Singletrack Stampedin’ – Day 2b

The photo epic continues…

Now let’s see.  Where were we?  Ahhh…that’s right.  On our way to Godsmack.

More than half the ride to the big mountain lines of Farwell is actually this awesome grass and cactus area.  The girls were all learning lots about how to read lines in open terrain at high speed, and I was just plain old enjoying some good times out there.

Hard not to have a good time on this kind of day, even though the mercury was flirting with 40C at this point.

Ahhh yes.  Here’s what we came for.  I really didn’t expect anyone to ride this line today.  It’s much different in the heat of summer than in the shoulder season.  Everything is faster, and just that much more intimidating.

Luckily we had Doerfling and Jer along to show us how.

And even though none of ‘my’ ladies went for it this time, rad local Chiara popped her Godsmack cherry today, and she did it in style.

She sent this line as fast as I’ve seen it ridden.  A tip for anyone trying this one; if you’re going too fast to crash you should be good.  Chiara didn’t just style this one, she STOMPED it.

Well, it’s just too hot here to do much more, so we went back up to the Fingers for one last blast.

Ashley and Aja (the unicorn in the background) on the steeper part of the Fingers.

Bum shot of the day?  Could be…

Monica, about to take me out.  Nice position though.

Aaauuuggghhhh!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

There you go, Lidia.  That’s the steep one you were looking for.

Unicorn!

The voluptuous Mallory.

And the other contender for bum shot of the day.  Don’t make me choose, I like them all…

Lydia, making it look all too easy.

And the inimitable Annie.  Who said to me at the end of the day "I didn’t even know this level existed."  From someone who’s been charging hard her whole life, that’s a serious statement about how rad this zone really is.  Pictures and video do NOT do these trails justice.

Leanne "I Wish I’d Brought My Other Bike" Tompkins, loving it on light gear.

…and yes, Lindsay almost hit me too.  Probably just not used to riding without a big camera bag on her back.

Here’s our "guides".  Ride the Cariboo set us up with these two as our celebrity guides for the weekend, but they partied too hard at the Stampede and only made if for one run.

Look ashamed, boys….

Yeah, that was yet another all time session, and once again I’m amazed at the level these ladies are riding at.  I have always liked shredding with the girls, be it on dirt or snow, but for a long time that meant making certain concessions to the choice of trail, or how hard you go; that sort of thing.  No longer.  It’s not just that these women are beautiful (they certainly are), or that they shred hard (which they definitely do, and that just makes them hotter), it’s that they are just so damn cool.

Thanks for letting me hang out again, and we should do this again sometime.

Singletrack Stampedin’ – Day 2a

It’s hot, it’s sunny, the girls are hung over…let’s go to Farwell.

But first lets hang in the lake a bit.

Gotta make sure your eyes are protected out there too.  Thanks again to Ryders Eyewear for the shades, eh?

Due to the insanely good light and sick level of riding today, I’ve got crazy amounts of images.  So we’re splitting this post in two.  Sorta like the two tickets to the gun show that Lydia has here…

Mallory, getting a feel for the Farwell dirt in summertime.

Tha’ girls…

Another group shot.  I can’t wait to see the pics that Lindsay got.

Last year when we rode Fingers with Monica’s crew, it was the stickiest gumbo of all time.  Lots of crashes and frustration.  Today?

Total shredfest…

That’s Lidia above, and Mallory below. 

Our intrepid photographer is up next.

Lap #3, and Monica is getting her drift on.

Runner up for bum shot of the day…

It’s hard to tell with the full face, but I’m pretty sure Annie is sporting a big smile in there somewhere.

And we all KNOW that Ashley is, because Ashley is always smiling.  Nice shoelaces, too.

Liz "I Can’t Believe How Hot It Is Here" Francis…

Lidia, aka "Chesty"

The other Lydia  (yes, the names this weekend were challenging.  Looks like a lot of rad bikers have names that begin with ‘L’).

Leanne…

Ahhhh….Rose.  So much easier to remember.  She was definitely feeling that harsh crash from yesterday, but she managed a few laps with us in spite of the discomfort, and also the challenge of riding big mountain lines when you’ve got an issue with heights.  What a champ.

Annie, showing everyone why she’s been a shredder in this sport since…well since the 20th Century anyway.  Annie, damn glad to ride with you again.

Farwell, round one complete.  Next up…Godsmack!

Singletrack Stampedin’ – Day 1

Alright, let’s get this show on the road.  Thanks to Monica and Ryders Eyewear for stylin’ out the ladies…

Also gotta thank Sirel for helping load bikes, shuttling the van, and just generally being eye candy for the riders this weekend. 

If you crank up this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QwxYiVXYyVs#t=18s), this next pic is just so much better…

OK, on to the riding.  We are in town today.  Although my favourite breakfast joint is closed, there were a zillion pancake breakfasts for Stampede, so we hit up one of those and then we kind of…uh…poached the parade.  It wasn’t quite started yet, and we accidentally drove down the middle of the route.  Well, what are ya gonna do, stop a van full of chicks that ride like this?

So fun to see Annie again.  She’s obviously still shredding hard.  So is our new friend Leanne.

So if you take a line of girls and send them off this jump like so:

Then if the first one sorta crashes you end up with this:

Luckily, nobody got seriously mangled.  Although our English Rose did get a pretty gnarly raspberry…

That was our cue to take a break, and head on over to the westside for some Snakes and Ladders…and cows.

I missed a great action shot here.  Suffice to say, we could tell it’s still springtime from the actions of the bull.

Alright, on to more riding.  Aja was killin’ it as always.

Monica and all the other girls weren’t exactly slacking off either.

Had to do a bit of a photo sesh on the sky berms.  That zone is a ton of fun.   The best layout of government funds I’ve seen in a long time.

Get up there Leanne!

I love this next one of Aja.  Check the angle of the head.  THAT’S anticipating the turn.

Lindsey is here on assignment for NSMB.com, and I got the impression that she doesn’t ride as much as the rest of the group.  No problem, she’s game to shred all of it, and with a big camera in the pack that’s not exactly easy.

Annie might have a "wee bum," but those are some big hips she’s showing there…

The last part of the new Snakes n’ Ladders line is the steeps into the canyon.  Hard to shoot in here, but here’s a taste…

You’ll just have to go there and see for yourself, I guess.

Was that a good day ladies?

Good, because it ain’t over yet.  Time to go to Let Her Buck!

Yep, we’re partying at the Saloon tonight.  Them city girls dress up real purdy, don’t they?

I was the DD tonight, but trying to dance to the band in cowboy boots in a sea of crushed beer cans made it seem like I’d had a few.  Now I know why comboys walk that way.  Those boots are tippy…

…and those girls are all on stage.  Nice work.

That was a long day, and tomorrow looks hot.  Good thing we bugged out at a reasonable hour, because we gotta go to Farwell in the morning….