Loading ...Winnie Nip
It was cloudy but dry, and I was well rested – the perfect day for mountain biking.
My family and I arrived at Vancouver International Airport the day before. There, we rented a Hyundai from Hertz and drove up the beautiful mountains of Whistler. Due to road widening projects in preparation for the 2010 Winter Games, we experienced heavier traffic than usual but on the bright side, that gave us more time to enjoy the picturesque scenery, so we couldn’t complain.
After checking in to our hotel room, we wanted to explore the surrounding area, but what was intended to be a leisurely walk turned into a brisk march as it got significantly cooler after sunset. That prompted us to go for dinner. We picked a French restaurant called Après and for just C$39, I enjoyed a delicious three-course meal featuring escargot, honey-glazed duck breast and crème brûlée. After dinner, we hit the hay immediately. We needed all the rest we could get for our first mountain biking experience in the morning.
We got up bright and early and at 9:00 a.m., we headed straight to the Ticket Office at the foot of Whistler Mountain for lift tickets and rental equipment. The protective gear included knee shields, elbow shields, gloves and a ridiculously huge helmet. It took me at least ten minutes to put them all on. Besides tickets, bikes and gear, we decided it would be worth paying extra for three hours of coaching and guided biking, since we had had no prior experience whatsoever. In the end, it all added up to C$171 per person! Speaking of expensive sports, mountain biking had to be one of them.
Feeling like an armored robot, I was ready – ready to make the most out of the next three hours. A minute later, our coach appeared. His name was Jeremy; he was a friendly guy from Switzerland. After double-checking our bikes, he chirped, “Alright, it’s 9:30. Let’s go!” With that, he led us to the chair lift. Fortunately, there was no line as it was June and the kids were still at school. We lifted our bikes onto a bike lift, then we waited for a chair lift to swing around. As we went up the mountain, Jeremy explained that every winter, these same slopes would be transformed into skiing grounds. But for now, they provided challenging routes for bikers of all levels. Needless to say, we dared not try anything beyond the green slope.
After hopping off the chair lift, we reclaimed our own bikes and proceeded to a relatively flat patch to learn some basic techniques. The first thing I learned, almost from first-hand experience, was that you could literally fly out over the front of the bike if you braked too hard and too fast. For that reason, Jeremy told us to keep only one or at most two fingers on each brake. The next thing I realized was that most of mountain biking entailed standing on the two peddles on a level plane. This was called the neutral position. Sitting down while biking downhill was considered lazy and unprofessional, and the rocks along the way would make it extremely uncomfortable anyway. Next, we learned how to make turns by leaning our bikes into the curve, with our bodies still perpendicular to level ground. This was not a difficult concept, but to actually execute it and be able to control the extent of the turn was not always easy for me. After making two successful turns in a row, we were ready for the real adventure.
Editor’s Note: Part II of Mountain Biking will be published in the next issue of Prospere Magazine
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