headed out Thursday, loaded up the bike and bag, landed on time @ san jose. was a bit pissed that airport security opened my bike box after i spent ~10 minutes taping thing shut w/ reinforced packing tape, but it all got there in one piece. best part was my buddy mike (aka tundar) having an ice cold deschutes black butte porter for me in the truck. we dropped the stuff off @ his place in menlo park, and then went w/ his wife to SF for some great thai food and two tasty pints @ the world's best bar
woke up, grabbed a delicious waffle w/ pecans and apples from some nearby cafe, loaded the bikes and headed for an xc ride @ Skeggs. a lot more climbing than this east coaster is used to, esp w/ flat pedals (i used his wife's blur, which was a little small but not too bad). very cool trail system, esp the Methuselah trail which had some great launch lips/whoops. saw some indigenous species on our ride: two deer, a bunch of banana slugs, and two giggling hippies tripping their heads off.
drove back, got the DH bike and loaded up for tahoe. ~4.5 hr later, we were at tundar's friend's cabin on the south lake, and then went to Dixon's for some good pasta and tasty Racer 5 beer. watched the 1st half of Team America. god.
couldn't get much cell phone coverage at the cabin but in the morning i did get in touch w/ Acadian who was already at the mountain. the madman left the bay area at 3:30AM or so. damn. we got there around 10 or so (we were about an hour away, but free lodging made that drive easier), got a 20mm front wheel from kidwoo (big thanks, btw), threw it on mike's bullit w/ my monster T which i'd sent out a couple weeks before. then we hit the mountain. did an easy warmup on Flameout, and saw Shrymp on the trail as i was fixing my broken chain (1st and only mechanical thank god). we caught up w/ Acadian after the 2nd run, and he proceeded to show us the goods all over the place. i think we hit 'em all, including a jaunt out to boondocks (led by BrianHCM). the trails were fun, bony, choppy, and sometimes flowy. some fun drops (boondocks, sticks and stones, and that ladder bridge drop near the top of the 1st lift), some good jumps (speed control, three amigos), some treacherous stuff (lower karpiel and lower dogbone), some fast zippy stuff (sinuous, upper karpiel). i forget where pho dogg fit in, but that was fun too.
grabbed some food w/ kidwoo and acadian, then a couple beers w/ kidwoo as acadian was driving back. had some laughs and good conversation. kidwoo and acadian are solid people, definitely glad that i got to meet and hang w/ them.
Sunday was race day on the mountain, so we did a few runs before they started the race, got stuck on the lift when the earthquake hit (~5.2 or so?), then hit boondocks for one last run since we'd just done sticks and stones (finally got to meet Orven) and everything else was roped off for the race. watched some racers come down (one woman was totally sketchy coming down lower karpiel, but somehow managed to hold it together before the rock drop into the lower twisties). got to the truck, saw BrianHCM and his family enjoying a lunch, and then headed home. definitely a fun time, and met or saw some people i just know from board names (aside from the above, also met Zark, YetiDHer, saw Juano from the lift, manziman and curb hucker).
i didn't bring my camera, but mike did and i'll post the pics later (the ones Orven and Shrymp took are here) when i get them. great time, would love to do it all over again.
woke up, grabbed a delicious waffle w/ pecans and apples from some nearby cafe, loaded the bikes and headed for an xc ride @ Skeggs. a lot more climbing than this east coaster is used to, esp w/ flat pedals (i used his wife's blur, which was a little small but not too bad). very cool trail system, esp the Methuselah trail which had some great launch lips/whoops. saw some indigenous species on our ride: two deer, a bunch of banana slugs, and two giggling hippies tripping their heads off.
drove back, got the DH bike and loaded up for tahoe. ~4.5 hr later, we were at tundar's friend's cabin on the south lake, and then went to Dixon's for some good pasta and tasty Racer 5 beer. watched the 1st half of Team America. god.
couldn't get much cell phone coverage at the cabin but in the morning i did get in touch w/ Acadian who was already at the mountain. the madman left the bay area at 3:30AM or so. damn. we got there around 10 or so (we were about an hour away, but free lodging made that drive easier), got a 20mm front wheel from kidwoo (big thanks, btw), threw it on mike's bullit w/ my monster T which i'd sent out a couple weeks before. then we hit the mountain. did an easy warmup on Flameout, and saw Shrymp on the trail as i was fixing my broken chain (1st and only mechanical thank god). we caught up w/ Acadian after the 2nd run, and he proceeded to show us the goods all over the place. i think we hit 'em all, including a jaunt out to boondocks (led by BrianHCM). the trails were fun, bony, choppy, and sometimes flowy. some fun drops (boondocks, sticks and stones, and that ladder bridge drop near the top of the 1st lift), some good jumps (speed control, three amigos), some treacherous stuff (lower karpiel and lower dogbone), some fast zippy stuff (sinuous, upper karpiel). i forget where pho dogg fit in, but that was fun too.
grabbed some food w/ kidwoo and acadian, then a couple beers w/ kidwoo as acadian was driving back. had some laughs and good conversation. kidwoo and acadian are solid people, definitely glad that i got to meet and hang w/ them.
Sunday was race day on the mountain, so we did a few runs before they started the race, got stuck on the lift when the earthquake hit (~5.2 or so?), then hit boondocks for one last run since we'd just done sticks and stones (finally got to meet Orven) and everything else was roped off for the race. watched some racers come down (one woman was totally sketchy coming down lower karpiel, but somehow managed to hold it together before the rock drop into the lower twisties). got to the truck, saw BrianHCM and his family enjoying a lunch, and then headed home. definitely a fun time, and met or saw some people i just know from board names (aside from the above, also met Zark, YetiDHer, saw Juano from the lift, manziman and curb hucker).
i didn't bring my camera, but mike did and i'll post the pics later (the ones Orven and Shrymp took are here) when i get them. great time, would love to do it all over again.
. any whistler trips on the docket?
