Whistler and Crankworx

So very beautiful!

Melissa and I (and Paco the French Bulldog) packed up 8 bikes and way too much stuff and drove 25 hours to Whistler, Canada for Crankworx. I had never been to Whistler before, so I was really looking forward to riding in what some call MTB Heaven on Earth!

After 2.5 days of travel, we finally arrived, and it took us over an hour to unpack all of our stuff! We decided if we were going to drive to Whistler, we might as well bring lots of bikes! :)

Getting our prerace instructions

What an amazing place to get to ride bikes.  It seemed like everyone in this town was somehow related to bikes, whether as a rider themselves, or as a family member of someone who was riding there!  It was awesome!  Although the weather wasn't fantastic whilst we were there, we still made the most of it and rode all over the mountain from top to bottom, the dual slalom, the Giant slalom, and the Pumptrack! I can't imagine having to go to MTB heaven with only 1 bicycle!! It just wouldn't be fair!

You can't stand next to a bike mechanic for very long before they'll find SOMETHING wrong with your bike! ha 

I raced the Pumptrack Challenge and drew Jill Kintner, the Pumptrack Queen, first round, so I ended up in 8th but had so much fun racing and practicing with everyone!  The Giant Slalom course was exactly that...Giant! I ended up racing it on my DH bike, as the hardtail was a little too sketchy for me on that big of a course, and I put two solid runs together for 9th place.  It was such a fun course to ride, we had to go back up and ride it again after the race!!  Here is a link to the event coverage from the Giant Slalom race.  I think I race at ~92 minutes into the coverage.
http://crankworx.com/images/videofiles/giantslalomreplay.html

Katie Holden and I getting ready for the Pumptrack Challenge

The week was filled with riding, racing, good food, great friends, and a lot of laughs and giggles.  I truly hope to go back to this beautiful place again in the future...maybe both a winter and a summer visit, or three! :)