A week in Whistler

Hello Everyone, 

When I played hockey, I used to say ‘give me an open net and time to shoot the puck, and I’ll score at least 50% of the time.’ A bit of self deprecating humour there. But in general, I like to think that with an obvious lesson in front of me, I will usually, eventually, learn it. A few years ago, I was in Whistler and rented a bike but turned down the supplementary insurance. I was a little offended that it wasn’t included in the cost of the rental itself, which doesn’t go for a song. Even a really good song. I know, I tried. Was asked to leave. Anyway, I declined the insurance and promptly broke the bike a short while later. It wasn’t anything too serious, I had only snapped the chain, but it was a warning staring me in the face. When I went in to get it fixed, I changed my rental to include the full insurance. And then promptly went out and really crashed my bike. I took a big rock slab in the rain and ended up skidding down the bottom have of it laying flat on the side of the bike. I could have easily cracked the carbon frame, which would require an even better song to repair. Luckily, I didn’t end up damaging anything too badly, except for my thumb, and hell, I got two of those. I only crashed my bike twice while I was in Whistler this past week, once each going uphill and down. The down happened first, and had as an audience a couple of British guys I’d met on the trails and was riding with for the evening. I went over the handlebars, but fortunately, a tree prevented me from falling further. You know you’re in a bad way when you are glad to have smacked into a tree. The second crash was while climbing a trail on the Blackcomb side of the resort. Crashing while going uphill is actually fairly common, as you are usually moving slowly, and thus have less balance. I did injure my thumb a bit on the second fall, having caught it between a couple of rocks on the way down. But again, I have two of those, so all good. Having learned my lesson from a few years ago, I got the supplementary insurance on the bike. It wasn’t cheap, but sometimes you just have to accept it as the cost of doing the thing you want to do. Trying to do it on the cheap can often end up costing you more. In the crash where I hit the tree, I bent a brake lever, but only had to present the bike at the shop that afternoon and they changed it overnight, no questions askes. That alone was the cost of the insurance. It doesn’t always make sense to get the insurance. When I bought a TV a few years ago, I didn’t get the extra insurance on it. The math didn’t work out, and TVs are generally meant to stay in place. As far as I know, that bad boy is still running fine. But mountain bikes are designed to get some action. Having a bit of extra insurance does seem to make sense, it just took me a couple of crashes to figure that out. Having worked for a university, I will always be a proponent of the value of classroom learning. But sometimes, lessons can come in the form of the very hard rocks and sturdy trees of the Fitzsimmons Mountain Range. Wes 

Photos 

The first is of me at the top of the toughest section of the climb for the Meadow of the Grizzly trail. Note the amazing bike in the background. And the scenery, or whatever. 

The next is of the valley between Whistler and Blackcomb, as seen from the Peak to Peak gondola. 

Lastly there is a view of Howe sound, as seen from West Van, with two ferries visible.