Williams Lake 2007 - The Right Hand Road Trip - (Part 1 of 2)

On the weekend of September 15, 16 and 17, a group of friends set out to get their ride on in Williams Lake B.C. The plan was set into action a few weeks prior and Johnny Smoke of Bush Pilot Biking was enlisted to show the riders a good time. There were 3 Puddle virgins on the trip and I am a little inexperienced to say the least to be guiding anyone, plus Smoke's knowledge of all things local is great. Riders from the Island, the North Shore and the Fraser Valley all left Friday night after work and began the trip to Shreddie's place. Here is their story:

The Fraser Valley Crew consisted of Mike, Kat and I in Mike's handy new Mitsubishi Delica, all loaded up with gear and bikes. We hit the road a running, ok we're in a Delica, so it was a mellow jog I guess. Let me tell you about this Delica actually-Mike took the rear seats out so it's now a four seater and then laid down ½ inch rubber on the floor so that when carrying bikes and gear will be easier to clean and to sleep on at night. Oh did I mention that the rubber is super fresh and may give passengers a head ache-haha ugh! The dash lights don't work and to top off the light details, it would seem that the tail lights are on the fritz (don't work either). So since we left the valley after work it would mean that we'd be traveling up the number one canyon highway in the dark most of the time-hell 80% of the trip to Williams Lake would be done in the dark with no tail lights. Thankfully the interior light is straight out of a kitchen and we ran that the whole way so that folks saw us as they approached at passing speeds. Sketchy counts right? We even made it through a check stop in Cache Creek by driving with the brake on so that it appeared we had tail lights.


While we were gassing up in Cache Creek, Fiona and Simon (Island and North Shore contingent) called us from Hope to get proper directions. I'd like to note that Johnny gave us all the wrong house number and that it wasn't me that made that error-haha umm ya-sorry FGT. They were rocking out in the Toyota Carib, with the DH rigs on the back and the gear loaded up inside. At about 2 hours behind us, we were all making good time, but we all still had a long ways to go.

Back on the road and full of educational stories to tell, Mike enlightened Kat on all the things she missed in school over the years. From helicopters to saving kittens, Mike covered it all and Kat took the lessons in like a sponge-hell I even learned a lot on that drive, thanks for all your wisdom Mike. Cell phone coverage dropped to none just outside of 100 Mile House, hope FGT and Sly got all the details right (once again sorry about the wrong house number). To make sure I left “sticker signals” at key turning points-which they never even saw. Once we got on the dirt roads Mike began to drive like a Ninny as he thought the van would fall apart-I know that Ricky would have biked faster than we drove that 15 kilometer stretch. Since we had the wrong fence number, we managed to drive by the house 3 times before seeing the Bush Pilot van in the drive way and pulled in to Shreddies just after midnight.



Not being even remotely familiar with Shreddies' place, we were unable to find Barb and Johnny when we pulled up, so it was decided to bed down in the Delica. Yeah Kat sandwich! FGT and Sly pulled up just after 2 am and were beat from the long haul-Simon had been traveling for close to 12 hours thanks to living on the Island and having a ferry to cross on. At that point Johnny appeared and showed us the cabin-FGT, Simon and Kat were quick to snatch that up and I got to spoon with Mike. Night everybody!

Day 1-


Morning rolled in with blue skies and an amazing view of Chimney Lake-Mark you got yourself a slice of paradise there man! Once everyone got the sleep rubbed out of their eyes, it was time to head into Williams Lake for eats at the Gecko Tree and a tour of Red Shred's Bike and Board Shed and then up to Fox Mountain for a warm up lap on Hillbilly Deluxe.


Hillbilly Deluxe starts out super mellow, but throws in a bunch of stunts to get your skills game going on. As it started to point down hill we all opened it up and in a few corners I was thinking to myself “hey I'm James Doerfling-from Kranked 6!” As luck would have it, there was Mr. James himself at the end of the trail waiting for us-he'd be joining the crew for the rest of the day. No more “I'm James Doerfling!” for me that would just be weird to have two of us on the trail.

Aflow Daddy-
James and Pratt send the first gap like its going out of style and Mike would you all to know that both his tires were off the ground at the same time and it was intentional. The Gals teed up a few big gapers, while I was getting stoked in the corners-so much fun having the back end get loose at speed!



Mitch's Brew-
Starts off with 3 big tables (used to be crazy ass gaps) and then gets nice and fast like Aflow in spots. Everyone stopped at the road gap and got a session going (ok half us watched with WTF looks and snapped pics of the other half hitting it up). James was doing X-ups over this over, while Barb nearly had a heart attack after her sender. Si and Fi got their race style on and made it happen nice and smooth!



A quick lunch stop in town to grab some eats and make Pratt get new shoes was in order. Red Shred's satisfied our bike parts hunger and then it was off for more riding. Our last run of the day was a mix of numerous trails that consisted of Snakes N Ladders to Hung DH to Cherry Popper to Spokey Hollow to Sick N Nasty and finished with Max! During that last run, the hippy food I'd ate earlier came back to battle me and sent me running to the bushes with my pants around my ankles no less than 3 times (ouch).



James Doerfling and his new Scott Gambler:


High lights from the day:


-Princess Fiona follows James' lead and gives Sick N' Nasty a go. She “almost” rode it out but went with the tree hug method instead. We all gasped, but she threw her hands up and squeaked in joy-SHIT!
-Pratt and Kat discover what “Invigorating” smells like! (Sorry Ryan)
-“That was sweet, I love the corners, and corners in corners and dirt and stuff”-Pratt at the end of Spokey Hollow.
-“I almost rode that out!”-Princess Fiona after the Sick N Nasty line.
-“Give me yer hand! You need to feel this!”-Barb to the boys after doing the road gap on Mitch's Brew.


-The hot tub at Shreddies' place is so welcoming (Kat says thanks for the clothes Mike, as I left all mine at home and sorry for loosing yours later)
-Barb serves up eats at the cabin: Brie with Garlic and Sun Dried Tomatoes for an appy and then some mean ass Jambalaya for dinner.
-That Jager Bottle was a good treat too!


Check back in a few days to hear about the rest of our trip to the Puddle!