Mr & Mrs. Marmalade – 10

Well, after a very warm and enjoyable passage, we’re on the Sunshine Coast, which means…Cunning Stunts!

Also, unlike earlier in the year, the SSC is living up to it’s namesake.  Hot and sunny.  Which is why Redneck Jeff is doing his best sweaty cantaloupe impression.

Yvonne finally fulfills one of her fantasies on this trip. 

The Flying Cantaloupe.

Followed by some Flying Marmalade.

This is turning out to be a great idea for ending the trip.  Ultra nice conditions, maybe just a little on the dry side but still super rad.

Keep those tips up…

Jeff, at the other extreme.

It’s a funny little log hop, as it’s on an angle. Not large, but the first time you see the thing it sorta messes with your head.  Which is why we stopped and took pics.

So much for the kind and sensitive hippies.  They can mock with the best of them…

The forest fires inland are obscuring our view of Vancouver Island, but no worries.  The water is warm.

Although you wouldn’t know it from the way Al gets in the water.  It’s like he took swimming lessons from Diego (in the pic above, it’s a cat/water reference…oh never mind).

More tourists.  We unfortunately missed the Gray Whale that was hanging around.  It was hanging around this beach the day before.

Arbutus menziesii.

No visit to the SSC is complete without some time at the Gumboot.

Mr & Mrs. Marmalade – 9

DIGGER! 

Yep, back in the old ‘hood today.  A little lap on Fromme on our way to the Sunshine Coast.

First up is 7th Secret.  Upper Oilcan looks in need of some serious love, and 7th is in great shape, so that was an easy choice.

Mind you, that climb took some doing.  I don’t think you get a lot of practice on the 1800’ climbs back in Bristol.

Yet somehow the Brits manage to slay the log rides.  Go figure.

Random artsy shot of some fungus.

Since we saw Digger, we had to hit Ladies Only.  He’s put about 300 hours into Ladies this year, and it shows.

The old Bart Bridge still stands.  Hi Bart!

One of many new boardwalk sections.

The swamp teeter and the accompanying heron are also still there, over 15 years later.

More uphill…

Natural High was also recently rebuilt.  Here’s a good stunt, a swivel totter.  3 times is the charm, right Al?

Some more Natural High.

The last trail was the Imonator, which has been totally rebuilt recently.  How rad is this?

Genuinely skinny, too.

Ahh, a nice sunset on a warm summers eve.  This was, embarrassingly, the “warmest passage I’ve ever experienced.”  Well, you can figure out what I meant…

Mr & Mrs. Marmalade – 8

Last day in the Okanagan, and the effort of the trip is beginning to tell.  Plus, it’s genuinely hot today.  So let’s do something thoroughly tourist-y and ride the KVR through Myra Canyon.

This is the famous section of trestles and tunnels that was destroyed by fire back in 2003.

They’ve since restored it, and now it’s a favourite place to ride bikes, walk dogs, train for Ironman, etc.

It’s a nice little diversion, and it’s also a lot cooler up here than the 33C in the valley.

Anyway, it’s very scenic, even if somewhat dull to ride.

At least it’s not uphill.

Of course, it’s not down hill either, but we only did about 16km of it before dropping in to some great singletrack back down to Kelowna.

Yes, there’s plenty of singletrack to access off this section of KVR.

Get a room…

Definitely some epic light today in the Crawford Canyon.

Yes, we’re still on run #1 today.  I think it turned into something like 35km.

Not like it was some kind of death march or anything, but it was pretty long.

ANOTHER viewpoint?  OK, we’ll take another break.

After a hot lunch at the Eldorado (and I mean hot.  35C on the patio), we went to Gillard for a couple more laps.  Yvonne on a teeter…

This was a good warmup for the next few days, as we are heading to the North Shore and the Sunshine Coast for the last part of the tour.

OK, so you can’t hit ‘em all.  I think Yvonne would have hit this if we hadn’t been sorta tired out already.

Al and I cranked off one more fast one on the same lap before calling it quits.

While Yvonne waited for us and managed to snap this pic of doe and fawn.