First Real Climb of the Season

Time to see if all the skiing this winter kept me fresh for the dirt.  I’m waiting on new bikes right now, but some random rep left this carbon thing with big hoops and a scary paint job lying around the shop, so I grabbed that for a ride today.

That paint must have inspired this guy.  Lots of people hanging around out there today.

There’s a new line up to Rock Oven that Jamie Johnson built called shin Skinner that Vance led the charge on today.

It’s tough in spots, but oh so worth it…

…even if Foot was feelin’ it in places he might have forgotten about over the winter.

Winter, meet summer.

OK, now pull back really fast for a huge rush.

And Jens gets some exposure. 

As usual these days, not much stopping on the descent.  We did the climb in a little over an hour, and the descent in about 20 minutes.

Plus another hour or so of hanging out with beers.  Another great Sunday ride in the books.

Hard As…

Yesterday’s private session went so well, I decided to introduce Ryan to some of the locals.

I think this was a good call, as the plan was to hit up Trout Creek Canyon on the XC bikes.  With the crew feeling like winter has been hanging on too long, the pace got a bit out of hand.  Feeling that climb, Ryan?

Travis in particular was charging like a man that’s been cooped up with the wife and kids a lot lately.

The later part of this lap was a battle between mashing pedals and hanging on to Don’s back wheel or trying to take in the view without hitting a tree.  I  opted for views over hammering as much as possible.

I even managed to snag this over the shoulder action shot of Jens in the lower meadows.  That’s some sweet Okanagan single track for ya right there.

Top it all off with some big cones, and what could be better?

How about some alternating shots with beer?

Yup…better. 

Ryan and I went for another ride in the afternoon, when it got a lot warmer and sunnier, but that lap was all about keeping the pace up.  So no pics of High Pony, but I should be up there again very soon, and the sun is coming back with a vengeance so hopefully I can post up some more epic sunset shots later in the week.

Cranksgiving – Sheep Rocks

October in the alpine! 

It’s so not cold.  Could have used some cold water to throw on these two, though.

Sheep Rocks is a pair of minor summits to the north of Apex.  It’s about a 25km ride, with a partial out and back portion.  It’s a nice mellow adventure, perfect for a nice Cranksgiving gang ride. 

Yup, that’s ice on the creek there, but it was surprisingly warm out.  I was down to shorts and a t-shirt in no time.

Here we are, at almost 7000’ asl, and it’s plenty warm and dry.  The driest summer in `07 years of record keeping around here, and this is the payoff.

A short punchy climb later and we were on the summit.  You can see the Seven Summits in the background, and the Okanagan valley below.  I hear there’s a trail down to the lake from up here, maybe I’ll have to try to find that one…

So, this is kind of weird.  I didn’t know that ladybugs hibernated up here, but there were literally thousands of them in little nooks and crannies on the summit.

No time to marvel at the wonders of nature though.  We had some alpine to shred, right Steve?

and Barb…

…and Veronica…

..and the always glum Susan.

It’s about 12km from here to the bottom, mostly down hill.  I can see why everyone is all smiles.

I can also see why Steven might have trouble staying awake after.

Luckily, he woke up in time for us to crash a Thanksgiving dinner.  Veronica looks like she’s a bit nervous in this one, but then again, if you were caught in a My Little Pony fight between Chevy and Dorothy, wouldn’t you be a bit scared?