Ride Guide

Ride Guide – Day 4

Posted on by Smoke

Hey look! Wade’s here, and it’s amazing how much larger he looks in pictures.

Take that, Boyko.

Even the Newf gets in on the fun.

We are in Merritt today, and since we’re getting crap weather we went for a little stroll to check out the jumps that the Collective built for Vanderham’s segment in Seasons.  I also found this wasp nest that got eaten by a bear.

After lunch, a couple more locals showed up to reveal some hidden gems.

This is an early season trail in the burn that rolls into something called Windy Canyon.

Good riding, but not the nicest day.

The Canyon was super rad (oh, say hi to Shane and his black eye).  A really tight and twisty slot canyon through sandstone.  Natural berms the whole way.

Hard to show what it looked like, but this sort of gives you the idea.

We got surprisingly good results for an off day, and we also got into the Pilsners early.  Taste the rainbow…

We also had a look at this gnar chute, but we decided that it was just too much work for our limited time frame. One day…

We had to get back to the AP Ranch anyway.

Our host and his tiny chainsaw.

Bear attack!

Poor Ben, we’ll miss him.

OK…how to cheat with a Newfie.  Make the stakes “the loser buys a round for the winners”.  Stack the deck to give everyone a killer hand.  Let the Newfie win, while we all tie…

Then make the Newfie drink 3 shots.

Things got messy after that.

Especially when the Newfie found out what we’d done…

Technically, it’s after midnight at this point, so it’s actually my birthday and I’m going to be paying the price tomorrow.

Yikes.

Ride Guide – Day 3

Posted on by Smoke

Awesome, the big stuff is in the can.  We can coast the rest of the week.

I think Ben was stoked that there wasn’t going to be any more sandbagging by the locals, too.  It’s tough coming into town as a hired gun, because everyone wants a dance.  It was just the three of us out in Powers Creek today (me, Ben, and Trevor), so that made it a lot more chill.

That and Powers is always a good time.  After we wrapped up shooting for the day, we cruised on over to our next destination, the AP Guest Ranch and the town of Merritt.

That’s either a big hat or a small Newfie.  Or both.  Now try to guess which empty pink pie is Boyko’s.  I don’t think Trivial Pursuit is his cup o’ tea somehow.

Ride Guide – Day 2

Posted on by Smoke

Day 2, and it’s time to go bigger.  Really.

Leroy and Trev came out again, and Casey Groves and Ryan Mckenna also tagged along to represent the Kelowna scene.

Casey needs a date.  See what he’s doing to that bar of his?

I don’t know if Boyko was impressed with Gillard (horrified would be a more appropriate word), but the Cory, our cameraman, seemed to think it was going well.

Ryan biffed this drop two years ago, and hasn’t hit it since.  It’s kind of a gnarly one to have a monkey on your back for.

Bye bye, monkey.

That seemed to get everyone stoked and relaxed.  They spent the rest of the day stylin’ out this wall/hip combo.

Too bad they were here this week.  The old Casino Royale got resurrected a few days after the Guide was here, but that’s another story…