A local ride...

... and a Toby ride.

Friday I headed out for an evening trail ride around the neighboarhood. The trails around the Stoney bridge is a fun playground, I tried to make it from there to Tuscany but the new fence had me at the dogpark and by then I figured I might as well ride Bowmont. Trails in great fall condition. Then over to Edworthy and single track back to Bowness. A nice shorter ride all within 5km of my house!


Satruday I took Toby out on the awesome Barrier Lake loop including Razors Edge. And it couldn't have been much better of a ride. The night before I put the Hans Dampf on my Trek Superfly 100 and all of a suddeen I felt like I had a "big" bike. The decent down Razors Edge was super fun and not one foot touch down!! Climbing back up Quait didn't feel as efficient as it could but the reward flying down Jewels was all worth the little extra weight up.

Sept 28-30...

...weekend.
Much easier to update blog if could get it done in at least the same week as the ride....but here we go anyway..
Friday I had the hardest time deciding on a ride. I do like to ride with people and since everyone is working its a tricky day to get out. Though I was able to convince Sarah that it was a perfect day to show her some of our city path rides. We rode the path though the city and down to Glenmore reservoir, had a coffee (nice treat and a drink) stop and did the loop around and then on to some city street time lanes and back through the west side of the city. A perfect road ride for a Friday.
Saturday Craig had a plan, a ride he know from his motorcycle days; 10 years ago. So based on that I brought my bigger GPS :) great long day. We parked where the the ashfalt starts when doing our watervalley ride (?) and crossed the river and road and hiked some neat trails. Ill admit there was a lot of dismounting; and most up hills way to steep for my engine and two wheels. But as we got closer to devils gap we got to enjoy some pretty particular scenery so well worth as a ride once every decade.
Craig would have loved to explore some more single track on the return trip but I reminded him the importance to support our fellow bike friends that is now in cross season. So off to watch the Dark Knight Races until way passed my bed time.
Sunday Craig and I had a ride planned out at Barrier. Bit during some checking of shoe sizing I forgot to get shoes in the bag again and as we arrives to the lake I was with out shoes :(. Not great. Toby was the lucky one though and got to ride with Suzanne and Kate who just arrived after us. Back to the city we decided to get shoes and ride west bragg. Turned out to be a great ride. Rode up Ranger Summitt, down SuggarMomma, and some other great trail I rode with the two firefighters, Cam and Cam, and Toby the Friday after Houston. New trails for Craig and for me second time and no flats. Happy ending!
Happy Riding !

Post Houston...

...weekend; two days to catch up.
This weekend I was not successful in recruiting Craig for rides. Not to upsetting as I felt pretty tired and had a few things to get done.
Headed out to west bragg Saturday and brought Toby along to explore some new trails out there. Ended up stuck on top of the start of strange brew with a sign saying it was closed. A couple of guys told me there is a way down just not on the map. So we joined them. Great ride; fall colours and some great singletrack. Toby impressed and I impressed less with a double flat on the same rock. One fixed it self after adding some air and the second was fixed with the magic plugged kit. Third time its saves the ride this year.
Sunday I headed out with Trish. An awesome ride; canmore to banff along Rundle then up and over Stoney Squa (?), aar back to Canmore mostly on Goat Creek and down to Nordic center on a great down hill trail. Nice hard pace but with Trish slow tire leak I got a few much needed breaks here and there...
Love fall riding!

Sunday...

... third day of riding. What a great weekend. Two good rides in and one more to go in great fall weather.
Craig and I was lucky to have a shuttle to Banff so planned a point to point ride through Minnewanka and Devils gap. After a breakfast in Banff, Suzanne did a drop off at Minnewanka. This was the first weekend open for bikes so a few others out. The ride along the lake is just such an awesome cross country ride. So flowy, fast and beautiful. First delay was an Auzzie (or similar) with a chain issue. After that it was smooth sailing until we litt the trail after a rock section. But what would a ride with Craig be without a little bit of bush wacking ....
We eventually got on track. About 20km of gravel then 40 or so into Cochrane. And since Craig was doing all the work on the road he got to chose to include the wildcat climb.

Fall is my favorite time of riding and hope it'll be as long lasting as last year.

Off to Houston for this week.....

Happy riding!

Saturday...

... with Trish, Pat and Ryan.

Forgetmenot area, not sure all the trail names but out toward threepoint, then across volcano creek and volcano ridge and back down to elbow. Not an easy navigation so a little trip up a wrong creek added to a great day in thw sadle. We Dont to ride rides  like this enough. Not groomed bike trails but some great views. A few spots brought back memories from Katy, Craig and I's ride last year. Finally got my plug tire off and replaced with a new tire; lasted a few hours now for a plug ! Well they once again prove to work....

Happy Riding!

Friday...

... ride with Alana, Nic and Lisa was planned.

We met at station flats and decided to ride Ridgeback backwards up to Moosepackers. Its such a nice climb to start the day with. Nice gradual and flowy. We continued up Moosepackers which gets the legs nice and tosty by the time you hit Moose mtn parking lot. From there we take a right just up the road to SHAFT (Super Happy Awesome Fun Trail). You can now skip all the road and hook on to it right away. Just next to TDub ....
Great decent and Toby is just flying around the switch backs, cutting a few to stay ahead of the girls. Down ings mine road and climb up back of Sulphur so we can keep the pup off the highway (not his favorite). Back down to the River side trial back to station flats. Great start to the weekend and great to ride with the girls again.

Back to the car Toby got to sneak up on the cows and they had no clue thanks to his awesome trick of rolling in a fresh pattie at the start of the ride....nice kamuflash !
Happy Riding !

Bow80ish weekend...

... as good as it gets.

With no rain and warm weather forecasted it was deemed to be a perfect weekend of riding and racing.

Thursday after flight home Toby and I did a jeans ride on the Gary Fisher 26er. It went a little longer than planned as I forgot how much I enjoy this bike....when i putting it back on the wall did not feel quiet right. It should be used more often by someone so guess Ill get on ebay shortly.

Friday it was a pre-ride with Chad to check out Pnuma and SpecialK. Toby joined in and with a cool morning he was full of energy. The cows where pretty much everywhere this morning to enjoyment for Toby. At least it kept him busy enough to avoid any refreshments of his white fur...
Nice ride; but unfortunatly with moving truck on the way Chad had to pull out for Sunday. With  nice fall there will be plenty of opportunities to ride the course.

Saturday was Calgary Corporate Challenge; hard time pulling an IOL/Esso team this year. But in the last minute we had two girls and a guy. Nice morning at COP and busier than other years. Cesar was resting so had the managers role for CNRL, no rest for Shawn who took the three lapper for MTB. Thanks to Pam and Ryan to pull a two and three lapper for us and letting me get away with a one lap race. Shawn took the win with his team while we at least got ahead of CNRL  :) nice work.

Rest of Saturday spent to get bike ready; new tires seem to not wanna seal. Thouh as long as they are rolling it seem to work....good incentive to keep moving in Sundays race.

Early start Sunday; a few waffels for fuels and off to the races. As usual a little late; but as Mani passes me on the highway going...fast .... I know its not just me.
Somehow get my self at the start line in time. Didn't feel very snappy this morning so skipped the crazy hard start and settled in a steady pace pretty much right off the bat. Tried to just hold it through as I knew Trish is riding very strong and expected her on my wheel anytime. I never saw here. Finished in 430; a bit faster than last year but think the course was faster this year so hard to compare. Happy I can put in a good hard effort even on a day were body is not feeling the greatest.
Great turnout and everyone seem to have a great ride. Some nice hot dogs and grass time before awards. Nice to just hang out and catch up with people and watch riders cross the finish line.
Suzanne and her friend had a goal of finishing the race. And as first year rider she made both cutoffs and crossed the line. Huge accomplishment; longest ride so far. Stage racing next?
Great weekend!

Happy Riding!

Three out ....

....of four days included a ride; not too bad.

Started off weekend with Toby and Alana riding PF and Cox. First time since last year and as always a great ride. Mornings are getting cooler and it never got hot, the fall is here.

Saturday was the day with too many plans and that is usually not good; ill jump from one decision to the next; road ride to mtb ride to no ride and by the end of the day the only thing accomplished was the rock garden and installment of new house numbers.

Sunday seemed very promising with Erik, Craig, Jon and Mani committed to ride the Bow80 course.
Craig and I stopped at PF to stash a few goodies for when we would come around nice and tired. The ride never really turned out this way; great ride while riding but with a couple of flats and a group of chatty guys who hadn't seen each other for a while by the time we hit PF the treats were not as necessary as usual. So left most of it for the next ride :)... Great group ride though; even if time went by and we didnt complete the full course (besides Mani who did). Craig and I rode up sulphur to get our bottles but then snuck down sulphur to the end. No pnuma and special K this time.

Monday was the better ride of the weekend in terms of efficiency and effort. Station flats up ridgeback and moosepackers and to the top of moose mtn down and up to shaft and up and over sulphur and pnuma up to raceofspades back to parking lot. Great way to end the long weekend. And I think Ridgeback and moosepackers is my new favorite climb.

Workweek then Bow80 weekend to come!

Happy Riding!

Hinton...

...day two....a work week later...

So on the flight home and finally a breather to update last weekend.
Day two was marathon, not the same lap configuration as last year; seemed shorter but still very well put together and great riding. Didnt feel fast but rode steady on all my laps and happy to get in another good day of riding this weekend. Added another Jersey to the collection so now I can dirty one and keep one clean :)
Jon just missed the podium with a 4th place finish.
Packed up quickly and made the drive back to Calgary  the scenic route; nice.

Now a work week later a cold is grooming; hope to shake the bug by the time we land in Calgary though as its a long weekend and that can only mean some good rides coming up!

Happy Riding!

Hinton....

...and day one. Alberta provincial xc.
Did this trip last year and the relaxed set up and awesome course makes for a great weekend of riding. To bad not more Albertans makes it out. Small category fields makes for a mass start and with a case of beer to be won after the prologue Im sure not to be the first around. Last year it was Shantel hammering it through, this year it was Pepper.
Did one short lap; then two longer laps which treats you with some real mtb trails. So much fun. Great day of riding and a clean Alberta jersey to add to the closet :) Credited of course to my favorite riding buddy; Toby.
Jon came out too and had a strong race as well after a few hard weeks off the bike; second place just a minute or so behind the winner (Sam?)...and with energy left to pose a wheely across the finish, expect lots tomorrow!
Suzanne also raced and got her first medal and first finish solo race. So good day for the few Calgarians out.

Tomorrow second day and marathon time...

Happy Riding!

BOK60...

...a different version of Bow80; Best Of Kananaskis.

Thursday was a bit of a delay coming home so riding started Friday. Craig and I headed out for the full Bow80 which we learned does not include JP. Waking up I still felt nowhere near rested but with only 3 days a week of riding i better suck it up and get out. Really, how can no exercise during the week make you so tired?
We had in mind JP even thouh it was not included.Since we arrived Station Flats at the same time as Suzanne, Toby and her friend we decided to start easy and ride with them, so JP should be manageable. We dropped some stash at top of Sulphur for the return and as we started decent we figured it would be a good time to drop Toby and the girls as well. They hung on to Toby for five so we would be well out of sight.
Rode Elbow in a fairly good pace and as we turn to go up at the powderface junction Toby comes sprinting from behind! On mostly downhill he gained five minutes on Craig and I! A good dip in the creek was needed while we now had to wait for the girls; it took a while as they kept looking for him. But we got on our way eventually. We both had no motivation and didnt feel great. At the JP intersection we had a quick back and forth and decided on NOT....im learning that when you feel you Have to ride its less fun and with only weekends I feel I Have to get in three good solid rides; normally I listen to how I feel and this day Id probably spend at home.
Thouh we made it; a couple of more social stops chatting it up with new people on the trail not really knowing where they were going.....and 7 hrs later we got to the car. Probably a record on the slow side for the course but at least we got out. Ended day with a quick ice bath and home for a bbq and rest.

Saturday i planned on road  ride from the house to safe some time and get a few things done. Woke up feeling much the same as day before so skipped morning plans and did errands hoping ride motivation would come....after a few trips for rock (18 bags) and still not a complete front yard fix my motivation was totally gone. Started laying plans for next day and with some talk of great trails I was able to convince Craig to skip work and ride.

I wanted to try a version of Bow80 without the horsetrail and road back to PF (and SpecialK ....I know! Many favor it, i Dont love it, or more Dont love where it ends the race)....so Craig and I headed out to Ridgeback, went backward up to Moosepackers then up all the way to Shaft. Down shaft to the road then hook on to last years course, cross over to prairie creek up to PF road, skipped horse trail (yay), road to PF, up and back down like last year, over to Ings mine on hgw, crossing up and over to sulphur  and climbing up sulphur and down to Pnuma, up Pnuma to race of spades and finish with a fun fast ride to station flats! What an awesome course, my new favorite. The best trails and perfect breaks to catch your self with a drink and some food. Clicked in at 62 km and about same time as the regular Bow80.
Best Of Kananaskis (BOK60).....great way to end my two day program this weekend :) Craig also got to test out the super tube after the first normal tube failed, lasted down RoS so guess he licked out with one of the 50% good once.

Hinton next...

Happy Riding!