Promised I would post the Technogrind to Pale Ale to Milky Way video so here you go. Enjoy.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
TRAIL RIDE:CROWN POINT THE VIDEO THAT WOULDN'T
Was away on the tour de inlaw while the Gang rode the classic Crown Point trail. This is one of my favorites and I was sad to miss the ride, but I knew that the GoPro was making the trip so that I could watch the fun and games. Well, the GoPro kind of let me down. The video it took would not play in any of the many players I tried. Turns out the header for the movie was not written(geek speak), a common problem when you shoot in 1080p. Anyway, 12 hours later, a perl script and hex editor and a different video editor and I finally got something to post. The climb up Malde Creek road seems like nothing compared to getting that video to work.
Enough geeking. Crown Point is named after an old mine in the vicinity. There is gold in them there hills and we are still mining the golden flow of a motherlode single track trail. It follows a drainage down the mountain side and visits some very unique and natural features. There are some huge old growth trees that have fallen and provide natural skinnies to ride. There are rocky ridges and drops take you down into the creek bottom and then the creek provides organic burming. You feel like you are the water meandering through the woods. Crown Point also has the most man made bridge work of any KCTS trail. This helps getting over the many swampy areas. Just too much fun.
Jumps, skinnys and bridges, a gold rush of mountain biking. Check out the VIDEO. Scott T. was carrying the GoPro and he rode like a pro. Thanks Scott.
Enough geeking. Crown Point is named after an old mine in the vicinity. There is gold in them there hills and we are still mining the golden flow of a motherlode single track trail. It follows a drainage down the mountain side and visits some very unique and natural features. There are some huge old growth trees that have fallen and provide natural skinnies to ride. There are rocky ridges and drops take you down into the creek bottom and then the creek provides organic burming. You feel like you are the water meandering through the woods. Crown Point also has the most man made bridge work of any KCTS trail. This helps getting over the many swampy areas. Just too much fun.
Jumps, skinnys and bridges, a gold rush of mountain biking. Check out the VIDEO. Scott T. was carrying the GoPro and he rode like a pro. Thanks Scott.
Friday, July 15, 2011
TRAIL RIDE: TECHNO-PALE-LATTE, MISSING THE PREZ
Great to be on the bike again. I just returned from an 8 day visiting tour, which included 20 hours of driving. Now don't get me wrong, I love to drive, but it doesn't do much for the aerobic system. Anyway, returned in time to catch the Thursday night ride, which is one of my favorites. Techno-Pale-Latte, as I call it, is a combination of three classic trails, Techno Grind, Pale Ale, and Milky Way and finishes with a climb up Green Door.
Techno-Grind is one of the original single-track rides that was ridden frequently in the early days of mountain biking in the Rossland area. They used to hold a trials type race on this trail during the Rubber Head Festival back in the 90's. Riders had to ride the trail quickly but time was added on if you dabbed(touched down with your foot) on certain challenging sections of the trail. Today's bikes have made many of these challenges seem quite simple but the fully rigid bikes and riders of the day found them a test. Maybe we are just better riders now, I think it is the bikes that are better.
Part two of this loop is Pale Ale. This trail has special meaning to Holy Wow Gang members because we built it. We used to truly freeride this slope in the early days(I am sounding old). Riders would just turn off the trail at random spots and descend wherever possible or sometimes impossible ending in the classic endo. One day we decided to plot a specific route down the slope and cut it in as a trail. Pale Ale was born. Named after the smooth drinking Kootenay Pale Ale, it was going to be one of a few more trails in the Beer Garden. Seems we are having too much fun riding to take the time to build another trail. Might be time to brew another beer. Pale Ale is a steepish descent with some rather off camber switch backs that remind me of what riding used to be like(old again) in the old days. Still a ton of fun, and so it was on Thursday night.
Pale Ale leads into Milky Way, affectionately known in our circles as Old Fart's Delight. There's that old theme again, could be that one of the gang members reminded us that he was hitting the magic 55 in a few days. Happy Birthday Antonio. Milky Way is better than ever. The corners are burmed, the brake ruts are all but gone, the old guy jumps are perfect, just a super entertaining trail.
Techno-Pale-Latte is a really great ride, the only bad thing is that the trail came to life and seemed to swallow The Prez. He disappeared part way through the top of the Green Door climb and the Roger's traverse. We were already one refreshment in and he still had not showed up. We sent out an APB, Evan went out to find him. Turns out his GPS needed new batteries and his replacement tubes need to be upgraded. Bikes are better but tubes are still the weak link.
The rain held off. We found the Prez. The fire was good. The refreshments were cold. The sausages were fantastic( thanks Antonio and Debera). LG!!!!!
The Prez had the Go Pro on, but in the euphoria of finding him I forgot to get the SD card from the camera. Will get it and post a video soon.
Techno-Grind is one of the original single-track rides that was ridden frequently in the early days of mountain biking in the Rossland area. They used to hold a trials type race on this trail during the Rubber Head Festival back in the 90's. Riders had to ride the trail quickly but time was added on if you dabbed(touched down with your foot) on certain challenging sections of the trail. Today's bikes have made many of these challenges seem quite simple but the fully rigid bikes and riders of the day found them a test. Maybe we are just better riders now, I think it is the bikes that are better.
Part two of this loop is Pale Ale. This trail has special meaning to Holy Wow Gang members because we built it. We used to truly freeride this slope in the early days(I am sounding old). Riders would just turn off the trail at random spots and descend wherever possible or sometimes impossible ending in the classic endo. One day we decided to plot a specific route down the slope and cut it in as a trail. Pale Ale was born. Named after the smooth drinking Kootenay Pale Ale, it was going to be one of a few more trails in the Beer Garden. Seems we are having too much fun riding to take the time to build another trail. Might be time to brew another beer. Pale Ale is a steepish descent with some rather off camber switch backs that remind me of what riding used to be like(old again) in the old days. Still a ton of fun, and so it was on Thursday night.
Pale Ale leads into Milky Way, affectionately known in our circles as Old Fart's Delight. There's that old theme again, could be that one of the gang members reminded us that he was hitting the magic 55 in a few days. Happy Birthday Antonio. Milky Way is better than ever. The corners are burmed, the brake ruts are all but gone, the old guy jumps are perfect, just a super entertaining trail.
Techno-Pale-Latte is a really great ride, the only bad thing is that the trail came to life and seemed to swallow The Prez. He disappeared part way through the top of the Green Door climb and the Roger's traverse. We were already one refreshment in and he still had not showed up. We sent out an APB, Evan went out to find him. Turns out his GPS needed new batteries and his replacement tubes need to be upgraded. Bikes are better but tubes are still the weak link.
The rain held off. We found the Prez. The fire was good. The refreshments were cold. The sausages were fantastic( thanks Antonio and Debera). LG!!!!!
The Prez had the Go Pro on, but in the euphoria of finding him I forgot to get the SD card from the camera. Will get it and post a video soon.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
NEWS FLASH FROM MOM'S HOUSE: FREERIDE DEAD SAYS PEACOCK AND HOPKINS
I haven't posted for awhile because I have been on the summer visiting tour. Marjorie and I made stops in Seattle(REI and Costco) to visit her sister, and Vancouver(MEC, Skis and Bikes my favorite ski boot shop, and of course Wiesach Motors to shop for Porsches) to visit her Mom. I am presently sitting at Mom's, after 2 days of chauffeur duty and picture hanging, accessing the internet from an 89 year old lady's apartment.
Now it is really amazing to me that the internet is even available in this abode, and on top of that the occupant really knows how to use it. Only one thing is amiss, said occupant uses nary a one wireless device and has no wireless service. Had to spend a bit of time convincing the HP to talk to her modem(no router) through an Ethernet cable but I finally got on the information super single-track. Never thought Facebook would be my first stop on a computational device but that is where I went and tripped over a message that Freeride was dead. Couldn't be. Chase that link.
Turns out to be two ex-students of mine doing what they love, riding and filming, and acting of course. Very entertaining and the bikesmanship and cinematography ain't bad either. Nice job David Peacock and Mike Hopkins. Check out this link http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Freerides-Dead-Hopkins-Peacock-Bury-It-video-2011.html
If freeride is dead then some strange offspring of it is definitely being born, and it is great to watch and dream about even coming close to doing just some of what you see in the movies. Thanks Dave and Mike.
Now it is really amazing to me that the internet is even available in this abode, and on top of that the occupant really knows how to use it. Only one thing is amiss, said occupant uses nary a one wireless device and has no wireless service. Had to spend a bit of time convincing the HP to talk to her modem(no router) through an Ethernet cable but I finally got on the information super single-track. Never thought Facebook would be my first stop on a computational device but that is where I went and tripped over a message that Freeride was dead. Couldn't be. Chase that link.
Turns out to be two ex-students of mine doing what they love, riding and filming, and acting of course. Very entertaining and the bikesmanship and cinematography ain't bad either. Nice job David Peacock and Mike Hopkins. Check out this link http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Freerides-Dead-Hopkins-Peacock-Bury-It-video-2011.html
If freeride is dead then some strange offspring of it is definitely being born, and it is great to watch and dream about even coming close to doing just some of what you see in the movies. Thanks Dave and Mike.
Friday, July 8, 2011
MIKE HOPKINS: RIDING IN BOLIVIA
Just finished looking and reading this web journal about Mike Hopkin's trip to Bolivia. Man that kid gets to see the world. Check out this site http://www.adventure-journal.com/features/view/23991.
TRAIL RIDE: GO PRO ON THE DEWDNEY
Fourteen riders turned out for the Dewdney ride. The Dewdney Trail is a historic trail that made it's way across BC and is a part of the Trans Canada Trail. The ride involves some climbing, 12 kilometers to be exact, but that did not stop the Holy Wow Gang. The promise of buffed single track motivated a large number of riders. Maybe the shuttle ride up had something to do with it, because I did not tell them I had cold refreshments on ice in the back of the truck. The slog up the Cascade Highway took about 50 to 60 minutes, and the gravity gods were well satiated, so all was good and ready for the descent.
The Dewdney can be rough, but because it is early in the season for this ride, expectations of a smoother ride were high. Well the good old Dewdney did not disappoint, it was the same as it usually is, ROUGH but FUN. This is why they invented suspension. Great ride to test your new setup.
Needed a volunteer to wear the Go Pro, but no one was stepping up, so Antonio(as Murray calls him) reluctantly let his name stand. I knew it was going to be good. We had a few technical difficulties that led to Antonio's first part of the ride not being recorded, but the clip we did get is awesome. Enjoy!!!!
See what I mean, and the refreshments were on ice at the end of the trail to cap off a perfect Dewdney experience.
The Dewdney can be rough, but because it is early in the season for this ride, expectations of a smoother ride were high. Well the good old Dewdney did not disappoint, it was the same as it usually is, ROUGH but FUN. This is why they invented suspension. Great ride to test your new setup.
Needed a volunteer to wear the Go Pro, but no one was stepping up, so Antonio(as Murray calls him) reluctantly let his name stand. I knew it was going to be good. We had a few technical difficulties that led to Antonio's first part of the ride not being recorded, but the clip we did get is awesome. Enjoy!!!!
See what I mean, and the refreshments were on ice at the end of the trail to cap off a perfect Dewdney experience.
Friday, July 1, 2011
TRAIL RIDE: MONTE COLA WITHOUT ICE.
Couple weeks ago the Holy Wow Gang did a little snow trekking in order to get first tracks (bike tracks that is) on the Larch Trail and Monte Cola Trail. The turns were great back then but there was snow and some debris in the trail. We figured that the KCTS(trail crew) would have probably done their usual perfect buff job, so we decided to ride it again. The groomed version.
The Larch and Monte Cola trail system is a beautiful single track that doesn't get abused by the DH car droppers because you can't drive to the top of Monte Cola, you must ride up the Larch Trail. Ah yes, a little up hill exercise followed by a downhill work out.
No pictures on this post because I wanted to ride this trail without the thought of stopping to shoot. We do have a Go Pro but for some reason it hasn't made it out yet this year. Have to get on that.
Monte Cola was it's usual tasty self, smooth crisp taste with plenty of flow and go, what a blast. Made you want to say HOLY WOW!!!! So good, that we rode up the road a klick and did the bottom part again just for the after taste.
Refreshments around the fire with funny stories all around capped off a perfect evening.
The Larch and Monte Cola trail system is a beautiful single track that doesn't get abused by the DH car droppers because you can't drive to the top of Monte Cola, you must ride up the Larch Trail. Ah yes, a little up hill exercise followed by a downhill work out.
No pictures on this post because I wanted to ride this trail without the thought of stopping to shoot. We do have a Go Pro but for some reason it hasn't made it out yet this year. Have to get on that.
Monte Cola was it's usual tasty self, smooth crisp taste with plenty of flow and go, what a blast. Made you want to say HOLY WOW!!!! So good, that we rode up the road a klick and did the bottom part again just for the after taste.
Refreshments around the fire with funny stories all around capped off a perfect evening.
MTB REVIEW: LEZYNE MINI PUMP
This Lezyne Mini Pump has been showing up in Holy Wow Gang members packs on an ever increasing basis. Every time we ride another member pulls one of these little beauties out of their pack and handles the job of tire inflation with ease.The Mini Floor Pump HV(high volume) is extremely light weight and shaped just like a floor pump. It even has a fold out foot support to stand on in order to stabilize the pump during the quick job of tire inflation.
Size and weight do matter and Lezyne seems to have nailed it on both accounts. It looks big in the picture but it is only 12 inches long and fits into the average cycle pack with ease. At 300 grams you hardly know it is there until you need it.
One of the nicest features of this little marvel is the valve attachment. You know, the beast that slips off on all your other pumps , just when you are putting the most effort into getting that tire up to riding pressure. Lezyne made theirs a thread on affair and also made it easily adaptable to both presta and shraeder valves. No more sliding off, no more losing all that hard earned air pressure.
All of this for around $40, you gotta have it, almost makes getting a flat enjoyable, NOT. Tyler at Revolution Cycles in Rossland can set you up with one of these. Drop in to the store and check out the trail conditions board while your at it.
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