They both enjoy mountain biking so they planned a week long mountain bike adventure. Their fun began on Saturday when they drove up to Bellingham for some mountain biking at Galbriath Mountain.
Dode has a coworker who lives in Bellingham and bikes up there all the time. He was willing to be their tour guide. They thought the mountain was a lot of fun and could see the local biking community had put a lot of time into planning and building the trails. They look forward to going back and seeing more of those trails.
Pretty steep!
Sunday after church they drove up to Squamish, B.C. for three days of camping and biking. Five minutes after they left, I noticed their cooler with almost all of their food sitting on the counter. Dode had already turned off his cell phones so he wouldn't forget and be charged international rates once he was in Canada. I was in the middle of making dinner but I jumped in the truck with the cooler and took off after them. I hoped Dode would drive slow, I could drive fast and maybe I could catch up to him. If I didn't catch him within 20 miles on the freeway, I was going to admit defeat and return home. Well, I only made it a few blocks from home when I passed them returning home. They didn't know anything about the cooler. They were coming back to get a paper map they needed since they had discovered our GPS doesn't have information for Canada loaded on it.
They biked the trails in Squamish on Monday and Wednesday. Squamish is known as the outdoors capital of Canada and they found they could easily bike there for two weeks without riding the same trail twice. The biking community had a lot of fun building some those trails; they curved, swooped and jumped their way down the mountains.
This is the entrance to Isaac's favorite trail Full Nelson.
If you look closely, you'll see that Isaac is drenched.
Tuesday they splurged on lift served mountain biking in Whistler. They had a good time, although the were the only people on Whistler Mountain with dinosaur bikes and regular biking helmets. Everyone else up there wears full body armor with a full faced motorcycle helmet and had $5,000 full suspension bikes. They stood out on the mountain, but they said it was worth it. Dode was tempted to rent a fancy bike but at $80 a day, he decided he'd stick with his dinosaur.
muddy backpack, muddy boy
The worst part of their trip was the weather. They got rained on all three days. They were staying in a tent so they'd go biking and get soaked to the skin, then come back to the tent to dry out. In case you're wondering, that doesn't work so well!
Look at all that rain splashing on the pavement!
Wednesday night they returned home for a couple of more days of home based mountain biking.
Thursday they went to Isaquah to Duthie Hill Park. They brought Isaac's friend Douglas along for the ride. The park has been built specifically for mountain bike fun. It had everything from easy cruising trails to death defying thrill rides. Everywhere there was another trail to try. It would take a lot of effort to ride there enough to get bored with this park.
Two muddy boys after a day at Duthie.
Friday, Isaac and Dode along with Isaac's friend Douglas and his brother Nathan went to Stevens Pass for some more lift served mountain biking. By this point, both Dode and Isaac had numerous aches and pains. Isaac's thumbs both were so swollen and sore, he couldn't bend them down to his palms. The joints in Dode's hands, wrists and arms were painfully aching.
This is the second year the Steven's Pass bike park has been open and Dode wasn't too impressed, they only have three trails down the mountain and the round trip was about 15 minutes so they did the same trails over and over and over again. Their "terrain park" was a small area in front of the lodge with five small features. Douglas and Nathan on the other hand (who weren't pre fatigued from 5 days of mountain biking, most of it within the West Coast's greatest mountain bike parks) thought it was amazing. All the Stevens Pass photos come from Douglas' camera.
You can see the lodge and highway in the distance.
Isaac coming down one of the trails.
I love this photo of Dode because it looks like he's in his white shirt and tie.
(which he does lots of things you wouldn't think he would in!)
Isaac is going through a stage where he can't keep his tongue in his mouth for photos. May it please pass quickly.
By the end of the week they both managed to beat themselves and their bikes up pretty good. Dode's bike will have to be retired and Isaac's needs the front forks repaired. It took three nights before Dode's aches and pains allowed him to sleep through the night.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
What were the rest of us up to? Well, I was thick in the work of getting ready for day camp (getting up early-staying up late and working most of the day on it), the washing machine broke, the laminator broke, the printer broke, the cat caught and ate a mouse right in front of us and I took five children to the movies where we attempted to all share the same large popcorn. Just a bunch of fun and games for me!
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