Downhill Distractions in Valparaiso

My wife has grown tired of me constantly checking out the lines here, as in, me imagining how I would hit a set of stairs, or launch out into the street off a nice drop with a downhill bike. Obsessing over lines is something I've done ever since I was a kid and I first started skiing. It seems I can't enjoy a hike unless I convince myself first that it wouldn't be that great of a mountain bike ride. I've never though, had this problem in a city, since I normally think of cities as terrible places to mountain bike. Valparaiso changed that; it is simply so obviously built for 8 inches of suspension, a downhill helmet, and some armor.

So, after feeling a bit OCD, I was thrilled to discover that I am not the first to obsess on the Valparaiso lines. This morning, I was chatting with Manuel, a very relaxed gourmet Chilean chef who cooks for guests here at the cozy Valparaiso Experience; I was telling him how amazing the streets are. He asked me what I meant, and I explained. He then asked me if I was one of those crazy guys. I laughed while my wife nodded. So Manuel went on to tell me a story. Apparently the traditional male Valparaisians are a pretty hardy stock of fisherman and port people. When they first saw an army of "green haired, pierced skinny kids" parading through the streets on their beefy rigs, they laughed. Then, they witnessed the Valparaiso Urban Downhill, and were hand-on-forehead impressed at the kids "bravery." Manuel even described his personal shock at witnessing a hard core rider get some fat air while jumping out the window of a house; upon landing, this rider removed their helmet revealing long flowing locks of blond. Manuel said, with a starry look in his eyes, "we have wonderful women here in Val, they are artists, painters, architects, but wow, I'd never seen anything like this. She was amazing."

After some quick YouTube sleuthing, I've dug up some footage of the 2007 Downhill race. Enjoy.

Trail Critters and Other Biking War Stories

So after non stop mountain biking for the past week up here at Whistler, I can say with confidence, bears rule the land. A few days back, I was flying through the woods on a cross country ride; I was descending some tight technical single track and ready to shoot out onto a gravel road when I noticed a rather large black bear mulling around in the trail exit onto the road. I stopped as fast as I could, smiled and waved at the bear, and proceeded to back out slowly. He watched me until I was almost out of sight. I then turned my back to him and zipped away -- heart racing of course.

Yesterday, there was a big fella grazing just a hundred yards or so at the top of the lift. I also met a French guy who told me all about his best friends grizzly encounter that had recently happened. Apparently his friend and another friend were mountain biking not too far from here, and a grizzly attacked the other friend. The Frenchman's friend charged the bear to save the other guy, and smacked the bear with his bike. The bear was pushing toward him while he was holding it back with his bike. He then tried to break the bears nose by punching it - to no avail of course. The bear then swiped him with his paw, and apparently ripped deep into his jaw bone. He then passed out, and awoke over half an hour later. Apparently the grizzly left him after determining he was dead, or unworthy. He escaped with only 256 stitches.

This is what riders up here do whenever talk of the furry ones comes up - we all have our war stories. Today, there is a section right above lower Whistler downhill, where you turn a tight corner and launch in the air and down fast into a long open descent. As I was rounding the corner just a moment before committing, I noticed a huge black bear grazing only a few feet from the trail at the bottom. Fortunately I slammed on my brakes and was able to back track out. Another instant and I would have had to race by him praying all the way that I wouldn't blow out a tire or that he wouldn't give chase.

Another rider up here had a mountain lion incident on Tuesday by the mini-disc golf course - he got confronted, and the lion kept pushing toward him. Finally he hopped on his bike and tried to out run the lion. Fortunately for him, he was a downhill racer so he was pretty quick. Apparently the lion chased him for quite a while. The lion story brought me back to my own lion encounter, but I'll save that for another time.

Once this sort of stuff creeps into your mind, its very hard to get rid of the thoughts. The past few days, I've been scanning for critters like mad. Its actually an annoying distraction when there's enough obstacles immediately in your path to pay attention to. Today I was dropping off a steep ladder when I got completely spooked by what turned out to be a life threatening squirrel. Ridiculously, I did end up with quite a crash - fortunately for my ego, it was a tough and terribly slippery spot. Well at least I got to test out my helmet and armor. In any event, I've had enough furry encounters in the past week to last me the year.

Big Whistler Air

Here's a great video of riders getting some big air. By the way, that reminds me, there's a popular trail up here called Dirt Merchant - there's a lovely spot where you launch over a creek that flows between the launch and landing. Its such a great feeling - a middle aged guy like me can feel like Evil Kenievel for a wonderful few moments. But I digress, back to these far more talented kids, enjoy:

Whistler Fun and Lots of Sun

We got up to Whistler yesterday morning and have been having a blast ever since. Yesterday I had a great time riding a bunch of cross country trails all around the Lost Lake area. There are some really fantastic trails that I've never found before. Lots of great wooden planks and roller coaster fun on Rhinoceros Furniture - my these Canadians sure know how to make some unbelievable trails. Poor Maya didn't make it out of the house today; alas her paws are really sore from our heavy riding yesterday; I really want to find some good running shoes for her.

Today was a hoot doing some downhill riding. I ran into an old friend randomly who I haven't seen in 15 years. We had a blast riding together. And the weather has been just stunning - perfectly sunny and around 75 degrees.

Singing with the Birds

Life, Bike: We spent this lovely sunny weekend camped out in my friend Timothy's tree house up in Bellingham. The kids had a blast being up high in the cedar tree. We also had a hoot splashing around in Camp Cody's new pond. Our friend made a cool filter system by taking some Home Depot PVC tubing and routing water through some rain barrels filled with gradually increasing sizes of rock. The water stays amazingly clean with no chlorine or chemicals whatsoever. I also had a blast riding up at Galbraith. This used to be my regular ride when I was living up in Bellingham. Wow, has it ever been upgraded for the "new" mountain biking. The climb is burlier than I remember - perhaps my city slack ways are the culprit, but the top now has tons of tricks and free ride planked and jumpy fun. I was a bit bummed I didn't bring any armor and had to "settle" for some tight perfect single track.

weekend at whistler

had a great long weekend up at whistler. took the family up and the dog. still sore days later. lots of mountain biking fun. perfect weather. since we go up there a few times a year, it's a stress free trip. whistler's too gentrified for my taste, and the outdoor 'mall-like' atmosphere made me nervous in my youth. but w/ kids, and the best downhill riding around, i've evolved. i once bought microsoft stock just so the word would stop annoying me so much. something reassuring about just giving in to the world and accepting its evolution, good or bad. youth, with all its energy and time, has the luxury of idealism. age, with its responsibility, forces us to choose our battles. it's a reality i never thought my progressive youth self would accept - that in age conservatism reigns. perhaps it's not conservatism directly, but a focus on the inner world first.