Seeing Stars

There's me and Chris there ; posing with our Giant Glory rental steeds. This weekend we took another trip to Northstar to hit up some DH gnarly goodness. It was Chris's first time at a bike park and a good chance for us both to get prepped for Whistler. Like last time, I shied away from all out aggressive riding. I like my progression on the steep stuff to be steady, controlled and measured. Plus I'm paranoid about injury ruining next month's races. But we had a great time taking on the usual flowey treats that Livewire has to offer. Plus we rode a few of the techy trails like Gypsy and Flameout. Rocks and boulders provide one hell of a workout on a DH rig. We were both blowing hard after a few runs. But I do love riding the rougher, wilder stuff. Feels more like "real" mountain biking as opposed to the groomed fun of Livewire. That's not to say Livewire can't bite though, as I found to my cost.

I started to feel better about the jumps and kept pushing to clear instead of case as many as I could. Just as my confidence peaked, I found myself airborne and on target to land in a tree. Bad line choice and target fixation conspired to wipe the grin off my face in an instant. I managed to abort on landing, missing the tree, but both feet came off the pedals as I hit the NEXT jump. No chance to hit the brakes before I became airborne again. Bracing and wincing I came down both nuggets first onto the back tire, buzzing my nethers and causing the steed to wash out, sending me face first into the dust....  Luckily a torn jersey and bruised pee pipes were all I limped away with. A fair warning that as much fun as this DH lark is, you have to keep on it mentally. These big boy trails don't suffer fools gladly. Still, a great day on the slopes was had and our excitement for the Whistler trip was stoked even more. Good stuff ;o)