Moose Mountain Mud

Group ride hit it on Tuesday for an upbeat ride on Pneuma to Hot Laps to Race of Spades: good times! There were only four but everyone was riding well and all smiles!

Here’s Bryant and Dylan on our way up Lower Pneuma.

Alan was suffering up the climb, but he toughed it out!

Waiting at a junction, fuzzy shot but you can get the sense of how muddy it was by my shoes and legs!

Bryant thinks twice before attempting this gap on Race of Spades.

Alan doesn’t even consider it

Bryant rockets down a ramp!

We were back at the parking lot by 9pm and the sun was starting to set and all the afternoon rain created an awesome looking mist as the evening cooled off.

Big Powderface Loop

So this week we hit Powederface for some singletrack goodness and it did not disappoint! I had forgotten what a great trail this is: epic climb, gnarly descent and a classic XC trail (roots, mud, rocks, fast) back to the parking lot. I brought along my helmet camera but my batteries failed me and I only got the first 30 seconds of our downhill… BOOOO! I didn’t bother posting it because it’s really not that interesting. One guy in our group got three (that’s right 3!!!) flat tires and ended up walking the last kilometre back to the car: time for some new tires methinks. Needless to say, our ride ended up being about 3 hours. We rolled in on the last glimmers of daylight and the rest of the crew fired up the BBQ and enjoyed some beverages but I knew my little ones would be awake by 6am so I b-lined home!

Here’s one of me after finishing the climb, the glisten of sweat of my flesh and happiness in my eyes…

Superfly 100 taking a break before the descent!

Nice view of Powderface Ridge. We didn’t go that way, we decided to descend instead!

Here are some shots of the rest of the crew finishing off the big climb…

Next time I do Powderface, I want to go in reverse. I think the descent going the other way would be killer!

Sibbald Flats – wet but worth it!

Finally, at long last I got a Tuesday night ride in! We hit Sibbald Flats (aka Jumpingpound Loop) after a huge thunderstorm for some slippery, soggy goodness. Drainage on the upper slopes is decent so the mud factor wasn’t too bad, the lower slope, on the other side of Highway 68, was a bit muckier but still all good. I haven’t ridden this trail in few years and I have forgotten how much fun it is, lots of wide open speed, some nice little climbs that just start to make it hurt and lots of roots (which were nice a slippery post-thunderstorm)!

We hit lap one with three, myself, Paul (Pure Ride Group Leader) and Mattia. Pace was good and everyone was riding well. Here’s a shot of Mattia and I half way through the lap — all grins!

Mattia packed it in for lap two so Paul and I upped the pace and stopped to take some pictures along the way. Here are the shots of me as taken by Paul.

I did have one mishap with a tree, which made me say “oww” but there was no blood or broken limbs so onward bicycling soldiers, onward!

I’m wondering if any other 29er riders exist out there. If you’re looking to ride your big-wheeled rig on terrain made for 29er’s, you should definitely check out our Tuesday night rides!

Next week is looking like Powderface Trail (long loop), should be a goodie!

Summer Vacation

I just got back from two weeks in the BC interior and I managed to get in some decent rides in between hanging out with/visiting family and friends and trying to sleep as much as possible.

Week 1 – Kamloops

The goal of the first week in Kamloops was to work on my fitness so rather than seek out epic single track, I opted to hammer out high tempo laps on Mount Dufferin. It’s really close to my parents house and is great for moderate climbs that allow you to keep a decent speed. For those who know Mount Dufferin, know that it is a place for XC bikes and nothing else. There is nothing particularly technical but there is plenty of fast, dry, whippy single track. Add in some decent elevation gain and you have a great way to find some fitness!

Here’s a video I put together of one part of my loop I really liked. Really fast (top speed ~ 60km/hr.) with some nice little bumps to keep it interesting, an old-school XC trail that I have been riding forever but it still makes me smile.

Kamloops June 2010 from Ross Andersen on Vimeo.

Week 2 – Fintry

Fintry is a provincial park between Kelowna and Vernon on the west side of Lake Okanagan and we were staying at a resort called La Casa just a few minutes down the road. With a pool, hot tub and the lake close by I was in full relax mode for this week and since I had a nasty post-nasal drip cough plaguing my sleeps I wasn’t super keen to try to crank out big rides. One day I did a mellow ride on some logging roads behind our resort but since I had no map and there was no mobile service I opted to stick close to home I also managed to check out Knox Mountain on a day trip into Kelowna. I did a solid 2 hour ride there and it was really similar to Mount Dufferin in Kamloops: dry, dusty and fast but the kicker was that Knox Mountain was even steeper. So after climbing to the summit twice on single track in some scorching summer sun, I was done. No pics, no video but Knox Mountain is worth checking out if you are in the Kelowna area and an XC geek like moi.

Group Ride… of one!

The weather went to poop on Tuesday afternoon and I bailed on the group ride happening at Powderface. I’ve been riding MTB’s long enough that I will not start a ride when it’s raining. If it rains while I’m out there so be it, but I just can’t start in the rain. Call me lame, call me crusty, call me whatever but I still ain’t gonna’ do it!

So instead of making myself grumpy and my Superfly 100 really dirty, I opted to wait out the rain and hit the asphalt on the trusty road bike. The sun was out by 8pm and I was able to squeeze out a solid 1.5 hours on a quick Tour de Springbank. Here’s a pic from the backside of 17th ave, doesn’t really look like Calgary with all the mist and green fields.

This view made me smile and I thought I should share. Peace.

My new fav…

Highline in Canmore is now my new fav, I know I had said Shoulda’ out @ Moose Mtn. was my new fav but Highline is now the new fav primarily becauase it doesn’t involve pedaling up a really steep, long dumb fire road.

Here’s my post-ride “metal” face. Feel the thunder and kiss the goat!

I’ve done this ride twice now and it kicks ass. It’s not very long but it is super fun. Both times the trail has been a bit tacky which makes the traction awesome and the enjoyment factor go way up! The Superfly once again did not disappoint, although I realized that I had a broken a chain tooth on my big ring as we started out my second ride – good thing I didn’t need those gears very much. So, when I called Big E @ Pure Cycle today to figure out the when I could bring my bike down for some love, Big E offered to come pick it up on his way home tonight – what a swell guy! Now all I have to do is pick it up on my way to the group ride tomorrow night. I am hoping to get some video footage tomorrow evening… be ready. Big customer service points to Pure Cycle!

Good Times!

So Sunday AM rolls around and Dylan and I hit Sideshow Bob, Bowmont Park and Stony Creek for a bright and early urban XC assault. The Superfly 100 delivered the goods as usual and I had my first really comfortable ride on the bike. The thing that keeps making me smile the most is how the Superfly 100 climbs. I think it’s the weight and size of the front wheel combined with a head angle sweet spot (71 deg.) that makes this bike climb so well. When I am pulled right up on the nose of my seat and hunched over my handlebars trying to climb a super-steep pitch, the front wheel does not leave the ground which is amazing considering how far forward I am. Dylan and I hit the trails fast and our speed increased as the ride progressed, which is always a good thing, and the Superfly 100 kept up with all the whippy turns, steep climbs and fast descents.

About half way through our ride, I realized my iPhone was not in my jersey pocket. I didn’t freak out, I just assumed that I had left it in my car. But as we got closer and closer to the parking lot, I realized that I wasn’t sure where my phone was. I thought I had put it in my pocket but it wasn’t there which meant it was either in the car or somewhere back on the trail… I got to the car and my iPhone was nowhere to be found. I actually declared the phone lost and started packing up my stuff while trying to gather my thoughts on how to explain to the my boss how I had lost my iPhone. I was saying goodbye to Dylan when I noticed my iPhone on the roof by one of my racks. Sweet! It had been sitting there for about 2 hours and no one had taken it. One of two things happened, either no one saw it (the more likely) or it was left where it was for me to find on my own. I like to think it was the later of the two simply because it has reaffirmed my belief that most people are good and just

Not tonight honey…

it’s raining. No group ride tonight due to unpredictable weather. Sunny. Rainy. Sunny. Rainy. BOOOOO! Until next week fellow two-wheel-pedaling enthusiasts!

Group Ride in Full Effect!

Hit Nose Hill tonight with some familiar and some new faces. One long lap was all we had time for, the long days of Summer can’t come soon enough! Sounds like the group ride is starting to take shape: Tuesday is the day, pencil in next week. Details on ride selection and meeting time/place to follow.

Happy riders after fun evening of spinning their wheels!

Toothless & Shoulda’

Well, I finally got to hit some more substantial trails this afternoon and the Superfly 100 did not disappoint! I had never ridden of the two Moose Mountain trails we hooked together and they were awesome. NOTE – I switched out my tires to a set of Maxxis Ignitor’s which was probably the best decision I have made in a while, there is no way the Bonty XR1 tires would have worked in the varied conditions on the trails today.

Toothless

After jamming it up the Sulphur Springs climb we hooked on to Numa (sp?) and climbed up parallel the Moose Mountain fire road and eventually hit the drop-in for Toothless. The trail conditions were really dry and surprisingly good considering it’s only April – I am pretty sure we are in for a nasty drought this summer. My new tires were hooking up really well and shedding any mud or bits of snow we encountered.

The Superfly 100 handled everything amazingly, too bad the rider wasn’t a brushed up on super steep, tech trails … I should have realized that something was up when my two buddies dropped their seats right before dropping in to Toothless and I thought to myself, “I’m an XC guy, I usually don’t drop my saddle. Plus that means I’ll have to get out a tool – No way.” There were two corners on Toothless where my decision came back to haunt me. I probably could have cleaned them if I had dropped the saddle but instead I scampered down them with my tail between my legs (at least I didn’t eat poop!)

After the super-challenging descent of Toothless I was pleased to hear we were heading to Shoulda’ which sounded like it was going to be more up my alley.

Shoulda’

After the heart-pounding fun of Toothless we ascended some really long, boring fire road with some really steep pitches that made my legs say “owhh”. We hit the trail head and I think I may have found my new favourite trail in K-Country. Fast and whippy with a nice sprinking of technical bits to keep the taste buds salivating – delicious! The Superfly 100 shone on this trail when the big wheels really blasted through stuff and speeds were nice and high.

Grind Back

So we took the 2nd half of Sulphur Springs back to the van and after 2 hours and 3,000 ft. of climbing steep gradients, I was just about popped (note to self: eat some lunch next time…) but we made it back all in one piece with big grins that only come when MTBer’s hit wicked dirt for the first time in a season!