Scabby Jim: Pussy Magnet



Another rest and travel day. We gotta get outta here, these people are starting to look normal to us.

Say hello to my little friend.



We're all about the fat chix up in here.



Besides, we've got our own way to rock.



Yeah, Gustaav has the best 'stache/mullet combo I've seen in a long time.

It pretty much scared Poews straight...



Kind of bent Nelly up a bit though.



We hada rematch sesh with the Williams Lake in town trails today, and we spent some more time taming the Snakes and Ladders zone.



There's just so much to do here.



This one puts in all in perspective (it's a big one....).



Ok, some more skinny shots and then I'll let you off the hook.



That wasn't so bad, was it?



Here, have one of these tasty little wild strawberries that were growing all over the meadows.



Jim finds a strawberry, but misses a peach.



This is a bull. He's quite upset with us being in his strawberry field. We left.



No, it's not another stunt. I think it used to be a moose.



Mongo styles the Westsyde Road Gap.



Gustaav does his Shimmerman imitation.



Yes Gustaav, you have your shirt off. And I think you got Nelly's attention. Down boy...



I said..."Down Boy!"



He never listens...



Today's wildlife pic is a Robber Fly. It is sucking the life outta that moth. Cool....

Y'all ain't from around here, are ya?



Just another random hookup in the Canadian North. The XC guy just wanted to see someone hit this drop, so we obliged.



We're on Desous today, and it was all good, as per usual.



For those of you keeping score at home, Poews actually hit this particular stunt.



He's also looking remarkably tight on this corner on the backside of Desous.



Jimbo too.





Now you know why they call it "So Long". Oh, say hi to Brian back there.



No trip to Williams Lake is complete without a bit of Puddle Jumpin'.



You know, if you've never been....



check out PuddleBike.com for some deets on how to get there.



You'll flip (sorry, had to take the duck).



Or in the case of Poews...



...you'll bust a nut.



It only swelled up and turned blue for a few days. Much better now.

Puddle virgins!



Well, the boys like their skinnies, so I'd say they were in the right place. Lots of that thin wood here.





There's also lots of fast flow with gaps, but we weren't stopping for that stuff. We cracked off 6 kaps of the Fox Mtn. trails to get things rolling.



After that, we headed over to the West side for some Snakes and Ladders action.



The old stuff is still there, but it's showing its age for sure. Logs are decaying and breaking down now.



Good thing there's some new stuff to keep the crew occupied.





Tell you what. Just look at this section and you can tell me.



Is this enough to keep the crew busy?











An almost endless array of skinny stuff that Jedi hasn't seen yet.

Oh, I almost forgot. It's Scott's birthday, so we pushed him off a cliff to celebrate.



Sunsets in Canada are crap.



The summer of cake continues...



Mark had a special surprise for the lad as well.



Happy 19th Mongo!

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.

That's it, thats all from the Chilcotin, folks. I'll leave you with a couple of highlight shots from the expedition.

Bonus points for anyone who knows what the title of today's post is referring to. I'll give you a hint; it's literary.

OK, so those logs we grabbed off the roadside ended up here. Hows this for a tranny?



The idea was to get this tree in the shot, and send a huge hip over this gully.



The only thing was, it'looked a lot bigger with the ramp in place than it did when the visualization was taking place.



A LOT bigger....



But still, it looks freekin AWESOME from this angle.



Well, it just wasn't meant to be. This pic tells it all....



Oh well, there's other slopes to shred, so we'll just have to let this one go.

Haven't I been here before?

Seems like not much has changed. Wellburn is still figuring out his camera.



James is still going huge.



Romo is too...



Too bad this zone isn't going to work on film. Everyone look sad on three. 1...2....3!



And now for our future ripper segment....



I managed to be standing at the right place at the right time here. Twice a yar you get the setting sun and the moon in the right place for this effect.





Extra cool. The rest of the crew missed it, so they went to roast some weenie over an oil fueled fire. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm......... hydrocarbons. Tasty.



We finished up by grabbing a few logs on the side of the road so we could build some huge ramp someplace.

Not quite St. Paddy's Day, but with all the great footie in the can from this week we got our goofy on today.

It started with Mitch finding the remains of Mr. Coyote...



Mr. coyote, meet Mr Brycelands helmet....



Then we ran into some kind of street person at the gas station. Oh wait, it's just Romo.



Shortly after that, we started to see some eggs falling from the sky. I guess Romo and James decided to go buy a dozen eggs and pelt us with them. Good idea, but they have lousy aim. We didn't even see the first salvo in town. Out on the highway they missed us a few times when they passed us near the Sheep Creek Bridge. After passing us they set up and ambush. I came around one corner to see Romo running out of the bushes, firing eggs. One of them actually passed between my roofrack and the roof, but never hit anything. For a good rider, he has crap aim.

Of course, everyone in the van was pretty riled up at this point. Whereupon I informed them of the lefotver lasagna in the cooler and the interesting fact that the rear doors of the van open easily from the inside. So everyone is like, "Hit the brakes and we'll get 'em!" but like the old bull says, "Lets walk down and do the lot." So I drove down the gravel road at the annoying speed of 82 km/h, about 2/3's of the way across the road. Really annoying. James finally got sucked in to tailgating me, whereupon I hammered the brakes, the barn doors flew open, and Mitch fired a handful of lasagna at the open window.....



Most of it DIDN'T hit the window, but instead got Romo on the face. Good times....

OK, Back to work. Headcam time....



Oh, another tick....great.





So, we got a few shots just in case we needed some more footage, but today was all about the party. Who's gonna teach this whippersnapper to two step?



Giddyup.....



Rennie, well he doesn't need to be taught.

Everybody cut...everybody cut.....FOOTLOOSE!



Meanwhile, Romo celebrated by slaying some dragons of his own.

Head North! Really.....

So I've been a little tardy onthe updates, I know. What can I say, I've been outta town. I got a random call from my old pal Bjorn over at Radical Films. He needed a little assistance with a shoot for his latest vid, Kranked 7: The Cackle Factor. So I got to go down to Vangroovy and pick up the talent.

I'd like to introduce you to Nathan Rennie.....


jSmoke/Kranked 7

...and Josh Bryceland.


jSmoke/Kranked 7

You may have heard of them before, as they apparently are some kind of racer types with a squad known as The Syndicate.

I hadn't, so you're excused if you don't know who they are. They can sure ride good though.


jSmoke/Kranked 7

Honestly, with terrain and conditions like this in March to play with, who wouldn't?


jSmoke/Kranked 7

We drove up to the Chilcotin from Vancouver and spent the first day just shuttling the boys so that they could shake down their gear and get used to the terrain.


jSmoke/Kranked 7

Apparently it's a short road to familiarity with this crew.


jSmoke/Kranked 7

Bjorn checks the shot angles here while Nathan checks his flightplan.


jSmoke/Kranked 7

Now, if you're some kind of Australian DH camp, or maybe some kind of Manchester up and comer, maybe you've never walked on a frozen pond before. Well, don't let me stop you from experiencing something new....


jSmoke/Kranked 7

The video is even better....

Well, we gotta go home today, but as usual we're in no hurry.

Check this next pic for about 20 reasons why. Just too much to do in that town.



We had a late breakfast n the Puddle (mmmmmmm, Gecko Ttree). When look who we ran into?

Yup, Mr. Bjorn "GET IT OFF!" Enga.



You're a freak, Mr Enga.

I guess after pigging out on your arm like that the Mug has changed it's habits...





We actually rode today. Something in the 'Loops I hadn't seen yet.



But today was all about us, so I mostly left the camera in the pouch.



Thanks for hooking it up, Tyler. Had an epic time, as usual....

**View this post with Google Earth. DOWNLOAD THIS FILE.


Hello Mug....making friends?



Time for yet another fresh trail. Prime and Endless is the new trail off of the back of Desous, and it's just what it says.....







although we did manage to find one reason to stop for trail maintenance. Leave it to Tyler to have a saw in his pack.



The key to this whole trail is this section right here. Shreddies said it took him two years to find the route through this rock band.



The mist was more than just eerie today, too. The moisture made for some seriously slick conditions. I was seriously concerned that we were going to get skunked on my plans for the afternoon.





Somehow we slithered down to the bottom in more or less one piece. You can just make out the Fraser River there in the background.



OK, gambled and won. Farwell Canyon, dry and sunny.



Lap one. the Classic line.



These guys haven't seen Farwell before, which is the best way to experience it.





Just like ROAM, but in person.



See em? Way down there, those specks are.....us.



Todays guide, driver, and all round solid rider Cory drops in.



Barb, as per usual, keeping pace.



Oh, and she can also sleaze it up with the Mug.



Too bad Tyler has bigger tits....



His ass leaves a little to be desired....



Go get him, Kat!



The rest of the girls heading down the Fingers.



That's me....



...and my truck.



Time for round four (we ripped another Classic when you weren't looking)...



With an interlude for a UFM (Unidentified Flying Mug...oh wait, that's Dan's mug).



More killer freeriding across the Chilcotin grasslands.







OK, tighten your sphincters. It's Godsmack time.



I was having some serious fear issues today, but I still went for the thumb.



Can't figure why I'd be scared....



At least I got it over with. Those chumps are still waiting for their turn.



OK, there they go.



Cory had the only clean run on this spine.







Simon wasn't so lucky. He kind of smeared out at speed.



Tyler chose a more tech line.



The boys spotting the rest of the crew a few spines over.



Cory leads the way down the chutes.



Simon warps down after him.



This line just keeps on giving.



Meanwhile, back up the ridges, the rest of the crew is still working the spines.



Kat is in there someplace. That girl has some serious guts. She was almost shaking at the top, and went for it anyway. Real courage......cool.



Tyler, not sure what's coming....



Finally, he spots the key to the line and sends it.



Barb, in full control, was just waiting for a clear run.






Our lines, with the Mug for scale.....



Kat meanwhile, had gotten hung up a little. Seems she's never ridden without an actual trail before. We went back up the gullies to help her out, but by the time we climbed up she'd extricated herself. Still, I managed to get this nice pic, and Barb found a toonie in the sand. Silver linings.....



That bike getting any lighter, Ty?



And so ends the biggest single post in Bush Pilot TripLog history. 50 pics.

Cheers.....and a very happy birthday to my Mom.

Ooooooo.....the Puddle. We got here early, but Tyler and company didn't pull in until really late. Oh, and due to my casual style of instructions they got a little bit lost. Luckily, they brought some girlies with them to get them back on track.

Like how Barb is navigating this log on Hillbilly Deluxe...



We hooked up with some locals, as always. Here's James Doerfling, of Radical Films fame and fortune, flinging himslef on one of the many killer booters to be found in the Puddle.



Our pal Simon (who was kind enough to show us Gold River earlier in the year), was along and hit up a bunch of the road gaps to be found out there.



Oh James....



Same hit, but weird angle. Look close, he's fully clicked on that one.



Hi Tyler...



Holy V-Tach. Barb is nailing huge hits every time we go out now. That's a road gap, boys.



Simon gets the score evened for the boys....



....but then Fiona nailed it right after. Yeah......the girls were killing it again today.


Our other lovely lady, Kat, shows us her potential as a hand model. Lucky Mug....



Lots of new work inthe Puddle this year. With the full approval of government, the trails are being expanded up there.



They're not holding back much either. About the only concession they've made is to have most of the wooden structures in one area to make the insurance issue easier to deal with down the line. Huge gaps and drops are everywhere, and these skinny lines are awesome, if a bit taxing (and hard on the chin if you miss).



The old standbys like Sick and Nasty are still there.



And they can still put the fear into the stoutest heart. Fiona almost hit a tree and put the fear in mine, let me tell ya....



A post ride session in Shreddies hot tub and some good times with the mug finished off a spectacular day.

I got a random call the other day form Tyler over at PinkBike. Seems like he had a hankering for a road trip with no real goals other than to ride bikes and have a fun time. Hmmmmm, sounds like the perfect excuse to hit up Williams Lake, since I hadn't been up there in over a year (wow...how time flies).

And Barb had the weekend off. Perfect.

On the way, we stopped in at Merrit to investigate some vultures we saw flying around...



Then, just past the dead coyote, we found this HUGE line.



I ain't hitting that. It's a little something the boys at Freeride Entertainment knocked together for the new NWD film. 40' stepdown, 80' floater, some berms, and then...



....a 30 footer, a 40 footer, and a huge hip. Vanderham says it's pretty smooth. I'll take his word for it. Oh, and I'll take the coffee.....you took possession of my soul quite some time ago.



The Puddle is a good 90 minutes closer now, and a far easier drive than ever. Man I miss this place...



Uh oh.......the Joker and the Mug. Quite the criminal duo...

Sooner or later, you know I'm going to nedd a break. Well, here it is. I managed to get a bit of a lull in the schedule this summer, so I pinned it back up to Williams Lake to enjoy a bit of summer. Plus, Shreddie had his annual birthday tour lined up for an epic across the Chilcotin. More about that tomorrow.....

First, we had to go wake boarding. Here's Steve Mitchell, who turns up like a bad penny at ALL these events.



Yeah, I ride bikes more than I wakeboard. So what?



No pics of the birthday boy out on his turn. He went Cariboo style (ie - NOOD)...and the pics came out just a little too clearly.

Anyway, one thing led to another, and welll....here's how it started.



A while later, on a different lake, we ran into these guys, who were charging offf this ramp with full on big bikes like V-10's.



It didn't take long for everyone else to step it up.



....bit of a kick there.



Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!



Oooooooooooooo.........



Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooow!



...and the biggest air of the day goes to Mitchell for tis massive buttdrop. He's still going up there, and landed ass first just in the frame.

Don't mess with Barb, alright?



She's definitely not spineless.



We were sort of disappointed with our wet day on Desous, so we had to go back for another round. Here Dan rides a dinosaur.



Wade sends a little road gap for shits and giggles.



I know, it's not exactly focussed, but this was the 3rd moose I saw this week.



The end of hte day on the back side of Desous.



That sounds like a good reason for a drink. Bottoms up...



Oh right, better get Barb one too.

OK...it's time to get this party started. Let's go to Farwell.



Yeah, that's more like it.



You might recognize this little slice of heaven from the recent Collective release, ROAM.



Our Germans, Stephan (above) and Rainer (below), really stepped it up today.



Here we are negotiating one of the many gullies inthe zone.



THis is Stephan onone of the many spines that lead into the aforementioned gully system.



Rainer hangs onto a steep one ontothe road.



Rainer and Stephan....AGAIN.