‘Ooligans — Day 2

First off, congrats to Lance. Poor Basso. He looked sad.

OK, now on to the trip. About the last update, I did that at 1 am after another epic day so I may have forgotten a few things.

This is the part of the post where I drop names. We rode Whistler with Wade, Schwarzie, Bourdon, and Shaums. We also saw Schley, Lopes, Watson, JJ, Dyer, and a load of others. We also got to ride with two time Olymipic medallist (moguls) Ryan Johnston. Homie can ride a bike pretty good.

Enough wanking, on to the pics.

Did I mention that Ticket to Ride BC has the best lodgings in Whistler?

A good cabin does farkall for a hangover though.

Oh well, a five hour drive to Williams Lake will cure that. When we got there the first guy we see is “Grandpa” from Back in the Saddle fame.

After a stop into the local eatery, the Gecko Tree, and the local shop, Red Shreds, we hit the trails.

The first run was Hillbilly, an inbred abomination of rickety crap stunts. The opener is a teeter made of twelve foot twigs. You’ll have to wait for the vids to see that. Pure comedy.

Anyway, this hit here is where the boys started to ramp it up. Barb on her virgin run at it.

Run two really set the tone for the rest of the trip. We went over to Snakes and Ladders for a blast. It’s a huge collection of ‘lovely’ skinnies and hits.

Here Rocket balances a teeter.

Here’s Rocket blowing it on same.

Then we hit the Cherry Popper. Our assistant Nelly earned a new nickname with this move. Say hello to “Gnarly Bird.”

Then I found about a certain tradition amongst these ilthy blokes. When Chaos committed a beer crime, I launched into the Alexander Keiths “Lake of Beer” tirade. Suddenly Chaos runs up the hill towards the highway.

“Where’s he off to then?”

“Oh, he spilled his beer so he has to wave his cock at traffic.”

Rig-g-g-h-h-ht. That set the tone alright.

Happy boys at the end of the day.

Odds and Ends

It’s definitely summer now. Had a bunch of riders through this week, barely leaving me time to recuperate after the Japanese trip.

Barb got me good when I fell asleep answering the loads of email I got while I was away. I think peach looks pretty good on me.

Frank and his daughter Adrienne from Ottawa showed up for a tour. Unfortunately, Adrienne was having a substandard day, mostly due to the bike not suiting her much. I tried to get a good shot of her, but none of them were very flattering so I “lost” them.

Frank on Pangor.

The next day I hooked up with some old school regulars for a bit of locals only action. This was taken within an hour of downtown Vancouver. That’s all I can tell you.

After that, some Hawaiians came to call. We did a Seymour run.

More CBC shots.

We also checked out some new stuff on Seymour. Not quite finished yet, but some great potential.

The exit needs a bit of work.

Only a few days left until the UK crowd gets here. Maybe one more update and then I’ll be MIA for another week or so.

5 Japanese Guys in a Van

I’m ba-a-a-a-ck!

Say hello to Shin, Noz, and Takeshi (left to right). You’ll also get to know Koji and Toga as we go.

This crew comes to you courtesy of longtime Cove mountain bike legend Paul Chetwynd, who runs Freeride Adventures Japan. I’ll be doing an interview with Paul later in the season so that those of you who weren’t around in the early days can find out a bit about your Canadian Mountain Bike heritage.

Hi Paul. Whatcha doin?

A typical scenic rest stop.

Ahhh, jet lag.

Finally, we’re riding. An easy one, the Rusty Muffler to start. It turns out these guys are not only pretty good, but totally psyched to improve.

OK, here’s a classic on the side of the trail.

Is the name a coincidence or what?

Happy boys.

Surfing the clay.

The end of the trail ends up in the lake. The lake is up a bit from last time. The crew was BLOWN AWAY by the experience. Then again, so am I.

So…..Round 2 on the day was the Peat Bog and Code Four. Lets see if the boys can jump.

That’s Noz, who is the editor of a major Japanese bike magazine. Strong BMX background. No worries on the Canuck singletrack.

Here’s Shin doing his first huck.

…and Koji. Total wildman, that Koji. He has a new see through bike. Crazy Japanese and their technology.

Then it rained a bit. Well, 65mm to be exact. And tons of lightning. Here we are hiding out from it.

So there you are. The first day of the trip. Penticton is such a special place.

Especially when Elvis is everywhere…