We went back to ride the results of our build and fix party today. I think we're going to have many days like this in the future. Between fire damage and beetle kill, scenes like this are going to be all too common...



I got to ride yet another trail I didn't know about today. RubHer Down is a quick hit lower down in Gillard that has a bunch of rad and techy airs.



Jules was sending it pretty hard in here, even though the ground was a bit slow today. I'll only mention the "case" here in passing....



With a bunch of frost on Boss Hog, we stuck to Wobbly Pops. It's such a nice looking trail, and it's always fun to charge the easier stuff. Less consequences, eh?





We also had a lap on Kerplop, which as mentioned in a previous post was extrememly hard hit. It was surprisingly rideable considering the level of damage that was incurred. There's definitely some hard hit areas, and lots of structures are gone, but some of the technical rocky steep sections are now even more fun, as they've gotten harder. I thought I was on the Shore at times. Sorry, no pics of that for you. Too busy riding to take the camera out. Instead enjoy these classic Kelowna shots.





That was likely the last bike ride of the year up here. MAYBE one more. I'll let you know....

The first real winter storm of the season that rolled through the Okanagan last week devastated the Gillard trails. Since this area was toasted by a forest fire a few years back, it's much more prone to wind damage than many other areas. Powers Creek suffered a few trees downed, but nothing like this.....



That's the exit to Yo Mama. Luckily, the Kelowna Collective got several bodies and saws together and rallied to the rescue. Over 20 peole showed up to put in some serious effort on the part of this area.



Yo Mama probably got some of the least damage of the whole area, and this is what it looked like.



Rob has been out all week clearing the lower stuff like Boss Hog, and here he is next to the repaired jump from that last shot.



This one's going to take a little more work. It WAS a huge stepdown move, but with a fat rootball on the lander it's going to be springtime before this line is sendable again.



The hardest hit was Kerplop. Ryan McKenna and a crew of guys (including our buddy Jonathon, brother of our sometime guide and super helper Courtenay) went over to deal with that. What they got looked like the aftermath of Mt St Helens.



We got our lines cleared, and thanks to a huge effort on the part of many others, Kerplop, Cat's Ass, Snakes Back, and many others were cleared up. We ran out of light, so you'll have to wait until the next post for some riding shots.



There's more pics of the carnage and cleanup efforts at:

Rich's Blog

Ryan's Pics

Yesterday's laps were great and all, but today was the one. It really dried out. We ran a full crew of trail builders on (what else?) Builders Only for some fast laps. I manged to pinball off a boulder, and there were numerous bails and crashes all day.

Here's Rob sending it on Crazy Train.



Sure, he's only been mountain biking for a littel over a year, but he IS almost 40 so you gotta give him the experience points. I think maybe BMX racing all over the world back in the 80's probably helped too.

We ran into another group, and lo and behold we knew them.



Our pals from the coast, Marcie and Ja were shreddin the local today. They moved up to Kamloops about 6 months before we moved to Kelowna. They brought out some friends (don't ask me their names, I wasn't working so therefore I didn't write anything down. Rippers, the lot of 'em).



Oh right. Winter. Well, just enough time to go back to our pad for a shower and beers....

but you guessed it....we're STILL riding. Ryan came up to Westbank for a session on the local today, and even Barb got out for one.



It was misty enough to remind me of the Shore, and it was definitely slick enough on the upper sections. Check out my skidmarks going UPHILL (Barb slid off the side about half a second after this shot).



Another contact from PinkBike (a Saskatchewan loc, hence the nickname "Chewonit") was out with us too, and althogh he copleted the first lap with us, he also managed to total his rear wheel on a minor bump near the top. Another one of those random rear wheel catastrophes that seem to happen to virtual povot bikes.

Yet I digress. Here's Ryan dropping in the snow.



Actually, the trail dried up as the day went on, and the stuff from here down was just fine (which is why there's no pics of it).

Gotta get out and ride this stuff too. Not just build. It's all part of our testing and reliability protocol around here.



Mellow times today. Just a random locals session.



We did run into Travis and company from Penticton today. I think someone got a clothing sponsor recently. I can't see many other reasons for wearing a lime green and brown striped jersey otherwise.

We went on another building binge today. Not as much work done, but we DID manage to build a few ramps. "Master of Slag" is essentially rideable now.



Oh yes, we did our Remembrance thing too. Can't think of a better tribute than buffing up the playground that we call Canada.

...but we're STILL riding. A random hookup on the PinkBike bulletin boards got me in touch with Ryan from Onterrible. He won't be afraid of a little snow.



It was hardly more than a skiff anyway. Oh yeah, that's our buddy Chuck D. Railer there. Figures he's the only local dumb enough to charge the Bog when it's icy.



If you're wondering what the current standard for trail building is these days......it's something ABOVE the following shot.



A friendly word of advice to the new trail builders out there. Use fresher wood for the framing. Don't be afraid to overbuild it. A small sledgehammer and 10" spikes are great choices for tying it all together. Also, angled cross-braces on everything, and try to pick lines that are actually practical.

We'll fix it later. Blue skies and a bit of dust are too rare a commodity right now.



I HAVE to show you Ryan's grandparents' pad. I am going to buy this place one day (any investors out there want to take a chance?).



Log cabin, ten acres, trail access, and a crap view.



I'm not telling you how much either. Find your own.

Dirty Dave is on another mission. Tis time he's extending Builder's Only another mile to add to the already impressive trails up Powers Creek.



Today was the hard part. We had some thick bush to get through now.



Luckily, with a bunch of motivated guys and chainsaws, it's pretty quick. We put in at least 400m of trail today.



Lunch, and some philsophical meanderings from the "Master of Slag."



There's also some other work going on up here, like these jumps called "Daryl, Daryl, and Daryl". Typical, they've all got names and only one's been built so far.