The Ole' Bait and Switch

I started planning this trip when Cypress we have snow trucked in from other parts of the province. 2010 was looking to be a warm one, so I felt like 7 Summits was a good bet. But no. The weather in these parts is a strange bird at best.

By the time I had wrangled 15 or so of my riding buddies and herded them to Rossland, the snow up on 7 Summits was around 5 feet still. I think they even had a little more while we were there.

You'd think someone would say something about being denied the package from the brochure. But instead of bailing on the plan, a large group of us drove 8+ hours each to Rossland and back for some new trail tales.

Between Don and CraigH taking pictures, there are around 1500 pics to choose from. I cant say if I grabbed the best ones, I just grabbed as many as I could post.

Ted content being high in this one, I dont mind being in my own blog from time to time.



What a brood. I think the largest riding group I have ever been in.




We arrived in town around 2:30pm on Canada Day. Our first ride started soon there after. Red Top and Red Head were right outside of our door.


Day 2, we rode up about 1200ft vert up Tamarac, across to Whiskey for the first part of it. Then over to Crown Point, a trail I think everyone had fun on.
Day 3 was Techno Grind, down Pale Ale and Milky Way, up Green door to lunch.
Day 3 part 2 was a few shuttle rides on Whiskey and then Tamarac back down for anyone who had the legs.
These pics, btw, have nothing to do with what I am typing. There is no way to manage 1500 images in a blog. You just post them.

Thanks to Dales friends, Jim and Michelle for the Pale Ale Milky way trip.


Thanks to Craig, Ina, Trevor and Ian for helping with the shuttle logistics. (I really need a truck.)








No big rip on 7 summits. But 16 of my friends had fun.

Worth the drive.

Paces

Ian finally starting putting his new bike through it's paces this weekend. 3 rides of varying caliber. 7th Pipeline on Friday, he took it to do some XC trails in Whistler for Sat, and Neds and C-Buster on Sunday.

So far, the news isn't all good.

Ian was sure to make this bike the Nicest in his Armory. Full X-O, custom fork and totally Guchi. The bike is almost a work of art.

Tires and rear shock need to be swapped out we think. DHX air is a junk shock for that bike. I can't understand why all the new Coves have them. It would be nice if the bike shop was better at getting the parts you wanted on your bike instead of convincing you to give some else a try. They are good salesmen over there, but Ian is a wily vet and know what he wants. He should have stuck to his guns and held out for the RP-23 boost.
The Maxxis X-marks have been messing with Ian's head on all woodwork. Too much focus on keeping the bike light. Tire are important and you need the right compound for the job.

The Roller Coaster

Once again today's ride started off under the threat of rain, but it ended up being nice. I headed out solo to hook up with 2 groups of friends on Fromme. By the time I found them at the entrance to pipeline, they had already befriended each other, making my job easy.

The main dish was on Pipeline, with desert on Natural High for those with appetite, and a few rock roller coaster and skinny teeter clinics in the middle.

Lots of blurry pics, but I think I'll just post up the high lite of the day. Nic had never done the Rock Roller Coaster before, but she brought her A game today and decided to giver a go.



She got back up after happy and with renewed confidence in her armor. She had a good day. Good Job Nic!

Free Vert

Today's trip to the Whistler Bike Park is brought to you by Visa: "Visa, the only card you need to get 2 months salary into the shit hole for bike parts, trips and other crap you don't need."

Thanks Visa.

I firmly believe that after Craig's Boot Camp in Utah and Colorado, I deserved a little free vertical at the bike park. Ian and I motored up this morning as the clouds glowered on us with mild rain. I think they decided to leave us alone once they figured out we weren't going away.
Highlights from the day included me doing A-line in it's entirety, getting all 3 of the major rock faces on Old Whistler DH both for the first time, and Ian crashing on the log ride on Crack Addict.....again. (Wish I'd seen that.)It's good mojo to wear your teams jersey on the trails. I was wearing mine the year the Hurricanes won. I think the Flyers chances are getting better.
I'm starting to piece together more and more of Schleyer. Hopefully this is the season I get that nasty rock face done.
There is a ride tomorrow on Fromme. No commitments have been made yet, but could this be the weekend Ian finally get's his new bike dirty? You gotta admit, it looks pretty nice, but 3 weeks in the museum is enough.

Life on Mars: Part 10 - Proof

Home now. Having trouble moving around for some reason. Not sure why. I wasn't feeling like this yesterday. Might have something to do with Craigs' week long boot camp down in the states. 7 days of a riding and I used them all.

I'm not usually in my blog, but there were enough cameras floating around that I could scrape together a few shots. I saved them for the last entry in the trip series. It's my blog, I can shamelessly self promote if I want to.
I gotta send a thanks out to Craig and Ina for letting me tag along. It was nice to ride with Steve and Susan as well. The road trip went relatively well. No one killed each other, no one got left behind.


My bike, the Cove Hustler. IMHO, the best single pivot bike out there. Heavy tho, needs to go on diet. Wheel set, stem, peddles, bar, cassette, rear shifter and derailleur are all on the shopping list for this fatty.

This is me on a slick rock face on Porcupine rim. Riding a rock bridge out on Westwater Rim back in Utah.
And Kevin took this one of me on our first ride together on Holy Cross.
That's the trip for anyone wondering how was life on Mars.

Life on Mars: Part 9 - Photo Compendium

Lots of cameras on this trip. Lots of good pics, not just mine. I tried my best to collect the photo's as best I could but there were too many to sort through. Craig, Ina, Steve and Susan, if you have any pics you would like posted, I can put them here.

For starters, here are 20 or so photos not taken by me....