xc62701
Well-Known Member
Hey guys/gals. I just figured I'd drop a line after being in Whistler BC for a few days on my cross country road trip. This place is straight up NUTZZZ!!! Yesterday I rode XC with my girl for a couple hours on some cool singletrack that was all burmy, technical, fast and flowy, flowy with jumps, drops and best of all, all of those wonderful northshore bridges. The trails are sweet.
I rode with her for a couple of hours and then went off on my own for a couple more hours. I hit up a couple of trails the best known is A River Runs Through It, the super classic Whistler ride. You need BALANCE!!! Bridges and log rides everywhere. You ride as much on the bridges and you do on the dirt. Teeter totters, double connected teeter totters, drops on bridges and more. Of all the stuff I probably rode 90% of the bridges except for the double black insane skinny log rides. I did get ejected a few times from the bridges. I found the best way to deal with that is to lunge for the nearest tree for support and if there isn't a tree, bunny hop to safety...lol.
Day 2 I went to the Whistler Downhill Park. HOLY SCHNIKES!!! What fun. I haven't done downhill yet but I figure I can handle a bike pretty well so I grabbed a rental KONA with 7-8 inches of travel and went off. I started out easy and worked up to harder stuff. I hit a trail called Crank It Up and it was sweet. Fast, flowy, wall rides, burms, drops and tons of table top jumps which I was happy to clear after some practice. Played on a trail called Freight Train and got to see some crazy rock face drops which most I did but there were a couple scary ones. And I also got on the super classic A Line. Again it was another fast flowy trail with sweet drops, jumps, rock faces and lots of good stuff. There is even a drop section at the base of the park that has a couple of drops. I was happy hitting one that was about a 4 footer but I didn't realize you really drop closer to 7-8 feet once you hit the landing with a little speed on the roll out.
Day 3 I rode an XC trail called Kill Me Thrill Me. It was short but that was the worst of it. You do a nice technical switchback climb in short bursts to go through some sweet tight singletrack thats all rocky and rooty. Then you hit a couple of bridges and other cool features that are there mostly to preserve the wet spots, but then you get back to all the cool technical stuff. Lots of rocks to go over, ride on and rock faces to roll down. It's a little XC with lots of room for freeride lines. Just a little too short and all the trails are easily accessable from town. Great rides.
Most of all I can't beleive how the downhill bikes handle. I was amazed at all they suck up when I was at the park. And even though they are heavy they will fly. I can't imagine using my XC bikes on any of that stuff. Major props to those that can do some of those stout trails!!!
I rode with her for a couple of hours and then went off on my own for a couple more hours. I hit up a couple of trails the best known is A River Runs Through It, the super classic Whistler ride. You need BALANCE!!! Bridges and log rides everywhere. You ride as much on the bridges and you do on the dirt. Teeter totters, double connected teeter totters, drops on bridges and more. Of all the stuff I probably rode 90% of the bridges except for the double black insane skinny log rides. I did get ejected a few times from the bridges. I found the best way to deal with that is to lunge for the nearest tree for support and if there isn't a tree, bunny hop to safety...lol.
Day 2 I went to the Whistler Downhill Park. HOLY SCHNIKES!!! What fun. I haven't done downhill yet but I figure I can handle a bike pretty well so I grabbed a rental KONA with 7-8 inches of travel and went off. I started out easy and worked up to harder stuff. I hit a trail called Crank It Up and it was sweet. Fast, flowy, wall rides, burms, drops and tons of table top jumps which I was happy to clear after some practice. Played on a trail called Freight Train and got to see some crazy rock face drops which most I did but there were a couple scary ones. And I also got on the super classic A Line. Again it was another fast flowy trail with sweet drops, jumps, rock faces and lots of good stuff. There is even a drop section at the base of the park that has a couple of drops. I was happy hitting one that was about a 4 footer but I didn't realize you really drop closer to 7-8 feet once you hit the landing with a little speed on the roll out.
Day 3 I rode an XC trail called Kill Me Thrill Me. It was short but that was the worst of it. You do a nice technical switchback climb in short bursts to go through some sweet tight singletrack thats all rocky and rooty. Then you hit a couple of bridges and other cool features that are there mostly to preserve the wet spots, but then you get back to all the cool technical stuff. Lots of rocks to go over, ride on and rock faces to roll down. It's a little XC with lots of room for freeride lines. Just a little too short and all the trails are easily accessable from town. Great rides.
Most of all I can't beleive how the downhill bikes handle. I was amazed at all they suck up when I was at the park. And even though they are heavy they will fly. I can't imagine using my XC bikes on any of that stuff. Major props to those that can do some of those stout trails!!!