Flawless Barrier

me dropping 4I decided a while ago that I needed to buy an armour jacket. I have done more shuttle riding lately, a few DH races, and this summer I plan to hit a few really good ski hills. It was time.

I bought the armour on Saturday, and Sunday was my first ride with it. The destination was Whistler. Click the picture to see the gallery from the trip, or read on.

My girlfriend was going to Vancouver to go see a friends newborn, so I thought that maybe I would come as well, do some bike shopping, then maybe sneak in a ride while I was there.

The trip got complicated really quickly when I found out that JimC and K’endo were heading to Whistler to hit the lifts. After my girlfriend decided to come with me, and just hang out in Whistler for the day, I started to get a little psyched. Riding in Whistler is not like anything else I have experienced. They have a wide range of trails to choose from, all mostly downhill, and all really fun.

When the group assembled in Whistler it was myself, JimC, K’endo, Alan, and Dave. We also ran into a bunch of other MTBR’ers, but we didn’t end up riding with them.

My day got off to an excellent start. Our first trail led to the jump park. There were 4 table tops of increasing size for people to learn on. Just past them was four drop platforms, again, in varying sizes. I practiced the 2nd table top a few times, but that wasn’t really my thing. I then went to the drops. I started with the 2nd one, then did the third one in quick succession. The fourth one was quite a bit bigger than the third. I wanted to do it. I knew I could do it. I had new armour on. All of this added up to a drive to do the fourth drop. I did the third one again, hiked back up, and lined up for the fourth.

I pedalled into it quickly. I knew that the slightest hesitation would make me walk away from this drop. I was approaching it quickly, and the thing that stuck out was that you couldn’t see that landing zone. My fingers moved to the brake lever. I was starting to chicken out! I moved my fingers back to the bar in a determined move to nail this drop. I was up on the platform, then in the air. I sailed for what felt like a long time, and then came the touchdown. Perfect! The transition was absolutely flawless. I had to do the drop again. I went up and did it a second time, and that one also felt great. I was all jazzed up over this. I knew this was the beginnings of a good day.

You see, one of my biggest problems in mountain biking is that I don’t give myself enough credit for the skills I possess. As a result, I have problems committing to a line. I had broken the barrier, and it felt great.

The rest of the day was a series of runs whose names escape me. I know that K’endo and I hit Dirt Merchant, Joy Ride, Schleyer, A line, and others.

On Schleyer that was a drop that reminded me of the 4th drop I had nailed earlier that morning. I did that one a couple times.

In all I have no idea how many runs I did. They were all great. My riding was awesome, the new gear felt great and certainly didn’t slow me down at all. My bike held up until the last run. It truly is a thrill and a half to ride trails that you see feature in MTB movies, and magazines.