Boot Camp with BBTC (Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club)

I love the internet. It's so easy to find organizations and groups around activities I love to participate in and I don't have to wait for friends to clear their calendars or get off their a**es to join me. If I want to do something, I can usually find a group to meet up with and head out. My most recent find is the BBTC (Backcountry Bicycle Trails) for time on my mountain bike. Through them, I met up with the local chapter of the Lunachix riders and on Saturday, I signed up for their Boot Camp to work on some skills. On a side note, the other thing I like about the BBTC is the work they do to maintain trails as well as advocate mountain biking in Washington to help keep trails open and accessible to riders. I have to do my part and get out there and work on some trails myself.

My instructors were Bob and Ed and the class was at St. Edward Park in Juanita where I've ridden a few times before. And, I was happy to find one of my hockey teammates, Marie, at the clinic. Our class started out in the open field working on proper body positioning for turns and getting over obstacles like logs (big, bigger, huge). Then, we hit the trails and applied (at least attempted to) the skills we worked on. We rode around the part of the park that I was familiar with and that always helps so you know when to change gears. Then, we got on the trail that connects St. Edward with Big Finn Hill which I hadn't ridden. The trail was a bit more challenging because the climbs were steeper, and they had these crazy-ass bridges that were about a foot wide with a slight bend. Needless to say, the first bridge took me by surprise and BAM, hello ground. Bob came back and after I dusted myself off, he told me to do-it-over. I headed back up the hill but now I'm all freaked out in my head and waaay more tentative than I should be. I got on the bridge, and then saw the slight bend, and CRASH....hello log. I was really getting in touch with Ma Nature today. Bob wanted me to do-it-over again, but I looked at him like he was crazy. I just got back on my bike and continued on the trail....haha. Well, Bob wasn't done challenging us. He took us to a part of the trail called the 'Elevator Shaft.' I remember looking at Marie thinking "WTF?" Uh, yeah....it was steep on both sides. I didn't make it...but now I have new challenges in that area to work on - that damn bridge and that gully.

Next on my list is to try and find some time to get my golf game back (found another group online to join up with and start tracking my handicap again) so maybe I can head down to Bend, OR (Sunriver, Woodlands/aka North course - one of my most absolute favorite places to play) or even further south to Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. There's also so many other new courses that have sprung up including the one by my parents' house - Chambers Bay which is a links style course and the site of the 2015 U.S. Open (and the first course in the Pacific Northwest to get the Audubon International certification for its environmental discipline). Summertime....sigh, *so much* to do! Thank goodness the sun doesn't set until close to 10:00 pm. Toodles!