Tag: the dump

Spectacular Lot

I got out for a wonderful ride yesterday. The conditions were spectacular. It was a little chilly out, but not very cold. Basically if I stopped for too long I got a chill. I just tried to keep moving. There was very little mud, no running water on the trails, and traction galore. Just lovely.

Heart and I took Shock Treatment to the far side of the park, then started climbing up the back all the way to the top. From the top we came down Snakes and Ladders, then hit a couple more short trails to take us back to the parking lot.

The only bummer on the ride happened at the top of Snakes and Ladders. I was taking a breather when another guy and his dog came up Snake and Ladders. I noticed his dog had a muzzle on, and that got me to wondering. Sure enough, the dog saw Heart and started advancing. Once the guy saw this he called his dog who then rocketed off at Heart and jumped on her snarling. Thank goodness for the muzzle, but I just can’t help but wonder why he was bringing this dog out in public if this is how it behaves.


View Dump Ride 20/01/2013 in a larger map

End Handling

The ride I went on yesterday was pretty good. A friend and I headed out and took Heart for a spin. We stuck to the North end of the park with the ultimate destination being Trillium trail. We started off going up Skull, then heading over to the Switchbacks, then along Twister. North Ridge was Next, then Mind Bender. It was at this point that it started to rain a bit. No problem though. I don’t mind when it starts raining while I am riding, but I dislike starting a ride while it is raining.

Trillium was next. It was a good challenging climb, and I look forward to the day I ride it the opposite direction. At the top of Trillium we decided to cut the ride a little short and skip Who’s Your Daddy and headed down to Night Shift. After Night Shift it was back down Skull and out to the truck. So much fun. The new bike is handling very well, and is truly fun to ride. Maybe this is my imagination, but I don’t care. I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am still thinking about my next dually though. Somehow I have to figure out what I want.


View 03/11/2012 10:24am in a larger map

Name: 03/11/2012 10:24am
Activity type: –
Description: –
Total distance: 10.75 km (6.7 mi)
Total time: 2:10:35
Moving time: 1:39:58
Average speed: 4.94 km/h (3.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 6.45 km/h (4.0 mi/h)
Max speed: 55.84 km/h (34.7 mi/h)
Average pace: 12.15 min/km (19.6 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 9.30 min/km (15.0 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.07 min/km (1.7 min/mile)
Max elevation: 295 m (967 ft)
Min elevation: 114 m (376 ft)
Elevation gain: 539 m (1769 ft)
Max grade: 15 %
Min grade: -32 %

The stats are a little off unfortunately. I forgot to stop recording before I started driving away.

Snow Corners

I went out for a cold ride today. Victoria was supposed to get snow last night, and at our house we did get some (less than an inch). I had been hoping for a snow ride, but that didn’t pan out. The closer I got to the dump, the less snow there was on the ground.

Still, it was a great ride. Cold, but not too slippery. Crunchy. I love the sound of my tires creaking through snow, or crashing through icy puddles.

I had Heart with me, and she had a great time too. On Shock Treatment, the first trail from the parking lot, she was going full tilt. She was in front of me, and would sprint as fast as she could until I was out of sight. We call it a puppy run (where she runs with her bum a little closer to the ground than normal, and is running full tilt). As soon as I rounded a corner, I could see she was waiting for me in the middle of the trail, and when she saw me she would turn and sprint away as fast as possible. Very funny.

I had my Bullit out today to give myself more of a workout in an effort to keep warm. That worked very well. I even managed to work out the kinks in the recent work that was done on my drivetrain. They adjusted, but I found it was still skipping gears at very inopportune times.

My final trail of the day was Who’s Yer Daddy. This is a fairly technical DH trail, but it is a lot of fun. I was 3/4 of the way down when I landed a jump in a bad spot, I felt my rear wheel slam hard into a rock. A couple corners later I felt something was off in the rear end, and sure enough I had pinch flatted.

I got out the tool kit and began trying to take the muddy, wet, snowy tire off the rim. What a pain that was. DH rims had sidewalls that are a little taller than normal rims to try and keep the tire seated better. I also had wire beads on the rear tire. It took me a long time to get the tire off.

Back at the car I went to hose off my bike, but couldn’t as the hose was frozen solid! Nice. The dog dish was a block of ice too (not that Heart would have had a drink anyway).

Fall will always be my favorite time of year to ride, but rides like this are truly spectacular. If I had enough of them they may make me change my mind.

Warm Tables

After Wednesday night’s ulti game I stayed up pretty late from the adrenaline. Some time around midnight I tried sleeping. The next morning I was up early so I didn’t get all that much sleep.

After dropping the kids off at daycare I hooked up with James for a spin at the dump.

It was a gorgeous day for a ride, but a tad warm. We took an easy spin around the lower section of the dump with the intention of heading to the top to ride Who’s Yer Daddy.

Along the way we figured we’d take a spin down the new Torpedo Run. I’d seen the trail before, but hadn’t ridden it. It is styled after A-Line in Whistler and has a bunch of table tops and lots of berms. It was a fun trail, but rather short. Typical of the dump really. Once I get a few more runs down the trail and learn what comes next I’m sure I can clear more of the tables. For the first run there was only one or two that I actually felt like I jumped well. A couple of the berms were pretty loose too and I almost washed out on one as I leaned into it.

After Torpedo Run we rode back up the switchbacks, then up to Old Pay Off. The last trail was Who’s Yer Daddy. My legs were feeling pretty fried from the ulti game and the lack of sleep. Still, this trail is a lot of fun, but the uphill sections were painful.

The ride was a lot of fun and I had that wonderful post summer sticky, sweaty, grimy feeling. That just makes the post ride shower feel that much better.