A West Coast day

Hello Everyone,

It's easy to make fun of the West Coast, and Lord knows I'm not above doing so. Terrible drivers, the birthplace of coffee snobery, the Americans stationed here during the Vietnam war, etc. But you have to give the place it's due. It definitely gets some things right.

Jason and I were biking in the North Shore recently and came across a couple of people who epitomized that attitude. First, we were biking along a mixed use trail and crossed paths with a group of older ladies. They were hiking in the other direction, but stopped when their dog and Arthur were checking each other out.

Then one of the ladies inquired about Jason's bike. And not a general inquiry either. It was about which specific model of Intense he has. Keep in mind, this is a boutique bike brand, so these hikers knew their stuff. Before long, Jason was in the midst of a full on conversation about the bike, about 29ers in general, and about other details of the sport. These ladies could not have been a day under 65, and yet were clearly enthusiastic mountain bikers. One said that she had done a trip from Victoria to Nanaimo last year on her bike.

Later, at the top of one of the easier, but funest, trails on the mountain, we lined up ahead of a mother and her two boys. The boys could not have been older than about 10, but had biked up the road like everyone else. About mid way down this trail, I had to stop and pull off to the side as I had a bug in my eye. Jason and Arthur also pulled over, and not a minute later we hear these two boys come ripping down the hill and fly past us.

They clearly ride there often and are already incredibly skilled at it. Obviously, they have parents that value outdoor sports and drive them up to the mountain regularly, not to mention buy them expensive mountain bikes. But then, look what they do with it. They were great riders already.

wes