the Aussie Diaries: July 8th, 2014

Originally posted on muddbunnies.com

I always look forward to Canada Day Long weekend, it’s one of the only weekends that I put away the pedal bike and only take my DH rig with me.  This year with Canada day being on the Tuesday we decided to take the extra day and make it a 4 day weekend.  We left North Vancouver super early Saturday morning, which is going to make me segue here, I get super excited and nostalgic when I get on the rode before dawn, I goes directly back to being a kid and family vacation always started with an early morning drive.  Anyway, early morning leaving North Vancouver and headed to our first destination, Sunpeaks.

I really dig Sunpeaks, I know it’s a bit of a one trick pony but damn it’s a good trick.  If you like your trails steep, maybe with a little bit of steeper thrown in for good measure, then you are going to like Sunpeaks.  Unfortunately the weather was a bit iffy but we still managed to bang out a whole bunch of laps during the two days we were there.

The good thing about Sunpeaks is also the bad thing about Sunpeaks.  You have to be on your game all the time when the tails get as steep as they do on this mountain you need to know when to check your speed and more importantly when to check yourself off the hill for the day.  By the end of day two I had defiantly developed the mini-claw, not as bad as the full on claw syndrome, where you feel your hands are permanently stuck in a claw lick shape, but they sure where trying to.

Happily we called day two early as we had a fair drive ahead of us as the second part of our trip was to be spent at Silverstar.  Silverstar is almost the opposite of Sunpeaks, it’s not steep for a start, though  I should point out it’s still got a couple of pretty gnarly trails gracing it’s face.  It’s also incredibly well groomed, I kid you not, the berms on these trails are huge! On top of that they are damn near perfect.  They also have a great set of trails that helps you progress for jumping.

The weekend after my roadtrip I was invited to go and coach at the FVMBA’s That’s What She Said ladies event on Bear Mountain.  I don’t think I really took the time in my last update to express just how much I enjoy coaching other women.  There is something super rewarding in teaching someone how to do something (usually something that scares them) then watching the expressions of pure joy when they achieve whatever skill it was they were struggling with.  I think coaching others was meant to be, it feels so natural I guess it is just part of my personal evolution.