Mud Up Fest (May 25)

Mother nature just doesn't want to stop peeing. So much rain has fallen that the trails are starting to turn into mud bogs. We decided to try our signature trail, Pale Ale. The ride up KC was good but the ride down Pale Ale would have been better done on skis. It was so slippery that the descent was a collection of semi-controlled slides. We need to do some trail surface work on that trail.

Everyone made it down to Milky Way and rode the rest of the down with their usual style. Now it was time for the up. Up Green Door, up to the Mining School, back up to the Saddle of KC. Great spring training ride, was the comment made by the riders. Just a nice way to say uphill sucks but we will be ready for Moab in the fall.

Social afterwards was almost perfect except for the Canucks tying the game and eventually winning in overtime. Oh well, Go Leafs Go!!!

Top of Red Again

So once Holy Wow Gang members start to ride Red we keep riding Red. So, Dario, George, and Dave decided that a good way to celebrate Victoria Day would be to skin up Red Mt. and ski some spring powder.

Dario and I picked up George just after 8am Saturday morning and headed to the mountain. It was a mackerel sky, the sun was out, and the temperature was about 12 degrees Celsius.

The skin up was actually quite pleasant. We took a route up War Eagle across the Face to the Back Trail and up through the bowl. This proved to be quite enjoyable and we arrived at the top in fine form, ready to soak up some sun and enjoy the views.

The south side of Red was our choice for a resting spot. It had great views of the town of Rossland and maximized the exposure to the sun. With all the cloudy, snowy, rainy weather we have had

this spring, our vitamin D levels are definitely down, so sunshine

sure felt good.

We had all the conveniences, a great bench, music, cold beverages

and tasty snacks. Even had a cooler to keep the ale cold, "snow".

After a rejuvenating rest we had to decide on a route down. Hey why not start with the cliff? Mother nature had done a fantastic grooming job, all the moguls were gone,and the turns came easily. Then over to the towers on Red, snow was a little softer there. Couldn't make it all the way to the bottom on the towers so we skipped over some dirt to War Eagle and finished the decent.

George made two more turns than Dario and I but they were on grass. He is such a powder pig.

A superior outing and a first for the trio. Maybe it will become a tradition. Check out the video below.

Truck Drop Premier (May 19)

Just say the words truck drop and boy do the bodies come out for the ride, all 13 of them plus Stewart Burwash who was ahead of us but we never did see him. Maybe it was the promise of a ride up or just the opportunity to climb Green Door one more time, that brought out the masses, who knows?

The trails were in excellent shape. All the snow has gone and the trail surface was tacky, just right for riding. Milky Way provided some great entertainment with it's three ramp jumps and new banked corners. Roger's was its usual testy rocky self. Cemetery was far from deathly. Bones and Old Bones provided flashbacks to some old school riding from the 90s, very interesting and a ton of fun.

There was the truck waiting for us in Warfield. The only thing that could make the evening perfect would be a cold beverage and the evening did not disappoint.

I did remember the camera this time. Got some good shots. Think I got at least one of everyone but if I missed you I am sorry and I will make you the star of the show next time. If you want to visit the Picasa Album and view the pics just click this link Web Album
otherwise check out the slideshow below.

Up The Green Door (Tue May 17)

Spring isn't spring without a trip UP!! Green Door. There was a big turn out for this ride. Ten riders showed up for a sweet trip down Milky Way and up Green door to Roger's and back up through Happy Valley.

Most riders handled the up quite well, must of been a lot of rubber burned off tires on wind trainers this winter. I think we are in better shape than ever before.

The cooling temperatures drove us inside for our post ride debriefing. Many good laughs were shared and a young Campbell was initiated into the fold.

Holy Wowers Just Won't Let Ski Season Go

Spring is slow to arrive. Trails are slow to open. Why not keep skiing? That's just what three of the Holy Wow Gang did last Friday and it looks like they had a great day for the walk up Red Mt. We will not be riding Red Top too soon.

Looks like they kept up the tradition of refreshments, but before the downhill. That's a little risky boys. Looks like a lot of fun. Going to have to give it a try myself.

Annual Snow Traverse(May 12)

Every year I get in trouble for making the gang wade through snow in order to ride the Milky Way. Well, this year was not unlike any other, although the snow seemed a lot more forgiving through the enchanted forest and Milky Way was perfect(no dust, no brake ruts).
Ten riders came out for the occasion and there were few complaints on the long ride up the Wagon Road.
I charged the battery on the camera, with the good intentions of getting some photos on the blog, but I forgot to bring it. Maybe next time.
The refreshments were refreshing as was the cool breeze that chilled us to the bone. Guess we need to get the fire pit going. Wow this year has been a slow start.

Old Rubberhead Revisited (May 10)

Ahh, finally some warmer dryer weather. The turn out for rides is beginning to improve but there are still a lot of faces missing. Come on boys, better get the bike out and start having some fun. Double downhill is scheduled for June 16, which is only a little more than a month away.

Due to the large amounts of snow we have been forced to look at different riding routes. The Old Rubberhead is one of those trails that we don't ride much, if at all. With that in mind, and the awareness of the new trail that works its way from Norm's house to the golf course, we put together a ride that revisited the Rubberhead trail. It turned into a sweet nostalgic ride and a great workout too.

Apparently one of our riders had a great deal of difficulty staying on his bike. I think it is time to trade in that Giant for a Santa Cruz, they don't buck as hard, they just Cruz.

The refreshments were great as usual. In the spirit of adventure, we tried a Hell's Gate and a PBR, along with the regular Bud. Always a satisfying time.

Santa Cruz Rules (Thur May 5)

Great turn out for Thursday night ride. Eight riders braved the weather (it did not rain)and ventured out for a ride down Green Door and Cemetary followed by the Tour de Trail Creek.

Previous to the ride, four of us took advantage of Rocky Mountain Cycles demo van and Revolution Cycles shuttle (Adrenalin Adventures), and test rode different Rocky bikes on a ride down Green Door all the way to Warfield. Nice bikes, but all of us felt that our own bikes felt better. Testing bikes is a difficult thing because there are so many variables. We probably liked our own bikes because they have been set up just for us and adjusted over a longer period of time. Need to ride one of the Rockys for a longer period of time. The Slayer 70 felt real close to the Nomad and could probably be adjusted to feel like a good bike. Big thanks to the Rocky rep and Tyler for putting on the event. Santa Cruz still rules!!!

Post ride we retired to the man cave and had a refreshment and watched the very end of the hockey game. Go Leafs, Oh yeah, they aren,t in the playoffs, I will always have something to look forward to.

Finally We Ride(May 3)

Well, we finally got a ride in on Tuesday night. Only 4 riders showed up for a great evening of riding. What's with the rest of the gang? A new trail was explored and the trail conditions were perfect.

The four explorers, Spunk, Spiffy, Yas and The Prez(need names for the last 2 bikes)rode Green Door to Roger's to Cemetary to the Highway up the Wagon Road into Redstone and then up a BRAND NEW trail that took us straight to Norm's house while following Trail Creek. Beautiful trail. Opens up alot of different route possibilities.

Had refreshments at The Shop. Talked about buying auto seat posts. GREAT evening.

Better get some riding in soon or we will be double downhilling on Larry's Loop. Let's get going boys.