Whistler Mountain Biking Trip

Ok, here is the epic Whistler story. Lance, Wes and I leave early from work on Saturday so we could make it to Whistler at a decent time of night. We stop to get gas and then get on our way...to bad Lance left his phone on top of the car...it flew off driving across the 520 bridge. We exit off of 520 then walk back to the the phone and when we put it back together it doesn't work. Lance took it pretty well knowing that he had insurance on the phone. We get up there about 9pm but the guys we were supposed to be staying with were gone and because of Lance's broken phone we didn't have a number to any of the guys we were staying with. Good thing Wes and Lance know locals so we met up with some other people, hit up a bar or two then they let us crash at their place that night. The next morning we get up and go over to the condo we were supposed to meet up with last night. We go to breakfast at this place called Longhorns and watch the downhill world championships but Wes and I decided to leave early to go mountain biking.

I have to say, this was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. Hitting speeds of up to 35-40mph down a mountain and flying up to 25 feet off a jump was the coolest feeling in the world. We get back a little later to take a break and find Lance at the bottom of the mountain. He had broken his lower swing arm on both sides of the bike at the weld...on his first run down the mountain. He ended up getting his lift ticket refunded but he was done for the day. We all went back to the condo to eat some lunch then Wes and I headed back out. By this time I was really comfortable on the bike so I started getting more gutsy and hitting the jumps harder and flying higher...that was until I hit a jump so hard and so high that I landed flat and flew over my handle bars doing a sweet tuck and roll and landing on my feet! I hit my sides pretty hard on some rocks while rolling scraping me up pretty bad but other than that I was fine and kept on riding. We did a couple more runs then heading back to the condo to shower, eat dinner, and party with everyone. I was so tired from riding all day that I passed out by about 11pm.

We woke up the next morning to something we weren't expecting. We walked out to Lance's car to start packing it up to leave but when we got there...it wasn't there. His car was towed. We didn't end up getting a ride down to the towing company till later that afternoon and by that time we decided to just stay one more night because we didn't have work the next day anyways. Shannon ended up letting us crash at her place which was awesome...she totally helped us out. Walking into her place for the first time I found a really interesting hat that I ended up wearing for the rest of the time I was there...a bear hat! The last picture below is evidence of that. It was awesome! Even more awesome when you wear it out to a club that night and totally making a fool of yourself doing the worm with the hat on. Needless to say, I had a blast and we didn't get back to Shannon's place till 3...then decided to check out the hot tub. I was more interested in the stars when we got out there because it was so clear and ended up giving everybody an astronomy lesson ;) By the time we got back it was 5am and we all passed out and slept in till like 12pm.

I was still super tired and just ready to get back in my own bed that night. We got up slowly, Shannon made us an awesome breakfast then we all started packing and getting ready to go. To bad about 4pm we were sitting around talking about how much fun we had and Lance and Wes got the bright idea of staying on more night and driving back 4 in the morning to make it to work on time. I tried to convince them other wise but they weren't having it...here comes last night take 3. Out of all the nights there I had the most fun this night. We ended up going out to a club...no cover charge because we know all the right people...and dancing to Dubstep music. It was so much fun! We didn't end up getting back to Shannon's place till 3:30am and since we were planning on leaving at 4am we didn't really sleep...well I got like 30 minutes. We didn't leave till like 5am but we ended up getting to work 5 minutes before we opened...just in time! That day just happened to be our first 10 hour shift so that day was super long, especially with no sleep but I made it through...barely. Below are the few pictures I took that weekend.

In line to go up the mountain for the first time!

Entrance to the A-Line trail

Jump on A-Line

Last night take two

Last night take three

First Downhill Mountain Biking Experience

Today I went down to Crystal Mountain, right next to Mt Rainier, to go downhill mountain biking. I had never done it before so I was a little nervous but really excited. The stupid thing about Crystal Mountain is that you aren't allowed to take the bikes with you on the ski lift so you have to hike 2 hours up the mountain to get to the top for only 30 minutes down the mountain. Our calves were burning like crazy when we got to the top so we took a little break then went down. Two minutes in we were going through this really loose, rocky section and I got a pinch flat...sucked but changed it and off we were again. The next 28 minutes was some of the most fun I have ever had on my mountain bike. There were a couple of slow techy sections in the beginning and then a super fast section in the middle, drifting around every turn, hitting little jumps, dodging roots....everything you can think of. The middle section was by far the best part. Next was a couple more techy sections, a really dusty party where I couldn't see the trail in front of me because of my friends, and then the last part which was just a wide open down hill where I probably hit about 30 mph. I almost ate it bad when I hit a rock at the beginning of that last section but I caught myself just in time. Below are some pictures of the trip.

Climbing the mountain (This is a really steep section)

Taking a breather...Chris showing off his new gloves

Another breather

Yet another

Chris found the keys to...

This bulldozer

The Top

View of the beginning of the trail down the side of the mountain

Right before we head down...that should be Mt Rainier behind me

Speeding down the mountain

Last Mountain Biking Trip in Florida

I went to Alafia State Park today for my last mountain bike trip. It was amazing, my bike was feeling really good today with everything tuned perfect plus I was on top of my game hitting air and tweeking it like nobodies business. It was incredibly hot outside though, around 95 degrees with 85% humidity. Here is a picture of us before we headed out:

Here is me hitting a sweet jump...it is really blurry because Ryan the camera man is shaky

Here is us at Five Guys on our way home...I love this place :)

This was a sweet trip and I am going to miss these mountain bike trails. That is until I start mountain biking in Washington...that is going to be crazy!!