Well, I was rear ended yesterday while sitting at a stop light. My car is totaled, my bike rack is a mangled piece of metal pushed into the cabin of my car and my neck and back hurt.
Looks like I won`t be riding for a while.
Could be better, could be worse but I just hope I don`t have along term nagging injury.
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This morning I was supposed to meet Dave bright and early and ride Burke at 7am. However Dave decided that he is a bit more of a fair weather rider 
and bowed out on the ride when he looked outside and saw rain. Rather than calling it quits I still went for my ride up Burke.
I parked at the corner on Harper and pedaled up to the Triple Crown where I started my descent. The trails I rode were Triple Crown, Red R, Slayer, Dawg and Hustler.
The ride wasn’t all that wet but it was oh so fun! Dawg and Hustler have seen some recent trail work by Bryan, Karaleen and Vic. These trails are simply amazing right now and I can’t wait to get back there for another ride.
This is a compilation of the footage I caught with my ContourHD chest-cam. It was so dark and dreary in the forest that most of the footage was useless, but this is what I could put together of the ride I had today.
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Early September sunrise.
This morning I was up with the rising sun at The Woodlot and spotted a rarely seen deer on the climb.
A stare-down with a deer.
I rode my Trance today and pedaled to Cabin Trail where I tested version 2 of my chest camera mount for the ContourHD and also my XC helmet mount for the ContourHD. Both seemed to work really well especially given the small travel bike and the roughness of the trails that I decided to test them on (Cabin Trail, Snakes and Ladders and Shotgun).With my early start and minimal delays finished my ride and was home by 9am and able to spend the rest of the day with my kids.
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Recently I have started looking around a lot more when I ride and stopping when something catches my eye to take a photo. Whether it is bright flowers or fungus in the forest, I’ll stop to have a look. I seem to want to catch the little things that many people are too busy to notice. I really have no idea why they are catching my eye but for now I’ll stop to take artsy pictures and post them up.
Orange Agoseris: (Agoseris aurantiaca)
I had a couple of hours to get out for a ride so I boarded my Trance and pedaled up to Golden Ears Park. I had my chest-cam on at the Alouette River crossing so I filmed what I get to cross when ever I go for this ride. A little later at a small stream crossing I noticed what appear to be trout fry so I dipped my waterproof camera in the water to see what its like to be a fish.
The Chicken of the Woods:(Laetiporus sulphureus)
I noticed this glowing orange mass on a cedar in the forest, so I snapped a photo and looked up its name. Turns out its an edible fungus/mushroom that some people think tastes like chicken; hence the name Chicken of the Woods.
This morning I had a wicked sunrise ride. I arrived at dawn and started the climb to the top aboard my Rune.
On the way I snapped a picture of a blooming flower on edge of the road gleaming in the morning sun.
A flower on the edge of the trail - Hardhack - Spiraea douglasii
Once I hit the top I donned my helmet and began my descent down Krazy Karpenter, Blood Donor, Stovetop, Snakes and Ladders and finally Shotgun. The conditions we simply amazing and for the most part the trails are in great shape.
When the light shines through the trees lighting up the trail I just have to stop at take a picture.
Riding in the morning light
I’ve been experimenting with my camera lately and I made up a chest mount for my ContourHD. This first version seemed to work alright but needs a few little modifications to be more to my liking. This is a little edit of my ride through the eye on my chest.
I decided late this afternoon to go for a spin. I was at the parking lot at 5pm and on my way up. Recently there have been some culvert installations as well as a little logging at the bottom of The Gate and the top of Tsuga.
I brought my follow cam, helmet cam and seat tube mounts with me to see what angles I could film to get some different perspectives.
The video below shows what I was able to capture with my ContourHD and a few custom camera mounts.
The route I took was Tsuga, Snakes and Ladders, Bloggy Style and Shotgun.
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Tagged Banshee Rune, ContourHD, Follow-Cam, helmet-cam, The Woodlot
This morning Craig and I met at The Woodlot to do some recon work. Craig had a big effing saw with him and all the gear needed to run it like a pro. He walked and I pedaled up to the spot that had been looked at, but after walking it with him and talking about what would be involved, we both came to the conclusion that we just shouldn’t start this endeavor.
I decided to ride down (B-Line, Bloggy, Shotgun) and he hiked down the back to our cars. I did however bring my ContourHD with me and decided to test out a custom mount I made to firmly attach the camera to my helmet. It didn’t budge at all and for the most part I’d say it worked well. A few tiny tweaks and this thing is dialed.
After working at home all day I decided that I needed a little break, so I put on my riding shorts, grabbed my helmet and took off for a ride.
I rode up to Alco park and then crossed Alouette River into Golden Ears Park. I then headed back along some trails and crossed the river again at 24oth and home.
This ride took all of an hour with a pause for a quick photo.
Sweet double-track
Summer weather makes river crossings oh so refreshing.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I shuttled so when I was invited to shuttle Seymour today it took me no more than a nanosecond to say YES!
Curtis and I set off from home around 4:30 and headed to the shore with our bikes loaded in the back of his truck and arrived at Superstore by 5:15 and waited for the rest of our crew to show up.
Once the second truck and retrieval car arrived (Shaun, Greg, Jeff and J.P.) we loaded up a truck and blasted up to the top. 6 grown men in the cab of a Dodge 1500 is rather tight but doable.
The bikes in the shuttle truck
Seeing as Curtis was a CBC virgin, we decided we would ride CBC and then Lola / Cambodia. Below is a simple helmet-cam I took of CBC. The riders were Curtis, Shaun, Jeff, Greg, J.P. and me (Dean).
Mutilated E.13 bash ring
After CBC we hit a somewhat less traveled trail: Lola which leads into Cambodia. Below is a video compilation of Lola. Lots of Old School Shore.
I did another outback adventure into the UBC research forest. With my GPS in hand and a study of the maps of the area I made my way along a series of logging roads to Gwedoline Peak. On the way I passed a few lakes and took in the views that the area offers.
Placid Lake
Placid Lake
Looking south to Maple Ridge
When I reached the peak I was a little let down due to the fact that there were some clouds obscuring the view and some trees in the way of what should have been a spectacular view of the Fraser Valley. Regardless, I enjoyed the long ride out and back but would not recommend this ride unless you simply want a 15Km climb followed by a quick blast back home.
Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)
I snapped a few photos of the area and took in a view of the Golden Ears I have never seen before. If there weren’t any clouds, the photo below would have been much better.
The Golden Ears in the clouds
Maybe I’ll just have to head there on another sunny day.
A 180 degree panorama taken atop Gwendoline Peak
Looking north up Pitt Lake
Looking down on Widgeon Creek
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