The North Shore

Well, I made it out to Mt. Seymour on Saturday and Sunday last week.

Saturday:
Apparently the Bridal Path trail isn't meant to be ridden the way we did. It goes the other way... Sounds like it may make sense to go with a local to Mt. Seymour first.

Sunday:
Went to Mt. Seymour with Glade who actually knows his way around the hill. He gave me the requisite body armour to do the trek, and we drove up to the top (he lives at the bottom, so we biked down to his place to drive back up with another vehicle). Well, in the first 5 mins I had already gone over the handle bars, lost my back tire, and half of the air in my back shock purged. I seemed to be the only one on the trail with a XC bike, but I made it in the end. No broken bones is a plus I suppose.

The north shore of Vancouver is known for some of the most technical downhill mt. biking in the world, so it was interesting to go and see what was up. The structures and drops on the trails we hit were pretty impressive, but my bike wasn't really cut out for some of the pain I put it through.

The Season Starts...

Took my bike out to the Tiger Mt. trails finally (the trail opens on the 15th of April every year). Wow there was a ton of mud. It's normal, but not having a hose makes it hard to clean off the bike.

Hopefully I get a chance to head out to Skookum Flats in the coming weeks... Sounds pretty good.

This weekend I actually bought some new tires for the bike (Mythos IRC XC), some new gloves and a bunch of tubes.

The Man Who Sold the World

Went to the David Bowie concert at Key Arena last night (you know, the guy who actually wrote "The man who sold the world"). He rocks pretty hard for a 57 year old, that's for sure.

Definitely a good show.

Ski, Bike, Beach, Music...

It was a super sunny weekend.

Friday I took my bike for a ride around the Burke-Gilman/Sammamish River Trail from work to Bothell. The bike rides very well on pavement and I can't wait for Tiger Mt. to open so I can take it on some off road conditions.

Saturday I went skiing at Crystal Mt. The hill is now closed for the summer, but the conditions were pretty sweet. It was really hot and I ended up with a sunburn even after the multiple coats of SPF 30 sunscreen.

Well, Sunday I took the Burke Gilman Trail from Bothell to just past Mathews Beach park. Saw a bald eagle which was pretty cool, and also saw a hit and run accident. Some guy laid into another car and sped through a parking lot exiting on the other side. I couldn't catch the license plate, but there were tons of witnesses.

Relaxed at Golden Gardens to end the day.

Now my bike has twice as many miles on it as when I bought it. So far no complaints other than a hard seat which should be no problem now that I bought some padded shorts.

Saw The Strokes yesterday at the Paramount. The show was good, but not great. No time for a formal review.

Check out these components...

Bought a bike...
So yesterday I bought a used 2001 Trek Fuel 98. It is in pristine condition and has never been ridden off cement. There are only 40 miles on it (not a scratch).

Components:
- Alpha SLR aluminum frame
- Rock Shox SID XC front fork (80mm of travel) - these support disk brakes
- Fox Float R rear fork (3" of travel)
- Shimano XT/XTR deraileurs
- Rims support tubeless tires

The thing retails for over $2000, but used I got it for $750. I think that's a decent deal.

Now the problem is that I have to buy a bunch of new stuff for it:
- Clipless pedals/shoes
- Biking shorts
- XC tires
- Maintenance kit
- Gloves
- Helmet

It did come with a wireless bike computer, shock pump, bike pump, tool carrying case, and extra tubes, so at least I won't have to buy that stuff.