Back 2 Basics

Seems I’m on a staggered schedule here in terms of the blog – apologies as I know everyone has been waiting on edge for my next post – ha! Well, I have a gig this Saturday and wanted to play live, but it’s looking more and more like will not happen and I’ll have to fall back on my tried and true DJ’ing abilities (although it’s been a while since I played out at a club) – looking forward to it though! But I’m going to focus back on biking for this post as I’ve had a great couple of days on the ol’trusty steed!

I started our (somewhat) long weekend by taking my wife up to Niagra Falls to an amazing hotel overlooking the falls. We’ve had a spat of bad news and I figured it would be good to get away and clear our heads – so it was a great start to the weekend for sure as Jaime and I had an unbelievable time over the weekend (we seem to be able to have a great time no matter where we go!). When we got home, Jaime went to go check the mail and came running back in – my article had been published in the Georgian Bay times (based on my 3^rd post on the blog about the trip up to Blue Mountain). So needless to say I was pretty excited ;) Funny thing was, Colin had contacted me and asked if I wanted to hit Blue on Canada Day. Since I had nothing on my plate (although I probably should’ve been working on my live set), and the weatherman saying it was going to be sunny and around 25 degree’s, I said let’s do it! Actually, before I get into our trip back up to Blue, I have to talk about something crazy I saw at the Chicopee Bike Park on the Friday. Colin, Fergie and I were sessioning the jumps at Chicopee when 2 kids show up who we have never seen. They start hitting the big line nice and smooth, and the one kid starts doing 360’s off the various jumps on the big line – this in itself it pretty sick as it’s not everyday you see someone make a 360 look easy and smooth. Then came the best riding I think I have ever seen. They were trying to close down the park and it was myself and this kid at the top of the run in. Not being able to really do any tricks, I thought it prudent to go first and give the kid the last run for the simple fact he was just way better than me. What does the kid do on the first jump…. A friggin backflip!!! Now, you or not supposed to invert on any of the jumps at Chicopee for insurance reasons – the guy running the park at the time could do nothing but stare (I think his jaw hit the floor to be honest, as did everyone else’s)! So everyone was getting him stocked, hi-5’s, yelling and screaming. He goes back up for another run, and the Chicopee guy wanted to see it as well (we all did!). The kid comes down again, backflips the first jump, 360’s the second jump and then does a huge tuck no-hander (this is where the rider ‘tucks’ the handle bars on his knees and throws both his hands out to the side) – just a spectacle to behold, I was just blown away that someone could do those on the local jumps, just incredible. To make it even better, the kid was one of the most humble kids I’ve seen there and did not really make a big deal out of it – just made the feat that much better to be honest, no attitude at all – I love it!

Ok, another quick story before I get to Blue. The BBC. No, not the English channel with the great comedy (yeah, I grew up on BBC stuff and love it!), but the Backyard Booter Crew. This acronym was affectionately invented when our good buddy (and owner of Sattelyte Wakeskates – the BEST WakeSkate company in the world, IMHO) built a snowboard ‘booter’ (or jump) in his backyard. There were many a night where people would be over at Garry’s sessioning the booter. So, Colin has it in his mind that he is going to learn how to 360 on a bike, and seeing that kid on Friday lit a fire under his ass to get it done. Colin negotiated with his wife to let him build a small jump in the backyard so he could learn 360’s. While Jaime and I were enjoying an amazing view of the falls, Colin and Fergie had a dump truck full of dirt delivered to the house and were busy building the summer incarnation of the BBC. I get back from Niagra Falls to see a nice little booter built in Colin’s back yard – The BBC is back. Colin has attempted 2 360’s so far in his backyard playground, but as of yet, has been unsuccessful at landing a 3… He’ll get it though, he is one determined rider!

Ok, back to the trip to Blue this past Canada day. After arriving at Colins a bit late, we headed up to the only lift access downhill in Ontario (I think anyway!). We expected it to be a bit busy, but the thing I was looking forward to the most was hitting some trails which I have not ridden in about a year (they were closed the first few times we went). So we arrived, and after a short delay due to my shifting cable and derailleur being shot, we headed for the lift. There was a nice size crowd there, but you didn’t have to wait more than 5mins to get on the lift, so things were looking good already. Checking the trail maps, Autobahn and Shot Glass were open – 2 of our favourite trails (Autobahn because it is FAST as hell – aptly named! And Shot Glass cuz it’s nice and technical). We got off the lift and headed straight for Autobahn – nothing like mock speed for the first run of the day, and DAMN was it fast! We shredded that trail like nothing, and I was feeling good despite not having riden Down Hill for over a month, and the adrenaline was pumping nicely from all that speed!! We hit that a few times and then headed to Shot Glass which is full of fun little stunts all the way down mixed in with some nice technical sections (steep rooty/rocky sections that test your skill). Man was I happy to be back on the trails, it felt great! After shredding Shot Glass a few more times we decided to hit O-Chute which is a fun, fast, technical trail as well and connects with another trail (R-Shore) half way down. We hit the first section nicely, and were ripping the second section (I was actually pretty lucky not to dummy myself when I hit the second sections rock drop and almost went over the bars!), and halfway down the second section Colin gets a flat. Pretty crappy place to get a flat cuz it was step, and the terrain is not really meant to be walked down because it’s so steep!! Needless to say I kept ripping the rest of the trail and Colin had to maneuver down the hill with his ‘dirt bike without an engine’ of a bike!!!

After fixing his flat, we ripped Shot Glass and Autobahn a couple more times before calling it a day (was about 6:30 and we’d been riding for about 5 hours). My muscles were nice and sore from the day and I was ready to go home. The ride home was fun as the lactic acid was pooling in our legs – you could feel your legs getting stiffer by the minute!! Once we hit home, it was tough to just walk back to the car, a sign of a good day of riding!! What a weekend indeed, hoping to have another one like this before the summer is done, but Whistler is coming up in less than a month and I think Colin and I are going to try and hit Mt Bromont next weekend to get some training in for BC – LOL! Anyways, that’s it for me for now, stay tuned for an update as to how the gig went! Ride hard and enjoy life… until next time…