Month: June 2007

Heli Treat

Posted on by Smoke

After showing George around the local trails, he decided to return the favour with a gratis ride in a helo. He’s taking a mountain flying course in Penticton, so he’s got some hours to fill. In spite of the Pixies t-shirt, I took him up on the offer (punk rock and pilots……hmmmmmmmmm).

Another average day in the Okanagan, as we head out over Skaha Lake.

This is Penticton, looking south from Okanagan Lake to Skaha in the distance.

George didn’t do all the flying. After doing a recce overflight of Ellis Canyon, the instructor took the controls and put on a clinic of how to fly through tight spaces.

This is one tight canyon. At times, it was less than one rotor width to either side. The guy is so smooth, you felt like you were cruising Main Street.

Now if I can only convince them to drop me off at the top of Snowy Mtn. with my bike…

Local Classic

Posted on by Smoke

I’ve been trying to hit a few certain local trails ever since I moved up here, but due to a relutance to pedal exhibited by most of my riding partners, I haven’t managed it. There’s also the issue with weather. If I’m going to do a 13 km climb, I don’t really want it to be 35C out.

Luckily, Geoff Pendrell was in town this weekend and he called me up for an XC romp. Geoff is one of the more talented all round racers in Canada, able to win in any discipline, so neither his skills or fitness were in question. Compared to that guys resume, I’m the one to be in question., but no matter, I was determined to hit up the McDougall Rim today.

Oh and it was raining slightly, and George (who will be joining us o the Wade Tour later this summer) was also coming along.

The climb wasn’t too bad. It started off with one really steep pitch, but for the most part it was steady middle ring stuff.

A few extended granny ring efforts for sure, and it got a bit tougher up higher, but with the cool weather it was actually a pretty decent climb of about 90 minutes or so.

Near the top, the trail switched from double to singletrack, and the first view was a true eye opener.

We could just see Bear Creeek below us, and the ridgeline extending off to the east. The big trees and misty conditions made me feel like I was back on the coast. Here’s George, a bit awestruck by the experience.

The singletrack that followed was spectacular. Nothing tech, just great flowy smooth trail with some uphill sections that were actually fun. Yes, you heard me, fun uphill. Really.

After another 20 minutes of rolling trail that was slightly more up than down, we kicked over into the descent. Lots and lots of descent. It hardly ever got steep, so it rolled for a long, long time. Excellent singletrack, the kind that would be a bit more fun on a DH bike, but that you can go stupidly fast down on anything.

Oh and also tons of clifftop viewpoints on the way. The final descent was a wide open blast down some bermed up hyperspeed. I haven’t gone this fast since Prevost on the Island earlier this spring.

Totally wicked ride, a true classic. I doubt I’ll be up there until after summer, but I’m definitely doing that one again.

FRESHIES!!!!

Posted on by Smoke

Well its about fricken time, wouldn’t you say? We’ve been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for all the pieces of the puzzle to come together in one place to make this happen, and let me tell ya…it’s been worth the wait.

I’m rockin’ the Knolly Delerium T in yellow this year, while Barb is stylin’ in her trademark pink on the V-Tach.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………..flava.

We’ve only had ’em built up for a day and already we’re racking up the vert. 1st impressions are stellar. These could be the raddest bikes that we’ve ever run on, and in Barb’s case she’s sure that if she’d had this bike when she was racing, it would have been a whole different ball game (like she didn’t win enough races back then).

Oh, and to complete the Freshie agenda, we’ve also managed to get our apres ride suite together.

Why aren’t you here?

Gotta give huge props to Kurt at Freedom for putting up with me in his shop, the kids at the Bike Barn for coming through with the final pieces, Noel for building the best frame ever (and scoring me three years worth of bikes), and a special shout out for Tyler Morland at SRAM for coming through when it mattered most. Anyone else would have lost their cookies at least twice over the shipping carnage on this one, and he managed to not only keep his suave demeanor intact, but to come through with the goods when we needed it most.