Drops A Lot

Mr & Mrs. Marmalade – 3

Posted on by Smoke

OK, the rain was nice but lets get back to summer.

Yep, it’s warm out.  Not hot, just warm.  Now you know why I recommend bringing an open face helmet.   Even with modest mid 20C temps, it’s hard to keep the lid on.  We’ll just overlook this particular omission of safety, as it’s on a small warmup climb.

Here’s the top, and it’s all helmets on from here on down.

Yvonne is finding out about drops today.  Quite appropriate, as the next trail is ‘Drops A Lot.’

All on the Coaster gap.

After breaking another G series Canon (god they’re crappy for $600, but there’s nothing else that takes pics as nice that will fit in the pocket), I’m on an ultra compact SD1000.  And I’m sorta rusty on how to nab decent shots with the tiny camera.  So forgive the underexposed, out of focus, and motion blurred stuff here.

Ooooooo…so close. 

OK, we’ll just do a hundred more of these smaller ones and come back to that bigger drop.

Al, nose up on another gap.

Nose down on Jack and Jill.

Super dry out right now.  This dust bowl is a total surf’s up riot.

Al rides like a cat out there, and like a cat, doesn’t like getting wet.  Yvonne is having nothing to do with that…

***barf***

Yes, it’s the summer of couples.  I guess the demographic is changing out there.

UFB 2 – Round 2

Posted on by Smoke

Yes, he really does eat those things for breakfast.

Hey Hylands!  Get a helmet on that kid!  I can’t believe how rad Kainoa is on a runbike and he’s not even 2 yet.  I’m jealous.

OK, back to rad girlies on mountain bikes.  I took Sarah, Nicole, and Tippie (he’s sorta girly…) down some of the classic Naramata All Mtn. lines this morning.  Sarah needed to reset on some mellower terrain after yesterday’s scorpion, and this is the place.

This rock face is about the gnarliest thing on the trail, and it was perfect for getting that monkey off her back.  Although I did have to turn the camera off for it.

Brett-gnar dropping to flat.

Sarah and Nicole again.  Nicole had a brand spanking new Trek for this ride, and she giggled the whole way down.

Sweet views.  The landscape is nice too.

Last drop on Jack and Jill.  The pic doesn’t show much, but this is a totally rad line.  Steep, then steeper, then gap, then berm.  You’ll just have to come out yourself sometime to see it.

Whoa!  I look good in orange.

Brett would have too, but he went with green today.

The girls ripping the gully walls.

Oh no, we have to pedal 7 kms on the KVR, and there’s rain coming.

The view from the RaceFace cockpit as we drop into the final part of the ride.

Round two and we met up with Andrew, Brant, Sheila, and some more Kelowna locals for a Beer Run in the rain.  Sarah just needed some wet weather to get her back on track (reminded her of home I guess), because we all had a SICK lap.  The wood was ultra slick, and there were some sketchy sideways moments.  Especially when we got kicked off the cannon fade away jump and got the sick unintentional whips laid out.

Here’s Sheila dropping in to Ivy League.

Ooooh…a good one of Brett, Tipping into a turn.

The crew…

The view…

And a few… Rocky Mtns. that is.

Good fun with the families.  We’ll be doing this again soon.

More Banana Bread

Posted on by Smoke

Nicole and Al are back, and a little over 4 months after having a little girl are ready to shred.  Oh, and they’re engaged, too, so ‘Congratulations!’

Also, Elton John is playing a show in Prince George this summer, so in honour of that here’s a pic of a fabulous bridge.  Yay rainbows!

As Nic has been off the bike for a while, I took Al and her down High Pony to start.  It’s fun and straightforward, a great place to get your stoke back.

Nic seems to be one of those women who become better riders after becoming a mom.  This isn’t a terribly difficult move, but it does look really weird as you ride up to it.  She nailed it no problem on sight.

After a great first run, we stepped it up slightly for a second lap on Drops A Lot, where we promptly ran into 3 bears.  Momma took off, but I got shots of the two little ones.

As proof that Nic is riding exceptionally well, I didn’t get any shots of the drops or gaps on the trail, as we non-stopped the whole line until this wood gap.

Which was no big deal, she just wasn’t set up the first run in. so she went back and nailed it.

Cliched flower huck shot.

…and a couple more angles on the same jump.

We also had a fast round #3 on the Beer Run, and totally shredded it high speed.   That’s almost 10K’ on the day.

And for a change we had nice sunny weather, but not too hot.

Just right for a nice family visit on the beach with our friends.

Pretty sweet day, and a nice total for trails.  We’ll be doing a couple more days with Nic and Al and a bunch more old friends in a few days.  It’s Al’s 40th birthday, so we gotta take care of him in style.