Sunday morning ride in KL

Andrew, me, & Phil met at 10am - Phil was recovering from the flu and Andrew hadn't ridden in a few weeks, so it was an easy pace today.  We did our usual loop but counter clockwise and noticed a bit of a drop in riders on the trails.  The reverse loop actually seems a lot easier for some reason.  The trails were a little slicker this time with traces of ice /snow/ mud.  Watched some beavers punch through the ice in the swamps..little camera wouldn't work, so phone pics were all i could manage.  We're going to see if we can ride through the winter but I've tried before with mixed results.  It all depends on the snow and traffic on the trails.

break for beavers

jumbo 'shrooms

more beaver action (really they're there)

more pics from Andrew's phone:

Sunday afternoon ride in KL

Almost called this one off due to heavy rain, but it cleared up and  we postponed the ride until noon.  I texted with Andrew and Frank who ended up being late due to mechanical probs with Frank's bike.  I took the extra time to snoop in the woods and grab a local geocache not too far down the trail.  The boys finally arrived and Frank was keen to sell me his downhill armor to fund his upcoming trip to the Alps. I'll be good to go next season for downhill.
  I had a full tank of gas and was ready to burn it up today.  The trails were fairly dry despite the rainfall, however the forecast was calling for a temp drop during to day  (supposed to hit minus10 tonight).  Not too far into the ride Frank hit the wall (he didn't eat enough) and he bailed and turned back.  Andrew and I kept up a decent pace and got back to the trail head around 3 or 4ish.  Brought the gopro along for fun and grabbed a little footage.

I am Iron Man!

Sunday morning ride in KL

Weekly ride in KL.  Andrew couldn't make it, but Phil showed up.  Perfect weather again and hoping to burn off the pizza and birthday cake from Liam's party yesterday.
This week I put some new bearings on the main pivot and replaced the rear shock rear shim.  Now it's obvious that the front shim is worn too.  I noticed that the suspension feels stiff after riding for a couple of hours - I'm not sure if this is my imagination or my body?  It seems like the suspension only responds to the heavier impacts after a while.

Phil's doing a night ride on Wednesday but I'm not sure I can swing that.

Sunday morning ride in KL

Sweet weather again!  Hit the trails just after 9am (daylight savings helped with that).  It was cold - the swamps were sporting a layer of ice, and the soil was crunchy with frost.  Me, Andrew and Phil spent the next 3 1/2 hours busting our butts on the trails. Our toes and fingers were cold but everything was toasty after the first hour.  No mechanical probs or issues this time and a slight decline in numbers of bikers and hikers on the trails.  Andrew did a few endo's but nobody saw..he was ok.  While descending a section after the ridgetop, I brushed away a tree branch with my bars only to have it come back and whip me right in the nipple!  dang!!! that hurts!  

lots of little moths..what up wit dat?

 

frisbee fungus stuck in tree

climbed a tree just for fun

post ride helmet head

Sunday morning ride in KL

Met up with Andrew, Phil, & Jeff (new guy).  Beautiful day for a ride although a little chilly.  Spent about 3 1/2 hours in the woods and we really pushed it.  The trails seem to be much much busier now...must be the time of year?  My legs actually started to feel stiff near the end which doesn't normally happen.

Phil

Jeff

Andrew

Sunday morning ride in KL

Met up with Andrew for a ride.  Trails were a little wet but still pretty fun.  Andrew was hurtin with jellow legs, but I was ready to blast.  He also ran into trouble with his chain and then his headset exploded a bearing/race.
Checked out the centrum jump trails and found a mushroom or two.  Very smooth berms and curves there- would like to ride it someday.

oh, snap!

SBX day 2

After a good night's rest, Jim and I hit Picton for some breakfast and fueled up.  The wind blew all night so we expected some large waves but we were disappointed at what we found at Mac's.  The wind was half as strong as the day before but the waves were not super big - they looked like fun anyway.  We rigged up ( 5.2 & 85 quatro) and scored a fun session with some front & backside wave rides.  Tried a loop but forgot to commit and landed on my gear - nice bruise.  After a while I came in expecting to rig my 4.2 but I couldn't find where Jim hid the key for the van.  Went back out and sailed some more until lunchtime.  We took a break, left the gear on the beach and went back to our room to make the 1:30 check out.  We scarfed some pasta and then got back down to the beach for another session.  Eventually some rain squalls choked off the wind so we called it quits.  Patrick Bergeron was on site (although not at his best as he was nursing a sore ankle).  He was pulling one handed back loops as he 'took it easy'...

wrong camo for the beach

Jim's expert rigging

Patrick Bergeron

 

on the road again

this guy was munching apples when I got home

SBX west lake

The plan: meet up with Jim at Sandbanks, sail all day, sleep, wake up sail some more.  The forecast was looking crazy with 40-50knot gusts.  Got up early and after grabbing a geocache in almonte (first to find!) I headed to Picton.

yawn

 We checked out Mac's and it was nuts...huge waves, rain, and guys barely hanging on.  We decided to test out west lake from Isaiah Tubbs resort where we had a room.  It was nuts there too, my 3.5 sail was overpowered and it was a workout just to keep things together.  Squalls came and went - first sunny, then downpour...then repeat.  We never made it back to Mac's because it seemed like suicide.  We crashed early hoping Sunday would be a little more manageable.

Jim making his way to west lake

in the air

Bromont dh

Got up at 5:30 am and met up with Andrew around 6:15.  From his place we left together and carpooled with Frank for the 3hr drive.  Beautiful weather for sure, and a whole day set aside to ride down the mountain..over and over again.  I was worried when I saw Andrew and Frank throwing on all the extra armour: neck braces, spine protectors, hip pads etc.  I just had protection for the elbows, full face helmet and my old mx knee braces (which I hate).  The trails were pretty fun with tons of obstacles and features, but I rode conservatively and kept things under control.  Tons of sweet ramps, drops and kickers..especially in the park - you could really get some great air or get really hurt.  We also met up with Andrew's friends George and Tristan.  Later Tristan slipped a pedal and nutted himself pretty bad (blew apart his seat so something took a hit).  I flatted once and got a ride down the rest of the hill on an atv which saved some time, but I did waste quite a bit of time trying to coax a tube into my tubeless tire. Finally I was back in the lift line when I noticed my other tire was flat too.  Luckily it wasn't damaged - just lost its air somehow??  As the day went on I noticed my bike handling less than optimal so I figure the suspension needs some major tuning now.  Survived the day without crashing, but my ankle swelled up afterward, so I must have tweaked it somehow.

top of the mountain

South March Highlands

After dropping Liam off at a birthday party I hit the trails.  Beautiful warm fall day = record number of riders on the trails.  Lot's of hikers too.  Stopped to find a geocache, but it was nowhere to be found...can't find the cradle for my gps - this is not good because I won't be able to recharge it until I find it.  Great ride overall - 2 hours on the trails.  Stopped to clip some video and snap some pics.

what is this tree hiding?

easy drop

double exposed drop

Wednesday afternoon skunk

not much of a session here...drove to work with the truck loaded and took the afternoon hoping for some northerly winds...Britannia..nothing...Grandview...nothing...Shirley's Bay...hmmm rigged up the 6.8.  Water levels are so low - it's a mine field of submerged boulders.  Smacked the fin, my knee, toes etc.  Got planing a couple of times, but not what I was expecting for using up 1/2 of a vacation day.  Met some guy named Benny at Shirley's - also, so 73 year old dude took a heart attack at Britannia later on that day (windsurfing!)

weekly Kanata Lakes ride

I did housework most of the morning, so it was nice to get outside and into the woods.  Despite a bit of rain, the trails were not very slick.  GPS wasn't charged, so no geo-caching today.  Lots of riders out today and a few hikers.  Stopped a few times to 'pish' out a bird here & there but without binocs or a my zoom lens I couldn't really id anything.  The woods definitely smell different now - maybe the wet leaves?  Overall good ride.

swamp 'thing' spotted just over there

Constance Bay

Cold northerly wind around 20knots - perfect for my 5.2 and 85l quatro.  Hit the water around noon with Dunrobin local Peter Williamson.  I really like this beach - lots of sand and a nice view of the Gatineau hills.  There were small rollers forming and I tried a forward loop..closed my eyes, tucked and spun around -not sure what it looked like..my feet were not on the board when I landed.  Tried a few vulcans and the my usual stuff.  My hands never did quite warm up and the water must have been warmer than the 11degree air.  Had a couple hours of fun sailing.  Peter took his 7m kite out too.  While taking a few pics of Pete, I noticed some little gulls and snapped a few.  Overall good session -  I think I'll visit Constance bay more often when the wind blows due north - thanks to Peter for showing me around the spot - he lives just down the river (and on the river) in Dunrobin.

 

drive right up - i like that

nice view of the Gats

Peter on his home-made board

little Bonaparte's Gulls - i like that

Kanata Lakes - mid afternoon ride

I was really supposed to be somewhere in the downtown area today, but my day took a detour  to rebec & Kroes. I was back in business after Josh & Beth set me up with a new Kenda nevegal tire for the rear.  Picked up a wicked little pump too (Lezyne)- super small and light. Since I had my bike there, the tech at the shop showed me that I needed to bleed off some air that snuck into my fork. After that, I hit the southmarch highlands and had a great ride - the fork felt a little stiffer and the new tire gripped fine.

how can anybody work on a day like this?

Kanata Lakes

Beautiful weather, but I'm having a bad day.  Fought all morning with gremlins in the electrical circuits of the jeep without any success.  Hit the trails to burn off some frustration and brought along the gps to nab a few geocaches.  Things went downhill when I developed a slow leak in the rear...again.  I haven't replaced my missing pump, and now I'm paying for it.  I rode with low pressure for a while, un-weighting the rear as much as I could - I think that's how I managed knock the gps off with my knee?  Hid my bike in the woods, and went back on foot to look for it -forest green is not a good colour for a trail gps.  A few riders came through and I asked if they'd seen it - nope.  Gave up, turned around and hiked back and there it was! yay.  Ok, not a total loss - then I stopped a rider and borrowed his pump to get back up to speed...actually stopped 3 different riders to refill on the way out.  Managed to get 2 out of 3 geocaches after I recovered the gps.  Also took a bee in the eye, luckily it didn't sting! (always wear eye protection - I had taken my shades off to look for the gps).
  Weird day.

yet again... another late afternoon solo ride - Kanata Lakes

Fast paced ride - nice & dry, quite a few hikers and a few bikers today.  No pics, but it was a gorgeous day.  A lot of people out with their dogs..I felt like dog napping one to take on the ride with me.  I think I have the trails figured out now - may be able to do a night ride some time.  Oh, nearly fell in the swamp off a ladder bridge when my bars clipped a close tree at speed..leg straight out to the left.. kept my balance!  (clipless shoes and I'd have crashed without a doubt).

Kanata Lakes

It was a last minute decision to go for a ride, I was set to go to Shirley's Bay but the causeway / dyke was closed due to live fire on the shooting range today to take pics of birds.  I did notice a hawk on the way to the trailhead - i think it had just finished eating another bird?  Despite some rain last night the trails were fairly dry.  Snagged a geocache too while I was on the trails - one I missed the other day.  Took a side trail and found a few obstacles to play try out.

somebody made a little stunt

wish there were more of these

don't fit - maybe with a wheelie?

weekly Kanata Lakes ride + geocaching

Decided to find a few caches while doing the KL trails so I strapped on the gps.  I've discovered these two pursuits go well together, but I guess if I always ride the same trails I'll ultimately run out of caches to find there.  I managed to find 3 today so it worked out pretty well. Rode for a couple of hours & the trails were nice and dry...almost a little too dry..the swamp water levels seem really low.  A couple of places along the trails I could smell something very sweet, like coton candy??  I'll have to figure out what makes that smell!

bullit pimped out with gps

nearest caches - if they showed under 50m I stopped and had a look

dried up swamp - lots of shore birds running around

Barred owl primary feather

Model b cache - huge!

hurricane Irene fringe benefits

Hurricane Irene was trouble for the east coast, but at least it generated a little wind inland.  A cold Sunday afternoon with NNE winds so I chose Grandview road to get the best fetch.  Sailed 5.2 & 4.2 on the 85L quatro.  Sailed in a shorty for a couple of hours with a long sleeve rash guard underneath but eventually I got pretty cold.  The water was really choppy with some mini ramps here and there and it was also a lot warmer than the air.

still another late afternoon solo ride - Kanata Lakes

This was a nice ride - dry with beautiful weather.  Didn't see a soul on the trails except for critters...so many chipmunks - they must be preparing for the fall.  It's really a beautiful trail and you have to stop now and then to take it in.  I know there are owls in there, and I think I found an owl pellet (what's left over from a meal that can't be digested) right on the trail.  It looked like it had been run over or torn apart so I'm not totally sure what it was.

exploded owl pellet?

Mallorytown Landing - personal windsurfing day)

I get one personal day to take off every year so I decided to use it today to drive down to Mallorytown Landing to see if the wind would produce something.  The wind was a little disappointing but I had about 2 hours on my 5.7 which is not bad - just not what I had hoped for.  Joel, his friend Thomas, Tim, John and some locals were there.  Had to wear the shorty today - at least it fits. Oh, also found the local geocache and spied a couple of Osprey.  Lots of cormorants too, and actually a tern was following me for a stretch while a sailed.  Saw some other bird that I didn't recognize, but it looked like a flying penguin from below??

another late afternoon solo ride - Kanata Lakes

A wet muddy ride, but the rain held off until I finished.  Rear tire lost some air pressure along the way (I didn't bring a pump) so I think I was riding on less than 20psi in the back.  Had a couple of wipeouts along the way too, but just the tuck and roll kind.  Had the 'park' all to my self.

he's got some jewelry on his leg

 Saw this red tail hawk on the way there and back on richardson side road.

late afternoon solo ride - Kanata Lakes

Although I'm disgusted by the Terry Fox drive extension through some of my favorites trails, it's now open and gets me to the new trailhead at second line fairly quick.  Only saw one rider on the trails today- like I had it all to myself.  The Ottawa mountain bike club has posted numbered signs at each significant landmark on the trails and is requesting public suggestions for their names.  If the signs remained, it would help a lot to navigate.  I'm still not sure how I manage to find my way through there.

road trip: Malorytown Landing - super hot day

Temps in the mid-thirties with south west winds...south west winds at Britannia are gusty and dirty, so I decided to run down to the St Lawrence river for an afternoon session.

my gear rides shot-gun today

 
  It's a beautiful spot and it didn't disappoint - I started out on a 5.7 and later rigged up my 5.2.  Got to use both boards.  Ran into local sailor Oliver and met Mike Fisher from Kingston.  Oliver had some bad luck and cut his big toe up BAD on his fin.  He was bleeding like crazy, but he got taped up and got out on the water!  Mike Fisher is an awesome sailor - he was pulling vulcans, spocks, grubbys, loops, and tons of other tricks!  He was sailing a 5.3 and 4.7 always on a 105 freestyle quatro board.  One time I came in to put on a weed fin, took off my harness....changed fins, and went to put my harness back on and it was gone!  vanished...looked everywhere..finally it turned up down the shore line about 40 meters.  My guess is that a kiter walking by accidentally hooked it on his lines and dragged it out with him. I was relieved to retrieve it - my gps was attached to it. 
Afterward, I thought I'd try to find a geocache or two in the vicinity - found one and got stumped by the other.

took some time out to find the lonely pioneer geocache

OBX: no wind (phew)

wind was totally light and I was actually relieved...sailed waaay too much on thurs.

so, off to the beach to try to surf some big messy waves generated from the NE winds...Jim and Mike laughed at my expense as I fought to get out past the break, constantly fight currents, and get drilled occasionally.   I managed one nice ride to redeem myself and the suckers witnessed it so i got a little satisfaction.  The day before, some locals caught a small shark off the Avon pier... but the day before that they said they got a 15 footer...   the possibility of a shark attack is incredibly small but it is still hard to not imagine your leg getting tugged when you're out in the water...eeek

shell collection

OBX: North-East wind in the sound

ok...it blew all day...I started sailing on my new 5.7 with the jp 102.  Next i tried my new freestyle fin on the jp...hmmm not bad...a little small, but it's manageable.  Wind increased so I tried the 5.7 with the quatro board for a while...then the 5.2 for the rest of the day...tons of crashes...pulled some one-handed carve 360's, heli-tacks, and getting much more comfortable practicing the vulcans...
It's supposed to blow the same again for friday...we'll see

5.2 sail + 85 Quatro

OBX: birding session

No wind today so I snuck away to Pea island   for a free guided bird walk
about 10 of us headed out at 8am - i fit in with the nerdlingers with binoculars and camera except I forgot sunscreen and bug spray.  the mosquitoes have better aim when the wind is gone i discovered.
It was super hot and although I was being attacked, dripping with sweat, and visiting during the 'off season' for birds, I still had a good time and learned about the local birds.  Two women led the walk and teed up birds for the group with their scopes.
I posted some shots here.

lots-o-birds (this shot actually has a bunch of birds in it - can you spot them?)

I spent the rest of the day at the beach surfing on the big 8'6 long board.
Tomorrow is looking good for sailing but with a 180 deg. shift in wind direction