Sun and riding and bears, again!

5 bike parks in 6 days takes its toll on the body. Joel's hands and shoulders are sore and so are mine, but my poor old hip joints and knees are really feeling it! The pain got too much and we had to stop riding earlier than we wanted.

There is a lot to explore at Sun Peaks, near Kamloops. It is steeper and rougher and more technical than Silver Star. The first blue (intermediate) track we rode would have been classified as black (advanced) at most of the other bike parks we have ridden. It was fun but steep and rough and challenging. Even the green (easy) tracks we rode to get to some of the other blue tracks, were bordering on blue level.

Sun Peaks poured on the sunshine and there were containers used as overpasses and tunnels

 Some really big jumps right under the chair lift so you would have an audience when you stacked or styled

 And really steep rocky sections

 and smooth trails through dandelion meadows

 and lots of obligatory (and fun) berms

AND - there was a wildlife encounter! No photos as it happened too fast, but - true story. I was pelting down a straightish section close to the bottom of the trails. Joel was maybe 10 seconds in front of me and didn't see a thing. All of a sudden, there is a black bear on the left hand side of the track, running toward it. Before I could react he had run right across in front of me about 10 metres away and in to the forest. Then, a second later, I am still rolling down the track quite fast, a startled deer bounces out of the forest from near where the bear went in. The deer bounds across the track, stops beside the track, about 5 metres in front of me, unsure which way to run, makes its decision and leaps to the left and off in the forest on the other side. I think I have seen enough bears now!

Squirrels are little dare devils too. I have lost count now of how many I have seen run across the track in front of me, run along the track in front of me, and run across the road in front of the van as I drive along.