Fruits of Labor - Money Earned & Money Burned in the Summer of '08, words and photos by Brad Walton

Posted: Aug 11, 2008

Photo documentary of a serious summer adventure led by myself (Wyld Willy) in NW Washington & the NorthShore, BC, as well as guided by professionals BushPilotBiking.com in the Okanagan, BC, and DirtTours.com in the Kootenays, BC. Great friends old and new, beautiful weather, good luck, bad luck, two catastrophies, willpower, desperation, and so much riding there was no time for drinking.

The summer roadtrip is what I live for. For the past, I dunno, 8 years, I've done a summer road trip. All the rides during the rest of the year are training for this main event. It always leads to adventure and uncharted territory, with the best of friends. This year, I tried something a little different and although we did a couple of guided tours, there was definitely no shortage of adventure. I actually cannot believe how much we rode.

It's never hard to find people that can rip in this area, but it's hard to find dudes to road trip with. In my case, I had to narrow it down. My buddy Jim scheduled a man-cation at his new pad in Nelson, BC, which was the framework for our tour, but Jim's place can only hold so many dudes so I was limited to 2 buddies. I thought, "who of my friends never gets to see this awesomeness?" That's when I decided to import some of my homies from North Carolina, Necker and CCrider. These guys have been here before, and they loved it, and they can ride it.



I knew the boys were anxious so I figured I'd go ahead and make some plans. As soon as they got off the 10 hour plane flight I gave them some lounge time in the form of frantically building their bikes while I finished up work for the next two weeks and off riding we went! My good friend Javier was planning to move back to NC from Bellingham very soon, so we put together this 'NC crew' ride since I knew I wouldn't be riding with him again for atleast another year or so. Warmup day was to stretch the ol' legs out with a nice pedal up Galbraith Mountain in my backyard, as well as loosen up the grip on the bars with some skinny and jump practice.






The guys loved the local trails and took to it like naturals, as all the southern folk tend to do around these parts. After the ride I was lucky enough to get a good photo of Javier in front of my truck. Why is this lucky you ask? Well, a buddy of mine in Whistler gave me the headbadge sticker on the truck, and although I fully embrace the philosophy, Javier actually represents it. Whenever someone asks, "what's the craziest thing you've ever seen on a bike?", it's an easy reply: watching Javi ride a beat...no...a dead singlespeed hardtail down all the gnarliest lines on the shore and cleaning them perfectly. Gonna miss you buddy!


One day down, 13 to go.

DAY 2 - The boys were amped and riding strong so I decided to just go ahead and throw them in the deep end. Day two we headed up to a little gem of a local spot to get some gnar action in.



The next pic you're about to see was a bit of a revelation for me. This rock line was built about 6 months ago and no one ever hit it because it's big, steep, usually quite wet, and there's not much space to slow down at the bottom before a mandatory berm to hip-step-down. Did I mention sketchy? It was a perfect day with good group energy so what can I say, I had to giv'er! The stripe on the rock is from my rear tire gasping for traction on it's virgin ride.


It was also a revelation in that I had finally captured an image that to me tells a story, conveying the actual feeling of being there in person. The flash's lighting was balanced, composition shows how big it is, and timing is good. It's a big deal to me because when I ruptured a disc in my back in April I had to take a month off the bike, so my camera got a break too. I hadn't felt like shooting at all because action photography is why I shoot, and I couldn't move around very much. All the while I studied a book on lighting (thanks mother in law!) and I guess it helped, since I basically picked up the camera after a month off and everything finally made sense! I was so excited I think I pooed a little, just thinking about the next two weeks and the photo potential of my buddies ripping all my favorite trails and then some. And then a few moments later I got another good pic, good enough to be POD! Beyond stoked!


I couldn't believe we were on Day 2 and already had epic shots of Chris. Necker wasn't so lucky since he was always going first on everything. I don't ever have a chance to setup any shots. We're there to ride, not to shoot, so I gotta be quick enough to whip out the camera in one hand and a remote flash in the other, fire a test shot, then capture the action as it happens. Usually the ride goes so fast it doesn't work out to shoot much, but we were riding such gnarly terrain that everyone had to look at it for awhile and I got a bit of time to get ahead and be ready.

DAY 3 - Chris and Necker were killing it on the steeps, skinnies, and jumps, so I figured we better just go ahead and go big. The plan was to ride Eagle Mtn. Chris asked me, "should I take a full face?" I replied, nah, you'll be fine. On the way there I told the boys that GMG on Mt. Fromme was scheduled to get torn down so we'd better check it out next week. Chris really wanted to go so we bailed on Eagle and went to Fromme. Remember that bit about the helmet, you'll need that info later...


This next move is about halfway up the mountain, after having done nothing but climbed for half an hour. It's umm, kinda big, and I like to refer to it as the good day/ bad day maker. If you pull it off clean, you're gonna have a good day. If not, your day is over before even reaching a trail.



After a little warm-up on Upper Oilcan, I decided to show the guys a few stunts on JerryRig before heading up to GMG.





Shortly after crossing Air Supply, disaster struck. While riding some super steep skinnies that lead to drops and jumps, Chris went OTB (over the bars) on a big jump over a tree stump and landed face first. I don't have any pics of the jump, because, quite frankly, I didn't think he would hit it. But he was riding awesome and Necker and I had just hit it. It really surprised me how big it was, so I assume Chris freaked a bit mid-air and the front end just dumped. Anyways, the view from where Necker and I stood was deadly. It was a huge relief to find him twitching around on his own when we finally got down to him. The most obvious sign of injury is blood, so when I saw it coming from his mouth I definitely knew it was serious. His two front teeth were goners. He had the wind knocked out of him and had a badly dislocated shoulder, so we couldn't help him at all. I told Necker to just ignore him for a minute and we looked for his teeth while he tried to relax a little bit. Obviously in quite a bit of shock, the only thing Chris could say was, "I'm sorry guys, my trip is over, I'm sorry guys." I felt terrible as I looked for my friends teeth amongst millions of tooth-shaped white pebbles. I thought to myself, "dude, you ain't gonna find no teeth" and immediately turned my attention to his back/neck. He wouldn't sit still so I kinda gave up on that and was examining his f'd up shoulder. One look at that thing and I was outta there in search of a phone. I bumped into a guy on the road and borrowed his phone to call 911. The crew arrived just as Chris had hiked himself up the trail.



Just so you know, there is a very graphic picture of Chris's mouth in my 2008 gallery if you want to check it out. I'm not gonna post it because you really don't wanna see it. Would a full face have helped? Well, duh, it would've helped his grill, but on the other hand the instantaneous leverage applied to the mouthguard could've snapped his neck. Chris ended up with a slight skull fracture and one of his teeth was recovered from deep within his upper gumline. His dislocated arm was broken so he was put to sleep to get the dislocation back in at the ER in North Vancouver. I knew all this would take quite some time, so when one of the rescue workers offered to cart his bike and gear down the hill, I took him up on it and Necker and I went to ride GMG. Some of you are going to think this is not something a good friend would do, and in retrospect, I agree, but we were cooking on adrenaline and knew we were trapped in the city for the rest of the night, so we went for it.





The rest of the night was miserable to watch. Chris was in excruciating pain, not to mention was missing teeth. I couldn't help but feel responsible, but the next day he told me he had so much fun that the first couple days were worth coming out here for. We had alot of doctors to visit so day 4 was spent doing that, plus a little bonus Chuckanut Mtn ride at the end of the day with Taylor and Joel. Fast pace, so no pics.

DAY 5 - Took Chris to the airport this morning after having rearranged his flight to get him home to start the recovery process. Best of wishes Chris, we'll see ya next year!

Necker and I began the beautiful drive to the Okanagan valley in BC for a tour with Bush Pilot Biking. One of the guys on the BushPilotBiking tour broke his arm so my ol' pal Johnny Smoke was left with nothing much to do for the afternoon. Living at the base of the Powers Creek trails has it's advantages, as it's really easy to access awesome trails right from Johnny and Barb's driveway. I suggested riding the upper trail with all the logrides, but Johnny knew there were trees down. I haven't done much trailwork in BC so I volunteered myself and Necker to go up and cut the deadfall. Johnny got a chainsaw and off we went.


After a little work all the deadfall was cleared and it was time to ride!



Somewhere along the trail Necker hit a decent sized jump and heard a metal-shearing type sound. After investigating his head tube area, he found that he had seperated his top tube and bottom gusset from the head tube. It was a real bummer, as we had only started our tour of interior BC. I knew it wouldn't be the beginning of the end, as freeride bikes in BC are pretty easy to come by. But, Necker had to ride really slow the rest of the way down so he didn't snap the head tube off. I let him ride my bike on the fun stunts.




Now we had a bit of a problem. 3 days of riding planned in Nelson, and we weren't even there yet and already were short one bike. More importantly, we had a ride planned on Kobau in Keremeos with BushPilot the next day. Johnny offered up his Chromag hardtail for Necker to use on Kobau, and a phone call later Pat with DirtTours had a rental bike already picked up and ready for Necker in Nelson. Wow, these guide dudes are really ready for anything!


So I'm sure you're wondering "why hire a guide when you can do it yourself?" The answer is easy. You can't do it yourself. I'm on vacation to be riding my bike in a place I don't know at all. I don't care about anything but riding my bike, so why not hire someone to handle all the logistics, the transport, the route finding, knowing where the secret lines are, and in our case, knowing how to cope with a broken frame on a 2 week tour. Trust me, it's worth it. My company, Spectrum Techwear, has sponsored BushPilotBiking for the past two years supplying riding apparel and printing t-shirts; because of all the people I know, the Bush Pilot rides more than anyone and can thoroughly test some gear. And he always keeps a hot seat for me in the van!

DAY 6 - Kobau Mtn., Keremeos, BC


Our crew of about 10 filled the van and we were off. Kobau I guess is the name of the mountain. I couldn't find the top if I tried all day. After over an hour of driving up, up, up, and then a few minutes of hiking/riding, we were at the top of our 5,000' descent. Once again, I couldn't find it if I tried.







Along for the ride was Natasha and Gary who are originally from North Carolina as well and recently moved to this area.



After a short food break we went back up again. The other half of BushPilotBiking, Barb Haley, is expecting some form of human offspring pretty much any day now so she was nice enough to drive us all up again to ride the second trail on Kobau. The trails were so loamy and traction was phenominal. In some corners we were carving deep like we were on skis.




Stupid me didn't take anymore photos so you can't see the beautiful vineyards and the winery we ended up at. That's right, we ended the ride at the winery with a few bottles on the patio. Man I love the Okanagan! After a few farewells to friends old and new, Necker and I hit the road bound for Nelson, BC. On the nearly 4 hour drive, I decided that guides in this area were completely necessary. The mountains are so big and the trail entrances are vague. We ended up on a different side of the mountain from where we started. Thanks Bush Pilot Biking for another great couple of rides! We arrived at Jim's pad in Nelson pretty late, so it was straight to bed with no hanging out.


DAY 7 - Rossland, BC

We awoke all too early to greet our riding buddies before the guide showed up. Pat Williams of DirtTours showed up a minute early at 7:59am and ready to roll out, but I was far from ready. The plan was to do a bit more driving to Rossland for the day, which was fine because it gave us all a chance to hang out and rekindle some old friendships. Pat brought along local ripper Leroy Brown as a guest guide for our tour, and Pat's girlfriend Krista was there to drive for the shuttle runs. He also brought a rental Banshee Scream for Necker, which was sweet since we didn't even have to go pick it up. We started with a bit of Flume trail.















Two laps in Rossland and there's still time for more! On the way home we head out to Rialto in Castlegar to ride Awakener. I've ridden the lower before, and it's packed with the most sturdily built stunts I've ever seen. The upper was a rip too!






Overall it was a really great day for getting comfortable with new terrain. Group energy was soaring and we were stoked for what would come the next couple of days.

DAY 8 - Baldface Lodge

I've heard so much about this place that I could hardly sleep. Garrett Buehler's segment in the movie Stripped really sold me on the riding here. Pat showed up again precisely at 8:00am, which is about the same time I woke up. No worries; a little water in the pack and threw on the big lens cause I knew we'd be up in the alpine. Leroy and Krista joined Pat again to cover logistics, and we were off!












The descent was so good and so fast I didn't even want to take any pics of it. I mean, pinning it behind Leroy at mach through steep gnar chunder was so ridiculous I was laughing out loud! Apparently it was the best conditions possible on the trails. I can't imagine it being any better.














When I go back, and I will be back, I'm taking some pics of the super fast gnarly rockfest descent we rode before the meadows. I can't believe how fast we were going over such steep rocky terrain. Awesome!


So this was pretty much the best gnarly descent I've ever done. Necker agreed. We still hadn't had enough after 8 hours and went back up for DirtTour's evening shuttle. I can't remember which trail we rode in Nelson, but it sure was awesome. Really, really fast.


DAY 9 - NorthShore, Nelson, BC

Pat arrived for our final day of Nelson and showed us some more local stuff. NorthShore area was the pick of the day. A hard rain the night before made the trails completely tacky. Conditions were primo again.
















We went back up to do another descent. What's that, 4? Yeah, starting to get a little tired. Afterwards we stopped in on Rickland to see how Rick's jumps were kicking.








Oh, and then we went riding again! Pat took Necker and I along with a van full of bikers up to Highballer. Necker, Michael (the Swiss dude), Kevin, and I hiked up to Upper Highballer, then rode to Highballer, Lowballer, Bedframe, and Pulmonary. Wow what a downhill! Bedframe is soooo fast!




What a big day, need sleep now. Thanks so much Jim for organizing the tour and Pat with DirtTours for putting it all together!

DAY 10 - Returned the rental bike, drove back to Bellingham where we were met by some heavy rain showers. Hmmm, rest day.

DAY 11 - Blanchard Mtn, Bellingham, WA

Necker borrowed a Transition Dirtbag and we endured the climb to the Oyster Dome on Blanchard.


DAY 12 - Ledgeview, Abbottsford, BC

Harlen that I met on the BushPilotBiking tour a few days earlier lives near Ledgeview and we got together to see some of his trails.








What can I say, another great day!

DAY 13 - Eagle Mtn, Coquitlam, BC

The final day of the tour, as Necker flies home tomorrow. Eagle features a brutal hike-a-bike, not for the faint of fitness.





That's it, the end.

Part of the road trip was to give myself time to clear my head. It's been 3 years since I started Spectrum Techwear and the business has totally consumed me. It was nice to give myself a bit of vacation to reflect on life. The past couple years have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride with the business, and at times it's all I can do not to freak out. After a dozen years of working in bike shops, the amount of time, money, and energy that has gone into my business has taught me alot about the apparel industry and being a manufacturer in the bike industry, but the return on investment has not happened quickly enough and I am not able to go into production again for 2009. I got into screenprinting to save some costs in manufacturing our jerseys, but once other businesses found out I was offering these services, I got bombarded with orders for custom printed shirts and screenprinting has been floating the business for the past two years. I'm at the point where I can no longer manage both aspects of the business, and despite my passion for the bike industry I have to turn to where the money is to pay back my investment. What this means is that you can find all of our techwear on our website on closeout prices. It's been real, and it's been fun, it's even been real fun at times, but we're pulling the plug for now. It's not a definite end to the brand, but rather a time to destress, recollect my thoughts, iron out my designs, and figure out what the heck I'm doing on this planet. Thanks for reading! --Brad

I have received a crapload of emails after uploading these pics regarding my camera setup. I shoot with a Nikon d300 because it has a metal body and is sealed from dust and water, and have several different lenses with an aperture of f/2.8. 50% of my pics use a Nikon SB-800 speedlight as a remote flash, triggered by Nikon's Creative Lighting System which is built into the camera. I have PocketWizard's to activate the flashes, but I never have time to set them up so they never get used. Nikon's remote flash system is amazing, I can't recommend it enough for action shooters or anyone else who needs to be quick on the draw. Thanks for the POD's the past couple months- there are some awesome photos on Pinkbike and I feel very fortunate to have my photos included. I have about a dozen photos from this trip that are not posted here and will be submitted to magazines for publication, so wish me luck as it's a bit of a dream of mine to have a photo in a magazine! Enjoy shooting, but always remember why you're really out there.