A Fond Farewell

After hundreds of kilometers on the bikes, thousands of kilometers on the truck, and millions of sunflower seeds later, it is really happening, we are done! We are now somewhere in Quebec, we have been driving straight ever since we left Rossland some 48ish hours ago.



At the beginning of the last post we asked how many summits? Well 7 wasn’t enough, Andrew Hamilton happened to be in town so we decided to do the 7 summits trail again with him on Monday. Just two days later the ride was quite different with zero fog, colder temps, and climbs that felt much harder. We also did a fun ride Sunday evening, from camp we rode to the trailhead and did a 2 hour loop. The trails we awesome, full monty was technical and had some fun drops and bridges throughout. But, we also learned some lessons on the ride. I learned that if everyone looks at a rock and decides it can’t be rolled (including myself) I shouldn’t try to roll it. We also learned that double black diamond trials are labeled that for a reason, way too steep for some east coasters on the left coast.



I have been starting to put together a slideshow (will post it when it gets done, may be a week or two) of some of our favorite pictures from over the trip, and it just really hit home how much we have done over the last couple of months. All the different places that have such amazing but diverse terrain or all the amazing people we have met, some friends for life and others never to be seen from again. A special thanks to everyone who helped us out during our travels, especially Tiny, Lois, Penny and Family, Mark, and Domique.



We are all looking forward to getting home and seeing all our family and friends. It will also be nice to put the bikes away for few days and try to ease our way back into a regular existence. Also it won’t be bad to not see each other for at least 24 hours. I have to say that I am mostly excited about regular access to a fridge. To everyone out there in cyberspace I hope you enjoyed following along on our adventure and until next time… happy trails.

Ben, Steve, and Tyler.





Ps – life at home hasn’t been too bad yet, a little wake boarding/surfing got done today.

Too Many Summits?

Today we rode the 7 Summits trail in Rossland BC. It was a good ride but I think our bodies know the trip is coming to the end and are acting accordingly. Sore hands, backs, and shoulders were the name of the game today. It was also crazy misty, although I wouldn't want to ride in those conditions all the time it was cool to experience it once. Here are some pictures from the ride.









We also wanted to congratulate the newlyweds Andrew and Katherine, and today's ride was dedicated to them... the helmet cam isn't the best for recording messages but if you crank up the volume at the end, I hope that you get the idea.

7 Summits - Rossland, BC from Ben Crook-Hanna on Vimeo.

The Final Countdown...

The general consensus yesterday as we packed up camp and left Squamish/Whistler was that the trip is truly starting to wind down. Although we still have a few rides left in and around Rossland, reality is starting to set in that journey can actually end. Although sad to think of the end, it is hard to be sad when you are truly 100 percent content with your current situation.



Our last few days in the Sea to Sky corridor (Squamish, Whistler, ect.) were great. On Monday night we meet up with Andrew in Whistler. After a few beers and a little catching up we decided on a good Squamish ride to do in the morning. I have to hand it to him, he ripped it up on one of the best loops we got to ride in Squamish. We all had a great ride, and finished off the day with a refreshing swim at the lake.



On Wednesday we decided to rent some big bikes and hit the famous Whistler bike park. After having a ridiculously hard time finding bikes and renting all the necessary gear, we hit the lifts. This type of riding isn’t even fair, I would have to compare it to shooting fish in a barrel. With zero climbing you have access to thousands of feet of supper flowy pump track style trails or super technical natural and man-made descents. The conditions were supposedly poor and it was still AMAZING, can’t wait to hit it when it’s in prime shape. It was also neat to see Whistler getting all ready for Crankworks which is a huge mountain bike festival held every summer.



Jared finally arrived in Whistler so after returning our rental gear it was off to meet up with him. He was in town for the unveiling of Giant Bicycles 2010 bike line (the bikes looked great, if you liked the 09s then next year’s bikes won’t disappoint). After Giants giant BBQ we decided to hit the town, we eventually meet up with some of the boys from the Tantalus bike shop and with some local guidance we had an amazing night in the village. Huge thanks to Peanut, Scott and all the boys at the shop for hooking us up and for just being super good guys, if you are ever in the Squamish area and need anything bike related hit up the Tantalus bike shop and you won’t be disappointed (the owner who unfortunately was away, is also from Montague).



All in all, the last week was awesome. We got to meet up with good friends and make some new ones; I hope Jared and Andrew had as good a time as we did. Thanks again to everyone who made our stay in the area unforgettable, especially Penny, John, Lauren, and Heather.

Chilcotin Adventure

As I type this we are drive back from the Chilcotins, a little bit earlier than planned, forest fires are burning on three sides and the road back to civilization closes in an hour (there are only 2 and the other has been closed for a few days). The country here is AMAZING, bigger and remoter than anywhere I have ever been. The plan for today had been to get on a float plan at 9 am take a 20 minute ride to a remote lake in the backcountry, then use the next 10 hours to ride out… needless to say were supper bummed out, but we definitely made the sensible decisions.





… SO up until this point in my life forest fires never really affected me, although I have always seen the carnage on TV, but being so close to them has left a lasting impression. At the general store we overheard a helicopter pilot saying the fire in Lillooet was climbing the hill faster than he was, not something I would want to be near. Huge respect for all the fire fighters and forest workers working around the clock on limited resources to get these fires put out. Two helicopters loaded with buckets just flew overhead, and plane just sprayed fire retardant a few hundred feet away from the road. Can’t see that road being open for long, glad we made it out.





Although one could truly say that “the shit has hit the fan”, the trip was worth it. We camped at Tyax Resort, a world class heli ski outfit (packages in the tens of thousands of dollars) in the winter and luxury relaxation in the summer. The lodge, which had a nice rustic beauty to it is entirely built of logs and defiantly fits in with its surroundings (note the main entranceway). The lodge offered a great twist to our lake swims… a nice hot tub after a cold dip!





The ride yesterday was as good as it gets; huge climbs, beautiful views, big vertical descents, and a little hike-a-bike thrown in to keep things honest. Those views shouldn’t come without some blood, sweat, and tears (a little, too much, and none that I saw…). After reaching the top of one of the passes we noticed a helicopter flying vary low and carrying what appeared to be a net. Upon further investigation we learned that it was removing camping gear for a large group of campers that had been staying in a remote cabin (for those you who have seen the bike movie “the collective” it’s the one that appears in the second segment of the movie… yeah those are the trails we rode yesterday suckers). I’ll let the pictures and video say the rest for the ride. Again, a big thanks to Penny and Duncan for taking us on another sweet adventure.

Chilcotins from Ben Crook-Hanna on Vimeo.

Tomorrow it’s off to Whistler to meet up with Pickard and Jared. Can’t wait to see the boys and hope to get some good riding in as well. Won’t hurt to get to see/ride the 2010 Giant bikes line up either!

Chilcotins here we come...

Nothing much new, lots of riding, lost of forest fires, and still lots of heat. We are heading up north for a few days of riding and should have some goodies to post about early next week. Here are a few pics and video of us riding in Washington. And to Dom... we shower with soap when we can.

Riding in Washington from Ben Crook-Hanna on Vimeo.