Jan 12, 2000 – Cypress Bowl Snow ride

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt1

t's been a while since I've done the NVPOTW and Khool - the lazyass girlyman - hasn't posted anything in a while. Now, for everyone who doesn't know me, I'm a 2 year vet of this board and while all of you have been going crazy with cabin fever I've been out playing with my cadre of North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ (NSSFED) tm!

Yes, where's there's snow, there's play - there's snow skiing, fresh tracks and brand new white parchment on which to embroiders one's own special sliding signature! And on this beautiful day in good ol' bike-friendly West Vancouver - what better day to celebrate a Sunday then with some friends out on a mellow cruiser ride.

The view is on the third switchback in Cypress, West Vancouver - from left to right - Brian, Sheldon, Bill - THE krazy karpentar, MattS, Thad, Chris and DaveK.

I, of course, being the ugliest one around - get stuck taking the picture.

More to follow tomorrow....

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt 2

Getting a lot of curious looks from hikers, snowshoers and the occassional – "you guys are nuts!" comments – we trundle down the trail. No first tracks – clearly someone has already been down and make our way to Wild Cherry.

We catch another group at the start of Wild Cherry and I go on ahead figuring that I can get some good cartwheel pictures at the bottom of the first drop. Potential is good as there's a good foot of really slippery snow on the ground.

Well, there's two distinct lines immediately on the trail – good building protocol to put in a bail out option. The sissy line isn't that steep and cuts off to the left and makes a sharp right hand turn avoiding a 40 degree rock face. I (of course) discount the girlyman option and immediately head to the rock face and look over.

Oooohh…. it's pretty steep. It's a good thing I don't have much depth perception. Oh, well – don't think, just do. I hurl myself off it not even bothering with the brakes until I hit bottom. Oooops, there's a ledge – goes through my mind as I air off it barely missing a stump on the left and then superman off the bike, chesting it out on the snow. I'm a little winded but waterproof jackets are a wonderful thing and I don't slide all the way down the slope, recovering just in time to see the crew come down the SISSY line.

What!!! That's outrageous! I'm incompetent by today's eXtreme DOODZ standards and I won't sit back and watch these guys in dualies and disc brakes not have a turn at a flying wheel of destruction.

So, off goes Thad down the slope. To his credit, I don't even have to taunt him. Thad is only too willing to risk life and limb with or without camera! HE styles the drop!

Funny, how the camera doesn't bring out steepness in a slope. I sent MattS after Thad and got a shot looking down from above but the shot didn't come out too well. MattS is sooo smooth. No problem.

Then I send Bill down. Let me tell you about Bill – he's a good guy, a helluva trail builder and has some really demented ideas about trails. Him and Chris both build, build well and are truly creative.

Oh, he can also ride half-decent/

More to follow /….

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt 3

Wild Cherry is one of the trails which was "chainsaw-massacred" last summer so many of the stunts are now gone. It is ironic that the rideable line is still preserved as that line consists of steep rock faces – rideable only by the insane!

I, being all old and creaky and full of excuses today, beg off. However, little convincing is needed for Thad to hurl himself off this wee little drop.

Let me tell you all a little bit about Thad and MattS. They are both anomalies – non-locals – nay Americans even who can ride!!! :> Ken/PTGM already showed me that Ontarioan flatlanders could style and turn their brain off as well as anyone. Thad and MattS both did the same thing forever impressing the uselessness of stereotypes on me!

Thad is aggressive. He is also smooth but he just charges. No problems with this drop; about 10 feet long, 45 degrees and a 8 foot runout. Did I mention it was covered in snow?

He makes it no problem. Hhmmph… must be the disc brakes.

Next is Bill. Gawd he's gotten smooth. If Thad was room-temperature newly drawn butter, Bill is pure PTFE non-stick frying pan. He ghosts down the drop, he makes it looks so easy that I am almost convinced to try it.

OK, he has Maguras; we know they're awesome rim brakes. I've got Maguras too. Wonder what's my excuse?

I talked a little about pictures and how they don't tell the whole story. Pictures shot ahead of a drop pointing at the rider tend to show something that isn't very steep.

MattS is another non-stereotype. An amazingly skilled and confident rider without the slightest hint of trash talk. He just RIDES! No attitude here – he lets his bike handling skills do all the talking.

A lot of times, pictures won't turn out as well if the subject hesitates. For all these three guys, no problems, no hesitations. They never thought about launching off that drop or the consequences of missing the landing and cartwheeling into the snow twice.

As MattS shows – with this drop, maybe one should? Too late ……. Arrrragggghhh!!

Actually, he made it, no problem

More to follow ----

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt 4

The next set of pictures are seriously stupid. What really appalls me is that I DIDN"T try it. I really have to have a reality check on where my guts went --- hellloooo, guts - manhood?? Where are yoooooouuuu????

This is the first drop into Cherry Bomb. I guess the ramp went in after the District of West Vancouver ripped all the structures out of the trail - possibly sometime in fall because it sure is a man made structure if I've ever seen one albeit one made out of cedar deadfall.

I'll describe it first just so you can see it and then show the weenie pictures of Bill and MattS riding them. Doesn't look like much right. Here's Bill letting go and dropping in.

and here's MattS. Really well-taken pic if I must say so.

Now remember, these guys are smooth, and skilled. No problem kids! Just don't try this at home.. This is a serious drop - 45 degrees down a rockface about 6 feet tall and slicker than welll ... new snow! Then on to a 50 degree ramp nicely cambered with a sweet transistion on to a ladder bridge off on to the snow.

No problem! Then why, oh why ... when I was standing up top looking down did I feel a dark presence beside me ... hot dank breath over my shoulder. And looking down onto the ramp and the transistion, "only" 3 feet above the ground but the shadow cast on the snow may as well have been the entrance to some Lovecraftian maw ... twisting and writhing in anticipation of my body impaled on timber ... a harbinger of doom perhaps crosses my sweat-bespeckled brow (insert cliché here)

I think I think too much. Thad just rides it.

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt 5

We continued down Cherry Bomb where Thad launches a wee stump landing … ooff on the snow.

Matt does likewise and cleans the drop. I was thinking about it, stopped to pose on top of the tree – with a hardtail, the technique involved is a little different. Unlike the dualies which can "simply" approach with speed and air off the log and absorb the 4 to 5 foot drop, I have to pedal kick off the log – using a half – quarter and land rear wheel first.

Excuses fly through my mind. The landing spot is soft- I couldn't really hurt myself if I try. Yet, something snaps shut in my head and says a resounding NO! Boy, what a chicken ride this is turning out to be – as I walk around the stunt.

Maybe that's why I try so hard in the next section of trail. We turn off Cherry Bomb and on to Roach Hit. Roach Hit's stunts have been picked clean by our very own District of West Vancouver and British Properties. There are no more stunts on the trail. This is not to say that the trail isn't hard. It's pretty hard to remove all the rocks, or all standing deadfall or logs. And all of those are perfectly rideable. Of course, there's a lot of snow and that means low traction as I find out next.

We come to a rock face. About 6 feet high and fairly steep – maybe 45 degrees (it's on the right of the picture) with a 30 degree runout on to a sweeping right hand turn.

There's a tree in the middle of that turn.

Do you see what's coming next?

Anyway, I hand the camera off to Bill and drop the rock face once. Bill tells me that he didn't think he got the shot so I figured I'd do it again. What could happen, right?

I approach the rock face, stand up just before I get to the drop, and push the bike off in front of me, getting behind the saddle at the same time. No problem on the transistion and I hold off on the brakes – the runouts covered in snow after all.

Leaning the bike to turn, this time the side lugs don't bite and I am two – wheel drifting to the tree, in

slow

motion

BOOM! I managed to almost take all impact on my helmet and spin off the tree ragdolling in to the ferns and snow. Ooohh that one will smart.

Brian holds up fingers and asks me to count. Three, I tell him. Not bad I feel and stagger up and take a breather. The damage count, a severely bruised ear. I'm bleeding like a stuck pig, bits of cartilege are hanging off. I look worse than I feel I tell the guys and off we go again.

North Shore Snow Freeriding eXtreme DOODZ Pt 6

The first bleeder doesn't faze Matt at all. He was smart enough to go full-face. Here he rides a log with a ramp exit but he decides that the ramp looks sketchy so dispenses with it altogether.

The last part of the ride was rather .... well.. tame. There was no more snow and other than the ringing in my ears, the trails were back to their rather predictable self. No more two wheel slides around slippy-slidy snowy corners. No more laying into the turn hoping your tire lugs bite. No more hope-and-pray jumps over drifts. Just fun, fast, downhill sections. The last worthy section to take shots is a bermed run-out over a pit. Yes, a pit!! Luckily there's a beautiful ramp at the top for one to air.

Ooops Thad, what happened to your head!

and style is shown by Bill – Mr Krazy Karpentar himself!

Last, but not least – boy is he smooth …. Matt!

Exit Cypress. No broken parts; no broken bikes. Quite the impressive tally of bruises but that was all!