TR: Tour de Spark!

[Spark]

Before the snow really starts to fly around here, I thought I’d share some of my travels this riding season. Besides the great local riding, the adventurer in me loves to travel and I had some great trips this summer.

Since ski season lasted so long my first bike trip was in May over the Victoria day long weekend to the Okanagan where we rode Smith Creek, Naramata and Rock Oven. This trip totally helped me get back into riding and get my skills dialed down once again. Photos Barb Haley and Johnny Smoke (more here http://bushpilotbiking.com/may-long-2011-1/3020/)







Over the July long weekend, I headed to 100 Mile house for a relaxing weekend with friends. We did some fishing and riding in Williams Lake.



In mid-July, a crew of us headed to Mountain Bike Oregon in Oakridge. From a trip last year, I knew the riding would be so good and smooth. The endless single track was such a treat. It was so easy to just let the bike go. We also rode the Mckenzie River Trail which was beautifully surrounded by such a lush forest.









Then for the first week of August I headed to the Yukon and AK. Riding in the Yukon had been on my mind for a while, especially since friends had raved about it. So a couple Muddbunnies and I flew to Whitehorse and rode for 3 days with Boreal Mountain Biking. I then did a solo trip to Haines Junction and Haines AK, which was pure heaven. I heart AK so much! Will be back! Photos below Jaclyn Delacroix and I.







This photo is of a grizzly crossing the Yukon River. You could him breathing before you saw him. We waited and watched him climbed up the steep slope, across our trail, and left us a nice gift too. Saw a bunch more grizzles in Haines and a couple along the sides of the highway.












Soon after that I was off to the West Kootenays to join my friends Ina and Craig. I rode in Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, and New Denver. The weather was sunny skies everyday and with the late snow season, the alpine wild flowers at the end of August were just off the hook. Photos below Ina and Craig Hunt and I.















Rode from the peak down!

[Spark]

Wanting more alpine riding, my friend Jaclyn and I planned a trip to the South Chilcotins over the Labour Day long weekend. We had an awesome weekend with a few good friends and scored again with the weather. The scenery and riding is just spectacular there. One day we did a float plane drop and rode 53 km, and the other we was 28 km with 2,000 m of climbing. Photos below Jaclyn Delacroix, Steve Sheldon and I.





Lorna Lake




















Some well deserved beers!


Towards the end of the summer I also became a bike slut again, demoing a number of different dual suspension XC bikes. In the end, it was the same bike that caught my heart last year, so I pulled the trigger and got a great end of season deal, and got to rock my new Stumpy riding in Pemberton this past weekend. Photo Jaclyn Delacroix



I’m stoked to have the new bike for all my riding adventures next year, but now it’s time to bring on the snow!

[Hicks]

Stunning! Thx for sharing.

[gravitylover]

Beautiful...

[Mr. Altagirl]

Nice Work, though there are no photos of you riding in Ymir...(being chased by dogs propably)
Moab next weekend to finsh the year out? Sorry we missed you in Whitler but it looks like you had a good weekend that time as well.

[JoshP]

Spark for the win! Looks like you had an amazing summer. So many cool spots. Thanks for sharing. And the new Stumpy looks sweet.

Hope we get to shred snow or dirt with you again in 2012.

[El Chupacabra]

Fantastic summer! How are you gonna top that for winter?

[butterscotch]

so much radness.

[reidhresko]

um summer = crushed. strong work!

[tone capone]

Sweet!!!!

[grinch]

nice pics. quite the summer.good job

[BrianH]

Yay for sparkleponies! Or should I say Sparkle Motion, cuz' you seem to move a lot.

[utsnowgirl]

OMG looks like you had the best summer ever! Great pictures - Thanks for sharing!

[frorider]

Johnny Smoke ... haven't talked to that guy in eons. like, 10 yrs.

great pics. thx for posting the stoke.

[Tech Tonics]

chicks are fucking rad!

[Spark]

Thanks everyone!! The toughest part of putting this TR together was picking what photos to include.

Moab next weekend to finish the year out?

A trip to Moab would have been a great ending. Hope you guys had a great weekend.

How are you gonna top that for winter?

It’ll be tough but got a couple things planned so far Easier to get time away in the summer when work is slow.

Johnny Smoke ... haven't talked to that guy in eons. like, 10 yrs.

Smoke is awesome! I randomly bumped into him riding in Pemberton a couple weekends ago as he was guiding
http://bushpilotbiking.com/bush-pilot-biking/about/.

[Dantheman]

Way cool!

[beaterdit]

Awesome!

[grskier]

This trip report = winning in every way!

[goldenboy]

Just to echo other comments, you crushed it

[schuss]

FKNA!

Nice work.

[sparkletarte.]

wow nice, and gorgeous pics!

sparkles ftw!

[steadieflow]

Awesome....love the float plane shuttle. Many of those pictures remind me of Crested Butte.....really need to get up that way to ride.

[phatfreeheeler]

Wow, such beautiful places to ride. Soo fun looking. Total overload of stoke!! Sorry I won't get to ski with you again this winter and have you tell me which way to ride off all those fun pillows. In my place, I'm still trying to convince my UTSG to join you all in the land of Your Mutt Is Roaming.

[dinlaroche]

Okanagan, Central Interior BC, Oregon, Yukon, Alaska, Kootenays and Chilcotins. I think you've packed many years worth of awesome bike trips into one year. Nice job!