beer bikes brats: Leavenworth

Stellar October sky on Xanadu’s big rock slab. We wouldn’t have wanted to ride it in the wet. Monika Luebke (shown here) was in Leavenworth to celebrate a friend’s 40th with riding and beering. Photo – Andrew Prenty

North Van local and North Shore Enduro course guru Brian Earle sampling the sweet Leavenworth air. Photo – Andrew Prenty.

Das slab. We loved the extended slab play we got on this big old rock. The grip is good but, as usual, it’s much steeper than it appears in photos. Maya Klavana wasn’t gripped. Photo – Andrew Prenty

Yes. This is real. Brian Earle tests his rubber. There were more challenging options off the main line if you knew where you were going. Photo – Andrew Prenty

We hit perfect conditions: 7 dry days after 2 days of rain. The trails were tacky with minor dust ups throughout. Shredding down the ridge meant there was always a view in every direction. Photo – Andrew Prenty

The pedal up to Xanadu is a comfortable spin on double track for 6.5 miles. The only potential hazard was getting shot by hunters sitting near the road with rifles searching for meat in them thar hills. The fall colours were popping like cherries during frosh week. When do you get a trail with so much juice without being squeezed on the climb? The no-grunt pedal was the perfect cure to the beers and brats from the night before. Photo – Andrew Prenty

Lower down on the ridge the trail got fast and windy, with deep berms, tables and airportunities galore. Like the beer, it tasted like another. Photo – Andrew Prenty

Little gems were sprinkled all the way down Xanadu. Monika Luebke mines one here. Leavenworth was a great place for riders of different levels to ride. There were often bonus challenges and most tough sections had optional lines. Fun for the whole drunken family during Oktober! Photo – Andrew Prenty

Whistler local and all around great guy Len Hornidge displays his post-wedding reception moves on the Cock Rock (that’s really what they call it) near Xanadu’s trail end. Len was down in Leavenworth for the wedding of Kona Product Manager Chris Mandell. Photo – Cam McRae

The average life expectancy for a German is 77.4 years compared to 79.4 for Canadians. For a mere two years this kind of indulgence seems worth it. Photo – Andrew Prenty

Beers of every description are sold out of trucks, tents and buildings. Washington slaughters B.C. for the volume and variety of micro brews available. Photo – Andrew Prenty

The Oktoberfest tents, huge and plentiful, are all lit up but that didn’t stop those needing a little down time from napping while the music, dancing and drinking carried on. This particular reveller was either over-served or over-ridden. Either way she shall remain nameless. Unless she gets outed on social media. Photo – Andrew Prenty

The Das Rad Haus shuttle-mobile got the job done in comfort and style with the cut up truck bed as a trailer for our bikes and gear. For travelers to Leavenworth who do not have the shuttle option, this trail can be climbed then ridden adding more epic to the epic. Photo – Cam McRae

Devil’s Gulch was truly a highlight of our weekend with just over 4000ft. of vert. a 12 mile descent winding from the alpine through high speed singletrack. This epic was awe inspiring – as in awesome. The shuttle was 38 miles from the shop (Das Rad Haus) to the top trailhead where we came down Mission Ridge trail for three miles and then joined Devil’s Gulch trail for the last 9 miles of descent. Photo – Cam McRae

The very top of Devil’s Gulch had a dusting of snow. The trail winds through shale, then rocks and roots and then it is mostly fast, smooth single track to the bottom. Photo – Cam McRae

Brent Upson points us down into the Gulch. Photo – Cam McRae

One of the many high speed U-turns on the Gulch trail. Shortly after this turn we came across a group climbing up. They had no idea how long they still had to get to the top and I think we were all going too fast to tell them. Photo – Cam McRae

Tom Ford (leading) out-climbed us on a long travel machine and then gave us more lessons on the descent. He was a great tour guide. Come visit us on the Shore, Tom! Photo – Cam McRae

Pedro Chambré took one to the head side. An NHL trainer would have sat him out but this was the iron league. He didn’t miss a shift. Photo – Cam McRae

Devil’s Gulch had a lot of high speed bench cut with a enough twists and turns to keep us smiling. It has the feel of an old pack trail. The change of elevation corresponded to a change in the weather. After the snow on top the mercury rose into the 20s for the last half of the rip. Here’s Trevor Hansen ‘keeping with the group’ for the photo. Photo – Pete Roggeman

What is better than beer and bullshit after a buttery endless descent? James Munly holds court after we had gulched to our hearts’ content. Photo – Cam McRae

For a good time call…

Mexican beer during Oktoberfest might be seen as sacrilege but it was great tasting sacrilege. Photo – Cam McRae