RodTi Posted July 23, 2012 Share This is NOT the kind of thing I like to read first thing on a bloody Monday morning before I've had coffee! Disgusting of you to force it on the poor working people! Apologies... But I'm still smiling... Having issues uploading pics - wifi is not great here. But am buggered in any event, so will be turning in now (with a huge smile on my face)... Today has honestly been the best day I've ever had on a bike. And even though I only dipped my toe in the Downhilling waters - it's pretty clear what the appeal is... Promise to pop up a decent account of Whistler when I get back to ZA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share At some point, in the not-too distant future, I will pop up some ramblings on my weekend in Whistler... It's been a bit crazy since I returned, and I haven't really had the opportunity to put finger to keyboard, to smash out something remotely befitting the experience... Add to this the awesome "review" put up by Mintsauce [see my links to his write-up on the 1st page], and my knowing that my few words would pale in comparison - and this has taken somewhat longer than planned... So - in an effort to move things along and get myself to pull finger, figured I'd pop up a few of the [unfortunately ] very few photos I have... Watch this space.Or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share All of the above, pics of my ride around the Lost Lake trails - and the Norco 29er 4.5(?)inch I rented... All the below, the Whistler Bike Park entrance, and the village - all within 4 min's of my hotel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share Upper & Lower Easy Does It;Crabapple;Lower Angry Pirate;Upper & Lower B-Line;Lower Crank-it-up;Devils Club;Heart of Darkness;Ho Chi Min;Karate Monkey; This is the list of trails I can remember doing... I jotted these down as soon as I got back to the hotel, and got off my buzzzz... At the time, I realised I had already forgotten a few from the list, since on several occasions I splintered off into a different trail, without barely seeing whether it was Black or Blue, nevermind stopping to catch the name... What's so cool is that you pretty much pick a particular trail at the jump-in point, but all along the way, you come out, and are then presented with several trail-options to link into... It can get confusing, but being able to start on the same trailhead after each run helps - you quickly start finding your way around, and by the 3rd run you already start predicting the turns, drops, ramps, berms etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAD4 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Good to see they are up to date with big wheels, unlike the Euro crowd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share Good to see they are up to date with big wheels, unlike the Euro crowd... Yip. My first proper ride on a 29er. Not a bad place to be doing it, to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share Took the Bike Lesson, since I've never been downhilling before - and after seeing what Whistler, BC terms as "Intermediate" over at Lost Lake - figured this would be wise... Seriously stoked I did. Had an awesome guide, 19yr old from the UK [who has already decided he is moving to Whistler - cannot blame him], and various multi-nationals, 5 of us in total... Did the basics, and then quickly got up to speed. It was useful having someone explain the lifts - it's very straight-forward, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind in getting the bike on... After the lesson was done [2.5 hours], we still had an 1,5 hours to hit the trails... I would recommend the lesson to almost everyone - it just helps getting into the ebb and flow of the place... Biggest thing to get my head around: Just how much rocks and air a 8" DH machine can gobble up... That, and the sign threatening revocation of Bike Park rights to any person caught cycling uphill... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share Halfway up... Garbanzo was always going to be too technical for me, given the limited amount of time I had... It's firmly on my bucket list, for the next visit... This is me on the main landing area at the bottom of the Garbanzo Zone lift - the jump-in point for most of the Whistler MBP trails... And no - I didn't jump-in to any of the double-black-diamond routes behind me, I took the blues just off to the left... Not exactly at my fighting-fit best - but all that really matters is the size of the smile partially hidden behind that full-face, that I couldn't get off for days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share I took plenty of videos... But being on an iPhone - they are massive... I've been slowly getting them onto Vimeo, and when I'm done, will start linking them from here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodTi Posted September 18, 2012 Share Based on what I know now, I would have managed the Black Routes I reckon - more so those designated as "flow" trails, rather than the "technical" (read serious roots/rocks)... But with time being limited, I didn't want to rush in to Black, and then that towards the end of my runs, when I was beginning to tire... DH'ng requires a completely different type of fitness... Well - d'oh - but for a first-timer, it caught me a bit... You obviously hardly ever sit down... and given that I wasn't exactly relaxed, you get the "claw" from gripping those bars... It just nails you on a completely different level - hardly any cardio - but muscle fitness, if that makes any sense... I never had nearly enough time to do any of the above properly... At the time, I was annoyed with myself for not having spent both days in the Park - and I was bummed that it rained so heavily the Sunday morning, effectively taking half a day out of my riding... But now - I'm glad I experienced the XC wood-riding in the lake area - put plenty of things into perspective for me... Having said that - when I go back, it will be straight to the Bike Park... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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