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cAnAdiA, you might ask ?
It is every little bit of mountain biking heaven you might enjoy while in the hospitable land of hosers and huckers...
Do you have any slices of cAnAdiA you'd like to share here ?
Here's a quick report on the sampler we had this past weekend...
We finally got our way and squeezed-in rides in all the spots we had intended...
It's hard to put your foot down and not get a fix of the Whistler Bike Park all weekend when it's in this rare good condition, but we stuck to the plan and had a great time.
I know, a picture speaks a thousand words, but unfortunately, no camera was brought, so you will just have to open up a bike magazine for visuals this time.
Day 1 -
OH CANADA
The drive up was uneventful until the minute we began driving up Mountain Highway to reach Mt.Fromme up at the Shore. It began pissing like crazy but since it had been dry most of the week until this moment, I refused to let that deter our plan, so we just hopped on the bikes and pedalled to the top.
We pulled-in a quick loop and decided to ride a trail I'd never hit before, Espresso. Man, that is a fun little trail. Needless to say, the wood was wet, therefore, some of the structures were super sketchy. But the trails in general were in beautiful shape even in the hard rain. After that ride, we hopped in the Jeep, made a quick stop and jetted straight to Whistler but unfortunately not in time to make get any quality time on the park.
Day 2 -
IT'S RIDETIME ! ! !
We had the usual FTF (french toast feast) and got on the lift. On the way up our first run on Garbo, it was evident that it had been raining pretty good up there. We found enough mud on the trails to make everything slippery as ice. Man, GoatsGully was S-KETCHY but fun. By mid-afternoon, most everything was tacky and beautiful with the exception of one particular small greasyAss rock that took me out twice. By now, I had 1 crash and 2 ugly dismounts on GoatsG. I knew that I just wasn't ON that day, cos I was slow and sketchy. So I just took it easy.
After 9hrs of lift assisted heaven, we said goodnight to the hill at 8pm and headed to kick back and enjoy an evening with muchos Mojitos and bbq ribs.
Day 3 -
UGHHHHH, GOT FREIGHT TRAIN ON MY MIND - AND CERTAINLY OVER MY BODY... GET IT OFF ME ! ! !
I served up some simple chilaquiles breakfast for the crew before getting bikes ready. Slow to go but high to ride, we hop on the lift. It takes no genius to know that the park is in immaculate conditions right now. Are you freeeking kidding me, it's mid July !Absolutely no sight of mud and certainly no dust, the trails are tacky and lippy.
I'd have to say that my favourite run was NoJoke/Freight Train/No Duff/A-line. I guess those Mojitos really got me straight, cos man, that is one railing run, holy smokes... we were sizzlin' down the mountain.
In similar fashion, we smoked a few top to bottom runs from 11-3pm.
Then, we reluctantly loaded the bikes and drove down to Squamish where we committed to push 40 tooth rings up nearly 2,000ft of gain so we could pull off one of our favourite AggroXC rides. Yes, that last 1000ft / mile-long lung-busting grind up with the few steep baby head switchback section thrown-in near the top for good measure was tough, but we just took our time and crested the trail at exactly 7pm for some amazing views before diving down a sweet trail.
Most of the entire ride has rolling technical singletrack, at times exposed, with interspersed tech sections to climb and alternating with steeeep rocky/rooty chutes a la Goats Gully which require skilled manoeuvring once you let go of the brakes. But it is such a peaceful ride too, with stops at three lakes if you wish to swim, plus many nice vistas and no one else in sight.
The last section is a rippin' fast singletrack descent along a verdant, shaded and cool creek that spits you out on the road. It goes without saying that trail conditons were mint.
The drive down the Sea2Sky as the sun goes down never gets old... but getting 3hrs of sleep and having to be at work 7am always sucks... Awesome weekend :thumbsup:
It is every little bit of mountain biking heaven you might enjoy while in the hospitable land of hosers and huckers...
Do you have any slices of cAnAdiA you'd like to share here ?
Here's a quick report on the sampler we had this past weekend...
We finally got our way and squeezed-in rides in all the spots we had intended...
It's hard to put your foot down and not get a fix of the Whistler Bike Park all weekend when it's in this rare good condition, but we stuck to the plan and had a great time.
I know, a picture speaks a thousand words, but unfortunately, no camera was brought, so you will just have to open up a bike magazine for visuals this time.
Day 1 -
OH CANADA
The drive up was uneventful until the minute we began driving up Mountain Highway to reach Mt.Fromme up at the Shore. It began pissing like crazy but since it had been dry most of the week until this moment, I refused to let that deter our plan, so we just hopped on the bikes and pedalled to the top.
We pulled-in a quick loop and decided to ride a trail I'd never hit before, Espresso. Man, that is a fun little trail. Needless to say, the wood was wet, therefore, some of the structures were super sketchy. But the trails in general were in beautiful shape even in the hard rain. After that ride, we hopped in the Jeep, made a quick stop and jetted straight to Whistler but unfortunately not in time to make get any quality time on the park.
Day 2 -
IT'S RIDETIME ! ! !
We had the usual FTF (french toast feast) and got on the lift. On the way up our first run on Garbo, it was evident that it had been raining pretty good up there. We found enough mud on the trails to make everything slippery as ice. Man, GoatsGully was S-KETCHY but fun. By mid-afternoon, most everything was tacky and beautiful with the exception of one particular small greasyAss rock that took me out twice. By now, I had 1 crash and 2 ugly dismounts on GoatsG. I knew that I just wasn't ON that day, cos I was slow and sketchy. So I just took it easy.
After 9hrs of lift assisted heaven, we said goodnight to the hill at 8pm and headed to kick back and enjoy an evening with muchos Mojitos and bbq ribs.
Day 3 -
UGHHHHH, GOT FREIGHT TRAIN ON MY MIND - AND CERTAINLY OVER MY BODY... GET IT OFF ME ! ! !
I served up some simple chilaquiles breakfast for the crew before getting bikes ready. Slow to go but high to ride, we hop on the lift. It takes no genius to know that the park is in immaculate conditions right now. Are you freeeking kidding me, it's mid July !Absolutely no sight of mud and certainly no dust, the trails are tacky and lippy.
I'd have to say that my favourite run was NoJoke/Freight Train/No Duff/A-line. I guess those Mojitos really got me straight, cos man, that is one railing run, holy smokes... we were sizzlin' down the mountain.
In similar fashion, we smoked a few top to bottom runs from 11-3pm.
Then, we reluctantly loaded the bikes and drove down to Squamish where we committed to push 40 tooth rings up nearly 2,000ft of gain so we could pull off one of our favourite AggroXC rides. Yes, that last 1000ft / mile-long lung-busting grind up with the few steep baby head switchback section thrown-in near the top for good measure was tough, but we just took our time and crested the trail at exactly 7pm for some amazing views before diving down a sweet trail.
Most of the entire ride has rolling technical singletrack, at times exposed, with interspersed tech sections to climb and alternating with steeeep rocky/rooty chutes a la Goats Gully which require skilled manoeuvring once you let go of the brakes. But it is such a peaceful ride too, with stops at three lakes if you wish to swim, plus many nice vistas and no one else in sight.
The last section is a rippin' fast singletrack descent along a verdant, shaded and cool creek that spits you out on the road. It goes without saying that trail conditons were mint.
The drive down the Sea2Sky as the sun goes down never gets old... but getting 3hrs of sleep and having to be at work 7am always sucks... Awesome weekend :thumbsup:
