Pete, Dave and Craig fly to the Chilcotins for a mountain bike ride!

Work has been slow lately – I am low man on the totem pole so not much flying in the DHC-2. The good news is that with all my spare time I get to bump up my fitness and plan for my Fly and Ride trips.

This past trip involved a bit planning. I had heard thru friends of friends that there was a ranch in the northern Chilcotins that welcomed planes to land on the property. The beauty of the Chilcos is that if there is a ranch then there are tons of horse trails to the alpine. I managed to track down the owner, Alex Bracewell of Bracewell’s Alpine Wilderness (www.bracewell.com). I mentioned to Alex that I would offer him some beer in exchange for letting me land on his property and some tips on where to ride. Alex response “Beer is good”. Okay this was going to be easy.

I once again recruited my Squamish roommate Craig for the trip who was more than willing to buy Alex’s beer as I bought the fuel for the trip.

We loaded up EGY (my Cessna) and off we went for Fly and Ride #2 of 2010.

As usual the flight to mid-BC was incredible.

We found the Bracewell Ranch and circled a few times to check out the landing:

I decided to touch down just prior to the road so that I would have a nice roll out on the gravel road. It was a no brainer for EGY.

Alex met us at the plane. All I can say – awesome guy! He was psyched to see the beer and even more excited to tell us where to ride.

Did I mention the Ranch is at 4200 feet? Well the beauty of this is that Craig and I were almost immediately riding in the alpine. The downfall is that most the loop that Alex suggested would be a great ride would still have too much snow. We decided on an out and back that would be dry. There was a bit more hike a bike than I like but I have to say that all the nasty up was quickly forgotten on the ride back to the plane. The views were incredible.

Lunch time:

Craig took a bunch of video and is in the process of editing it.

Stay tuned for the video!

Peter

Summer is finally appearing on the wet coast.

On Sunday night I saw the weather forecast and Tuesday looked like a beauty of a day. Tuesday to Thursday’s are my days off at Harbour Air Seaplanes; so, Tuesday would be perfect for the first of many fly and rides. I decided on a ride in the Chilcos which is just north of Whistler. Solo riding is not really an option so I went thru my list of possible ride partners. Number 1 at the top of my list is our roomie in Squamish who is an awesome technical rider and former mountain bike guide. Perfect! I contacted Craig and he was in.

We loaded up the Cessna with our rides although I was worried about my Epic being in close contact to a Trek, yuk. I still have trouble looking at all of Craig’s Treks in our garage. Typically our garage is an all Specialized party with one Kestrel road machine. I use to be a big fan of Kestrel so I scored a machine for my partner a few years ago from the the original owners. Anyway, Trek is now part of the picture in our home…grrrr.

The flight to the Gun Lake strip is about 45 minutes. The flight is extremely scenic. Craig was busy scouting future rides in the upper Squamish Valley.

Prior to landing at Gun Lake we circled the planned route of riding from the Gun Lake strip up to Spruce Lake. All good – no snow on the trail.

My Cessna has some bush tires so landing on the dirt strip where ATV’s like to do donuts is a non issue.

Bikes were built and off we went.

Bridge crossing into Spruce Lake Park:

We gave ourselves a turn around time of 2 1/2 hours of ride time once we crossed the bridge. Prior to getting to the bridge it was a a nasty 30 minute climb up a fire road. The goal was to make it to Spruce lake which is a nice flowing uphill climb. We would eat our packed sandwiches at the lake then cruise downhill back to the plane. Get in a great workout then get rewarded with a downhill on some sweet single track.

Within a km from Spruce Lake we were blocked from a local resident – A monster Grizz!!!

My riding partner:

Reward time:

I sure hope there is another sunny day on next week days off.

Bye for now:

Every second Wednesday night in Squamish, BC where I live we have a mountain bike race put on by SORCA (Squamish MTB Club).  The cost of the race is $2 (Toonie coin) which includes the race fee, beer after the race and meal.  The past two years I haven't been able to do the Toonie races due to my new profession as a bush pilot in Gold River, BC.  This year I have been hired by my dream employer, Harbour Air, which is based in downtown Vancouver.  My schedule is Friday to Monday which is an amazing schedule to attend all the summer's Sorca Toonies.  Last night was the first Toonie in years.

As usual all the local speedsters showed up. I think I counted over 100 people on the start line ready to hit it hard.

My goal was to sit close to the front pack and see what happens.  During the warm up I was feeling pretty good but a bit awkward.  It was my first ride of the season on my speedy Epic.   I do most of my non-race riding on my Enduro.  The Enduro likes to have fun while the Epic likes to go fast.  The speedster was feeling speedy but a tad twitchy compared to my regular Enduro.

I had a horrible start and was forced to dig deep to bridge up to the front.  I was getting close.  As I hit the first rise I punched it hard and upshifted to keep my cadence high.  The next thing I hear is a loud crunch and the loss of power.  I looked down and saw in horror the source of the noise.  My rear derailleur had gone into my wheel and snapped off.  I was out!  Ugh! 

I walked back to the start and finish line to cheer on my fellow Sorca buddies.  For the next hour I had to answer the same question, "Pete, I thought you were racing?  Did you drop out?"

I am off to the bike shop this morning to see if the boys can fix my poor beat up Epic.

See you on the trails!

Pete

Last Saturday I was invited to jump into The Yeti snowshoe 10 km at Grouse Mountain.  This year the race was the World Snowshoe World Championships.  I haven't exactly been snowshoe running this winter; but, I have been running and riding.  I figure fitness is fitness so other than a high heart rate I would be able to fake it.  My plan was working until about 6 km into the race.  I was hanging tight with local legends Andreas Hestler, Seamus Mcgrath, Johnny Fokima and the rest of the clan.  We weren't close to the pro teams from Europe.  Then again we didn't really care - it was more about bragging rights with the clan.  I was thinking of glory with the clan then my hip flexors let me down.  It was all over when they decided to remind that they were out of shape.  I managed to jog into the finish and finished at the back of the clan.  Good times!  It has been 3 years since I strapped on those snowshoes.  What a mistake.  I forgot how much fun it was to run hard on the single track of snow in the woods.  The guys at YETI did an amazing job.  I will be back next year but with a few more sessions in me before the gun goes off.

It’s go time in BC!  We are in the middle of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.  The snow has been lacking but the weather has been absolutely incredible with sunny skies almost every day and warm temperatures.  The vibe downtown Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler has been incredible.  So many people with huge smiles.

So far I have caught two Nordic events with one more to go this Tuesday for the Nordic combined.  Travel to and from the venues has been effortless and even though security has been a little too much on the intense side of my liking it’s been bearable with lines that are fairly quick to get through security screening which is very similar to airports.  At the Nordic events the Norwegians and Polish crowds are the spectating pros.  Although, the cow bells can be a bit irritating after 3 hours of non-stop clanking.  Beer at 10 AM and wine at 11 AM is the norm for the pros spectating.

The other beauty this month has been the conditions for mountain biking.  It is by far the best February for hitting the trails.

Enjoy the ride!

Peter