Ruined – Day 3

Penticton and Arawan were on the agenda today. Willy and Shortround tagged along for the session yet again today.

One thing you can always count on up the Bog is some fairly radical skinny action.

We also did a little trail maintenance and cleaned out this oddball little rock line. It’s way harder than it looks.

So is this one.

Willy always has to steal a scene. It’s his way.

Jim getting his fill of skinny stuff.

A little cooling off session for lunch.

After lunch we went up to the Arawana stuff for a lap. A few skinnies, but mostly the “Dorp to Falt” kind of riding there.

Scott and Jim were feeling all kinds of love from the airs on this one.

Jim was even sending road gaps with some style. Broken finger? What broken finger?

Mongo dropping a skinny one shortly before the seperator.

…and he sent it. He also overshot it, smoked one of his nuts on his tire, and still walked away.


Photo: Wyld Willy (slighty engineered with Photoshop)

No worries. He only uses the right one anyway. Willy gave it a miss, but he nailed this funbox combo a few times to make up for it.

Poews! Where are you? Oh, didn’t see you there in that tall grass.

Soaker!

Hey there, blue eyes…

Not exactly a wildlife shot, I know. But check out the beach…

Brits, frenchies, and dogs.

Oh, and I caught this shot of the Ogopogo spouting.

Brad, either put on a shirt or give us all some shades. Yer as pasty as an Englishman.

Chocolate Feet – Day 1

A mellow start to the tour is in order. Of the crew showing up today, only Mike has been here before. As the boys in Penticton were doing a trail cleanup on the Bog, we headed down there.

Deano quickly established himself as the keaner in the group.

Kev is a bit quieter, but I get the impression he just needs to get his bearings and he’ll be a force later in the trip.

As you can see, Summer has finally decided to make an appearance.

We cleaned up some garbage on our first lap, and we also fixed the ramp over this erratic boulder. Mike found his mojo on top of this one.

Deanon and Mike dropping in…

We randomly ran into Wally and Stu, a couple of locals who’ve done a ton of trail work around here over the years.

That was good enough to get Deano in the air on the Skybridge gap.

Rob was taking it easy on the first lap, but we found him some skinnies to get him on track.

Round two and we got into the area that the locals cleared of all the deadfall from the winter.

With all the skinnies on Code 4, Mike started to really catch fire.

Deano was already well ablaze.

I have several shots of Rob like this one. This just happens to be the best version. Nice form.

And turn and kick….

..and pivot and bounce.

Mike gets stuck…

Well hellooooooooooo. A young rattler. Unfortunately, this snake bit a young girl who didn’t see it in time. Hoopefully she’s alright. I’m sure she’s not feeling her finest right now.

Third lap was the full distance from top to bottom. We found a few DJ’s down lower for a brief session.

And the traditional dip in the lake. Still a little cold there, but should be a lot warmer in a day or two.

Oh,a nd it looks like my neighbour got a new ride. That is a ’67 Chevelle 427 SS car. Not quite stock ori
ginal (she’s got a shift kit and some fancy shoes), but I like ’em better this way.

It’s Getting Colder…..

…but we’re STILL riding. A random hookup on the PinkBike bulletin boards got me in touch with Ryan from Onterrible. He won’t be afraid of a little snow.

It was hardly more than a skiff anyway. Oh yeah, that’s our buddy Chuck D. Railer there. Figures he’s the only local dumb enough to charge the Bog when it’s icy.

If you’re wondering what the current standard for trail building is these days……it’s something ABOVE the following shot.

A friendly word of advice to the new trail builders out there. Use fresher wood for the framing. Don’t be afraid to overbuild it. A small sledgehammer and 10″ spikes are great choices for tying it all together. Also, angled cross-braces on everything, and try to pick lines that are actually practical.

We’ll fix it later. Blue skies and a bit of dust are too rare a commodity right now.

I HAVE to show you Ryan’s grandparents’ pad. I am going to buy this place one day (any investors out there want to take a chance?).

Log cabin, ten acres, trail access, and a crap view.

I’m not telling you how much either. Find your own.