Whistler is situated among some of the most spectacular scenery, but it can still be a fairly toxic place to spend five days, especially during a gravity and testosterone fed festival like Crankworx. Participants and spectators are recovering from Crankworx in many different ways right now. The hype, buzz and adrenaline can be a bit overwhelming, and it’s sometimes hard to shake it off and bring things back to reality.

I felt nicely grounded after listening to this song today by Xavier Rudd today….

energy-song

Anyone else stuck in the traffic back to Vancouver last night? It took me over four hours to get home! I had some good podcasts to listen to though (check the side panel to the right). I think most drivers remained positive though, one guy even got out of his car while we were stopped, knocked on my window, and gave me a beer….no I didn’t drink it Thanks buddy!

We’re spending mega bucks on a new highway from Vancouver to Whistler, and they’re making great progress. There was no construction last night, but yet the delays were enormous. My former team mate and mentor Robin Coope was stuck in the same traffic jam, and suggested that the new highway may be safer, but could result in huge delays in Squamish because of the cities traffic light situation, which has grown to seven along the highway. Once the highway is complete, we could still be in store for some huge delays during busy times, such as, oh, say for example, the Olympics. Good prediction Robin, I hope you’re wrong, but I fear you may not be.

Just had this heads up from Kris Holm about the first unicycle front flip; he said that this kid had been practicing with a gymnastics couch in private for three months to pull it off. Looks pretty bizarre, and impressive no doubt. 

I guess perhaps on the same note, I’ll add one of my favorite juggling sequences, it’s simple (not in the moves and tricks, but the fact that it’s only three balls), elegant, and stylish. It’s set to music, so be sure you have the volume up. Enjoy!!! (Thanks Joan Jones for showing this video to me years ago while in Moab).

I live in a neighborhood that has loads of young children (none are my own, but I do have two nephews across the street). On any typical day, if I go out my front door I am greeted by grinning kids riding around bikes, how awesome is that! So I took my camera out and filmed them just to give you an idea of what it’s like.

January 5th Many of us are now settling in to the new year, back to school, back to work, back to routine, and for me, back to riding!! For one month I didn’t ride trials; snuck in a few mountain bike rides, but no trials! I’m just getting in to the groove again as I have a demo coming up next week, and so kicks off my 2008 season!!

I have had some time over the holidays to allow my intentions for the season to form, and one of the areas that I hope to continue developing is my Trials of Life program. The children of today will shape the future of tomorrow, and with a world that is changing so fast, it seems vital that we be sure children have the framework to make sure that change is toward a positive, sustainable world. This is a deep and complicated topic, but one I’m excited to explore.

My sponsorship roster for the year is solid; I’m excited to be on the Norco Factory Team for the 11th year in a row! Shimano has re-signed with me for another two seasons and Marzocchi is customizing some forks for me as we speak. This will also be my tenth season with Ryders Eyewear, and Mace Clothing polishes off the package. I am one fortunate dude to have so many great people to work with!!

I’m building up my new Fluid LT, just waiting for my forks and a package from Shimano, should be a pretty swank bike! This ride will travel with me all over the place, and I’m looking forward to many pedal powered adventures.

I have a new website being designed right now, and will have that live in a month or two. My blog/newsletter will be redesigned allowing me to include more photos, video, and writing topics from my travels. Talking about writing, keep an eye out in Mountain Biking magazine for my column on living a green mountain biking lifestyle.

Have an awesome year everyone!! Ryan