Sea Level Traversing

Yesterday morning we hopped into the van to see Sally for the first time in 3 weeks! It was nice to get back into a routine and to have outdoor pursuits again. As we were driving Sally mentioned if we had heard the news, and she told us that Iceland had a volcano erupt on Wednesday April 14 and that they were expecting white clouds to cover the sky sometime, bringing ash to fall. About 90 percent of UK flights had been cancelled to avoid flying through the thick white clouds from the volcano, which could be very dangerous. She told us we would have to plan our activity accordingly, depending on the weather. Fortunately the weather was perfect for the activity she had planned for us today. She informed us that we would be Sea Level Traversing. We were all pretty excited, since the other group had not yet tried this activity and we had heard such good things about it. We gathered our supplies at the Conway Center immediately after getting there, putting our wetsuits, and multiple layers on beforehand. We drove about 40 minutes away to Anglesey Island near Holyhead to Penrhynmawr, right on the Irish coast. We didn't waste any time putting our equipment on and walked to the sea edge. We dropped our lunch bags off under a rock and walked another couple minutes down the grass path.

We began by walking/climbing down the rock path until we were right at sea level. The rocks were jagged and pointed upwards, making it very easy to grip and move along the bottom of the wall. We moved along the vertical wall using the rocks above us and the ledges below us to maneuver, always making sure we were within inches of the water in the case that we were to fall, that way we were close to the water. Sally reminded us of the rock colors to watch out for, just like when we gorge scrambled and taught us how to fall into the water correctly to avoid any injuries. The best way is to bend your knees slightly and fall straight or cross your arms and fall straight backwards, avoiding sticking out your bottom, potentially hitting your coccyx. For the first stage of Sea Level Traversing, we stuck to just moving across the bottom, running into a couple of challenges where we had to help one another out and guide them to the next step. Today involved a lot of teamwork, passing the message about cautions ahead, much like we did in gorge scrambling. Once we had reached the area where we had set down our lunches we took our first break. It was so pretty being able to enjoy our lunches as we looked out into the Irish Sea and the sun shining, keeping us warm.

After lunch, Annie and I volunteered to help Sally set up the next activity. We weren't really sure what we were going to be doing, and Sally joked with us about what possible things we could do, most of them were pretty scary! We set up a long rope from one side of the rocks to the other, so that it was overhanging above a large drop into the sea below. The rope was secured tightly to big rocks on each side. We all gathered at the one end of the rope and Sally demonstrated how we were going to climb on the rope over to the other side. She showed us two strategies, one laying on the rope, using your feet to keep you balanced and the other hanging upside down with your feet hanging on to the rope. Annie went first, I was so proud of her for taking the initiative and going first when she saw how nervous the rest of the group was. It shows that she has a lot of trust in Sally and is a great leader to our group. We encouraged Annie as she made her way up to the rope, clipping herself in, making sure she did the squeeze check before continuing. After she successfully made it across, I was soon up and cautiously made my walk to the rope. I avoided looking down or thinking about the distance it was from the top and clipped myself in and before I knew it, I was maneuvering across the rope fine. I was able to open my eyes and enjoy the view eventually, but felt my muscles getting tired as I reached the end of the rope. I had to push hard to get to the very end but made it successfully, and felt very happy with how I handled the situation. Everyone else made it successfully and with the encouragement of our teammates, no one was too nervous about performing the activity. Sally informed us that we were the first group to have all made it across on the rope without any assistance, making us all feel pretty good about out accomplishment. During some of the climbs across the rope, there were seals that popped their heads out of the water to check out what was going on, it was so neat! We continued on our way along the sea to a cave called Slot Cave. Before reaching the cave there were a couple challenging areas where danger was involved because it seemed that the only way to get to the other side of the water hole was to climb high. This was dangerous because if one of us fell, we could seriously injure ourself, so Sally demonstrated for me how to climb lower and safer in this particular area. I found that when I trusted Sally and followed her instructions exactly, I was able to successfully get to the other side wet free! After a couple spills in the water from that challenge and Elliot holding a couple people up by their buoyancy aid, we were at the opening of the cave. It was so neat inside! Wet, dark, and cooler, we could see our breathe, we moved deeper into the cave, warning our team of the wet rocks to watch for. Within the cave there was a large birds nest that Sally informed was a protected birds nest. On the side of the cave was a small dark hole that dropped down a bit to a long skinny path leading to the outside of the cave. Some parts were very skinny and tight, making some of us pretty nervous. At one point we reached an area where the only way to get out was to get wet. But that wasn't an option for Sally, she taught us a technique called bridging, where we got our bodies pressed between two walls, moving using our legs and bottom. As long as our backs were straight up against the rock wall behind us, we had pretty good control of our stability. One part was more difficult and we had to instruct the person behind us as we were instructed from the person in front who had just accomplished it. We had to be patient with everyone because each of us had different abilities but we were all made it out of the cave. By now, our hands were pretty cut up from the sharp barnacles covering the rocks that were once under water, but as the tide became lower the barnacles were submerged out of the water. We saw a lot of different sea life, such as lichen covering the rock walls, sea anemones that were squishy and sucked your fingers, and limpets that stuck undisturbed to the walls.

Our last activity for the day was to climb back to the area where we had climb across on the rope and cliff jump. I was fine with the thought of cliff jumping until I saw the height of the jump! Annie was the first to be standing on the edge of the rock wall and it looked so far down, I knew Sally must be joking. But after Annie jumped, I knew she wasn't joking. Everyone went and finally it was my turn. I don't remember being that scared about heights since the first outdoor pursuits when we did high ropes. I trusted Sally that I would be safe and knew the only way to get over my fear was to just do it! So I jumped! Letting out the loudest scream I reached the bottom and hit the water. It was the most amazing feeling to be able to just jump and put my fear in the back of my head. I even jumped again, just to prove to myself that I could face my fear...again! Today was a successful day for me because I was able to have fun climbing around on the rock walls, practicing my good climbing strategies we have been working on since rock climbing, and my biggest accomplishment, jumping from all my fears into the Irish Sea during the cliff jump. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging, as they always are, and there wasn't anyone that didn't play an important part in the days activity. This is definitely an activity I plan to do again in the future=)

Spring Break (in a nutshell)

I don't even know where to begin! These last 3 weeks have been so eventful and I have been all over Europe with my classmates, friends, and family. Spring break began March 19th for me, with no classes on Friday, but it wasn't until Saturday when I began my long adventure of traveling and exploring.

Ireland

My first trip was to Ireland with the Central Study Abroad group and Tecwyn. We left Saturday, March 20, and drove to Holyhead to board a ferry to Ireland. We spent about 2 days in Dublin and were able to accomplish walking around the city, experiencing the excitement of a Rugby game taking place in the stadium nearby, eating delicious Irish dishes, go to multiple Irish pubs with bagpipes and Irish singers, run within the city, go to the Guinness factory and try Guinness, attend a mass at the St. Patrick's Cathedral, eat lunch outside in a garden on a beautiful sunny day, witness the Book of Kells, and walk a half an hour away from the hostel to find that it was only around the corner. Dublin was nice, but very busy and a big city so I was excited to be going to a smaller city in Ireland.

We drove to Galway, a town on the western coast near the sea. It was perfect for running, I was able to run right next to the harbor and the beach. First thing we did as soon as we got there was take a walking tour of the town. Tecwyn left us in the town center and had us find our way back, but not before I bought my own Claddagh and the girls and I got some delicious pizza. In Galway we saw the Galway Cathedral, which was so amazing inside, with the bright sun shinning in the stain glass windows on all sides. On one of the rainy days in Ireland we took a trip around the outskirts of Galway and saw a castle overlooking a lake, then drove to the Cliffs of Moher, which were incredible, the cliffs were straight vertical over the ocean below, and lastly stopped at an ancient portal tomb. That night we went to a popular pub and listened to a few bands play. The next day was much nicer and we were able to take a ferry over to the Aran Islands, just off the coast of Ireland, where we got to ride bikes around the island all day seeing the pretty sites and huge cliffs at the edge of the island. It was a tiring day, but the weather was beautiful and we got a lot of exercise. When our bus pulled into the hostel, Molly, Annie, Sarah, and I sprinted off toward the harbor to catch the last sunset in Ireland. It was worth the 10 minute sprint and people starring at us, thinking we were crazy. That night to end our Ireland trip we went to another Irish pub and met up with Tecwyn.

I loved Ireland! It had so many great places and sites to see, it was difficult to take it all in! I especially liked when we travelled outside of the bigger towns because that's when we were able to really experience the culture and hear the accents of the natives there. It wouldn't have been an Ireland trip if we didn't go to the pubs in the towns as well. Each pub had something unique to offer and I enjoyed experiencing the atmospheres of each one.

Switzerland

Short and sweet, we went skiing in the Swiss Alps. It was amazing! Much more difficult than I would have ever imagined, especially the easy blue hills. Megan and Sarah had never gone skiing before so that was an interesting experience, but with the help of Ashley and I, we were able to teach them some strategies. Although Megan had the stopping technique down...Sarah had the opposite problem..she couldn't stop, and often just flew into a snow bank. It was a lot of fun, enjoying the beautiful views of the Alps and getting a good workout in, for most of us, trying to ski down the slopes. Molly and I made the mistake to take on a red slope, meaning intermediate...but it was more like a black slope back home. Let's just say we took that slope very slow, skiing back and forth down the whole slope, as little 4 year old kids came flying past us. Yes we were embarrassed but there was no way we were going straight down the hill! After about 4 hours of skiing, our legs were tired and we were ready to call it a day. Ill never forget that experience, and I will definitely go back someday=)

Greece
Our next stop was Greece! We flew into Athens and spent the day there walking around the bust city and trying to find the right bus stop, getting hit on by gyro workers and guys walking along the street. The first thing we did was go to a gyro shop and we had one of the BEST gyros I have ever tasted. It was so fresh and hot...its going to be difficult going home and comparing it to that one. That night we got to see the Olympic stadium and the Acropolis at night, as the moon creeped from behind it. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. We were also able to see the Dyionisus Theaters, one of the oldest theaters in the world! We went to bed early that night for our early morning the next day to the Greece island, Santorini! After our 3:30am wake up call and 7 hour ferry ride to the island, we finally made it there. The weather was so warm and sunny. We met the hostel owner right off the dock and he took us to our hostel. They were so nice and welcoming, offering us wine the second we walked into the office, haha. That day we just settled in and got a bus to Oia, to watch the sunset, the same area that Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed. During the sunset there was a couple that got engaged, making the experience that much more memorable. It was a perfect night, clear, warm, and I was there with the best 5 girls I could ask for. The next day we went to the red and black sand beaches and relaxed for most of the day. That night we did some shopping in the island capital, Fira, and got our first gift from a shop owner. He asked all us girls to come into our shop cause he had a gift...we were skeptical, but he had us all pick a piece of pumice from a basket that he personally found and washed. He informed us to use the pumice on our feet and elbows to make them "baby soft". We thanked him, surprised that he just actually gave us pumice, haha! That night we bought wine and crackers and cheese and cookies to celebrate our last night on the island. It was really nice sitting under the stars and talking together, taking in every second left together before we parted the next week, when many of our parents came. It was really relaxing on the island, just what we needed after a stressful week of paper writing before spring break.

Germany/Austria

My parents came the next day we got back from Greece and I was able to show them around Bangor a bit...in the rain, of course, typical Wales. I was so happy to see them! We woke up early the next day to head to Germany. In Germany we rented a car so we were able to drive around and see the sites of Germany...but only after we figured out how to turn on the GPS...and learn a bit of German, since our GPS was only German speaking. Let's just say it was a little stressful at first trying to figure out the GPS...on the autobahn=/ We drive into Munich and watch the Glockenspiel ring at 11am in the city center, it was amazing! We also got to try some delicious German pastries, yum! After walking around Munich we drove to Fussen to see the royal castle of Neuschwanstein, the castle the Magic Kingdom was modeled after. It really was gorgeous...even through the heavy snowfall=/ We drove to Salzburg, Austria after that, the same place "The Sound of Music" was filmed. We were able to go to the city center and see many of the places that were in the film and got to explore the HohenSalzburg Fortress. At the top of the hill, the Fortress had the greatest view of Salzburg and the weather was perfect. We had some tasty Austrian food in the market and tasty desserts. I really enjoyed both Germany and Austria, I had always wanted to go to both! And I was glad I got to spend my time there with my parents.

United Kingdom

The last trip with my parents and for spring break was our many stops in both England and Wales. Since we had a car we were able to visit Chester, and shop of course, Conwy, Cricceith, Caernarfon, and Anglesey Island. We had the best fish and chips in Cricceith, enjoyed the castle in Caernarfon, and got to watch the sunset at Anglesey beach and enjoy a packed lunch on the beach. I was glad my parents got to see the many places Wales is famous for and the places I get to see everyday. It meant a lot to me that they got to come visit me and I'm happy they had a good time=)

My 3 weeks of spring break were amazing and went by too fast! I had the greatest, memorable experiences with my 5 girls and was able to bond with my parents when they came to visit. I could not have asked for a better spring break=)

Gorge Scrambling

Thursday started off somewhat gloomy, but warm, so we were unsure what exactly Sally would have us do that day. Once we got picked up Sally told us that we were going gorge scrambling, which is climbing on large rocks along a stream that eventually turns into steep waterfalls and paths. Once we got to the Conway Center we gathered our supplies that we would need and put on our wetsuits and other layers. The area that we would be climbing was about a 4o minute drive in Conwy Valley on Afon Ddu Gorge, meaning Black River. As soon as we got out of the van we put our harnesses on and zipped up our vests and headed to the path toward the gorge. As we were walking on the path we played Chinese whispers, much like the American version of Telephone, to practice our communication with each other that would be essential for the day's activity. On the path there was a sign that explained ways to protect the gorge and surrounding area from erosion since it's a major concern when so many groups of people use the same gorge every day. Before we started our journey along the stream Sally gave us some helpful hints about gorge scrambling. Some rules to follow when gorge scrambling are "green is mean", meaning that we needed to avoid stepping on rocks with green lichen growing on it to protect the growth of these natural wildlife, "black, stay back", which meant that the rock was slippery and had algae growing on it, and "grey is OK", meaning that the rock was dry and safest to climb on. We followed each other single file, passing messages along the line of people when hazards were ahead or information was being explained. The first part of the climb wasn't very difficult, just needing to watch our footing and challenging ourselves by trying to stay dry. At one point we had to use our rock climbing skills and climb around a path of water on the side of a rock. Our first real challenge though was climbing through the Elephant's butt, which was a set of two rocks that appeared like the back end of an elephant. Sally climbed through first to attach a rope at the top for the rest of us to use as a guide. We got a little wet, but all successfully made it through the opening up the rock. We continued on our adventure up the stream until we reached a small waterfall that we had to climb around, but not without kissing the rock that was under the waterfall. Sally promised it was good luck. As the path got steeper and we ran into more challenging areas, we had to communicate to each other where it was slippery or a hazard was coming up. Many of us slipped a couple times, but when we started to really focus on where we were stepping and remembering the code Sally had provided us, we were able to avoid the slips before they happened. We helped each other a lot by offering our hand whenever possible, supporting each other and providing helpful advice in more challenging climbing spots. Another steep climbing area we had to get on our bellies to pull ourselves up onto the rock, and Sally tricked me and pushed my head in the water, I just laughed. Along the path there was an area where we got to climb through small rock tunnels that weaved, making me nervous since I wasn't sure if I would get stuck, and I've always feared tight places. But after crawling through the first tunnel and then the second and reaching the end, I found it was much easier than I thought, especially since I wasn't panicking and stayed calm. One of the other activities and challenges we got to experience was wading under a large rock, between a small space at the bottom of the rock, in order to get to the other side. Throughout the day we each took turns carrying the bags of supplies and lunches because they were so heavy and bulky. Everyone was really good about sharing the weight of the bag on their backs. Before lunch, Sally let us try dam blocking, which is when a line of people sit directly behind each other on a stream path and everyone but the person in front lifts their bottoms, washing the person in the front down the "slide" made of rock into the open water. We did this several times, the more people the easier it was to wash that person down the path. I felt like little kids, but I loved those activities the most. For lunch we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and a view that overlooked the valleys. It was very peaceful, but we had to avoid sitting on any green lichen that were growing on the rocks. We continued up the waterfall, walking up a steep path beside the falls. We found a tree that was low enough to flip over, so we all did flips on our bellies over the tree branch. At this point we were climbing up more dangerous steeper rock paths, that involved Sally having to climb to the top of the rock and attaching a rope that reached to bottom for us to attach ourselves to. In sets of two, we walked up the steep rock with the rope attached to our Karabiners on our harness. There were a couple large rocks that we had to slip under, submerging our bodies in the water, to get to the other side of the path. We came across another steeper rock wall that Sally had to attach a long rope to, and again we climbed in groups of two, watching our footing carefully to avoid slipping on the wet surfaces. As the day came to an end, it began to rain, getting colder since we were already wet. The last challenge of the day was at the very top of the gorge where we were given the option to jump into a section of deep water from the side of a rock. I was so excited to be able to do this, but once I got up there, ready to jump, I froze. I wasn't scared about the cold water, but the thought of jumping in from a high height into water I didn't know what was at the bottom. But I did it, and it was the best feeling, after the shock of being submerged in freezing cold water. Everyone jumped from the rock and we even convinced Sally to jump a pose. What a great way to end the day! Through all the challenges, I felt like I took extra caution on my footing and what I was stepping on to avoid falling. Everyone had a great time, completed every challenge, and did something that scared them, which I felt like was the goal of the day.

Once we got back to the van, our wellies full of water, we changed right outside of the van, with just a towel to cover ourselves, and tons of kids running around everywhere! We had to take extra caution in not accidentally flashing any of the young kids or the old men standing around. It was a really exciting day, with all sorts of different activities and challenges that tested our ability to use the skills that we learned in rock climbing and use good communication to avoid accidents.

St. Patricks Day

Wednesday was St. Patricks Day and was one of the craziest days that we have experienced since we've been here! But it didn't start off that way...I spent all day and afternoon trying to finish my papers for my classes all due before our 3 week spring break. I finally finished all my work by 7pm and that's when our St. Patricks day REALLY started! We had planned to go out that night but we needed to find a green outfit...so Molly came up with the idea to use our green duvet covers as togas! We all looked pretty snazzy and even added some green clover tattoos. Everyone got their own unique tattoo saying, mine said "Kiss me I'm a Nugget of Irish". After we were all dressed in our green we headed out to Academy for a bit. There were a lot of leprechauns there! Of course no one as cool of an outfit as we did;) We felt silly in our sheets, and a couple people asked us if we were using our grandmas curtains, but we were dressed silly together and that made it all the better. We left Academy and walked to Octagon because they were having a green foam party for St. Patricks Day! When we got there, no foam was to be found, but as more people came and filled up the dance floor, the DJ started a 30 minute countdown. By the end of the 30 minutes no one could move because there were so many people crowding the dance flow. We eventually found all the Americans on the dance floor and waited for the foam party to start. Before we knew it we were counting down in seconds for the foam to arrive. All of a sudden this huge cannon started shooting out green foam from above us. It was so exciting at first with foam shooting from the top onto everyones heads and it wasn't long before we were all soaked from the foam. But within a couple minutes it began to get hard to breathe without sucking in bubbled in your throat and I started to panic a bit. I saw Molly and both of our faces and eyes were covered in foam. We decided to make a break for it and try to escape the foam. Elliot was nearby and just laughed at how ridiculous Molly and I looked and at how scared we were about dying! I quickly squeezed through the slimy people on the dance floor to escape for air and to my relief I found Annie, Will, and Megan immediately after I got out of the foam, through my foggy soap vision. Along the way I lost Molly, but we later found her too, drenched in green foam. I was so thankful to be out of that "sticky" situation. We all went to the bathroom to wash off and when I looked in the mirror I couldn't believe how wet and somewhat green tinted I looked! It was really funny actually, seeing all the other girls who were completely soaked from the foam. We went back out to the dance floor after catching our breathe and the DJ announced that another foam blast was coming! This time I wasn't going to be in the dead middle where all the foam collected, so we stayed on the outside and were able to enjoy the foam a lot more, grabbing clumps and throwing them at each other.

We got back much later than we should have since we had Outdoor Pursuits the next day but you cant NOT go to a green foam party on St. Patricks Day right? It was such a fun experience, but nothing like I would have ever imagined. It'll definitely be a story I plan to share with people for a long time to come!

Unusual Sunday

As I was writing my papers for class I decided to take a look outside and saw the largest forest fire in the distance! I was shocked! There was a line of fire leading up into the mountains. I had to call Megan for her to come look to make sure I wasn't crazy. Tecwyn had mentioned to us that the lack of rain causes prairie fires because the grass is so dry. It's so crazy that just a week of no rain can cause so many problems in the UK, where in Iowa if we get too much rain, we fear flooding.

Late night stroll

Yesterday after the girls and I had made dinner we enjoyed some of Megan and Annie's delicious snickerdoodles! After dancing around for a bit, we decided to take a stroll down to the 24 hour shop for some snacks. But before we went out we had to put our shorts on and boots on of course! We looked ridiculous, but it was fun being goofy. As we were walking we ran into two guys who asked us what we were up to tonight, probably wondering why we were dressed so silly. They then somehow convinced us to go to Academy for the Heaven and Hell theme night. They wrote heaven or hell on all of our hands so that we could get in cheaper. Annie and I both had "HEAVEN" on our hands, while Molly, Sarah, and Megan had "HELL" written on their hands. We quickly got our sugary candy from the 24 hour store and ran back to change into our costumes. Annie and I wore a rolled paper halo attached to a pencil sticking in our hair, while the "hell" girls wore headbands with toilet paper red horns attached to them. We had a ton of fun at Academy dancing around in our costumes and visiting both the hell and heaven room.

Today we went to Varsity for lunch and to relax. We had the most delicious dessert, it was a cookie cup with ice cream in the center with toffee syrup drizzled all over it...it was good! We stopped at a couple stores along the way and at one of the check outs the girl asked me if I was American or Irish. I was shocked that she asked that, and explained, "I'm American, I just have a nasally problem right now." We both laughed, and I was slightly flattered that I was somewhat compared to sounding Irish.

We plan to go out tonight to Academy, its Monster Munch night, which means there will be flying Monster Munch chips flying everywhere...could get messy=/ But it'll be fun with both the guys and the girls=)

bruises + sore bum = mountain biking

Today for outdoor pursuits Sally told us we would be going mountain biking. We were all really surprised and didn't expect to mountain bike this week, but were all really excited about the adventure. I know I was terrified just thinking about going down paths at insanely fast speeds and not to mention bumps and turns that could throw you off your bike. But I kept an open mind, I really have always wanted to try mountain biking, so here was my chance. We got to the Conway Centre, collected our supplies and got to know our bikes a little better by riding them around the area. The United Kingdom bikes are slightly different than the bikes in America with the brakes being switched around. The right hand brake controlled the front wheel brake, while the left hand brake controlled the back wheel brake. It didn't take long to get the hang of this change, we just had to remember to always use both brakes at the same time to avoid flying off our bikes. Before packing up and leaving we practiced using our gears, the right and left gear. We kept the left gear in 2 most of the day and consistently changed the right gear from 1-8 depending on if we were going up or down a hill. We switched to the lower gears to go up a hill, making the pedals spin more, and switched to the higher gears to go down a hill, making the wheels cover more ground with less pedaling. When we were all ready we hopped into the bus, accompanied by Steve, Sally's husband, who would be helping to guide the group also, with our trailer of bikes attached to the bike and headed to Gwydyr Forest in Conwy Valley to bike on the Marin track.

When we first got there we all practiced biking by riding in single file lines following Sally along the main roads. We stopped and practiced good techniques for going down a path. We learned it is best to stand up on your feet on the pedals, with the pedals parallel positioned in the middle, leaning back and arms straight to optimize control. We each practiced this before riding down our first bike path. Upon reaching the bottom we practiced our balance on our bike, when the bike was stationary. It was difficult, but we just had to remember to focus on the front wheel and move with the bike. This skill helped us when we had to maneuver around tight sections and as the day went on it got easier to control our bike. The final skill Sally taught us was to always look ahead of ourselves, about five bike lengths, at the obstacles that will be coming up so that we may have some time to plan our action. I tended to look down at the path directly in front of me, and it was difficult at first. Once we had all put the techniques together mountain biking became much easier to control and gave us many more advantages to maneuver on the paths. I have never had the feeling of being scared but thrilled at the same time, and when I went down the paths I forgot about all the dangers that could happen and focused on what I was doing. I've never been one to ride down hills fast, even on sidewalk, so for me to go fast down mountain trails was a big step for my confidence level.

We stopped again to practice another skill, this time jumping our bikes over a stick. We started small, just lifting our front wheel over the stick, then practiced just lifting our back wheel over the stick until we were ready to practice jumping completely over the stick with both wheels in the air. I had the most difficulty on the back wheel and putting both the skills together. This technique is helpful if we wanted to wheelie over a large rock or avoid a possible dangerous obstacle. We had a small competition with each other, pedaling down a hill for momentum and seeing how far we could get up a hill without pedaling. It tested our ability to bike fast down a hill and minimize our wind resistance. We rode onwards to a lake to stop and eat lunch. We were able to eat our lunch right next to the lake, it was so peaceful and quite.

After lunch we got our gear together again and got ready to ride uphill. After sitting on the bike for the first time after lunch, I could feel soreness on my bottom and in my legs already. We switched our left gear to 1 as we rode up the gradual steep hill and switched to the lowest gear on the right side. It took a lot of energy and mental motivation to make it up the hill without stopping, but I felt really accomplished when I finally made it to the top. Steve led us to a spot with an amazing view of the mountains and the trails we had rode below. Then we headed down a bike path, single file, running into many more obstacles than the previous paths. At some point during the ride there was a large drop in the path, but I kept riding, using the techniques I had learned and finally made it to the bottom in one piece. I couldn't help but smile knowing I had just accomplished riding down a huge mountain side without wiping out, and actually not being scared for once. A couple of the girls had trouble with this path, having some major wipe outs, but everyone was fine, just a few bruises and scratches. Sally took a select few that were willing with her to some more advanced paths. As we each rode down the path, I found myself getting into a zone, where I was only focused on my techniques and movement, rather than the fear of riding fast down a mountain. At the very bottom of the trail my back wheel fishtailed causing me to slide a bit, but I got my bike repositioned and rode on. One of our last trails was by far the trickiest and most dangerous for us that day. There were many sharp corners and large drops, causing a number of us to wipe out. Half way down the path there were larger bumps that were a lot of fun to go over and made you feel like you were flying. The last trail of the day was much faster and only a few of us were daring enough to try it. We were in and out of the forest in no time it felt, and more confident in our ability to handle any kind of trail thrown at us.

We all rode back up the main road to a small car park, where we had a little extra time to practice our front and back wheelies. I finally accomplished the full bike lift, just barely lifting off the ground, but never the less, proud I didn't give up trying. We loaded our bikes onto the trailer and headed back to the Conway Centre after a strenuous day of mountain biking. I could feel my body tightening up and it was difficult to sit down without being slightly uncomfortable. Even though I left the mountain with multiple bruises on my knees and shins, I also left with a huge confidence boost. Mountain biking was the activity I was most scared for, but I was also most looking forward to it because I knew it was a chance to get over my fear of riding fast down hills. Today was a successful day and I can honestly say that I can't wait to go mountain biking again soon!