New Home!

Wed, 12 May 2010 20:38:40 -0700

Art Attack

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:06:07 -0800

Art alert! Art alert!
I am one of the luckiest girls in the world to have such talented fans. David Bunn, artist extraordinaire from the UK, had the postman deliver me the best gift a person could ever get - a piece of his original artwork...two actually. David, like many people I have never met before but share the love of mountain biking, is my friend on facebook and a while back I noticed his amazing artistic talents. He sketched a picture of me that looked more like a black and white photo and less like a drawing and I was blown away. He works in many mediums, including textiles (the scarf he sent me was beautiful!), and has done designs for British pop stars alike. Thank you so very much David for adding some serious beauty to my wall and I look forward to following your success.

If you are interested in hiring David or checking out his works, check out his facebook fan page. I’d suggest contacting him before he becomes too famous :) http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Bunn/102710754424?ref=search&sid=503018926.3293197751..1

In other talented people news, my buddy Antonio D. LaFauci is a Victoria photographer and just put up his new website. He is one of my favorite studio photogs to work with and always makes everyone look very pretty! Check it out: http://www.antoniolafauci.com/

Now I’m inspired...time to go shoot some art-head video shots on my 7D. Bye!

Auto Obesity

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:00:46 -0800

Green alert! Green alert! Kids, tell your parents that it’s time to trim the fat when it comes to car usage...and this website can help: http://autoobesity.best.bc.ca/. It’s an organization called “Auto Obesity” and after spending a few days at the Olympics in Vancouver, I can attest to the power of public transit. I rode the “loser cruiser” or the “proletariat chariot” for four years while doing my undergrad degree and I remember putting up a fight when my parents made me buy a car. Now, I feel quite reliant on my car, but by spending a lot of time utilizing public transit at home and in other countries lately, I’ve found that my reliance has disappeared. No more auto-obesity for me!

Check it out and get transit fit.

Just got back from Cleveland for the 3rd annual Ray’s women’s weekend. Always a good time. Click on the video above to check me out getting my inner angel on.

The Brain Game

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:17:00 -0800

Like I predicted in my previous post, my definition of hard work has now changed.
It seems that being a pro athlete has softened me to the real world, and beginning my MA has been an extremely humbling experience so far. I LOVE IT! It’s just like learning how to bike, surf, or ski. As soon as you start to gain momentum and feel confident in what you’re doing another bump in the trail/wave/snow comes along and reminds you that you aren’t nearly as proficient in your abilities as you thought you were. That’s when you have no choice but to pick yourself up, however bloodied, bruised, or battered your body, ego, or brain is and keep pushing along until you get it right.

Despite the pain that can be involved in brain transformation and expansion, the kind folks at Royal Roads University are making this journey quite a treat. The faculty are brilliant and enthusiastic and my cohorts are equally amazing. It’s going to be a fun two years...capped off by a 3-week field study in Thailand.

I’m still looking for a thesis project and I’m leaning on something that has to do with how sports help generate feelings of liberation, confidence, and contribute to future goal setting in women living in oppressed situations. I plan on making a film, but I need a good story/topic first. Originally I was going to follow a group of female boxers in Afghanistan on their journey to the 2012 Olympics, but due to security reasons, I was forced to let that idea go. If anybody knows of a person/group/community that is film-worthy and doesn’t mind a tidy Canadian hanging out with them for a few months please please please let me know :)

In sports news, the past month has had me swap my bike for my skis and I’ve been really embracing the amazing snow year we’ve had so far. Of the hundreds of days I have skied in Whistler, this Saturday was the most mind-blowing of them all. 40cm of fresh followed by cold blue skies. The first run was so good that I could have gone home happy...but thankfully there were many more to come.

As for biking, two teasers to movies I am in have been released. I will be featured in the “Women of Dirt” film (I filmed for only one day with the crew this summer, but it sure was fun!), as well as DH Productions’ “Here We Go Again” flick. I’m not sure, but my section in “Here We Go Again” is probably only a few shots and a nasty crash I took in Chile last year. We had plan to shoot for 10 days but the crash separated my shoulder and took me out for the rest of the trip. That said, the movie is filled with amazing talent and you should check it out!

I have also been nominated for “personality of the year” from another UK magazine! What is with this? I’m getting quite a kick out of this phenomenon, not so much because it is an honour (although I admit it is an honour!), but because the Brits must actually find me amusing. Finally! Somebody laughs at my jokes! Click below to vote. Oh and yes, I know that Steve Peat is beating me...again. (He won the last poll I was nominated for).

http://www.mbr.co.uk/news/British_Downhill_Series_launched_article_293483.html

As per usual, here are some special interest links for viewing.

The Girl Effect: http://www.girleffect.org/

An inspiring documentary short: http://vimeo.com/1213401

A cool network (that I started blogging for): http://www.womentalksports.com/

Well, that’s all for now. I have many readings to do on intercultural communication and only a few days to prep for a trip to Australia for Ride Guide that I only found out about today. Should be fun!

Until I get home from down under this is my message to you: go read something that has lots of big words. It’s worth the pain.

Adios!

Pencils and Airplanes

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:20:52 -0800

This weekend a good friend casually mentioned how terrible I was at updating my website. Friend, this post is for you!
Lots new on my end, but first off, important things that others are doing:

-The Plastic Pollution Coalition - an organization my friend Manuel Maqueda has started that educates people on the dangers of plastic pollution, and clearly explains what we can do about it. So simple, so smart. Bonnie Raitt endorses it...so it must be cool!

-Ray’s Mtn Bike Park held their grand opening this weekend, and they are doing some amazing things with the place. Rather, they have done some amazing things with the place! I would say it’s one of my favourite places to ride, and has the highest concentration of good people of anywhere I’ve been. The place is great. It’s worth going to Cleveland Ohio for. Enough said. Oh, and yep, that’s me in the poster holding a hot dog. Thanks Ray.

-As many of you know, good music is the fuel of my soul, and this website has been really helpful in the fueling process lately: http://onesweetsong.blogspot.com/. Have you noticed I’ve been in a great mood lately? It’s because of this website.

-Met a great person today named Bill Weaver. He is a filmmaker and the creator of the “Media That Matters” conference and I was honored to get an invite from him for next year. Bill does many many many great things. Check out (one of his) sites here: www.mediathatmatters.org

Are you sick of me saying “great” yet? I thought so. I’ll get onto not-as-great subjects now...such as school.
It’s official, I am now on my way to becoming a master in International and Intercultural Communication. Well, perhaps not a master in theory, but a MA on paper. In the past 3 weeks I have begun to realize why most people don’t do master’s degrees...they are HARD! School is very humbling, and the best part about this program (other than the incredible instructors and very interesting and intelligent classmates), is that I don’t have to physically go to school! That means just as much time on my bike and in the surf as before...minus the social life. The exception being the next three weeks when we have to go to school from 8am-5pm everyday. I’m guessing my definition of hard work is about to change.

I’ve been taking advantage of my freedom the past few months though. I was in Vegas at Interbike, followed by a Norco team trip to Moab, Utah, continued on to LA/Orange County for a few more weeks, came home, left home, spent a week in Whistler riding with Bike magazine, came home, went surfing, caught H1N1, felt closer to death than I ever have in my life, did some filming with Aaron LaRoque, went to Cleveland for the opening of Rays, came home, went surfing some more, and almost bought a piano - twice. Oh, and somewhere in there I began the first correspondence portion of school. Life is busy! Life is good!

In the wonderful world of bike riding, I have been busy working with Norco to design the 2011 line of women’s specific bikes. The Vixa is undergoing some major changes that will make the bike pounds lighter. The new engineer working for Norco is on it and it’s been amazing learning from him. He’s a wizard with autocad. I have also been filming with Aaron LaRoque, but the greasy grimy mud we were looking for was nowhere to be found. Aaron does great work in all conditions though and we shot some really cool lines in the old growth. Not bad for an afternoon of filming a week after both of us had just gotten over swine flu!

Ok, time to go do school work now. The next three weeks will be hectic with my residency going on, so please excuse my lack of updates...not that I update regularly anyways! Oh, and if anyone has great thesis ideas on communication, media, cultural diversity preservation, and/or environmental media please feel free to pass them my way :)

Take care and happy trails!

Darcy

P.S. Thanks to the readers of Singletrack magazine UK for nominating me for the “Personality of the Year” award. Steve Peat and internet sensation Danny MacAskill are my competition. Such an honour to be in their company! I’d gladly take last place in this one :) http://www.singletrackworld.com/reader-awards/

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And I thought my life was cool...

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:22:33 -0700

Before I get to anything bike-related, I want to make everyone aware of a project my friend Manuel Marqueda is doing. He is currently in Midway Atoll, one of the most remote places on the planet, documenting the starvation of thousands of albatrosses who mistakenly eat floating plastic trash for food. Manuel and his team have already released a few web videos about the project and the Discovery Channel is following their journey. Check it out HERE.
Manuel is from Spain, but is based in Santa Cruz, CA, and has done a lot of very inspiring work in the past. He is one of my friend’s who I can’t be around for a very long time because my stomach hurts from laughing so hard whenever I am with him. He’s a genius, but one who can actually communicate his ideas well - and always in an entertaining way.
The Midway Journey is something that everybody should check out. It promotes green consciousness, is beautiful, and entertaining - so tell your friends!

Now, onto less important things...like what I do on my bike. I went to Colorado a few weeks ago and competed in the Slope Sistair freeride competition. It was SO fun. Steph Nychka organized an amazing weekend of trail riding, slopestyle riding, jumping, and sleeping in a giant barn house with a very loud cat. Even that part was fun! The event brought out a bunch of really talented girl riders and the focus was on fun, not stressful competition. Because of that, the competition part was still fun (how many times can I say “fun” in one paragraph?) and I came in 2nd in the best bag o’ tricks comp, and 3rd in the slopestyle. I will be the first person to say I rode like a pussy in the slopestyle, but I also flew home completely unscathed. Only girl not to fall all week. Boo ya! I shouldn’t brag about those things or I’ll jinx myself.

After CO I started filming with Aaron LaRocque for my next year’s video part. We are going full tilt to make the segment something that hasn’t been seen in the world of women’s riding. Our first shoot was up Mt.Washington (thanks Jesse for the ladder) followed by a really fun step up session in Victoria where I blasted off some no-handers, x-ups, and toboggans as clicked as possible. Of course, Aaron made it look golden and Taylor captured some great stills.

Next in the world of mtb, I am off to Vegas for the trade show, followed by a few days in Moab with Norco, followed by a week in LA to hang with my lovely California friends, followed by 10 days in Oregon to shoot an episode of Ride Guide. I am expecting to be a bit “biked out” by the time i get home, which is perfect because I start my master’s degree the very next day.

Speaking of school, I have already attempted to change my program and it hasn’t even started. Originally I was accepted into the professional communications program, but now I am trying to change into the professional communications program with a specialization on intercultural and international communications. The curriculum for the latter program is much more interesting to me...any prospective employers want to tell me which one they would hire me on? Yes?

On that note I will leave you with this video: http://vimeo.com/6228027 It’s a complete joke. Please do not take this seriously!

Ta ta for now. -Darcy

Look Mom, another cover!

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:46:58 -0700

At the risk of sounding cliche - where has summer gone? It’s almost September and I was just getting warmed up. School supplies are in the grocery stores causing people to impulse buy pens and notebooks, and the days are getting noticeably shorter. I was a victim to the school supplies the other day and bought my first notebook for my master’s degree - a beautifully decorated recycled 3 subject notebook printed with soy ink. $10 well spent.

I really can’t complain about the seasons changing though because I’ve had a great summer. I spent 2 full weeks at home during a heat-wave and spent every day swimming, kayaking, fishing, cooking, and painting outside. It was too hot to ride, so I got to do a lot of things that I normally would be too “busy” for. I didn’t feel bad about taking some time off though because Harookz came over one day (peak heat wave) and we shot a great Gravity ad. It was a tree ride that I built a landing for and I had to ride up the tree, bunny hop off, and transfer 6 feet to the left to land on the step-down landing. It was buttery smooth, but riding in that heat took me out for the next day. I’ve never sweat so much in my entire life. Even in a sauna!

A few days ago I got home from a successful/painful Crankworx in Whistler. I was enrolled to ride in Womenworx and this year there happened to be a lot of bitching around the event from the riders. I seemed to be the sounding board for a lot of them and the day before the event I decided to not get involved in the debates and just go ride by myself for a while in the rain. There is nothing more cleansing and humbling than being outside in the rain because you have absolutely no control. Anyways, I was blasting down A-line and felt completely at ease until I hit a greasy patch at full speed and flew into the side bank of the trail in a weird position. One trip to emergency and one torn rotator cuff later, my week was over. The riding side of the week anyways. The reason it was successful was that I got to cut my teeth in the world of MCing. Sure, I’ve hosted a lot of television, but speaking to thousands of people, live, is a whole other world.

I was originally hired to host the “Block Party” and to MC the Shimano Deep Summer photo challenge, but after my injury I ended up announcing the event I was supposed to compete in myself as well. Working with Brad J (announcer from the X-games) was a huge learning experience and he made it so easy for me. Thanks Brad! You are a really really talented guy. Talking on a microphone isn’t as easy at he makes it look.

The biggest adrenaline rush of the week was MCing the Shimano photo challenge alongside ski legend Mike Douglas. Mike has been hosting the winter version of the comp for years and he was also a pleasure to work with. We were able to banter back and forth as if we had known each other for years and all went well (except for when I naively said I would do anything for Harookz in front of a camera...no sexual connotation was supposed to come out of that comment but it sure got a good laugh!). Before the event though, I was so nervous I didn’t eat all day. Walking into the auditorium gave me a mini panic attack because it was HUGE! By huge I mean massive. More chairs than I’ve ever seen. Ever. 4 huge screens spanning the space and a little stage for us right in the middle. It was intimidating, especially since we hadn’t rehearsed anything and agreed to do almost everything off the cuff. Long story short, it was just another learning experience that went amazingly well and the rush I had after speaking to so many people for such a long time had me awake and partying until 4am! Huge congrats to Mattias Fredrikkson for his win at the event and to all the photographers who were in the event - you guys put on a great show and your work was stunning. Oh, and thanks Mattias for sharing your winnings in the form of Dom Perignon.

Another exciting event for me at Crankworx was finding out I was on the cover of BIKE magazine!!!!! It is my second cover this year, but by far the highlight of my cycling career. Being on the cover of BIKE is like being on the cover of Rolling Stone (and they unfortunately never gave me a cover. I wonder why?). One of the editors leaked the news to me as I was getting out of the hospital with my shoulder injury and it made all the pain go away! I knew I was going to be featured inside, but had no idea that I’d be on the cover. Thanks BIKE mag, you made my year.

In totally non-bike related news, my friend Bryan hooked me up with 2 gigs of new music and it has been keeping me sane with all the driving I’ve been doing lately. I am finding it weird how bands that begin in the letter “L” are on average, better than bands that begin in any other letter. For example, the Love Grenades, Lykke Li, Lo-Fi-Fnk, Lights On, Ladyhawke, and Lady Gaga (oops, did I say that one?), are all my favourite bands right now. The letter “M” is also doing good work. Metric, Matt and Kim, and Mates of State - nice work. It must be some mid-alphabet super power. So kids, remember, if you want a successful career in music, name your band starting with a mid-alphabet letter. Let’s just take that a step further and say that naming your kid with mid-letters might be a good idea. Best to be safe right?

All my mid-letter music and I will be spending a lot of time together in the next little while. On Monday I am off to Whistler to shoot photos with Mattias, then down to Vancouver for a gourmet zero-energy fundraiser dinner (check it out HERE! It will be a whole lot of amazing and you are invited!), followed by a drive to Seattle to catch a plane to Grande Junction Colorado for the Slope Sistair slopestyle event that I will attempt to compete in with a messed up shoulder. Shortly after that it’s off to Vegas for Interbike, then Moab for a press trip, then LA for fun fun fun! Can’t wait.

Alright, off to clean and box my bike up for Colorado. Go check out this month’s BIKE mag, as well as Dirt Rag (I have a feature article in there), and if you speak German, a huge article about me is in this month’s issue of “Freeride”. I have no idea what it says but the pictures look great!

Bye!

Rainbow in a Bottle!

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 15:58:41 -0700

This morning I was driving home from a surf session (minus waves), and there were 10 large boxes in front of my garage. Clothes? Sunglasses? Shimano derailleurs? 10 million Norco stickers? Nope. Even better!

I was really thirsty from the salt water and to my extreme delight, waiting for me in my driveway were 20 cases of Vitamin Water! 20 cases! Could a thirsty surfer ask for anything better? I think not.
That said, I’d like to announce to the cyber world that Vitamin Water is now my official hydration sponsor! I am really excited because I have loved the stuff since you could only find it in the US (thankfully not the case anymore), and the people I am working with at Glaceau are all amazingly fun and forward thinking people. Love ‘em!

Other than having a rainbow stock of Vitamin Water bottles in my basement, lots new has happened lately. I was recently in Germany shooting a Shimano Saint brake video with Wade Simmons, and it made me really thankful to not be a vegetarian anymore. How someone can visit Germany without eating copious amounts of schnitzel is beyond me.

The Done List

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 14:40:15 -0700

A few things have happened lately.
I was on the June cover of Mountain Bike Magazine. The photo was taken in Chile on a 10 hour ride through the Andes that required horses to shuttle our bikes to the top of the pass. Talk about an epic ride!
I went to Arizona to shoot an episode of Ride Guide TV. It was 100 degrees at midnight and we had to start shooting at 5am every morning to avoid the heat! Sedona was definitely the highlight and I didn’t see a snake the whole trip. Very happy about that...
I painted a new painting the one day I was home and it turned out well, but then I decided to donate it to the Royal Roads University youth and environment committee fundraiser. Hopefully somebody will buy it.
My new 2010 Vixa frame came in and it looks amazing! Best Norco frame yet in my opinion. Love love love it.
I shot with Kevin Arnold www.kevinarnoldphoto.com in Vancouver and we collided! It was the first time that i’ve ever hit a photographer but Kevin mis-judged my landing from a wallride and I landed on him. Half my forearm was scraped off and I lost half my tan I worked so hard on. Other than that I am ok.
Spent a week on Hornby Island shooting for Alex Lavigne’s new film and it was awesome! Amazing weather and we got some cool shots. Wearing a 25 pound vest with a jib attached to it makes for some amazing point of view footage!
I bought a new wetsuit!!!!! WOOO!!!!!
Tomorrow I got to Germany to film a Shimano video at the Willingen bike fest with Wade Simmons. That should be fun too.

So that’s my life in a nutshell for the past month. Looking forward to what June brings! xo -Darcy

Travel Stories

Mon, 11 May 2009 08:44:59 -0700

What United Airlines lacks in customer service, total strangers make up for in generosity and kindness.
When you go to Maui the first thing you will probably notice is how incredibly nice people are. I would say that having year round sun does wonders for the mood, because the people there will bend over backwards to ensure you are having a great time and feel loved and welcomed. Then comes the flight home. All the kindness, grace, and aloha spirit of the past stay on the island you are guarenteed to receive during your stay seems to get washed away with the force of a wave strong enough to only be found at Pipeline the second you walk into the airport.
Over my time in Maui and Kauai I had lost my bank card somewhere along the way and when I went to go home I had $100 cash left to pay for my bike. On Air Canada it is normally $50 to fly with a bike, and because I booked Air Canada, I budgeted for that. For some reason the flight home was operated by United who charge $175 each way to fly with a bike! I highly recommend every person who rides a bike and enjoys riding their bike in places other than home to write to United Airlines and ask them to stop demoting a sustainable form of transport by charging more to travel with a bike than it would cost to buy an entire roundtrip ticket. I did.
Anyways, I get to the baggage check and I don't have enough to pay for the bike. They refused to let me get on the plane with it and told me my only option was to leave my bike in Maui. I offered to get my mom on the phone and have her pay with her credit card (mine was maxed due to the lost bank card!), but they refused.
Point of this story (other than to boycott United Airlines) is to show that there truly are good people left in the world. When I was fighting for my bike to get on the luggage carousel, a lovely woman from Idaho overheard my situation. She said that United had just denied putting their bags on their flight because they were 2 minutes too late (but still 1.5 hours before departure), and as a result, they had to catch a later flight. She didn't even wait to hear my situation before she asked "how much do you need?" At first I refused, but then realized submitting to her graciousness was the only option I had. That woman, a total stranger, paid the remaining fee for my bike.
It just goes to show that however much evil there is in this world, it can be balanced by the good deeds and positive intentions of others. I know that in the same situation I would probably do the same thing but at the same time the trust and kindness of this woman absolutely blew me away...after all I probably didn't look like much of an outstanding citizen at the time. I had just been surfing, was still covered in sand and salt, and was in not my proudest emotional state.
I hope that the rest of the world can lead by this woman's example. You don't have to go handing out $100 bills to every stranded traveller you see, but a selfless good deed can really make a difference in somebody's day and tip the scales of good and evil.
Other than that little incident, Maui was amazing! I biked, surfed, surfed, surfed, and surfed. Special thanks to Tim for taking me to Kauai and making me surf in overhead waves that scared the shit out of me! It felt great to physically and mentally push myself in a sport that was not mountain biking. I think it actually gave me more confidence on my bike! It's amazing how those things work.
After a two day layover at home, I am now on-route to Arizona to shoot another Ride Guide episode. I'm not sure if it'll be as vacationesque as shooting in Maui, but it's warm there. Who can complain about the sun? Surely a Canadian can't....

Working on my Vacation or Vacationing while Working?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:56:41 -0700

Today I’ve had at least 6 people ask if they could trade lives with me. Normally when I hear that I just laugh it off, but this time I wouldn’t trade my life for anything. Maybe me being in such a beautiful place right now was good Karma for me giving Ben Boyko my window seat on the way home from California yesterday while I took his middle seat between a large lady and one with the worst Halitosis I have ever witnessed, but being in Maui right now really does hit the spot.
Although I am here for “work” (filming Ride Guide TV), it sure doesn’t feel like it this time. Maybe that’s because I just got here, but I’ll take a working vacation like this any day of the week! Come to think of it, why am I on my computer updating my blog when I should be enjoying myself? I know why, because my friend told me that if I don’t update my blog more, people will stop coming to my website. To all those people who have stopped visiting for that reason, sorry! I was probably on some other sort of working vacation. Aloha!

It's done

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:32:20 -0700

What’s done you ask? A short film about my journey to Chile that I’ve been locked in my bedroom editing for the past two weeks. That’s what’s done! Nobody but my close friends (who haven’t seen me) and the Boulder Mountain Film Festival committee that commissioned me to make the film really know what I’ve been working on because I’ve been too busy to answer emails...but now that it’s done I can enjoy real life again. Despite the mental marathon that it took to make it, it was a really enjoyable learning experience and it actually turned out pretty good! Hard to go wrong though when your footage is from a country as beautiful as Chile.
On Wednesday I’m off to California for the Sea Otter Classic and then directly off to Maui to shoot the first Ride Guide bike episode of 2009. I can’t wait to go ride on Maui again and see my friends there. My friend Juli says she has a new surfboard with my name on it so that gets me even more excited!
Well, it’s off to pack now and maybe paint some pictures before I go. If you’re at Sea Otter stop by the Norco booth and say hi. I should be there! Happy trails.

Everyone Likes a Change....

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:25:15 -0700

Well, after a few months of pestering from my loved ones, I have finally changed up the look of my website. I think it took me so long because it was so ugly and I couldn’t stand looking at it! Ha ha. Lots new has happened in my “off” season. I was recently at Ray’s Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland for the Women’s Weekend which was amazing, followed by a few weeks in Chile on a Gravity team trip and photoshoot, followed by vacation with my best friend. Woah run on sentence!
This winter has been an interesting one. I’ve been fighting with nagging injuries...the plight of the common mountain biker. Just the usual though - waiting for ankle surgery, shoulder issues, yadda yadda. Nothing too big though as I’m still riding and loving my bike just as much as ever. I will be riding for my beloved Norco bikes again and we have been working hard on the new Forma series of women’s specific bikes. I am so excited for next year’s bikes! They are going to look amazing and feel even better. I get giddy just thinking about them.
To keep me occupied on those rainy days when I can’t ride I have discovered a new-found love of painting. Not rooms or houses, but canvases...I guess some would call it art work? I love art now. I did before, but now I like making it. Also, this winter I decided to go back and get my master’s degree. Big decision yes, but one I’ve been thinking about for a while. I got accepted into the Professional Communications program at Royal Roads University and I will be starting next October into a 2-year distance program. Although correspondence is incredibly difficult to stay motivated with, I am excited because the program is designed for working professionals (although it’s hard to consider being a pro mountain biker a working professional! I think that title is reserved for people who wear “slacks” and power suits). Sure, I might not have a social life for a few years, but with this program I can still bike, host my show, and travel a plenty. Plus, I want work for National Geographic TV one day and I think that getting a MA is a good way to start.
I’ve also been busy getting older. This weekend I turned 25 and headed to the west coast of Vancouver Island to celebrate in the rainforest. If you don’t want to feel bad about getting older, I definitely suggest going to Tofino B.C. We stayed at the beautiful Middle Beach Lodge (thanks Duane!) and it was breathtaking. The pods of whales and natural hot springs made the weekend great, but the two amazing skateparks that we rode were the icing on the cake! Thanks to the sunshine for coming out just long enough to have a good session. We set off on the trip with the intention of taking thousands of pictures...but within a few hours a rouge wave (ok it wasn’t rogue, it was just a regular wave) splashed up on the rocks and soaked Taylor’s camera. My camera was in the shop because according to Canon I dropped it (although I didn’t) and that’s why it stopped reading the memory card (cough, liars, cough), so we were left with two film cameras that we brought just for fun not thinking that they would be our emergency backups. It was one of those blessings in disguise as our photos turned out great and have so much more soul than digital photos would. Thanks rogue wave for shorting out Taylor’s Nikon!
Next up on the agenda for me is Sea Otter in Santa Cruz, followed by shooting the first Ride Guide episode of the season in Maui. I can’t wait for that one. Harookz and I did a photoshoot there a few years ago and the riding was incredible...as was the surf.
I promise I’ll update this more this time around! For real!