Ride Report Whistler SCG, Episode 1

It’s been more than a week since Eric and I got back from Whistler! We both attended the Summer Gravity Camp like we did last year. 6 days of riding and coaching at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

Here was an example of our daily camp schedule in Whistler. WARNING! If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read any further:

1. breakfast at the Longhorn
2. ride
3. lunch
4. ride
5. Kokanee at the GLC
6. jacuzzi
7. dinner

The weather was perfect for us. It had rained 4 days in the previous week, so the trails were in nice shape. We had temps in the low 90s, then we got some partly cloudy weather at the end of the week and rain on the last day.

The camp coach lineup:
Andrew Shandro & Thomas Vanderham


Jordi Lunn


Tyler Morland & Adam Billinghurst


Katrina Strand & Claire Buchar


Steve Wilson, Lisa Lefroy, Dave Watson & Kyle Jameson (not pictured).

On the first day of the camp, the coaches watched us all ride and divided us into groups according to level. There’s always some guess work to that, so generally the first riding day means some shuffling and you decide whether you need to move up or down a group. I felt pretty much right in the middle of the group in terms of riding ability, which was nice.

Scotty & Eric after a run



We had a nice treat that week as well - friends Dan and Stephanie happened to plan their Whistler vacation at the same time Eric and I were at the camp!


Lunch at the Garbanzo Bike & Bean


Another SoCal sighting - Joe and Curtis


I hadn’t felt very challenged in my camp group up to this point in the middle of the week. It was great to work on the basics, but I was definitely ready to step it up. Eric decided that it was time for the two of us to ride together apart from the camp and work on some of the things I had wanted to work on, such as drops. We also wanted to do some riding with Dan and Stephanie before the week was out.



After a few runs we went to the upper Joyride practice area to work on drops. The drop practice area has 4 graduated drop levels. I hadn’t gone off any of them before. They’re a little intimidating because as you come up to them you can’t see where you’re going to end up. After the first attempt on the easiest drop, I loved it. A few more successful attempts and I moved up to the next one. It felt even better! I liked drops before, but now I was seriously hooked.

Dan


Stephanie


me


Eric going off the 4th one


By Thursday I was not sure what to do. I wanted to step it up and be challenged more than the group I was in. On the other hand, I was afraid the next group up had moved too far ahead and I would be overwhelmed. I decided to stick it out with my group, and I just worked on riding relaxed and tried for more speed. My coach Lisa noticed, because she told me I needed to move up one, if not two groups. It was really nice to hear that!
I moved up to Katrina’s group the next day. I felt like I was finally in the right group. I got the challenges I needed; a steep rocky descent into a hard right turn on Hornet (off A-Line), doing Ninja Cougar and Karate Monkey more smoothly, clearing a number of jumps on Crank It Up. I even cleared a big jump near the bottom of A-Line, I really surprised myself!




Katrina took me to work on the GLC drops, since I hadn’t done them yet. There are 3 GLC drops: first is a roller, second is a 4-foot drop, third is a 6-foot drop. First step was the roller. We took a look at it, Katrina did a demo for me, and then I did it. Katrina said I was ready for the middle GLC, since I had been doing the drops successfully at the Joyride practice drops. So I knew Saturday was going to be my day to nail the middle GLC drop.

Forgot to mention, we were there the week before Crankworx, so we witnessed a lot of construction for the freeride events.



Did I mention all the celeb sightings?


Neil Donahue & Dan Atherton


Dan & Gee Atherton


Rachel Atherton


Cedric Gracia


Also spotted twice (by Eric) was Travis Pastrana! And Sam Hill! I missed out on a Travis sighting…but I would be seeing Sam Hill the last day.

The last day is coming in the second installment: more riding, Crankworx Dual Slalom. Stay tuned!

 

Very COOL!!:clap:

I'm gonna have to start calling you......

cbDROPPING!! :bang::bang:

 

Awesome, Carla! I'm looking forward to attending Gravity Camp next summer :bang:

 

Carla, thanks for the great RR. It looks like you had an awesome trip.

Love the perfect form in the shot of you going off the jump... bravo! :clap:

 

Awesome pictures Carla!!! We had a blast with you guys up there

I'm so impressed by your bravery and trying things you had never done before...looking forward to the picture of you doing the middle GLC drop (next time, it's mine )

 

Wow, what a cool trip you all had up there! I'm so impressed with the amount of organization and culture they have up in B.C. Camps with different levels, pro's for instructors, food, etc..that's good stuff! I'm almost embarrassed to admit this but aside from a couple of big names (Cedric, Travis, etc), I don't recognize any other big names and I'm sure they're plenty big. I just don't keep up with the rags or races. Thanks for posting!

 

I am thinking I know where my tax return is going next year...:beer:

 

i just got word one of my co-workers friend is on life support...he's a whistler local and was hitting bigger and bigger jumps and he ruptured some aorta or something where normal people would bleed out within 2 minutes of it happening. he survived that but has brain swelling, broken back/neck etc. He didnt ride w/ gear but from the sounds of the injuries i dont think armor would have helped.

be careful and have fun!

 

Whoa! Terrible news...we'll keep him in our thoughts.

Whistler is definitely a place that can hurt you.

 

Nice RR Carla. Those pics definitely look better on the bigger screen.

Oh and BTW, I still think Tyler Morland's DHR is friggin sick. i mean, neon green with polka dots? awesome!

 

please tell me there is an episode 2!!

 

Wow, you are really good with photoshop. Why, you ask?!

I have been riding MtnBikes since 88 and only three times have I seen girls riding bikes that look as good as your group. And I'm counting my wife as one of my 3 times. She, my wife, looks hot when she rides my FR bike.

Anyway, back to my rant. I've seen hotties on bikes almost as little as I've seen big cats while riding. And then to see hotties riding big hit bikes and jumping. Wow.

And thanks for making my friday crappy. I'd give any lift sided appendage to ride up there.

 

Well, you need to go spend some time in Whistler

...there are lots and lots of girls who ride bikes up there...makes me wonder what's up with the States sometimes...

 

^^^Huh? I need a translator...ShinKen? :lol:

 

There were so many women riding at Whistler. It was so cool to see so many other women that like the same kind of riding as I do!

So no Photoshop was necessary...

 

Very cool RR pics! keep'em coming!

I think you may be generating some serious SGC 09 interest! (maybe you should get a $ cut?

 

bad ass, im jealous!!! :bang:

 

Eye bee sensored! Datz rong! She fyne I sez. Dems bof fyne!

 

Don't make me out you.

 

How much does that gravity camp cost?