Shop Ride

Gotta switch it up a bit on Thursdays.  We’ve been kind of ignoring the gnarlier lines in favour of enduro style training, so we thought we’d ramp it up a bit this week and bring out the bigger bikes.

Whatcha doing over there Dave?  Scared?

A little warmup on Eagle before we go to check on the Giggling Donkey.

Yup, it’s all OK.  Although we all kind of punked out on the first roll in.  Admittedly, it does need a bit more dirt (or maybe concrete), but it’s not that bad.  We’re just out of practice.  The Night Stocker line is still exciting enough.  I’ll see if I can get out for a bit of dirt throwing on Monday maybe.

Nice work on reshaping that berm, Travis.  It’s way faster now.

Summer is pretty much here.  Time to start finishing the rides on the beach.  Not only our first post ride BBQ, but also my first swim in the lake this year.

Tubular meats on the beach!  Where’s Chuck D!?

Workin’ It

No takers on the Fall Special (really?), but there’s a few projects I’ve been meaning to get around to anyway.  Like this series of monster rock slabs that needed some shaping to link together (and you know that these things always look smaller when shot from the bottom).

After a couple of hours, this is what it looked like…

Which meant it was time to guinea pig it.  I did the first run from a bump near the top.  That bump was kind of freaking me out a little, but starting there necessitated a surf turn style drop in from a standing start.  Kind gnarly in itself.

Nailed it…

After which I went back and hit it from the top, which was much easier.  Now this line drops into a more moderate rock (as demonstrated by Dave)…

…and then into the NightStocker.

From here we’ve scouted another couple of hefty rock faces that will link straight into Holy Roller.   We’ll see if we can get that done, as there’s some committed woodwork to pull off.

This coming weekend the plan is:

  • Saturday – Shuttles in the Mice and Beer Run
  • Sunday – Shuttles in Kelowna or West Kelowna

Only $60 per person per day.  Dedicated driver, lots of vertical.

Dirtbags – Prologue

Your crew is called the “Dirtbags,” eh?  Well, we should get along just fine.  Since this is Dave Silver and a bunch of guys from BC Bike Race, I don’t feel so bad about missing the Retallack Legends Weekend (OK, I totally think it sucks that these are on the same weekend, but I had to make the choice weeks ago). Enough excuses, let us ride!

Some of the crew got here a bit earlier, so I took them for what I thought would be the first of a couple of laps up in the Mice.

Things got a bit hairy right off the bat, with a bunch of very XC and 29’r-y bikes rolling into some seriously steep terrain.

My plans for more runs were soon thwarted by a series of flat tires though.  Damn coastal kids…we set a new record for most flats in one day this season in a single group with 8.

…and we missed Shaun and Linnette’s wedding, although we did hear some of it.

Oh well, we still managed to relax with a beer on the beach afterwards.

Tomorrow, it gets serious.  Better rest up.