Hey!
Remember Kirstie from the UK way back in May? Well, she finally sent me some pics. How’s this for a determined look?
Lots of pics coming up. I have a massive update to do, but Barb is racing at Grouse today so I have to go and be supportive.
north shore
Mountain Biking Seymour
July 2nd.
Yesterday was, Yay Canada!!! Evelyn and John King and John B came out today. Unfortunately we didin’t make it too far before Evelyn crashed off a small jump and really racked it up. Luckily we have a good hospital nearby, but I had no idea youcold get THAT hurt on such a small drop. Can you spell lacerated liver? At least it’s OK now, but Ev will have to take it easy for a few weeks. After we got her settled, John B and I went up and finished the ride from where we evacuated John and Ev.
Always great.
The So-Cal crew showed up at my house around ten for beer and company until 1 am, when we ran out of liquor.
July 3rd.
So-Cal Day! Jack, Jim Clarke, Jimmy, and Aimee made the return trip. First we had to go to the airport to get their bikes out of customs. After about ten hours of wanking on phone lines, it only took ten minutes to get the bikes back. I hate beureaucracy.
The usual Seymour run in the morning (CBC Corcscrew Pingu Boogieman) and then after lunch we hit Neds and the river. Jack pulled the deadman float in the river for the refresher. A fine end to the day at The Raven for beers and eats and we put another one away.
July 4th.
Yay USA!!
What better way to celebrate than a couple of runs on Cypress with the So Cal crew. Scott from the Bay area came out as well. We hit Mystery Downhill to start, then we did a Pre-Reaper, Blind Skier, Paul Hogan’s Firehose, and the fabulous and new Family Man.
Lunch was a quick sandwich at Safeway, and we did another Seymour run via Pangor. I have never seen Jack so tired. Funny how he actually rides a bit better when he’s sleepy. Scott, that sucka for punishment, had to do more, and the Team UglyStick guys showed up just in time for a high speed Seymour dash at dusk.
That’s four North Shore runs in one day.
Sleepy…..so very sleepy.
July 5th.
Brad McGee wins the Prologue
Big day with Team UglyStick. We did an epic Seymour loop on a bunch of oldschool trails that I could tell you about, but then I’d have to kill you. It took about five hours to get back to the house,where we drank lots of beer and cooked up a load of steaks. Gotta love that Mad Cow Disease. Mmmmmmmmmmm……..cheap meat.
July 6th.
Sent the uglyStick boys out with a cross country ride, NorthShore style. That means climbing up to do the same trails. We hit up the C***Buster for a change of flava today. God I love that trail. Anyway, the rest of John Kings group came out today, and Evelyn is out of the hospital, so we did the usual Seymour stuff. We also helped with the trail maintenance day on CBC and then hit the Raven for a pint and some pizza. On the final lap of the day, John King went down and tweaked his knee. Ouch. Here’s hoping it’s not too bad. Knees are so hard to diagnose.
And that’s it. You are up to date and I am off to the Okanagan for a pile of desert freeriding.
Mountain Biking the North Shore
Ho hum. Another day, another epic set of rides. Today it was Chip from North Carolina. He was a little late as he accidentally took out the rear window on his rental car while trying to park it downtown (oops). We did the overlander approach to the Big I on Cypress. Not too many folks qualify for this one. It’s the longest continuous single track on the Shore, and it’s a full on techno-grind root fest. Lots of power moves and lunges on mainly natural terrain and lots of short climbs which are barely rideable. A true classic. The rain last night made it a lot tougher, so we couldn’t hit all the climbs clean, but it made for better root and rock reggae, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, Chip stomped the whole thing, including the Fleshy Wound and the Bonus Rounds.
And he’s 45 years old. All of you guys out there who think you are too old to learn how to ride the hard shit should take notice. I won’t be accepting any excuses from now on.
Halfway into the ride my phone rang. Dave at Pathways ( http://nspathways.com/ ) called me up with a couple of German tourists that wanted to go for a little ride. Sure! Can we make it three o’clock? Great!
Had lunch with Chip and said a teary goodbye, then picked up the Germans and trucked over to the Cove. We saddled up at my house and hit the climb. Ecki and Susi are full on fit folks. Man can they climb. And they are on their honeymoon too. Imagine what they are like when they are rested. Oh well, I got some payback on the descent. I was nice to them, we went down Pangor (which has been fully dialed in by Chris and his Dad this year). Ecki had no problems, but Susi was a little over her head. What does “Scheizen” mean? She sure said it a lot. I think she felt much better when we had a beer at the end.
Another day, another three people blown away by BC riding. I love my life.
Big party tomorrow. I’ll see if I can get the webcam up for it.
I’m out.
>