Shock Monkey Okanagan – Day 4

This is better.  It might not be sunny, but it’s not raining either.  Everyone is battered from endless days of riding in the wet, so we took a mellow one today.  Finally, I’ve ridden the trestles in Myra Canyon.

Simon, missing the liquid falling from the sky, takes a giant whizz.

No seriously, it’s 130’ down there.

A nice little pano shot for comparison. 

Kind of a weenie wildlife encounter, but they don’t have chipmunks in Australia.

Please sir, can I have some more?

A millions laughs…

We could just ride a railway grade though, so we trundled on over to the Crawford DH.

And lo and behold, the sun actually came out.

Everything is wicked green right now after all that washing it got.

Our Monkeys didn’t know how to deal with Teddy Bear Junction.

But if I know my Aussies, Simon is thinking that he’d like to treat the Koala bears back home like this (every Australian I’ve ever met tells me Koala’s are fairly disgusting and vicious brutes).

They totally look like Koala’s if you just squint.

Girls Got Skills – Day 1

New jump park, and 20 ladies out to enjoy it.  I love the springtime.

A slightly lower turnout than last year, but I was gratified to see that there were way more local women out for the camp.   There’s a ton of clinics around, so you don’t NEED to travel to ours.  Unless you want to be at the best one, that is.

As usual, Johanna started things off with some yoga.

Having a skills park makes a big difference to what we can teach in a day.  Not only was this group quite talented to begin with, but we saw massive leaps in ability right away.

Here’s some exercises designed to help you find the center.  Ride as far back as you can, then ride as far forward as you can.

After a morning in the park, it was time to hit the trails.  A full house on this teeter showed that the girls were making big strides in their abilities.

Nice form, Candace.

Most of the girls were really apprehensive about anything constructed of wood.  Here’s Monica mastering those fears, and discovering that it’s not difficult, just a bit scary at first.

To help overcome those fears, we encourage everyone to hug a tree.

Hey wait…those are Man Boobs!

Somebody got a new bike and had to get a quick lap in.

To end the day, there were amazing displays of skill and dexterity.

Our Johanna is a woman of many talents.

Judy-Lynn and Chris – Day 5

Welcome to yet another day in the Okanagan.  We’re riding in Myra/Bellvue today, and it’s the first time down the Crawford Canyon trail for me in a long, long time.  Andrew and Sheila tagged along for the adventure today.

It’s sort of traditional to get lost out here.  Can you see why?

At least I can always find this spot. 

We killed a good half hour here trundling rocks.  One good thing about all the blowdown; it’s easy to find big rocks to huck these days.

Sheila, with the first of the fall colours.

Ooops, we went the wrong way.  I bet that full face helmet doesn’t seem like such a good idea at this point.

OK, so it’s not much of a wildlife shot.  Chris got stung, and from the looks of it, it was a bee.

Have I ever warned you to NOT click a pic?

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  The next shot is safer.  Not sure about riding under that big dead tree, but at least you can click on it.

We finished up at my favourite apres ride spot on the Kelowna waterfront, the patio at the Eldorado.  Nice photobomb on the left, lady.

Judy-Lynn’s shiner is sure fading fast.  I can’t believe how quick she’s healing.  Some great appies and a nice sunset to end another great one.