Staying in the states didn't last long. I got Lily stoked enough to be on the road back to Kelowna by 11:30 the next morning. We got to Smokes house by 1:30 and hooked up w/ Andy for a couple of laps on Powers. We hit Big Money (3.5) first and I sessioned the step down to gap right off the bat. The rest of that trail was mainly natural and had some standing water. It also had some insane views of the canyon we're riding on the edge of as well as a big waterfall on the opposite side of the canyon. We ripped the rest of the 2.5KM trail (which was denoted by a really cool bike art mask on the tree). Lily got the feel for steep wooden wallrides and I sessioned the Shennanigan's road gap. We ripped another 2.5KM lap and I linked the whole KBR trail (wallrides to step up wallride to Shennanigans). Wahoo!! Barb was nice enough to make us dinner and we enjoyed the food w/ great stories of biking heroism by Smoke.
Wednesday was Andy's last day in Kelowna and we decided on riding Gillard. We got dialed in at Kelowna Cycles with Ryan Schnepf (builder). We ended up doing 4 laps in total (Andrew showed up for the last). First Andy, Lily, and I hit up Nip and Tuck (fun smaller stunts) to Snakes Back (lots of woodwork) to Fist First (jumps w/ funky wood booter to sniper rock lander; met French Johnny working on logride to stepdown gap) to Dirty Sanchez. At the bottom we met Jeff (another builder that I met on Sunday at Oliver) and he gave us a ride up in his Dodge 4x4. He was describing how to hit Dr. No (hard to find entrance) then decided he'd drive up a gnarly 4x4 road (and over fallen trees in his truck) to show us EXACTLY where the trail started. Super cool dude!! We rode Yo Mama (jumps) to Dr. NO (super tech rocky trail w/ some mini-canyons to drop in to as well as some rock rolls w/ ladders in between. A very unique trail to say the least!!! Lily really gave the crux a good go, and is starting to come into her own on the steep natural gnar- keep it up girl!!)
to Boss Hog (cool roll in to crazy step up feature- used to have a teeter into the move!!!). Too bad most of the other stunts were wrecked. Got to see the crazy funky looking drop/stepdown that Brad made famous by overshooting and SOMEHOW not blowing the berm on one of Smoke's videos). There was a drop to wall ride to gap to step up to step down that still went. I also rode the rock face next to that silly drop. Andy then dropped us on top of Kerplop (tons of woodwork between boulders, some jumps, and rock rolls/drops). We raged that to Hucking Grasshole (purported to have the biggest move around). We found the trail (kinda tricky) and rolled down it.....unsure what was going to pop out. I knew it immediately when I saw it. A huge wooden structure out in the distance w/ a big jump into it. The heartbeat quickens. I ran down and took a look at it. A big wood to wood double led to a step up onto a platform that was ~12-15' off the deck. It split and had two lines. The first rolled steep on wood and went into a ski jump that landed on the same wood tranny as the huge move. Here's where things kinda got sketchy. My brakes (specifically the rear) had been acting funky (pulling all the way to the bar without actually slowing me down) for most of the day. The way I could circumnavigate this was by pumping it up and holding it slightly on. That way they were there for me and would work. If I let go though....well then that whole "to the bar" thing applied. Fast forward back to Hucking Grasshole. I'm lining up the series of moves in front of me as I always do. Pedal, pedal, pedal, 12' booter, step up onto 12' tall platform (~40" wide), pedal, pedal, get my shit together, boost huge air (25' + out, 20' down), soak it up, BRAKE hard, flow the fast berm and don't go off into the woods where there are lots of fallen trees, rocks, snakes, etc. I hit the jump.....smooth, vwoooomp up onto the elevated ladder.....smooth. "Hey, I better check my brakes." Nothing. I get stopped on front brakes alone. The structure was kinda sketchy and I wanted off of it fast so I rolled in on the ski jump. I hit it a bit faster than needed and landed on the dirt below the tranny. I really wanted to hit the big move and I pumped up the brake again at the top. I dropped in again and was at the moment of reckoning again. I gave my brake a test and there it was. I took off pedaling and shot off the end. Phweeeeeeeeeeeeeewphump!!!! I soak up the huge concussion and rocket out of the bottom. When I realize what just happened I let out a long drawn out scream of joy and fear all in one. I rail the berm and ghost ride my bike, falling back onto the forest floor, laughing and screaming. H-O-L-Y!!!! Lily runs down and we share some exuberant laughs and high fives. I want to hit it again (this time involving the actual landing), but I don't bother. I railed Dirty Sanchez top to bottom without hesitation, the foreign jumps seeming oh so familiar after surmounting the Hucking Grasshole. I'm still laughing and way too hyped up when I run into Andrew McIntosh at the bottom. We load up and rally to the top for one more lap. I let them decide which trail because I was enjoying a potent cocktail of supercharged adrenaline and figured everything was just a bonus after the last lap. We did Kerplop (Lily liked the woodwork and rock gnar) to RubHerDown (play on words) which I followed Andrew off a long series of jumps that were fairly sizable. It was awesome. We nailed the Three Bears jump line and rally over to Wobbly Pop, a trail that had lots of small-medium sized jumps and stunts. There was a long stunt that had roller coasters and then finished up high on ladders to a 6'+ drop. Oh, and there's a tree that will grab your hoody and try to pull you off a high stunt as I learned. I somehow didn't fall off and still nailed the drop. Now my favorite hoody has a huge rip on the back of the arm. Lily and I bail and grab some food to cook up at the house. We made Barb and Smoke pesto pasta w/ grilled chicken and pinenuts, grilled corn on the cob, and garlic bread. We drank a bottle of wine and had great stories tossed around the table. Just another day in heaven........
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