The Twists and Turns of Winter Training

It's no secret that I fell very far from the world of sanctioned racing this year. Instead, I was getting lost in the woods, exploring the North Shore trails I'd known about since the early '90s but never really ridden. What had started out so innocently as off-season training for CX turned into a full-blown addiction to mountain biking.

Hidden beauty on Mt. Fromme.

In January, our Brodie Bikes rep Andrew Summers delivered a beautiful steel cross-country bike to the Broadway shop. I went in expecting to build my bike, and found Bob wheelieing it up the sidewalk just as I arrived. He was stoked to see the bike together, and had built it for me. What a guy. Maybe that's why Bob made it on to the 2011 Brodie site...

The 2010 Brodie Catalyst

I'd like to think that Mr. Summers is at least partially responsible for my disappearance from most other disciplines of riding. His great attitude towards riding and a love of photography meant that we became great friends this year, spending countless hours doing shoots on the trails, roadtrips, and generally having a good time.

Mr. Summers, always with a big smile.

Of course, to blame Andrew would be ignoring the true reason I became so addicted to the North Shore. I grew up in these forests hiking with my family, and the discovery of riding here was, in a way, a homecoming. My BMX background lends itself toward technical riding, and on the Shore, those skills are put to the test in the form of wooden structures, rock faces, slippery root drops, and so on. With these endless technical challenges I had met my match.

Photo by Lyle

What I didn't know in January, in buying an XC bike, was that I would soon be riding trails that were well beyond the limits of my bike. After a month or about ten rides, I replaced the stock fork with a sturdier and travel-adjustable Fox model. By May, I had retired the Catalyst frame on the advice of Brodie product manager and racing legend Bruce Spicer. I chose to replace the frame with a Santa Cruz Chameleon, an aluminum hardtail with a good pedigree.

Lush greenery on Mt. Seymour's Bridal Path.

I was out on the trails 2-3 times a week all year, and had familiarized myself with trails on all three North Shore hills as well as Burnaby Mountain, and visited Whistler, Squamish, Salmon Arm, Kelowna, and Rossland in the name of riding. Along with laying tracks on a ton of awesome trails, I set out to document them as well—which is a great way to improve your photography.

A ridge on the 35km Seven Summits trail near Rossland.

I even grew out my hair...

If you weren't questioning my sanity already...

Summer came and went, cross season began, and my stoke for the trails was as high as ever. When combined with a strenuous school semester, I didn't race CX once this year. After spending most of the year trying to tell me to buy his full suspension bike, Ryan Lidstone finally got through. I did a bit of research and decided that if I liked it on a test ride, the Banshee Wildcard would find a good home in my stable. Since that day, my hardtail has been neglected...

I was reluctant to jump into a full squish bike too soon with so many options out there...

As the season came to a close, the cross team was ready to come out and risk both potential for injury and an addiction to mountain biking. During a likely inebriated conversation with Jodi on the book of faces, Matt Hornland agreed to a date. On Boxing Day, exactly one year after Nick Berry, Matt Barber, and myself had an epic cyclocross ride on Burnaby Mountain, Team Mighty CX took it to the trails.

Nick Berry, hero of the entire Mighty team, spotted having fun on a bike.

This year, the District of North Vancouver invested something in the high six figures range on Mt. Fromme's trail network. One of the major projects involved rebuilding an older trail, Bobsled, into a beginner-slash-intermediate trail to make the mountain more accessible to newer riders. The North Shore's trails—even the "blue square" aka intermediate trails—are known for being more difficult than similarly-graded trails anywhere else. A "beginner-friendly" trail was a missing piece of the puzzle if the DNV was to avoid scaring people away from the recreation area.

Matt Hornland, small man with a big mouth, borrowed my Chameleon.

The revitalized Bobsled is a huge departure from the slow, technical riding the Shore is known for. It's almost like a downhill BMX track, with smooth berms and jumps, and a few cedar bridges in the wetter sections. For an idea of what the trail is like, check out this video from mtbville.com. I haven't done much shooting on Bobsled, but did happen to nail the self-timer function and snap this self-portrait on the one optional drop on the trail.

The rest of the trail is nothing like this...

Having spent his first racing days on a BMX bike, Matt Barber is right at home on Bobsled.

"Do you know who I am?"

It takes about 15 minutes to ride up to the top of Bobsled and less than 5 to get down. After a couple of warmup laps, and Nick having quickly solved a mechanical issue at Lynn Valley Bikes, the soft intro was over and it was time to take these cross-dressers to the gnar. Thomas Pickett was along for the ride on his brand spankin' new Kona Five-O, a perfect Shore hardtail.

Thomas now rides for West Coast Racing, not Glotman-Simpson... but kit ain't cheap!

Hornland was getting more comfortable on the Chameleon, and appeared to be having fun even through his normally heavy amount of sarcasm.

In hindsight, Matt should have taken the knee pads as well.

We rode to just above the 5th switchback on the gravel road which eventually leads to Grouse Mountain. From this point a number of trails wind their way down the south slope of Mt. Fromme; our destination was a classic all-weather trail: Pipeline. Here we have Jodi taking on the hamster cage, an elevated structure with steep sections, a teeter totter, sharp turns, and a very narrow log to exit.

"Classic Shore" conditions, as Mr. Summers would say.

Having done well with his off-season training program on his carbon Jamis Dakar XCR, Nick is very comfortable riding a low travel bike on the North Shore. He will descend basically anything you put in front of him with his seat way up, and have a huge smile on at the end of it. Nick's foray into XC mountain biking this year was truly inspirational from the cyclocross cross-training perspective.

Wrong bike? No problem, at least for Nick Berry.

After the hamster cage, the trail follows the pipeline of its namesake down a steep rocky slope. High-traffic trails on the North Shore have traditionally been armoured with rock to prevent erosion, and this section of Pipeline has been built into a three-stage rock roller coaster. Matt's XC bike is definitely a touch too big for this style of riding, but he made it out of this section unscathed and looking good!

Getting over it.

We had such a good time on Sunday that Pipeline was calling me back. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Summers and I headed up and sessioned the same section of trail, coming out with quite a few great shots. With a light dusting of snow, the technical challenge is taken to the next level.

Gettin' rad in the forest.

Splish splash...

Andrew takes a bit of air time.

Back up for another...

And we have liftoff once again!

Andrew insisted that he take a turn behind the lens, which meant it was my turn to get rad!

Beard Power.

We then continued down the trail where I weaseled my way on to a snowy teeter totter, then stopped to grab another photo. For a cold winter's day, the light sure was warm.

Fresh tracks.

Bliss.

Then I lined up and launched a gap I'd had my eye on all year. I hit this drop for the first time on Sunday, but it was so dark by the time we finished our ride that I didn't bother to try to get a photo of it.

The drop itself is about 6 feet into a steep transition.

Andrew was by this point very comfortable with my camera, and snapped a banger with the snowy trees and a nice beam of light coming through.

He made me jump it 6 or 7 times.

I guess in a way this is my season recap. I spent more time in the forest of the North Shore than in any year of my life, made a whole bunch of new friends, and shot a ton of great photos. I gained technical riding skills that will no doubt transfer to the cross course in the future.

Brodie is using a number of my photos for their 2011 site, and Ghostrider Messengers used one of my images for his calendar. And I won two separate photo contests.

Even as the snow line dips closer to sea level, I'm still on my bike. And isn't that the point? Having fun on a bike? Let me know if you want to join...