It was a quick trip to Las Vegas and back this year for InterBike; I had a 12 hour turnaround from finishing my yoga teacher training until flying out, and now, I’m flying home early because I have a show in North Vancouver tomorrow.

I should be working on my lines for my trials show tomorrow, I have to ride and speak about sustainability to some college students, but instead, I’m sitting at the airport, sipping some tea, sharing what’s on my mind.

Getting away from downtown Vegas and head to bootleg canyon for Dirt Demo is always a pleasure. The trails are dusty and rocky but totally rule. I was pumped to ride, but had a rear flat on the first run, and front flat on the second run despite the fact that I had extra tire pressure; there are some sniper rocks sticking up on the trails. Got to do some uplhill pedalling with the NSMB crew which was a nice break from the bumpy shuttle ride up, and chasing Jay Hoots down the mountain is just way too much fun. I had to model some Mace gear for PinkBike, then blast back to the city for a meeting with Shimano; the senior riders on the team are involved with a secret project that is shaping up nicely.

Yoga! I had the opportunity to teach a yoga class this morning to a room of about 30 people. Fresh off my yoga teacher training with Eoin Finn, I was ready to share the good vibe. Everyone who came out, whether they were first timers, or seasoned yogis, seemed to have fun and keep the groove flowing despite our initial left curve with the yoga mats…InterBike had arranged for 30 mats to show up, but only 10 made it. Luckily, mountain bikers are so laid back they just stuck it out on the carpet! Nice! Next year we’ll have it dialed though;-)

Yesterday, after some trials shows in 100 Mile House, BC, I raced home to check out the new ‘Trials of Life Platform’ being installed in the Port Moody trials park by Mr. Jay Hoots and his mate Owen. When I arrived they were just finishing up because they had run out of materials…so they invited me on a ride! I made a quick stop at home to grab my Fluid LT and riding gear, dropped my demo trailer off, and raced to meet them at Mt. Seymour for a rip.

(Owen, Myself, Jay; on the almost complete practice platform of varying heights)

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of shuttling. I tend to like climbs, especially technical challenging ones. I like to get a workout and earn my downhills, I like being warm at the top before I slam my saddle down for a DH, I also like the bonus that you use an extra bit of food fuel instead of fossil fuel…..BUT, when you have the chance to hang with Jay and to chase him down a trail, how can you say no! Shuttling has it’s place, and last night, racing to the trail before sundown, was one of those times. 

The ironic thing is, that Jay and I are doing a stage of the BC Bike Race together, so we really need to get some mileage in legs. So we decided to meet today nice and early, again Seymour, but we raised our saddles and with some caffein racing through our bodies, we raced on up the trail. A good three hours later, we were pretty spent. We have some (a lot of!) work to do in order to complete the 65km stage in Squamish…did I mention I’m planning to do a trials demo right after I finish that stage!

I did some yoga this afternoon too. I usually try to practice outside this time of year, but today was wet and cold, so I decided to just put on one of Eoin Finn’s DVD’s, and did a routine called Strong, Free, and Happy. I’m thoroughly tired now so I think I’ll go fall asleep to the sound of falling rain…