The Sunshine Coast

I did wonder if the John Henry bike club, Pedals and Pints, would be a poor relation to The Cove Club. Well, I couldnt have been more wrong. Not only do they ride in vast numbers (at least twice the people compared to my old club, "WASPS" back in Blighty but they also go on very cool Saturday rides from time to time. This was my first one with them and I only just find out about it the night before so I called the shop to clarify what kind of bike - "there's no shuttling" they told me so cross-country bike it is then!

The ride itself was on The Sunshine Coast - only a little further up the coast but requiring a veeeery looooooooooooong drive round Horseshoe Bay or a 30min ferry ride.

Click here for a nice view from the boat

...and the other way

We met up at the Gumboot Cafe in Roberts Creek. Like much of BC, it's a dump - just look at the boring views






I wouldnt want to live there....





...I'd never want to leave!


So, after a bit of organising, we split into 3 groups and shuttled up to the top of the trails



...yes, that's right - there WAS shuttling! Stupid people at the shop had made me bring the wrong bike! Ah well, I thought, c'est la vie. Better get on with it.

We did do a little climb (20mins) so the first downhill was "Red Barron"


It was much as the rest of the trails here, lots of trees, roots and loamy soil so not at all bad for the Hummer (that's my cross country bike in case you're not familiar with such things)


It was a beautiful forest, much like The Shore, but generally flatter and not as rocky

here's Megan on one of the wider ladder bridges





We did so many trails I can't remember them all but I know this jump was at the beginning of "Janet's Jungle".

That's Megan catching some air - no not THAT Megan, this is the other one, Doctor Megan - if you spam yourself at Whistler there's a good chance she'll be the one trying to put you back together!





All the trails here are really fun, nothing too silly in the stunt dept but still plenty to keep it interesting

Here's John - he couldn't manage the last lap as his pedal fell off!








Monica













Sven













One of my favourite trails here was "Cunning Stunts" it had loads and loads of, err, stunts and some of them were really, err, cunning!










Here's Dorothy on the rope bridge - yes - really - a rope bridge - it was very cool. Graham (the trailbuilder) also had enless skinnies, roller-coasters, teeters, steppy-bumpy-things, a swivel-teeter and my personal favourite, a reverse teeter-totter - you ride onto what looks like a huge flat timber - little do you realize that once you get your weight on it, it falls down, leaving you to ride up i, past the pivot to make it go down flat again - really odd but great fun










y'know, I really look up to the women that ride over here

here's Monica again - this time on the rope bridge









Here's Dr Megan on the DH course. This jump was pretty tricky - it was on quite a steep slope, in the middle of an S-bend, with a few feet gap from the take off to the log - oh, and a nice big tree if you didnt make the bend!
















Our intrepid leader, Ken going for the gap a bit further on

Unfortuantely, I didn't get any photos of the best trail - DNA - best for me cos it had five gap jumps all in a row. At first I was a bit nervous of doing them on my XC bike but after a couple runs I was flying across the lot. Big thanks to Derek for having a mechanical at just the right moment!



Before long, it was time to go for the 'pints' bit of the day. We headed back to Gibson for a slap up binge at Mrs Miggins pie shoppe.


Well, the Black Shark pub anyways....they had ENORMOUS burgers - all pub burgers in Canada are huge but these were ridiculous! And that was it, we caught the last ferry home and lived happily ever after.

The End.