Decided to head up to the high country for some mountain biking on Sunday. I miss riding my mountain bike, but it's just more of a time commitment. So I take these opportunities whenever I can get them. A few of us headed up to Grouse Ridge. We rode the Blue Lakes Trail to Grouse Ridge Trail and back via the Spaulding Lake Trail. What an excellent day. Nice warm sunny day with a cool breeze. I am feeling pretty worked today. The terrain at Grouse is so technical, you really do use your entire body. Not just your legs. Grouse Ridge is a magical place. Your first time there and you'll absolutely hate it. There is a considerable amount of hike a bike which deters alot of people. But the scenery and sheer remoteness is just amazing. Being at the Fordyce Creek Waterfalls is one of my favorite places in the world. You're only just a few miles from Highway 80, but you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. The sound of the rushing water drowns out anything else you might be thinking of. I could easily fall asleep on those rocks. It was a great ride. The group got a bit seperated on the Grouse Ridge Trail as Rich's rear derailler was torn to shreds by a rock. He converted it to single speed, but could only keep the chain on in a big 42x14 geear. So he had a bit of work to do to get back to the cars. I raced ahead to catch the others to let them know what happened so they didn't have to wait. I nearly crashed a few times and was thankful to have my arm armour on. That section of the GRT is by far the most technically challenging trail I have ever ridden. If you can clean it, the you are a true mountain biking stud! Good to be back on the mountain bike. I do need to make a few tweaks to my setup. Shorter stem, bigger disc rotor in the front, cut down my handlebars a tad.
Enjoy the photos!
