Author: jasonmytail_11ehe7

As mentioned in the last segment of my holiday challenge to ride each of my six* bikes 50km over the holidays, *I bought a seventh mid-challenge so I took it out on New Years Day.

Now, I only bought it on December 30th, and it was built up but never ridden by the previous owner. Not even one ride, and it sat for a couple years since too. So this was a rather ambitious idea to ride it over 50km as a shakedown ride for the previous owner’s build. But I put my trust in him, and off we went. I did, however, choose a route that never strayed too far from the Skytrain.

The route I had in mind basically followed the Central Valley Greenway out, and looped around New West to the PC Parkway back. It’s about a 42km loop, so some extra spurs were in order. I originally meant to do this route with the Twenty on day one of the challenge, but I made an on-the-fly decision to go visit the old hospital grounds in Coquitlam instead on that ride.

To get those extra kilometres in, I detoured a bit south to Deer Lake, and then back up to the Burnaby Lake gravel trails. The Bike Friday as you see it here is almost exactly as-purchased, all I added was the Jones bar, pedals, basket, and bags. It came with Schwalbe Black Jack tires which are quite knobby but surprisingly low resistance on pavement.

Also, unlike the Wombat ride, my fenderlessness was not a problem today! This whole past week was remarkable in weather – rarely rained and stayed really mild. Alarming but also enjoyable.

And I have to say, the bike has been performing flawlessly. The cheap disc brakes were fine, the Deerhead friction-shifted Campy derailleurs shifted great and looked the part too.

The bike generally rides really well, and riding it over 50km was no problem at all. It rides much more like a regular bike than the Brompton, for example. The bottom bracket on this model is particularly high, maybe that helps?

As I write this in late April 2025, this bike has undergone some accessorizing: Velo Orange fenders, a different bar and stem, and a Brompton carrier block welded on the front with the racks removed. Otherwise it’s unchanged from how the previous owner built it, and it has a little over 500km on it so far.

On New Year’s Eve, I got out for an over-50 km ride on the Stooge Scrambler, complete with 700m climb to the snow line. This completes my challenge, right? Well, it should have, but on Dec 30 I impulse bought a Bike Friday that cropped up for a bargain on Marketplace in exactly the spec I was daydreaming about.

So with this ride I completed what I set out to do, but I now had seven bikes. Since the seventh showed up so late in the game, I gave myself the grace that if I rode it for 50km on New Years Day, I’d have still completed my “ride every bike over the holidays” plan. More on that later though – this is about the Stooge ride!

I worked my way over to the north shore and rode some low-traffic trails near the golf course before winding my way up towards Mt Fromme by way of lower Seymour. Easy trail riding, but nice to string together longer stretches of dirt.

Then I met with my friend Taylor and we climbed up a punchy stretch of trail to get to the main service road (Mountain Highway), which switchbacks up Mt Fromme all the way to Grouse Mtn ski area (now gated). My goal for the day was to ride to the snowline, which was quite high at this time, and we reached it around the 700m mark at the 6th switchback.

From there we took the unofficial “Pile of Loam” trail which snakes through the woods just past this switchback. Kind of a boring trail on a big modern mountain bike perhaps, it’s a hoot on a rigid MTB.

We descended some fun easier black trails back down to civilization, and parted ways as I headed west for a bridge loop. The bridge loop ridden in a more direct fashion is about 32km for me, door to door. The detour up the mountain more or less got me those extra 18km, but I did some additional toodling in North Van to seal the deal.

A short stop at the Murdo Frazer cabins along the way, a popular spot for me to stop for a beer, but I hadn’t picked any up yet. However once down the hill I did stop at Beva Brewing for the very last (!) four pack of the chocolate stout I was eager to try. I enjoyed one along the water on the way home.

In the end it was nearly 60km and 1200m of climbing, a good solid ride for the Stooge!

Over the previous days I’d ridden both my Rivendells and both my small wheeled bikes, each over 50 km. Today was time for the fifth bike in the quiver, and I selected the Wombat.

My reason for this selection was the optimistic forecast. Note, it had actually been quite nice for every ride so far – to the extent I was riding without a jacket and just my wool sweater for most rides! The Wombat is my only bike with no fenders at all, so I tried to save it for the day with the lowest risk of rain.

Boy, that did not work out.

The morning was quite nice, but as I rolled out front of my building with the Wombat, a little bit of rain had started to fall from the sky and it was ominously cloudy. What the heck? Well, I probably just needed to ride out from under this cloud, I figured.

I met with friends Rob and Karen at a park central to us where the rain was still relatively light, but the skies were grey in all directions. It was already the wettest day of the challenge so far despite my expectation of the opposite, and it was only going to get worse!

Rob and Karen peeled off in South Vancouver because it was really coming down, and they had no self-inflicted obligation to keep riding. I continued into Richmond, heading for the dyke along the water.

Garry Point (above) has a large sandy area at its center normally, but today it was a lake. A great day to be a duck! I warmed my hands in the bathroom (below) before setting off once again.

However, one very cool thing did happen. I noticed a nice looking backpack and a tripod ditched alongside the Richmond dyke with nobody nearby. I thought it strange, but kept going due to general misery at this point. Over 100m later I saw a photographer laying on his stomach in the bushes alongside the trail and my eye wandered to where his massive lens was pointed: a massive coyote walking along the driftwood. I stopped to get a potato photo once I was well clear of the scene so I wouldn’t interrupt: this is at full zoom on my Pixel 8, just good enough to tell what it is.

I hit about the 30km mark when I was finally pointed towards home, and up until this point I had been soaked through but comfortable. My hands became very cold over the next 10km; I simply didn’t prepare well for this level of wet. The climb into town solved that issue though, no doubt helped by the single speed.

In the end – 55 km so it counted. Sure wish I rode it any other day though.

Today, Febuary 9th 2025, we adopted a dog. The name she comes with is Sunshine, which we’ve been shortening to Sunny. It’s Sunday, fittingly. Aimée found her locally fostered, her photo was most cute, and she sounded like a perfect fit. They didn’t know her age or her lineage for sure, but pegged her at ~3.5 years old and maybe an Aussie / Corgi mix.

Obviously her stature suggests corgi. Or perhaps Dachshund? Aussie was certainly believable, though she did the ‘stalking’ thing that Border Collies do towards a crow on a fence this afternoon, so now we’re calling that into question as well.

Leia has been enjoying being an only dog and we want her golden years to be as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, so her opinion was very important to us. While she is has some reservations, they’ve gotten along great – Sunny doesn’t really engage with Leia but they already seem pretty comfortable in each others’ presence. I suspect they will become bonded with time.

Sunny is from Turkey, rescued during the 2023 flooding in the area we’re told. She had a litter of puppies, as I understand afterwards (sometime in early 2024 maybe?), and less than two weeks ago she had a large bladder stone removed as well as full dental work including a bunch of tooth extractions. Despite all this, she seems carefree. She loves attention, and doesn’t want pets to end.

She’s already met a handful of our dog park friends (both canine and human) and no doubt will become an integral part of the community in no time.

Onto my fourth bike of six, I chose the Brompton today because the weather forecast was iffy at best and the route was going to be reasonably urban. It was Saturday, Dec 28th 2024, and it was also Park Bagging. Park bagging was started by a bike pal and has been running since May 2023, the idea being that participants visit every park in Vancouver in alphabetical order and have a beverage of choice at each one. The most popular choice is beer, but non-alc and other drinks are also common and valid. The parks for this day were Musqueam and Nanaimo parks; we are about mid-way through the alphabet.

Musqueam is a large park in the southwest corner of the city; I live in the north east corner so it was about 20 km just to get to the first park. I took the Arbutus Greenway and poked into Pacific Spirit Park’s trails a little bit before reaching the meet point.

We meandered to Nanaimo Park, and from there I needed another 20+ km in order to meet my goal: so I headed east into Burnaby, bonking at around the right time to get some fast food by way of Wendys. I didn’t take a lot of photos, it was a pretty ordinary ride really. I got home just after dark; thankful for the Brompton’s dynamo lighting.

Day one was the Raleigh Twenty, day two was the Hillborne. Day three, Dec 27 2024, was also Friday: the day of Camp Coffee Club’s morning meeting. This week was at the OG location, Waterfront Park in North Van. I show up quite irregularly on account of the early hour, but I got myself out before sunrise and on site shortly after 8am.

After drinking my coffee and seeing the others off, Morgan, Nathan and I headed for a Seymour valley loop. We grabbed some breakfast at A&W then headed up the path behind Capilano University which includes, as we knew, a long set of stairs near the end.

We stayed off the road as much as possible by taking Diamond trail to Baden Powell off Lillooet Rd. We stopped along the top of a ridge to bask in the forest glow.

We then shed a bunch of elevation we just worked hard for by descending Baden Powell to Riverside Dr – an absolutely glorious stretch of trail that ends with a treacherously steep staircase. We were rewarded with a bit of fog against the sun for perfect light.

We headed up Fishermans, taking in the perfect weather. The sunshine lit up all the lichen hanging from the lower limbs of the tree canopy, which gave a green hue to the air.

My Bombadil was purpose-built for this valley and it continues to deliver four years later.

We looped around the marsh at midvalley, which is an entirely unnecessary yet worthwhile little trail. The bridge over the marsh’s outflow drain was removed a while back and nothing has been put in its place to date – and the water level was such that it was a bold jump over deep water to cross. I placed the Bombadil into the water to help balance me, and I didn’t expect to submerge the bike well past the SON hub and bottom bracket. Whoops!

We pedalled up Spur 4, descending over Bear Island, and onto Hatchery Trail. I was excited to take Morgan and Nathan to my favourite tree on the Rainbow Creek loop.

We spent a little bit of time among these giants before continuing on. This spot has become my favourite of late and I’m glad I’ve been able to get out here so regularly, considering it’s 25km from home and half of that is on trail, out of cell service.

The day ended up being 66km and nearly 1000m of elevation. While it’s relatively challenging, these LSCR loops really rejuvenate my soul.

Quick recap of the challenge: instead of Festive 500 from Dec 24 to 31, I challenged myself to ride each of my six bikes a minimum a 50km over the same period.

Part 1 was my old Twenty on Christmas Eve. I took Christmas day off to spend with my partner and pupper. But as of Boxing Day I was back on it, and rolled out of the house on the Hillborne with only a loose plan in place.

I started by crossing over to North Van and heading westward via Second Narrows, generally on the Spirit Trail. The weather was pretty decent; no threat of rain and temperatures well above freezing. I rode in my sweater without a jacket!

I crossed Lions Gate into Stanley Park and took Rawlings down, stopping to explore a couple side quests.

I made my way over the Burrard Bridge and headed west. Passing through Jericho, the water level was as high as I’ve ever seen it – large sections of the park were fully flooded. Great time to be a duck!

I wanted to take my favourite UBC route – Salish trail starting from the base of the NW Marine climb, which follows the east edge of a rather steep and deep ravine to start. I am happy to push up the first incline.

Salish Trail starts in a rather open, exclusively deciduous wooded area before becoming enclosed in towering Dougas Firs. While there was no rain today, recent rains were very evident – I rode though what must have been thousands of puddles.

I continued south through Musqueam Park, a quieter and beautiful bit of green space south of Marine Drive. Working my way around the golf course, I stopped at Deering Island, a favourite spot of mine and some friends for a beer. I sat and watched the sun set while and chatted with a family with two teen daughters whose dad was jealous of my beer, as well as an older lady and her sweet dog. On the way out of Deering there were three bald eagles having a bit of a domestic dispute at close range and we all watched in awe.

I passed through Southlands and visited the horses along the way, then made my way north via Arbutus Greenway.

Route below – a pleasant and pretty uneventful ride, though quite muddy at times.

I hadn’t considered doing the Festive 500 this year, though I’m quite familiar with the challenge. It wasn’t until a friend proclaimed they would attempt it that I realized I could put some time towards such a challenge since I had the week off work.

I wanted to put my spin on the challenge and ride each of my bikes (six in total) for one big ride. I did the math, planned some routes, and sliced up how I could meet the 500km distance in a manageable way – but then when my partner Aimée asked if we were going to spend time together while we were both off, I realized it was too much and dialed it back: 50+ km per bike for every bike.

The bike I am least likely to ride 50km is my old Raleigh Twenty; it’s around 1971 give or take, heavily upgraded but in a period-correct manner such as the drum brakes. It’s very heavy and four gears are functional. Despite this it is actually very fun to ride, and doesn’t feel heavy when you’re riding it.

I headed east with the intention of a bike route loop that would take me east to the edge of Coquitlam, then south around New Westminster and home.

The day was nice, the sun was shining and I was really enjoying riding this bike. So when I reached the eastward point of my planned route, I just kept going east. I took an especially muddy connector trail to a green space in Port Coquitlam that I really enjoy.

At this point I am questioning whether the Twenty is a great bike or if I just enjoy riding any bike. In either case, it really makes me wonder why I have spent so much money on my bikes when something this modest brings me the same amount of joy!

I cruised through ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park, stopping to take a photo with one of the long-unoccupied houses on the park grounds below. I’m curious of their history.

At this point the driving reason for me to continue eastward was to revisit the Riverside Hospital grounds just to the north.

Previously a psychiatric hospital, the buildings have been long abandoned. The combination of their appearance and their history are truly haunting, and a powerful experience. Going alone added to the effect, there was absolutely nobody around.

I leaned into the discomfort of this experience as I thought about what it must have been like to be kept here.

After the hairs on my neck had been sufficiently raised, I made my way out the west end of the grounds and awkwardly connected down to something remotely bike friendly. This included jumping a couple barriers and riding a decent amount of sidewalk on busy streets… Coquitlam bike infrastructure leaves much to be desired.

The light was failing by the time I was on my last 10 km of the ride, but I was treated to a very pleasant sunset.

Here was the final route, going above and beyond to a total of 58.4km which I’m confident is my longest ride on this bike – I have ridden over 40km on it at least twice, but perhaps never over 50.

Two weeks after I rode this route on the Susie, I went back out on the Bombadil with clearer skies – thankfully, since this time I had no fenders. It was cool but not especially cold; maybe 7 or 8C. The snow line was still pretty high and I only saw the odd patch near the top of the visible hills.

The ride up Fishermans was more busy than even in the middle of summer, presumably because at this time of year you don’t pass up a sunny, above-freezing opportunity to go for a hike or bike. Fair enough, that’s what got me out here too.

As always, once at mid-valley and starting up Spur 4, the “crowds” had sharply declined, but I saw a few other riders. I was enjoying the somewhat different personality of the Bombadil with the KT bars, 11 speed trigger shifter, Rene Herse 55mm knobbies and most notably the lack of fenders. Felt a bit more like a vintage MTB, but more comfortable, and with better manners overall.

As always, the Hatchery Trail was magnificent and especially the Rainbow Creek loop – where I discovered to my bewilderment that I didn’t previously notice a second old growth tree just mere steps from the 500 year old Sitka Spruce. As far as I can tell it’s also a Sitka and approximately the same age, or close to it. It is the closer (right side) tree in the image below, left. And look at the moss covered lower limbs! I couldn’t capture the size nor statement this tree makes.

I also stopped into “See More Stumps” trail on the way back, which as you guessed, has a lot of stumps. Given how much presence the stumps still manage to have in this forest of younger trees, I can only imagine how incredible they were while they still stood tall.

Rob and I are two peas in a very peculiar pod. These rides Rob and I have been doing where we try to find the sneakiest, least likely routes up mountains have “inspired” me to create Bike Portage Club because despite failing spectacularly on a consistent basis as rideable, they’re still really rewarding days out with a bicycle.

In terms of failing, no other ride we’ve done has failed as badly as this one. Having to hike our bikes from 400m to nearly 900m elevation was not unexpected. What was brutal about this ride was we hiked down most of that elevation as well, and I feared for my safety more than once.

The temperature was mild for early February and had been for the past few weeks. However there had been some recent stormy weather and a lot of rainfall, so water levels were high and trees and branches have come down.

We worked our way to the first switchback on Cypress Bowl Rd via our rather optimized route, then headed to the West Cypress Creek trail.

West Cypress Creek trail ascends over 400m along the west bank of Cypress Creek. Just about every other trail is on the east bank, where the topology is significantly more hospitable.

Recent rains had done a number on the road. It was too steep to ride anyway, but it was damaged to the extent it no longer served as an access road for vehicles.

This went on for quite a while, but I’d set into a bit of a rhythm and found the elevation gain to melt away. Perhaps the ambiance of the fog along with the sound of the roaring river down to our right helped place me into a bit of a trance.

The grade eased as we neared the ski area, but the trail became especially wet. Reaching the chairlift, in early February, and there was no snow on the ground at all was eerie and scary.

The lack of snow at the chairlift may have lulled us into a false sense of security for the next stretch, where we travelled along what are typically the XC ski trails. While too patchy to ski, they were also too snowy to ride. Rob had skied them just a week prior I believe, but the mild temps and rainfall had washed away a lot of snow in a short period of time.

It was difficult to walk along, let alone ride.

I know these rider POV photos of slushy snow are getting repetitive, but that’s how we felt at the time as well – the snow would dissipate and we’d think we’re in the clear, only to be met with another patch of snow, over and over again.

The recent snowmelt left bare areas saturated with moisture. Once we were out of the XC ski zone, we descended a section of the Cabin road we were familiar with. It was especially wet today.

The next leg of our journey was to descend Old Brewis, an out-of-the-way hiking trail well to the east of the more popular trail network. Neither of us expected it to be this challenging.

Making matters worse, the first ravine crossing on Brewis involved a destroyed bridge so we had to clamour up along the remains of the bridge.

While the going was tough, the massive Hollyburn Fir rejuvenated our souls.

At the bottom of Brewis, we headed east along Skyline trail along the powerlines towards Lawson Creek. I honestly believed this is where things would get better, but they really did not.

When we reached the ravine that Lawson Creek was at the bottom of, we were sure we must have missed a turn. It was so steep, and such a long way down. Daylight was failing at this point and making it more difficult to see the trail, which fueled my anxiety about getting out of this challenging terrain as soon as possible.

We descended into the ravine knowing that we’ve thus committed to finding a way up the opposite bank. If hiking, this would have been a moderate scrambler – but getting the bikes up with us was a challenge.

Once on the other side of that last ravine, the trail became much more hospitable and placed us back on a normal, reliable trail with views of the city below. I was extremely relieved to know that we didn’t have any more unknowns ahead of us.

Better still, a buddy of ours was at the brewery at the bottom of the hill. We arrived at the busy brewery and parked our bikes in the brewhouse. It was jolting to go from a day of wilderness to such a busy environment. After the brewery we worked our way along the bike route to town, stopping for a cheeky drink on a pier along the way.