Downhill / Freeride

[Notty]

Sound's like a glass is half full type weekend...shite happens but if a new frame is in the works, not all is lost!

No ride for me this weekend, spent the majority on the couch thinking about going for a ride!

No worries...another week is upon us!

~Notty

 

[SC]

Hey Jude...

What's to ride around Summerland/Kelowna?

+SCwillbetravellingwithbikethisweekend

 

[Dude]

Here are three great locations:


Summerland
Kelowna (Crystal Mountain)
Silverstar (Vernon)

Personally, I haven’t ridden Crystal Mountain (Kelowna) yet, but it can’t be that bad if they’re catering to Downhillers and are hosting a BC Cup. Penticton is great, but you need to hook up with some locals, and trust them to take you where you’ll want to go. Plus, no chair lifts.

If you can make it out to Vernon for a day (30-45 minutes from Kelowna), go to Silverstar! Excellent runs, plus they’ve hosted everything from BC Cups to Canada Cups…so they have some good builders. They cater to Downhillers in the summer. If you want to check out the local Vernon trails, go to the Italian Kitchen, downtown, and talk with the owner (he rides). The guys who build the trails in Vernon (Paul, Bill, Will) hang out there all the time. You can also talk w/ the guys at Olympia, and they’ll hook you up for a group ride.

We’re spending the weekend of the 24th in Vernon. Apparently, these guys have built up some North Shore style shite, and people are getting hurt! Can’t wait!


Finally picked up my new frame today: they didn't have any 2002 frames left, so I got a 2003! Building it up after soccer tonight, in time for the weekend!

 

[SC]

Good Stuff...

"Thanks", we'll let you know what goes this weekend

+TheCloser

 

[Notty]

Dude...cheers! Good info...with luck we can hit some of dis!

 

[Dude]

Built up my new 2003 RM7 w/ new 2002 linkkage last night...she's gorgeous! I almost don't want to ride her. She's so shiny and blue...

The guys at Rocky are awesomme. Once we made contact, and got the RMA forms sorted out, it took us 2, count 'em, 2 days to put the warantee through! What's best is that the guys were so cool about it- fcuk, they were almost as excited as I was! Hitting Seymour this weekend, and next weekend is the new DH race @ Hemlock (chair lifts baby!!!)- brand new course, can't wait to ride it on Friday.

RM for life!

 

[Notty]

Saaaweeeet ride...

Built up my new 2003 RM7 w/ new 2002 linkkage last night...she's gorgeous! I almost don't want to ride her. She's so shiny and blue...

Ya...until you huck your first stunt...then...well...you know what happens next.

Good luck next week...give me a buzz if your up for a mid week ride!

Cheers

~Notty

Hey...this was my 200th post! Where's my anniversary gift?

 

[Regs]

Hey...this was my 200th post! Where's my anniversary gift?

In a Richmond United Idiot's back pocket

What is so special about riding a fcuking bike? For myself, I got over that about 20 years ago

~Regs.

 

[SC]

not a thrill seeker I guess

Riggy,
Go monitor a different forum

I think Lips might have something to say around these parts

+HappyridingDude

 

[TheRob]

They had bikes then?

 

[SC]

Riggs...

Back in the day

 

[Dude]

Regs,

How about I hook you up with a state-of-the-art full suspension freeride bike, all the armour you'll need, and take you out? That way, you can decide for yourself.

(My guess is Regs is the kind of guy who chooses to sit at a Starbucks patio and drink fraps, rather than stepping outside the box to experience the thrill of an adrenaline rush, or to try anything remotely dangerous or difficult.)

 

[Notty]

Regs-ride-o-lot,

Don't speak of what you don't know! I don't question your obsession with beer!

 

[SC]

LOL

Obviously, we have some demented people around here

Yourstrulyincluded

 

[Dude]

Look what I can do!

I stand corrected...I have seen Regs riding a bike, here.

Granted, it wasn't exactly on OLN.

 

[Notty]

The Script

Mom - "Regart...get over here"
Regart - "Noooooooo" (whiny voice)
Mom - "Regart...get over here right now"
Regart - "Look what I can do" (proceeds to flail about and dance)

 

[Dude]

Notty / SC- did you guys get a chance to go riding this weekend? You were in Vernon, right?

The Greek and I went to Seymour yesterday. You have to understand- I, and anyone else in our group of friends, am under immense pressure to keep the Greek off the trails until we head to Vernon in two weeks. He's the best photographer of the bunch, and our #1 priority is to keep him healthy until then.

Well...he had a fall yesterday. Seems his pedal got snagged on a root, and he went down. His right wrist immediately swelled up. I sent him an e-mail this morning, looking for the prognosis:

Two broken bones, cast for 14 days then re x-ray, and go from there. Fcuk me! I am coming regardless; I can still drink and take photos.

This guy is good for one hospital visit every two rides- swear to God!

 

[SC]

Peachland/Summerland report...

Unfort. the bzzr, the lake, the tubing, the softball game against the locals, the bzzr, the boat, the cabin, Saint 'closing' all bocce matches, the bzzr runs, the 14 Dragoons, the next door neighbours, the campfire, the bzzr and SC's timely cold, took over the thought of a ride this weekend.

Notty however, was as healthy as a bee and sniffed some trails a bit

+SorrytohearaboutTheGreek

 

[Notty]

Nutten much close!

the bzzr,

the bzzr,

the bzzr,

the bzzr,

SC hit it on the head...little time was left over for riding...did manage to find 1 wee trail...no seymour mtn...but down hill non the less!

 

[Dude]

Hemlock!

Notty, SC, Greek, any lurkers who are interested:

Went to Hemlock Valley Resort this weekend for their first ever DH race. Look for this resort to be fully set-up next spring / summer (Saturdays & Sundays only) with full chair lift access and a new mountain bike park. They’re talking about $50.00 for a season’s pass (cheep). If you have ever been there, the best way to describe Hemlock is rustic. There really isn’t a village to speak of, and the lodge wasn’t really open. But, there were plenty of activity, and they opened the pub for us. A lot of people just pitched tents in the parking lot, or at the base of the chairs. We had no problem finding a condo that slept 7 for $150.00 / night. Included hot tub (necessary for me) and pool. If they do bring this thing together, and carve out a few more trails, this may quickly become my #1 destination for riding weekends. Very, very casual atmosphere, and cheep. On top of that, easier to get to than Whistler (for me) or Sun Peaks.

The course itself was on the difficult side, but not as long as Sun Peaks. What made it mostly tricky was that is was so raw, and brand new. It hadn’t been broken in by Friday, and the runs were not only very bumpy, but completely off camber. It didn’t help that the resort hadn’t seen any rain for weeks, making it so dry it was slippery. It took me 5 or so runs to find a tire pressure low enough that worked…and two flats as well. It was mainly shore style switchbacks right from the beginning, but they added an 8’ huck to a slightly downhill landing about 30 seconds in. A bail out route was carved out too, but the huck was way faster. Problem was, the landing was full of potholes. They finally fixed this on race morning, to my relief (I was only about .500 on clean landings in my 8 practice runs Friday & Saturday). No big deal…I figured if I crashed, it was still faster to get right back on and go, rather than take the easy route. By race time, the landing was perfect anyhow, so no issue. They added in a couple of 6’ gap jumps that were right in the trail, with no bail out. The rest of the course was seriously dodgy and challenging, with really loose dirt and slanted single track. In some sections, it was just enough of a challenge to keep the bike on the course. I crashed about 6 times (some spectacular) in my practice runs, before finally figuring out the lines. My body isn’t letting me forget today!

I finished 4:09, while the top pro came in at 3:05. High 3-minute range to 4:30 seemed about average. Fcuk- when I think about it, I can see where if I cut out a couple of errors during my run, and open it up a little more on the open section, I can get 20-30 seconds back for a 3:40 or so. It absolutely blows me away that the top pro goes 3:05! I just can’t see where they can get that much time saved…but I guess that’s why they’re pro. They also eat Mac & Cheese every night, and live a starvin’ student lifestyle…so it has its sacrifices.

Put Hemlock as a destination on your calendar next summer! Great riding!