Bike Tour Photos and Write Up!!!

Ok, so i’m apologising in advance for the small number of actual riding/people doing tricks in these photos…. I was just having such a great time ripping it up, and just riding my bike hard….. you know how it is!

So we were picked up at Calgary airport at 4pm on the Friday, drove to Fernie – we were in Fernie for 3 days, Invermere/Panorama Resort for 1.5 days, and then in Golden for two days where we rode Mount 7, and Kicking Horse Resort (awesome skifield!) – thats 7 days!… then i had a practice day, then a Race Day on Mount 7 for the Psychosis Race – 4000ft descent…!!.. “the most demented downhill race in the world”…. www.psychosis.ca

I enjoyed Fernie Alpine Resort the most – the trails were varied – fast flowly ones, slow tech ones, rocky rough, steep slow, dusty, fast flowy jump tracks and a Canada Cup Race track too!!!…..

Leaving the HI Calgary – very nice hostel, would reccomend – tidy and clean… except it was soo hot there, that the nights were a bit unbearable!! 6 bed dorm, probably 34 degrees in the rooms!! at 11pm!….. oh well, all good, packed up, ready for the airport, hot as!!

Eddie in the GREEN shirt – the main tour guide. We had 5 in the XC tour, and two of us in the DH/FR tour

That are some of the awesome pics i snapped on the way to Fernie from Calgary..

Photo below is the complex we stayed at.. very nice!

Ok – this face is not just for anything!.. it is 10am in the morning, and i reckon it was around 32 degrees already!!!…. it was 34 degrees at 9pm the previous evening when we arrived… dang it was HOT!!!!.. excuse the hat hair.

Welcolme to my playground!.. the Timber Chair express behind me.. the big chair lift!

Ooo… fast log drop…. pin it…!

Stay on there Paul!!!….

Shots below are of the ski resort generally, to give you a taste of the alpine environment we were biking in…. rocky at the top, fast and flowly dirt and skinnies at the bottom.

Henry – Our first timer Guide, and Titanuim Litespeed Pin-Master…. go the Fox Talas! At the Top of the Timber Chaiflift!

A good cold beer at the end of the first day…. we made it! Roll on the good times… (Henry, Vic and Paul)

Righty – second day – a nice wee bhooter in the middle of “Duff Gardens” track… very nice track

Bin Logdin was a nice track!.. jumps, burms and FLOW!….. Photo below is Paul Hucking it!

I love these trees… makes things look interesting.. roll on Winter?

The Start of the Canada Cup Course.. Steep, fast, not that tech.. but on the brakes most of the way!!… super fast through trees… great flow too!

Supposedly named cos they used to Over Weigh their Tea Leaves….

Fernie is a nice wee town, not commercial at all, but with new condos/townhouses popping up in places… the nice building below is the town court house…. a lovely garden setting!

Well, a shot looking back down the Elk Chairlift – a smaller quad chair which was very slow…. day two – Bike update, my fork bushing have gone, and the front end is feeling knocky!.. not good feedback, but still ridable… damn, i’ve got another 5 days and the race coming up at the end of the week!… suck it up.

The answer is generally Yes….. but thanks for asking. =) … these are good, i mean Fernie Alpine Resort trails are generally good, nothing huge or scary so everything can be ridden, except for skinnies!.. i’m still working on those ones!….

So us three downhillers got this Dodge caravan for the road trip, and the XC crew had the big ford and trailer.

Cool Sand formations on the trip to Invermere… wicked Valley, great scenery….! Although Paul and Henry had a late night the previous night and were a little under the weather!!

The road to Panoama resort is a few kms from Invermere, along this road with a cool river flowing pretty swifty alongside.

Henry studying the route map…. his first time riding here!…. go the guide book!…..

Panorama Resort is owned by Intrawest, who also own/operate Whistler…. looks very nice and resorty!

I like these chairlifts!

The boys chilling out… man, this was day 4 of our riding, and yeah it was starting to take it’s toll!!… i must say, i didn’t enjoy Panorama as much as Fernie… both cos energy levels were a bit down, and the tracks were not as cool!

Riding in an open gondola to the local place for dinner!..

This photo is on the second day at Panorama…. Yeah, Henryis feeling it.. ” So, how’s that HARDTAIL pride holding up?!”…

On the road to Mt 7, and GOLDEN…. can you see the “7″ in the top ridge of the mountain below? Thats why they call it Mt 7!!! cool eh!… usually you can’t see this at this time of the year, later on in the week it was gone!

Longest timber span bridge in Canada – just over 40m…. Trussed Arched Bridge… had help from Swiss/German/Swedes and NZ’rs to build it in 2002??… i think there were some shrinkage splitting issues.. it is pretty exposed in a hot/cold environment.. holding up pretty well tho – come back in 50 yrs time and see how she is then?

Ok – well, i had to get my brakes Bled that first morning before going to Mt 7 for shuttles…. Here are some pics of the Calgary Cycle team set up, thursday morning, doing some runs before the Sunday race!

Photo is Kim from NME Tours – she is expecting a baby in about 2 months!… Thanks for driving us up in your wicked shuttle truck set up!!!

“7″ is still there…. This is a view from the “Launch Pad” or top of the mtb course/place where hangliders take off!

Top of Mt 7 – second to last day of the tour!… another stunning day in the Valley…..!

The skinny above is over a ditch, and has a hard uphill section at the end.. we didn’t give it a crack… and the other photo is on the race course, a wee natural rock roll over.. pretty easy.

Massive road gap.. aparently very smooth.. Jeff Bryson reckoned you could tune your drive train in the time it takes to hit the Tranny~! For pros only, so i wasn’t allowed to hit it up… damn eh?!.. probably a good thing

The two photos above were shot on the Summit Trail, but there was this opening which had a wicked view back at the town…nice!

How else better to wind up the HOT HOT day than a dip in a local Lake – Cedar Lake, up the Kicking Horse Valley.We did 3 runs/shuttles of the 4000 ft descent… that seems not like a lot, but as it takes about 30-40 minutes to get down with stops, it made for a good afternoon!.. Paul was feeling the hill and only did one run with us.. !

Famous Kicking horse River Lodge above. www.khrl.com

Ok – last day of the tour was at Kicking Horse Resort!…. again, some awesome views, this time from the other side of the valley from Mt 7. Cool Resort and a wicked gondola ride up to the top of the ridgeline at 7700ft!!!!… pretty wow, very alpine, and the worlds highest restuarant at the top!

Me and my bike – still holding up to the punishment!… ok, forks are still knocking, but i’ve gotten used to them…

A nice stream, and pretty trees….

Check out the temp in the shade!…

Ok – so last run of the tour – Me and Henry rocked down a nice double black diamond run on the right side of the field… nice and steep and flowy… great arm burn, and legs feeling the pain too!!!….

So – our last day wrapped up at 2pm as Henry and Paul needed to get back to Calgary – we got three long runs in at Kicking Horse… not really the best bike park, but a killer ski hill with wicked black runs! have to come back for skiing!

So – we said our goodbyes and i checked into my B&B – did some laundry, had a meal and went for a ride along the river bank – saw some big horned sheep!…… crazy looking things!… and also noticed my freehub was starting to crap itself = basically i pedal and it doesn’t turn the rear wheel, or JUMPS a bit…. hopefully it holds up for the practice and RACE! hence the look on my face.

Well, Saturday morning, up to the Psychosis Race – Nice clear day!…. and i bumped into Jeff Bryson our Canadian Buddy whom has been in Wellington the last two summers, and doing the Race Circuit in NZ – a nice place to bump into each other!

Photo above is of Will – one of Geoffs DH friends…. pretty sharp rider judging by his time.

The current world champions bike – Sam Hill’s Iron Horse.

Crazy Hangliders!.. pretty steep launch area as you can see!

Jeff in the HOT SEAT after practice day – a nice place to chill out away from the heat.

Sam Hills Van and Trailer – next door to where i was staying.

Ok – photos from race day – Timing by Tag Heuer =)

Did i say i want a pick up? yes please.

ok – some silly burn out competition at the finish area…… kids these days… =)

Photo above is of Jeff coming through the finish gate – nice air Jeff!

Friggin hot day – me and others taking refuge in the shade – notice how there are RED BULL tents, girls and Mini’s just like back at home!

Photo below is of Steve Smith – he came second.. quick at 13min 1 sec…… Jeff Bryson signalling riders coming…

Sam Hill – winning time 12min:49sec – new course record!….. his new gf is holding the black umbrella. =)

The ute or pickup above is the toyota Tacoma, or our Hilux on a lift kit…. mmm… they make a bigger pick up called the Tundra. huge V8!!!…. crazy north american obsession with their pick ups… meh, i still want one.

So – how did i go in the race? www.psychosis.ca in the sport or sandbaggers class… i came 15th out of 31 – time of 17mins 51 secs….. – but WITH NO CHAIN cos i took it off as my rear hub was goneburger!… i had two offs, lost about 30 secs i reckon… and i reckon there was at least a minute lost from not being bale to pedal and accellerate out of corners, or get up wee rises…. so probably would have gone top 10 in the sport class.. but hey, i did this for fun and it was a great track!.. i won’t go on about it here, but yeah it was FUN! and STEEP!!!…..

So bye bye Golden – had 4-5 days here, and it is a nice wee place. Off on the Greyhound to Kelowna. Thanks to Shari at the Country Comfort Bed and Breakfast for looking after me, and for ferrying me to the race track when my bike spat the dummy – i recommend staying at her place, lovely couple and a nice B&B.

Photo of the Bridge is at Revelstoke.

Photos below are in Kelowna – the White Sails sculpture by City Park

I hired a KIDS sized mtb for two days to look around – 24 inch wheels and 7 speed/ 14 speed…. it was like half the price of a normal bike!…. who can blame me!….. i rode along this river side walking path for about 8 km… man, was getting a bit scared of bears, so was ringing the bell lots!!

There are some lovely beaches alongside the Okanagen Lake……. i can see why people come here to retire and holiday.. it is like Queenstown, but a lot less commercial, but equally as picturesque!

Nice cycling lane above.. and the STORM rolling in…. yay!… bad weather for once!

Ok – the thing above is the “Ogopogo” – mythical creature of the Okanagan lake – sort of like the Lockness monster… but friendly!

Rain!! glorious rain!… nice since i’ve been basking in 30+ for the last 3 weeks!

Samesun Hostel – 4 nights of crazyness!…. man, i took an 8am bus that morning out of there, after only 3-4 hours sleep….. friggin stupid!….

Well – my blog is getting full!…. 96% of 50 mb at this stage…. i’m off to Whislter next week, and no doubt more photos and stories to come, so i will re-evaluate what i’ll do then!… until then, happy viewing – i hope u have enjoyed all my photos to date! Let me know if u want to see anything else?!

I’ve taken over 1000+ photos on my new camera since i got it in San Fran… the old camera didn’t come on the tour with me….. i’ll think about taking it to Whistler i think!