Wade's Excellent Adventure

Wade Simmons...one of the Rocky Mountain Froriders, and one of the original bad ass freeriders from the North Shore was having an event. While many know his exploits from the Kranked and NWD movies, most don't know that Wade really loves to go out for actual pedalling rides...all the time.

Read onSunny and bright, with the rain disappearing outta sight over night, Wade's Excellent Adventure began at the top of Mountain Highway at the gate...where the pedalling and the Mt. Fromme trails begin. Wade had organized a 4 lap all mtn race with clues collected on the first 3 laps of 7th secret, Upper/Lower Oilcan, and Pipeline...to reveal the final secret lap of Digger's redone masterpiece of a trail...Ladies Only. Wade asked me to mc so I bought my own megaphone and showed up with a start list and a napkin full of jokes that'd probably just make ya laugh!



Some in the sold-out field of 150 adventurer's were hardcore, scabbed up, young gun freeriders while some were 'ol school North Shore veteran all mtn pedallers and retired DH'ers keen on kicking some ass while many local bike nerds, freaks and enthusiasts came out for a relaxing day of riding dressed up totally in team costumes! Avril Lavigne, Wayne Gretzky, Anne of Green Gables, the men in kilts, the Balls and Dolls gang (barbies and testicles taped to their bikes), and the guys with the blow up sheep taped to their bars that were called the "Men who stare at sheep cause they're sexier than goats" team and many others were all on the starting line! The climb is up the road and is a medium pitched, fairly easy climb but the singletrack down is traditional North Shore roots and rocks! Awesome!!!


Even though there was bluebird skies and brilliant sunshine all day small clouds would roll through the woods now and then and the trails were still medium slick and wet from the previous days rains. Everyone came in from their up and down laps smiling with dirt in their teeth and eager to see what trail they would draw next. Wade was out riding the trails all day and leading people to stashed beers at key spots...in cold streams etc. Digger had the video camera out and was immortalizing some singletrack moments.


The winners of the citizen class were the ski touring fanatic and mtb'ing brothers , Andy and Mike Traslin. They had jalopy beaters for bikes so Wade lent them 2010 Rocky Mountain Altitudes and they were gone! Fast on the trails and faster on the climbs. Totally fit, the younger bro '1/2 wheeled' his older bro all day pushing the pace to a healthy win. 2nd place was the Cool Kids...Kevin Landry, Katrina Strand, Todd Hellinga, Paul Stevens, Tobias Pantling and Matt Juhasz. 3rd place was the Ripper Dads...Terry Walker, Alec Black, and Vince Beasse.


The winners of the corporate class and the Fromme Cup was team BFJCC-Cove Bikes...Tom Oja, Stuart Kerr, Chris Fisher, Adam Trotter, Mitch Forbes, Fred Zurkirchen, Kristian Short, and Mark Woudwijk. I was especially impressed with one of the Cove boys Mitch Forbes HAMMERING all 4 laps, and also Stuart Kerr pushing the pace climbing AND descending. What am I saying? The whole team was ripping, and that's why they won by so much. 2nd place was Team MEC Tim McDermott, Neal Fitzgerald, Shawn Campbell, Jens Klett, David Bishop, and Brent Palmer. 3rd place was Team Norco Paul Burnett, Eric Lalonde, Aaron Bennest, Brett Armstrong, Jimmy Tsaoussis, Fred Feuermann, and Logan Johns.

Teams made out of carpenters like Finished Guaranteed finished their laps...eventually...and team captain Neil Sinclair came in smiling and telling jokes non-the-less! Wade had free burgers and vegi-burgers waiting on the BBQ for everyone and did not run out of food all day even til after the awards.

The Fromme Cup itself was a piece of custom painted art welded by longtime Rocky Mountain welder Keith Paynter out of off cut pieces of RMB frame and is an image of Mt. Fromme complete with the 7 switchbacks. JoJo Buscombe and Keith Stark, both Cove legends, supplied and milled the fir plank, while ex-Brodie painter, Bryan Woo, painted the Cup. It will stay with the winners for one year and the teams riders names will be engraved on the cup. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place citizen awards were all individually and artistically created by Steve Mitchell.

Wade's sponsors threw down and there were wicked giveaway prizes like a Rocky Mountain SS427 frame and tons of RMB soft goods, Marzocchi Bomber 55 forks, complete Shimano XTR and XT wheelsets, Raceface armour, gloves, and hardgoods, Bell fullface and DJ helmets, Dakine soft goods like jerseys and packs, and of course Oakley googles and glasses. Wade must have a lotta pull cause there was a lotta loot! Much thanks to the sponsors for the swag and to the volunteers that make things happen behind the scenes, especially Mark Wood and Rhonna. The revelry continued at the bar, the Bridge Between, into the night.

Wade's Excellent Adventure was a success with everyone having fun, riding some tasty singletrack, surviving my jokes on the megaphone and mingling with other like minded mtb freaks on a gorgeous sunny day! This is an annual challenge and the Fromme Cup is up for grabs to the next team contenders...next year...at Wade's Excellent Adventure...dude!! C'mon out and see ya there!












Photos above by margus.pinkbike.com.

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Photos below by Stephen McCabe

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