Mountain Biking @ Whistler

A.k.a. the most dangerous activity I have ever done (including skydiving and bungee jumping).

I don't think I really understood what mountain biking was, when Jason and Hugo invited me to come along with them.  I have never gone mountain biking before, and I was just not prepared at how steep, narrow, and curvy the trails were. The whole time I was going down, I was thinking about how I didn't want to die... Pretty much if your bike skidded off the trail you would hit a tree and/or roll down the side of the mountain!

I fell once on a green run, but I was fine and barely felt anything because it was just to my side. We did the greens three times, and by the end of it I was pretty confident. We then went onto a blue run and it was so much fun. There weren't as many curves but there were tons of little slopes and hills, which meant that we went much faster and higher, but it felt safer to me because the landings were straight. It was the turns I was really worried about anyway.

After lunch, we went back on the blue run we had gone to the first time, and I fell right in the beginning. This time, I flew over the handlebars and landed face first and on my stomach, on the gravel. I was so thankful for the helmets they gave us, because I would have a scarred face right now instead of a little gash on the chin. I remember thinking, "Uh oh, my face is going to hit the ground. My chin just banged against the ground. My stomach just hit the ground. I can't move! But I should yell out that I'm ok so they'll know I'm still alive." Jason actually thought I was unconscious until he heard me say that I was ok, just because of the way I landed and wasn't moving. My shoe even came off in the fall! I was thankful that it was the one time I wasn't in the back of our group, because Jason moved my bike off the trail, grabbed my shoe and put it on my foot, and had me roll to the side, just as a big group of bikers came down and passed us on the narrow trail.

What he said he saw happen was that I had gotten a bit of height and landed on a gravelly spot, tried to correct the position of my bike, and that made me slip and fall. I had only had the wind knocked out of me and was otherwise fine, so I just rode down more cautiously the rest of the way down, and felt well enough to go up for another blue run.

The next blue run was fine, except at the bottom when I again had my bike slip on some loose gravel. This time, my handlebars had turned around so they were protruding up, and I landed with my stomach right on the handlebar. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. I knew I had to move my bike as fast as possible, so I quickly got up and moved my bike to the side, but couldn't move anymore after. I was in so much pain and shock. I was lying there in agony, until a random lady offered to help bring my bike down and Hugo came to collect me.

I ended up having to sit the rest of the afternoon out, just because I had lost my confidence and my stomach was in pain (it has a big handlebar-sized bruise now) and I was so tired from all the adrenaline, lack of sleep, and the alcohol from the night before. I even cried in front of a stranger! Since I had wiped out at the bottom, everyone at the gondola and chair lifts saw me. I was sitting and grimacing while waiting for the Jason and Hugo to finish their runs, and an older man came up to me and said "I saw you crash! Are you ok?" I replied with, "IT HURTS! I LANDED ON THE HANDLEBARS! WAHHHH!" with tears coming down my face. Hahaha it was not my best moment. The man then pointed to his protection and said, "And this is why you should wear body armour!"

Honestly, I thought this was the most dangerous and extreme thing I have ever done in my life. Skydiving was nothing compared to mountain biking up in Whistler! This was four hours of being scared for my life. Although it was fun and gave me the hugest adrenaline rush, I knew in the back of my mind that making one wrong turn or slipping up could mean a serious injury. I don't know if I could ever do it again, just because I have a fear of falling now. I would have to be wearing some serious body armour if I were to do it again.

At the end of the day, the guys turned to me and said, "You were amazing. We don't know any other girls who would have been able to do this. You kept up with us until your big wipeout!" Amazing, or CRAZY? Anyway, my once-white shirt has now turned brown because I kept falling onto my stomach. And I ate lots of dirt today. It was definitely an epic day.

As an example of what we did today, here is a picture of Jason getting a bit of air during the blue run: