Summer Adventure Ride

When I started this Blog I thought I would post a little more often than I have, but it is what it is. I sent out an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to do an adventure ride. No guaranties but I was sure there would be mud, creeks to cross and bush!

Hogboy crossing the Oyster River

Three of us, myself, Alien and Hogboy set out for a planned six hours or so, six and a half hour later we had crossed two rivers, swam in one lake, rode logging roads, single-track, and game trails. We pushed our bikes through brush so thick you couldn't see five feet, and wandered into a massive swamp while following a game "trail". The battle cry "I'm still on!" became a challenge and notification a section was a "go". In spite of not carrying any maps I had little fear of getting seriously lost, I had been through much of the area years before just not this exact route. There was one scary moment in a very dark section of forest on a dead end trail, Alien screamed, I bolted off in the direction we had came, leaving Alien shreaking like a school girl, I had no idea where Hogboy was. Safe back on the logging road the screams now a muffled by the forest, I had a snack and waited, would the others emerge alive!
Turns out Alien called Hogboy a "docker", taking offense Hogboy had pulled out his penis and chased Alien about the forest! Glad I missed all that!

Alien crossing the Oyster River

Elk "trail" notice the Surly Karate Monkey w drop bars the best adventure bike setup!

Mud! In a swamp? Go figure.

Not sure the name of this river, I crossed first to the right then suggested a wetter line! Alien is still ON!

Hogboy bibshorts and beer, pre swim he has a style! He is strutting for the fishermen in the lake!

Our ride finished up with a few k of this.

It was a very worth while day, only a few toads died and we all declared it one of the best days ever!
Next adventure ride needs to be an over-nighter, perhaps in winter with a snowshoe component, any takers, I'm still ON!

First long one

Yeterday was our first long ride of the year, so fTom, Alien, Prospect and I headed out on a planned 6 hour tour of Snowden. A 10am start at my house we met ftom a couple klicks into the ride, We planned lunch at Loveland Bay but stopped at the top of Lookout loop to be in the sun.

                                                      I need Lunch!

We had been told the trails out this end of Snowden had been cleared of windfall the previous weeekend, but such was not the case as we remouved more that half a dozen trees and many branches.

                                            Alien showing how to clear trail!

                               Prospect doing his part while ftom looks on in envy!

                                             ftom ripin, Prospect lost his bike!

                                          Prospect, bike found leads Alien

We stopped again at Loveland Bay for another snack then headed home, the days route consisting of Beaverlodge through Campbelton to Pump House Trails, running short on time (we were meeting the girls at the rectangle parking lot at noon) we did a short stretch of road to Stickman, Mudhoney , Lost Lake to Rectangle where the girls joined us for Riley Lake, up Gunbarrel down Headbanger, up Riley Lake in Rabbit Hole out Cheshire Cat to Lookout Loop (the girls continued on Cheshire) from Lookout we went out to Dinner for Four, to Loveland Bay via the Loveland Bay connector.

                                           The boys docking at Loveland

The return was Loveland Bay connector to Rail Trail to 10 Licks to 11th Lick to Frog Legs, Escargot Lost Frog up the road to Aliens a beer and back through Campbelton and Beaverlodge to home for a total of 65.2 Km. All at a mellow pace and with all the trail clearing food/beer stops it was seven and three quarter hours of fun! Alien had a few of us over later for beers and meat on a stick around a fire to watch the full  moon rise, not a bad day.

Boy have I got a lot to learn!

I have been learning to use my new camera, I have never been a photographer as you can see from these photos but I am trying. Almost every photo on this blog has been taken with my Panasonic GF1 m 4/3 camera. I am also learning to use Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 to "develop" my photos. I would appreciate any comments on the photos below.

W.T.F.

W.T.F. is with the F-tards that leave their garbage at our trail heads, on our trails and in the forest?
Walking the dog the other morning I came across three beer cans stuck on branches of a tree? I wasn't on a trail I was out just wandering through the forest. Now I deeply understand the desire to consume a tasty malted beverage in the wilds. But Bud is not a tasty beverage and that cylindrical metal container is not appropriate decoration in the forest.
Why the love hate thing with old Mother Nature? Mother Nature is not always the bitch some claim her to be, after all if she was so nasty the wild places of this world would have no draw on our souls!
Perhaps you truly like the look of faded Bud logos hanging on trees, if so I am sure your home is easy to spot. The Bud, Silver Bullets, and all the other piss water you drink must supply ample decoration. If your financial position is not advantageous to your beer can fetish please send me your address. Mind you, most beer I drink comes from a bottle and has a name containing more than one word, but sometimes I drink from a can and I can drop them at your trailer!

Then not ten minutes later I came across a bag of dog shit in a tree!

W.T.F. F-tard you pick up your dog crap just to throw it into the forest? You are probably also the kink of person that dumps their yard waste, after all it's organic.
Hey, F-tard, ever notice all the invasive plants that should not be here? Like Morning Glory, no I am not talking about that thing you wake up stroking in the morning! This stuff grows from a small bit of the plant and is virtually impossible to get rid of. You must quite like the invasive plants though, you carry your dog shit into the forest to fertilize them, just next time take the bag home, you can use it to decorate!

                                               Six feet up in a tree? W.T.F.?

Longwood

Last week I was the the lucky recipient of a growler of Longwood Brew pub IPA. Thank you Sue! As you can see in the photo a growler is a large bottle, at 64oz it is essentially two liters. A bit more than I can drink in one sitting! This IPA is very good, hoppy without being over bearing as many IPA's have become. You may notice this beer is not crystal clear, this is because they choose not to filter the beers at Longwood. You can read about their brewing process here. This may be a tie for the best IPA I have had to date, the other a home brew by D F who makes his beers from scratch malting the grains etc. If you are traveling through Nanaimo you really should do yourself a favor and stop by Longwood to pick yourself up a growler or two!

Osprey Talon 22

Well this is my first product review, don't expect anything to technical just my thoughts on the use of this pack over the last year. First off I have to say over all I am very happy with the pack, I use it mostly for my commute to work by bike and a couple day hikes and a couple epic bike rides. Typical contents are gloves, sunglasses, laptop & cords, camera bag, a t-shirt and underwear, a rain jacket, a headlamp and assorted other small bits, oh one other item a flask of Bourbon! All that and room to spare!

                                         Usually this amount of stuff in there!

The features:

One main compartment accessed by a two way zipper inside the main compartment is a small wallet sized pouch with a Velcro secured flap, one mesh pocket of approx. 2L with a one way zipper. There is a slot between the back panel and the gear areas for a hydration bladder, at the top of this slot is another wallet sized pouch with a Velcro flap. There are two small one way zippered pouches, one on each side of the hip belt and two small cell phone/gel packet sized pockets on the shoulder straps. On the outside of the main compartment is a large stretch pocket.On each side of the main bag is a stretch pocket sized just right for a water bottle.

The bad:

There are only a couple small things that I find annoying about this pack one is that it did not come with a rain cover, pretty minor really, I bought one for $15. Still it would be nice if one was attached. Second is that I find the waist belt difficult to buckle and adjust with heavy gloves on again very minor but a possible area of improvement. The third and final thing is the mesh pocket hangs into the main compartment and when removing large items (like my laptop) they tend to catch a bit on it, again not realy a big deal but a possible area for improvement.

The Good:
The back "airscape" panel really does vent quite well, the shoulder and waist straps are very comfortable also venting very well. During this year of use I have not babied this pack and it has no visible signs of wear. I like that when accessing the main compartment I can see into the mesh bag to locate items. The small pouch in the hydration sleeve is a great place for your wallet and a flask!

Overall:
I love this pack! It is my go to bag for so many things from epic MTB rides and day hikes, to commuting and just kicking around. I would recommend it to my brother!

Beer

 

http://www.velominati.com/blog/general/beer-in-the-bidon-field-test-update/

This is a link to a defining article about pairing beer and riding,specifically using beer for fuel!
What could be better, our favorite beverage, while riding. I have participated in a couple urban night cross rides with Ftom, Hogboy and Jeromy. Good fun was had by all and only minor damage to Ftom.
But then road rash is part of the game!

La ruta de los alces

We spent some time Sunday working on one of my dreams, a bike route of mostly single track out to Morton Lake. The section we worked on is mostly old grade. Ftom, Alien and I did a bit of clearing of wind fall, sussed out some reroutes around wet sections, created drainage ditches and all that with out beer! I am on medication and cannot drink the others showed solidarity! A couple more days and this section of the complete route will be open for riding.

                                              How the route got it's name!

The dream is for this route and others that connect with it to allow a loop ride of 80-100Km. with about 75% single-track. The remainder will be gravel road. There is at least one zip line planned, so riders will need a harness and knowledge how to safely rig themselves up! This is a big project and will take time.

                                                Ftom in heaven!

                                              This forest needs single-track!

Marco Pantani (January 13, 1970 – February 14, 2004)

Blog Blog Blog

Well I have finally done it, I created a blog. To be honest I am not sure how often I will post on it but I will try to post at least monthly. I said try! No promises!
You can expect rantings about beer fueled silliness, bike ride reports and suggestions on bike rides.
There may even be some gear reviews.
Hell, who knows what may end up in this experiment!