Trust. Fully. Love. Bike.

The Belgian invasion is going great, we've had fun for the last couple of days.  Good tourism, good biking in Calgary on Sideshow Bob and the Tuscany ravine, Calgary tower dinner.  I hope they like the riding, we've been experimenting with some technical trails ; )  I sense they're having a good time - I sure am!  Bike friends welcome any time.

Today Jon, Gerry and I took Tinneke, Stef and Thomas to Moose Mountain.  Jon toured us on his masterpiece of trailbuilding - up Pneuma, down Pneuma DH, back up summit trail then down Pneuma/Race of Spades.

Great climbing, good views from the top.  Then the fun starts.  Riding behind Jon makes me feel like a kid again.

Trust:  I don't second guess any line picking by Jon.  Follow, don't brake - trust.  I do.  Jon picks good lines.  Commit.  Roll it.

Fully: back on the trust subject.  Really Trust Fully.  I can do skinnies, I love balancing, and my yin and yang were working today.  Hit every one, rode them all first time, even in the wet.  All the repeats were 100% success too.  Fun!  But... the gap jumps on Race of Spades I haven't done, especially with the Scalpel-non-gap-jump machine.  But why not follow the guy who can, 4 feet behind, same speed, just relax and let it happen? Up the ramp, follow, Fully Trust, let the dirt disappear from under the tires, then let it come back.  Life is good.  I'm expanding my skills.

Love:  love the inspiration and development, and who brought it to me.  Thanks Jon - I'll profess my love for the day, the visiting bike friends, the ride, your help, and you.  Best Moose trail guide ever.  Best technical xc guy I've ever known.

Bike:  man I need more of this.  Except for snagging the second set of shorts in a handful of rides on a stub of a tree branch and ripping a hole in my shorts and skin... and for hitting my handlebar on a tight trees section at high speed, which threw me into the next tree.  Zero velocity instantly, sunglasses launch forward at the riding speed when my head stops.  Lied down as I was pretty near blackout, winded, lucky I went in "vertical" rather than shoulder first otherwise a collar bone could have been gone.  Ugh.  Got back on the horse and tried not to slow down one iota.

Gerry:  now we're on the after stage in Bragg Creek.  Story time and beers.  Essence of the Ger!


We spotted Devin hammering out some road miles on the way home, I can tell that cadence and bike position from a long ways away.  Good to see everyone even if briefly, and good to see Devin looking fast squeezing in a ride.

I hope Tinneke and Thomas are reading about biking.

Some Cadence Cafe action after a few errands, Stef and Tinneke.

Dinner in the Calgary tower.

Our first day riding was Sideshow Bob and the Tuscany ravine.  After that warmup we headed out to Moose Mountain.  Gerry likes biking more than he lets on in this pic at the first well tie in on Pneuma ; ) 

Up to the second well tie in on Pneuma.

Not for cross country bikes, although Jon helped me with things I hadn't ridden previously.

Skinnies with roll out.

The Ger talking to this amazing trail runner we met.  She was as fast as us.  She ran Ridgeback to Moosepackers then down Pneuma in under 3.5 hours.

Time for the saloon.

Recovery drinks.

Carb and protein loading.