Cranksgiving – Sheep Rocks

October in the alpine! 

It’s so not cold.  Could have used some cold water to throw on these two, though.

Sheep Rocks is a pair of minor summits to the north of Apex.  It’s about a 25km ride, with a partial out and back portion.  It’s a nice mellow adventure, perfect for a nice Cranksgiving gang ride. 

Yup, that’s ice on the creek there, but it was surprisingly warm out.  I was down to shorts and a t-shirt in no time.

Here we are, at almost 7000’ asl, and it’s plenty warm and dry.  The driest summer in `07 years of record keeping around here, and this is the payoff.

A short punchy climb later and we were on the summit.  You can see the Seven Summits in the background, and the Okanagan valley below.  I hear there’s a trail down to the lake from up here, maybe I’ll have to try to find that one…

So, this is kind of weird.  I didn’t know that ladybugs hibernated up here, but there were literally thousands of them in little nooks and crannies on the summit.

No time to marvel at the wonders of nature though.  We had some alpine to shred, right Steve?

and Barb…

…and Veronica…

..and the always glum Susan.

It’s about 12km from here to the bottom, mostly down hill.  I can see why everyone is all smiles.

I can also see why Steven might have trouble staying awake after.

Luckily, he woke up in time for us to crash a Thanksgiving dinner.  Veronica looks like she’s a bit nervous in this one, but then again, if you were caught in a My Little Pony fight between Chevy and Dorothy, wouldn’t you be a bit scared?

Cranksgiving – Prologue

Steve and Susan came up early to avoid the rush on the highway, so we managed to get a lap in on the Mice this evening.  We also ran into a couple of locals.  That is the look of a man on clipless pedals for the first time…

Also a first for the 29’r.  Didn’t seem to hold him back much, though.

Here’s Susan on a sunset mission on the Skull Coaster.

…and a few seconds later for shot of the day.

Deutsche Canoe – SSC

Ahhh, the Sunshine Coast.  My favourite.  Ze Germans aren’t so sure…yet.  They’ll learn.

It doesn’t take long.  Danilo is quick to figure it out.  No dust, no brake bumps, just flat out smooth ripping goodness.

Looks more epic than it really is, but it’s this sort of lush setting and sick trail building that really rocks your world here.

With our warm-up on Mach Chicken, we went for a session on Janet’s and DMZ.  Yes, we’re sticking to the classics today.  Since I blew the focus on this shot, I’ll tell you that it’s Steve Sheldon’s Supersender, and every time you hit it, you’re giving a big middle finger to the Big C.

“F*CK CANCER”

We did that a lot on this lap.  Jorg really enjoyed that part.

Basically, we all had a turn.

No trip to the Coast is complete without a visit to Cunning Stunts.  Not really their cup ‘o tea (do Germans even drink tea?), but they were good sports.

Too bad the swivel totter is broken again.  I love watching guys fall off that thing.   Maybe next time.  Actually, considering how old this stuff is getting I was quite surprised to see how well it’s holding up.

So sexy, it hurts…

A little lunch time action at the Gumboot.

After lunch, we got a new shuttle driver so that Linden could come shred a few laps with us.  Thanks Jess, but we would have liked a run with you, too.

That Linden is a shredder.  I think he got us all fired up for some faster runs this afternoon.

Just some more postcard shots.  Gotta have a souvenir of the visit for everyone, eh?

OK, now we’re getting into it.  Again, it’s amazing that these drops are still working.

I didn’t get a shot of the one around the corner, but I think it’s something like 15 years old now, and still kinda burly.  Not massively huge or anything, but you really feel that lander.  Jorg is wiping his butt on this one.

Yow!  Danilo!

Didn’t want to hit the Stunts again, so we went over to the dirt jumps instead.  Here’s Linden going big for us.

Which got Holger and Jorg stoked for their session.

After that, we tried to get on the ferry but got skunked, so we went back for a damn average feed in Gibsons, and then found some refreshments for the apres ride.  I think Peter was tired or something.

Ahhhh…BC Ferries.  Like hanging out in someone else’s living room for 40 minutes.

That guy looks sketchy, you should make him sit apart from us…

Finally…the traditional shot of trashed riders in the van on the way back to Whistler.

My work here is done.