Demo'ing Tiger, golf, and rattlesnake

(To see pictures inline click here)

Well, this past weekend Cheryl came up to Seattle. On Saturday we hiked Rattlesnake Ledge, then went golfing at the 9 hole course near the hike. On Sunday we rode tiger mountain.

Picture: Rattlesnake Ledge

The rattlesnake ledge hike is a quick 30 minute hike up to a pretty scenic lookout. Totally worth the trip. This past weekend it was pretty busy because it was one of the first weekends of the year with good hiking weather, so we went up, had a snack, and then went golfing.

Cheryl deleted the only golf picture I had - apparently she didn't like the lighting - hence no golf picture. I think my bar for a good picture is a lot lower than hers.

Picture: Tiger Mt

Tiger Mountain is my favorite cross country trail close to Seattle. Cheryl decided to bring her cross country bike, so we went there. Cheryl was clipped in to her pedals for the first time, so it was quite the adventure. I think one of her clips is not working properly because she had an amazingly hard time unclipping which resulted in a few falls. That sucked, but we'll either figure it out, or put on some flat pedals for the next round. We're working on it.

Picture: The Demo

Since I wanted to do a freeride run after Tiger, I decided to bring my downhill bike. Now, for those of you who do not bike, let me tell you: riding a demo 9 on this trail is ridiculous... A normal cross country biker riding the tiger mountain trail has a 25-30 pound bike, 3, 4, or maybe 5 inches of travel, and 27 gears. My downhill bike (as the name implies) is really built for going downhill, not for a 11 mile cross country ride. It's over 50 pounds, has 8 inches of front travel, 9 inches of rear suspension, and only one big chainring in the front - meant for pedaling fast while going downhill (see picture).

I have never seen a demo 9 go through the Preston loop at tiger mountain, and neither had anyone I saw that day. Some comments I heard included "What the heck is that?", "is that a bike", and "look, a motorbike"... Those guys need to go to Whistler more.

Anyhow, the Demo 9 proved to be as painful as I thought it would be on the initial 3 mile climb. I made it, but I don't suggest it unless you're really trying to get in shape - or maybe if you like pain. The demo 9 was way too much bike on the downhill. It was fun because I could basically plow through anything without thinking.

Our ride took a bit longer than we thought it would, so I didn't actually get a chance to go out and do the freeride portion of the day, but that's ok, I'll try and get some freeride in this weekend.

Shawn and Megan cooked us an amazing salmon dinner Sunday night. Sweet.

Anyhow, until next time...