Had a chance to hook up with the guys at Surly Bikes for a quick rip in the Okanagan this week. Looks like those big tires are good for more than just snow…
It’s pretty flat back in the Mid-West where they’re from, so I think Smith Creek may have been a bit of an eye-opener for the boys.
Good thing they have such a beast of a climber in Ramin Sherkat of NRG distributing their bikes in Canada.
Sweet little ride, and thanks a bunch for the beers and food after.
It’s not a UFB weekend. Seems like the families are all doing, well….family stuff this year. That’s OK. There’s still some folks showing up to ride, MuddBunnies and such.
As befits our mature status, we’re doing more xc type of riding this year. Although it is Canadian XC, so it tends to look like this:
Uh…it’s bigger than it looks.
Insert “That’s what she said,” at any point that you may get bored.
OK, so we actually have XC riding here. Yes, that’s singletrack and Chris is riding UP it.
Unlike the North Shore, where you ride up roads. Oh, and also…
Sunshine!
And flowers!
Yes, finally Spring has arrived.
Hands up who is happy about that…
The death of shuttle riding?
Well, no….but I had to come up with something here.
Yes, a touch repetitive, but everyone needs a pic of themselves riding through an old car.
So Rhonna gets one…
…and so does Veronika.
As usual, the descent is way to rad to stop and smell flowers, or take pics. Here’s a rare shot of the tortuous route that is the “Feel the Love” descent on Smith Creek.
We’re not the only riders out today:
The afternoon was spent on Powers Creek, shredding the woodwork.
Dave has been hard at work clearing and buffing this spring. It’s looking awesome out there.
Susan conquered this berm sith style. Check out that line! Right to the top.
Good, no vegetarians. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, it’s just that they don’t eat steak.
Wow, THAT was a rainstorm. Pretty tough to get motivated after that, especially with how tired I know all the girls feel after yesterday. Well, we got Smith Creek to play with today, so lets see if the rain will clear off.
It was time to work on the cones. Sorta like traffic school…with full suspension bikes and short skirts.
Lorraine tries to dress to match her pylons as much as possible.
Silly low speed corners. Lets go try some slippery stunts. That sounds like more fun.
If you don’t make it over on the first try, Lorraine spanks you on the bum. I failed at least 20 times.
Karen just makes it look boring…
The Smith Creek warmup loop is perfect for learning how to deal with stunts. There’s a ton of small ones, and they’re sort of sketchy. Makes you really have to be on top of your bike to get ‘em.
After 2 days of this, the message really starts to sink in.
Having Hanna around to set the pace helps though. She just powered into everything.
Cynthia, with one of my favourite shots ever. Look there, go there.
OK, that’s how it’s done.
There’s a bit of new stuff around Smith Creek now. The sun was just coming out for this one.
OK, he’s not a girl. But it’s a nice jacket.
There’s a girl. Lorraine shows the girls how to drop a skinny with only one ACL.
The last run of the clinic was on Powers. Thought that we should try a real world freeride trail.
Pretty amazing to see the girls going for it in early season conditions. I even heard some comments about maybe switching over to Freeride from XC.
Ignore the beard, it’s all about the long hair. I’m just trying to demo the concept of over the front end for a centered position.
Lorraine’s got it. Then again, she is kind of rad. Almost as rad as Barb (sorry ‘Raine, ya gotta have a kid to compete on that level).
Awesome weekend, ladies. You all really threw me for a loop.
