Month: June 2004

The Day After

Posted on by Smoke

The day after the rain that is. 65 mm of rain in a day.

In Penticton.

That’s the second time this year already. I don’t think I’ve seen that much rain in all the years I’ve been going there, combined.

But our tents held up so no worries, eh?

Didn’t bother Sin much, either. Here he is hitting up a little booter.

Lot’s of nice rock ledges in Penticton. We went back for a repeat run on Code 4 now that the crew was getting more familiar.

Noz drops in.

Chizzer figuring it out…

For round 2 we hit up the Ellis Canyon Trail. A bit of dessert after a hard day of hucking.

The boys checking out the big cliffs.

Postcard shot.

Noz, looking up.

Koji the Wildman.

..and yours truly hangin’ it out.

5 Japanese Guys in a Van

Posted on by Smoke

I’m ba-a-a-a-ck!

Say hello to Shin, Noz, and Takeshi (left to right). You’ll also get to know Koji and Toga as we go.

This crew comes to you courtesy of longtime Cove mountain bike legend Paul Chetwynd, who runs Freeride Adventures Japan. I’ll be doing an interview with Paul later in the season so that those of you who weren’t around in the early days can find out a bit about your Canadian Mountain Bike heritage.

Hi Paul. Whatcha doin?

A typical scenic rest stop.

Ahhh, jet lag.

Finally, we’re riding. An easy one, the Rusty Muffler to start. It turns out these guys are not only pretty good, but totally psyched to improve.

OK, here’s a classic on the side of the trail.

Is the name a coincidence or what?

Happy boys.

Surfing the clay.

The end of the trail ends up in the lake. The lake is up a bit from last time. The crew was BLOWN AWAY by the experience. Then again, so am I.

So…..Round 2 on the day was the Peat Bog and Code Four. Lets see if the boys can jump.

That’s Noz, who is the editor of a major Japanese bike magazine. Strong BMX background. No worries on the Canuck singletrack.

Here’s Shin doing his first huck.

…and Koji. Total wildman, that Koji. He has a new see through bike. Crazy Japanese and their technology.

Then it rained a bit. Well, 65mm to be exact. And tons of lightning. Here we are hiding out from it.

So there you are. The first day of the trip. Penticton is such a special place.

Especially when Elvis is everywhere…

Murphy’s Day

Posted on by Smoke

OK, I think Nick and Dave are tired now.

So today is one of THOSE days. Murphy is firmly in charge.

First thing, Nick’s brake line is blown. OK, I can handle that. Let’s go to the shop. We’re late to pick up the Scots couple that we’re supposed to mee though. I thought they were from New Zealand. Oh well…

…there’s a Kiwi back at the Cove? Oh. That explains that. Well, the bike’s almost fixed. I just have to get into a fight with one of the mechanics first.

Ok, lets go get the Kiwi. Wait, the Scots are still waiting at the restraurant. Barb, you go get them. I’ll just drive over here….and get stuck in construction traffic for a while.

Ahhh. John from New Zealand. Pleased to meet ya. Where’s your bike? Back at the other bike shop.

Great.

Well, the traffic is actually worse in this direction. Sweet. Oh yeah, and that mechanic still wants to tear me a new one. Hmmm. At least this bike is in good shape. You need leg pads. Take mine. A helmet too you say? They’re at the other shop. How about I just buy one and we get the hell outta here.

Ahhh. The trail

So today we have John from New Zealand, Phil and Lynne from Scotland, and Dave and Nick from Singapore. On the agenda this morning is the Big Eye.

Welcome to Murphy’s Day, David.

Phil seemed to be taking to it a bit better. Maybe he didn’t drink as much as the rest of us did.

John is a neurologist in town for a convention. Check out the intesity. Is it just me or does this guy look a lot like Lance Armstrong?

Sometime in the forest Murphy took a hike.

Random shots of the crew stylin’ it up on some big logs.

Phil

David

Phil

John

It’s a really long trail. The camera went in the pocket for a while. Had to bring it out for this view though.

The spillway on Cleveland Dam.

So that was lap 1. Dave and Nick finally admitted defeat at this point. Pretty valiant effort on their part. Unfortunately this is where Murphy made his final appearance. The memory card on my camera crapped out when I tried to download the pics. I only lost a few shots, but what a hassle to recover the files. At least I know how to do it now. If it ever happens to you, just send me the card and a hundred bucks. It’s a pain in the ass.

John, Lynne, and Phil all were into another, so we bid the boys from Singapore adieu and hit Seymour for another lap.

Uhh, John? It’s not brain surgery, it’s mountain biking. He almost pulled this one off.

JOhn again.

Phil started to really hit his stride….

…until Murphy made yet another appearance.

Watch out for that tree.

OK, I’ve been ignoring the girl. This is Lynne on the Millenium Log.

..and again.

Lynne once more, dropping the last log on CBC.

Well, that’s it for pics. All in all, another epic week. I’m ashamed to say that I blew off the GMG ride for today, but I’m bushed. Saturday the Japanese guys get here, so it will probably be a while until the next update.

Until then…