Or perhaps not. This is one of those trails that actually doesn’t exist, and probably for good reason.

Fun in the woods from NSXSKI on Vimeo.

Epic Bolivian singletrack flowing under the wheels of the Big Mountain Adventures crew.

How very West Coast

Post ride convoy to the pub, after a ride up on Burke, Coquitlam, BC.

A pretty classic site around town.

I wonder why this style of rack isn’t found in the UK, as they’re way handier than those stupid things with all the dangly bits you have to tie on.

DMR Super Flipdog Yes! Yes!

DMR are breaking new ground with the release of another tiny weeny little bike to do jumps on at a highly competitive cost point.

This one is called the Super Flip Dog Yes! Yes! and as you can see from the detailed geometry metrics above, it’s small, for doing jumps.

As well as being small and designed for doing jumps, it’s also made of steel and has wheels and a cog, which make it good for doing jumps – lots of jumps, especially if you are small (like a youngster).

Southerndownhill have an arguably less informative review here.

I finally broke my cherry riding a lap of the local mountain after dark, with a shiny new Hope LED headlamp.

Those things are FUCKING SHINY and no mistake – in some ways better than daylight as you never hit the shadows.

Here’s Jon, looking pretty happy with himself with his solar flare hat:

It was a good feeling to open up the winter nights to riding potential, and we weren’t the only folks on the mountain who’d figured this out.

We could see lights of the Grouse ski resort at the end of our 5k or so of climbing, but I doubt many snowclowns were up there – Last year this would’ve been 2m deep in snow at this point but El Nino seems to have put paid to any thoughts of snowy bliss for the Winter Olympics which looms large – it looks pretty brown right now which means: A longer riding season.

I was converted instantly – head mounted lights are a way better option than the bar mounts I used to run, and with the Hopes you’re basically contained in a bubble of daylight. This is one of the trails I know well though, and it’s still disorientating to ride without the usual reference points of giant stumps or big slabs lining the side of the trail and we had a few double takes to find our way down.

I’m considering whether I’d man up for a solo night ride out here. It’s pretty gnarly, even the easier trails can spank you to the ground, not to mention the fact you’re invading the forest’s peaceful time and there’s a whole lot of dark to swallow you up…

We’re all local somewhere.

Check these vids. First, a dirtmag video shot on an D90 (an HD DSLR, or bloody good digital camera for the layman). This is the way forward for MTB vids on a budget, it looks so pro:

The Coastal Crew out here in BC are a local group of riders from the Sunshine Coast, BC, who also happen to be ridiculously talented riders.  One or two also have an eye for making movies, mostly with the same level of DSLR kit.

Demo Reel from The Coastal Crew on Vimeo.

Cannoddball bike

Found among the mountain of spam in the chocolatefoot mailbox was this gemlet – a Cannondale Badboy with some sweet mods. SICK.

* Forks: Rockshox Tora 318 Solo Air
* Pedals: Shimano A530 (Flat 1 side & SPD the other)
* Tyres: Continental Ultra Gator Skins (for commute)
* Tyres: Continental Speed Kings (for weekend MTB)
* Brake Levers: Avid Speed Dial 7
* Cassette: SRAM PG-970

Testing Flickr integration.

New 2010 SX Trail build, up on Fromme, North Vancouver.