By Don Ramos

In mid June, I had the opportunity of spending 10 days in Southwestern BC with the goal of taking my freeriding skills to the next level. This trip was my first to Canada, and the experience not only opened up a whole new perspective about riding, but the hospitality I encountered gave me a model on how people in general should be treated.

First - a little background of my riding experience. I am a 40 year old kid living in Miami, Florida. I have only been riding since the summer of 1999, spending the first two years worrying about how light I could make my bike. I started out with a Raleigh M7000 frame, outfitted with the Rockshox SID, carbon riser, XTR shift kit, Spinergy Spox wheels, etc. The bike ended up weighing only about 25 pounds or 11 kilograms for those of you who think metric. I got into decent shape, but riding the normal trails over and over left something to be desired. It actually got boring and became almost a chore. Freeriding was the next step in my progression. OK, maybe I started freeriding a little old at 38 - the injuries don't heal as quick, but at least they still do heal. Besides, I wear a lot of padding by BC standards to help minimize the damage. In fact, my North Shore guide Johnny Smoke of Bushpilot fame nick named me the Michelin Man because of amount of armor I wear. Anyway, my current ride is a 53 pound Banshee Scream tricked out to take a lot more than I am willing to give it.

The first couple days in BC was spent in Victoria. I warmed up at the Victoria Bike Park, located about 15 minutes south of the Victoria Airport, next to a big landfill. It has a pretty cool technical section at the beginning, with a few ladder drops, teeter totters, and skinnies. I spent most of my time in this section, honing my stunt skills in anticipation of riding the North Shore. There was no way to shuttle up the mountain, and although walking the Banshee up the main mountain was a workout in itself, I managed a few runs down the black diamond Skull Trail. Of course, I looked like a Martian to the locals. Picture this - I was in a full faced Hoots helmet modified to hold a digital video camera on one side and a pipe-bomb looking counterweight on the other side. I also wore full Hoots body armor and inline hockey pants in the sweltering heat. Think Robocop. Now combine this garb with my huge Banshee Scream. I was actually swarmed by the curious locals during each of the two days I rode at the park. Everyone was extremely friendly and went out of their way to show me around. I got invited numerous times to go riding with a group who meets every Sunday in Duncan to get shuttled up a mountain to do some downhilling. Unfortunately, I couldn't meet them because I was also traveling with my family, and we had a wedding to attend in Sooke.

After the wedding in Sooke, I made my way up to Nanaimo and managed to squeeze in a ride on the famous trail known as the Abyss. I owe some thanks to Nanaimo local Ron Hewitson for showing me the entrance to the trail and for being patient while I hoofed the Banshee up to the top. I was lucky to have stumbled upon Ron, as he showed me some really cool natural hucks and a huge, almost vertical, rock face. Living in Florida, you could imagine my awe the first time I saw a vertical rock face. We are flat - hence I come to find out that we here in Florida are known by some Canadian riders as "Flatlanders" or "Orange Pickers". Ron effortlessly pointed the bike and rode down. Next I was up. I have to be honest, if I saw this rock face while riding on my own, I would have walked around it. However, Ron gave me the best advice I think anyone could have given me. "Just point the bike in the direction you want to go, but don't look directly down. Look ahead where you want to go, and it won't be so bad." No pressure, just advice. He didn't look down on me or judge me for being apprehensive. He just wanted to help. His advice actually had a calming effect, so I ended up doing just what he said and cleared it - several times!! Unbelievable! This thing was a near vertical 30 foot drop. So far, the trip has been everything I expected and more. Thanks again Ron. Next stop - the North Shore.

Johnny Smoke. Everyone I met either knew him or knew of him. It didn't matter if I was on Vancouver Island or in Whistler. Every rider I met knew his name. The Bush Pilot. The Ultimate Guide in BC. All I can say without being an infomercial for Smoke is that if you ever ride the North Shore, consider him like your American Express card - don't leave home without him. Without exaggerating, he probably knows 90% of the trails and riders in British Columbia. Although I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, Smoke was able to squeeze every drop of energy I had in my body over the course of two days. I don't think I could have prepared or trained for my experience on the North Shore. You just have to do it. The first run in the morning was down Mount Seymour. Smoke knows how to gauge your riding, and he quickly assessed me as an "average" rider for the North Shore. We first went down A-line, which is a steep, straight run, overgrown and muddy at the time. I felt pretty good on that trail. It was a good warm up with nothing too hard. Next was CBC, a nice trail with log rides, small jumps/drops. CBC is a good intermediate ride with a few rocky and rooty sections that were a little difficult but doable. This was the first time I ever did a long log ride. The one on CBC was pretty high off the ground and would not be forgiving if I would have fallen off. I would say the log ride was the biggest rush on CBC, but others may differ on that opinion. CBC flowed into Corkscrew, a nice trail with similar characteristics, but it seemed to be more enjoyable. Maybe I was starting to feel a little more comfortable, but I found Corkscrew to be my favorite trail on Seymour. Next up was Boogeyman - more technical than CBC and Corkscrew, especially near the bottom where you need to negotiate a steep, twisting rock face. I decided to walk my bike down that part of the trail. It was pretty radical. That was basically it for the first morning. Smoke had a good idea of my limitations and pushed me just enough so that I felt a sense of accomplishment.

After the morning ride, Smoke noticed that I blew my Fox rear shock out. He made a call to Pippin Osbourne, the owner of Banshee Bikes, who told us to come over to the shop so he could take a look at my setup. Although I have corresponded via email with Pippin, this was my first face to face meeting with him. He showed me a pretty impressive CAD/CAM program he uses to design his frames. Being an engineer myself, I was able to fully appreciate the thought and time that goes into the design of a frame like the Banshee. Pippin was nice enough to hook me up with Trident Sports, the local distributor for the 5th Element rear shock. They told Johnny to bring me over right away since they happened to have one that would fit my frame. Now that's service!! What other bike frame manufacturer would do that? I can tell you from first hand experience of being a components distributor/dealer myself - there are none that I know of that would go out of their way like Pippin did. When we got to Trident, they had the shock ready for me. Johnny lugged the bike upstairs, secured it to a bike stand, and installed the shock right there in Trident's warehouse! I was f**king amazed!! We were out of there in less than a half hour and headed to our afternoon ride on Cypress.

I already had a full day when we arrived at the top of Cypress Mountain. My body was fatigued, but I was eager to try out my 5th Element. We met up with a friend of Johnny's, Darcy Padmoroff, a contractor in North Vancouver. Darcy is an old guy - 45 years old (keep in mind I am not far behind and say this sarcastically). However, by the time we got to the bottom of Cypress, Darcy really showed that he can rip with the best of them. I have to say that I had a tough time on Cypress. It was very humbling. Smoke said he thought Cypress was easier, but I have to respectfully disagree in a big way. Cypress is extremely steep, especially From an Orange Picker's Perspective, and I basically spent a lot of the time riding the rear brake down the mountain. I remember Smoke and Darcy laughing at me as I fell from fatigue in a ditch off one of the roads that we need to cross on the way down. I could remember Darcy saying, "Who's the old guy now?" I had to laugh at that one myself. Smoke actually got tough on me so that I would gather up enough energy from frustration to make it the rest of the way down. I think Smoke's sheep herding dog was the only one who felt sorry for me. She waited for me to proceed down the trail, while Johnny and Darcy were way ahead. Thanks Harley. Although my arms and legs were jelly at the bottom, I felt pretty good that I finished it. The 5th Element worked great. I can honestly say that I have never pushed my body that hard in my whole life. We ended the day by going back to Darcy's house to drink a few beers in the park behind his house.

The next day my mind was already on Whistler Mountain Bike Park, the last leg of my trip. I did muster up enough energy though to do a morning run with Smoke down Seymour again. I put on my camera helmet and got some great footage going down the mountain. Smoke followed me part of the way down with my helmet so I could get a few shots of myself. It was a nice leisurely ride. After saying goodbye to Smoke, I spent the rest of the day getting my gear ready for Whistler.

The ride up to Whistler was a little aggravating. There was a lot of traffic just outside of Vancouver, and the mountain road was only one lane each way. It seems there was a lot of construction and blasting in the mountains in anticipation of winning the Olympic bid. By the way, I am glad Vancouver won the bid. The city seems to be spending a lot of money to accommodate the future influx of people - widening roads, developing transportation systems to/from Whistler, etc. One word of caution for what its worth - I hope the city does something to clean up the downtown area. Apparently, there is a huge heroin problem, and I can believe it just by driving through. Parts of the downtown area are slums, whereas North Vancouver is beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed my time and had a great experience in Vancouver, but there is a lot of work to do before the Olympics. I know most large towns have their own set of problems (God knows we do in Miami- our local Government leaders are the kings of corruption), but I perceived Vancouver's heroin problem to be pretty extreme. Who knows? Maybe I was just upset about having to sit in traffic for over two hours before I started moving through the mountains toward Whistler.

Once in Whistler, I regained my composure and was really impressed with all the construction going on for the Olympics. Whistler is a great resort that reminds me of a little town in the Swiss Alps. You truly feel like you are in a different world. There is something for people of all ages. My two year old son loved watching the kids do their thing in the Skate Park. They were doing tricks with skateboards, BMX bikes, and scooters. I only had one day to ride in Whistler, but it was unbelievable. The mountain bike lift is really cool. Your bike goes in a cradle about 20 feet in front of the chair you sit in to go up the mountain. At the top of the trailhead, an attendant takes your bike off and has it waiting for you. The trails are groomed to perfection and since I am not a speed demon, I would really have to screw up to get hurt. The drops flow very nicely and I actually felt like I was a much better rider than I am. I don't think there are drops any higher than six or seven feet, but they were very well placed and marked. All in all, Whistler is a Class A operation. I spent the last day in Whistler taking a Gondola ride up to the top of the mountain with my wife and son, where we ate lunch and watched the helicopter take off and land. This was an excellent way to end the trip.

In summary, the main point about the trip was not so much about the riding as it was about my experience with the people of Canada. Everywhere I went, I noticed people helping each other. Everyone was polite, friendly, and easy going, which made it an enjoyable time for me and my family. We hope to visit again next year.

About the Author - Don Ramos is the Founder/Creator of monkamoo.com, an online store offering high end components for Freeride, XC, and Downhill Mountain Biking. Don holds a Bachelor of Science in both Aerospace Engineering and in Biology, as well as a Minor in Mathematics. By day, he is a Branch Manager of a Stock Brokerage firm in Miami.