Easter Surprises

Sunrise at The Woodlot.

I just had to pause and take a picture on the way up at QuickHit where I also did a little work today.

Riding the steep ladder on QuickHit

After some building I rode QuickHit then made my way higher up the hill. My first lap took me down Stove Top and then over to Heckyl and Jeckyl. This was the first time ever riding down Stove Top and overall it is a fun little rip that flows well.

Heckyl and Jeckyl was alright for me today, but I avoided all the big jumps as I was riding alone and just didn't feel the mojo needed for the big stuff but the turns and woodwork were enough for me today.

I then made my way up for my second lap that started the descent at Tsuga. A few days earlier there had been a rather sudden hail storm in the area and it left several inches of wet snow and anything above Tusga would have been a nasty hike to get to. Judging by my tire tracks, I was the first person down Tsuga in the snow which made for a wild ride on a particular bridge that I drifted sideways across.

At the bottom of Tsuga where you make your way over to Snakes and Ladders, there was a tree down which I hope to remove the next time I am there with the saw. Snakes and Ladders was a total hoot. I met two guys on big bikes at the trail head that I chatted with for a bit then took off ahead of them. The busy riding season is close at hand and it is nice to see people out on the trails.

Over to Shotgun I went where I met up with Dave, Kenny and Jon and talked for a bit and I then departed down Shotgun with a loaded pack of heavy tools on my back.

Great ride, wicked weather and surprising amount of trail work done.

Sunday pedal to Arduum

My 'biking' day started really early today.

I first had a 9am FVMBA meeting in Chilliwack more than an hours drive from my home regarding the trails of the Fraser Valley. After an hour or so all the business was taken care of and I was on my way back home for a ride.

I decided to hit a trail I have never ridden before: Arduum. Last year this new trail was cut on Red mountain in Mission and a DH race (Arduum Challenge) was hosted by the builders. Today I thought I would see what all the hubbub is about.

The climb to the trail head is a nice open fire road climb which gave a good warm up for the steep descent the trail offered.

The picture below shows the wicked view from atop the start platform at the beginning of Arduum. I'd love to see this on a sunny day or at sunrise.

The view atop Arduum

My steed for the day was my Rune. I haven't ridden any of my other bikes since I built the Rune and it was the perfect bike for my ride today.

Arduum is steep in sections and has lots of off camber exposed root traverses and tight corners, with a few rock gardens to keep you honest. Modulation is the name of the game on this trail. I had a freaking blast riding this trail. I had been warned ahead of time by others to look out for signs that warn of drops and gaps, which I heeded on my virgin run, but I can't wait to come back and session a few sections.

The trail is amazing considering the time the builders have been on it. My hats off to their effort.

I cannot wait to come back and ride this trail again really soon.

6 Years

It has been 6 years. 6 years since I lost my brother to a car accident. Since that day I have made a conscious effort to get out for a ride and remember my brother for what he was; a thrill seeker with a passion for having fun with his friends. Mountain biking is my passion and I use it as my expression to pay tribute to my brother every year on this date.

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Tim and I managed to hook up tonight for a night ride. He picked me up and off to The Woodlot we went. He was especially stoked for this ride because he had just spent the afternoon tuning his bike and installing some new parts.

With little light to guide us, we climbed up to Karpenter in the darkness of the night. We rolled down this classic trail making our way to Blood Donor. At Donor Tim went ahead hitting almost everything in sight. I wasn't feeling the mojo so I rode most stunts but not everything. I learned a while back to listen to the inner voice.......it knows best.

We then rolled down the logging road down to Snakes and Ladders. The road is different in the dark, I had no idea where I was. At Snakes we ripped the trail like 2 kids in a candy store. The final section of the trail is holding up well, but due to the tight nature of the line, some of the trees that line the trail are showing signs of people hitting them with their bars. I have a few ideas in mind to 'protect' the trees.

At the bottom of Snakes I discovered that I was having some issues with loose spokes; so I took it mellow, as we descended down Shotgun, as to avoid a mechanical disaster.

At Tim's vehicle we chilled for a bit, enjoyed a beer and headed home with thoughts of our ride playing in our head.

March 12 is a day where I try to make every second count as you never know when it can all be taken away from you.

Sunday Bliss

Last night the clocks went forward for daylights savings so this mornings ride seemed even earlier. Sunrise and trails clear of snow; it just doesn't get any better.

Pedaling to the top was a breeze and my route down took me on Krazy Karpenter, Blood Donor, Giant Killer, Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun.

Karpenter was moist and slippy. The first long log ride was a bit of an eye opener, half way down it required a quick huck off the right ride back onto terra ferma. The upper section of Blood Donor really showed how well the Rune rips in the corners. In berms this bike is freaking amazing, it hooks up like its on rails.

Coming down, I hit virtually everything on the trails and realize now just how much a light bike can improve the ride on trails. Even the drop at the end of Giant Killer felt mellow on my bike today.

The little video below is an example of what I call 'All Mountain' riding.


With Karpenter, Donor and GK under my belt it was over to Snakes and Ladders for a mach 3 rip and then down Shotgun to my truck.

I had an amazing ride today.

Shotgun Helmet Cam Rip

I had an hour to spare so I headed to The Woodlot. I decided to make it a quickie so I pedaled up to the top of Shotgun and filmed my ride with my helmet camera. I managed to get home in under an hour round trip.

Super fun and fast rip of Shotgun @ The Woodlot on my Banshee Rune

Ledgeview

Tonight I hooked up with Mike from Abbotsford for a night ride at Ledgeview.

Mike has an extensive knowledge of the Ledgeview trails. Having him to guide me in the dark made the ride a seem like a breeze. The climb up to the top is deceiving. It is mellow at first but gets rather steep at spots. My up hill effort was rewarded with a fun smooth flowing rip down.

We climbed to the tower, and rode down Little Butt, Flintstones, Boulderdash and Autobahn.

Little Butt is smooth, flowy and rooty at spots, but over all a very mellow trail. Flintstones was rather cool with HUGE pieces of granite all over the place. Riding the trail for the first time ever in the dark is BIG eye-opener. Near the beginning of the trail all you see off your right shoulder is a VERY steep embankment and pitch black darkness. I'd really hate to go over the edge on that trail.

Then we hit Boulderdash, at a junction in the trail that was very clearly marked with some great signs. Boulderdash is just that, dashing between truck sized boulders of granite. Autobahn has a old VW bug wedged up in a tree, how it got there....nobody really knows. Also on Autobahn there was an undercut berm that was such a cool feature I had to go back and ride it again and capture it on film.

The clip is nothing special, but it shows the overhang and natural berm created by mother nature.

The rest of the ride was a mellow traverse across the hill to our vehicles.

I must say Ledgeview is a fun place to ride. The trails I have ridden have a very different flavor than what I am used to, but I really like the change of venues every now and then.

Splendid Footage

The sun was out and I had all morning to ride.

7am I left the house to hit The Woodlot. The weather was fabulous today and I had a feeling that a lot of snow had melted since last week so I was really anticipating my ride today.

The climb was completely clear of snow and the trails were in great condition all the way up. I decided today that I would give a try at filming myself riding. So I set up the camera, ran up the trail, rode down and repeated until the trail was done. The video below is the result of my efforts today.

Snakes and Ladders on my Banshee Rune.....self filmed

I had fun filming and editing the footage and look forward to giving this a go on some more trails in the future.

I did a little building today as well. I added even more rock to what I did last week.


After riding Snakes and Ladders I rode Shotgun, packed up at my truck and drove home.

The riding conditions were absolutely spectacular today and I had a wicked ride plus a great workout running up the trail and down the trail setting up the camera to capture myself on film.

Rockin' Snow Ride

Thank the heavens for the warmer/wetter weather we had over the past week. A great deal of the snow in the hills has melted making riding on the lower trails possible.

I headed to The Woodlot today with the sun high in the sky and warm breeze coming the open window of my truck. Once at the parking are there were already 6 or so vehicles from riders already on the hill. I loaded up and decided to ride/push up Shotgun as the regular route up still had far too much snow. In the trees Shotgun was all clear of snow, in the open clear cut the snow had melted to 5 inches of compact slush.

In the upper section of Shotgun 2 riders passed by me coming down at race pace. Big bikes on Shotgun = big fun.

Once I hit the road, most of the snow was gone or was well on its way to melting away. There were still areas on the road that needed to be pushed, but for the most part the climb wasn't too bad. One thing the heavy snow does on the edge of the road is snap and bend trees over onto the road. There was one tree so badly bent that it blocked the path so it needed to be cut out. I grabbed my folding saw and cut away; leaving the trail clear to ride on past. I then made my way to the trailhead of Snakes and Ladders in about 8 inches of slushy heavy snow. Any higher on the hill and the riding would be impossible. I stopped to take a picture of my Banshee Rune at the trail and then continued down from there.

2008 Banshee Rune

The top of the trail had just a little too much snow to actually ride in but a few hundred meters in and it was clear sailing. I hit a few jumps and for one I even stopped, swept the snow off the run-in with my foot and gave her hell riding down. At the bottom of the big rock faces there has always been an issue with drainage and mud accumulation. My goal today was to either get in a good long ride, or have a short ride and build for a few hours; I chose the latter. Once I parked my bike and got the necessary tools I snapped some pictures of the mud before.....and then after I had finished working.

Rocking away the mud.

Extreme Makeover - Snakes and Ladders Style

The rock I used was the rock that I spent hours and hours stacking in the summer of 2006. I knew this section was going to need a lot of rock and I used a good amount of it today. A few years ago you came to a complete stop in the mud, but now it is a super fast right hand turn over a highway of granite. This work only took me an hour and a half with no assistance needed. While building I did have 2 groups of 3 riders cruise on past thanking me for the trail work which was quite nice. One rider in particular who reads my blog (Daryl) rolled up and said..."So you must be the infamous Dean!", and my reply, "Ummm yeah?????". Daryl was with 2 other good guys out having a great old time in the snow. We chatted for a bit, I pointed them in the direction of the 'new ending' of the trail and they were on their way. It's always cool to meet people that appreciate the work that others do on the trails.

I then rode out the rest of the trail, rode down shotgun where I met up with Ewan, Dave and a different Darryl from earlier, we chatted for a bit and then ripped the remainder of the trail. At the parking area there must have been 30 cars all up the roads. The sun was shining and the riding whored were out in full effect.

I am really happy with the work I was able to get done today and I am especially looking forward to getting more work done on the trails this winter and spring.

Determination

Determination

That one single word summed up what I needed today to get a ride in. I knew that there would be snow today but I really expected there to be less and the conditions to be much better than what they were.

The photo below shows my lonely tracks in the snow on my way to Snakes and Ladders to do some trail work. You can't see my bike tires because I had to carry my bike on my shoulders. The snow was wet, slushy and 18 inches deep.

My foot steps

Deep, deep snow.

I did manage to hike to the bottom of Snakes and Ladders and remove a tree that had fallen across the trail. After that I was bagged, so I picked up my bike and carried it back down the hill.

Shotgun was barely rideable at all. In all the time I have ridden at The Woodlot, today I saw the worst riding conditions ever.

It will be a few weeks before I can really get a good ride in on my favorite trails.

My Backyard

I managed to squeeze in a ride this afternoon, that started at the end of my driveway. I'll be the first to admit that I am spoiled. At the end of my cul de sac there is a greenbelt. Within the green belt there is a walking trail that winds towards the mountains. At the end of the green belt I did a bit of road riding which lead me to another path and this is the view five minutes from my house.

The Golden Ears

I continued my ride along horse trails and walking paths until the real climb began and the snow got a little deeper. Todays ride started later in the day around the time the sun was setting and I was glad I had brought my camera with me.

My Banshee Rune with sun setting over Vancouver and the North Shore mountains on the right.

I didn't have any lights with me so when the sun had set I turned around and rode home. Lucky for me it was down hill all the way home - I even managed to catch the last quarter of the Super Bowl.

I could not ask for a better place to live and ride.

A few carbon bits for the cockpit.