Dan's Ride Blog

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Posted: Nov 18, 2012 at 10:56 Quote
Ride # 149
Bear-Wasp, Lorax, Smokin Bobo
Light rain

After coaching the kids 630 am practice this morning I was on my home and it was cloudy with no rain and looking towards Bear Mtn it looked the same so I put the hockey stuff away and grabbed the bike. A light rain started on the way there and picked up a bit but not hard by any means. I just wanted a quick loop so I headed up the road looking for Wasp through Bobo lap. After hitting the trail I was stoked to see all the amazing drainage work that goes in on those trails. The builders there have done some really cool things to keep the water off the riding portion of the trail with drainage and grade reversal. So another successful Fall ride cause when I got home there was no need to wash the bike I just had to blow off the pine needles and put it away for next time.
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Posted: Nov 22, 2012 at 19:13 Quote
Ride # 150
Bear- Back Door, Bigguns, Smokin Bobo
Cloudy

Well today was ride # 150 I wanted to do something a little different today maybe hit someplace new but the weather has not been very cooperative the last few days. So I picked out some local trails that I know handle the weather well. I went out to Bear and rode Back Door, Bigguns and Smokin' Bobo the conditions were fairly good considering all the wet stuff we have had.

So to celebrate the 150th ride of the year I would like to thank all the trail builders and volunteers that help make our riding in the Valley so sweet. We have such a great network of diverse trails it's hard to leave our local trails to find something new. Along the way I have ridden with so many great people of all levels of ability and it's been absolutely awesome. Some of you I have not ridden with you enough so get in touch and lets ride. One big highlight so far this year is riding with both my boys separately and together it's pretty cool to see them gradually improve and try new things as their confidence grows. I didn't get any pictures today but I went back through the blog and picked out some of my favorites from this year.

Younger boys first time to thetop of Ledge with their bikes.
  Younger boys first time to thetop of Ledge with their bikes.

Rock n roll
  Rock n roll

Photo taken by Ian Harker of www.ianharkerdesigns.com

Snowy frozen ride on Bear.

Rock roll on Lorax

That s right the 40 year old Silver Fox laying a beating on the others climbing his Moon Lander.
  That's right the 40 year old Silver Fox laying a beating on the others climbing his Moon Lander.

Some really cool light while doing a test lap of the Smack Down course. Photos by Ian Harker. www.ianharkerphotography.com
  Some really cool light while doing a test lap of the Smack Down course. Photos by Ian Harker. www.ianharkerphotography.com
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Posted: Nov 23, 2012 at 14:46 Quote
Ride # 151
Sumas-Knob Gobbler, Squid Line
Cloudy to rain

I got an email last night from FVMBA Pres Kevin saying they wre taking the IMBA Trail Crew out for a ride to scout locations for tomorrows IMBA Trail Day. The weather started out ok just a light drizzle for the way up. We made our way up to the top of Knob Gobbler so they could get a good idea of our varying trail network. Knob was a little wetter than normal winter conditions but it was good cause AJ and Rachel had some good advice on solutions. Ian and I always like to joke that we ride all the trails and offer input so it was fun to actually have 2 people that know what they are talking about stopping and giving real advice how to fix problem areas. From Knob it was onto Squid Line as it looks right now the entrance is going to be the work area for the afternoon tomorrow. There are some very swampy areas that need addressing for sustainability and to keep the trail to its green level difficulty. All in all it was a fun ride with some new people even though the sky's opened up part way down and we got a good soaker.
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Posted: Nov 25, 2012 at 16:20 Quote
Ride # 152
Red- Valley View, Big Red, Better Red, Red Rider, Black Tie, Momentum
Sun

Tom messaged me this morning that he was heading for an afternoon ride at Red today and it fit perfectly into my schedule so I joined him and his dog Sasha for a rip. Unfortunately it's looking like Sasha is heading into retirement from riding at nearly 10 years old it is getting harder for her to keep the pace. Now that I think about it she didn't try to herd me along at all today which she was fond of doing in her more youthful days. It's not all bad news for her though she will still get go out on trail building days. The ride it self was good with some really good Fall conditions like I've said before anytime you can wear the same shorts home from a November ride is a good ride.
flag eyun
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Posted: Nov 26, 2012 at 15:18 Quote
Wow, 150. I seem to have stalled, just passed 100. Need to get out again soon.
flag valleyrider
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Posted: Nov 28, 2012 at 20:52 Quote
Well 3 days later she is still limping. That was for sure her last bike ride...fitting that it was on Red mountain.
flag dokk
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Posted: Nov 28, 2012 at 21:42 Quote
valleyrider wrote:
Well 3 days later she is still limping. That was for sure her last bike ride...fitting that it was on Red mountain.
Yeah I figured that. She was pretty mellow by Sasha standards. Time for her to build trails.
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Posted: Nov 30, 2012 at 12:56 Quote
Ride # 153
Ledgeview-Xcelorator to Lower Ambi

IMG00805 20121130 0948 jpg

The plan on my first day off this week was to enjoy some hot coffee and catch up on my Pinkbike reading for the morning then follow that with a lunch ride. But it was starting to get dark and nasty looking outside so I quickly gathered my gear to head up to Ledgeview. While loading my bike it started raining pretty good at my place so I braced myself for a wet one. On the way to Ledge it was looking brighter and when I arrived at the parking area no rain. I rode for just about an hour and a half with no rain and even dry leaves on some of the south side trails. I started on Xcelorator and worked my way back and forth along the south side riding what I'm sure are different trails but the writing seemed to have worn off the signs that were there. Eventually finding my way back to Autobahn then onto Lower Ambi. The ride was great with no standing water on any of the rocky trails even dry in some spots. Great work on the south side Matt, Gary, Kerry and whoever works that side.Beer
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Posted: Dec 1, 2012 at 14:46 Quote
Ride # 154
Bear
Cloudy

Not much time today so I just banged off a quick loop on Bear. Rode up to lookout then Wasp, Tower, Corduroy back down. Sweet little quickie lap.
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Posted: Dec 3, 2012 at 18:48 Quote
Ride # 155
Bear-Back Door, Bigguns, Electric Tomato
Cloudy-Dark

Today I played the part of good husband for about 6 hours going down the States with my wife to do a little Christmas shopping. So this morning when I woke up and the roads were dry and sky looked good I was kicking myself for agreeing to spending a day shopping. While we were gone and my phone was off there were a bunch of emails and text's flying around about a lunch ride glad I didn't get them till we were back in Canada and the boy's were done their ride. So when I got home and got my stuff ready to go it was 3:00pm which doesn't leave much time before dark so I packed the lights as well. The ride up and Back Door was fine but I could see from the road that lights would be necessary on Bigguns so I went up to the look out and put the lights. Riding Bigguns in the dark adds a whole other level to the trail especially with the wet roots that aren't entirely visible with the lights. After some exciting times but no carnage it was onto Electric Tomato it was in good shape other than one deeper hole that threw me a bit not sure if it is more noticeable in the daylight or it's a new one. So a great way to cap off the day and work off part of my lunch from El' Nepal Mexican restaurant.
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Posted: Dec 9, 2012 at 15:31 Quote
Ride # 156
Bear-Corduroy, Pioneer, Corral Loop
Light Snow

Not much spare time these day's but I was able to sneak out for a ride this morning. It turned out to be the first snow ride of this winter season. Corduroy was in great shape with some new trail work and drainage done recently. There was a few muddy spots from the bottom of Bomba to the bridge at the bottom Corral. The Corral Loop was in really good shape with just a light dusting of snow with a nice brown ribbon of trail showing to ride. Short on time I headed back the same way I came taking my tme even finding a few new rocks and roots to hop off along the way. It's neat to take a well known trail a little slower sometimes for a different perspective.

Bridge at the bottom of Corral
IMG00807 20121209 1002 jpg

Still green near the parking area though
IMG00811 20121209 1031 jpg
flag micanole
Posted: Dec 13, 2012 at 11:22 Quote
C'mon Dan, you're running outta days!!! I stumbled on your ride blog, and have been reading religiously since. I grew up in chilliwack, so seeing your pics, and the trail network out there is amazing!! 18 days left man!! How many rides? Thanks for the inspiration!!
flag dokk
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Posted: Dec 13, 2012 at 13:14 Quote
micanole wrote:
C'mon Dan, you're running outta days!!! I stumbled on your ride blog, and have been reading religiously since. I grew up in chilliwack, so seeing your pics, and the trail network out there is amazing!! 18 days left man!! How many rides? Thanks for the inspiration!!

Thanks for the kind words. Been stuck working but starting tomorrow the riding will be on the menu as much as I can planning rides around all the kids Christmas activities. 165 should be easily doable.
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Posted: Dec 14, 2012 at 18:10 Quote
Ride # 157
Bear-Backdoor, Bigguns, Electric Tomato
Snow

After working 8 of the last 9 days it was time to finally ride again. Greg was off work today and Jake managed to talk his way out of going to school so we headed for Bear Mtn. It had rained a bit over night so we were bracing for a wet ride and on the way through Mission we saw a few cars topped with snow so I was sure we were going to hit some along the way today. The snow started covering the road around the top of Smokin Bobo and got as thick as about 4 to 5 inches near the top. The road was totally rideable with a bike that pedals(not Jakes RM Flatline) so Greg and I headed to Backdoor to make our way up the entance was pretty deep but where ever there was some tree coverage it was good to go. Unfortunately the trail is mostly through a clearcut at this point and it was a bit difficult to navigate with the snow at that depth. Once we got started on Bigguns it was an absolute blast as it is heavily tree'd so there was only about 2" of fresh snow on the trail and grip was great. From Bigguns we went across into Electric Tomato which was in good shape with no snow and just a couple puddles the builders have put a lot of work in on that trail to mage water and it shows. Here's some pics from the day.
Up the road we go.
Greg climbing the road.
Jake making his way up the road.
Backdoor Entrance
Bigguns Entrance
Bigguns Entrance
flag dokk
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Posted: Dec 15, 2012 at 11:34 Quote
Ride # 158
Ledgeview
Snowing

Got out for a quick ride on Ledgeview before the Christmas activities and kids hockey started this morning. It was a light rain at the bottom that quickly turned into a nice dry snow. Once I got to the top there was about 3" of snow on the ground. I headed down the rocky south side which was a good choice after entering Flinstones there was no snow on the ground but lightly snowing as I rode. The grip was awesome all the way around with out a puddle insight. Here is a blurry shot of some recent slope and bridge repairs Matt has done on Lower Ambi.
IMG00820 20121215 0954 jpg

 


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