Yeah, I've been avoiding htis update. It's just been an unpleasant month...what can I say? The day started out pretty good actually. Gary and Tom from Hertfordshire were on deck for a day at the bike park, and the Cove boys came out for a rip. Even Chaz was tearing it up on Garbonzo today.





Since it was the last dry day on Garbonzo, I started to ride really hard. Four NON-STOP top to bottom runs, plus a couple more at a slightly slower pace made it tough to hang out with anyone else. Riding by myself for a change was actually really refreshing.


Pete, the Angry Pirate, hung out for a run on the Manager.....






...and for a lap on this big scree slope near the TreeFort (he managed to clean it a couple of weeks later).





We ran a sweep run off the top together to close 'er down, then hit the lower park for a few more quick ones. I managed to score a Dirt Merchant for lower sweep, and that's when the shit hit the fan. Thinking to myself, "Geez, I'm kind of tired out, maybe I should slow 'er down a bit" I tagged my brakes at that high speed shale section on lower A-Line and promptly chattered my hands off the bars.


High speed ejectamenta inot the boulders on the right. At least I got myself to the bottom of the hill under my own power, but I didn't feel so hot. Kind of pissed off too.





Final tally on the injuries? Cracked ribs and pubic bone, a few hematomas, contusion of the liver (and a pretty good one too), whiplash, and my thumbnail got torn off. Oh well, in twenty four straight seasons of riding, this is only the third trip to the hospital for me, and as of writing this one month later I'm nearly 100% good to go.


Actually, I rode the Full boar Challenge on Greenstone Mtn. three weeks after this crash and finished the race in a respectable 25 mins (THATS a downhill), but I don't think it did me any good.


Absolutely EPIC season. 150 days on the bike, and they were all stellar. Now it's time to regroup for next year.


Watch out for changes to the site coming soon, and announcements regarding the Wade Simmons Experience '06, as well as the possibility of more tours with other superstars of the North Shore.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and to all the support. I'll have a proper list up soon of everyone who made it such a great year.

Jim, Jimmie, and Jack are back, as well as some other guys from the UK like Gary and George. It's nice having repeat isitors, some of these guys have been riding up here for years now.


Here's one of the UK boys tackling a teeter on Dale's.






Jack has really improved this year. He's still crashing, but not so much. It's all about choices, right Jack?






Yeah, choice...







Besides, everyone rides bettter when Harley is chasing them.






Yup, another sweet fall day.





Jimmie always rides the hard stuff clean. Youmay remember him from THIS episode earlier in the year.





..and another pic of Jack. Ok actually, these are shots from 2 days in a row, but we didn't shoot much. I really felt like riding instead of posing. Is that wrong?

Wow.


Another stellar trip. Man, 2005 was definitely an epic.....what a great way to wind 'er down.



Harley basks in the spotlight.







Our own personal spotlight was highlighting the woods today.





Ralph getting the star treatment....





Peter gets off...















This next shot is my current favourite of CBC. The Millenium Log in case you can't quite place it.





Frank cruising the old growth.






Some not quite ready for primetime on Salvation.






Peter on the same wall.





Holder....





..and Stefan, Synchro's Log.





Frank on the Pangor rock.






The other Stefan returns for one more lap before returning home.




Frank had his strongest day today. Round 2, on Ned's.





No hidden meanings or ulterior messages. Just a funny shot of a glove in the woods.






Jerks.

Another absolutely stellar day. You can sure tell that summer is over though. I forgot to mention how cold the mornings have been lately. Well below freezing, and the snow guns are running on Blackcomb already. I'd guess it was about -8C in the alpine the last few nights.


So we'll go to Squamish where it's warmer. Our first lap was some mellow XC-ish downhill in Alice Lakes.





A nice little change of pace from the wham-bam-bam of Whistler.






Oh......HELLO there.........



Our man Ben likes the ladies, and for the most part I think I agree with him. If you're going to ride in Squamish, you gotta check out the Eagle Run Coffee Shop. Trust me.


After lunch, it was up to 19th Hole.











We got into a new one called Cortez or something like that. It's pretty cool, but it won't last long. The construction is a little dodgy.





Hey, what's brown and sticky?






A stick....get it?





Yeah, you don't know from funny.






Lots of cool little moves made outta twigs is my point anyway. Nothing over a couple feet to worry about, and nice flow.


















The best section had to have been Homebrew. Stefan was riding very good today, so I got him to follow me in there. It's been a couple of years since I hit that one, but nothing has changed. We non-stopped the whole line and he was peaking. To hit that line at good speed with no idea of what's coming up has got to be pretty intense. Of course, no pics 'cause we non-stopped it, so you'll just have to take my word for it.






We finished out on Deliverance. Man something was SO dead out near the top. I made the mistake of breathing through my nose and spent the next part of the trail trying not to hurl.






Unlike Christian and Holger, who were enjoying hurling themselves off of everything.


One more day, and that's it for the big tours this year........

Guess what?





Yeah.....





...another heli day. This time it was Rainbow, which I've never done before.







It's OK.....






We got to fly with Blackcomb Heli again---it's been too long. Our pilot even put on a bit of a show on the way up with some high performance moves around the thermals. I think Christian likes helicopters now.





Ooops....dropped em.





Well, not really...but it's a cool shot.


So's this group photo. The extra bodies are local Pete (the Angry Pirate) and some other Germans associated with Cosmic Sports (German Marzocchi and Cove distributor).





One of the other Germans (forget his name) on another cool bike named Herb (really).





Linda, and some nice scenery.





Ben, same.





Can't remember this guy's name, but more of the same goodness.





Herb, showing some lycra and a smile.





Pfft, it doesn't look that far.






Hmmm...it's not getting any closer.





The possee, in the sub-alpine steeps.





Time for a break, and still looking down on Garbonzo.





Once we were more into treeline we hit this old firebreak, and the fireweed was going off with fall colours.





There was also this Disney style rock action that we sessioned.






....and sessioned.....






..and sessioned some more. Hey, it's a fun one.





Linda in some more sub-alpine meadows.





Harley said it the best....





Yeah, a pretty special day.





The trail picks up some mad flow and gets steeper as you descend, and you finish off with an old rutted out Whitler style descent called Jaws.






From there we hit A river Runs Through It, just because it's there.




Here's Holger on the drawbridge stunt.




..and Christian in the hollow tree.





Finally, all things come to end so we went for a much needed burger.

Another day at the park, this time with the emphasis on the Garbonzo area. Time to 'step it up' as it were.







As usual, Stefan was right there.





One thing all these guys could do is ride steep, wet, gnarly stuff. Funny, that's usually the hardest thing for everyone to get their heads around.






Peter really surprised me. He's been struggling a bit with the Whistler concept, but he just slayed this big rock on Original Sin.










This is the other Stefan. Unfortunately, he had a huge stack not long after this. There's a cool little line called Drop-In Clinic that has a near vert drop in to a kicker. It looked to me like he sort of forgot about the kicker and sat down just before he hit it. Luckily, he flipped more than all the way over in the air and so got away with some heavily bruised ribs. still, I know all about that kind of pain..and believe me, it's better to just avoid it.






Awesome shot of Christian.





Holger again, natural rock berm.





Ben, same place.





How ya like them chopsticks Frank?

Our crew was a pretty good size and mix: we had Stefan and Ralph ("We are from East Germany and we are not homosexuals"); an older couple, Herb and Linda, who also know my good buddies the Swetlands up in the Koots; another Stefan who is an engineer for Airbus; Peter, an electrical engineer; Ben, who seems to take lots of pictures of girls; Frank, who rides a Nicolai; a former European BMX champ named Ecki; and an apprentice guide by the name of Christian.


We started of our first full day in the bike park with some skill development.





The skills seemed to develop pretty rapidly.





Everyone stepped up a notch in the drop parks pretty quickly.






The East Germans seemed to be the most comfortable with the advanced terrain. Here's Stefan showing us how.







...and again on the GLC.






Ralph was right behind him.







Holger shows the style which has earned him many paycheques in his native land.







Ummmm........yeah.








Nightlife....Whistler......yeah.

The Lawnmower? Well, I guess Die Rasenmarer is an OK name for a German biking tour company, but the translation is pretty funny. German freeride icons Holger Meyer and Karen Eller put together this trip and it's a good one. Lots of funny characters on this tour. Karen couldn't come out because she was so very pregnant at the time....(**UPDATE :: She gave birth to a little girl named Leni on October 3rd, which is also MY BIRTHDAY!!! I predict she will be good looking, stylish, and so suave just like all Oct. 3rd people).


After yesterday's heli trip, the heavens opened up so I found some things wrong with my bike and skipped riding in the bike park in the slop.


Instead, I saved myself for the pool table in the evening. Unfortunately, Team Canada lost to the Germans, but our team was a lot prettier thanks to the Sugoi Women's Dirt Series coaches being in attendance.







If you happen to be one of the Nelson crew, check out Peter, the guy on the right. Jumbo Shrimps' long lost evil twin?

**For those of you who were there, drop me an EMAIL to get the ftp info. I've set up an ftp site for us to share all the shots on. Mine are already on there. You can also check out Pete Campbell's PHOTOSITE for some more heli shots taken by the Angry Pirate on the Sept. 18th ride.


Finally, we get another heli lap in. We were actually supposed to go yesterday with the NSMB.com crew, but the weather wouldn't co-operate. It didn't rain, but the clouds were too low to fly. C'est la vie. Patience paid off for today. It was pretty slick today though. About as slippery as I'd ever want to ride it.






A mixed crew for today. Burton and the boys are back for their annual journey, and the Angry Pirate came down from Whistler with some random old schoolers. Me and Barb and the Hicks rounded out the crew.


Here's Burton answering uncomfortable questions from some cop....






Look close, there's 8 riders in this shot.




The usual pre-lunch LionsBack session.





...with some pre-lunch launch thrown in for good measure.





Ahhh....lunch!





That's my girl. After lunch we got serious.







...and the Pirate got Angry.






Check out this old school rig.






Unfortunately, this is when Javed took a random endo and cracked some ribs. Sucks to be you man. Gotta give him credit, he sure tried to tough it out, but it just wasnt meant to be. Better luck next time man.






If it's any comfort, I totally feel your pain (it's actually October 11 as I'm writing this, and I'm 2 weeks into the healing process from a wicked stack on Whistler. I'll give you the details as soon as I catch up on the log).





Willy Billy Whatever showing off the sleeves.






Burton gets into it.





More fun with camera angles...





Five and a half hours later, and we're almost there.





Time for Barb to drop one more big line.






..and then it's time for beers on the beach.

Yeah whatever buddy. You were all talk back there, and now look at ya....






Gotta hate it when that happens. Anyway, the Hicks have returned for more punishment. Youknow, I don't think these guys have ever come here when it's sunny and warm. It ALWAYS rains when the Hicks are in town. I don't know which one is Willy and which one is Billy. I'll let you figger it out.


One of 'em going up...






T'other one coming down....





..and some vid-ee-o.

A little break between trips, with just a single solo flyer today.

Say 'hi' John....

Dodging bad weather and a crowded schedule makes for a difficult time getting to do heli drops. I've usually got a few in by now, but it looks like May was the month to get them done this year. Oh well, looks good for this one.


For those of you who were there, drop me an EMAIL to get the ftp info. I've set up an ftp site for us to share all the shots on. Mine are already on there. You can also check out Pete Campbell's PHOTOSITE for some more heli shots taken by the Angry Pirate on the Sept. 18th ride.


Harley's starting to look a bit jaded, like "Why don't I get the front seat?"





The weather was a little bit iffy today. Wasn't sure how the cloud cieling was going to affect the day, but in the end it cleared off enough to let us in, and the cooler moister air made for superb conditions on the trail.





Not wet at all, just supa grippy and rippable. Kind of, oh I don't know....perfect?






Yup, that's the word.





A real mixed crew of guys from the area came out today, including one guy who's 66 years old. ...And he wants to come back nest year. Man, if I can be riding Disney when I'm 70, this getting old gig is going to work out just fine.


Droppin....






Your friendly neighborhood Cove Bike Shop mechanic calls in sick.







Yeah........SICK.





More dropping....





....and still more. Wanna talk progression? Lots of people are saying that the progression hasa slowed since there's not so much change in the vids lately. Well, the trickle down effect is going strong. This rock used to scare the bejesus outta most riders, now EVERYONE doesn't just roll it, they air it.





Your friendly neighborhood Cove Salesman calls in Sick. Isn't anyone running that show today?





More air off big rocks.





Classic angle on Andrews Wall.





The sun even came out for a bit here, check the shadow.






OK, no pics for a long part of the trail, because we were all riding strong so we just punched it through the middle part.


Until the usual session at Awesome Rock.

The posts below will be slowly catching up with reality. Make sure that you check back often until I've caught up. My summer is finally slowing down a bit, and I can take a well earned rest soon.

Enjoy the big hits of summer.......it was the best one yet

Last day, time to shine people. We pulled off an epic North Shore line today. Since everyone was staying at the Holiday Inn, we rode up the old Lilloeet road to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge to get started.





We worked our way up various sneaky little paths through the valley until we got up to the top of Mountain Highway, and cruised up to Upper Oilcan.





It was a little much for some of the crew, but everyone rode part of it, and we got to check out the Circus too. Bike Mag recently rated UOC as one of hte top 10 trails ever or some such thing. I'm not sure if I completely agree, but it's definitely a good one.

Now, after that we rode up again and hit 7th Secret. I used to hate this trail, but that top 10 rating should have been applied to 7th. It's amazing with all the work that's gone into it recently.





Some others seem to agree with me....





So, funny story....


Kate,who rode stronger and strnger all week, nearly cleaned this log ride. Of course, jerk that I am, I was standing so close to the log that I elbowed her off into the canyon at the end. Just one more "souvenier" to remember me by....





Actually, most of the crew rode it clean and everyone tried it.






We finished the ride by going all the way down Leapoard, Crinkum Crankum, Kirkford, the Griffin Trails, Mtn View trails, back across the Demo Forest and the Fisherman's Trail via Twin Bridges.


That about did everyone in.


Great trip, and a nice change of pace from all the huge hucks of summer. It's nearly fall, must be time to switch to rotary power soon......

OK, enough of this easy stuff. Time for the piece de resistance; The North Shore. Are you afraid?





You will be...he heh...you will be....






OK, maybe not. Everyone seems to be adapting quite nicely.





Still, it's quite a change to be in the rainforest after those mellow desert trails all week.





The log rides are just a tich bigger here, eh?





Paul seemed to like this stuff a lot more.





Em's doesn't care, so long as she's riding her bike. It's ALL good.




Craig got a charge out of the bigger options on all the trails on Seymour.





Even Barb put in an appearance today between shifts at the fire hall. Just so those UK types know what Canadian girls can do....





Barry wasn't fazed in the slightest.





Clinton seemed to take it all in stride too.





Kickass Kate was also flying. For that matter, everyone was killing it on Seymour. Good riding by all.





We finished the day with a little session at the local dirt jumps. Too funny, because this is an XC tour, and we're throwing down at the dj's. Craig had a little breakthrough today.






It was probably the locals that inspired him.

Semi rest and travel day today. The Okanagan Valley has left us tired, bruised, and satiated. On deck today is a little cruise down the Tulameen Canyon via the old Kettle Valley Railway. Here's the crew on one of the many trestles in the canyon, about to enter the final tunnel.





Lots of great swimming spots made the day pretty slow and relaxed, except that Barry managed ot have his best wipeout of hte tour on the flat and level gravel trailbed while trying to race. That river water is really good for scrapes.





Hello Mr. Bear. Two in two days. Now that's more like it. More wildlife on this tour than in months.

Another singletrack climb to start, but nothing so tech as yesterday. Smooth, California style climbs today, with the appropriate Canadian style descents to follow. The ride is called Jerry's Mountain, and it encompasses many different trails.





Like Rebellion.





Once again, Al "the Brazilian" Box was on hand for some local guiding, as was Chuck D. Railer and the charming Maria.






The views were great, and we could see the ridges from yesterday's ride in the far distance.






Ahh, those Canadian descents. Here's Barry about to get some air.





Me and Kate charging the smooth singletrack.





Maria and Emily doing the same.





Kate liked this one I think.





Big Al ponders the last section of the downhill.





Hot tub...check. Beers....check. Cheetos....check. Chicks.....hmmmmmm.

Another grey day, but when I called Vancouver it was pouring rain so we didn't mind a bit of cooler weather. Besides, I don't think that this climb would be as much fun in the full on sun. The trail is called Rock Oven for more than one reason.....





I think it could also be called the Trail of Stupendous Views for obvious reasons. The climb up is really technical, but still possible. I'm not a huge fan of climbing, but this kind of uphill is pretty damn cool. Plus, those views....





..and these views...





..and this view...




..and this one. There were lots more, but you just can't stop every time there's s good lookout. The trail is a bit tooo rad for that.





Here I am, getting into the rad parts.





Our good friend and local racing legend Don Younie was in the groove too.





Paul.





Ems...





...again.




Clinton, with my choice for shot of the day on a day where all the shots rock.





We alsomanaged a second ride today over on V-Line (sort of out where we rode yesterday, but via shuttle). Here's the legendary Al "Fully Shaved" Box hucking a washout.





Finally, a bear shot for you. Too bad I was all alone on the shuttle return and none of the gang saw it.

How about another one of those huge climbs then? Alright, it's agreed. We'll start on the Kettle Valley Railway bed for the warmup.





Then we'll just cruise up this relentless logging road for 6 clicks.





Ahhhhhhh....singletrack.





It all seems worth it now.





Clint shares his lunch.





Kate decides otherwise...





After a spot of "technical traversing, " we're back on line and into more singletrack. Em's hits a step up....







Once again, Kate decides otherwise....






Here's the bonus to this trail. We end up at a trail side winery.





Gotta make sure that we don't waste any, you know.

Another day, another mountain to climb. This time it's Harper, and it's a solid climb. At least the vbiews are the usual stellar quality.





Again, but in colour this time.





Harper is a really cool place to ride, and it doesn't matter if you're a free dogger or an xc purist. There's something there for everyone. Of course, there's also lots of stunts if youre so inclined. Craig got inclined.





Clinton showed us how to ride in a straight line.





Barry continued his assessment of the BC bridgework.





Craig continued his inclinations.





Paul got into the action too.





Decisions, decisions....





AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! It's after me!





Oh never mind. Here's Kick Ass Kate on a high skinny bridge. Don't mess with the barrister. She's pretty tough.





Em's had a moderatley tough day, but got it together for this ramp.





Awwww...look at the tired little guide. I'll get you for this.