WSFE – Day 10

Well here we are, on the last ful day of the tour.

You’d think by now Wade would have figured out how to put up a tent.

Of course, you’d also think he’d know how to ride a log, too.

Harper Mtn., still my favourite riding spot of all time. So much flow and variety here, anyone is going to have a great day on this stuff.

While everyone was riding great, today was really the Barb Haley show. I think that the rest of the crew might have bee a little tired on their TENTH DAY.

Well, and George had gone home too. He kind of wrecked his back at SilverStar. That put the pressure on Niclas to step up his game. Which he did in fine fashion.

For that matter, Niclas really came out of his shell in the last couple of days of the trip and had us all laughing.

Nicole, tired though she might have been after ten days, also felt the Harper vibe and continued to beat every hit into submission.

Tihs would be Andreas, our random Austrian. We ran into Andreas at the bottom of the hill and set up some shuttles with him. He was pretty stoked to be riding with our crew (cycling fame is a much bigger deal in Europe). Maybe a little TOO stoked (cue the foreshadow music).

More of the Barb Haley show…

..and the Wade show.

Oh, our old pal Nelly from Williams Lake also made a guest appearance. So even without Danika (she had to go home yesterday) there were still lots of girlies rocking the big moves in our crew.

In fact, on this particular set, there were MORE girls than boys hitting it up.

Now this may have led to some other events down further. I’m not sure…

Of course, it could have been the Williams Lake girls’ tradition of “flashing” just before the boys hit the lip of the jump…

I’m really not sure.

At any rate, Andreas bit off a bit more than he could chew on one of the gaps and ended up casing a lip, which led to this:

So for the first time ALL tour the 1st Aid Kit came out. Typical that it’s for someone not actually on tour. We cleaned him up and bandaged him as best as possible, and sent him to the hospital.

Ten stitches. Not a bad souvenier, even if he says that he never noticed the “flash.”

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience – Day 1

Ah yes, time to get your Experience on again. This year, it’s Nelson and the Kootenays. Although to start, we’re hitting up the old fathful, Powers Creek.

Wade of course, is late. But George is along for this trip and he’s keen on making an impression. Here he is impressing on the wall ride on Powers.

As usual, Nicole is with us. Also along is Mike, who if you remember blew his knee out on the second day of last year’s tour. There are also newcomers Niclas from frankfurt Germany, and Ian Millar of Mountain Biking magazine (and one of the most out of date websites I’ve seen in a long time).

Not a bad way to start the tour, with some rippin throwdowns from girl in the crew. Amazing to see the progression from year to year with the regulars. When Nicole first started, she was all tense and full of questions and ….. hey, I guess not much has changed. Well…

She’s throwing the airs without much difficulty now. It was good to see how Mike actually rides now too. We barely got started on the trip last year when he went down with a freak injury. Fingers crossed that we get through this one clean.

Nicole, styling the airs AGAIN.

New guy, Niclas, showing us some Teutonic styles.

Mike and some beetlekilled timber.

Here’s a full crew for another lap, including Wade (finally) and Barb. The only missing person is Luke, who pulled out of the trip at the 11th hour at the behest of his workplace. Considering what’s on the agenda for this one, I’d be looking for another job if I was in his shoes.

You know, some skinnies…

Some more skinnies….

Still more skinnies…..

Think he’s gonna make it?

Yeah, you should know by know how that’s gonna turn out. Still, no harm done, just a little spill.

Nicole contemplating a high log ride.

Nicole, acing it.

Not to be outdone, George throws down a huge one on Shenanigans. First day, and the crew is KILLING it.

Barb is even tricking it out a bit she’s so inspired by the level with this bunch.

Nicole, not quite tricking it yet but still throwing down HUGE for the first day.

Quite a start to the tour. We’ll have to see how this goes….

ReReturn of the Jedi – Last Day

This is it…that end of the road for another year. Let’s take a moment to reflect whilst driving down a lonely road on a grey summer morning…..

Photo:Tony Doyle

Awwww, hell with that. Let’s go bang a lap on Seymour.

Photo:Tony Doyle

Not much has changed up here. It’s a bit rougher than the first time this crew rode it, but bascially the same.

Photo:Tony Doyle

About the only thing that was different was that the boys are TOTALLY THRASHED FROM THE BEST TOUR WE EVER PUT ON FOR THEM.

Photo:Tony Doyle

Just sayin…..

Photo:Tony Doyle

See, the idea was that we would go over to the Toonie Drop to give Tony a chance to wail off a huge cliff to cap off the trip, but even though we got through 2 weeks of intense trails without a serious injury, the crew was simply too beat up to deal with anything bigger than the PileDriver.

Photo:Tony Doyle

And even at that, only a couple of dudes hit it up.

Photo:Tony Doyle

So that’s it. This was supposed to be the last Jedi Council Canada trip, but after pulling out the stops like we did, I think there may be another in the future. Not to mention the new young guns that have yet to see the rest of what BC has to offer.

Oh, and after everyone left I found out about a whole pile of stuff that we missed which is right up the Jedi Alley.

We’ll leave you with these shots from our lovely hostess, Jill from the Riding Fool Hostel.
Photo: Jill Banting

Photo: Jill Banting

Photo: Jill Banting

Photo: Jill Banting

Photo: Jill Banting

Photo: Jill Banting

Many thanks to the many people that helped us out on this tour, especially:

Riding Fool Hostel
Mt Washington Bike Park
Mountain City Cycles (Get a freekin website, eh?)
Stubz, and his parents