Get Back on That Horse!

The chest wall is still a bit tender but at least I can breathe normally again. No time like the present to test out the old song, however I was a little worried about the take a deep breath part.

Trunk Monkeyed

It started innocently enough but the Trunk Monkey spanked me hard. A long hot shower and 22oz of Hop in the Dark, to help wash down the Advil I gobbled earlier, I think I’m beginning to feel better, that or the alcohol is beginning to kick in.

The first ride in a number of years on the full UrbanWarfare link-up plus a new bonus section was the order of the day. Together with Sonny, Steve and Wade we departed Cypress Falls Park for the ascent up the BLT; originally an acronym for Boulders, Logs and Trees, a new development planned in the area and associated infrastructure upgrades should have the trail re-badged: Bulldozers, Logging and Turn-Offs.

7 Days, 7 Summits and More.

Approaching the 1st Summit

 Years in thought, months of collaboration, weeks of fine-tuning and 7 days to implement. The last summer singletrack adventure of 2011 is nothing but a memory. The ultimate goal was to cross the 7 Summits in Rossland and whatever happened in between was the cherry on top. North or south only Mother Nature would determine our direction of travel.

7 Summits or Bust!

Conditions are perfect!

Lighting out for Rossland in the morning, trail side on Tuesday. Based on the forecast from Enivironment Canada it may be a good time to stick around the Kootenays for a few extra days.

Finished and unfinished business

 The drilling has been completed and operations in Houston(not Texas) have wrapped up. Work and play for me has ceased in the Bulkley Valley for 2011 but not before I managed to address a bit of unfinished business from the year before.

I was fortunate that work had been in an area that was rife with good riding, however the burdens of said work only allowed sporadic trail time. I made the most of every opportunity but was primarily relegated to an hour or two once or twice a week. Most of those rides in Smithers were in the Bluff. I finally managed to get out to Huckin eh’, a trail I had intentions of hitting in 2010 but Mother Nature had other ideas. 1ºc and rain were not favorable conditions in late October and I was keener to go home than submit myself to hypothermia. I was not to be denied this year.

Work sucks! Lets go ride a bike!

Specialized is looking for Trail Crew members again. I remember going through this process once before, The lure of complimentary swag is just too strong to ignore. Looks to be the same process:

A blog post, video or something that proves just how much one likes to ride their bike. Last time I think I tried using pity, I had just purchased a new pair of S-Works shoes and thought the fact that I had dropped serious cash to further my habit might help.

It didn't!

Nearly 300 rides later I could use a new pair of those shoes... So let's try this again.

When I tried the last time for this Trail Crew gig I was recovering from reconstructive knee surgery and under employed. Plenty good reason to get out and ride as much as I could. 2 years down the road under-employment doesn't seem to be a problem and the knee has long since recovered though various other limbs and joints have made pleas for attention of there own of late. Regardless I try to get out as much as I can in as varied locations and terrain as possible. I think a brief summary of 2 weeks between work, home and back to work would sum up my passion pretty well.

All hail the Mud skipper!

There’s a fish out there in fauna land that is a true amphibian and as each day in this most despicable of July’s on record passes I begin to feel that I am going to leave here with gills a tail, poor swimming skills and an affinity for mud. Because Houston(not Texas) doesn’t really have a weather station, weather forecasts are essentially a composite of both Smithers and Burns Lake. Unfortunately because Houston(not Texas) is far enough south of both, one is bound to be disappointed regardless of how gloomy or optimistic Environment Canada portrays the present or future.

Ooohh... Less than a 50% chance of misery for the next week.