Coiler

Dane, Furio, me and the dogs.

We met at the first switchback on Cypress Highway.  Rode up BLT to where it bumps into the highway and then rode/pushed/groveled up North Shore to Coiler.  There was only a cm of snow so we kept going up the climb beyond Blind Skier, and down Coiler.  Bonus!

Where the canopy was open we rode through 10 to 15cm of fresh snow, but most of the top was near bare and very sticky.  The freezing temperatures stiffened up the trail bed, so we rolled quicker making for an easier ride.  At times everything was sticky-even the ice!

Maximum elevation:  770m
Temperature: below freezing (maybe -1 to -3)
Distance: 5.3 up and 5.2km down
Maintenance: Furio did some rock work, and we cut and cleared several blow downs, finishing the ride in time to catch a stellar sunset.

Dream Weaver

Who rode?   Dane, Lee, Pepper, Bear and I.

Dane finds a zapstrap

Route: Met at Braemar and rode up to the top of Sixth Lick.  

Like Sixth Lick, the top of White Album is also covered in branches (which we rode around). Somewhere between the end of Enduro and the start of Marsh, Dane realizes that the reason he feels so light, is because his pack is at the tarp.  We push our bikes back up and have another great ride down. 

Onto Dream Weaver, the last of Piaster, St Mary's, up to the Baden Powel and down the extended version of Stick Woman. Sounds exhausting?  It was!

Trail Conditions: The usual fair, shmooy, slippery roots with a thin skiff of snow.  White Album is looking better.

Distance: 12km

Maximum Elevation: 750m

Weather:  Sunny with a few clouds.

Temperature:  1 to 0.

Start time: 11:30
Total time: Five hours
Trail Maintenance: Flushed-out some of Sixth Lick. Drained a few puddles, and laid down a short piece of fresh trail-bed just past the creek beyond Espresso.

Lee, riding like the wind.

Pisaster

Lee and Pepper and I rode up from Dempsey/Braemar to the top of Sixth Lick. We we're not the only ones trying to work off our turkey dinners, before the Baden Powell we passed 3 riders, 7 hikers and 9 dogs. It felt like a very busy mountain.  The ride up was shmooy, until we ran into a thin skiff of fresh, very sticky snow at 500m.  The road was surprisingly thin on snow so we ventured up to Sixth Lick, Captain Purple Underpants had been busy winterizing the trail with sticks and logs so we free-rode around them. Next, down Pisaster to St Mary's, Baden, Stick Woman, and to the cars.  The trails were in great shape, no maintenance required.

Pisaster (our soltice ride)

Just Dane and the dogs.  Stated at noon and back by 4.  We rode up from Braemar/Dempsey to the sixth switchbck.  A thin skiff of snow started at around 600m with 5cm of fresh snow on the road.  It started snowing at the top and accumulating fast.  We did the same descent as last week except we turned down Stick Woman and back to the cars (0 degrees and raining).

 

 Cut and removed a couple of blow downs, the trail was in excellent shape; however, some of the ride up is getting pretty worn making the uphill riding a little more challenging.  On a personal note: I rode up the tricky bit (just east of Espresso) along the BP.  My first time post op.  Yippee!

Pisaster ochraceus

The start of a very dark ride

Our first go at Pisaster ochraceus (the real starfish)

We met at Upper Lynn just before 12 noon.

I was running a bit late, having started at home and riding across the Baden Powell.

Weather:  The pineapple express was just finishing, with lots of cloud in its wake.

Temperature:  Between 5 and 7.

Start time: 11:50

Who rode?   Dane, Manny, Furio, Hannah, Pepper, Bear and I.

Route: Peeper and I started at the house, met the rest at Upper Lynn and rode up Lower Griffin to the first switchback.  We ran into snow at 650 m at the top of St Mary's.  Rode down the old logging path to Pisaster, on to Boundary and across St Mary's to Baden Powell and down Lower Griffin to the school. 

Trail Conditions: Excellent.  (some snow on the last two switchbacks)

Distance: My odometer came in at 18km, Dane's; 14km.

Time: Four hours (closer to five for me and Pepper)

Maximum Elevation: 670m

Trail Maintenance: Linked up a short bit of decommissioned trail and cut a couple of blow-downs.

All-in-all a good time had by all.

Lower Coiler

Temperature:  2 to 3 degrees C

Start time: 11:45

Who rode?  Lee, Manny, Furio, Dane, Hannah, Bear, Pepper, and I.

Route: Started at the baseball diamond, up the road to Ohlund Park and then over to the BLT.  The snow started in earnest at around 500m.  We pushed the last third of km to the picnic table.

On the BLT just below the slippery canoe

Trail Conditions: A bit slippery in the snow, otherwise great. 
Distance:  13.5 km
Maximum Elevation: 650m

Total Time: Four hours 
Maintenance: Moved a few blow downs and drained a few puddles.
 

The home stretch

Double Shot

Pepper just before the tricky bit along the Baden-Powell

Our eleven thirty start left at noon with Lee, Dane, the dogs and I venturing into the snow.  We rode in tire tracks to the Van Tan Club, after which there was nothing but old deep snow.  On and off the bikes to the third switchback, we then pushed for about half an hour to Double Shot. After a brief false start Bear and I manged to sniff out the trail down to the Baden-Powell.  It was clear sailing back to Mountain Highway.  Time permitted, so we rode up to the first switchback and back along Griffin and back to the School.  We finished around four with 11 kilometers on the odometer, maybe one to one and a half of those we were pushing.  All in all another great ride.