well the last week is nearly over and the end is nigh !ending on a high though .280 runs in thepark final day of xc in squamish wednesday which was full on .mini epic on monday yummy numby hooked up with some locals who showed me their new unfinished descent .i know its not in order just what came into my head !!!
with the last 2 days forecasting rain probably not get in any more riding ,cause i cant be assed to clean up muddy gear !
so bring on uk riding then !see you all sometime soon .

well its been a while .access to tinternet is getting really difficult .julies been and gone as has mike .the adventure is coming to an end (wipes a tear )back in the uk 3 weeks monday (wipes another tear ! )but its been an amazing experience feel really lucky to have been able to do it (been kind of offered another season next year as well !)did a float plane trip in the chilcotin mountains followed by an awesome 4 hour descent , probably the best day i,ve ever had on the bike just trying to keep the vibe going to the end but nothing will top that .
thanks to friends who have been following this may get one more update in before the 10th of october take it easy one and all see you in the fall !!!

just a quick update ,been another busy couple of weeks what with crankworx etc .julie is now here and really loving whistler .finding plenty to do despite her broken wrist !!!as it,s such a ball ache uploading pics on here i've put a load of new ones on facebook which you can check out if you interested .crankworx was off the charts !!!!

here's a few pics from sunday's awesome world loggers sports in squamish .pretty damned awesome half day out .apologies for not turning 1st pic !but these poles are 80ft high and one guy set a new world record , right to the top and back down in 17 seconds !!!!!!they more or less let themselves drop back down free fall style !!!

check out the kid wielding the axe , his dad is a world champ and this little guy is just 4 years old !!!can you imagine elf n saafety in the uk having palpitations about this ?so it's not all about the riding there is also some pretty cool other stuff going on .though saying that things are building up for crankworx next week and i reckon thats going to be off the scale !!!!

we have been having some awesome summer days in the last week or so .in between work i,ve been mixing up the riding .had a chance to spend some time with a mate who is a bike park guide and he gave me some pointers to help my riding so thats going well .xc riding has involved ride first then to a lake for a swim then soak up the rays get dried off for the ride home .what a summer !trying not to think about riding back in the uk !a long way off yet .

trying to regain fitness lost to damn chairlifts so hitting the x.c. vibe .emerald forest singletrack on sunday followed by a swim in alta lake .packed with people soaking up the sunshine ,there was even a d.j out there playing some top tunes .glad i decided to do that the attempt to ride the park was a non starter .might be something to do with the house party at ours and going to bed sometime after 3 in the morning !just feeling every rough section had to give it up !the kids had mostly drum n bass and all that crap going so they were persuaded to let d.j wurzel lose on you tube and get some good old skinhead reggae going , went down atreat as well .
today was my day off and it went something like this .x.c in the morning before it got too hot did whip me snip me barts dark ,bob's rebob into river runs through it .just happened to pop me out at the lake so a swim was the order of the day !after dinner into the bike park and finally got my groove back on the beer on the patio of longhorns was the icing on the cake !!!!

had some more pics to add but blogspot is having a shit so these will have to do .good to be able to pose in the posh reception of the delta hotel at sunpeaks !!

Well it's been a while since my last blog so time to catch up a bit .Been on a road trip around B.C. visiting different bike parks .First off caught the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Vancouver Island .Crossing took 2 hours then an hour and a half drive to Mount Washington ,we arrived at Bear Lodge after midnight .M.W. was similar to when the Garbanzo opened in Whistler .Still a lot of snow a lot of runs still closed .though it was quite cool to ride through snow banks taller than me on the bike !!!
Spent a day there then drove to Silver Star which was real cool place similar to a wild west town !There was a pipe and drum band in town so 745 in the morning strred to the sound of bagpipes !S.S was a really cool park ,my favourite of the 3 we visited .Trails were awesome with some cool riding through meadows !!!
Final park was Sun Peaks just outside Kamloops which was a pretty full on park .No double black runs but there should have been !!!!All in all an awesome trip and a good chance to see different countryside ranging from mountainous to arable pasture , ranchlands as well .
Todat i joined an XC ride in Pemberton which was pretty damn good as well .At one point we could here a lot of rustling in the undergrowth which i didn't think was loud enough to be a bear .15 minutes later this dude riding towards us told us he had seen a cougar up the trail we were heading towards !!!!!S o what did we do ?Carry on in that direction !!!!All well and good as agroup but as i was the slowest so was tail end charlie concentrated my mind somewhat !!!!When we got back to Mosquito Lake we saw some cougar prints but (un)fortunately we didn't get up close and personal !!!!
I've got some photos from the road trip which i will post sometime including one of me ready to ride in the foyer of the posh hotel at Sun Peaks !!!(Complete with body armour !!!)

day off today and it was as awesome as ever .decided to mix it up ,with xc in the morning out at emerald forest with a maze of cool singletrack .then decided to re visit a river runs through it which i did a month ago .what a difference doing it the flowy way and with the improvement in my riding made for a great ride .
then after dinner headed back into the park .really enjoying being lift assisted !current favourite run from mid station is ninja cougar into karate monkey then samurai pizza cat ,ho chi min (where i passed a bear about 10 feet away which still impresses me ) then finish on heart of darkness .i find that is far enough outside my comfort zone but not so far to be to irresponsible re the old osteoporosis .it;s tight twisty rooty and much more involving than something like crank it up ,which is jump after jump after jump all the way down .(which is full on fun in it's own way ).

couple of pics from the top of whistler and blackcomb mountains .access via the peak to peak gondola that links the 2 mountains .it's truly breathtaking up there ,hope to persuade julie to ride it when she comes out .there is more info on it at whistlerblackcomb/summer but as far as i remember it;s the highest and longest gondola in the world .it's 4.4 kilometers long and if i remember correctly about 1600 feet from the valley floor which bearing in mind the elevation whistler is at is pretty damn high i'm sure you will agree .
the pic you can see looking down on trees is from the gondola with a glass bottom which is well worth the 15 minute wait for .the other beauty is i can go as often as i like on my bike park pass .i've also asked and you can take your bike up to the mid station ,lock it up there carry on to the summit,catch the peak then on the way back hop off and cruise back down the bike park which sounds pretty damn awesome .must give that a go .thats about it for now but i think you'll agree pics well worth sharing .

well another tough week has passed .survived last sunday night though monday in the park 10am was a bit of an ordeal .so memo to self take it easy with the sauce !f/b pics make it look as if i had quite a few but it didn't seem like it at the time !
there have been paintball games to play and help with .big one last wednesday against local bike shop 'quite a few of whom had been smoking weed and drinking beer for quit a few hours ,which made things interesting !i had a bit of an off in the park when i came 2nd against a wet off camber tree root ,fortunately just a few aches and pains .
chilling out at lost lake after hard graft has been brilliant especially now summer's properly here (for the time being )
so basically more of the same so probably best not to update as often now cause it could get a bit samey , so i'll just report back when something different happens .

how about those 2 cuties then ?aaaawwww!specially for victoria !
done a couple of interesting xc rides in last few days .went to emerald forest and found loads of sweet singletrack then into mels dilemma and finished with blueberry which was fantastic ,stonking climbing superb views over alta lake cracking singletrack and sweet descents .
today went back and did all of kill me thrill me .nearly lived up to it's name at one point .20 to 30foot rock roll that i should have scoped first but thought i could see the line and the exit from the top got just over half way down and it tucked back in , i had too much front brake so 2 choices .either over the bars onto granite (not nice )or let the bike go and run it out .no choice really number 2 fortunately i grabbed a branch which slowed me down !phew !
when i recovered my composure carried on to some more sweet singletrack.came round a corner to se the biggest furriest ass ever .we made each other jump and the bear went hurtling off into the trees .all i could hear was branches snapping as he made his escape !!
so all in all quite an interesting afternoon !
might also be an interesting night tonight as well .one of the team has a birthdayso we are all off to longhorns saloon to help him celebrate .it's locals night and there is another mtb film premiere and an intersting local custom for the birthday boy the details of which are a bit hazy !i'm going to try and refrain from too much loopy juice as it's my day off tomorrow and i want to hit the bike park .hhhmm we'll see !

just had the most awesome 2 days off so stoked !wednesday it just wouldn't stop raining so i decided to man up and get on with it .did an xc ride ,out to rainbow park into whip me snip me then bob's rebob and barts dark trail soaking wet but fully made up .
today the sun made a welcome return so got to the bike park for the 1st lift of the day .it was dope in there popped my a line cherry got over a nadgery bit in karate monkey just totally gangster !!!!!after the morning session headed to the brewhouse for beer n burger and chips for 10 bucks ,bargain ! then back into the park for the afternoon for some more of the same .about 4 o clock thought i'd head for home then someone suggested one more lap on crank it up .glad i did it ,from the chairlift had a great view of a mother bear and 2 of the tiniest cutest little cubs you ever did see .unfortunately i never had my camera but my boss who was on another chair did and managed to get a pic .if i can i'll stick it on here .
then to finish off the day after bike and me cleaning a wallow in the hot tub with a cold beer !it's a hard life !bears are unreal though , the other morning as i was riding to work there was one sat on the valley trail right in the way just chomping away on his breakfast actually had to ride round it !!!pretty much it for now got a lot of new guests arriving the weekend so i'm going to be busy for a few days .

forgot to add some comments a ride i did the other day .was going to do kill me on my own but had a bad feeling about it .being on cougar mountain for one !so did c/n into y/l excellent stuff !

so it is being read rachel says she tried to leave a comment but needed a google or yahoo account .she did that still no joy any idea what she is doing wrong ?

kind of wondering if anyone is reading this and if you are do you know you can leave comments ?kind of defeats the object if nobody is reading it !

how about this in someones front garden!the one on the right is unusual it's known as a cinnamon bear some regressive gene his mom is carrying apparently.

had some company in the park today !!

well interesting few days again.did some trail building saturday with worca which is whistler off road cycling association.good to work with locals and learn the ropes .actually went back out and rode what we built today.through trails called cut yer bars and roll your bones which was a black run .passed on shits and giggles as that was a double blackand i didn't fancy that .more helping with paintball games and yesterday did a xc loop from home along valley trail out on a trail calledfarside which follows cheakamus river , crossed a suspension bridge then rode up to loggers lake ,so peaceful up there .then came back along the other side of the river .sweet sweet singletrack , nothing too technical in fact ideal for when julie comes out i think.
been out tonight to irish bar we were non catered tonight chefs night off and on a monday they do 2 for 1 fish nchips which was v good just like last week .today was my day off so tomorrow it's back to the grindstone !!!!no peace for the wicked eh ?report back soon.
oh one last thing up in the bike park today just riding into heart of darkness was about 10 - 20 ft from a bear and the worse thing was i hadn't took my camera !memo to self carry it next time !

bit more riding this week , in the park getting crank it up dialled tiny bits of black runs top of a line to access ninja cougar as the top of that is still closed ,then into karate monkey .wednesday went to sqaumish and did a 35km xc loop .when i say xc very different from uk xc as quite a bit of it is black runs !spicy was really good made up for my lack of skill in places and excellent at tech climbing .got a scratch on top tube and some heel rub on chainstay so i thought sod it and it's now ghetto with old inner tubes around both chainstays and top tube !looks trick and hopefully will look good at the end of the season .
tuesday night went and saw new robin hood film starring russel crowe .quite good and different than the usual telling .apparently this is the untold story of how tha man became the legend .in others all set for a sequel !
anyhoo thats about it for now will post again when something interesting happens !which knowing this place won't be long !

busy busy couple ofdays , park opened yesterday ,place was rammed with people hot sunny weather helped .only managed 3 runs because of queues and i hadto do some work as well !film premiere was excellent,thoroughly recommend follow me when it comes out .metallica tribute was off the scale loud !!!!good night can't remember the walk home !!!
todayafter work back in the park .lot quieter today managed 6 runs then came back and had a session in the hot tub ,that was good then ran an errand to pick up some beer in big red with a monstrous growling v8 engine !
boy it's certainly a hard life !!!!might get a chance to relax now for the evening ,take it easy everyone !

http://www.parktool.com/whatsnew/readarticle.asp?type=parktoolnews&id=107
check this link out .recognise anyone in the picture ?

sorry for the sideway shots !!!!

been a hectic few days !!!! more trail building in squamish ,new bike arrived , looks nuts !!!!rides good as well .went and saw ironman2 t'other night .not as good as first one i don't think .bike park opens saturday whhhooo hhoooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!then in the evening we are all going to the premiere of the new mtb film follow me followed by a metallica tribute band !!!not bad for 7 bucks eh ?
yesterday played my first ever paintball game .that was fun but boy do they hurt !!!1just after the storming the hill game i looked up and saw where i was positioned a bear had just wandered in there !!!!weather is currently hot n sunny been like that for almost a week now .well that's about it for now bit quiet really !!!!

interesting day in vancouver friday !

had a walking tour of gastown and downtown including an area similar to beirut !

found some nice areas mostly though .finished up in a place called the spaghetti factory where between me giving the waitress my card to pay and her reaching the till she managed to lose my card she thought it had been stolen !!!!

so a hasty call to card services to cancel card by manager and we were running late for ferry ,then as we were walking out the door another waitress found it under the desk !!!!!!!!!

unreal we got a free meal but not a good way to get one .

while we were in north vancouver we stopped by the cove bike shop for a browse which was good .managed to chat to the boss man and not mention hummers and chainsuck at all !!!!!!!

11

just a few pics for your perusal .one rubbish commute , a lovely xmas tree for victoria and a few pics round lost and green lake .boy it's a hard life !

hi there everyone hope you are all well .things are good here in whistler .will be even better when i get my bike ! thanks alliance and leicester .living on eagle creek drive , not bad eh ?did some trail building down at squamish on sunday .trail was called welcome to the 19th hole .described by the lead guide as "savage " he wasn't wrong for sure ! quite an art to stand up never mind ride down it .though it was good to watch some of the locals riding it some even had dogs running on in front just for added fun !
been helping get everything out of winter storage and getting workshop back inshape .did a few loops of lost lake trails yesterday on a fleet bike .meta 5.5 .
working with a great bunch of people despite being twice their age it doesn't seem to matter , which is awesome ! (sorry great ! )
had my first drive of big red , the iconic beast of legend .that thing roars !
still afair bit of snow around , bike park opens on the 15th , will be getting a full face helmet for that .
one of the team is a guy who used to school at millfield and rode with jim and tom davage ,small world eh ?knows the trails around street hill , unreal nice bloke is toby .
better sign off some of the guys are downstairs cleaning paintball guns for the summer thats part of t2r's company as well .will be getting a truck later to do a run to the recycling centre .take it easy everybody.

countdown

right then boys and girls , less than a week 'til the off !
got most of my pre trip jobs done just winding down now.
fingers crossed i don't forget anything !
just set this up and thought i'd do my first post .
not bad for an old dinosaur if i say so myself .
won't bore with anything else now until i'm in whistler
unless i think of something interesting .(hmmm )