Hobson's Holidays International

For the last few years, every Autumn, we've organised a weekend biking trip for ourselves and a group of friends. Normally in Scotland, we've hired a cottage or house big enough to fit up to about 12 of us, and had some awesome adventures. The weekends have become known as "Hobson's Holidays", so when two of our friends, Jon and Anna, said they wanted to come out to ride in Canada while we were here, it was time for Hobson's Holidays to go International!
They arrived when the weather was still hot and sunny and luckily had about 4 days of this to convince them we hadn't been lying about how nice the weather was! The trails were still dry and dusty, and Gareth was able to show them around a few of the local XC routes, as well as introduce them to the riding in the Bike Park. Due to the nature of the cross country trails, I was able to run whilst everyone else rode (like a kind of "trail hound"!), and our speeds were pretty evenly matched....good times!

The second half of the first week, we headed up to Tyax. Tyax is about 3 hours north of Whistler, accessed by the Hurley pass, a rough logging road on which we got to test out the 4 wheel drive on the Durango for the first time. It is basically a big luxury lodge and a campsite, situated on the edge of a lake, seemingly miles from anywhere. It has to be one of the most beautiful, relaxing places to spend time that we've come across so far, and we fell in love with it last year when we spent a couple of days there on our honeymoon.

Some of the best riding in the world is located in the area surrounding Tyax, and can be accessed by float plane, or by lots of pedalling! The plan was to show Jon and Anna some of this awesome riding. The day we got there was perfect....the sun was out, there was no breeze, and the lake was completely still. I decided that rather than run, I was just going to chill out and sunbathe......and pretty soon the others had abandoned any idea of biking and decided to do the same! Several hours of canoeing, fishing, and jumping into the inviting looking waters followed (a mistake.......freeeeeeeezing cold!). A big barbecue (complete with Grizzly Bear checking out our food from way too close for comfort!) and then a night under canvas completed the day. Unfortunately we woke the next morning to rainy weather, and instead of the planned epic ride, the others had to settle for some local singletrack instead, whilst I made use of the comfortable lodge facilities and bottomless coffee :)

The rain stopped later that night, and the skies turned clear and cold, so cold in fact that we woke up to a heavy frost....the first of the year! It was a beautiful morning though, complete with a layer of mist rising off the lake as the sun came up. It seemed a shame to be heading back, but we were heading off the next morning to Vancouver Island, so decided to do a short run/ride in Pemberton on the way home and get back at a reasonable time to sort our kit out.

An early start the next morning saw us catching the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Anna's mum's cousin Sandra and her partner Carol had invited Jon, Anna and ourselves to stay with them for the week and give us a base to explore the surrounding area. The afternoon we arrived, Sandra's Dragon Boat Team were racing and we got there just in time to catch them winning the final!

Sandra and Carol are ace, and have a great house which they have put a lot of work into renovating since they moved in, with lots of storage space for the kit for all the outdoor sports they are into! They also own an awesome trailer which converts into a mansion which was Gareth and my room for the week.....on first seeing it I was considering upgrading our van to one similar when we got home! It was ridiculously comfy with a king size bed.....luxury :)

The first few days were really sunny again, and we were able to get out kayaking in perfectly still conditions, ride/run some of the local trails at Dumont, visit some beautiful beaches at Neck Point and RathTrevor, and join in a Dragon Boat session with Sandra's team.

The Dragon Boating was very cool and although completely new to us all, I think we did ok and didn't disgrace ourselves too much amongst the team pros! It was hard work though, especially joining in with the race start practice, and trying to keep in time as well as remember the correct paddling technique (completely different to canoe or kayak paddling!)
Gareth took some video footage which he is currently editing into a movie for the next blog.

The second half of the week we decided to head to Tofino as Jon and Anna were keen to visit. Unfortunately the weather was typical west coast summer weather....torrential rain. Not the best for camping but the campsite partly made up for the conditions. Right on the beachfront with a wild, spectacular beach to look out on (when you could see it through the rain ;) )
We spent a couple of days beachcombing, wandering around Tofino, and drinking hot-chocolate in the cafe, and Gareth was happy as he got to chop wood for a campfire!

I think Jon and Anna had been too put off by the weather and a night's camping in the rain to want to partake in any whale-watching, kayaking or other Tofino activities, so we went and watched the crowds of surfers on Chesterman Beach (I was slightly jealous not to be one of them!) on the way back.

The week finished off back in Vancouver, where I had a hospital appointment, and Jon and Anna were flying back from the following day, so they had a chance to look round a bit of the city and do some last-minute shopping. It was great fun spending a couple of weeks with them and being able to show them just a whistle-stop tour of some of the many cool places to see and things to do around here. It was a busy 2 weeks though with lots of driving/travelling around and trying to fit lots of stuff in, and we were both pretty tired by the end. The return to our "budget" lifestyle has been welcome too, as we'd been eating out a lot, as well as stopping at cafe's for bakery goodies most days and were beginning to need a change for both our stomachs and our wallet!

The most exciting news from the hospital was the news that my thumb was healing really well and the consultant was happy to hand over control of my continued rehab to the physio....me! I "forgot" to tell him that I had already been kayaking and dragon-boating but I suspect he probably knew I'd been starting to use it ;)
The phrase "you can start to use it for all your normal daily activities" was my green-light for getting back on the bike.....whoop! So obviously the next morning, with thumb suitably taped up for support, I nervously headed out on the local XC trails. I was convinced I'd have lost all my riding skills after 5 and a half weeks off the bike, and wasn't sure how painful the thumb would feel being jarred by the many rocks and roots on the trails. I took it very steady to start with.....anyone who's had an injury caused by falling off their bike will know how apprehensive you feel for the first couple of rides back that you are going to fall off and cause the same injury again. But within 20 minutes or so I was feeling good! The thumb was fine and I hadn't lost all my skills after all......just a bit of speed! The following day was pretty grim, but to be honest I think I would have gone out on my bike again no matter what the weather. We headed to the bike park and I was like a big kid in a sweet shop.....permanent grin attached to my face as I whooped round berms, through muddy puddles, and started to let the bike fly (gently) off some drops and jumps again. The thumb felt remarkably fine, and I had to restrain myself from going too fast too soon.
It is awesome to be back riding again less than six weeks after breaking, dislocating, and rupturing a whole load of important ligaments around one of the most important joints in the body for doing all the sports I enjoy. I feel very lucky to have healed so quickly from what is definitely the worst injury I have ever had, and thinking back to how broken it looked and felt at the time, I'm reminded how amazing bodies are to be able to repair themselves so well (with a little help from a good surgeon of course!)
I have played it down the whole time I've been injured so as not to worry those close to me, but I think part of the reason I've been down is because I knew from the start that it was a bad injury that could cause me a lot of problems if it didn't heal well. Thankfully I can start to relax a bit now that it is beginning to return to normal.........and don't worry, I intend to take it easy to start with!

Up in Whistler it is really quiet, and the town is entering a transition period between the end of the biking season and the start of the ski season. Shops are switching over their stock, and with 15cm of fresh snow at the top of the bike park last night, it's starting to look and feel like winter! It's incredible to think that only a few days ago it was still warm enough to swim in the lake, brrrrrrrr! Definitely time to head south and chase the remainder of the summer for us though :)

Spielberg eat your heart out!

Hiya! Today and the last week or so has seen me return to my more normal sunny positive outlook on life after feeling down around the time of the last blog :)
Unfortunately the weather has done the opposite and gone from being 30 degrees and warm enough to swim in the lake one day, to lots of rain and even snow on the top of Whistler peak the next!
Its been a busy couple of weeks with Jon and Anna visiting, and we'll post more on our adventures with them in the next couple of days, but first I need to remind myself what summer was like! As well as Gareth getting busy with making lots of rad biking videos, I decided a couple of weeks ago to make my own mountain running video short with the GoPro camera, and here is the attempt! (Destined for the Banff Mountain Film Festival I'm sure.....Not!)

I've also seen the consultant at the hospital for the last time about my thumb today, and its looking and feeling good...woohoo! Watch this space for news of the (gentle) return to biking and climbing over the next week....yippeeeeeee :o)

Life is good.....

Wow, knew I hadn't done a blog for a while, but didn't realise it had been this long. Time flies when you're having fun....hmm, am I personally having fun? Yes, I think so.....maybe 90% of the time.....no, in fact I think I'm having fun all the time, there is just a small portion of time when I don't fully appreciate that! That small portion of time is frankly pretty crap, when I feel frustrated, angry, envious, fed up, miserable, and left out. I then have to remind myself that i'm still in an awesome place, I don't have to work, and there are plenty more adventures to come in the year ahead. So life is pretty good!
Being injured at home is never really that bad, as there are only weekends to cope with seeing people going out and having fun without you. But over here it's a different matter. You are surrounded by people doing the things that you can't, all day every day, and its hard to not get frustrated. Don't get me wrong, I have been busy every day, with lots of running on some fantastic trails that I know I wouldn't have visited if I wasn't injured. I feel really fit, the weather couldn't be better, and it is soooooo beautiful everywhere that it still takes you're breath away at some point every day. I've always liked doing stuff on my own and having my own adventures, but it's hard not to feel gutted, no matter how great a day I've had, when you see groups of friends coming home at the end of a day discussing all the fun they've had together, or what their plans are for the next day, and not being part of the group.
The worst part is listening to Gareth talking each day about the incredible time he's having, doing all the things we'd had planned to do together, but with other people. Those were our plans, and our adventures, and while I don't begrudge him at all for getting on with them (I know I'd do the same), it's difficult to show any enthusiasm when I hear the stories of amazing trails or brilliant climbs he's done with others, and see the endless photos and video footage. It hurts to know I'm not part of that and have missed out on those experiences.........it hurts a lot :(
But ultimately it is still great out here, just not in the same way I expected it to be!
The pins have come out of my thumb (disappointingly tame, just pulled out with a pair of pliers in a flash......like ripping a plaster off quickly!) and I no longer have a giant cast on my arm, just a small splint that should allow me to get rid of the dodgy tan-lines! I have been strictly instructed not to use or even move the thumb though for another 2 weeks, as it's only 4 weeks since I injured it, and although the fracture has healed, the ligaments need more time to ensure I don't re-dislocate it. I have been following this advice for the most part, and not even considered riding a bike or climbing (I know that would be a sure-fire way to go back to square one!). However, in my professional opinion, I have deemed it wise to begin gradually mobilising and gently strengthening around the joint ( in a painfree range obviously) and it feels better every day. (I may not tell the surgeon this) I'm also allowed to swim now which is such a luxury given it has been 30 degrees or more for the past 2 weeks!
We spent a day with our german friends Moritz, Johnathon and Johannes on the Sunshine Coast a week or so ago, which was a really nice break from Whistler. The sunshine coast is part of the mainland of Canada, but accessible only by ferry, as it is on the other side of Howe sound and the Squamish river. We spent the day running and riding around an area of forest at Roberts Creek, and Gareth said it was one of the best places he has ever ridden! He put together a video edit of one of the trails they rode there.

The ferry journey itself is pretty cool, certainly a bit more scenic than Dover to Calais, although equally as windy on the deck!

Despite the inconvenience of having a cast on my hand and arm, we also managed to do a 7 pitch route on the Chief in Squamish. The route was supposedly equivalent to VS/HVS in UK grades, almost all slab climbing ie. no real hand or foot holds, just friction climbing trusting the sticky rubber on the bottom of your boots! It was ideal for me as I didn't need to use my left hand, but pretty scary all the same, as the guidebook had failed to mention that there was hardly any bolts for protection on the slabs! Not only that, but we got stuck behind a few people so took a detour onto another route of similar grade, except this one hadn't been climbed for years, and involved traversing across a steep slab covered in moss, with no gear for about 40metres....phew! That certainly got the adrenaline going!

 Our friends Jon and Anna from the UK have just arrived to spend the next 2 weeks with us, and it's great to see them. The first day Gareth showed them round some local XC bike trails, and I ran with them for a good portion of it which was fun (it was also quite cool that I was the one stopping and waiting for them for the most part! Until it got to the downhill sections anyway!) This morning was pretty hard to see them all raring to go for a day in the bike park together (and I'm sure there will be plenty more days like that in the next 2 weeks where I have to enviously watch them all ride off for a day of fun), but I had a fun morning too, and took some GoPro film footage whilst running which I can hopefully edit into a short clip. And now its time to hit the lake for a refreshing swim and a lie in the sun while I wait for the others to get back....as I said before, I don't have much to moan about really....life is pretty good :)