It’s starting to get really hot here now. We got out early for a lap of the local DH course (I think the English word for that trail is “bollocks” but I could be wrong). After that the boys got together with some tools and went out to re-do a tech trail called “Dodge Balls.”

Through a combo of mis-use, old school building, and general wear and tear the trail was in rough shape. A little TLC and she was good to go in a few hours.

Harley likes to dig too.

Instead of riding it, we hit up another local classic called “Bucket of Blood.” Nothing spectacular, just a really nice piece of singletrack with the occasional feature thrown in because hey, it’s Canada.

Eh?

Even a wheelie drop or two.

You can’t see it with the fullface, but Andy is smilin’ under there.

Hence the nickname, Smilin’ Andy. Now look out for Harley….

Sure is a lotta Dudes in Cumberland….

Ever suck on a Dude? Ed has…

I’m not sure if that explains what Gabe got in his eye though.

Now that we’re set up in a great base of ops with the Riding Fool Hostel in Cumberland, it’s time to really get this party started.

Today we were cutting loose on the legendary Two Sheiks trail at the old Forbidden Plateau ski hill. Our old friend Mitch the Bitch was also along to help find the way.

The opening move was this little stepdown as demonstrated by Lairy Nick….

Panama had a different interpretation of the move, but he seems to have seen the light, and the dirt…

A broken finger and some scrapes…I’d say he got off light.

Some trials moto riders pointed out a new line for us to hit, so we hiked around the corner to Jake the Snake.

A couple of tight walls and gaps greeted us there.

I thought it was sort of ironic that the moto boys went around any airs, but I guess it IS good manners that they stay off the hits.

Here’s Scott exiting the wall. I like this shot lots for some strange reason. Eye of the beholder, eh?

Speaking of gaps, I manged to leave this mark with my FROMT wheel. Go figure…

Alright, back to Two Sheiks, which has “no stunts to speak of, except at the top.”

Well, I think there’s maybe a tendency to view a trail differently when you go around all the wood stuff. There was a ton of stuff on this trail, and really cool stuff at that.

For example, there was this really high skinny/stepdown combo move.

Seriously up there.

But with a nice little exit air.

There was also this funbox type of move, which sent you around a corner into some serious booters.

We spent lots of time here, especially Lairy Nick.

Then there were these two nice ladies. They left after us, hiked to the bottom, and then hiked back up before we were even half way.

Some good reasons to return. I don'[t know who is doing the work out there, but they are doing it right. Call me, I have some nails to donate…

A late lunch with a view back towards Cumberland and Comox Lake.

After lunch we got into some rad natural rock lines. Tons of singletrack, a bit of climbing, and then a few klicks of XC to get outta there. The ride ends at some nice swimming holes. Check out that mohawk.