The last installmentof Kevin’s journey to Vancouver recounts his trip to the Sunshine Coast where he experienced many firsts. Now here he is with another first – a shuttle of Seymour in North Vancouver.
A fog bank shrouds the top of the mountain and it looks like a typical humid North Van kind of day as Kevin drops into CBC – or the Poster Child trail as it’s sometimes called.
Its hard to believe but this is a daylight picture.
CBC sees a lot of work during NSMBA trail days. Some of this work involves rock work on steep sections which Kevin rolls.
Some of this work involves building up launches for small jumps
and a lot of work went into the Gerbil Cage extension of CBC. Lower on the trail and below the fog line and into sun, Kevin drops into the entry ramp.
Further along the Gerbil Cage on some ground level skinnies
and the skinnies keep going.
Although the skinnies are low to the ground, the consequence of falling is not injury or death but DIRT – of the muddy variety. I’m not quite balanced as Kevin follows me.
Oh no, Kevin didn’t hear the part where I said “You might want to give me some space”
and down he goes.
Well that was rather pathetic on my part. Kevin doesn’t let this faze him and gives it another try.
Success on the B.C. “singletrack”!
Continuing down the trail where the trail forks.
Construction of this section took a month and the bridges are designed to raise riders above this low-lying sensitive swampy area.
The trail then routes around this huge old-growth cedar
and then an optional section of the trail takes you up another bridge
and then down this fallen suspended hemlock
A large fallen log that bridges a creek was sawcut to form part of the trail – the “Millenium Log”
The character of the trail is different on the lower section. Here Jeremy, the trailbuilder has put in rock and log berms.
and used the natural rock contours to make the ride down challenging yet relatively erosion-proof.
Finally CBC ends!
Yet after finishing CBC one is only halfway down the mountain. Next we continue on to Corkscrew, then Pingu – no pictures were taken as we get some speed going on these relatively easier trails. Then we are on to Team Pangor
Pangor used to be a muddy churned mess. No more. Now a beautiful flowy trail; Kevin finds the first berms.
.
Then on to a long log ride go Kevin and Sharon
Chris, one of the builders has created this flat-landing special
Then on to some more nice low-consequence log rides goes Sharon.
and Kevin
Then on to a nice little stunt with two variations; a rollable ramp or a rock drop with a little gap.
Another Shore classic, Boogeyman is accessible via a short hike from Pangor. Here Kevin stands on the Boogeywoman log bridge – 7 feet above the forest floor – and takes in the atmosphere.
After this little break, Kevin takes the opportunity to practise hucking.
and to practise rock face riding
Here’s the rock face from another angle which shows its steepness.
And then following that rock face there is a small launcher.
Unfortunately for me and my bike, landing the drop sends the derailleur into the spokes with predictable results … ouch!
Thankfully the bike is the only casualty. We finish the ride off by riding the Empress Strikes Back with no further event.