Glenn Franks (Angry Dad) and I loaded up into the Element, and headed for Kamloops. The game plan was to arrive in Kamloops around 1pm and meet up with Duncan and his crew from Bow Cycles. I haven’t been to Bow Cycles before, but it sounds like a rad store, and if you’re in Calgary and ride bikes, I’m told you need to check it out.

 

After meeting up with the boys at the Bicycle Cafe we went and did a couple laps of Rio. Rio was in great shape, and we all had a great time getting our bikes setup for a week-end of racing. There were loads of familiar folks also riding Rio, and it made for some super fun laps down the trail.

 

One really good lap down Rio with some of the funnest folks around

Friday night was Glenn’s birthday, which necessitated some celebration. We got the evening started in the parking lot of our hotel. Things were going well, and Glenn was well lubricated on beer and tequila. Later we went out to the Kamloops clubs, and had a good time with some of the other race guys and girls.

You know you're staying in a classy joint when Adult Movies are a selling feature. For the record the Adult Movies were complementary.

Saturday came around pretty quick. We got some greasy breakfast in us, and got out to the Kamloops Bike Ranch. It was great getting back to BC Cup racing. The BC Cup is supported by a great group of regulars, and it was good fun catching up with everyone after a long, wet winter. I was happy with my riding all week-end. I felt fast, consistent and smooth on the track. I had no crashes, and hardly put a wheel wrong all week-end. I was piloting something fairly special this week-end. I had done some testing on the 2012 Norco DH prototype over the winter, and was blown away by how much fun the bike was to ride. I spent the spring back on my Session 88, all the while yearning to be back on the 2012 Norco DH Proto. I asked the boys at Norco a few weeks ago if I could borrow it, which they graciously agreed to.

One very good looking piece of engineering

Race day went off really well. The organization was excellent, the course held up well and I had a ton of fun riding my bike. Glenn wound up winning the old man category with a time of 1 minue 59 seconds. I finished up with a time of 1 minute 58 seconds, and had a good run. I pedalled as hard as I could, and rode a very smooth run. It seems as though I’m a bit down on horsepower as I was 5 seconds off the win and wound up 15th in Elite. I guess I need to do more intervals or something. Congrats to Glenn and Martin Newman for their respective wins in the old men categories.

Finishing up my race run airing into the final flat section

 

Race The Ranch 2011 Results

 

I’m looking forward to getting some more riding in over May before the next BC Cup at Bear Mountain on June 19th. Until then there are a bunch of other events I may enter, so keep checking back for more updates.

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