September Long Weekend

On the September long weekend I was dragged around behind the regular crew on three different mountain bike rides, ranging from Smith Creek, to Crawford and finally a day trip to Merritt.

On Friday after work I was picked up by a gaggle of spandex (as one of my co-workers called them on Tuesday), and was seriously punished as we hauled ourselves up into Smith Creek. I would like to blame my slower pace on the fact that I had been sitting at a desk all day and was then forced to get on the bike and ride hard right away, but I fear that if given the opportunity to prove that theory in any way it could crumble like Dad's Old Fashioned Cookies. By the time we got to the top I was exhausted! The guys who had been waiting for some time were only recovering their breath and looked only a little less for wear.

Saturday I hurt way too much to go riding, so I hung with Simon while Dee rode. Good choice on my part, cause On Sunday I was chased all the way up Crawford to the top of Vapour by Peter. Damn that guy is fast. I got to the top at what was close to my race pace, I was exhausted, sweaty and looking forward to descending. Pete on the other hand was fresh and couldn't believe that we had already reached the top! All in all, the trail took just less than an hour, one of my fastest times ever for the Fairlane/Vapour/Connector Loop.

I have ridden Merritt enough to know many of the good trails, and have a general sense for the area. This time we rode two trails that are some of our favourites including Goadie and Ursus Major. To access Goadie you wind your way up behind the info centre on a trail called 2 Much Info. It is the perfect grade of singletrack, and offers enough technical difficulty to challenge you and keep things interesting. Goadie begins from the top and winds its way through a canyon with many bridge crossing of the creek and talus slopes that line the canyon. Ursus Major is accessed off 2 Much Info as well, but winds its way down the front side of the mountain on a super fast single track trail that snakes its way back and forth along the hillside. Each of us jockeyed for position while coaxing the person in front of us to go faster and faster. Finally we rode a trail that I think is called Henry’s trial. It’s a new one that we had never ridden before, but had eyed sections of it on the climb up 2 Much Info. The trail offers a mix of technical with fast and flowy switchbacks along the front side of the mountain. As it turned out, it was the trail of the day for many of the group.