Today started like any other day. I woke up, took my dog for a walk, made breakfast and loaded up my gear for another day’s work. This time my snowboard gear was already at work and I carpooled up with my bike gear so that I could snowboard and bike in the same day. I’ve never been much of a mountain biker, probably cause I spend so much time snowboarding that I’ve never invested in the other outdoor activities. This summer is different, Mammoth closes for snowboarding after Sunday and I won’t be at Hood riding Windells everyday…so I need to switch things up. I got a great deal on a Giant Reign that’s going to be my mountain bike and trustworthy companion for the downtown adventures.
Back to snowboarding. Today was a good day on the snow. I’ve been testing out the Flow Era and NXT-AT bindings this week so got to make turns with those. I helped out with the lifts, shadowing and rocking out at the top of #3. I find it quite interesting to watch riders and see what they ride, what boards people buy for their ability level. After closing up the lift, I got to enjoy fresh corduroy down since a cat had just come up. Pretty mellow day on the mountain, pipe turns and soft turns.
Like any new “sport”, the more you do it, the quicker you learn it. After work, I started pedaling down the rail to the start of the Downtown Bike Trail. I’d never ridden Downtown but I heard it was the easy trail on the mountain and would take me to the village.
I let the faster kids go by and I made my way down the trail, a bit slower because I didn’t know the trail I was riding. Going slower helped me get used to the conditions (sand turns) and feel comfortable on the bike on the trail. By the time I came out at the Village, I was stoked. I did it! I then kept pedaling home, next to traffic (hoping not to be run over) and a couple minutes later, parked the bike.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt like a newbie to something but it felt good to take on a new challenge. It doesn’t mean my snowboarding is going away, it just means I’ll be taking a break during summer to take on a new way to go downhill. Every now and then I’ll share the experience…