Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Chelsea trails. . . Woohoo!

Monday was a holiday here so it was a perfect day to gather up a few folks for some fine singletrack. I had never ridden the Chelsea trails before so this was all new to me and I must say that I was impressed. I've never ridden any of the singletrack trails on the Quebec side of the river before because the ones I know of are illegal. They are in Gatineau Park and the organization that looks after them (NCC) has designated them as illegal for bikes, they are for hiking use only! GRRRRR. The section of trails that we rode on Monday isn't in Gatineau Park and therefore do not fall under the administrative umbrella of the NCC.

There were six of us that were able to make it out to the ride. Here's a pic of most of us as we regrouped and caught our breath:


The riders from left to right are:
King aka "If it's steep I can ride it"
Fritz aka "Fritzman"
Steve aka "I drive a new car every week"
Lenny aka "The mule"
and Tanya aka "The Vegan Vagabond"

Oh yeah, someone had to take the picture, here he is... he is part of the reason why I was called the mule for the ride.
Looks a little camera shy doesn't he? QUOTE: Check out my weenie!
Here's another one of Mr. Camera shy... Mah tongue is soooo schexy!


Here's a good one of Fritz trying to sell the rest of us on tubeless.

Another quote: "This almost never happens! Hey mule, can I borrow your pump?"

All in all it was a very fun day. We were gone for about 3 hours but only had the wheels turning for about half of that time. The pace was pretty casual with lots of stopping for shooting the shit, resting or fixing a mechanical. We had two flats but luckily the mule was along and packing a pump. Did I mention that I also carried Big Ring's water? It was just in case he wanted to drink more then the princess was willing to carry.

Here's a great shot of VV riding some of the singletrack...
Thanks for organizing the ride Craig, I had a lot of fun. My back is sore today and I think I know why!!!

6 comments:

the original big ring said...

Thanks beeeeeatch for carrying mine AND king's water! You da bomb!

Unknown said...

Thanks for a great ride, it was fun being a big ringer for a day!

fritZman said...

You missed another quote of mine afterwards: "God I hate tubes, I feel like I'm riding a basketball for a front wheel" ;-)

Let's just say that tubeless won't seal squat when there's no sealant in the tire... I added two cups yesterday and the puncture was sealed in less than 5 seconds.

Your pump did rock though Mule - especially because you provided the labour to pump it (talk about taking Labour Day celebration to the extreme).

It was a sweet ride and an awesome workout though. Good to see fellow Big Ringers and check out some new stuff as well.

Anonymous said...

Don't get caught on the trails behind the school. I actually heard the NCC giving tickets back there.

And, thank the folks that maintain those trails - bunch of chelsea fellas do a lot of work in there!
(I use to keep those trails clear of debris).

illegal trails - sounds like a dope dealer.
Anyhow, fight the powers that be. Write a letter to your MP! (federal level). Tell them how stupid it is that money is being spent on foolishness (patrols on trails and such). It is complete stupidity when you think about it. Meanwhile, other critical government departments are getting their budgets slashed.
I don't ride those trail anymore because of all the f-n politics...
shame.

Anonymous said...

opps, forgot to mention, during the fall you may come across an old fella clearing out the trees and such. Give him a big g-day. He does a sht load of work in there. Work to keep the trail clear of fallen trees and such.
NCC will probably be back on FP-MO-PL intersection this fall.
As if they don't have anything better to do - like chasing down the sausage boys! (I was enjoying my time on the beach about a month back and I heard this howling noise in the woods. I went over to check out what the hell is going on, 2 sausage boys having a hell of a time jamming it in the woods. Nice. Good for the tourists to see that!) Lots of drinking going on as well then people hoping in their cars. Why don't they chase after them?
(cause they have a bullshit mandate)

The Vegan Vagabond said...

Anon, looks like you need your own blog too! Those comments were almost as long as a post... ;)