Canada Day long weekend
Our first stop was Fromme. We wanted to hit The Flying Circus, Air Supply, Lower Oil Can, Groovula, and of course we all wanted to see Digger's Rock. We suited up in the DQ at the bottom of the hill so we could stay dry just a bit longer and started pushing up.
It took about 2 hours of pushing and pedalling in the pouring rain to get past the 6th switchback where the Flying Circus starts. We couldn't find Digger's rock but we were told where to find it by 2 kids in full rain suits
(yellow!) that we met on the way up. We took one look at the 18 foot high Ridiculator on The Circus and our cold wet nuts shriveled even more. We then opted to ride Oil Can for our warm up run. It is a nice flowy trail with a few stunts that are interesting in the wet. The trail ends right above Air Supply.
Air Supply is awsome, I can see why guys like Radek rave about it! Six supersized high speed gap jumps in a row. In the pissing rain. After hitting the jumps a bunch, our first casualty of the trip happened. The Mighty Cro-Mag got taken down in the most violating way on the 3rd hit. He was unable to walk because he had done in his knee pretty bad. It was then that we figured it wasn't such a hot idea to hit 20 foot gaps at top speed in the rain.
We called it a day and took the road down to the car and headed to the hospital. After 3 hours in the hospital Aaron was told to stay off it for the rest of the trip and we got him some crutches and painkiller candy.
Next came the task of finding a cheap place to stay in Vancouver. Gordzilla found us a hostel downtown, 1 block from Canada's finest skid row, for only $10 a night with "secure" storage for our bikes. After much laughter at the idea of actually going there, we started driving around looking for a cheap, yet classy motel. Two hours later we found a spot and booked a room for 2 people...who had 6 bikes. Long story short: We found a place to sleep in the middle of a hooker stroll where there had been a drive-by the night before. On the up side, we were close to a Fried Chicken joint.
Day 2 we headed for Cyprus Mtn. to do some shuttles after spending 2 hours at the Laundromat, for we now had a cripple to drive us around. We started on the Fifth Horseman, then some local dudes took us down Sexbitch and an oldschool downhill rippit trail. SexBitch would've claimed me if I didn't have my Ninja Suit on. The trail is riddled with dude-eating steep lines and twisty turns. I got cocky and pedalled down a steep section that they had warned us about and missed a turn...sent me bouncing down the hillside in the rocks. Thanks to Ridge Protective gear for the upper body suit, it saved my ass. After a full day of steep trail ripping we went to 37th and Oak to do some jumping. Aaron sat on a case of beer and drank it like a cripple on painkillers should drink while we jumped.
Day 3 we sent Aaron to Starbucks and headed back over to Fromme (with our cheapass camera that takes fuzzy pictures) for more Air Supply and Digger madness. We hooked up with Sean, who was in town visiting the parents, at the base of the hill. Sean introduced us to a dude called Ben. Ben was going to show us Digger's rock and ride with us for the day. We hiked up the road for an hour and blammo, there right next to the road is a 20-something foot drop off a slimey rock to a rocky tranny. Ben launched it cold and made it look pretty smooth, so I borrowed Gord's Helmet because his would be the cheapest to replace and gave it a go. That made my day, anything else we rode would be a bonus.
We hit The Flying Circus, more Air Supply, and Ladies Only. Robbie Roadgap made Air Supply look smooth, he was impressing the man himself - Digger! We chatted Digger up for a while then moved on to Ladies. Michelle ripped it up on Ladies Only, her favorite trail. We came up on Scapula and hit that for a while then moved on to The Crater Trail with Big Stump.
Big Stump claimed Gord twice in the ugliest way, but in true Gordiestyle he hiked back up and stomped it perfectly. We finished off at the Crater and asked somebody at the bottom for the time - we had been playing on Fromme for over 7 hours! That means Cro-Mag had been sitting at Starbucks for 7 hours!
That just about covers our Shore experience. The lesson learned here: The Shore is slippery, the puddles are deep, the rocks are greasey, the trails are rooty, and when it rains it fricken pours. The shore will mess you up. I can't wait to go back!
