Mountain Biking - Raw Freeriders?

[discombob]

Hi everybody!

Are there any mountain bikers here who are into Freeride/Downhill or even long, epic trail rides? I'd sure like to not feel so alone as a Raw Foodist in my sport.

If you're unsure, check out the first half of this video of some good ol' Canadian boys riding lift-assisted downhill in beautiful Whistler, B.C.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/1610/

[spicyfull]

"BlazinJane" ride a Bike.

[rawchic]

I LOVE mountain biking! I go to Whistler as much as possible during the summer (I live in Seattle). I've had a pass there the last 4 or 5 years. I'm attaching a pic of me going off one of the drops up there (hopefully it works, I haven't tried attaching pics before).

I have three bikes - a downhill bike for Whistler, a cross country bike for around Seattle, and a road bike.

Great to meet another rider!

[discombob]

Wow! Awesome pic! The background and your pose and everything.

I've been off that same drop... about 10 times in one week (best week of my life, basically) visiting Whistler. Me and my friends from Montana are going there again the middle of this summer.

I have a few shots of me up at Whistler, too:

The Park:

http://photos-d.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v320/247/42/1167544624/n1167544624_134779_992.jpg

http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v320/247/42/1167544624/n1167544624_134780_1308.jpg

http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v320/247/42/1167544624/n1167544624_134781_1637.jpg

Well maybe that will get the ball rolling and we can get the raw-foodsters who love off-road MTB out of the network ;)

Certainly nice to meet you!

[rawchic]

very cool!
This is fun - here are some more

I'm stuck on that 3rd drop. I want to try the 4th, but haven't yet. I don't know why, it's not that much bigger than the 3rd but I have some sort of mental block. I also want to do the 3rd GLC drop (the rocks at the bottom right before the lift). I've done the middle one, no prob, but haven't tried the last one.

I wish there was a raw restaurant there! Last summer I just went to the grocery store a lot and mostly had salads at restaurants.

Actually, I got really adventurous one night - we were at the bar/lounge in the Hilton (called the Cinnamon Bear Grille) and they had an entree with skewered grilled veggies on top of foccacia bread smothered in cheese. So I said to the waitress, "Can I get this but no bread or cheese, so just the veggies?" and she said yes. So then I said, "and actually, instead of grilling the veggies, can you just not cook them? so it will just be the raw veggies on the skewer?" she looked at me like I was crazy of course, but she said they would do it. Then she asked if I wanted ranch or something to dip them in. I laughed and said no, of course. Anyway - it turned out great - they had huge chunks of zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, mushroom, etc.

[discombob]

Yes, this is fun!

What I did at Whistler was just make my own salads in the hotel. HUGE ones. The produce up there is actually cheaper than here in Montana; I was impressed (as opposed to all the processed food, which is twice the price since it must be shipped in, hahaha).

I have a wicked fast metabolism (hypoglycemic, even), so some 6+ hour days I felt like I just couldn't get enough calories and had to cheat and eat some granola with soy milk (plus we were in a rush to get back to it!), but overall it worked out great. I absolutely love BC.

I have a buddy that I ride with who is real encouraging and had me going off the big GLC rock drop (first one, furthest to the rider's right side, correct?), the A-line rock drop, and the creek gap on Dirt Merchant by the third day we were there... and that was only after my first season of downhilling - intense, but I'm so hooked! I love riding with people who can push me in a positive way.

Attached: my bike rack(!), me and my new trail bike in Red Lodge, Montana, and the only shot of me from my first season of downhilling at Big Sky resort.

[discombob]

I just posted over at GoneRaw.com as well... for some reason, doing this never occurred to me before :)

If I asked the raw community who bikes like they want to die, I figured no one would have a problem with that kind of comment here.

If I asked on ridemonkey, pinkbike or mtbr who eats only raw vegetables, nuts and seeds, I felt like I might have been banned or something! Ha!

[rawchic]

Nice rack! ;)

That's perfect to have someone to push you. I have the opposite situation - the two people I mainly ride with are pushed by me.
Yes, that's the GLC drop I was talking about.

Do they run the lifts at Big Sky?
someday I want to go down to Northstar at Tahoe. Not this year though...no money.

The place I ski here (Stevens Pass) is talking about opening in the summer for biking. It's on forest service land so they are in the process of trying to get approval for everything. I doubt it will be ready this year, but maybe next year. One of the other local mountains (Snoqualmie Pass) used to have biking, but then they had some sort of lawsuit problem. bummer.

ha ha, that's funny about not posting on those sites! yeah, they would think we are nuts. But then so does everyone else :)

[discombob]

> Nice rack!

Hehe... thanks!

> That's perfect to have someone to push you.

I love it. He's not a hugely better rider than me, but he's very supportive of his friends and talks you through. I felt lucky!

The main thing for me with the GLC drop (and several other rocky drops up there) is that it wracks your nerves because you can't see where you're launching to. You just kinda have to walk up to the edge, inspect the landing and mentally check the spot on the edge that you're going to go off of. Some people who ride in our vacation group just don't like that drop and avoid it... it probably especially wouldn't be the greatest having to bail in front of the entire lift-crowd! I thought about that a few times before I worked up the courage to go let go. This sport is all about overcoming fear and getting comfortable, huh?

The drop that really scares me up there is the Clown Shoes one... you know what I'm talking about? At the end of all that acrobatic stuff? I think someone told me that is the highest one on the mountain.

>Do they run the lifts at Big Sky?
>someday I want to go down to Northstar at Tahoe. Not this year though...no money.

Yes, they do! Big Sky is pretty burly, believe it or not... a lot rowdier than most of Whistler's buff groomed trails and the stunts are built sort of amateurish and without any kind of safety nets n' stuff. I rode most of the trails at Whistler without much issue but I've had plenty of crashes at Big Sky! The trailbuilders at Whistler have way more resources and experience, but Big Sky is plenty fun.

>One of the other local mountains (Snoqualmie Pass) used to have biking,
>but then they had some sort of lawsuit problem. bummer.

Ugh... leave it to America and the torrent of the law. That's why I kinda dig the socialized medicine in Canada! No lawsuits, EH? ;)

>But then so does everyone else

Man, I hear ya... just enjoying a raw maca vanilla milkshake with walnuts and frozen apples right now.

IDEA: Maybe I'll actually take my Vitamix with me to Whistler this year; then my buddies can get a real laugh out of me! :D

[gritsnla]

Enjoying the posts and the pics. Mountains must be something. Nothing exciting like that in Louisiana. Of course, I'm not a very good trail rider, thank goodness it is pretty flat, but it was always fun!

[discombob]

Hey rawchic... have you been over to Collonade freeride park yet?

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/44943/

It's somewhere off of I-5 near downtown Seattle. Perhaps check the Evergreen bike club for specific directions.

UPDATE: found an address:

1600 Lakeview Blvd E
Seattle, WA 98102

[rawchic]

yes - I have been to Collonade. I actually live less than a mile from there. It's more of a skills building center than real trail riding, but still fun. Plus it's under cover so weather doesn't matter!

[justin]

How did I miss this thread?! I didn't think to search and just stumbled into it.

Yeah, discombob, I concur - asking up on MTBR/Pinkbike will only turn into a clusterfark.
Rawchick - good to see you again!


I live/ride in Austin (TX), hoping to get in a trip to do some DH in CO this year (would love to graduate to Whistler for next year). My riding has really progressed in the last two years, I have some DH racing buddies who I chase regularly and it has changed the way I see the trail and approach obstacles.

Trail riding in Austin is very much on the AM side of things. I ride 2-3x a week, usually hitting up a 12-20mi loop with some friends. Average ride might see 1.5k of elevation gain, but it comes in bursts as the hills are only about 150' high...so that means no extended downhills either. You really have to seek out trails to find some good flow. We do a lot of back country type riding. There isn't much in the form of features down here due to the environmentalist/land impact argument :(. Collonade looks kick-ass, I have been following that build since they got it going.

We have spent a fair amount of time over here building pumptracks and the skillset to go with it too...I complemented my trailbike with a "playbike" for that.

Here is a pic rolling up to a slow-speed roller with a tight 120* turn in the rock garden at the bottom. Nice penalty if you miss it, but nothing like taking a 10' drop! What's that stones song...Can't always get whatcha want..

[rawchic]

Cool! Always fun to meet another biker :)

[ForTheHealthOfIt]

Hey everyone, So glad to see a thread for MTB! rawchic - I used to live right near Northstar and rode there all the time when dh had a broken wrist and couldn't ride with me. I was probably the only one riding up the trails though. I'm a xc rider and love climbing (the downhill is my reward...weee) We are in upstate NY right now building an indoor/outdoor bike park that opens on 4/18 this is a plan that has been in the making for years so it is very exciting for us.
http://adkbikeranch.com
Glad to see other raw foodies into mtb, I'm sure we can all learn from each others experiences.

Ride Fast!

Peace, Love, and Mud!!!

[discombob]

Another indoor MTB park like Ray's in Cleveland? Nice!

Welcome aboard... keep the raw bikers "dropping in" (to this thread) heheh.

In NY state, I've also seen "the Land", rumored to open to the public this year: http://www.freeridepark.com/index.html

[rawchic]

how exciting to have the new park opening! thanks for the link - it looks like it's going to be so fun.

[ForTheHealthOfIt]

Yeah, we've spoken with the people at The Land. Some of the guys even came up to work on our trails one weekend. Our Grand Opening is saturday so we are running around like crazy and putting in crazy hours building and finishing trails to make them race ready. Just a small section left today then it's just set up.
Wish us luck!
Wahooo!
If you live in the area, you are welcome to come up and build whatever you want to ride. That's kind of our thing, we want to have something for everyone, so we have different levels of trails and will have a few outside terrain parks then our indoor one and a bike shop.

[discombob]

Thanks so much for the invite. I am definitely excited to someday ride NY: Diablo and these other freeride parks you are all working on.

I am going to Whistler again this year, should get there around July 13th. We're still dialing in the exact date, and after that (like a dream come true) we're going to ride the Shore!

Does anyone else have any big trips planned this year? I was considering also going to Moab for a few days in May.

[discombob]

Life is Good ;)

[discombob]

Just returned from riding Silver Star in Vernon, BC and Mt Seymour and Fromme on the North Shore in Vancouver. Completely excellent bike trip this year, as usual. My buddy who was running a trip-meter, showed me how we clocked in over 150 miles of lift-accessed DH... about 30 miles a day from Silver Star to Whistler. I'm pretty beat but...

I'm also enjoying raw foods more than ever and making great stuff... tonight I made Kohlrabi soaked in fresh squeezed lime juice and garnished with celtic salt, dipped in the delightfully fluffy, mild and sweet cheese from chef Russell James' Lasagna recipe. I also made a side of raw Taco Bell sauce and broccoli flowers, which I poured on some of the pieces... IIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee it was good!

For dessert, I made blueberry-vanilla-flaxseed ice cream in my Vitamix by first making an approximately 2-cup smoothie, then blending in an entire tray of ice into it. It really doesn't get any better than looking at pictures of me and some friends riding skinnies 10 ft in the air in North Van while guzzling this stuff (well, except for when I was actually there riding).

[discombob]

About a month ago, I moved to Bellingham, Washington and I think this summer is certainly going to be rad for riding. Whistler season pass purchased today!

[pnj]

anyone check out Duthie Hill in the Seattle area?

not so much free ride as there is little elevation, but it's a skills park. Kind of like Colonade, but with more area. They've been building on it for over a year now, opening day will be next month. I've put in hundreds of hours working out there in the last year.

I'm not 100% raw, but I'm 110% bikes. :)

[discombob]

Hi PNJ,

Duthie Hill does look very interesting. I have not yet even been to Colonade, but definitely want to see both of them eventually. I saw a helmet cam of the main trail at Duthie and it does indeed look brilliant.

Have you heard about the machine-built trails they are looking to open sometime this summer at our local Galbraith area? They are re-working "the Luge" into a sort of mini A-line. There has been a delayed opening because of a stewardship agreement being re-instated with new owners of the mountain, but it looks like it is going to be killer assuming all goes well.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=585443&highlight=machine+built


I'm not 100% raw, but I'm 110% bikes. :)

Me too! ;)

[pnj]

I'm not as much of a mountain biker as I am a dirt jumper/street rider. Single speed, hardtail, low seat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/pnj666/wallridePat.jpg

[discombob]

Nothin' wrong with that! :)

[WestVirginiaRaw]

Not raw....yet....but I ride XC. Living in WV allows me access to some really sweet single track especially in the Davis/Canaan Valley area.

29er's FOREVER !!!

[Subtitles]

I'm jealous of all of you!

Used to live on a bike when I was younger. Finally made the leap in the Winter and bought a 2006 Norco Rival, and got some work done on it. It was nothing great, but would do the job and hopefully next year get me started in Ontarios racing series. I didn't even get the bike on the trails before I had to sell it for rent money. Being a broke college student sucks!