News Flash- Spiffy is Complete

Finally the rear shock for my new Santa Cruz Nomad has arrived. It came with the wrong spring but luckily Tyler at Revolution Cycles had a softer one for me. I already have it on the bike and it is perfect.

Everything about this bike has been a waiting game. The whole thing has been a little iffy, so I decided to name the bike Spiffy. I know not a bodily fluid like the last two bikes that the Holy Wow gang has welcomed into the fold but Spiffy should be a good pal for Snot and Spunk and he will be able to council them on how to dress when they go out on the town searching for those light weight cross country bikes.

An October Treat- Mt Abercrombie

Saturday dawned bright and cold(-4 C). The plan had been to ride Mt. Abercrombie before the snow flies. Today was going to be the day, cold or not cold. At least the sun was shining. Seven of us met at Greener's and loaded the trailer with bikes then they came to get me. The cold had me moving with hesitation, did I really want to go up to 7000ft above sea level when it was -4°C at 3500 ft above sea level. OK, after all, it is one of the most fun rides around.

Off to Abercrombie we went, stopping at the Waneta Border Crossing to be told it was the first weekend of the american hunting season and did we have orange to wear, and stopping at Waneta Quick Stop for refreshments for after the ride.

Arriving at the Silver Creek road intersection half of the party had to get into the back of an open pickup for the trip up to the trailhead. Poor fellows, it was still 0°C out even in the sun, a cold ride up, but no one jumped out.

The trailhead seemed farther than usual. When we finally arrived, everyone climbed on bikes as quickly as possible , searching for warmth in the exertion of the 1000ft vertical climb to the trail. The climb seemed to go by at a faster rate than normal and before you knew it we were sitting on a sunny slope on the flank of Abercrombie enjoying the relative warmth(still only 0°C to +1°C).

After a quick bite to eat and the donning of protective gear, we started the delicious decent that the single track on the south side of the mountain provides. It was as flavorful as always and everyone had a blast. Even the final scoot down the road to the parked vehicle and the refreshment cooler brought out the twelve year old in each of us. Boy was I glad I had weathered the cold and come on this ride.

Abercrombie is a classic, with some 36 switch backs and many star wars like flights through the trees, a must do at least once a year. I think the fall is the best time, because the leaves are down and the scenery is so vibrant. I'll be back again next year.

Ahh!! Much Better

Well, I guess the email worked(or was it the promise of a shuttle), anyway, we had a great turn out for the Tamarack-Dukabor night ride. Eleven riders turned out on a lovely Oct evening for some sweet tacky single track. The riding was superb and enjoyed by all. Hope we get a few more in before the snow flies.

HW 19 The Loops

Eighteen Holy Wowers ventured to Kamloops and Sun Peaks on Sept 15 for 3 days of Holy Wow riding. The experience was WOWING as usual. The accommodations were awesome, the food was fantastic, and the riding was HOLY WOW at it's best. We wandered through Screaming Mosquito(thank goodness there were NO mosquitoes), sessioned Rio Escondito, and ripped up the Bike Park at Sun Peaks (took a lot of the park home with us in the form of mud and dirt). The whole thing just made us say HOLY HOLY WOW WOW. Check out the brief movie clip (more to come from the Go Pro helmet cam) and the slide show.

I Am Back

Seems like it has been forever since I posted on this blog, oops maybe it has been forever. About 2 months since the last post, holidays and bike trips and hunting trips can do that to you. Anyway, I am back, got my new bike (at least most of it still don't have the right shock), have been riding at night and have been missing a lot of guys that rode at HW 19.

There is still some good riding out there so check it out. I will be cranking up the email campaign again because we have been lonely on Tue and Thur nights. We need to do a Top of Red night ride and a Tamarac Dukabor (on Thur Oct 14 check your email) and at least one snow ride, so stay tuned.