I missed out on last week’s version of the Thursday night shop shuttle, but I wasn’t going to skip tonight. Back to Rainbow and High Pony. It was a small crew tonight, so we kept up a good clip.
Our only holdup was a multiple flat, but it happened by this nice little hit near the end, so we sessioned that for a while.
We got applause from the gallery.
..and when I got home I found this awesome pile of boxes waiting for me. I wonder what’s in them?
“Look at me! I’m a goose!”
Never lose that sense of wonder, kid. Here, see what the top of the jump looks like…
A Naramata day today, with lots of vert and random strangers, like Gabe here.
We pick up where we left off yesterday, with big smiles, sunshine, and smooth trails.
Actually, there was some damn hard rain last night, but it tapered off in time for some basically perfect riding conditions.
Just ask Susan, if you can ever get her to stop long enough.
We also ran into some random Americans.
They only had time for the warmup run, so maybe they didn’t get to enjoy it as much as us.
Ah well, life is about choices, right?
Maybe they just need to get a new clock…
Well, we didn’t quite get a repeat of the wet feet in Ivy League. I was driving, so I didn’t get to try fording the creek, but after Kurt almost got swept away, the crew backtracked from the canyon to cruise the orchards down.
He’s just a little dude, he probably got scared. It’s safer on the beach.
Lap 2 was a bit longer, and a bit mellower. We headed out from the reservoir (it’s still a bit mucky up there if you’re wondering) for a High Pony run.
The sun was really coming out now.
Not many riding shots, as per usual. Here’s a rare and somewhat lame one…
The ladies were getting their steep on towards the end.
Vance has been busy scoping out some new lines. Oh, and putting chicken wire on the rocks.
That’s what you get up here, skinnies made out of rock and chicken wire. For reals, yo.
OH! PIC OF THE DAY!
..and the runner up too.
That was thirsty work. Better stop for some cooling beverages…
ANOTHER run?
You bet yer chainless ass there’s another one…
We haven’t hit Drops a Lot yet.
OK, now we have…
Damn, I could get used to this sun thing. I wonder how the weather is in Vancouver (note: it sucked).
Here’s another flooding creek to negotiate. This one we could handle.
Only thing that makes a ride better? Pizza and beer at the end.
Looks like that’s the end of our sun today. More rain tonight, I guess.
Hmmmm, we must look tired. Gettin’ some attention here.
Epic sunset, anyone?
The tired and happy crew. 9 000′ of vertical today, and something like 40 km or so of descending. No wonder Chevy looks ticked off with us. Ah, your time will come, muffin.
Our first client of the year has shown up.
Andy usually rides a hardtail, but that seems a bit silly when there’s all these brand new bikes kicking around for rent. So he grabbed a fresh 29’r and had a go. I think he’s enjoying it…
Not bad for a guy that hasn’t ridden Canada before.
Just a bit of snow at the top. We got a lot higher up than two weeks ago with Reg and Nick. I found some reasonably deep spots, but we only had to push for maybe 10 minutes and managed a 2500’ descent out of the deal.
See? Right around the corner and no snow.
No Bush Pilot ride is complete without a visit to one of the many quality wineries. We dropped in on Laughing Stock to test out their latest Pinot Gris (it’s SPECTACULAR). Andy’s response?
“I’ll have a pint!”
