Nic and I headed up to the interior this past weekend for some riding in Kamloops, passing through Ashcroft to visit her family.
The sunshine finally decided to appear this summer. Good timing.
Dear Sun Peaks, I would like to introduce you to the double black diamond. Some parks use the double black to indicate a trail that will kick most peoples ass, like mine. I like the single blacks just fine, but you only seem to use single black for what seem to be both advanced and expert only trails.
Had they used this signage, Nic and I may have been able to avoid Honey Drop....
Not all of which was over the top, as you can see by my cocky decent down the hill...
only to be directed to the mud bath at the end.
Sun Peaks has its tricky sections, but for the most part, if you can handle a few steep sections, this hill can be a lot of fun. I haven't ridden all the parks in BC yet, but this is comes a close second to Whistler in my books.
I also have to send a shout out to Arthur at SuspensionWerx who finally got Nic's bike set up right. The suspension tune and the lowered stack height really helped her have one of the best days of riding I have ever seen her have.
She was over the bars and out of her Saddle in a big way.
She even kept an open mind on this Super Steep section of the Sunpeaks DH course.
The view from....
On day 2, we kept it light. We found our way to the Kamloops bike ranch, where we hooked up with Dylan and his Mostly Mental Shuttles outfit. For 5 bucks a head, we were shuttled up to Rio Escondito ( Of Seasons Fame).Dylan stayed with us for our first lap, coaching Nic on the way down. That was super nice of him. Somehow I get the feeling that his business is just an excuse to ride all day. Nice Life....
Rio is Super fun and fast, I went up for a second lap.
A group of riders from Switzerland was there and I got a few pics of them gapping one of the jumps on Rio.
After my second lap, I was able to get in touch with a long lost friend living in Kamloops. It was good to catch up with him.
We returned to Ashcroft for Sunday dinner, and Monday breakfast, then lunch, and Tea with Cookies in the afternoon. Food, food and then more food. Nic's mom can cook up a storm. I enjoyed the Italian hospitality, but I think I need to upgrade all my clothes to XXL now.
HAHA.
A short rest before we started down Rob's Corners.
The day was full of views like this. I only got this one shot.
We came a along a rock face that we all wanted to try.
And I'm not going to say "even Nic did this" anymore because her comfort level is suddenly advancing rapidly. Won't be long before she is talking me down steep rock faces.
There was a nice mix of technical root clusters and wood work. This is before the start of Roller Coaster, a very fun trail that I never stopped to get shots on.
All good trails end at the pub. We headed to NVan for some much need nourishment.
