Snakes Jump Part Deux

First ride of the year. Tim and I decided what better way to start off the new year than with a half day of building and ride the rest of the day. On Snakes and Ladder we have built what we call 'The Snakes Jump'; it is a jump a third of the way down the trail that you hit after pedaling hard across a bridge. It is a 3-4 foot step-down and you gap about 8-10 feet. Very soon after this you bank right and pass by a tree that is in the perfect position to hip off of and if you hit it fast enough we guess you could hip to the other side of the trail. It is at this tree that Tim and I decided we should build a jump to give you some air time.


This first picture shows where we are building the jump and all the rock and wood used in its constriction. You are looking back up at the jump.


This picture shows the jump half built from the approach. The void in the framing will be packed with rock and dirt. The ride around is on the right of the jump.


This picture shows the front of the jump and how we used rung to box it in and keep it looking sanitary. The tree that we notched into is 3/4's dead so don't worry, we are not harming a live tree.


This picture shows the jump completed and ready to be hit. The dirt packed really nice and I anticipate that we will only have to throw a bucket or two more on in the future after this settles.


This photo shows the side of the jump and our signature curvy wood work. It looks even cooler in person.


This photo is taken from the approach of the first 'Snakes Jump' and you can see the new jump that we just built in center of the picture (darker dirt). One jump just leads to the other.

It was kind of funny when we finished building this jump because almost as soon as we were done we had a visitor. Graham showed up with his dog Jasper. Graham had just put some new forks on his bike ('03 Super T's) and was taking them for a shake down run. He was all smiles and simply loved his new forks. So we all hit the new section and ripped down the rest of the trail and then up over to Hoots and down to the cars. A very productive day and a great ride.

A Draining Day

Today I headed up to Snakes and Ladders on the Stiffee to do a little work on the trail and drain a wet spot. Basically I rode to the tool stash and dragged the tools to a wet spot. Once there I dug a trench to drain a big puddle and then continued to work on seven more puddles. Eight puddles fixed in total. I then stashed the tools nearby and continued my ride down Snakes and Ladders and Shotgun.

Below are a few before and after shots of the work I did.


Before draining taken at 10:56am


After draining taken at 11:08am

All in all a good day of maintenance and a very quick ride.

Burke Mountain

Tim and I decided that we would go for a spin up Burke Mountain today rather than The Woodlot. We really wanted to see what trails had been dismantled recently and it would be nice to try a different hill from our normal ride. The plan was to meet at 7:00am at The Hub corner store and leave one car there, that way we could drive the other car to the gate and not have to pedal back up the hill when we come out at the bottom of Flywheel.

Once Tim arrived we made our way to the gate of Burke and unloaded our bikes and prepared for our ride. As we were unloading our bikes, an old acquaintance of Tim's (Victor) was just starting to depart on his ride with a friend of his. We knew we would likely catch them on the ride/push up so we said hi and see ya on the hill.

Our overall plan was to ride to the top and decide where to go from there. So as I said earlier, we knew we were going to catch Victor and his buddy on the way up and we did. Every now and then the four of us would stop to have a little rest chit chat and then continue up the hill. Tim and I went up to Triple Crown while Victor split off lower on the hill at the junction that leads to Sawblade. Once Tim and I reached Triple Crown we geared up, had a look at the condition of the top of the trail and started our ride.

It had been quite some time since I went for a spin on the hardtail and the first section of the ride was what one would call punishing. I was not riding the bike the way that I should, I was riding it like my full suspension bike anticipating that the bike would take the edge off the roughness of the trail (now Triple Crown really isn't a very rough trail but I was just taking a beating this time down). One thing the both of us noticed was that this trail was in need of some serious TLC. There were sections of questionable rung and mud holes that it looked like nobody had thought of fixing for a very long time. I figure it would take 3 guys with shovels and pick axes maybe 1 day to buff up this trail to the condition that it deserves to be in.

Once we came out to the Power lines, Tim pointed out to me where another trail started that I had never been down. It was called The Elevator and is apparently a rally steep trail that basically goes straight down the hill but is in disrepair so we decided to skip it and ride Ryan's instead. So we ducked into the trees and entered Ryan's and continued our ride for a short section then stopped for an inspection. I say that because there has been some deconstruction of built up stunts on Burke Mountain by the local parks department. I will not go into why or how this occurred, but needless to say, there are some very upset people. So the deconstruction that occurred included the log ride and ladder sections at the top of Ryan's and the entrance into The Abyss. Apart from that, the rest of the mountain is still intact. One very upsetting thing though is the way in which the 'deconstruction' took place. Whoever was responsible for taking the stunts apart did a very, very poor job and actually left the area in a very dangerous state. Most of the ladders were just cut in half and left on the ground or turned upside down. There were several pieces of rung that were left with nails in them sticking up from the ground just waiting for a hiker or a forest animal to severely injure their feet on these hazards. Both Tim and I were quite angry about the way this area was left. We weren't mad that the section was destroyed (disappointed yes, but mad...no), we were just astonished that such an effort would be made to deconstruct a section of stunt work but only a half ass job performed and the fact that it is now more dangerous than ever before.

We then continued down Ryan's to the entrance of The Abyss to have a look at what had been dismantled on this trail. To our surprise not much of The Abyss had been dismantled, in fact really only the entrance was missing. So down The Abyss went hitting all the stunt work and other such parts of the trail. Both Tim and I were on out hardtails and this is one fact that I think both of us kind of forgot about when we hit the last gap on the path. He sacked himself and I rear wheel cased the last gap pretty hard, tweaking my ankle/foot on the landing.

We then skipped Big Boy Time and just made our way over to Galloway and then Flywheel. Again we both agreed that these sections of trail could do with some TLC. Simple maintenance could go a long way to make is such a better ride. After Galloway we met up with a woman's group ride. To our surprise there were 3-4 groups totaling about 30 women riding down Flywheel. Most were stopped at some point or another getting instruction on sections or just walking their bikes over the run down woodwork. We were very surprised that a group ride of beginner to intermediate riders would be taken down this trail on a wet day like today. We then exited onto the road and made our way back to my car. We then drove up to Tim's car that we left at the gate but on the way there we saw a guy we recognized from The Woodlot. Eric and a friend of his were out for a bit of an XC ride so we talked to them for a bit and discussed a possible group night ride. Then Tim and I discussed our possible next ride and took off for home.

The Platinum Bug

Today I decided to go up to the Woodlot alone for a ride in the morning. My regular riding partners could not make it but I really wanted to ride, so I decided that I would just go myself. I had heard that there was some logging taking place in the Woodlot, therefore the regular route up the hill was closed. In fact the first trail that I really built on 'Quickhit' was partly being logged.

The route up was a push up Hoots then a push up Giant Killer. This was in no way a fun time getting up the hill, but if I wanted to ride, it was really the only way. While I was on Giant Killer I could faintly hear the sound of a chainsaw running and then I heard the distant sound of a thundering crash. They were actively logging on a Sunday. I was very glad that I did not attempt to get by the logging by walking on the road.

So once I made my way to the top of Giant Killer I started up the logging road and in the distance I could hear the voices of some guys behind me coming up the hill. I just pushed on to the top of the powerlines and geared up. Sometimes I like riding alone and other I like t hook up with new people.......today I thought I would wait to see where these guys were heading so I decided to wait. I had time to completely gear up, have a snack to eat and relax. Once the guys (Grant, Doug and Jason) arrived I talked to them for a bit and asked them where they were riding. It turns out they were going to Platinum but none of them had ever really ridden it because they weren't sure how fast to hit the gaps and such. Well being that I had just ridden it last week and was still buzzing from my ride, I decided I would give them the Grand Tour.

So once at the trail we started the gaps and drops and other such features the trail has to offer. For most stunts, I would show them once or twice how fast to approach and what to look out for. There was one jump that kind of got me. The gap over the logride. I kept hitting my back tire on the way down over the gap. I did not wipe out, but it kind of irked me. Then the BIG GAP towards the bottom...........it was rather slippery and I hit the jump with just enough speed but slipped a pedal on the landing. I thank the ROACH GODS for such good armour because I would be without a huge chunk of skin if I were not wearing my armour. The 6 pack was good and the coaster drop was once again butter.

We then decided to take the connector to Giant killer and this is where I had to leave the other guys as I was in a bit of a time jam. Showing them the ins and outs of Platinum took a little bit of time and I said to my lovely wife that I would be home at a certain time so I had to jet on them. So I pointed them in the right direction and headed off down Giant Killer and Hoots. The really cool thing about walking up a trail is that you can see new lines on a trail or variation on different stunts. On Giant Killer I saw a little gap jump over a crappy spot and on Hoots I saw a little hip jump that I had never noticed before. Needless to say I had a really good ride down these trails.

Then I hit Shotgun..... I once again a super blast down the trail to my car. I had a really good ride and met 3 new cool guys to ride with in the future. I am quite sure I will see them up there again some time soon.

Riding Bud

Today is the Monday of the long weekend (Thanksgiving) and what better thing to do than go for a ride on your favorite hill. Tim and I decided that we would meet at the Woodlot at 7am and head up the hill to do a trail that neither of us had ridden in many months. Platinum. In fact we both last rode Platinum on March 14 of this year, a 7 month hiatus. So onward and upward we went up the hill in near darkness. By the time we were near the powerlines, we in full daylight and the conditions were pretty good. It had been raining recently so the ground was wet/damp, but it was not raining at the time. We really took our time getting to the top as we both had a bit of time for the ride and we were going to enjoy ourselves.

We decided that we would gear up where you duck into the trail on the gravel powerline road. Just as we were about to put our helmets on, we heard some voices of other riders that had Platinum on their schedule as well. We decided to just begin our ride rather than stick around and see who was behind us.

The flowy trail that leads to the start of Platinum was really quite mucky and there were many BIG puddles, but it was a nice warm-up for what we were about to ride. So seeing as Tim is much more experienced in jumping and big drops, I let him go first and I would follow in order to see the speed needed to make the gaps and drop to the trannies. All I can say is that I owe most of this ride to Tim. I would not be doing this trail were it not for him. I just watched and learned and hit every gap and every drop on the trail. One of the cooler gaps goes over a logdrop. That was sweet. The big gap near the bottom was one big eye opener though. Several berms to a short straight section where you have to be pedaling really hard in order t make a rather substantial gap. I cleared it first attempt, but I was not happy with how I landed, so up the trail I went to give it a second try. On my second attempt, I just skyed over the gap, it was sweet.

The final big test was the 6 pack to the roller coaster drop. I made sure to follow Tim's instructions explicitly for this section........'make sure you just cleanly make the first gap, do not over shoot it at all............if the first gap it cleared cleanly, just let go of the brakes and hang on for the ride...........'. So that is what I did. One gap......TWO gap.....THREE GAPs...........whooo hooooo. Holy crap was that sweet. Then I just rode the rest of the line to the roller coaster to the nice big drop off the ladder. Butter my friends, butter. In fact it was so butter that I ran myself back up the trail and did it again.

We both paused for a few minutes then and then pressed on up the connector (Stovetop) to Giant Killer. At the top of Giant Killer we met up with the two guys that Rob and I met the week earlier. (Lance and Jordan). So they hooked up with us for the rest of the ride down Giant Killer. I will say that my new tires (Kenda Blue Groove and Nevegal 2.5" tubeless setup) worked really well on the wet woodwork. At the bottom gap Rich, Ewan and Jamie were working on the berm of the last gap with a guy filming them. In talking with Rich, it turned out that Joan Jones from The West Coast School of Mountain Biking (www.wcsmb.com ) was with them filming for a video on trial maintenance.

We then headed over to Snakes and Ladders for a all out blast down the trail. That is what the trail has basically become, and all out blast. Most crappy spots are now fixed and it was ripping really well today. I even did the drop to flat at the bottom again into a big puddle.

We then made our way over to Shotgun where we played cat and mouse again down the trail to the cars. Lots of fun ripping that trail again. Tim and I talked for a bit about stuff and made our way home. I did make a point of telling him how thankful I was for guiding me on how to clean Platinum. So with the help from a friend and several trips to Whistler in the summer, I went from avoiding a trail because it was over my head to eagerly waiting for the next time I can hit the trail hard.

The Whole Hill

Well today was a morning ride with Rob up at The Woodlot. It had been quite some time since I’ve been for a spin with Rob and it had been several weeks since he had been on any sort of ride at all. He had finally got the itch back to go for a spin and I was glad to slip out in the AM with him for a ride.

It turned out a couple cars were already in the parking area so we were not the first up the hill. It was a gorgeous day today. There was not a cloud in the sky the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. I arrived at 8:30am and Rob arrived soon after. So up the hill it was at a nice leisurely pace. You know the pace you can keep up all day where you can talk comfortably and keep moving without really having to stop for a water break.

I let Rob decide the route today as I had been riding regularly and it had been a while since he had been able to ride. As a warm-up we did upper and lower Toadstool. I must say that they are a great way to get into the groove and have a bit of fun riding on natural terrain for the most part. Rob rode really well considering he had been off his bike for at least 3 weeks. I swear I rode the log on upper Toadstool the fastest I ever have. I will not say that I am and outstanding on log rides, but lately unless they are really skinny and wet, I have had good luck on them. Lower Toadstool was a nice change from my regular trail route and I really had a blast.

The next trail for the day was Blood Donor, so up the hill we went once again. Upon arriving at the trailhead, we took a short break for water and I had a bite to eat. In that time a couple guys arrived that neither Rob nor I had seen before. They were quite friendly so we talked for a minute and they were on their way their names were Lance and Jordan. Rob and I then put on our helmets and headed down the trail. I must say I was on. Everything on BD just flowed for me today with ease. I guess riding it 3 times in a week makes a difference. We caught up to the other 2 guys at the short gap where we were told to pass on by as we were covering the ground a little faster than them. That was cool so we just cruised down to the gap at the bottom of BD. Rob did it again (the gap) for the 2nd time and did it with ease. I am really glad to see him stomp jumps like that. We then thought we would go up and do the jump again, but the other 2 guys were on their way down the trail. Therefore we waited at the jump for them to pass. One guy went and landed nicely, then his buddy went and landed nicely but soon after touchdown, his bars were sideways and he was going over the bars crashing quite hard. The 3 of us all checked on him to make sure he was okay, which he was and he was just sat there wondering what the heck happened. He landed okay with good distance, but soon after he was on the way down to the ground...hard.

So Lance and Jordan went down Giant Killer ahead of us as they wanted to see me do the gap at the bottom of GK. Rob and I gave them a good lead and headed down the trail. I could tell Rob was having a good ride and so was I, we didn’t even have to say a word. Once at the gap, I let the 3 of them get in good viewing position and then let her fly. Unbeknownst to me, there had been a little extra dirt put on the take off lip of the jump but I just took off over the jump. I knew in the air that the extra dirt had kind of affected my attitude in the air and I was a little nose heavy so I got my ass way back on the bike and rode down the nice and steep tranny. I will admit I was a tiny bit worried as my nose was about to touch, but I knew I could correct it. So I came to a nice easy stop just past the berm and we were on our way to the next trail. I did however mention to Rob that ‘Yes, I was a little nose heavy’.

Rob and I invited Lance and Jordan to join us on Snakes and Ladders. Neither of them had ever ridden it or heard of it so they were eager to give her a spin. It doesn’t really take much time to get there and is well worth the traverse over to it. So once we arrived at the trailhead we were on our way with Rob and I calling out the stunts to the new guys. We all just flowed the trail from top to bottom enjoying all the new work we had done to the trail as of late. It was a sweet, sweet ride all the way to the bottom. One of the guys even did the crappy drop to flat as I did not yell loud enough to tell him not to do it. He said it was rough, but he did it without harm to him or his bike.

So then it was Shotgun, another blast from top to bottom and to the cars. I gave either Lance or Jordan Rob’s and my number (I can't remember who I gave it to) as one of them is always looking for people to ride with. Rob and I then discussed our possible next ride and I was homeward bound to my wife and daughter.

Lunar Ride

Tim had stopped by last night at my place to say hi, see the new baby and to see if I was interested in a night ride at the Woodlot. As luck would have it, I was just outfitting my hartail with my lights in anticipation of night riding sometime very soon. I gladly accepted his offer and we met at The Woodlot at 7pm for a moonlight night ride. 7pm was perfect because we were able to get the bikes all ready and start to make our way up the trail just as the sun set. We were both running lights on our bikes and on out helmets so we each had the ideal setup.

On the way up we just walked in the dark with the only light coming from the moon that was peeking though the misty sky. One in a while we would turn on a light just to make sure they were working, but we did not really turn on the lights until we reached the top of Toadstool on our way to Blood Donor. So with one of my lights burning, we made our way to the trail head of BD and armored up.

With all our light firing (I had 60W total going 30W on the bars and 30W on the head), we started down the trail. The total rush of night riding quickly returned to me as we started our ride down this favorite trail of mine. The way that the color of the ground changes color in the dark is amazing, it turns from a dark cold brown in the daylight to a warm fall brown color in the dark. Nothing else compares to seeing it for yourself.

So we rode BD without incident all the way to the gap at the bottom. Now there was no incident at the gap, but this was the first real jump on the ride and in the dark, your bike lights do not point down and your head lamp does not exactly point down at your landing area. I soon found out that I am thankful that I know the trail well enough to ride it without any light on the trail at all because when you are in the air, the trees, not the trail are all lit up. Both Tim and I had safe landings and continued on to Giant Killer, I was just pointing out that jumping in the dark is not for the faint of heart.

Giant Killer was a total blast as well. Watching your buddy come down the trail from a distance behind you is really a cool sight to behold. So over to Snakes and ladders we went. We both ripped out little gem. I paused on the plateau before the rock drop to let Tim go first. It was really cool watching him just kind of disappear over the edge of the drop. I quickly followed and we ripped the trail all the way to rock faces. We were like little kids in the candy store. I love riding with friends and riding by moonlight with your buds is even better.

We stopped at the final rolldown on the trail as Tim and I has a look at the squid line. He has a discussion about different lines and discussed what we would be building together the next time I was able to get to The Woodlot to build. I cannot express how happy I am with the way that the trail is coming together with all the work Tim has done on his own lately. I can’t wait to get diggin in the dirt with him soon.

So we rode over to Shotgun and started our cat and mouse game down the trial. It was my turn to be the mouse and Tim was the cat trying to hound my rear wheel in a little race down the trail. I must say that tonight I was on fire. After the first 2 little drop/stepdowns on the trail and the right hand berm, I didn’t touch my brakes, I just flowed the trial and leaned into the turns. It was crazy how much fun I had going as fast as I could in the dark all the way to the road crossing. It was at the road crossing that we switched cat and mouse positions and I chased Tim. For the first bit, I was all over him (as I said, I was on fire). Then I got too close and tried backing off, that was when I lost sight of the trail, hooked my tire on something and almost went ass over tea kettle into a tree. I stopped, regained my composure and started back on line making an attempt to catch up to Tim. Well, I made a big mistake and rode about 5 meters off the trail into the bush. I decided that Tim was to win the second stage of our cat and mouse game and we called it a draw.

So out to the cars we went and packed up. I must say I had a total blast night riding and I cannot wait to get back on the trail to do it again soon.

Proud Papa

This day marks a very special chapter in my life. This is my first ride since my daughter was born 5 days ago on September 20, 2004. On that day my wife and I welcomed Norah into the world. Without going into the details, all I can say is that she has me wrapped around her little finger already and she is most definitely daddy’s little girl.

The weather today at the Woodlot was fabulous. The sun was out and it was pleasantly warm. The Woodlot was very busy today. Normally I park very close to the trail exit, but today I had to park up the road a bit due to the number of people that had beaten me to the hill. On the way up, I was stopped by a group of guys that recognized me as a builder and we talked a moment about Snakes and Ladders. To sum our conversation up, they are super happy with all the work we have done on the trail and cannot wait to ride it again.

Onward and upward to the top of the hill I went passing a few people I knew on the way to Krazy Karpenter. Now this is a trail that I had not ridden in quite some time. The last time I rode it, it was not in very good shape and my ride was downright crappy. Well, no repairs have been done since, however I had a new inspiration during my ride and I rather enjoyed my blast down this classic trail.

At the bottom of Karpenter, I turned right and made my way to Blood Donor. I had a flowing vibe with me today and I rode everything with confidence. I had an absolute ripping time down BD. I managed to catch up to a group of guys half way down the trail and they let me pass at the junction to Giant Killer.

Giant Killer was once again super sweet. Rather than ride the trail really fast, I just cruised the trail, pumping everywhere that I could and just had fun. I must say that I totally aired the gap / stepdown at the end of the trail with the most air I have done to date.

Snakes and Ladders was next. Holy crap was this run fun. I completely ripped the trail with a new found vigor I have never had before. All the way from the top to the snakey bridge to the log ride to the drop to the new flow section to the wooden berm to the jump to the hip style turn to the boa bridge to the logride with the exit that fires you like a howitzer down the next creek crossing to the new log drop to Tim’s next bit of work. Tim’s next bit of work would be hard for most people to notice due to the fact that it is all dirt and rock work at the top and bottom of the bigger rock face. I totally noticed it because I ride the trail all the time. An I loved it. BIG pieces of rock wedged in at the approach and a building up and expansion of real-estate at the end of the rock face. All this work he did went a long, long way in making this section so much more fun to ride. Once again Tim, two thumbs up my friend. This was not all he had done in the last week. He also started the work on the new squid line for the last roll down on the trail. He had roughed in and framed the wooden berm, but it was lacking any rung, so I just stuck to the trail. My ride was going so damn well today that I decided that I would do the last drop to flat on the trail. In fact this was the first time I had ever done this drop as it is about 4 feet to complete flat, kind of crappy way to end the trail (it will get changed some time soon), but I finally did it today.

I rode out to Shotgun and then down to the car. A great ride as a proud papa.

The Exorcism

I had a good idea that today was going to be the last ride I can go on before my wife gives birth to our first-born child. My wife has a pretty good idea that the baby is going to come soon but not in the time that it would take for me to go for a quick spin up to the Woodlot. I had just happened to have been watching a very, very good Mtn. Biking film that morning……..The Collective. My favorite scenes are Hawaii and the North Shore, especially the Wade Simmons scenes on the Shore. The music is perfect for these two scenes; the light happy music for Hawaii (Sunday Jen) and the cool jazzy track for the North Shore (Life in the Rain). All I can say is that Wade is the smoothest rider I have ever seen. Watching how he flows and pumps along a trail styling everything his tires touch has to inspire one to try and mimic him.

So with the sounds and images of The Collective fresh in my mind, I headed to the Woodlot on what had to be one of the wettest days of the year. I am used to the west coast rain as I have lived here my whole life, but today was one of the wettest I had seen in quite a while. I had a few ideas about what my route was going to be, but once I was headed up the hill I nailed down a nice quick flowing route for my (wet) ride today.

Blood Donor to Giant Killer and then over to Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. Blood Donor is now a trail that I hit virtually every time I go for a ride and The Woodlot nowadays. I just cannot get enough of it. It has flow, top to bottom…tones of it. I knew I was the only guy on the hill at the time as there were no tracks on the trail up and there were no other cars in the parking area so I played it safe during my ride. Giant Killer was next and it flowed today for me like no other day absolutely awesome. I even did a stylish dismount off a log ride mimicking Mr. Simmons. With the tunes of The Collective in my head I was smiling the whole way down the trail…… it is funny how the ultra cool jazz music so perfectly matches riding in The Woodlot.

So I jetted over to Snakes and Ladders to see what my buddy Tim had been up to over the last few days. I had not talked to him since we last rode on Tuesday so I was very eager to see what he had done. I had the song from the Hawaii scene (Sunday Jen) playing in my head. I swear I had the best ride every down my trail. She was ripping so well in the rain and it flows so well all the way to the rock faces. Tim had worked some of his wizardry on the trail at a spot where the flow used to just sort of stop. A few unsafe bar bashing tight trees were removed and an old short logride was re-established. The short ladder approach that places you on the log is like magic and perfectly sets you up for a nice drop of the log back onto the trail. I swear it was like he worked an exorcism on the trail resulting the perfect line the just flows. I stopped and dismounted off my bike after this new little feature and ran back to have a closer look. It was like this thing just belonged there naturally. Ultra sweetness. The rest of the trail was just a quick rip to the bottom and then a nice quick ride over to Shotgun.

Shotgun was really good. I was still on my high from ripping Snakes and Ladders so as usual Shotgun was a blast. I ran into 2 guys that were out walking their dog and having a look at the trails. They were riders but decided to just walk the trials to have a look at the building on the trails. I pointed them in the right direction as they had never really been there before and I was on my way to finish my ride. By this time now, there were a few cars in the parking area so I wasn’t to be the only one enjoying The Woodlot today.

All I can say is I had an absolutely fantastic ride that will take a few days to down from the high.

First Tracks

Well, it has been more than a week since I last went for a ride. In fact I have been going riding regularly (at least once a week) for the last year....except when I have been injured. Tonight was a quick ride after work with Tim. I left work at 4pm and loaded up the bike when I reached my house and arrived at the Woodlot by 10 to 5. Tim had already arrived and was playing with his rear derailleur. It appears that he needs a new chain as it is skipping like a double dutch rope team.

So we decided to start to make our way up the hill but when we got to a section that we could pedal, Tim's chain decided it would keep skipping, so he had to walk the whole way up while I pedaled. We had a good talk about life and issues on the way up to the trail head. It is pretty cool how guys can talk about their lives when we go biking......the ride/hike/walk up to the trailhead allows you time to get to know your friends quite well.

So we decided that we would just go up to Mandatory Caution/Fluffy Kitten then Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. I really wanted to leave enough time for Snakes and Ladders as Tim has been spending a fair amount of time this last week building on his own. I wanted to have enough time to enjoy and ogle at the new work on Snakes. So, Mandatory Caution........lets just say that there is a very good reason that almost nobody knows about this trail. It is in total disrepair. All the logrides are green and slippery monsters of destruction. 50% of the ladders are rotten and the trail has a fair amount of blowdown. All I can say is that I will not ride it again until there is a tonne of work done to it. On a positive note, we know for a fact that there has not been any work done on the trail for years and we did find some abandoned tools that we could put to good use, so we may relocate them to a trail where they will be used regularly.

Once we were at the bottom of that trail we made our way to Snakes and Ladders. Tim has over last week, done number of things to the trail on his own. The first of the features are the 'Twin Bridges' that cross the first 2 creeks just as you start to the trail head. These 2 crossing have been needed since the first day we started building and they are sweet. From the perfect positioning of the rock on the approaches to the way they turn to the close spacing of the rung, these 'Twin Bridges' are near absolute perfection. My hat goes off to you Tim, very, VERY well done.

Once we got to the real trailhead I started the rip down the trail. It is one of the few rides I have done on the trail in the total wet since we have been concentrating on drainage and making the trail flow and rip. I am really happy with the way it is draining and just ripping in general. I was able to pedal all the way to the new drop so I am pleased at how the 'temporary' approach is working (it may just stay this way with a little more dirt work). All the way to the 'Snakes Jump' I just ripped the trail non-stop with a huge grin. Another new feature that Tim had recently made was a small dirt hit off a root that sends you across the trail like a hip jump. I was not able to hit it with the right amount of speed, but I can really see this being a cool hit when ridden right.

We then made our way down the trial to the next bit of work Tim had completed recently. It is the exit off the logride. The way that we had previously constructed the exit, people were just skidding across the trail and creating a big rut that we were needing to build up with rock. Tim however had a new vision for this section. Instead of rocking in the section and hoping for the best, he extended the wooden roll down section and made a small berm. He also extended and existing bridge that is used for the easy route around the log ride. It turns out that I was the first guy down this new section, I made the first tracks. One word describes the new section SWEET. In fact I cannot describe how sweet this section is to ride now. It starts with a nice long log ride then a super sweet curvy ramped exit that just shoots you over 2 creek crossings. This is what it is all about.......when things just come together and you get this super rush in the stomach of just riding a heavenly section like this. Absolute perfection.

Tim posing for a photo on his recent wood work.

We finished the ride on Snakes, having a quick look around at the end of the trail, then ventured over to Shotgun. On the way there we met up with 3 guys that were out for a quick spin (Hoots, Quickhit and Shotgun). One of the guys had just bought a new Norco Shore with 888 forks and was one very happy rider. So a quick blast down Shotgun and out to the cars. At the logging road crossing on Shotgun, there have been a few changes as there is now a ditch at the end of the log, the loggers we very kind in that they placed several logs across the ditch so that we can safely make our way across.

At the cars, Tim and I got the numbers of the guys that we saw on the trails because it turns out that they do some night riding up at the Woodlot and both Tim and I would really like to start night riding. I always say that the more people on a ride the merrier and when you night ride, it is even better.

In all, it was a short ride, but to have the distinction of making first tracks on such a perfect piece of trail work is an honor.