Downhill / Freeride

[Jinky]

Ballbaby,

Here is a picture of my bike. Last seen in my driveway in June of 1983.
As you can see it had a small seat. I also had a small seat back in '83. My Factory Kuwey was chrome rather than black. It has no doubt had the factory sticker removed and been painted blue by now. If anyone sees it , please run the fcuker over with your car.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dude]

Dan Cowan

I'm pretty sure this is dangerous Dan...

 

[Dude]

Ladders

Typical ladders on the Shore:

 

[Dude]

BC Cup

Hey Greek,

Wilby raced at Parksville this weekend…apparently pulled off a 4:12 on a bum ankle. That was good for something like 21st out of about 97 in the Sport class. The best time on the day was 3:24 (Pro div.). Last year in our first DH race ever- also at Parksville- we finished 3 seconds apart (me ahead) in the low 5-minute range…so a years' experience makes a big difference!

The next BC Cup is at Penticton on the 18th long weekend. My lovely wife has told me that if I go to Penticton for either a race or a soccer tourney that weekend, that she will tear my arm out of my socket while I’m sleeping, and beat me to death with it. I guess I’m not going.

June 1st is the Bear Mountain Challenge. I’m racing that one for sure. It was a blast last year. You should give it a shot…just for fun.


(Sorry...nasty photo. This is the Rock Drop)

 

[Dude]

Greek...did you guys go yesterday? Sorry we missed you Saturday...blame Wilby for once again being so fcuking late.

Seymour was punishing Saturday. We started out w/ 7 riders, quickly went down to 6 with a blown derailleur hanger and flat tire (same rider). Lost another before Neds was finished with a dislocated finger. In between, one other guy broke his chain. We then lost a third because he was tagging along with the blown hanger / flat tire guy.

Next up was Pingu / Boogieman. This is where my months of rust came up to bite me. I did a lot of the big hucks clean, but also managed to crash hard a couple of times in easy sections. Lots of "cnuts", "fcuks", and "kocksuckers" flying out all over the place. I also broke my chain, and bent my derailleur hanger. And broke a spoke (rear wheel). And ruined a bushing (rear swing arm). The good news: no ill affects whatsoever on the shoulder, despite landing hard on it twice! Meanwhile, the same guy who broke his chain in the first run broke it a second time. Wilby also crashed hard on a ladder and turned his bad ankle again.

All in all, we started with 7, and only 1 emerged unscathed of either mechanical problems or injury.

Next Sunday: a bunch of guys are running a shuttle up and down Bear Mountain. If the gate is open, we can take my truck and make a few runs!

 

[crazygreek]

Oh baby!

Yes sir. Niceboy and I hit Neds again yesterday. Niceboy hit the same drops as last time, but much cleaner. I am not there yet, did the ramps and everything else though! We took pics. We want to go this week when the weather clears, maybe Thursday or Friday. This weekend at bear sounds great! Look forward to it. Got Bolt Cutters?

 

[Dude]

Niceboy...is that his new nickname? I think "Moaning Boy" would have been more appropriate.

"I can't go...I broke my swing arm bolt...whaaaaa..."

Fcuk me...stick a bent nail through the thing and let's go!!! Nonetheless, post the pix here. We took a classic one of Cory launching off the 7 footer...I'll get it up here ASAP. TOO FUNNY!

I need until at least Saturday to get a plethora (new TTP big word) of repairs done. Besides, I have to play soccer on Thursday (KNVB- insert appropriate "You mean you call that soccer?" joke here:________).

We will NOT be doing Bear Mountain unless that gate is guaranteed to be open. I'll get in touch with the guy this week to make sure. 30 minutes climbing up for a 5-6 minute decent just isn't worth it. But, if we can get some shuttles going...

 

[Dude]

Thanks for the ride

Greek,

Thanks for letting me borrow your VPS Launch while my rig is out of commission undergoing a plethora or repairs. I think I broke it in for you pretty well, without actually breaking any parts! Basically, I only skipped two big drops (HUGE teeter & 12 footer in Boogieman), which gave me a bit of the shakes.

Storyboy is getting better and better every ride. At first, he was just happy to watch, but by the end, he was doing all the big drops too.

I thought a comparison was in order!

GREEK’S 2002 VPS LAUNCH- MAJOR SPECS
· Marzocchi Custom JR T, 6” travel front
· FOX Vanilla, 5.5” travel rear
· Short ****pit, ideal for freeriding

LIKES:
· Very quick and maneuverable in tight sections.
· Light weight (relatively)…must be 5 lbs lighter than the RM7. Very little help needed to lift off on a huck.
· Surprisingly stable on landing big hucks…probably because it was so easy to point it in the right direction, and take-off on a smooth line.
· Easy to ride…very little effort / recovery needed.

DISLIKES
· “Bouncy” on fast DH sections. The back end doesn’t like to stay in one place.
· Small chain-ring on front. No need…would rather have a single ring (36-38T) w/ chain tensioner.

 

[Dude]

DUDE’S 2001 RM7 (2202 shown- no big changes)
· Rock Shoxx Boxxer, 7” front travel
· FOX Vanilla RC, 7” travel rear
· Longer ****pit, ideal for DH

LIKES
· Stable & high speeds
· Small drops and hucks (i.e.: 3-4 feet) in a DH section are easily absorbed by the long travel and ****pit.
· Big drops & long rock faces- no problem.

DISLIKES
· Heavier weight makes it a tough ride in flat or rooty areas
· Not very maneuverable in tight sections.
· Gotta be in good shape to make this baby sail…which I am not right now!

Conclusion: I still like my RM7 better, but I can see why the VPS is so popular on the Shore. It may not be all out fast, but it is quick, and really fun to ride.

The funniest thing I heard last week…

Greek, complaining about his fitness, saying he needs to lose weight:

Greek: “Fcuk…I really need to loose some weight so I’m not sucking wind so much.”
Dude: “Well, what are you doing right now to try and shed a few pounds?”
Greek: “Eating a lot of fast food, and drinking a lot of beer. I can’t understand why it’s not working…”

Greek, I almost laughed my bag off when you said that!

 

[crazygreek]

Dude! Wanna Trade?

Niceboy and I are going tonight, tomorrow, and the next!!! I have to start hucking. FCUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANKS BTW FOR THE DIRTY ASS BIKE I CAME HOME TO.....beeatch!

 

[Dude]

I may be in for Thusday...let me know. Hopefully my beast is fixed by then.

Whistler this weekend...can't wait! We'll get some good photos there, for sure!

 

[Dude]

Whistler's Son...

Richie Schley

 

[Dude]

The King of Freeride

Vancouver's Wade Simmons

 

[Dude]

Whistler- too many closed runs

Greek,

We had a great weekend @ Whistler, despite the fact I was a bit disappointed with the lack of Double Black Diamond runs open. My favorite DBD runs- Upper Joyride, Lower Joyride, and the WC Downhill course were all closed. We noticed a crew still working on Upper Joyride, so hopefully I’ll get lucky again in about a month. Crackadic was open, which is a fun DBD run, but its problem is that it is too short, and you need to take B-Line to get there (a beginner Circle run).

Anyhow, A-line was open, which is classified a Single Black Diamond. Lots of burms, and kicker style jumps- Wilby’s style of riding. He was like a hog in heaven. There was one 8’ rock face in the run- you could either hit it or go around- so that was nice. The face was very steep, but a downhill transition. This made it possible to either roll it, or huck it. By the end of the day, we were coming through at full speed and just letting her coast…hucking the full 8’. That was a rush. In all though, A-line didn’t have any gnarly Shore style technical downhill that I really like (as Upper Joyride, Lower Joyride, and the WC Downhill do).

All you need to know is that there were NO crashes on the day. I escaped 100% unscathed. We did about 12 runs. I was left wanting a bit more. At the end of the day though, a couple of beers at the Longhorn, followed by many more in our private hottub made up for any shortcommings!

 

[SC]

Dude at Neds today?

By any chance were you one of the Dudes on Neds today?

+SCisjustwonderingbecausesheandNottywereuptherearound2:30ish

"Cry me a river", or is it "a river runs through it"? That is the question!

 

[Dude]

Not Neds

I was actually at Whistler yesterday, not Neds. My buddy works at Race Face, and they sponsor the Bike Park. We were supposed to be in Mission @ Bear Mountain (BC Cup #3), but we went Saturday for pre-runs, and there must have been 300 racers in the DH alone! The line-ups for the shuttle were about an hour long, and the trail was way too busy. We decided that Whistler would be a better choice...we were right!

The runs weren't so busy (most riders must have been @ Bear), not a cloud in the sky, and by the end of the day, all the runs were open! The day ended off on a bit of a bummer though- on our last run, down Lower Joyride, one of the guys broke his collar-bone. That was the only black mark on a nearly perfect day!

How was Neds & Seymour? Busy?

 

[SC]

steady flow of traffic...

~Nott bad at all!

Saw some nice riding (everyone else except me) -Nott man caught some nice air a few times

+SCisgoingfullgearnexttime

 

[Dude]

Dude needs armour

Always go full gear!!! Man, I can't even fathom how much I would drain from our Medicare system if I didn't...

 

[Dude]

Whistler A-Line

Here's a look at Dude hucking the Rockface on A-Line, Whistler (May 25th weekend). This one can be rolled if you have enough suspension (6" front is enough), but it is a way bigger rush to just air it out.

 

[Dude]

Crappy photo

Here's a better photo...