A strange thing happened while we went in the pools one more time at Panorama........while the bikes were locked up outside the bike shop they mysteriously grew reflectors!! People have suggested it was Darcy but I think it was the "ground squirrels"
After a couple nights in the relative luxury of one of Panorama's, err more cost effective suites we were ready to save some cash and rough it a bit.Half an hour later and after an extensive dredging of the dark corners of Tim's memory, we found a cool spot in the mountains to camp for the night.
It had plenty of wildlife - we saw some deer wandering around us but it was too dark to get any decent photos - only managed photos of the flowers
Although you'd have thought I wouldnt have a problem with light on account of my farmers sunburn which was GLOWING after the 40deg heat the day before - no need for a fire!
After a false start with EZ-Tent's inaugural pitching I got a great nights sleep despite the fireworks (its Canada Day y'know!)
The next day after a quick visit to the local bike shop (it has to be done) we met Nick, Steve and Jamie at Mt Swansea for some shuttling action.
Aaron was our local guide and he did a great job of showing us the best trails before he had to rip of for some family duty
unfortunately Tim managed to wedge himself under a fallen tree but he survived to finish a couple laps before we had to refuel the truck and ourselves.
After a quick subway we decided that Mt 7 was beckoning but a short drive away.
Psychosis here we come!
An hour away is the town of Golden, the home of Mount Seven which is where for the past ten years the local nutters have held the The Mt 7 Psychosis - "The Most Demented Downhill Mountain Bike Race in the World"
With a drop of 4,500ft it takes about 40 mins to drive up - but only 15-20mins to ride a bike back down!! ;-)
The view from the top is amazing - click the picture for a better view....
S'funny how most trails have a sign on a tree - The Psychosis trail starts like this - an ominous arrow pointing over the side of a cliff! This is why its called the Psychosis!
Like me, Brian hadn't been here before. This was his first look over the edge. He was scared. I was scared. EVERYONE WAS SCARED!
Obviously photos cant do this justice but this is the view down the first pitch. Doesn't look much does it?
Does this help?
The top bit of the trail is known as "Dead Dog" - its the obvious trail you can see going straight down.....then even straighter down - yes, that's where it really get interesting!
You might just be able to make out the hang-glider launch pad on the left - its not as steep on that side ;-)
It has to be the craziest thing you could ever ride a bike down - to this day, a month after the event I couldnt settle on how I feel about it: Scared, fun, thrilling, sketchy, fast, ridiculous but oh so.... err..... so psycho!!!!
Post-ride, things were a little less tense than before the ride! We all survived but not without incident! I managed an 100ft sideways slide - speedway style - I get that from my mum's side of the family....
Mum's cousin Brian Brett in 1965 showing the style that I'd use 43 years later to ride down a cliff in Canada!
After our first run, Tim and I went up with the trail crew to help with some maintenance - good karma i thought - hmmm, not so sure now - I managed to roll a hugh rock onto my foot which resulted in a leaky big toe! Probably good that it bled and oozed for a week as it didnt build up too much pressure and I might just keep the nail.So much for karma.
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