Mike Kinrade

Freehub Peak to Creek – 1

Posted on by Smoke

Well, the Freehub story is out, so I can finally put up some of the last images from this amazing summer.   With the Hoff Fest getting waterlogged, it was time for a bit of a break from that scene.   Old Cove kid Gully and new school enduro kid Jesse Melamed were on hand to style out the final touches of the video series covering the big build of the trail from Reco to the valley.

The boys, along with myself, Mitch Cheek, Kinrade, the Freehub guys, and Margus, went for an early start to get the goods.

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An early start doesn’t mean that you’ll be on trail all that early though.  Funny thing about a 5k’ line.  It takes a while to get up there.

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Not that it matters a lot when the views are like this.

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We had the full production kit out today, with a slew of cameras like this RED unit and even a drone.

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A little upskirt of Cheek here.  This pic is special not just because there’s a Goshawk hovering over his head (that little black speck), but also because this angle makes it look like Mitch has normal length legs.

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OK, on to the usual assortment of sick pics.  Reco Peak is a no miss situation.  Mid-day, blown out light?  No problem, still epic.

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Yes, it is actually that steep.

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The boys come back for another take.

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And of course Gully is hamming it up for the camera.  Is that guy EVER not having a great time?

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Another angle of a brand new epic trail.

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Jesse on the next corner.

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This next one is my shot of the day.  I made some comment to Margus about how it seemed impossible to not get a banger up here.  He kind of pooped on my comment a bit until I showed him the “B-roll” I was taking.   Damn if they weren’t all pretty good.

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Pushing back on Porcupine Pass for yet another go at it.

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And a little phone pic of me cruising over the end of the Reco Traverse.

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Well, that was pretty nice, but I think there’s more to be had tomorrow.

Hurtin’ For Vert – Stage 2

Posted on by Smoke

I did NOT get enough sleep last night, but I think I still did better than everyone else.  A wicked thunderstorm rolled through after midnight, and while some were sleeping outside I managed to score a sweet trailer with a huge memory foam mattress. 

Still, we all had to get up really early to catch the ferry at Galena Bay.

A nice cruise on the lake was a nice reward.  Check the smoke from all the forest fires that are still burning around BC.  Margus was more interested in cheesy trick shots.

Ja Mario, the camera still loves you, even in the morning.

OK, we’re off to Baldface today, and with some help from Pat at Dirt Tours.  While they can’t shuttle us all the way up, they did manage to get us up the first 5000’.

Here’s the specs…

So while we got close, you still have to hike the last bit to the top.

Here we are at Cherry Tops, the high point of the day.  If you look carefully, you’ll see Tyler hurtin’ his way up to the top, way in the background.

And now, a selection of different riders doing the same thing.

After that, the trail got really steep for a long time. Check out the arm pump on Wade.

Time for a whiskey break.

Then it was back to sick steeps for another hour.  Here’s Tyler, catching some rare airtime.

Everybody say thanks to Pat. 

“Thanks Pat”

Now all we had to do is wait for Kinrade to bring my van back. Luckily, there was some kind of hippie fest going.  I think a lot of these shrubs only get out of the Slocan Valley a couple of times a year.  Very entertaining.

The Muffin Tops did some dancing for us.

Parking is expensive in Nelson, so we put all our bikes on one parking meter.  Anyone who’s ever had a run in with the meter maids in Nelson will appreciate this one.

Bikes, beers, bros, now we just need some food.

Oh, and Carys says “Hi!”

**Bonus

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