My first Norco ride (Feb. 23, 2007)

Last weekend it was sunny and warm out and it looked like winter had finally come to an end. But nature had its own plans, it has snowed the last couple days. I was off work early and so was my dad so we decided to go hit up the woodlot for a ride. It was a cloudy day with the odd sunny break and there was fresh snow on the trail. I came straight from Vancouver so I didn't have my bike with me so I had to borrow the old man's 2002 Norco Team DH, and he rode his 2005 Norco Shore 1. This will be my first time riding a Norco ( and one size too small at that).

We decided to head up to upper Toadstool and then hook up with B-line since there has been some new work done on B-line, then finish off the ride with Hoots then Shotgun. There was a nice dusting of snow on the forest access road on the way up.

Dad and his '05 Shore ready to descend Toadstool.

My loaner bike for the day : medium '02 Team DH.

Upper Toadstool had about 5mm of snow on it which left the roots a little slick but other than that the trail was in fine condition. Surprisingly the medium Norco didn't feel too small for me once I got the feel for it on the downhill. The suspension action of the Team DH felt much nicer than my Devinci Magma and pedalling performance was noticeably better on the Norco. The two of us cruised down to B-line. I hadn't ridden B-line for some time and the snow made it difficult to actually see where the trail lay whereas dadman just had to follow my tracks which meant I had to ride even faster to keep him off my tail. I managed to navigate the trail just fine up to the steep middle section which was slick and rooty with tight bend at the bottom. I managed to cruise down the steep and just narrowly avoided crashing in the tight turn at the bottom when I heard a loud crash behind me. My dad had had endoed just before the turn at the bottom and actually slid head first past the turn. End result: charlie horse and a broken visor.

My dad's new "batman" visor.

After a short crash recovery we kept on. I guess with the layer of snow on the trail we missed the new section of B-line. The original trail however is always a blast at the end.

The main line on Hoots was free of snow which made for some good speed through the clear cut. The VPS rode flawlessly over the rough and pedalled fast out of every turn. We exited Hoots and were too lazy to climb back up to the top of Shotgun so we just cut in at the bottom half. We decided not to race down to the parking lot this time but had some fun hittin' some of the obstacles an practicing some high speed turns.

Me puttin' some high speed into a turn on Shotgun.

Me exiting the turn in racing form.

Riding over the ol' rock.

Dadman showin' how it's done!

My first experience riding a Norco VPS was definitely a good one. Maybe one day I will try out a Norco in my size and really put it to the test either way there's no better way to spend a Friday afternoon than to go for a ride, and yet another snow ride at that.

Balmy February (Feb. 10, 2007)

It's a balmy 15 degrees C, super sunny and blue skies. Once again meeting at the faithful woodlot always ready for riders. This time Amanda is not riding but she came along to drop me off. I was meting up with Brian and my dad. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no pictures this time :(

The three of us geared up and headed up the hill in the perfect weather. We weren't sure what to ride so we just kept going up. No more snow below the power lines and the ditches and creeks were flowing with run-off. We decided since there was no snow at the powerlines that we should attempt Goldmine. The access road was cleared of fallen trees and there was no snow so the trip up was looking good. We got about halfway from the p-lines to the trailhead when we hit about two and a half feet of snow! The snow was deep but it was melting fast and we had to watch out for stepping thru the snow and into water underneath. It was weird, being in in that much snow, the air was obviously cold at that elevation but every now and then there would be this blast of warm air like a mini chinook.

Eventually the three "wise" men made it to the Goldmine trail head. We suited up and began yet another snow ride. Upper Goldmine was in decent condition, the snow really didn't affect our speed. Brian, who was complaining about not being out riding in a while and needed to ease back into it was flying when it came to downhill, dad and I on the other hand were suffering from the lack of lunch fatigue. Fatigue and all, Goldmine was yet another classic downhill rip and still kept me smiling on the way down.

We arrived at the trail head to Snakes and Ladders and one by one we dove into the trail and began rippin it up. Everything was smooth and traction was great, even down the big rock face there was no hint of loss of traction. Then we come to the ol' steep ladder bridge. Just past the end of the ladder bridge is a small tree, maybe 4 or 5" in diameter. This tree has been struck by many upon many of riders who could not make the high speed off camber turn. I for one have been victim of this tree way back in the beginning. It has been years and I mean like 7 years since I have hit this tree! And wouldn't you know it on a day when fatigue was taking over I thought I could still ride like any other day. Wham! Over the bars I go, sliding down the hill. I regained my composure, got on my bike and kept going. I don't even remember how we rode out Shotgun. I was tired, the ride was good, the sky was sunny. The end.

Another team member returns! (Feb. 3, 2007)

It is official, my old man now owns the 2005 Norco Shore! Farewell ol' red 2001 Norco Team DH. The weather was promising so a ride was organized and we were to meet at the Woodlot as per usual. The group comprised of myself (Jason), my dad (Brent), my wife (Amanda), Brian, and long lost team awsome member Doug! The plan was to head up to Goldmine with the hope that the snow would have melted enough for us to get a good run with some speed. The apparent "promising weather" had other ideas. The overcast skies turned to light rain, which had turned to full out snowing at the power lines and we decided to ride Crazy Carpenter instead.

Amanda pushing through the snow at the power lines.

(notice the snow in the air aswell)

After gearing up in the forest, in the shelter from the snow, we began our descent. Brian led the way followed by my dad and Doug and myself with Manda picking up the rear. The three in the lead chose not to ride the first log ride but ride beside it instead due to the ladder bridge that was broken. My dad ended up endo-ing after a root drop when his tire jammed against a rock. I decided to ride the logride then hop off to the side just before the broken ladder bridge. Instead my rear tire slipped off the log about halfway along so I was forced to continue on along the same route my dad took and ended flying over my handlebars at the same stupid rock he hit. My little trail builder Manda dug the rock out and filled it in with a flat rock to prevent any future crashes. We scooted down the rest of the trail smoothly and problem free.

Amanda riding out the end of Crazy Carpenter

The group steamed on ahead with Toadstool followed by lower toadstool. We noticed that B-line has undergone and is still undergoing renovations and the two trails now merge together at the end. I will have to check out B-line next time.

L-R: Brian, Dadman, Doug, Manda the weirdo at the top of lower Toadstool

Now at a lower elevation the snow is just plain old rain which made it nearly impossible to keep our eyes open during the ride down the access road to Shotgun due to water and dirt spraying off our tires and into our faces. We assumed our regular race tradition and flew down Shotgun to the parking lot. Brian led the way followed by my dad then me and Doug and Amanda charging right behind. It was another awsome ride and we were completely soaked and our faces completely mud-freckled.