KVR

St. Georges KVR – Day 3

Posted on by Smoke

Is it almost over?

Another rainy morning on the KVR.  Well, rainy by Princeton standards anyway.  I can only imagine what the other Sea to Sky groups are experiencing (as we found out later, the Juan De Fuca Trail group got over 50mm of rain a day this week).

We started out today with a little basic stunt action in the ruins of Granite City.

Not everyone took to it like a duck to water…

Ahhh, I knew there was a drawback to hybrid wheels….

Once we got warmed up, it was time for the annual relay race.  As you can see, these guys hate riding bikes.

No smiles here, either.

Calvin was just glad to not have to carry his man purse for a change.

The other team was soundly trashing us until Evan got into the race.  Evan didn’t even want to do a lap, as he was so concerned about being the weak link in the chain.  So a few of our guys went out at ran the course with him to cheer him on.   Here you can see Evan, about 200’ off the track, totally oblivious to the fact that he’s missed the track completely…

As luck would have it, the guy on the other squad he was racing went even further off track, and is already a half lap behind.

So Evan became the triumphant here, complete with cheerleaders (note to self, don’t date the cheerleaders at an all boys school).

So for the last couple of turns around the track it was smooth sailing for us.

I think it cheered Alex up for the rest of the day.

For dinner, a freshly toasted S’more a la Danika.

Mmmm…that’s a good S’more.

Awww…too many clouds to get a good view with Andrew’s new telescope.  I TOTALLY want one of these.  It auto tracks celestial bodies for crystal clear viewing.  Well, when there’s no clouds it does.

Johanna isn’t really interested in anything but water.   Who said this was easy?  I did?  I must have been lying….

St. Georges KVR – Day 2

Posted on by Smoke

OK, so today started with rain.  And there’s no showers.  But there’s an A&W in Princeton, so the boys are stoked.

Forget the wondrous beauty of nature, the historical significance of the railway, the achievements of mankind wrought against the grandeur of the natural world….we’ve got trans fats.

Besides, we’re having a pull up contest at the gazebo.

At least they’re impressed by dead things in the water.

From the looks of things, there’s a big cougar around here.

I’m pretty sure that the cougar isn’t scared of you guys.

So many dead things on the trail.  We saw three dead deer and one headless squirrel in one km of the KVR today.

But they still wouldn’t go any faster….

OK, lunch break.  Anyone want to go swimming?

Apparently I’m the only one dumb enough to try that. 

Aki at least was into jumping the fire.  I think he almost got his rear wheel off the ground and everything.

Oh look, another cougar kill.

Granite City in the rain.

Oh, and someone didn’t do a very good job of setting the tent up before it got wet.  Gotta love the organizational skills of the 15 year old male.

 

Danika gets a moto lesson from one of the Coalmont locals.  She hardly came close to hitting the van at all….

No trip to Granite City is complete without a little oral history from the locals on all the ghosts and spirits that haunt the area.

Gotta just let it get a little bit darker….

..and then we can go visit the graveyard.  Evan, look out behind you!

Never mind, I think it’s too cold out for zombies.

St. Georges KVR – Day 1

Posted on by Smoke

Is it that time again?

Sure is…another year, another KVR tour.   Andrew Kay is back again this year, and so are Danika and Coran.  New this year are the lovely Johanna and ….. Alex.

Oh, and of course a fresh batch of Grade 10 boys.

We got the traditional rain on the first night.  Also, since we’re a bit early this year and winter has hung on a bit we’re having to run a single group again.  The high point is still thawing, and while the snow is mostly gone its super muddy up there.

Hey Taylor!  See if you can peg Alex with a rock!

Meet Simon.  He’s our main hipster on this trip.  He bought a vintage bike at the flea market on Saturday for the trip.  Stylin…..

Will the weather clear up for us?

Maybe for a little while.  The weatherman wasn’t very positive.  Calvin didn’t care, so long as he had his man purse.  He rode with that bag on his bars the whole way, and also didn’t actually bring any food.  He managed to score some food from the other boys, so he didn’t go hungry.

There’s Simon’s hipster bike, with Siuchen riding side saddle.  Not sure who’s driving there.  I think he was in the other group and just hung out with us for a bit.

You guys aren’t tired, are you?

So, here we are after almost 9 hours on the trail.

At least it’s not raining….yet.

Well, the first day IS the hardest one.  Tomorrow should be fine, if it’s not raining.