Tahoe Northstar

What an awesome park. I really love this place, modeled after whistler but a little drier and bumpier. Two days here really beats up your hands. The drive down from whistler into Lake Tahoe was stunning, but exceptionally long. We packed and loaded, and left Whistler at 7:30am. Some minor snag ups like the border and Portland traffic, and 17 hours later we arrived a length drive to say the least. Having a van with a place to rest in the back was really clutch.

Were in Mammoth now, with very limited internet access. Well finish up the trip here and head home on Sunday night.

Last Day at Whistler Monday

You couuld have guessed it, Rain. It was pretty severe in the morning so we waited it out and hit the trails as soon as it looked like it was letting up. It did let up some. Unfortunately the upper mountain remained a rainy mess, as it has been our entire time here. The other problem was with all the rain, the double diamonds were very slick and dangerous which created more traffic onto the less difficult trails. This and the fact that the downhill racing also limited the available trails meant that the lower trails were over ridden and became heavily damaged. It was a challenge.

I can't wait to come back here, and the fact that we only got to ride a small amount of the mountain makes it even more urgent.

Tomorrow were up early to start our long drive to Lake Tahoe to ride in Northstar. This is a premier park with a ton of trails and little chance of rain. The bad part is that its an 18 hour drive from here. Were going to drive in shifts and hope to make it in early enough to get a good nights rest and be at ready to roll when the lifts stat running at 10am.

The first slip I had on the slick ladders the first dat has developed into a nice bruise, no real soarness but it does look cool.

No porting tomorrow as were just driving.

Whistler Sunday

Today got off to a little bit of a late start. Nowone informed us that Canadian beer is like moonshine. We had some maintenence items to take care of in town, as bicycles are about as reliable as a Jenga stack. The derailure cable routing on Phils bike was really bad. It was exposed on the lower suspension so his foot hits it when he pedals, and can get pinched by the rear suspension movement. Some electrical tape and zip ties took care of most of the problem. As we found out later in the day the cable was actually crushed by the rear suspension and it stopped shifting. The solution was a new cable and a new routing.


After the fix we hot the trails. The rain was very light most of the day so as the lower mountain dired the riding improved dramatically. This week Whistler is hosting Crankworks, a mix of all kinds of mountain biking competition. Today was the downhill, and the course layed out was taking riders 15 to 20 minutes to complete. This is the longest course ever for pro-downhill. Watching these guys descend makes me question my ability as a rider. The speed and control is incredible.

On the lower mountain (the upper is still too wet) we rode a little of everything today. From super technical black and double black diamonds to trails with endless groomed rolling table tops and huge berms. Whistler is really like no other.


The view from the top was so clear after the rain, thats the city of Whistler below.

Whistler Saturday

The first day at Whistler. What a place this is! Nothing at all like the lift access in SoCal. The trails are groomed and designed specifically for biking, what a day of riding!

The rain stayed steady throught the day, and when wet riding the lift it is certainly chilly. The first ride of the day we found a trail with Whistlers trademark wooden bridges and decided to test our skills. Though a bit challenging at first, we quickly got used to the height and narrow path of the structures. We were in disbelief over the lack of attendence on the trail. As our confidence peaked, Phil and I both slipped off our bikes on a sketchy slippery section. We were both OK from minor falls but it got me thinking. Thinking about how I havent really ridden in the rain before. Thinking how I'm not used to bridges, and this tacky dirt. How I completely failed to pack any rain or cold weather gear as I freeze my ass off. Funny though how you forget about that when you're riding.


In all, the day was a blast. After the ride back at the hotel we hosed off our bikes, and ourselves. The soaking of our gear needed to be corrected somehow, so I put everything in the drier here at our hotel. Maybe Canadian driers are sturdier than American, but my gear (shoes, shinguards, pads) made so much noise in that machine I thought that it was going to set off an alarm. No problems, it all finished dry as a bone!

Well be up early checking out our bikes tomorrow. It really not well know to use what damage all this wet and muddy riding will do to our new downhill bikes.

Portland to Whistler

Today we left Portland and headed North to our final destination, Whistler BC. I slept really well in the van, in the bottom bunk of Big Red, and let Phil T sleep in the one open bed in the house. This turned out to be a great decision as the house was who knows how many girls living in it and they were continuously cycling through the bedroom all night.

Todays drive started just as last nights drive ended, beautiful weather and a relatively open road. Unfortunately just outside of Portland the skies opened and was had rain basically all day until we arrived in Whistler some 9 hours later. The views were not terribly obstructed by the rain however and the scenery was incredible. As we traveled North is just kept getting greener and gnarlier, especially once we passed the border and got into Vancouver. The road winding North of the city to Whistler skirts the coastline and despite the construction delays was a real treat of the trip.

Just as we were settling into the mountains of BC and slow driving pace, we had an encounter with a rogue Canadian driver. Becuase of the construction, the lane we were in merged to the left. The Vans length is substantial and finding a hole in traffic is not always easy. As we began to merge Big Red, captain canada had second thoughts and decided that he didn't want us ahead of him. He forced his way ahead of us and ran Big Red off the road at 50mph, over and orange marker pole, over a jump (the first of the trip, though I thought I would be on my bike) and onto the shoulder. Suprisingly Big Red escaped unscathed, completely. I gave Phil T an earfull for his reluctance to back down, but I'm just happy nothing was damaged.



An hour after pumelling the Canadian Cones we arrived in Whistler Blackhomb. The place is beyond belief. Kim really went out of here way to help us out here, not only is the room rate only slightly more than free, but there was a cold case of beer waiting for us in the fridge when we opened the door. We each enjoyed a cold one as soon as we saw it.


We parked Big Red right in front of the Marriott, took the bikes off the rack and hit the trails for a little experimental ride around town, looking for a place to eat. The trails start quite litterally right out our back door and in one minute we were descending down a raked, bermed single track with bridges, ladders and other features we expected to see, and its even better in real life. Our ride tonight was abbreviated though as were just rolling into town to grab dinner, but not a bad route to stumble upon. We even grabbed a couple of shots along the way.


The lifts here run from 10am to 8pm, as we are pretty far north of the equator in the summer the sun sticks around for a while. It will be a long day of riding tomorrow and we plan on catching the first chair up. We'll be able to take our time and make sure we get the most out of each run. The plan is to use the Downhill bikes as we didn't see any all mountain bikes on any of the trails today. For tires, well its raining again as I type this, and it will be scattered tomorrow as well. I'll start on the 909's, a medium terrain with wide spacings meant for the sand. We'll post tomorrows ride and shots when we stop pedalling.

SF to Portland

12 hours in the car can become a little tiresome. We hit a little traffic leaving SF this morning, then rush hour in Sacramento and the rush hour home in Portland. The drive was beautiful though. After SF we climbed through the mountains near Shasta Lake and it just kept on becoming gradually more green as we headed North up the 5.

Upon arrival at Portland we took my brothers advice and found a nice little ride in Forest Park, not too technical but a good stretch for the legs after that drive.

It was a 6 mile hike up an easy fire road, then a couple of miles of actual road and a fast double track descent. With mud in my eyes I finished strong, though the mighty legs of the local Portland riders that guided us were certainly stronger than mine on the ascent.

With Phil T's lead foot syndrome behind us, we gained in elevation and increased our fuel economy from 11mpg (Phil T's agressive demeanor) up to 14, a substantial gain. Tomorrow were off to Whistler BC, Blackhome. I'm pumped! Were staying right in the village, about 1 kilometer (thats canadian for a half a mile) from the lift.

Thanks Derrick and Chelsea for a fun night and the place to stay.

Travel Day

Who would figure on traffic leaving LA at 3pm on a Wednesday. I should have. I guess I've never been blessed enough to leave the city that early! The trip from LA to San Fran took just over 8 hours. I've personally done it in under 5, and I've even heard record times in the 4 hour range. The cities were not forgiving. Overall a good start though, but well be able to improve on todays 11.0 mpg in the sportsmobile. Tomorrow were up early and heading to Portland, hopefully in time to both beat traffic and get a ride in beautiful Forest Park. Sounds picture perfect to me!


I'll have another post tomorrow after meeting up with my brother in Portland!