Last Thursday I drove up to Abbottsford and caught a flight to Calgary where I was promptly met by the Gords team van full of people, gear, bikes, and some Hip playing on the radio.

I didn't really know what to expect about the biking at Panorama so before heading out I chatted with our group leader, JF, who assured me I did not need body armour and that the full suspension cross country bike he was bringing for me was sufficient (it was Specialized Epic Marathon). Sure enough our group were all riding full suspension cross country bikes except for one guy on a hard tail and another on a down hill bike; only the downhill guy had armour. Of course once we get on the hill all the other riders are on true downhill bikes and clad with armour and full helmets :).

My first day on the hill I was pretty shakey. I had only riden twice this year and downhill certainly is a little different than the cross country that I was used to. However after the first day I got in the groove and really started to enjoy myself. Biking downhill turned out to be really hard on the arms and hands and I'd have to stop just to give them a rest.

There were a number of different runs of varying difficulties from green to double black, just like ski runs. There were also a number of 'north shore' style stunts littering the runs. What these are, are elevated wood 'features' with ramps, teeter totters and drop offs. Also there was a bikercross run.

By the end of the trip I was ripping down double black runs with ease, albeit much slower than those who were passing us on downhill bikes. While super steep black runs didn't scare me off I did stay off the 'features'.

Our trip wasn't without injury. One guy fell off a north shore style stunt and impaled himself with his chain ring. Fortunately the mountain has a 'bike patrol' and we helped him out and down. He ended up with ~25 stitches. Also on our last day two people on what turned out to be their last run got pretty chewed up after wipping out on a very steep double black. I am sure that next year we will all be wearing body armour!

After a day of riding we'd retire to the hot tub and pool area and then to the large communal BBQ. After dinner we'd watch bad movies and watch all the videos that we had shot during the day. A video should be editted by one of our crew shortly and I'll link to it when it's available so you can check out some of my wipeouts :).

Next year I expect all my bike friends to sign up. It was a great introduction to downhill and for when you got bored of hanging on for dear life there were cross country trails available too.

Tuesday I traced my steps back to Calgary, Abbottsford and then Seattle. To my surprise Redman had organized a birthday dinner for me. Luckily for him I caught an earlier flight out and made the 7:00 reservation because orginally I had been scheduled to arrive back home closer to 10 :).

So yes, it was my 25th birthday Tuesday. Yay me!
3:17:08 PM   []

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12:44:17 PM   []