Thanks Karson

Hi all, 

I am organizing a group under the auspices of Friends of the South Slopes (FOSS) to do some clearing on the Wildhorse Canyon trail in Okanagan Mountain park this Saturday.  If you are interested in volunteering please contact me at pipakins@gmail.com or 250-899-0354.

In short, the plan is to work as one or two groups (depending on numbers) from Buchan Bay (which we will access by motorboat) and/or the top of Divide Lake trail (which we will access by vehicle) and work with chainsaws, brush saws and pruners to clear tree fall and secondary growth from the central section of Wildhorse Canyon and Frederick Cr. trail (view map).   Back at Buchan Bay in the evening we are going to have a houseboat BBQ, possibly do some water skiing, and then get a lift back to Kelowna and Westbank.  In other words, a lot of hard work followed by some solid R+R.

In order to cover legalities all volunteers need to be(come) FOSS members.  Annual memberships are $10.

Please also give me a shout if you are unavailable this Saturday but interested in contributing to trail maintenance in the park.

Thanks.

Pip Akins

I am organizing a group under the auspices of Friends of the South Slopes (FOSS) to do some clearing on the Wildhorse Canyon trail in Okanagan Mountain park this Saturday.  If you are interested in volunteering please contact me at pipakins@gmail.com or 250-899-0354.

In short, the plan is to work as one or two groups (depending on numbers) from Buchan Bay (which we will access by motorboat) and/or the top of Divide Lake trail (which we will access by vehicle) and work with chainsaws, brush saws and pruners to clear tree fall and secondary growth from the central section of Wildhorse Canyon and Frederick Cr. trail (view map).   Back at Buchan Bay in the evening we are going to have a houseboat BBQ, possibly do some water skiing, and then get a lift back to Kelowna and Westbank.  In other words, a lot of hard work followed by some solid R+R.

In order to cover legalities all volunteers need to be(come) FOSS members.  Annual memberships are $10.

Please also give me a shout if you are unavailable this Saturday but interested in contributing to trail maintenance in the park.

Thanks.

Pip Akins

I ride both areas a lot, and I gotta say there's no comparison.  Those areas you listed are nice blue XC trails, not black diamond freeride trails.  I like them a lot, but they're not going to get anyone on a DH sled too excited. 

If you'd like some tips/basics on how to build Canadian mountain bike trails, maybe check out the Whistler Trail Standards.  Because you know...CANADA is where we live. 

I never made it up at all last year due to most of my riding buddies getting lazy (boo) or injured (doh). So I'm looking to increase my riding circle so I can avoid such dry spells. ;)

Contact info:

Mike

Email: ipso@snappymail.ca

Location: Westside

I ride the following:

• Powers Creek- FR/DH
• Open to any other trails, interested in checking out the skills park too.

When I ride:

M – F after 5:00pm 

S & S anytime

Transportation:

Car with rack, fits 2 bikes and 2 people.

Check the Dead Horse Extension, Bone-Yard, Bronco, Southern Dancer etc. in the Mice (Penticton) for examples of trails at the technical end of things, without a stitch of dimension lumber.

In these parts, most cats have gravitated away from wooden structures dues to the constant maintenance required, and instead, have dug in heavy with rocky lines and cool rock drops.

I‘ll be the first to admit: I am biased - I love riding rock and think dimension lumber is ugly and out of place in the forest.

If you want some great trail building ideas / basics, check out the excellent info available here:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/enviro.....06/toc.htm

Andrew D.

http://www.bikepenticton.com

If you keep climbing on Lost Lake, you can access all the way to the KVR via Bailout, and come down via Vapour, Riddler DH, or Crawford DH.

are a kiwi over for the summer and are looking for a fun loop to ride, are staying close to Crawford (Myra-Bellvue) so they would be my local trails when i am over here.

im a all mountaun rider with a "6 fully, not really in to hucking but love techy rocky trails.

so whats a fun loop to ride? are after something to get me started and get used to the lay out.

thanks brent

My new trail "Canadian Beaver", is buffed and ready to go.  Hang a right just before crazy train to find it.  It's short right now, but there's plenty more to come.  Enjoy.

This goes out to the trail builders that stole my pile wood.  Myself and a few buddies are building a new trail up at powers.  We dropped the wood of on sat June 19 2010 and came back on Monday to put the finishing touches on our trail, only to find it missing.

After all the work of removing nails from the building materials and transporting it up the mountainside, we were very frustrated to find it gone.  I could understand some kids using it for a bonfire, but to have fellow trail builders rip us off was very disappointing.

If you want to build a trail, GO GET YOUR OWN WOOD.  Do not take the wood of other trail builders!

PMBI SILVER STAR 2010

The PMBI courses are designed to train you in modern mountain bike riding theory, skills and techniques and then how to safely and effectively teach these to clients - regardless of the mountain bike discipline. They are a result of over 17 years experience mountain bike riding and 11 years studying the physics and biomechanics involved within the sport, whilst teaching, coaching and instructor training in the mountain bike and snowboard industries. The PMBI courses have been run in many locations over the years from our home base in Whistler to Silver Star, Kicking Horse, COP, Canmore, Idaho, Utah and Rossland.

For more information and to contact us, please visit our website at http://www.professionalmountai.....ructor.com. Thank you very much for your time and we hope to see you on the trails soon!

That’s right – we’re gonna set you up with a 2010 summer season pass for the Okanagan's own Silver Star bike park!

This is a limited time offer so if you’re thinking about buying a new bike for park riding this season – now is the time!

Interested? Check out our website: sovereigncycle.com or just come see us in the Vintage View centre in Westbank (just behind Home Depot).

It's dry out there and it's looking to be a forest fire year so be on the watch for anything that could start a fire. The trails are in great shape so enjoy them before the summer hits in full force.

Gillard Forestry Service Road: Open – Watch for nails and glass at the lower shuttle

Wobbly Pops: Open

Boss Hog: Open

Dirty Sanchez: Open - Watch for new features, look before you leap

Rub Her Down: Open

Green Poo: Open 

Lick Her Sore: Closed  This gem needs some builder love

Hucking Grass Hole: Open

Fists First: Open

Dr. No: Open

TheRapist: Open

Squaws Hollow: Open

La Petite Salope: Open

Bearly There: Open-  One broken stunt

Snakesback: Open

T.B.A.: Open-  Please ride it in, it starts just before Ghostrider

Ghost Rider: Open

Cat's Ass: Open

Nip & Tuck: Open

Yo Moma: Open-  Freshly buffed from the Spring Build Day

Kerplop: Open

Casino Royale: Open- Stunt building in progress, ride arounds open

Old Style: Open

Upper Gillard: Closed-  Due to seasonal runoff

First, check that the bearings look like they will be the same size. The hub that I got was a Shimano 475. The hub on my wheel is a 525. The dust caps are different, but the diameter is the same, so I decided to go for it and they are compatible. Next, you have to disasemble the hub and pull the ball bearings out. I used a magnet and my punch to pick them out. You can find all sorts of info on replacing the ball bearings in your hub. I'll take it a bit further and replace the races. Remember to keep things clean. You dont want some grit getting into your new bearings and toasting them right away.

Once the balls are removed, take your punch and hammer out the inner race and dust cap. I cut a hole in a chunk of 2×4 and rested the hub in it to make room for the race to drop out. You could easily use a vice, just keep track of your parts when they pop out of the hub.

Hold the punch firmly and hammer from one side to the other. Keep checking the race to determine which side you should be hitting. Don't keep hitting the same side or you'll do some kind of damage. Try to keep your punch as verticle as possible, and make sure it is well seated aganst the race. You want to hit where the race meets the hub, not on the edge of the hole in the middle of the race. Use your old quick-release bolt as a handy punch. You get a new one with your hub so don't worry about messing up the threads.

Hammer the punch firmly. It may not be easy to un-seat the race, but it will come loose. Lighten up as the race gets closer to the edge. Double check that the races are the correct size and repeate the process on your wheel. Clean your parts and get ready to put your new races into your wheel!

Find yourself a socket that is slightly narrower than the diameter of your race.

Hammer the race into the hub. Lift the socket after every blow to ensure that the race is going in straight!

Hammer it right to the bottom, and make sure it is well seated. If it's not all the way to the bottom, it'll shift the first time you ride your bike and toast your new bearings. You guessed it: make sure everythings clean!

Next, pop in the dust-caps and tap them down. They go in easy, so don't go nuts with the hammer.

Fill the entire race / dust-cap area with bearing grease. I put a fair bit on my finger tip, wipe it onto the edge of the dust-cap, then push it into the gap between the race and the dust-cap.

Put your clean balls back in the race and re-assemble your hub. Don't over tighten your axle: if the bearing pre-load is too high, you'll toast your bearings. Likewise if your axle is ……. nevermind, this ought to be regular maintenance type stuff, so I'll leave it to you.

Lesson: regularly check your hubs for proper operation so you don't have to do unnecessary repairs.

Grip it and rip it.

Tyler.

I just found out that I can't buy inner races for my Shimano hubs. In fact, I was told a couple of times that the cups couldn't be removed. Too bad I had already pulled them! Knowing that it is possible, I started to look for replacement bearings. I soon found out that a new hub goes for $23. So I popped the new bearings out and put them into my wheel. 

Check my next post for the break down.