Finding Flow

So this morning I was up with the chirping birds....again. Doing a Han ride. You know....Han Solo.

I drove out to Bear Mountain again to get in a little more DH track time and see where I am time wise on a top to bottom run.

It is amazing the lines you discover while walking up a trail. I now understand why walking a track is so important to racing. Once I was at the top I geared up, started the watch and rode the trail top to bottom. I had a reasonably clean run, was a little tired at the end but flowed the sections sections I had been practicing last week really well. My time was a little slower than I had really expected, but it was faster than my race run last year, I had just completed the climb, and was wearing my water pack with tools and gear.

I then pushed back up 2/3rds of the trail to get another couple turns dialed in. On my initial walk up I saw a sweet outside line on a turn that let me stay off the brakes and I just had to give it another go. You just gotta love flow.

So by this time it was only 8am but I had my fill of Bear, so I headed to The Woodlot.

Once there I immediately started my climb up. I ran into some trail runners that were running on some of the lower trails. Funny thing is, I was pushing my bike up a nasty trail with my water pack and full gear as fast as they were running up (I guess I am actually in okay shape for a mid 30's guy).

I pushed up to John's new trail and put on my helmet for the ride down. Even though it is a fall line trail that eats up precious vert really quickly, I really like the trail.

I then rode over to Snakes and Ladders which ripped quite well and then over to Bloggy Style. Riding the Legend on these trails is a touch overkill, but it really shows that the bike is versatile as a DH bike and can be ridden on the skinnies. PLUS it gets me used to pedaling in rocks an roots with a low BB height.

Bloggy has seen better days, but it is still rideable and it actually makes you use your bike's suspension and skills to ride fast. Straight into Shotgun for a rip down to my car and I was on my way home around 10am.

Overall I had a great ride and had some good training for racing.

It all comes down to flow.

Bear Session

So I arrived at Bear Mtn with one goal. To get the trail dialed in my head and figure out lines for the race later this month.

Well I spent four and a half hours sessioning different sections from the top down.

I now have my lines picked and ingrained in my head. It was the 2nd time on the new 2010 Boxxer World Cup and I am rather impressed. Also the I9/Flow wheels were noticeably lighter and made the bike accelerate faster than ever before. The Legend felt great.

34.6 lb Legend Installation Lap

So my Legend has been transformed into a light weight DH machine.

34.6 lbs is its weight in full trim for DH riding. If I were to ride a super rocky course I'd change wheels to my heavier duty set-up, but as the bike sits now, I will ride MOST DH tracks in current spec.

The major recent changes to my bike have been new wheels and a Rock Shox 2010 Boxxer World Cup and a set of I-9 wheels with Stans ZTR Flow rims.

I've done many things to lighten my bike but these two parts have made the biggest overall difference that noticeably improve the ride and handling of the bike. To say I am impressed is an understatement. The instant acceleration or the ease in which the bike can be tossed around is incredible.

The trail that I always ride as the installation lap is Goldmine at The Woodlot. This trail has all the elements of a great DH oriented track. The fork is amazingly tunable and the wheels feel so damn light it is incredible. When matched to Super Tacky Maxxis Minion UST Tubeless tires, you feel like you can ride on or over anything.

I then rode Snakes and Ladders which was a hoot and stopped at one point to do a little trail work. After finishing up Snakes, I ventured left towards the powerlines to see how far the Trans Canada Trail work had gone. To my surprise, it appear complete. The road at the bottom of Snakes now links up 'easily' with the powerlines which is the new north arm of the Trans Canada Trail.

I then went up to Bloggy which is turning into a nice fast rugged line and then straight into Shotgun. I must say, light bikes sure fly easy. I found myself over shooting trannys and entering corners much hotter than normal.

I had an eye opening rip of a ride and could not be more pleased with the performance of my Legend Mk1.

2009 Race the Ranch - Day 2

Race day.

I did one pre-run of the course and felt comfortable top to bottom but to be honest I just didn't feel FAST!! It was hot, windy and dusty which is typical for Kamloops so the course was fast and loose.

My race run went okay but I seemed to be holding back a little and because of this, my race time was not a good as I had hoped.

I'll be back next year for another stab at The Ranch.

Me caught mid air on the lower part of the course.
Photo courtesy of Dave Mackie

2009 Race the Ranch - Day 1

Once again I attended the Race the Ranch in Kamloops. One year older and a new bike to ride on a dry dusty course in Kamloops.

The day for me started early at 5:30am so as to have an easy relaxed drive up. On arriving in Kamloops I got myself a coffee, went and signed in for the race and then headed over to Rob's place to get our bikes ready for the race.

By 10am we were both at the race course and doing some practice runs getting used to the changes made to the course. There weren't really any features that I didn't want to hit but there were some lines that were a lot faster than other, so getting them right was imperative.

I followed Connor down the DH course to get a good handle on the course and footage to review later that night.

Race the Ranch DH 2009

Later in the afternoon Bryan, Rob, Karaleen, Conner and I did a few laps of Harper Mountain which was a hoot to say the least. Video below.

Harper Mountain

I then hooked up with the Trident Banshee team and did a few runs of the course with them. I was really the first time I had met these guys and the first time I has seen another Banshee bike.

Jay from Banshee was at the bottom of the course snapping photos and took a few of me.


Then after all this, I went to Rob's place for beers and a BBQ. I went to bed with a full belly and a mind completely consumed with thoughts of the race the next day. Rob provided good times and was a great host.

The Loops

This long weekend was spent with Rob and his family at his place with two other couples and everyone's kids. 8 adults and 8 kids in one house. At some points it was a gong show, but a great time was had by most everyone this weekend.

A rather loaded car

Happy kids=Happy parents

Bikes for Daddy and a buddy to ride.

The girls had their day out spending time at the spa, having lunch and shopping and then boys had a day golfing and SHUTTLING in the hills of Kamloops.

We were able to get in 2 full runs which included Rio Escondido and Broken Shoulder.

I have yet to ride a trail that has more flow than Rio. Absolutely awesome!

A BIG thank you to Rob and Tara for hosting us and I cannot wait to get back up to Kamloops some time soon to ride the trails again with Rob.

After work rip

I managed to get out after work for a quick rip at the woodlot. On the Legend I climbed up to Cabin trail up to the snow line and rode down from there. The trail is in fabulous natural gnarly shape and was a blast to ride.

I then rode to Snakes and Ladders on the easy line of the whole trail to make sure all was well along the ride around line. Thankfully nothing at all needs any work.

Then it was over to Shotgun for a fast blast down the trail in the light of the setting sun. Almost nothing beats an after work rip on some flowy trails.

It's OPEN

Tim and I met early at The Woodlot today. I was on the Legend and Tim on his Six. We climbed up to the top and rode down Krazy Karpenter and discussed some building options for the trail and how we would go about the work that is needed.

After Karpenter the plan was to ride Tsuga, but we saw a sign on ground written in pine cones saying "OPEN", so we figured we would ride the 'new trail' that is now open next to Tsuga. I'm not quite sure what it is called, but it is a fun flowy fall line trail that is fresh cut and has a few gnarly rock faces as well as a big drop on it. Not really knowing the line, I had a little mishap on one of the rock faces and cut up my knuckles, but overall I had fun riding this new line. I likely won't be riding it a lot as it is a little short length wise for the climb required, but when I need a gnarly rip, it is the one to hit at The Woodlot now.

At the bottom of this new trail we ran into some familiar faces (Dave, Cory and Bryan). We chatted for a bit then Tim and I headed up Goldmine trail. Once we hit snow we ripped down the trail all the way without hesitation. I'd just had my fork worked on by James of Suspension Werx and my god what a difference he made to my Boxxer WC. PLUSH and SMOOOOOTH. The Legend feels like a rocket ship.

At the bottom of Snakes and Ladders we noticed the road was extra clear of debris on the road which was nice. It seems someone has cleaned up the road a little. So up and over to Shotgun it was and it was a game of cat and mouse all the way down with a slight pause half way down.

At the cars we met up with a bunch of people that we had ran into during the ride (Dave, Cory, Bryan and a group from Maple Ridge Cycle) and shot the shit with everyone before we left.

Tim and I had a good ride and were able to chat a lot about the trails, building and riding. Lots of new lines were explored and lots of good things are on the horizon. The desire to get out on the trails to build and ride hasn't been stronger in me for a long time. I am really looking forward to the spring and summer season.

Opening it up

So I hit the Woodlot this morning in the rain. I took an axe with me so that I could cut some trees out in certain spots and then stash it on the trail.

When I arrived at 9am there were a couple cars but nobody to climb with, so I set off up the hill solo on my Legend. I stashed the axe at the Snakes and Ladders trail head and decided to see how far the snow had receded up the hill, so I pushed up Cabin trail until I hit the snow. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the trail is clear of snow on the lower 75% of the line. Nothing until the first bridge on the trail. While pushing up, I did find some interesting lines on the trail that proved to be a blast to ride when my bike was finally pointed down hill. Thankfully the trail was all clear of deadfall and was a total rip to ride. Cabin trail is what I normally use as a base line measuring stick for any new bike I get. If it rides well on Cabin then I know it will ride well practically anywhere. I already knew well ahead of time that the Legend would ride well on Cabin but what surprised me was that in spots where I'd usually just be able to let off the brakes and hang on for dear life, I was able to pedal and confidently ride the trail significantly faster than I ever have on any bike. I'm just now getting used to riding trails at what I consider stupid fast speeds.

By the time I was at the clear cut I was in a total downpour and hail. The weather sucked. So back into the forest it was and down to Snakes and Ladders with the axe to open up the new reroute a little bit.

The reroute that was started a few weeks ago is now 80% rocked in but the entrance to it sucked until today. I moved a log that was blocking the entrance to the line which now makes the line flow a lot better. With a chainsaw I will be doing a little more magic and then I'll shape some dirt, rock a little more and the line will be done. The flow of this line will be significantly improved when I am done and just in time for the spring and summer masses that flock to The Woodlot when the weather improves. I am pleased with how the reroute is coming together.

After cleaning up and gathering the tools, I set off down the trail and over to Shotgun to go home.

On the way down Shotgun I noticed the front end of my bike was feeling harsh and I was getting bounced around. At my car I compressed the fork a few times and noticed I was only getting 4" of travel and then the fork got stiff. Looks like I need to have it worked on. [EDIT] I took my fork ('08 Boxxer WC) to Suspension Werx and it turns out I ripped an o-ring in the rebound cartridge and the fork dumped all its oil into the lower chamber.

Over all a good little ride with some building thrown in there for good measure.

Playing in the woods

This morning I got out of bed with the rising sun and headed out the door with the wife and kids still sound asleep.

My ride today started at Bear Mountain in Mission. I headed to the top on my Banshee Legend with a few cameras in my pack and a body full of stoke for the ride. I experimented a little with the filming today one camera on the bike and another on my helmet. The result is the video below.

My ride at Bear was done by 10am and back at the parking lot there were a dozen or so people just getting ready to hit the trails but I was on my way to go for another ride but this time at The Woodlot.

Upon arrival at The Woodlot I saw some buddies of mine (Dave, John and their wives), so I hooked up with them for the climb. On the climb, Dave and I talked about this and that and of course bikes. Unfortunately I only had time to ride a couple of the lower trails so I split off from them early and wish them a safe ride.

I hit Bloggy Style, which I am beginning to really like and then onto Shotgun which is was a total blast. The Legend has certainly enabled me to ride a lot faster than I ever have before. Knowing I have a bike with capabilities that exceed my riding abilities allows me to push harder and ride faster with complete confidence in my equipment. I just love playing in the woods on this bike.