OK, time to get comfortable…Oh wait, it doesn’t get more comfortable than Connor here.

From the start of the planning of this trip, I knew that Saturday would be huge.  HUGE.  I had planned out 3 good sized rides today.  Our warmup lap on Rainbow was a good ride all on it’s own.  Today it was just a hotlap warmup.  As such, I have no images of round one.  You can search this site for more, or head on over to Pinkbike for some more on the Hurtin’ for Vert 2012 – Part 3 of 4 link.

Suffice to say we got off a few minutes late, but we were still in good time to get to Misconduct Wine Co.  I was busy outside wrangling bikes, but I was in no way surprised to see the following scene when I arrived inside.

Our crew of ‘Sner swillers was on unfamiliar ground here.

Ah yes, sublime nose and do I detect a hint of watermelon?

About the time when the boys were just about to declare their wine snobbishness to the world, our good friend and proprietor of Misconduct Wine Co  showed up to set the record straigh.

Rich "We try to make good shit" DaSilva.   Gangsta wine guy, and hardcore shredder to boot.  One of the biggest men to ever race DH in Canada.

Also the inventor of the wine float, aka "The Big Take".  You HAVE to try one of these if you are in the area.

Suitlably laodes up, we were off to round two.

Oh…first here’s our charts from round one.

Round 2 was on Rock Oven.  We went for the Ellis Canyon entrance with the climb through the Wright Passage.  There’s other ways to access tis zone that I prefer, but time was really of the essence.

I’ve been accused on this trip of not giving much away.  Well, with this much riding on deck, what does it matter?  The trails are all huge, they’re all fun, and they’re all hard.  Dre asked my what this one was like.

I replied, "It’s basically the Okanagan version of the Big Eye (the legendary gnar line of the North Shore)"

Dre’s response?

"Uh oh…"

Mike got stung on the climb, which was highly entertaining to the rest of us.  However, it became apparent that the toll of the last couple of days was starting to tell on the group.  We were a little behind schedule, and as a result breakfast was a bit behind us.  I really wanted to wait until the end of the crappy section to eat, and as a result I nearly left it too late.  I kind of had a moment. 

Basically, I bonked.  Luckily, I had enough food and a bit of break to recover with nobody noticing.  I found out later, virtually everyone in the group had their own "moment" on this ride.

These kinds of moments on this ride more than made up for it.

Gotta love how Rock Oven keeps comin’ at ya with punchy climbs and rad views.

I think I even see a bit of hurt on Dre’s mug here.

Reg loves it all.  This is the epitome of the H4V trip.  Impossible goals, hard trails, little bikes, and big smiles.

Yes Dre, we’re going down there.  Really.

All hurtin, and all smiles.

Can I have suck of your…zipple?

We’re now close to 100km into this trip, and around 27k’ of descending, and it keeps getting harder.  Yes, the line is down here, boys.

This trail is a beast, and it was only round two today.  We had only enough time for a quick dip in the lake, and then it was time to "Shut up and get in the F&*^$ng Van!"

OK, that few minutes we were behind this morning was coming back to haunt us.  We really had to haul ass to get up to the top of Kobau before sunset.  We just barely made it, but make it we surely did.

Oh, and if you were ever thinking that Schley seems to be in love with himself…here’s proof.

Yes.  Sunset on top of Kobau.  And we have 16 pro riders all geared up with top of the line double bladed loam saws. 

An absolutely stellar ending to the biggest day of the trip. 

Yeah, that’s Simmons shredding a 4k’ sage slope under the moon.

I get asked all the time what’s the best ride you’ve done.  It’s an unanswerable question, as it seems like there’s this dotted line on the scale of radness, and once it’s over that line, it’s as good as it’s gonna get.  But today, taken as  a whole, may have been the best day of riding I’ve ever had.  3 HUGE lines, with a massive group of some of the most talented mountain bikers in history, and we ended it with a sunset lap in these stupendous mountains.

Truly awe inspiring.

Plus, to ride this terrain at night, with no lights…well.  Look for yourself.

And with Barb and Chevy waiting for us with a hot pasta feed, it just does not get any better.

Our round three stats.

There’s still one more ride to go.  The biggest and baddest of them all.  For me, the pressure was all off.  We made the hardest day in fine style.  The boys minds are all blown already, and I know that tomorrow will cap it all.

Huge.