Cannonball

Well I went to Thredbo this Christmas with Bruce for a go at some real downhill runs. Turns out I have a lot to learn

I didn't have the best lead up to it with my stupid stack at Duck Holes of all places the week before! Leg still had the scabs on it and knee was still a bit stiff but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

First up was the initiation course. The little test before we went up the lifts was pretty basic. They made us ride down a set of steps and then the retaining wall down onto the grassed area next to the river. That was it! Next up we learned how to use the chairlifts. All easy enough so far. Up to the top and off we went section by section. Doing it all at a slow speed in steps seemed reasonable enough. There was nothing that couldn't be rolled so most didn't have too many issues. The super tight left hander near the top was the only real bit that gave me a bit of grief. After less than 2 hours we were down and we were free to ride!

The first run by myself didn't go so well. Half way up the lift it started spitting. No big deal I thought. Then I heard little taps on my helmet.....it was hail! I was still only two thirds up and the wind really picked up too as we got higher. About 100m from the end the heavens opened up and I could barely see the tower I ran off the lift and into the shelter at Eagles Nest. Some poor riders and walkers were still on the lift a good 5 minutes after I got off. They sure were not happy campers! After 10 minutes the rain totally cleared.....strange weather up there.

I decided to head out. I was the first of the riders in the shelter to head off. Probably not a good idea! The track was muddy in sections and soon I could see next to nothing out of my goggles! Was on the brakes pretty much the whole way down as I tip toed my way down to the bottom. Had a minor stack in the tight sections which opened up the scabs on my knee a little which was annoying.

After lunch Bruce and I did two more runs together. I found myself getting very sore fingers. I couldn't stop properly with one finger anymore so I went to two finger braking (I think I glazed the pads too as I was such a noob and rode the brakes all the way down) But this didn't work too well as I was not used to modulating the brakes with two fingers and ended up doing an OTB in front of Bruce That opened up the knee scab a bit more and there was a fair bit of bleeding so I thought I had better call it a day after only 4 runs.

It sure was an eye opening experience. It was a lot of fun and I am definitely keen to get better at this side of the sport. I'll be back for sure