trail building

Summer is Here!

Posted on by Smoke

Yay…summer!  Sorry about your derailleur…

First Ride of Summer

That thing was toasted.  Every part broken, and even a bit of shrapnel left on the trail.  Ah well, Dave.  It’s good for the economy.

I spent a lot of today building a new line out in the Mice, which led into some old lines.  Looks like we’ve got another top to bottom route laid out.  And it’s flowy enough that you can run it without a chain. 

Nice clouds for a summer day.

First Ride of Summer

Not much of a sunset, either.

First Ride of Summer

Doesn’t matter if it’s raining though.  You can always tell summer in Penticton by the cars on the beach.

First Ride of Summer
First Ride of Summer

Gillard Session

Posted on by Smoke

Dave wanted to ride something different today, and since he was going to be in Kelowna we decided to go hit up Gillard.

Only one problem…too many Fags on the bridge.

FAGS

Haven’t spent much time up in Gillard the past couple of seasons, but it’s looking great.  Tons of work has been done up there.  Hard to believe this network was essentially destroyed by fire.  Here’s Dave on Dr. No, which has had a substantial rebuild this year.

Dr. No

Also finally had a look at the new Casino Royale (lots of pics of the build from Bert and Ernie…I mean Andrew and Brant..at that link).  It’s an incredible trail.  While there are a few really large moves, for the most part it’s more of a technical ride with some 5′ drops and some really, really cool lines.  Highly recommended.

Casino Royale

Oh, and thanks to Brooke for driving the shuttle today.  That was awesome.

Kootenay Down Time

Posted on by Smoke

It’s a non-working day of sorts.   We cracked off a staff descent in the morning, and helped the boys with their stunt (I’m callin’ it the Moose Knuckle, but I think Riley has his own story on it) a bit.

Retallack Lodge

There must have been some distracton when this one got framed, as it needed a lot of refinements to make it rideable.  I guess it gets lonely at the lodge, so when the ladies show up, the trail building gets done with only half an eye.  Luckily, the ladies were away today so Riley could adjust the line.

Retallack Lodge

Our pals from NRG also were around today.  They had to get a bit of work done, as they were hosting a product launch for their best dealers (NRG imports distributes various familiar lines in Canada, like Chromag, Maxxis, MRP, and others).  But work didn’t take long, and we got the up to Idaho Peak for a quick run before dinner.

Retallack Lodge

Kootenay down time…get it?

Retallack Lodge

Alright, two days of riding, feasting, and checking out the latest 2012 gear from some of my favourite companies.  Oh, and I get paid to do this?

Retallack Lodge