June 28th, 2008

Steve has been staying with us for the last couple of days before he heads back to Perth after a 5 month stint around North America, and we decided to do a quick trip up to Whistler. Unlike most people that visit Canada, Steve was able to experience both Winter and Summer in Canada. So since the ski season was well and truly over we decided to check out Whistler had to offer… What do people do there during summer? MOUNTAIN BIKING!… and what do the more extreme people do? DOWNHILL MOUNTAIN BIKING!

 

 

So the day before Steve was about to board a plane to fly back to Perth, we decided to tempt fate and try our skills at downhill mountain biking. All I have to say is that I have a whole new level of respect for that sport! I could never fathom how people could spent $2000 and more on a bicycle… and after 4 hours on that mountain I realised why… I’ve never been so sore and jittery in my whole life!

 

We were lucky enough to meet up with one of Toan and Steve’s friends that works in Whistler so we got a good deal on the bikes and much needed body armour. Would you believe that our bikes retailed for $2800 in the shops!!! I was amazed at how the mountain side had been transformed from ski slopes into a forest mountain terrain trail bike park. There were heaps of man made jumps, ramps, chicanes and platforms all integrated into the trails that twisted and turned through the forests. Steve was lucky enough to come across a bear cub and I nearly took out an innocent squirrel that decided to play chicken with me while I was hurtling down the trails and bouncing up and down with all the pot holes, rocks and pebbles on the track.

 

It definitely is something you have to experience, but it is indeed not something for the faint hearted (or unco-ordinated)! Even the green runs (which were the simplest) put you into some hairy situations and some of the blue runs (intermediate) definitey involved many leaps of faith. I was so amazed at how the bike was able to cope with all the large rocks pebbles, tree roots, drop offs and jumps. I guess it really is worth the $2000+ that it costs! Steve was definitely the more adventurous one out of us and he has the cuts and skid marks to proove it! No he didn’t crap himself out of fear… in one semi stack that he recovered from after jumping off a table top he managed to grind his butt against the back wheel while in the air. That’s his excuse for the brown skid marks on his pants and he’s sticking it..!

 

 

Whistler has never been a destination I’ve wanted to check out during summer time. I’ve always associated it with skiing/snowboarding and winter. There’s definitely plenty of activities you can do while you’re there in Summer like cross country mountain biking, white water rafting, ATV’ing, horse riding and bungee jumping to name a few. The weather was perfect and the view was amazing! We’ll definitely be doing another trip up before the summer ends…