Ripping up Penticton and The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Seen

Well, Penticton has come and gone and while I was quite busy with work, I still managed to get in three solid rides on the sweet Niner. I went to the local bike shop, told the shop people what kind of riding I like to do, and was able to get a really terrible map of a nearby riding spot. The great thing about Penticton is that there are many riding spots that are all within riding distance right from the City.

Looking back at the City from the top of 'Penticton' hill (just above the Hollywood like Penticton sign on the side of the hill)

I headed out after I was done work for the day and like most BC riding, the ride consisted of a big climb, followed by a descent and repeat till your heart's desire. This first ride was at a mountain right beside the City and offered nice views all around after a nice climb to the top. I was feeling really good but wasn't super impressed with the trails as they well all just sand and not very technical at all. I guess they just don't have technical riding in Penticton... or so I thought!

The top of the climb

The next day, I went back to the shop and found out that I had been directed to a beginners hill that is even less fun than it used to be due to all the motor vehicles that have ripped up a lot of the trails. So, with a new crappy map in hand, I headed out to the Three Blind Mice X-Country area. While the map wasn't very good, without it, I would never have found this riding spot as most of the trails are all in leased range lands from the Crown and are not marked whatsoever. I was in for a long climb that weaved in and out of single and double track and eventually some sweet singletrack on 'Fred' trail.

Unlike the previous riding day, this area was forested with rocky outcrops and lots of technical roots and rocks. As it was getting dark, I wasn't able to spend quite as much time as I would have liked so I bailed out on the early side and had a sweet ride back down to the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (which you can use to ride out to the area which is great).

On my third and last day of riding, I again went back to the bike shop and got some good advice on a flowy route to take at the Three Blind Mice area. As my legs were not feeling so fresh on the third day, I took it down a notch and just spun up and up and up until I finally hit a small summit and was ready for the downhill. I ripped down a trail called Dropsalot followed by Lower Dropsalot which were just a hoot. Some good drops on the trail and some difficult bypasses if you didn't want to take the five foot gap jumps (which is me).


After the third day, I was thoroughly impress by the riding and will definitely make an effort to hook up on some more trails of the area in the future. Penticton is just such as nice place as well. On a side note, I wanted to hook up with some good local riders but no one at the shop was up for riding and after a total of 7 hours on the mountain bike over three days, I failed to come across a single rider! I think most of the riders around are road geeks just judging by the number of road bikes I saw going around and the fact that Penticton is home of the Ironman which happens here in a few weeks.


Check this out. While working, I had some weird looking insect land on me with a Bee in it's grasp!


I also had this preying mantis land on me as well. It was just a small one and camouflaged to blend in with all of the tan grasses in the hills.

And now for something completely stupid.

If you could pick the most useless accessory vehicle on the market, most would easily come up with either the Dummer H2 or H3. This would be the answer in a heartbeat or the beat of an eyelash. Don't get me wrong. I think a Dummer can be very useful and for the 0.00001 % of the owners who use it to its capabilities, all the power to them. It's the other 99.99999 % of the owners that simply have the vehicle for the same reason that Paris Hilton has a Chiwahwah...

It's an accessory.

It's also a status symbol, a wealth or debt indicator, and is the number one way to show that you are a small small man with a very small penis.

Now just image if you can, something that easily tops the Dummer for stupidity. Picture something less capable, something slower than a smaller Super Duty truck, something that is designed with all the bells and whistles like integrated DVD players and games and something that is absolutely huge. No, it's not quite a supped up transport truck (although I'm still waiting to see that one) but it's almost as stupid...

It's the International MXT (Manly Extreme Testosterone)

This photo shows a full size truck next to it to give you an idea of scale.

Now just imagine a soccer mom with a cell phone in one ear, four kids in the back with the DVD blaring trying to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the McDonalds. God Bless Canada and America.

This all reminds me of a super funny YouTube video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs

Ok, this sequel probably tops it as well. Anyone know how to have a YouTube vid play right in Blogger?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3qncy5Qfk

Just remember, when God gives you lemons, you find a new God! :)