Cat Sass – Day 2

Posted on September 3, 2011September 28, 2011 by Smoke

Frost? No way…that’s ICE!

It’s just a blip. There’s still plenty of summer left. Besides, we gotta fly today.

Just a little shout out to the sponsors. Dakine… you guys rule.

While this is mostly a ladies trip, the guys couldn’t pass up a chance to shred Powerslave with a big crew on such a luscious and bluebird day. Ummm…which one is Beavis?

Lindsey, with her “Squirrel on Acid” grin.

Flying over some old growth.

This place really is the Cat’s Ass.

Some more props to Retallack Lodge.

It took a few trips, but here ya go. The first heli lady laps from Toad Mtn.

Marie-Cat… getting her epic on.

Lindsey, stylin’ as always.

Galena negotiates some high altitude driftwood.

Ummmmm….. did I mention that I kind of like riding with the girls? Can you guess why?

Here, have another postcard shot.

I’m sorta bummed I missed the focus on this one, cause it’s a rad one. These are the PG chicks, and they freakin’ SHRED. Which is why we’re changing the spelling to “Pgnarly.”

This trail has a bit of everything, as I think I may have mentioned. Here’s Meg on a fairly long bridge.

A couple hours in, and we’ve only dropped a thousand feet. When does this thing start going down?

How about now?

It all makes sense now.

Far fewer shots now that we’re actually shredding. Just time for a classic angle.

OK, maybe one more… RETALLACKA!

Literally hours later, but with very little standing around, Meg gets to the bottom of things. But WAIT! We’re not done yet…

OK, now we’re done.

Gotta have some cold ones to finish a ride like that. Although it would have been nice if you’d have let me down from the top of the van. I’m not THAT bad…smelling.

Of course, one Caesar led to another, and on the drive back there were a couple of “rest stops”. I wanted to get another panorama shot from the roof of the van of the action, so to speak, but girls are so quick. I didn’t even get on the roof of the van and they were all done. Oh well, perhaps another time.

Cat Sass Retreats
Retallack Lodge

Cat Sass – Day 1

Posted on September 2, 2011September 23, 2011 by Smoke

Here’s a welcome change of pace. Instead of an endless succession of what amounts to bike themed stag parties, how about getting some ladies into the act for a change?

Enter Cat Sass, the brainchild of one Galena Pal. More than just a bit of riding with the girls it’s more of a retreat sort of atmosphere, complete with yoga, nutrition, and other myriad explorations of the feminine mystique that ham handed boy bikers like myself could never hope to comprehend.

Except that because of a dearth of qualified personelle I would be riding along. Oh my..Luckily one of the other guides is our pal Lorraine, so at least I would get berated by someone that I’m already familiar with.

The early part of the weekend was a skills sesh in the parking lot, so I only lurked in the background to try to get a handle on some abilities. They all cleaned the basics, which included the newly constructed Knuckle. The girls all cleaned it, so it looked like we were good to go.

The riders experience ranged from “just bought a downhill bike…”

…to “own my own bike shop…”

…to “I may not be as young as I was yesterday, but I refuse to get old.”

I’m not saying the inside of the van smells any better…just different.

Oh…special stoke! Lindsey Voreis is the other coach. Funny that it took this long for our paths to cross, but I’m glad they finally did. Kirt and Lindsey are suddenly two of my favourite riders to hang out with. Very fun to be around, and both just such solid and relaxed people on and off the bikes.