It's not a Whistler trip without a day of riding in the rain. We spent most the day riding slippery roots and other techy goodness, but the jump trails dried out by the end of the day and were fast and tacky. Basically, another day in paradise.
Today was photo day, but it was a long day of riding and I'm already sick of editing photos despite the fact that I've only finished one sequence shot. This is all you're going to get for now. More to come though, I promise.
Yet another redemption day. The bike ran perfectly and I finally began to get the moto-whip figured out. Of course, I get a nice, big, clean one out to the left, so on the next big jump I throw one out to the right and realize instantly that I'm not going to get it back straight again. I hit the ground rubber down but completely sideways (in front of a big group that had stopper there) and pancaked on the flat. It was actually kinda nice to get a big crash out of the way with nothing but roadrash to show for it. At the end of the day, Toni, Alex, Cam (local dude) and I went down to play on some features in the Boneyard and I got the trip's first actual riding photos. Full-on photo day is coming early next week, so there will be plenty of shots after that.
Another day, another set of absolutely amazing runs. The whole rest of the crew is now here and everyone is super stoked. I had a great time until about 5:00 when my fork started spewing oil and started making a terrible rattling noise. Now Fanatic has my bike again and I get it back at 11:00 in the morning, but it's on the house this time (as far as I could tell... everyone there has serious accents).
Words cannot possibly describe how incredibly awesome it is to ride at Whister in the summer. No place else compares. On the down side, this place is really hard on bikes. My first day up here was definitely my single most expensive day of mountain biking. On the very first run of the day I blew up the compression damper on my fork. Luckily, the guys over at Fanatic had the parts and know how to put the thing back together... for $680. Two runs later, I broke my rear derilleur. Luckily, Chip happened to have a spare Saint hanging around, so I finished the rest of the day chain-less and got my bike up and running for the next day.
Don't get me wrong, I love Utah. But a time comes when a guy just has to be on the water for a while. Luckily, Zach and Sarah got a boat a while ago, and Zach was kind enough to give me a ride in my old stomping grounds of Pudget Sound. We left his harbor and went to the Narrows Bridge (which I used to ride across daily during the summers) and back. It was nice to smell the sea and feel the wind blow of the water for the first time in a long time. I'll be stoked to be back in Utah in a couple weeks, but I'll miss the water.
I stopped by the farm for a few days so I would have a chance to visit the fam on the way to Whistler. Combines, guns, and dirt bikes. Good times were had by all.
