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