Last day in the Puddle, and it's not warmingup. On the contrary, we're breaking temperature records that date back to 1955. Minus 8? Are you kidding me? Anyway, that was overnight. It's much warmer out now, but still freezing. We chose to get the first lap of Prime and Endless on Desous today.



This is the new line off the back side that Shreddie cut last year. I wonder what it's like when it's dry? so far I've only seen it either soaking wet or frozen.



It really is steeper than it looks.





There, that's more like it. He's new to the sport, poor guy.



Shreddie, ass out.



It was anice way to spend the day, but it was just too cold. Check out the deck at Mark's....


end

A likely bunch. Looks like trouble to me.....



It's pretty damn cold out today. About -4C at the top of the trails, but it was fairly warm down by the river. The trails were still frozen, so you could go inhumanly fast on them today.





Yeah, warm. Lyle, you look ready for the beach....in Inuvik.



A good turnout too. About 40 riders showed up.



Even the cactus looks cold.



Chuckles was likin' it, cold or no cold.





Some ponderous moments...



Glew dropping in....





Noel having a go...



Going...



Going....(nice one hander)



........goiiinnggggggg...............



DONE.



That one coming on top of yesterday's crash on the wallride, Noel is one sore dude right now. He said it was still worth it. I wish I had audio of the peanut gallery though. It was quite funny.

"Oh yeah, he's got it...he's got it.... he's----OOOOOOHHHHH!"

Chuckles decided on a different route at that point.



A different perspective....



That was enough for us. We retreated back to the comfort of Shreddies hot tub and saved ourselves for another day.

Fresh bike build today. I'm still waiting for my SX wheels, so I built this one with the DeeMax's. They make a nice contrast to the BC Green, don'tcha think?



We had a little Knolly convention today. That's 7 of 'em right there, and the 8th was under construction in the shop for later.



Noel, the man himself, came out for a Fox Mtn session today. Unfortunately, I seem to have some kind of disaster magnet effect on him. Every time we ride....



Oh well. You can see the marks on his right knee in the pic. That night, it swelled to the size of a cantaloupe. Just an FYI for ya: air shocks and cold weather aren't a great mix.

Travel day today. I did a little riding, but nothing worth posting. It was snowing pretty hard in Pemby (it'll be sunny soon....the Pemberton Pocket. Stupid locals, it snowed all day).

Instead, I have this pic I took of Mr Coyote on the Duffy Lake road. He looks like he could use a little spring today too.

No, that's not a trick. That really is my odometer turning over 420K. I parked the Great White last year just for this occasion.



I had some business in Vancouver this week, so I started the weekend off with Dan, Seb, Wyld Willy, and the Pemby crew. Keep in mind, this was the warmest day of the tour...



Wyld Willy even pussed out because of the cold and didn't go the distance up to the Cariboo. At least he made it out for the weekend, and had perpetrated some shenanigans down on the Sunshine Coast.



Dan wore his best pajamas in honour of the day. He also declined to go north.



The boys made up for it with this creek gap.



I took these fisheye shots with Willy's camera. I gotta get one of these. The guy stylin' below is some dude named Smokey. I think he's just trying to be like me.....



Yeah, check that light on Dan.



Willy droppin' in on Jim Jam.



Some more stuff from Dan.



Here's my camera on that same creek gap.







I also stopped in to see my old pal Kaili. Looks like she beat me and Barb to the wire on the baby derby.



Intersting place they live in too. That kid is gonna have some cool tattoos.



OK, back to the trails.


We rode late into the day, and tied one on in prep for the big weekend.


Wyld Willy photo 2008

Another sick, bluebird day. Here's the view from camp.














Mmmmmmmmmmm....Jolly Ranchers.





With it being such a nice day, we decided to tear it up in Farwell some more. Besides, it was over 30C again, so why not pretend it's summer? Our first run was on the Fingers. It's a fast run, but it gives a good view of our later destination, Godsmack. Those lines in the background are where we are headed to.



Can't you just taste the fear?





Mitchell dropped theis line to get us rolling.




Actually, it's way freakier than the pics do justice. LOTS of exposure, and don one has ridden these lines in a couple of years. This shows it a bit better.





Somehow I managed to keep my feet on the pedals the whole way down, but I had to deal with a ton of speed to do it. Biggest headrush I've had on a bike in years.



It's just so much like skiing. Here's Kevin getting some face time.






Dan took another line, and it looked just fine.



JJ drops in.



The beauty of these lines is how long they are. The vertical is so deceiving. It just keeps coming at you. Too bad about the half hour hike a bike out under the now 34C sun. I got seriously burnt today (a week later my lips are STILL peeling).



We did a few more rides in town, but nothing can top this day for early season. Anyone want to go up there soon?


Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

Yeeehaaaa!!! Farwell Canyon and some jetboating onthe agenda today. First we hit a couple of classics in Farwell. This shot is a total fluke. I was playing around with the white balance in low light and forgot to reset for the bright sun. Sorta cool....



Steve hanging out...



Dan gets vertical on one of the many chutes in the canyon. It's way gnarlier than it looks.



Kevin (I think) on the same line. Everyone was spooked enough by this one that there were no takers on it the second time around.



After a couple of runs, we hit the xc for the tour out to the Fraser. It's about 30 km's to the confluence of the Chilcotin and Fraser Rivers, which was our destination. We were supposed to start at 2PM, but we hung around waiting for stragglers for another 45 minute, just in case. Remember this, as it became more important later.



After about 20km, wee got out to the canyon. Before we dropped in, a little fortitude was called for. (like it isn't wild enough out there).



The first part of the descent is pretty mellow, still following an old doubletrack.



That ridge is where we had lunch.



Once you get down a ways, the trail gets a little radder.



It's more like backcountry skiing than anything else.



Well, except that it was about 30C at this point (remember the -8 from a couple of days ago?).



Unique hazards for Canada in April, especially this far north.



Ahhh, the shuttle vehicle.



We went downstream for a ways, just to burn some more time in case there were any stragglers. It was a wicked ride. Lots of standing waves, some 360's, full on redneck style. Still, we saw no other riders come in to the beach.

Which was sort of funny, since Johnny Bejoin decided to chase us out and missed the ride. I heard he got back at about 4:30 am.....





Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

Another fairly cool morning, but it looks like the snow is gone. We met up with a full crew of maniacs at Red Shreds for a day of shuttles on the in town trails.



A few stars were out, like Super T, James Doerfling, Glew, et al.



For our warm up, we hit a steep line called Sweet Pete. Some good exposure here (about 100' of the side of this) keeps you sharp.



Then we went over to Mitch's Brew to get some more air. After yesterday's inspection runs, it was a lot smoother.



Well, except for Mitch. He looks ike he's posing for a backlit shot here, right?



Wrong. It was still a little slick, and he figured at the last second that he didn't have enough speed to make the gap from 14' up. His bike just about hit me, but everyone was OK.



The view from the repeater tower.



After the ride we retired to Shreddies place at the lake for a little outdoor ROAM premiere. About 150 people braved the chill to attend.



As usual, we had plenty of fire and beer to keep us warm.



Not enough wimmin though. It was the usual sausage party.



...although JJ is sorta cute....





Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

Hmmm.....a little colder this morning. Oh well, I should be used to it. It's still better to go riding than to sit around shivering inthe snow.



Nothing like a cold call first thing inthe morning.



Gustav, off the wall.



The Chromag boys showed up mid morning. Find your shoes yet, JJ?



The weather improved throughout the day. Masters tweaks it out.



Gustav throws a one hander on the road gap.



First group shot in the new van!!!



More tweakage from Masters.



..and still more tweaking.



Dan, with a stylie air and a funny face. I missed the shot on his whip. Pretty sure he had the back wheel in front of the forks on that one.



Kevin from Chromag throwing down with the hardtail and the clipless.



.. and everyone's favourite Williams Lake girly rider Nelly goes big on her new dualie.



Tyler (or is it Cody? Always get the groms mixed up) with a sweet X-up.



Mootchell in DH mode.




Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

Ahh yes. April 20th...the unofficial start of the season out here. As usual, I went to Williams Lake to kick start the festivities. It looks like someone else was having fun too.



OK, that was from last year, but it was new to me and Dan (Skogland came along for the ride). We made it up to the Puddle in time for a couple of quick laps and to try out the beautiful new rack that HUKK made for me. Sorry, no riding pics today.



I did run across this bike though. It's a 2 wheel drive enduro machine that a frieind brought back from Africa. Seems that one of the Paris Dakar racers had a spill on it and left it in the desert. When John's BMW broke down, there were no parts to be had but this was sitting there ready to ride. 700km range on those big tanks. The front wheel has a hydraulic drive similar to a Bobcat that gets up to 15% of the powere when the rear wheel starts to slip.



Super cool....

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

It's been a busy time for riding. I just cracked off a new vid for you all to enjoy. Just a bunch of random hucks from the springtime and some Williams Lake road trip footie.



As always, please RIGHT-CLICK AND SAVE to download the vid to your own machine.






I'll be out riding all week, so don't expect much in the way of updates for a while.

Gotta go home. Last day in the Puddle, and no one will play with me.



Oh well, I got four more runs in.



***The Wade Simmons Freeride Experience has sold out!!***


...I guess I'll have to schedule more of these trips for next year.

Ahhhhh, Sunday morning. Gotta get up early, it's time for church. Repent ye sinners......





C'mon Mitch, you could at leats PRETEND for a bit, ya infidel. Besides, it's the Church of Bike, so the real sermon starts about.....


..here.






Now, I'd like you to meet my new lawyer.






Hi Andrea!



After that run, we went up to check out the local club's trail day on HillBilly. Local coffee guy Paul is working on a new rollercoaster.










Thanks to the dedication of the locals, and the help of two levels of government, the future of Williams Lake riding seems to be in good hands. Excellent work, guys.


It was getting seriously hot again (about 30 C) so we stopped in at Brian and Sarins place for some ice cream cake. That's Chuckles getting a headache in the back there.





Another run? OK then....






Dwayne above and Chuckles below on a teeter.






Oh yeah, the Cherry Popper.






Some new additions to the end of the trail. A new bridge and boardwalk across Williams Creek. Thanks to the local muni on that one.





Did I mention that I got the lads a keg? Did I mention that it was Guinness? Hoisting one to our luminary host, Red Shred.






OK, another day down. Time for a sunset shot.






...ans we'll end the day with a little campfire.

Day 2 of the adventure, and it dawned hot and clear. today we were driving west for while to hit up the legendary Chilcotin.


It's not as far as Bella Coola, but some folks decided to take that direction, if you know what I mean.







It was around 34 C in the canyon today. Kind of excessive for Canada in April. Especially this far north. Ian and Steve from ChroMag Bikes try to catch a breeze before dropping into the Fingers.







Nope, too hot. Gottta make your own breeze. Outta control on the ring finger.







It was just too hot to hit a ton of lines in Farwell so we decided to go up to desous for some cooler air. Normally it would be buried under snow at this time of year. Not so in 2005.


We ran across this big fella on the way in.






Godspeed, gents.











Somewhere in that mess of rallying on back roads I managed to disconnect my headlights. Good thing I got back to the top of the mountain at sunset then.










It's a looooooong way back down, and the light was failing. OK, time for a quick sunset pic and back to Mark's place for beer, food and hot tub.







"Pilsner ----- Drink 'till he's pretty"

Yes kids, it's that time again. The legendary kick off to the season in Willliams Lake. I drove up BY MYSELF on the Friday to ride the Cariboo with my pals. Note to all you riders out there: when I invite you on a free trip, the only response is "Yes." I simply don't go on crap trips. Anyway, you missed out if you weren't there.


For those that DID make it up, it was a kickass good time.


As you can tell by JJ's smiling mug at the potluck dinner on Friday night.







Doesn't seem so funny in the morning, does it JJ?







Saturday we shuttle the crap outta the local trails. We hit up multiple runs of DogBone, HillBilly, Mitch's Brew, and the classic Snakes and Ladder/Cherry Popper/ Spokey Hollow run.


The air hounds were in full force today.






Local punk Corey hitting the Mitch's roadgap.





1st time wall rider, clipped in, on the high line.






Another newbie on the wall.





...and another.






The legendary Mitch himself dropping the Lichen Licker.





Another local grom, I think it's Travis, upstaging the builder on the same drop. This was at about the same time that Matt Hunter was eating shit on the big gap around the corner. There's some BIG stuff to get into at the Puddle.





Of course, all the jumping makes for hungry groms. Good thing that Micky D is at the bottom.






More dumb hucks on the last lap of the day.






Mmmmmm, post ride kegs at the shop. Between me, Steve, Bejoin, and Glew, there were 5 kegs for us to get throught this weekend.

As promised, the 4:20 Video is now online.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

Thanx to Gary at PureMTB for the hosting.

Ahhhhh yes..... Day 3. I took some time to get here I must confess.

We got up early at Farwell Cnyon and headed into Williams Lake to eat a hot breakfast made by someone else.

Then....Riding!

Here we are at the top of a new one calle 'Mitch's Brew.' There was snow everywhere still.



It had a bunch of cool stunts that I didn't get any still of, most notably a big skybridge type of dealio with a big stepdown gap at the end. Have to wait until I find a host for the vid to see that.

Here's some various shots of the trail, Tony and someone else.





Round two was the classic DH in town, with a stop at the notorious Cherry Popper.

Tony again.



A wicked shot of Chris (sorry about the focus).



And some punk with a busted foot.



I was pretty beat at this point, what with all the riding, drinking, staying up late, and driving all the way there and everywhere in between. Might be the last update for a bit, as there is a bit of a lull in the schedule right now. I'll try to get into some trouble for your entertainment soon.

Well let's pick up the weekend at midnight on Saturday.

Looks like the party is in full swing.



Of course, some people didn't make it as far as others.



The bitter end.....



Bright and early, loading up one of the shuttles for the Sunday epic.



Today we rode out the plateau for about 25 km. Big skies and flat doubletrack. I was feeling the effects of the night before, so I opted to ride sweep. You can see the hill in the right background? That's where we were headed.



Here's the crew celebrating the start of the descent to the canyon.



Here's a panorama of the top. It's in flash, and you may have to right click and play or reload the page to see it.



Here's Terisa on the first leg of the descent. Barb and Harley are in there somewhere too.



A bunch of tiny dots rolling across the grasslands.



Dramatic lightning.



Lining up the next pitch.



Barb and Harley snaking down the clay.



Trail hazards. I picked up literally hundreds of cactus and didn't get a flat until after I stopped.



Here's a friend we met on the beach at the bottom. That's a Black Widow if you've never seen one before.



Ahhhh. The shuttle vehicle.



Twin 350 Chevs driving jets sure put a smile on your face.



Our driver was wicked. He was throwing 360 spins and surfing huge standing waves for us. Jet boating rules!!



If you ever want to go, check out Jetboat Adventures for more info.



Ahhhh, back at camp.





A nice shot of dinner, bikes, and a sunset.



Nothing finishes off a great day of riding like a big fat stogie.



...and there's still more to this trip. I'll update you in a couple of days.

TONS of stuff to upadate today.

First off, a new bike. Schweet RMX from Rocky Mountain. Built up with all my faves, and with a lot of help from Manitou, Hayes, SRAM, Syncros, RaceFace, Outdoor Gear Canada, and Cove Bike Shop.

Here she is in all her glory.



Some details for you to drool over.





So I think you can tell from the background that we got into some action for the legendary April 20th weekend in Williams Lake, also known as the 4:20 Fest.

Mark Savard of Red Shred's Bike and Board puts on this legendary party on or around April 20th every year to kick off the season. I finally made it up to it this year after near on a decade of missing out. Here it is....

We got up to Mark's place at 1 am. There was a lot of snow lying around. Not an auspicious start. After a brief nap, we went in to the Puddle to get some last minute supplies (booze) and headed out to our campsite at Farwell Canyon, about an hour away in the Chilcoltin.

Here's a good shot of it.



Once everyone arrived, we started loading up the shuttle vehicles. It was killer because all the key players in mountain bike tourism were there. Besides myself, Chuck from Freeride Tours, Nelly from To The Top Freeriding, and Merle from Adrenalin Mountain were all there.

We had 25 riders and an uphill capacity for another 40 or so.



The riding in Farwell is fast and open. A true interpretation of Freeriding. Pick lines, and go fast and big. After a warmup on the Classic we went over to the Hourglass.

Here we are on our way over.



The Hourglass is a thousand foot sand chute sitting at around 45 degrees with a variable drop in from one to twenty feet. It's sick fast and super controllable. You'll have to wait until I edit the video to see what I really mean.

Here's a shot of Margus on the lower part of the Hourglass.



It's so much like skiing. Here's another reason...



Too bad you can't get the shuttle vehicle over to the bottom. Looks like someone else feels the same way.



After another run on the Classic, we hit another big line called GodSmack. It's five huge fingers of clay that you ride down the edges of. Again, the best shots I got were video. You will just have to wait a bit for those.

Here's a small panorama of one of the ridges. There's actually riders in there somewhere.



This is Brian Eller of Cove Bikes railing the sand near the bottom of finger five.



Barb catching some rays at the end of finger three.



Some more tracks near the bottom of Godsmack.



Shreddie in his Jesus Christ Pose.



The days are long up north. We had sunset at around 7:30, but it was light enough to ride until around 8:30. Here's Brian and Cory dropping the last chute on the Classic under starlight.



I'll get you some more shots of the nightlife in the next update.