The passing of the Labour Day long weekend can be particularly tough for those of us who love the summer. Is it just me or are the summers just getting shorter and shorter as the years go by? It seems to me that once the PNE opens up thats it, time to pull out the heavy coats and boots brace yourself for another long, wet winter.

All of this aside, I have to say that this past Labour Day weekend was probably the most fun I've had in a single weekend so far! I was blessed with the opportunity to spend four days doing one of my favorite things with arguably, the greatest group of people that one could ever call friends!

Our four day epic mountain bike ride began on a trail discovered by my friends, in Lac Le Jeune. A nice warm up to the weekend however, a valuable lesson learned. Always ask just how "small" the climb is actually going to be before throwing on all of your armour and full-face helmet! Thanks guys, and next year I will conquer that spine.

Day 2 took us to Harper Mountain, just outside of Kamloops. Kind of a rough start to the day as the best rider of our group broke his arm falling from a "skinny" about 6 feet in the air. A bit of quick thinking, a shin pad, some tape and a ride to the hospital from a local rider who thankfully
happened to be in the right place at exactly the right time, and we were back on our way. Unfortunately without our friend Pierre, but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Day 3 at Silver Star's bike park. A long drive from Lac Le Jeune but worth every second for what could have been the best day of mountain biking that I have personally ever had. The trails were awesome and the stunts were challenging and I think that every one of us managed to take our riding to the next level by conquering at least one thing that we couldn't, or wouldn't do before. For me it was the "huck". Speaking for the group, I have to say "kudo's" to Silver Star Resort and its trail builders for all of their hard work. The quality of the trail building more than made up for the long line ups at the lift.

Day 4 and the four of us that still had the energy to tackle another bike park, headed out to Sun Peaks Resort. A long dry summer had left trails more than a little dusty and keeping a straight line was a challenge. That said, it seemed as though we had the mountain to ourselves and as they say, "a bad day on the bike is better than the best day at the office" (or something like that. All-in-all not a bad way to end the weekend.

And suddenly there we were! Not long after it started the weekend was over, even with the extra two days. I had to get back to see my oldest boy off to his first day of kindergarten (another reason that this Labour day was memorable) and everyone else had their own "real world" challenges to face Tuesday morning, as another summer came to an end.

The weekend was fabulous for a number of reasons. The biking was tremendous for sure, but at the end of it all I would have to say that the thing that made it the most memorable for me, was the people that I got to share it with. And the fact that now I can "Huck"!