumps or woodwork needed. EVERYTHING is flowing and pumpy and each of these four trails leads into the next. The second cool thing is that the trails are named after his bikes (Six, Slayer, Dawg and Hustler). The bikes used for the names of the trails are all the perfect genre of bikes for these trails; small to mid travel enduro / AM bikes. Therefore my weapon of choice for this ride was my Rune.

I arrived early ~6:30am and pedaled all the way to the top. The descent started with Triple Crown which is basically the highest trail on the hill and then hit Six, Slayer, Dawg and Hustler in succession.

The videos below speak for themselves. In fact even video cannot portray how much pure pump and natural flow these trails have. A friend of mine describes the trails as a series of downhill pump tracks. I could not agree more.

Evening Rip

2009-08-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

After dinner I loaded my Rune on my car took my helmet and pack with me and headed to The Woodlot. It's been a while since I hit up the Woodlot. In the summer I just seem to ride elsewhere. Upon arrival I unloaded my bike, raised my seat and pedaled my way up. Lately I haven't been doing much pedaling and it showed on the climb. I just didn't have the legs to get up the hill with speed and ease I've had in the past. I guess late summer is good time to start some carido.

I decided to try a different route mid way up hill and began my descent after a half hour climb to Upper Toadstool. Upper Toad was fun and given the super dry conditions, the long logride was really fast to ride down. I then traversed back over to the skidder road and climbed back up to Mandatory Caution/Fluffy Kitten. It has been a long time since I've been down that trail and it is still for the most part abandoned an rotting in the forest. I rode the ground line of the trail the whole way down to Snakes and Ladders. To be honest, Caution could be a fun rip if there was a traversing reroute part way down to better used the terrain and elevation. It could easily be a nice alternate line mid way down the hill.

At Snakes I dropped in on the trail and just let it flow. Apart from a crappy lip on one jump and a few bomb hole landings, it is in damn good shape. I'll likely be heading up to fix the few trouble spots in the near future and maybe rake the trail for that extra buffed effect.

I then rode over to Shotgun which is riding well and out to my car. Overall it was a good ride. Given the small amount of time it takes to get in a ride like this, I can even see myself doing this ride in the morning before work.

Quick rips are tons of fun.

Seymour Shore Ride

2009-08-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

I knew that today was going to be a cooker so I arrived at Old Buck on Seymour early in the morning for my ride today.

I pedaled my Rune all the way up to CBC in the hot morning sun only getting passed my one group of two shuttlers that I caught up to later on the descent.

At one of the look-outs I paused to take a photo of the view.

Once at the top I donned my gear and made my way down CBC, Corkscrew, Pingu and Pangor where I caught the two shuttlers and helped them with a bike issue (flat tire), then finally Slash and Empress.

Below is a full helmet cam run of CBC that I did on this ride.

By the time I was at the bottom it was 8:30am and I was hot and tired so I loaded up and drove home.

Summer dawn patrol on Seymour is a great way for me to get in a good climb as well as a wicked descent without missing out on family life with the kids.

Bear Mountain Downhill 2009 - Day 2, RACE DAY

2009-07-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

Race Day. So far, I have very few pre race rituals but two that I never skip are the twice over check on the bike the night before and I watch the course on video (helmet camera) several times to memorize lines. With my rituals complete, I was ready for the race.

I arrived early enough to get on the first shuttle up the hill. In fact, I was the first person down the course today so that I could help with the race set-up. In the photo below I was sporting my FVMBA jersey showing support for the race organizers during my one practice run of the day.

The course conditions were damp but not wet. It had rained the night before, but there was little to no standing water on the course so come race time, the conditions could not have been better.

After my practice run I helped set up the finish line station for the officials and I flagged a trail for spectators of the race. During all this I managed to step on a wasp nest and got stung on my leg while running away. Wasps are tenacious little bastards.

Once the race was ready to be run, I put on my race jersey from Maple Ridge Cycle and rode up the hill on the shuttle truck. There was one delay before my start time due to a junior racer going down hard on his head and neck [released from hospital the next day]. When the time for my race came up I was surprisingly calm and focused. I knew my abilities and what I was capable of and had complete trust in the capabilities of my bike. Overall I'd say I had a descent run. One near miss on the big double at the bottom (slipped/rotated a pedal) but all went well. My bike performed flawlessly. On the right course, setting up a light DH bike (mine was at 34.9lbs) is the way to go, it makes the bike so maneuverable and the way it picks up speed is simply amazing.

In my class I came in third. Three races this year and I was on the podium twice. Without any hesitation I can say that I am very happy with these kind of results.

This is a shot of the big double that I almost messed up on. If you look carefully my right foot has started to slip/rotate off the pedal.

Me on the third rung.

Another year of racing Bear Mountain and another podium for me. I love this race and the vibe it has. Hopefully next year I can repeat my effort and the result.