#followcamfriday headed into the Great White North to bring you some fresh trails for your Friday viewing pleasure. 

Ever heard of Terrace? Chances are, if you live in the States, like most of my audience, the towns that make up "Northern" BC are not on your radar. And if I am being honest, they were not on my radar until a few months ago when I was approached about documenting a road-trip through Northern BC. New trails, people, and culture. Sounds like a party. 

​Enter Ride North. Ride North is an initiative by 5 communities in Northern BC to showcase the diverse mountain biking experiences found across the region. This emcompases the coridor from Terrace to Valemount, and points in between. You can read more about Ride North HERE

Terrace is world renowned for its steelhead and salmon fishing. In addition to showing me the trails, Tyler was kind enough to fill my freezer with some of his catch from last year. I was also fortunate to end up with some bear sausage. A lucky guy, I am. Tyler is acting president of TORCA. The Terrace Off Road Cycling Association works on the trails and makes sure that mountain biking has a future in the area. You can donate to the trails HERE

Theo is an engineer by day, hole digger by night. He is responsible for moving  dirt and testing the trails. Fortunately it stays light until well past 11pm in these parts, so Theo finds plenty of time to ride, and dig holes. When he isn't doing any of the aforementioned activities, it should be noted that he makes a mean cocktail and knows how to cook a proper piece of fish. Thanks for the hospitality friend!

Terrace is only a short flight from Vancouver. Apparently, during fishing season, the airport is littered with small, personal aircraft, flying in the rich and famous, to slay salmon for a weekend. They really should be bringing bikes with them. And on that note, it's about time that I started carrying a rod in my van. What am I doing with my life? I could be eating fresh fish every day... 
Stay tuned for more adventures from the Great White North over the next month. 

#followcamfriday viewing moose and getting loose with the squad from Rooted MTB

If I am being honest, I really love the Tetons. The skiing is world-class, the biking is amazingly good, the lack of bro-scene is refreshing. There is wildlife in the woods, lurking just off the trail. One of these days, I will get to jump a moose.... #moosegoalz

Mom jokes aside, Jimmy's Mom is really good. Jumps in the woods.... What more could you ask for? Jimmy's mom knows how to party. A "cougar" if you will. Ready to prey on the youth. The guys from the Rooted MTB squad will make a good meal. Did I take this analogy too far?

Cougar-bait Austin was injured and kind enough to drive us for some laps on the pass. The Rooted squad is chasing the ProGRT series when they aren't being hunted by the local wildlife. Harrison Ory, Armen Davis and Wiley Kaupas make up the rest of the pack. Long live DH racing in the USA! #usdh ! 
Subscribe to their YouTube for a behind the scenes look into the lives of American DH racers
HERE

You can't see the take off of this jump in this photo. That is because it is 40ft to the right. Harrison approves of the size. An amazing amount of work and passion has gone into making these trails a work of art. As all trails go, these things don't build themselves. Buy these builders a beer or 7. They do amazing work!
You can support the trails
HERE

Armen learned no-handers the day before apparently. No better time that I can think of to use a new skill. If it works for Mick Hannah, it works for Armen Davis. This technique extends grip life dramatically. These guys are privateers and are pulling all of the tricks out of the bag to save some money. Can you blame them?

I am on my way up to the Great White North for a month. This seemed like a logical stop along the way. If you are anywhere near the Tetons, this is required riding. You can thank me later. Keep it locked right here for more adventures from my the other side of the border over the next few weeks. 

#followcamfriday dodging rocks and shakin' shocks at the Granby Ranch Bike Park with James. 

Guess who's back, back again, James is back, tell a friend. Everyone's favorite stunt-man is back in action for your viewing pleasure. In all seriousness, James is a new dad. When you see him, congratulations are in order. His dad-bod hasn't set in yet, but give it some time.... Legend has it that his baby can already hold a manual for 30 seconds on a strider. Start em young. 

Oh Granby, your rocks and sand boxes hold a special place in my heart. I will never forget how scared I was to race nationals here, back in the day. Overcoming that fear and learning to ride that track made me who I am today. There are now trails for all abilities here, but I am glad to say that the hard trails are as rough and rugged as they have ever been. Thank you for keeping the rocks on the trail on behalf of mountain bikers everywhere. My wheels don't love you, but I think they understand. 

This weekend happens to be the opening weekend of big brother, Winter Park, just up the road. Record snowfall is keeping WP from opening much terrain. Granby is 100% open and running sweet. Choose your weekend park lap strategy wisely. People will be lining up early for WP and standing in line for most of the day. Granby is the "line avoidance" strategy. Choose wisely. Maybe a day at each? A Front Range Festivus, for the rest of us. 

Fatherhood definitely seems to be slowing James down a bit, lol. He is basically trying to jump over me in this photo. The old Nationals track still has the amazing set of jumps after the wooden drop. This section is one of the more well-built and funner jump sections to ride anywhere. Kudos Matt Thompson, love your work. 

Once you get your fill of berms on Silky Johnson, go ride Fraser Canyon for some flat trackers through the aspens. Flat turn practice for days. The absence of a berm is a beautiful thing. Races are won and lost in the turns. Better check yourself. 

#lovesbackwheel situations. The original trail names, given by Matty and the boys, are mostly references to the Chapelle show. I miss the Chapelle show. Anyone who gets the references, is old like me. I am dating myself. I guess that was back when people watched television. I don't even have television anymore. Oh the irony, as I stare at my computer and type these words. My how times have changed. 

Making the case for DH bikes. Granby is one of the last places in the state where a DH bike is probably faster on most of the black trails. Trail bikes have gotten so very capable in recent years. It is an amazing time to ride a mountain bike. Granby however, still is making the case for a DH rig. How very refreshing. Bucking the trend of complete sanitization. Good work Granby. There are trails for all abilities, thanks for leaving the rocks on the hard ones. We love you. No love from my wheels. 
Since I only ride park, where will Follow Cam Friday show up next.... 

I present to you, the lunch ride.  #followcamfriday foregoing eating to ride my bike with the Yeti Squad and the boss man. Just don't call Chris "boss" at lunch. 

"Lunch Ride" Nope, it's not marketing hype to sell bikes. It's an actual THING. An activity. Almost a requirement, a right of passage if you are employed by Yeti Cycles. If you don't love to ride your bike, this job may not be your cup of tea.... As it turns out, when people that actually love to ride bikes, make bikes, good things happen. Completing the circle. 

If you look closely at the desk behind this dog, you will notice that it is empty. That is because between the hours of 11 and 12:30, Yeti is closed for lunch, so that the employees can smash out a quick lap on neighboring Apex. If you do show up at this time of day, you can pat this dog until they reopen for business. There are worse ways to spend your time.... Bring treats. 

Yeti recently made a "Lunch Ride" spec for their SB130. A bit more travel. A bit more confidence. The employees prefered weapon of choice for the local trails that exist on Apex. Just a short pedal from the office lies some of the best riding in the Denver / Golden area. Such good riding in fact, that Yeti has purposely chosen this location for its headquarters due to its easy access to the trail. Eating can wait. 

Chris Conroy is the President of Yeti Cycles. In addition to Chris, our squad consists of employees of all skill sets and positions in the company. All are welcome, all are equal. Chris does not like being called "boss" on the trail. We are all just people enjoying our bike ride together. Nothing more. All of the work-day is left at the office, shit is talked, bikes are ridden. I can't think of another employment situation where the coworkers of all levels get together at lunch to do something that they all have a deep passion for. It's an inspiring way to run a company. Happy employees are good employees. There is a reason that Yeti makes some of the finest bicycles in all of the world. 

This dog will also gladly accept head-scratches until Yeti reopens for business at 12:30. Again, do the right thing and bring treats. 

Yes, Yeti has beer on tap. There is Kombucha too, but we won't go into that. According to Dacre, who gave me the official " tour", beer-thirty is 4:30, unless it is Friday and then it is 4:00. Well since today is Friday, you can feel good about starting a little bit early. Those bikes aren't going to build themselves after all. Let's keep those wrenches lubricated. 

My how far we have come. This rig offers some wonderful perspective into how good we have it these days. I mean, cantilever brakes were sweet and all, but man it's a good time to be a mountain biker. Next time someone complains about their wheel size, consider this bike and its limitations. We have it so good. I have a hard time imagining how things can get much better. They just will. Those elevated chainstays though... 

Not having any fun at all. Next time you are in Golden and have some time to kill, join these guys for a "lunch ride" For $40, you can demo a Yeti and ride the local trails. That 40$ goes directly to the local trails. Wu-Tang is for the children. Kudos Yeti. And if you are lucky, Dacre will give you a factory tour and you can pat some dogs. And, if it's after 4:30, you can have a beer, unless its Friday, in which case you can start early.