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Day 3

After 4 hours of sleep, sunshine. Ugh. Thank god I wasn't drinking that weekend (as any responsible wheeler shouldn't on the trail) or I would never have woken up.

A familiar white Samurai blocked off the entrance to the campground. Jo-Jo, asleep, had come out very early that morning, found no one awake, and decided to turn Bazooka into a tent. Zzzzzzzz.

Tim and Rhys were both awake, and making use of the fire. Brett awoke a short time later, headed for the stream for a wash, and then proceeded with breakfast. He offered up some bacon, to which I could not deny my stomach the pleasure.
Soon everyone began to arise from the land of the not so awake, and we started to plan our day. Half the troops were to head through Leech town to Empress Mtn. etc (the same path some of us had done on Fri eve), and the other half wanted to hit Sooke for breaky, then do Cleavage Rock.

Arriving at HVM, we began to air down, for those that had not already done so. It was at this point that someone pointed out that my rear sock mount plate had broken off of the cross member! Doh! I was gonna have to ride the rest of the weekend without rear shocks. Not a problem…

We began our ascent. Cleavage Rock is only about 10-15mins off of HVM, but took our cavalcade close to, if not more than an hour to reach it. Chris Bedford had a bit of a time with the last obstacle before Cleavage. His clutch just couldn't handle it any more, and got very HOT. Ouch! If there's no objections I'd like to name that rock "Chris' Clutch", as there is no known name for it yet . . .? It just seems to fit. I'm pretty sure the lads from Centerforce will be making a trip to Chris' house in the next week er two. It was at this same point that Brett noticed that he had snapped his center pin on one of his rear leaf packs. Doh! Second break for Brett that weekend! He parked beside Chris.

Cleavage Rock gets its namesake from its physical attributes. Two protrusions of bedrock extend out from a hillside, creating a deep "V" that might be 5+ feet deep at it's deepest. The trick is to go through the rock, straddling either side, without losing traction and falling in, causing body damage. To make it more interesting, it's not a straight up climb; it requires a few turns here and there to make it through cleanly.

Most of the group I was with decided to take the bypasses around the Rock. Dave G made a few attempts in his Bronco then decided that he'd had enough fun.

I had to show off. Maybe it was because it was my first run with the Fozzy Locker . . .? Did I really need to test it out? Not really. I had already proven that it was far better than being open diff'd. Nope, I wanted to put on a show I entered Cleavage at a crawl, made it about ½ way, and then I lost traction on the front, causing the rear to hop (shockless) and BOING! Down I went. I was sunk. Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, Chet came ambling down the trail, soon to be followed by Shane, Jo etc. Photo Op™ time. Amazingly enough, I was able to back down, without any body damage at all! I made for another attempt, and when it started to get ugly, I backed down, and called it a day. Jo had a go next, but with a hot clutch, had to back down as well.

The Yellow Headed Howler. Success! With a tire in the air, his Samurai led him to victory. Not to be outdone, Tripod Monkey (aka Shane H) made the Rock look like a freeway. A very uneven highway at that, with that front tire climbing skyward with nothing under it but air…AGAIN.

To the gas station to air up, use of the potty, and gas for those of us that were stoopid enough to run the whole weekend on fumes (again, Thanks Rhys!). Homeward bound.

Fantastic. There's no other word to describe it. We had great weather, a sizable turnout, and no major breakage. The people were AWESOME, as always. We did it…with Island style. I honestly can't wait till next year!

I'd like to thank a few key players from this weekend. First off, everyone lent a hand where necessary, and I want to thank EVERYONE for coming out! A short list of mentionables, but necessary nonetheless:
(No particular order)

• Bill and Gina
• Cara
• Tim J
• jo-jo
• Mainlanders
• Brian
• Shane and Christine
• Gord and Ang

Now, at the risk of getting all emotional, and wanting to run to everyone's houses to give out hugs left right and center…especially you, Shannon… I'll sign off now. Five pages or typing, and 14 hours of brainstorming, and one ½ hour ride with BEER after he ingested some pepperoni sticks has made me MUSHY.

Next up, Saltspring Island's "Playpen"…don't miss it!

Keith <aka RedApe> Daly

Keith Daly
(aka RedApe)