Life Begins at 50

Lowball Loder turned 50 so decided to go epic. First up was Friday carb loading with Liisa and two of their good friends, Rye and Coke. This was followed by riding up to Whistler on the Saturday to prepare for the Masters Criterium there on Sunday. I know, it doesn't make sense and Joe Friel would be shaking his head, but he went on to finish 3rd in the crit. Obviously there is something to this technique...

Gun Lake

Shane and I joined Basse and family at what seems to be becoming a yearly mountain biking trip (last year Shane went) at Gun Lake, near Gold Bridge. Apparently some of the best mountain biking around, although neither of us could be called mountain bikers.


The view from our doorstep at the cabin. Boats, horseshoe pits, and hot tub outside. Pool table, shuffle board, wireless and satellite TV inside.


Some enterprising individual put a lawn chair in the middle of nowhere at a perfect lookout side over Carpenter lake.

View from the chair.










Bridge crossing a stream in a valley. I just crossed the bridge and had to climb out of there.








The end of my Wednesday ride, descending from Marshall Lake. Shane and his van parked near carpenter lake waiting to pick me up.












Cleo hiding in the tent from play fighting black bears at the Seton Lake BC Hydro campsite.














I had my garmin with me for my two rides: Monday and Wednesday.


Not everything was great. The rocky roads on the way up to Lillooet, and between Lillooet and Gold Bridge caused us two flat tires fixed at two different tire garages in Lillooet.

Rest of the pics.


There are tons of gravel roads, fire roads and mountain bike trails to explore right out of the cabin at Gun Lake, all with fantastic views. The cabin can sleep many, so there's already been talk about renting this cabin again in the Fall or next Summer at the latest. Should be able to fill a cabin easily with Mightys and crew.

QOM

May Jung won the Masters Women division of the Seymour Hill Climb this past Sunday. Her time was 52:37 and this was the fourth year in a row she has won. Mighty's very own Queen of the Mountain.

(The pic above is from a Masters Hill Climb in Penticton... if anyone has a link to pics from Sunday, please post it in the comments.)

1200km in 3 Days!

Ok, so most of you have heard about this but we need to do a post so this crazy ass ride goes down into Mighty history as one of the most epic of the epics. The ride is part of the BC Randonneurs schedule and is called the Van Isle 1200.

On July 21, Ryan set out from Victoria and rode most of the paved highways on Vancouver Island. The route went north to Cambell River, west from there to Gold River, back to Campbell River and then north to Port Hardy. They then turnaround and head back all the way to Victoria. Take a look at the map below to get an idea of the sheer scope of this ride. And those jagged little pics give you an idea of the profile - not flat!

Our hero completed this mission in 71:37. Yup, that's just under 3 days. They sorta sleep if you call a couple of hours in a motel room a break. And as Stacey so succinctly pointed out, he completed 1/3 the distance of the Tour de France in 1/7th the time.

Buy this kid a beer and ask him to tell you more about it. He can finally sit on his bruised ass now and I'm sure he could use the calories. Full details of this insanity are at: VanIsle1200.

And more pics at: VanIslePics

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