PinkBike FunTour – Day 1

Ooooooo…..the Puddle. We got here early, but Tyler and company didn’t pull in until really late. Oh, and due to my casual style of instructions they got a little bit lost. Luckily, they brought some girlies with them to get them back on track.

Like how Barb is navigating this log on Hillbilly Deluxe…

We hooked up with some locals, as always. Here’s James Doerfling, of Radical Films fame and fortune, flinging himslef on one of the many killer booters to be found in the Puddle.

Our pal Simon (who was kind enough to show us Gold River earlier in the year), was along and hit up a bunch of the road gaps to be found out there.

Oh James….

Same hit, but weird angle. Look close, he’s fully clicked on that one.

Hi Tyler…

Holy V-Tach. Barb is nailing huge hits every time we go out now. That’s a road gap, boys.

Simon gets the score evened for the boys….

….but then Fiona nailed it right after. Yeah……the girls were killing it again today.


Our other lovely lady, Kat, shows us her potential as a hand model. Lucky Mug….

Lots of new work inthe Puddle this year. With the full approval of government, the trails are being expanded up there.

They’re not holding back much either. About the only concession they’ve made is to have most of the wooden structures in one area to make the insurance issue easier to deal with down the line. Huge gaps and drops are everywhere, and these skinny lines are awesome, if a bit taxing (and hard on the chin if you miss).

The old standbys like Sick and Nasty are still there.

And they can still put the fear into the stoutest heart. Fiona almost hit a tree and put the fear in mine, let me tell ya….

A post ride session in Shreddies hot tub and some good times with the mug finished off a spectacular day.

PinkBike FunTour

I got a random call the other day form Tyler over at PinkBike. Seems like he had a hankering for a road trip with no real goals other than to ride bikes and have a fun time. Hmmmmm, sounds like the perfect excuse to hit up Williams Lake, since I hadn’t been up there in over a year (wow…how time flies).

And Barb had the weekend off. Perfect.

On the way, we stopped in at Merrit to investigate some vultures we saw flying around…

Then, just past the dead coyote, we found this HUGE line.

I ain’t hitting that. It’s a little something the boys at Freeride Entertainment knocked together for the new NWD film. 40′ stepdown, 80′ floater, some berms, and then…

….a 30 footer, a 40 footer, and a huge hip. Vanderham says it’s pretty smooth. I’ll take his word for it. Oh, and I’ll take the coffee…..you took possession of my soul quite some time ago.

The Puddle is a good 90 minutes closer now, and a far easier drive than ever. Man I miss this place…

Uh oh…….the Joker and the Mug. Quite the criminal duo…

Keystone Standard Basin

And now..the continuing story of a boy and his mug…and his pink hoodie…..and matching Crocs…..and bike with steering wheel and knuckle duster….

Make up your own caption if you think you can do better. Anyway, Derek and I went out to Revelstoke to check out another BC epic, the Keystone Standard Basin. As an added bonus, we’ve managed to abscond with the now famous Mug, whose adventures are being chronicled HERE.

The Keystone is an out and back ride in the alpine near Revy. As you can see, the scenery is pure rubbish and the Mug is a better climber than Derek.

Note also the first snowfall of the season out there. Could this be a sign of things to come this winter (as of today, Oct. 4th, it sure seems to be. freshies galore all over BC)?

Overall, probably the best XC singletrack since the Chilcotin stuff I did last year.

You gotta look close in these next two to see Derek in there, struggling through the scree piles.

Unfortunately, the skies clouded over for the morning, but we still had great visibility in the epic landscape up here.

Looking back, we could see another crew of riders out for a lap today.

Once we got out to the cabin that was our destination, the skies cleared and we got some bonus blue skies at lunch.

A random local meets Mug.

Can’t leave the cabin without a couple of staged shots of Derek riding by the lake.

“This sucks…”

“Totally…”

About halfway back, we ran across a whole stack of locals taking in the views.

Which makes for a good spot for a panorama. Click it to blow ‘er up.

Even more locs showed up as we enjoyed the views.

Mug, Karen…..Karen, Mug. Karen is in charge of season pass sales at the new Revelstoke Mtn Resort. Good person to know.

Look a little closer at this next one. Care to guess how far the drop is off the edge of the trail there? I’d say at least 500′, maybe more.

Looking back towards the end of the ride. Still a goodly distance to go…

“No Snowmobiling” Get the impression that there’s a bit of snow up here in the winter?

Derek enjoys a refreshing dip. Mug says, “Screw that.”

Instead, Mug relaxes by menacing this paraglider.

For you geography geeks out there, I’ve been playing around with Google Maps and have this adventure plotted out :


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