Oh…my….god.  Looks like winter got here a bit early.

I forgot to mention a little side humour from yesterday.  On my approach into town, I got to thinking about how word had to have gotten out about a vanload of women coming to town to ride.  I was kind of wondering how many of the boys would be at the shop when I got there. 

Short answer?

All of them…

While I’m doing some housekeeping, gotta give a huge thank you to Ryders Eyewear for hooking up some fresh goggles and shades.  I really needed them today.

But back to our story.  With lousy weather in town, there is really only one option, which is to head out to the Chilcotin and see how Farwell Canyon is looking.   You can usually count on things being lots drier and warmer out there.

Oops…

Although, even with it looking a LOT like Christmas, it was still very rideable out there. Much more so than it was back in the Puddle.

While we were drifting around in the snow with some blue skies, it was still coming down in town, and the trails were apparently really slick and slimy.  We made the right call.

Yes, that’s blue sky up there.

I always wondered what the canyon would be like with snow.  Now I know.  Not bad!

A nice little wildlife encounter, with our tracks in the background. 

Much nicer than our other wildlife encounter, when Kaslo (Monica’s dog), decided to roll in some entrails that some irresponsible hunter left to fester in a garbage bag. My van still smells a bit like death. Some people really do suck.

Here’s Penny and Mallory having some fun on some classic spine lines.

And now for a new feature I like to call, “Contrast and Compare.”

First, a little bit of Utah dust, courtesy of Doerflings Rampage bike…

…and now some Chilcotin Gumbo.

Yup, we went for a Fingers run, but it didn’t work out quite the same.  Most rode it like they were all Thumbs.

Actually, I had a decent run down, but I’ve ridden here before.  It was admittedly a bit rough, and the mud was insanely sticky.  Most of the girls went over the falls when the mud jammed their front wheel solid.

Well, the top part went well.

Lunch Break!  Big thanks to our shuttle driver, Sorel.

Now more postcard shots.  Here’s Mallory.

And James.

Tough to make it to the Canyon without doing a Godsmack run.  James has made his career on this line, which is one of the most intense lines I’ve ever ridden.

Penny would agree.

And so would Monica.

Chalk one up for equality, that’s the first time I’ve seen it even on the gender ratio hitting this one.

OK, more postcard shots. Here’s Gretchen:

And Sarah:

Vicky:

And Ady:

Awwww…

They needed that nap.  Hot tub shenanigans went into the wee hours of the next day.  I’ve never seen the tub water so manky after that night, or should I say wo-manky?

Yet another epic Chilcotin ride day.