Come On, Cumberland!

Landing in Victoria late on Saturday evening, we dropped Gabe off to hang out with his Dad, and Ryan and I went to find a campground where we proceeded to pass out until late Sunday morning. In search of a place to both kiteboard and mountain bike, we headed Northwest of Victoria and drove some gravel roads looking for a good campsite. Spotting about 100 tents in a field, we pulled over at the sight of a whole lot of bikes! We had stumbled upon a huge bike race that had just started a few days before on Vancouver Island's southern shore. Of course, we had to investigate! Turns out this race is a really long trek on mountain bikes that starts near Victoria and ends in Vancouver. Thinking this might be a good omen, we liked the idea of staying in this area to look for some trails.

But after driving for a few hours, we decided we didn't like the prospects nor the vibe, and on a whim drove to Cumberland, 3 plus hours north. The first thing we noticed in town was Dodge City Cycles, with trail maps taped on the window, and the Ridin' Fool Hostel in the back. Perfect! Now this was the vibe we were looking for.

We found a place to camp really close to town on Comox Lake. We had it pretty much to ourselves after the weekend, and used it as a base to shred all of the classics in the area.

Turns out Cumberland is a mecca of twisty, rooty, technical climbs and descents with a few stunts and lots of drops. The top of the ridge overlooking Cumberland, a 500 meter road climb, had some hammering double black downhill trails diving off the east side down to the lake. They were super gnarly--I am pretty sure I only rode about 50% of the trails!

Ryan had the first big BC crash on 'Pity the Fool', rolling off of a heinous drop and pasting a fire-scarred tree, which left him with a sore shoulder, some cuts and scrapes, and a whole lot of black soot on his body to show for it.

After 3 days in Cumberland, we got to know all of the trails of course, the bike shop owner, and spent some time in the great little town. We also spent 4th of July here, all pretty much in agreement that shredding Cumberland trails was a far better option than watching fireworks and eating BBQ chicken back in the States. Instead we helped celebrate Canada Day, Aye. (I have a personal agenda to make this a yearly tradition).


Due in Whistler on Thursday to meet Bart, we had to tear ourselves away from this uncrowded little labyrinth of quality trails. Cumberland will definitely be a destination in the future!

Dates: 7/2-4/07

Area: Cumberland, BC

Trails: Mama Bear's Trail of Tears, Bronco's Perserverance, Buggered Pig, Skinny's Galore, Spanker, Short and Curly, Matt's Trail, Black Hole, Space Nugget, Big Log, Shaker, Swamp Trail, Grub, Stub, and Pity the Fool.

Miles: Many

Highlights: Too many to list.

Photos, top to bottom: Kites in Victoria; Tents Galore; BC Bike Race Finish Line, motorized sweepers done for the day; Follow the red arrow OR DIE!; Cumberland Gnar; Ryan Post-Mega-Crash; Classic BC Forest Floor + Trail; View from top of DH trails, Cumberland; "hmmmmm.....where to go next?" Gabe ponders the idea of Whistler; Ferry sunset, Whistler-Bound!

Crabs, the New Id, and Mac Dre in the Olympics

A groggy, foggy start after a long night of new bike building and car-packing and hours in a jammed car led us the Olympic National Forest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. I was battling a major case of poison oak and Gabe's button-pushing shit-talk; the prednisone I was taking did little to ease the agony of either ailment. Our morning started at Bart's house in PDX. It was the beginning of a 10 day road trip to Canada, starting on Vancouver Island and finishing up in Whistler (of course).
We saddled up in classic Olympic weather--low fog and light drizzly mist--and headed up the Lower Dungeness trail. After a 2 plus year hiatus from shredding, I was still feeling the pain of getting back those cycling legs, and also getting used to my new bike. I had just retired my Santa Cruz Heckler, first generation, and upgraded to an Ellsworth ID. The first thing I noticed was the higher bottom bracket--I wasn't whacking my pedals every other stroke.
The trail had mandatory hike-a-bike sections, with long and steep pitches as it climbed up the drainage. After a few switchbacks, we finally came out onto a road. Since we had a ferry to catch in Port Angeles, we decided to turn back. The descent was not technical, but fast and swoopy and really fun.

Upon return to the car, we rode down to the river and dunked our heads in the ice cold water before heading to the ferry.
It was definitely a proper segue into our BC Shredding holiday--more stories from that are yet to come. Stay tuned!

Date: 6/30/07
Riders: Ryan, Val, Gabe

Area: Olympic National Forest, Quilcene Ranger District near Sequim, WA

Trail: Lower Dungeness Trail

Miles:10

Highlights: New Ellsworth shreds! First ride with Gabe. Dunking our heads in the creek afterward, before driving to the BC Ferry in Port Angeles. Musical inspiration from Mac Dre, noneother.

Photos, top to bottom: Navigating; Gabe + Classic Cascades Creek; View from Lower Dungeness; Ferry Time

Hungry for Some Downhill?

Yesterday we rode Starvation Ridge. Looking up from the trailhead parking lot, it hardly seems plausible that a trail could snake down the rocky, steep, sheer walled gorge--but somehow, it does.


Piling the bikes high on Ryan's bike rack, we drove to the top. After rebuilding Justin's bike at the trailhead, we hopped on the trail and crested the ridge, through some techinical sections on an ATV path.

Our trail took off near the top of the ridge. After some nice fast singletrack through the trees, we had to ride through some super gnarly scree. I opted to walk, totally watering it down, as it was steep through solid boulders. The trail pretty much dove off from there, with very steep, rocky sections that were semi-ridable, and a few unridable ones that had us all hike-a-biking (had to keep it real).

It was, at the very least, a butt waaaaayyy back behind the seat kind of a trail. But it also required a slow, technical finesse that I haven't totally mastered yet. More than once, I was mid-stream down some long hill before I realized I was going way too fast!

Many sections were very exposed, making the thought of crashing enough to make you walk unless you were feeling ultra-confidant. The trail drops down fast, following skinny ridge tops, into tight, tight, tight hairpin turns.

Aside from the top-notch trail--which, simply put, utterly spanked me--the views from the ridge and upper rim of the steeply-walled Columbia River Gorge were amazing.

Date: Sunday, October 14, 2007

Riders: Ryan, Val, Bart, Justin, Brian, Tucker, Lassie, Luna

Area: Oregon Cascades

Trail: Starvation

Miles: 5

Highlights: Rock gardens, Ryan crashing; argumentative anti-Biking hiker who said the trail wasn't meant for bikes.

Drops, Skinnys and Flats: Keeping it Real in Post

Staying close to home today, we rode Post Canyon shuttling from the top down to Family Man. Ironically, as my first posted ride on this blog, this was not a Red Dot Trail, but our backyard, close to home, North Shore/BC mimicking playground. Unfortunately I don't have video or photos yet, but we had a great day going big in Post.

An unprecedented 4 girl shredders were on the ride, which was fantastic, and 6 stunt-maniac boys who kept us thoroughly entertained with 2 staged "Man-Trains" coming off of drops and jumps, onto bridges and skinnys one after another. The sound of tires rolling across planked lead-ins, followed by silence after the wheels leave the boards during hang time, and the creaking and groaning of suspension upon landing...repeated 5 more times was mesmerizing; I can almost say that the sounds were as exhilerating as the imagery.

'Tis the season for riding in Post Canyon, with nice trail conditions--read: no dust, no clay BBs, cool temps and great fall foliage--even if it was a little slippery in a few places. And it's always great to hit up Family Man for Skinny and Bridge practice...as well as it is always humbling, making me realize that I need to make time to practice these skills more often.

A departure from our usual style of riding, today's shuttle ride with no real climbing to speak of, no having to find the trail, and no mega-hike-a-bike, was actually a refreshing break from what has become the norm.

Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007
Riders: Ryan, Val, Troy, Kara, Tyler, Carolyn, Jesse, Greg, Becca, Pat, Tucker (black), Lassie, Tucker (blond), Ruby, Sprocket
Area: Post Canyon, Hood River, Oregon
Trails: 2 Chairs, 8-Track, GP, Egghunt, Drop Zone, Family Man
Highlights: Sprocket's 4-legged balancing act on the edge of the truck bed...trying to get a better view, or jump out, not sure. The unknown group of shredders who made the big jump area look easy, styling all of them flawlessly.

Starvation Ridge

Is Legal!

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/forest/recreation/trails/index.shtml

Read and weep all you non-believers.


Cheers to that!