The Fall Sessions

by Ryan Kuhn

As Autumn settles over the Kootenays, the days get shorter and we builders get squeezed out of the productive weekday evening sessions. Right now we’re in a bit of a transition mode, digging from after work to about 7 p.m. when we strap on the bike lights for a wild rip down the latest creation in the dark.

Ryan hits Flogopogo on a recent ride on Oasis. Pic: Nicola Kuhn

On the other hand, with the hectic summer pace behind us, we have more weekend time to gather folks and focus on specific projects. These day-long sessions are full on and we almost always have a ride-able feature by nightfall, capped off by more night sessions and camera flashes blinding riders mid-air.

While I’m going to share a product resulting from these fall building marathons, I first want to comment on how the Scythe’s performing. It took a little while to get the suspension dialled, but now that it’s settled in I’m blown away by this frame. I’m now comfortable with the single-pivot action and have come to appreciate the stiffness of the rear end. I can slam into and sprint out of corners with the utmost confidence. I’m riding it in the slack setting and in the 7” travel mode which is great for what we’ve been riding lately, which has been primarily DH oriented – fast, steep and gnar. I planned to “freeride-ize” with my 66 fork and dual e-thirteen chainguide, but the Fox 40 and other race bits are so dialled on this rig I can’t bring myself to change anything. The dual ring up front will probably happen soon as we pedal a lot in the Koots. Anyway, on to the stunt:

We call this feature “Flogopogo” in the spirit of the infamous stunt that burned at Gillard in Kelowna in the wildfires of 2003. This was a complete rebuild of a stunt built by the boys from Gerricks in Trail. The old stunt was getting rickety and, without asking anyone, was torn down by an overzealous individual. This upset many riders and was one of the sparks that helped galvanize our RFA crew in Rossland. So, late last fall we put our shoulders to the wheel...

Chris and Isaac build the framework - we devised some fancy notches to link the spans.

The tranny boxes were filled with a nice cache of dirt nearby.

Isaac trimming the ends on the easier line.

Flowgo was an obvious name - Rory celebrates the final product with a "I didn't cut my foot off with the chainsaw" dance.

The final product was well worth it. Ryan sends it in the dark - the remote flash blinded you so you were pretty much landing on faith. Another great shot by Vince Boothe.

Well, that’s it for now…more soon on the new Par 5 line – it’s BIG baby. Until then, keep diggin’…