I just got back from a twelve days at home. It was a great rest. Since I only spent a night or two at home in July, when I took the
Rubicon guys up after Delta, this trip was the first time I'd been back in a year. With a week of training still on my schedule, Darren and I spent some time in the gym and on the bike so I could earn a nice 3-4 days of rest over Christmas. A bunch of track/road riders from Vancouver (who I met at Canadian Track Nationals back in August) also came up for a big hike and a night out on the town. Usually when I have visited home during the holiday season, the snow is pretty good but this year was definitely an exception. I got to spend two days on the mountain with over 100+ new centimeters of powder. Amazing!
Whistler, BC
Darren drove me around for 4 hours one day as I preceded to tackle Kadenwood in the snow. By 5.30, it was dark, cold, and I'd climbed over 7,000 ft. The last two climbs were only made possible with the help of the high beams. Even with 40 psi I couldn't get out of the saddle, so I made my way through the afternoon averaging 295 watts over the 10 climbs, totalling 2.5hrs in the saddle. Thanks Darren! And thanks Dad for letting me borrow your bike!
I took good care of it though, it was shiny new when I gave it back
View from the top after climb 6 or 7....three to go!
Awesome sunset
The day before, Jesse, Jenny, Jasmin and Cody (Sarah's taking the photo) came up to go for a hike. Armed with snow shoes and extenda poles, they were pretty well prepared. When I told them that we wouldn't be using the snow shoes, I got a few weird looks. Snow shoes are too easy! We tackled Gargamel, a triple black diamond DH mountain bike trail above my parent's house. And by DH I mean you can only ride this thing down. I really enjoy getting out for long hikes during this time of year and with a crew of more than one, I was excited to see how far up we could get. In the summer it takes about 90 minutes at super ridiculous speed to climb the steep 1800 vertical feet to the top but I'd never made it past the swamp section in the winter. With six of us, we made our way across. We actually made great time and within 2hrs we were at the top. I had actually only been to the top once in the summer, which isn't even actually on the trail so I was stoked to find it in the winter.
Taking a minute at the 2nd lookout
The shenanigans continued during an evening in the village
A couple days later, Darren and I headed out to find a Christmas tree, from under the power lines of course. Here Darren readies the axe.
A nice find! 13+ ft!
On the 24th and 25th Whistler received something in the range of 100+ cm. Although it was a bit heavy the second day, we found a new chute, that although we've skied here our whole lives, had eluded us until this year. With everything else on the mountain tracked out, we skied freshies all afternoon, both days!
And before I knew it, I was back! Time to train! I ventured out to the end of Dairy Creek today. It was cold, quite windy, but......
Dairy Creek
Sunset of 2010
every body wants to be a bike racer....
Labels: Gallery, NEWS
The day before, Jesse, Jenny, Jasmin and Cody (Sarah's taking the photo) came up to go for a hike. Armed with snow shoes and extenda poles, they were pretty well prepared. When I told them that we wouldn't be using the snow shoes, I got a few weird looks. Snow shoes are too easy! We tackled Gargamel, a triple black diamond DH mountain bike trail above my parent's house. And by DH I mean you can only ride this thing down. I really enjoy getting out for long hikes during this time of year and with a crew of more than one, I was excited to see how far up we could get. In the summer it takes about 90 minutes at super ridiculous speed to climb the steep 1800 vertical feet to the top but I'd never made it past the swamp section in the winter. With six of us, we made our way across. We actually made great time and within 2hrs we were at the top. I had actually only been to the top once in the summer, which isn't even actually on the trail so I was stoked to find it in the winter. 
A couple days later, Darren and I headed out to find a Christmas tree, from under the power lines of course. Here Darren readies the axe.
On the 24th and 25th Whistler received something in the range of 100+ cm. Although it was a bit heavy the second day, we found a new chute, that although we've skied here our whole lives, had eluded us until this year. With everything else on the mountain tracked out, we skied freshies all afternoon, both days!
