IMBA CANADA Blog

Alright folks, Whistler’s Kokanee Crankworx is well underway now and we hope that everyone who has been lucky enough to attend so far is having fun!  That being said, IMBA Canada is gearing up to fly our colours for the final weekend extravaganza of this amazing bike festival with a booth set up in Zone 5, just around the corner from the Village Common.

We will be on hand to chat about our various projects and programs, as well as offer great deals on our IMBA swag.  And if that were not enough, we are going to raffle off one of our last sets of Race Face Ltd. Edition IMBA cranksets.  How does one get a chance to win these sexy bad boys?  Why, by joining IMBA as a member of course!  So come on out and pay us a visit.

decline Symposium
Whistler, BC

Don’t worry folks, IMBA Canada is not actually falling behind, but rather was given the opportunity to participate in the decline Symposium that took place in Whistler, BC this past weekend in order to see how we can move ahead.  decline magazine, known within the mountain bike world for it’s stunning large format photographs and dedication to covering more of the gravity side of the sport, invited a group of people from throughout the bike industry to gather and discuss both the future of their magazine and that of the sport.

A variety of presentations were given regarding topics such as Whistler’s latest Bike Park user numbers study and decline’s new digital magazine format for the web / iPhone / iPad.  IMBA Canada presented on the Saturday morning to a packed conference room about our current projects, our programs and the state of information gathering within the industry.  This was followed by a brainstorming session on ways with which IMBA offices and the bike industry can do more to help one another in both gathering better data on who our ridership is and how the industry can better support IMBA.

All in all, a successful event for both decline magazine and IMBA.  We look forward to future Symposiums and the opportunities that such a fantastic event provide.

IMBA Canada's Daniel Scott received the Symposium award for "Most Seeds Sown" in the form of chocolate covered sesame seeds

New Trail Unveiled at Roam the Loam 2 Bike Festival
Sechelt, BC

This Saturday, May 1st, the students of Capilano University’s Mountain Bike Operations program unveil their end of the year trail project, Brown Sugar, in Kinnikinnick Park (Sechelt, BC).

For the ten days leading up to the event, the students were given the task of creating a new piece of trail approximately 300 meters long.  The objectives of this new trail were as follows:

• to provide children and novice riders from the surrounding area with an opportunity to advance their skills
• reduce any potential user conflict by separating the cyclists from the hikers and dog walkers.

In order to accomplish this, the students divided into four groups and set about designing and building a series of progressive, optional features along the trail.  The job of ensuring that what the students created was within the context of the assignment was helmed by Canada’s foremost bike park builder, Jay Hoots and IMBA Canada’s trail specialist, Daniel Scott.  Between these two instructors, the students were constantly being challenged to push the limits of what they knew in terms of sustainable trails, be it risk management, user experience or ecological impacts.  What many students found particularly difficult was stepping outside their own skin (which was generally that of an advanced rider) and looking at a trail through the eyes of a six year old on their first 16″ bike.

One other issue that the students were not expecting was that of concerned dog walkers who also use the park.  One such concerned user went so far as to tear down the students’ posters and post a new sign expressing their fear that they were losing their off leash dog park to mountain bikers.  However, after stepping back for a moment the students found ways to let these users know that the ultimate goal was in fact to create a park where all users can enjoy the stunning setting that is Kinnikinnick without fear of injury or discrimination.  During the event many students brought their own dogs and neighbourhood dogs were welcome to participate.  The students ensured that dog bags were on hand, treats were available and fresh water for any thirsty pup wasn’t far away.

All that being said, the end result is something that the CapU MTBO Class of 2010 is to be proud of.  They did a superb job of rising to the challenge and creating a piece of trail that is fun for riders of all skill levels.  Should you get the opportunity to visit beautiful Sechelt, British Columbia, take the time to check out the new trail “Brown Sugar” complete with rollers, skinnies, table top jumps, and more!

Photos courtesy of Duane Burnett - http://www.duaneburnett.com

Interested in Capilano University’s Mountain Bike Operations Program?  Check it out - http://www.capilanou.ca/programs/mountain-bike.html

The good kind of difficulties that is…  Earlier this week IMBA Canada was asked to make the trip to Logan Lake, BC.  The reason?  Jay Hoots, bike park builder extraordinaire, brought IMBA on board to assist with rating the various trails that the town has to offer visitors.  Two days were spent inspecting all the trail using a revised version of IMBA’s trail difficulty rating system.  This new rating system has been in development for almost a year now and should provide land managers with a more accurate method with which to determine the difficulty of a particular trail.  Versions which deal with hiking and nordic trails are also rumoured to be in the works.

Should anyone find themselves near Merrit, BC and want something a little different, check out the quiet copper mining town of Logan Lake.  There are trails for riders of all skill levels and Jay’s park is a great way to spend a few hours on two wheels.

Logan Lake Trail Map

Interested in what Hoots Inc. is up to these days?  Check out their site for further info:

Hoots Inc.

Whoo!  It is hard to believe it is really over…  and hard to believe that we don’t have to get up at 6:30 am tomorrow morning to ride our bikes for kilometres over rugged terrain in the heat.

Today’s course was one of extremes.  It began with a punishing 500+ metre climb with sustained grades up to 28 percent, followed by fast, flowing, buffed decents.  Then repeat.  Thankfully we were “only” racing a 32 kilometres course with 1200 metres of climbing today.  As such we ramped up the pace, ripped through the middle portion of singletrack and finished strong (our best ranking yet in fact).

Click here to see our full route

It has certainly been an adventure for Gabhan and I these last seven days and one that wouldn’t have been possible without help from a multitude of people.  I’d like to take a minute to thank some of the folks responsible for getting us to the start line.  For starters, thanks to IMBA for giving us the team spot that was provided in part by the BC Bike Race.  Without that, none of this would have happened.  Also, huge thank yous to everyone who donated to our two worthy causes, IMBA & the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.  Your kindness definitely helped to keep us spinning up those tough hills.  I’d also like to thank our family & friends for their love and support.  It was always nice to get an e-mail filled with encouraging words at the end of a hard day’s race!  And lastly, I’d like to send out a special thank you to my brother for hooking us up with palatial digs post-race at the Fairmont… most excellent!

Ah, finished!

and now to relax...

What…a…day!! Not only was Gabhan back in the saddle but today we got to ride some AMAZING singletrack here in Squamish. While I like to boast that the trails on the Coast are the best going, it has to be said that the ones we rode today come in a very close second. Beautiful twisty climbing followed by steep decents filled with roll downs, booters, roots, tight corners and other technical goodness. The weather was HOT… but once again the course designers made sure to keep us in the shade wherever possible.

Loving that sweet singletrack!

Gabhan rode well today, muscling his way down the steep, tech sections and holding good tempo on the long ascents. I had an absolute blast and really got into the groove with some of the super flowy sections later in the course, pumping through parts with glee. We finished the 50 km course by 1:30 pm or so and have been using the afternoon to relax, recouperate and enjoy the plush base camp that the facilitators have setup here at Brennan Park. We’ve got access to nice showers as well as the rec centre pool & hot tub. Tonight, during dinner, we will have the opportunity to check out photographs taken throughout the race by professional photographer, Dave Silver. His work is truly stunning and we are stoked to see the race through the lens of his camera(s). Anyways, that’s all for now.

Click to check out our full route

Relaxing @ the start line.

6:30 wake up.  Assessment:  Feeling hung over & nauseated.  Verdict:  Not racing.  With that sorted, Gabhan & I got the gears moving, ate some breakfast and got over to the race camp for another day.  It was really unfortunate that Gabhan wouldn’t be riding with me today as the course was in my backyard.  For the past 10 months I’d been ripping up & down a lot of the trails we would ride today and I was hoping to share that experience with him.  Bummer.

The course was 45 km long with 2100 metres of climbing.  It was also hands down the best riding of the race so far with tough yet feasible climbs and fast, flowy decents.  Most of the day was under the canopy of the beautiful temperate rainforest so the sun was a non-issue.  All in all a great day of riding!!

Click to check out our full route

To improve on an already good day, Gabhan is feeling much better.  He’s been putting back water all day, staying cool and is ready to roll out for Day 6 in Squamish.  Booyah.

Shout outs to Gary & crew at Off the Edge Adventure Sports in Sechelt.  I left our bikes with him yesterday afternoon and we rolled in this morning to find them both at the bike pickup, dialed and good as new.  Great job from a solid bike shop!  Also, a shout out to Jamie of Alpha Adventures for kindly offering to shuttle us from my place to the race camp early in the morning.  If anyone is ever interested sea kayaking some of the best waters going or skiing up at Dakota Ridge, look him up in Roberts Creek.

Our morning shuttle courtesy of Alpha Adventures

Visit Alpha Adventures’ Website

Off the Edge; Bike Whisperers

Check out Off the Edge Adventure Sports’ Website

Today was a tough day all around.  A 4:30am wake up call followed by two ferry rides and two bus shuttles to the starting line of a race course consisting of a 68 km long course with 1800 metres of climbing, little shade and a hot sun.

Everyone getting rid to disembark the ferry.

Perhaps I spoke too soon yesterday as today proved to be the most punishing yet.  On one hand I was stoked to be riding on the Sunshine Coast while on the other, another friend mentioned to me the night before that today was the day when he saw people crack.  Well, there was definitely some cracking on Day 4 this time round too.  Today saw broken frames, broken bones and some grueling terrain, making for one tough day.  We were not without our own issues either…

First there was the pinch flat brought about by my choice on lines down a super fun, yet rocky, bit of double track.  I boosted a rather large rock with the ensuing landing bottoming out both front and rear suspension, thereby putting adding pressure on my rear tire / tube and *POP*!  The tube swap was reasonably quick this time round but a few folk passed us while we got my bike back up and running.

Did I mention it was hot??

At about kilometre 45 of the 68 km course Gabhan said to me “My stomach feels like ****”.

Unfortunately for us we had passed the final aid station at this point and had to tackle this issue ourselves.  There was little we could do but ride out the last 15 km and get him to the medical tent promptly upon arrival.  So I took the lead, Gabhan followed as best he could and we soldiered on.

Five kilometres down the trail, there was a “ticky, ticky, ticky” coming from the rear of my bike.  After a few strong words I hopped off the bike to take a look.  It took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened but it turned out that the small spring that held my brake pads together had broken, causing the pads to float around in the caliper.  Useless.  So, post head scratching, we decided to pull the back caliper off its mounts and zip tie it to the frame, out of the way.  10 kilometres to go, no back brake & one ill partner… sweet!

We made it.  In one piece (sorta).  Gabhan went to the medical tent and I went about stuffing my face with calories of various descriptions.  Satisfied, I wandered over to check on my teammate, to discover him hooked up to an IV, getting rehydrated.  Not good.

Gabhan getting doped up.

Today we’d like to thank the kind staff of the BCBR medical team for their good work, amazing attitudes and good spirits.  It really made the whole ordeal much easier.  We will see how Gabhan is feeling in the morning before deciding how to proceed but for now we are going to enjoy a night at my place with real beds, lots of pizza and the Duke lying at our feet.

I was recently told by a BCBR veteran that Day 3 would be the “Day of Pain”.  He went on to explain that this is the day when all the aches from the first two days finally catch up to you.  If that’s the case then we are doing ok, and I mean ok.  So far I’ve got a bruised forearm from judo chopping a tree, a bruised right ankle from one tumble or another and a charlie horse in my right calf due to my saddle nose stabbing me during a stupid mistake.  As for Gabhan, he is missing one layer of skin on a good chunk of his left quad, has a mulitude of small cuts and scrapes and a couple sore knees.  And while our injuries are our own, our smiles are shared…

Our bikes are holding up well.  However, today I managed to scratch one of my Magura fork stanchions on an off camber bail out :(  Hopefully the magicians at Obsession Bikes can once again work their magic and get ‘er buffed out and ready to rock without incident.

Today we were up again at 6:30am and on a bus from Nanaimo to Cumberland for the start line.  Things went relatively smoothly up until it was discovered that someone had decided to mess with the flagging tape at the beginning of the singletrack!  So, one of the course designers ripped out to right quick on a moto and got ‘er all fixed up witin minutes.  With the course reset, the race was away.

Waiting to get underway...

We began with some road to warm up, then jumped into some singletrack, then out onto a road for a great paceline ride to more epic singletrack connected by logging roads through clear cuts.  The first two days were pretty tough for Gabhan due to the highly technical nature of the trails but today he was able to shine both on the 650 metre climb we tackled at kilometre 21 and some of the buff trails we found on the 61km course.

Gabhan is becoming well acquainted with these structures.

All in all, another beautiful day, enjoying some amazing trails on Vancouver Island.  The next two days are on home turf for me, the Sunshine Coast… very exciting!!  Stay tuned for more.