Hail of a Ride

Thursday again, and we are definitely ahead of last year.  It was April 25th last year when we hiked in to Rainbow for the first time.  We’re driving in easily now.

However, the weather is decidedly a bit winter-ish with cold temps and hard hail.

BC weather means you just have to wait a few minutes if you don’t like what’s going on though.

For anyone wondering if they should be coming up in May for the Enduro, here’s a taste of what to expect.  You should also expect it to sell out, so maybe get signed up sooner than later.

Finally, no Thursday is complete without some kind of epic sunset.  Preferably accompanied by a cold beverage.  Mission accomplished…

Right Back At It…

There’s just nothing like new singletrack, is there? I don’t even mean new, as in freshly built (although that is always welcome). New to me is good enough.

So I figure it’s about time I got over to Rose Valley to check out a few additions that have gone in over the past few years. I’ve been hearing about them for a while.

Yeah, it’s worth the trip alright.  An instant classic.  I’m really not that into climbing, and I gotta say that this is a pretty damn good one.  It’s only about an hour and you get to enjoy views like this on the way up.

Unfortunately the sun didn’t last, so I had to settle for this view at the top.

There’s a couple of ways off the top to descend.  The more direct (and I suspect the flowier option) is called Jabbarocky, and I have yet to check out the whole thing.  Instead I chose to ride this…

This was suitably impressive enough to make sure that I came back to do it again on Easter Monday with Kurt, Jens, and Vance. A little 4:20+1 adventure.

It’s not just pretty, it’s also fairly challenging.  I see why these trails have been getting lots of underground buzz.  You even get to go underground briefly.

Vance now has to go back and ride this clean just to clear his name.   Really, overall this isn’t super hard, just steep and exposed.

At least I got to see the bottom of Jabbarocky.

Looks like there’s going to be a rematch out here to scope the rest of the ride.    It’s not too tough to find if you’re interested.  Here’s a quick map if you want to scope this one out yourself.


View Larger Map

First Ride of the Year

OK, I can let go of ski season now.  I’m never ready for the season to end.  At the end of the fall you’ll hear me say the same thing about biking.  It’s all good, the trails are prime and way ahead of this time last year.

Of course, with it being Thursday and all, we rode the ‘wrong’ way (as is traditional) and ended up coming out in the dark.

It’s going to be that kind of year, folks.  Hang on to your helmets…