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CANADA HERE WE COME
11 Jul 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
CANADA HERE WE COME
So, Canada here we come. On Wednesday we will be flying out of Brisbane to head to LA then Vancouver. My bike is already packed up and ready to go. Weighing in at 25.4 kg I am hoping I can sweet talk Qantas to let it go through without having to pay excess baggage. If its over 23 kg, you have to pay extra, if its over 32 kg, it doesn’t go on the plane.
I need to travel light in my other bags too. Not just for the cost, but for ease of carrying everything. I also have a new bike! Yes its true. A lovely Banshee Rampant.
Welcome Rampant. I still need to build it up, but will wait until after Canada. I can’t wait to hit the jumps on this beast. It is sweet. The paint job is quality, the Candy Red/Raw colour sparkles a little in the sunshine. That’s it for now. Stay tuned for an update of mountain biking in Canada.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
So, Canada here we come. On Wednesday we will be flying out of Brisbane to head to LA then Vancouver. My bike is already packed up and ready to go. Weighing in at 25.4 kg I am hoping I can sweet talk Qantas to let it go through without having to pay excess baggage. If its over 23 kg, you have to pay extra, if its over 32 kg, it doesn’t go on the plane.
I need to travel light in my other bags too. Not just for the cost, but for ease of carrying everything. I also have a new bike! Yes its true. A lovely Banshee Rampant.
Welcome Rampant. I still need to build it up, but will wait until after Canada. I can’t wait to hit the jumps on this beast. It is sweet. The paint job is quality, the Candy Red/Raw colour sparkles a little in the sunshine. That’s it for now. Stay tuned for an update of mountain biking in Canada.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
VANCOUVER, CANADA VANCOUVER, CANADA
17 Jul 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
VANCOUVER, CANADA
After 14 hours or so of flying, we finally made it to Vancouver. The plane trip when fairly quickly as we watched movies, and had a few beers. Only about 4 hours into the trip I decided to put on some roll on deodorant.
Unbeknown to me, the roll on ball fell out (due to the pressure difference) and I ended up pouring liquid deodorant all over myself. The smell was fairly overpowering, but at least it wasn’t a bad smell.... After the deodorant incident, everything was fine. Our bikes made it safe to Los Angeles, where we changed planes and went through customs and then through it again. Nick had already told us that his bike did not arrive in Vancouver (he had been in Canada for 4 days without a bike).
Ours made it fine to Canada and in one piece. On our 2nd day in the city we decided to hire bikes and ride around Stanley Park. In Canada they run their brakes backwards (front brake on left, rear on right). Tony decided to undo his front brakes to avoid going over the bars. Stanley Park was a great place to do skids. We also saw a raccoon. This one was in the sea, scavenging around for food (I was surprised to see one in the water, but I dont know anything about raccoons...).
We found a nice brewery/pub on Granville island and also another one in Gastown called Steamworks. The city was full of cruiser bikes. They look cool, but not sure how functional they are... especially going up hills.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
After 14 hours or so of flying, we finally made it to Vancouver. The plane trip when fairly quickly as we watched movies, and had a few beers. Only about 4 hours into the trip I decided to put on some roll on deodorant.
Unbeknown to me, the roll on ball fell out (due to the pressure difference) and I ended up pouring liquid deodorant all over myself. The smell was fairly overpowering, but at least it wasn’t a bad smell.... After the deodorant incident, everything was fine. Our bikes made it safe to Los Angeles, where we changed planes and went through customs and then through it again. Nick had already told us that his bike did not arrive in Vancouver (he had been in Canada for 4 days without a bike).
Ours made it fine to Canada and in one piece. On our 2nd day in the city we decided to hire bikes and ride around Stanley Park. In Canada they run their brakes backwards (front brake on left, rear on right). Tony decided to undo his front brakes to avoid going over the bars. Stanley Park was a great place to do skids. We also saw a raccoon. This one was in the sea, scavenging around for food (I was surprised to see one in the water, but I dont know anything about raccoons...).
We found a nice brewery/pub on Granville island and also another one in Gastown called Steamworks. The city was full of cruiser bikes. They look cool, but not sure how functional they are... especially going up hills.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
WHISTLER, CANADA WHISTLER, CANADA
18 Jul 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
WHISTLER, CANADA
We caught the bus from Vancouver to Whistler on Friday midday and met Nicko at our hotel. Not wanting to rush things (and end up in hospital) we decided to check out the place and have a few beers before getting on our bikes. We will ride tomorrow. The weather is perfect. Nick wanted to ride this afternoon, so we let him go up the hill (and haven’t seen him since....). The beer is good here, and not too expensive. The coffee is terrible. Our hotel is really close the bottom of the lifts. Looking forward to tomorrow. Time to build up my bike!
Saturday, 18 July 2009
We caught the bus from Vancouver to Whistler on Friday midday and met Nicko at our hotel. Not wanting to rush things (and end up in hospital) we decided to check out the place and have a few beers before getting on our bikes. We will ride tomorrow. The weather is perfect. Nick wanted to ride this afternoon, so we let him go up the hill (and haven’t seen him since....). The beer is good here, and not too expensive. The coffee is terrible. Our hotel is really close the bottom of the lifts. Looking forward to tomorrow. Time to build up my bike!
Saturday, 18 July 2009
ON THE TRAILS, WHISTLER
19 Jul 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
ON THE TRAILS, WHISTLER
We got out on the tracks today and decided to pay for a guide to show us around. That way we will know the best way to link trails together and get a feel for the terrain.
Riding for a good 6 hrs in the sun and am pretty buggered now. We linked together quite a lot of trails, ranging from green runs, through to double black diamonds. The double black runs wern’t too full on, but the guide said they were the easiest of the double black ones.
Maybe tomorrow and later in the week we can build up to the others. There is a huge range of tracks and the runs seem to go on forever.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
We got out on the tracks today and decided to pay for a guide to show us around. That way we will know the best way to link trails together and get a feel for the terrain.
Riding for a good 6 hrs in the sun and am pretty buggered now. We linked together quite a lot of trails, ranging from green runs, through to double black diamonds. The double black runs wern’t too full on, but the guide said they were the easiest of the double black ones.
Maybe tomorrow and later in the week we can build up to the others. There is a huge range of tracks and the runs seem to go on forever.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
WHISTLER
29 Jul 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
WHISTLER
Whistler has plenty of variety to keep us entertained. We only had one day when it rained. There was lightning around, so the lifts got shut down just shortly after we made it to the top.
So we took our time down Crank It Up in the pouring rain. It was fun sliding around in the mud. It has been hot most days and steamy in body armour. But there was no way I was going to go ‘armourless’ because that would just be asking for an injury! I have been loving the Garbonzo runs.
The roots and rocks up in the top section are so much fun. So much variety, tight turns, massive berms and pallet drops... or steep chutes or rock roll downs. My favourites include Original Sin to Freight Train (or No Joke to In Deep), to Duffman and Aline. Or, Angry Pirate to Aline or Ninga Couger to Karate Monkey.
Aline had some sweet tabletops and step downs. There were a few kicky jumps that I didnt want to hit at full speed. Here are some photos of the riding.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Jayne and Tony
Jayne on the roots
Jayne wall riding.
Tony
Tony doing GLC drop
Whistler has plenty of variety to keep us entertained. We only had one day when it rained. There was lightning around, so the lifts got shut down just shortly after we made it to the top.
So we took our time down Crank It Up in the pouring rain. It was fun sliding around in the mud. It has been hot most days and steamy in body armour. But there was no way I was going to go ‘armourless’ because that would just be asking for an injury! I have been loving the Garbonzo runs.
The roots and rocks up in the top section are so much fun. So much variety, tight turns, massive berms and pallet drops... or steep chutes or rock roll downs. My favourites include Original Sin to Freight Train (or No Joke to In Deep), to Duffman and Aline. Or, Angry Pirate to Aline or Ninga Couger to Karate Monkey.
Aline had some sweet tabletops and step downs. There were a few kicky jumps that I didnt want to hit at full speed. Here are some photos of the riding.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Jayne and Tony
Jayne on the roots
Jayne wall riding.
Tony
Tony doing GLC drop
Panorama & Kickinghorse Parks
02 Aug 2009 Filed in: Downhill/Gravity Enduro/Dirt Jumps
Panorama & Kickinghorse Parks
Kickinghorse MTB park was quite blown out and dry. But plenty of trails to keep you entertained. The boys went rafting while I opted to ride the park by myself. So I dont have any photos. The next day we went to Panorama, a smaller MTB park, not far from Invermere.
This place was pretty cool, with active trail fairies looking after the place. Crazy Train was one of my favourites with a nice rock drop and pallet work at the start. The video above shows my first attempt of this section of the track.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Kickinghorse MTB park was quite blown out and dry. But plenty of trails to keep you entertained. The boys went rafting while I opted to ride the park by myself. So I dont have any photos. The next day we went to Panorama, a smaller MTB park, not far from Invermere.
This place was pretty cool, with active trail fairies looking after the place. Crazy Train was one of my favourites with a nice rock drop and pallet work at the start. The video above shows my first attempt of this section of the track.
Sunday, 2 August 2009