[mtbbill]

Last weekend, I finally got back to the Southern Sierrra Nevada Mountains of California for a return run of the Cannell Plunge. You can see the full write-up and photos of both this trip and the 2003 trip here.

Here are a few pictures from last week's adventure.

From the lack of bike tracks on both dirt and snow we are pretty sure we were the first mountainbikes to go up to Sherman Peak this year. Above are just the views to the north. Mt Whitney is in there somewhere.

There was quite a bit of downfall on the way up to Sherman Peak and while we cleared 4 or 5 trees off the trail there are still several that will need some big saws to get off the trail.

Almost everyone on their first Cannell ride will ask "Why do they call it Big Meadow?" Almost everyone also upon seeing the meadow for the first time says, "That's a BIG Meadow!"

Round Meadow

The most photographed spot on the entire trail, "The Turn" at the top of the plunge. 30+ miles on nearly all singletrack, with the last 8 miles dropping 5,000 feet into a town with both a cold river and plenty of cold beer. Not a bad combination.


Here is the video of the ride. This is my first video compressed using a larger display size in the WMV format.
Right click on the image to the left to download this 9 minute video that is 70MB in size.

 

[brado1]

Nicely Done Bill! great editing! nice flow :thumbsup:

 

[Wherewolf]

Beautiful choreography!

Beautiful choreography with the music and trail! I have that same music but I would have never dreamed it could be used so well. You captured some of those gnarly switchbacks on the Plunge very well, in addition to actually riding them. They are even worse than they look in the video.

 

[jfsh]

video

That is the best Cannell video that I have seen. Great! And you made Bill a star. Looks like you guys were ripping that day.

 

[CharacterZero]

drool.

Long time fan, first time to write and say THANK YOU!!!
Your vids introduced me to mtb in souther california, and this video reminds me of what i really miss about cali!
The awesome shots, better video quality and high entertainment value make this back-up worthy on my hard drive.

THANKS AGAIN.

 

[Frozenspokes]

Wow!

That was nine minutes! It seemed to fly by. I think that this may be one of the best videos you have done yet Bill! Time to watch it again!

 

[THE_REAL_MFC]

I'm really new to the scene, and haven't got a decent bike yet.. but that video really makes me wanna get out there! Great job.

 

[ocwombat]

Awesome!!! Mountain Bike Bill you're my hero!!! I loved the video!!!!!!! Your best one ever! The music had great impact too! Sitting here in my cubical at work and all I can think of now is how I want to get the h--ll out of here and RIDE!!!

 

[bajamtnbkr]

Great job Bill, as usual, my favorite still is your Copper Canyon Video. Thanks for make me want to become a better rider so I can try all the places you go.:thumbsup:

 

[MrMountainHop]

Nice freakin' vid!

Great trail, great videgraphy and editing, killer music, gorgeous day. Can't ask for much more than that.

Oh, who was that badass hauling ass down the trail?

 

[guava]

Wow!

Beautiful work. I think I got arm pump just watching that descent!

 

[flair1111]

That was nice!

 

[ET_SoCal]

Thanks Bill.
I rode there the previous weekend w/ Wherewolf & others.

Question: Your video has different sections of the trail mixed-up, correct?
I mean, some shots in the beginning of the video are on the plunge, and some shots near the end of the video are in the middle of the ride, right?

I think you got the one place I biffed during the whole ride at 7:55
Memories...

 

[Yeti_Rider]

some of the shots at the beginning

are from the Sherman Peak out and back at the very beginning of the ride.

if you crossed the street at the drop off point at the top adn immediately started climbing the trail, you'd eventaully come to the true top of Sherman Peak 800 feet vertical later.

It's a pretty fun little section although the climb is tough for us flatlanders who usually train at 60 feet above sea level!

YR

 

[mtbbill]

Thanks Bill.
I rode there the previous weekend w/ Wherewolf & others.

Question: Your video has different sections of the trail mixed-up, correct?
I mean, some shots in the beginning of the video are on the plunge, and some shots near the end of the video are in the middle of the ride, right?

I think you got the one place I biffed during the whole ride at 7:55
Memories...

Yep the video has some mixed up bits. I rarely do a video that is perfectly sequential. I am usually trying to convey a feel for the ride using both the video and the music. I'll often mix around the footage to where I think best goes with the music. This video is mostly broken down into upper portion of the trail during the faster portion of the music at the first half, the meadows during the slow section in the middle of the track, the plunge during the fast section in the last half, and the last 20 seconds where bits from all over.