DH Nainaimo, and minor frustrations

I finally got around to uploading some of the shots from the Nanaimo DH on March 23. I had some issues with Flickr.com which were holding me back. Case in point; you can only download a limited amount of pictures on flickr unless you go for the pro account which of course you have to pay for. On flickr you can upload 100mb per month, but you can only display 200 pics at any given time. Which means that if I posted the pictures from the 23, the Super D pics will disappear. Clever?...I don't think so. I've left flickr, and I'm sure that a lot of people have as well, and for the same reasons. Lets not forget that flickr like any other photo sharing site is an advertising agency, not a photo sharing site. So why should I pay them for trying to sell stuff to me? Does that sound right? Not to me. And so much for all that. The First Downhill Race of the Island cup season was held in Nanaimo on March 24. The course was in a different area of Nanaimo than the Super-D, and the course was just as impressive as the one in the Super-D. Which means that the good people of the Harbor City have two trail systems, minutes from the downtown core of the city. That's not to be sneezed at. Once again I had a great time photographing. This time I had no bike to ride down the trail so I took the shuttle to the top and shot my way to the bottom, twice. That was a good workout in itself so I assume that the contestants got a lot out of the race. There were 138 rider's that raced that day. 12 Ladies, and in the men's: 27 beginers, 57 intermediate and 42 experts. Quite a few spectators turned out as well, so overall the race was a success. My boss and president of SIMBS, Scott Mitchell, came in sixth in the intermediate class in his first downhill race. Good work Scott! more pics from the race here: http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn169/h-gunn/DH%20Nanaimo%20March%2023/

a slipup, I love the trails

I finally went out to the Dump, the local mtb park here in Victoria last weekend. The Heartland / Mount Work is a beautiful area just north of Victoria. Beautiful, that is, if you ignore the fact that a great deal of that area is devoted to Victoria's landfill, and that the power lines supplying the city with electricity, slice through the park leaving a treeless, buzzing, electric highway as far as the eye can see. So maybe it's not the most appealing recreational area you could find around here, but mountain bikers take what they can get. And besides, this area actually IS quite beautiful in spite of it's drawbacks and that is Vancouver Island for you. The location of the park, next to the power lines and the dump, is not an unusual one in the mountain biking world, and the thing is, that you can forget about all these things once you're on the trails. The park is managed by the South Island Mountain Bike Society in collaboration with the Capital Regional District. This alliance is a delicate one. Mountain bikers are allowed this one place to legally ride within the CRD's park system of 28 parks. However, this location is not even secure. Every year the CRD has a different issue with the park, and the latest one is an issues with SIMBS's insurance for the trail maintenance volunteers that work in the park on every third Sunday of the month, donating their time and energy to upkeep CRD property. Seems to me that the CRD takes every chance they get to crack down on mountain bikers, who are just trying to enjoy the one park where their allowed to ride. A fair note here is that the Heartland dump, is not even an exclusive mountain biking park, it's a multi use trail system, albeit maintained almost exclusively by mountain bikers. Victoria is dubbed as the "cycling capital of Canada" but the CRD needs to get of it's high horse and treat cyclists better, if it is to stand up to that moniker. Perhaps they're not interested in that. Perhaps the other nickname, "the garden city," requires less effort and is therefore more desirable than anything that might possibly imply that the city is healthy, young and hip?... SIMBS is doing a great job at Heartland and they deserve all the praise and support the can get. The CRD however is looking increasingly sheepish and conservative in all their efforts, or lack thereof, regarding the park. Which is just sad, really. And so much for all that. Where did all that come from anyway? From some deep and wretched place, I'm sure. A place that disappears when I'm out on the trails, along with other worries and annoyances.