Mammoth 1987 and Now

When we were at Mammoth this weekend we were riding "Bridge the Gap" after coming down "Skid Marks" and I suddenly felt like I was in a very familiar place. I quickly realized that I was going down a trail (a fireroad actually) that I had ridden up in my very first race. It was 1987 and I was 12 years old and I believe it was the Raleigh World Mountain Bike Championships. I think it was the 2nd one they had there. There weren't even age divisions, just classes, so I was in the beginner division. The picture was taken just at the start of the steepest climb of the course. I remember seeing the photographer and making sure I rode far enough up the hill to get my picture taken on the bike before I had to get off and walk up. You'll notice one guy behind me didn't even attempt the hill.

I was riding a $350 Univega Rover Sport. I also have to point out that the red watch on my wrist is actually a Swatch.

Anyways....here's me in 1987 and then again in 2008 at the same spot.....

Mammoth

I'm heading to Mammoth this weekend. Here's a video of my last 2 trips there.



The first trip was an end of the summer last chance kind of trip 2 years ago. We had one good run. On the others we had flat tires, a brake cable pulled right out when I squeezed the brake, and Mike had his rear derailluer fall off. These were on the cheap Giant rental bikes. Luckily we stopped at Lower Rock Creek on the way home and had a great ride on our own bikes.

The 2nd trip was much better. We had a day of riding at Mammoth on the way to Tahoe. Then on the way back from Tahoe we stopped at Lower Rock Creek again, this time we had a driver to shuttle us and didn't have to ride all the way back up to the car.

The Stumpjumper

I got my new bike yesterday. It's an '06 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Pro.