This weekend I made the leap over the pond to Squmish BC, just outside of Vancouver. Squamish originally was a loggers town. Back many moons ago, the main industry was cuttin' down trees and most of old school residents are direct descendants from these rough and tough folk. Being only an hour from both Vancouver and Whister, Squamish has seen a giant boom over the past few years. Housing prices have skyrocketed, and most of the old school roughness is being pushed out in favor of loaded yuppies and young entrepreneurs.
Being in the heart of mountain country Canada, Squamish has developed itself into THE mountain bike destination. The local sprokids program usually gets about 100 kids each night, and walking around the town there is more bikes floating around than most mountain bike festivals I've been to.
In all of my travels Squamish has defiantly the most trails I have ever seen. Not only that, they are the best quality in NA for sure. You could easily ride for 3 days, and not ride the same trail twice. Ive been preaching Cumberland for the past few years, but Squamish is Cumberland times 10. No joke.
This weekend played host to the Squamish Gearjammer. Its called the Test of Metal's little brother, as it is 47km, instead of 70, and usually attracts about 1/3 the people. Don't let that fool you though, the Gear Jammer is considered a mountain bike strongman's race. That 47km race...its alllllllllll singletrack. When your not going down the singletrack, your oooozing up the singletrack. Its definitely not a piece of cake.
So I entered the race not knowing what to expect. For the most part, I didn't ride any of it before. Being in BC, the local fast guys showed up. Of course the fast guys are the likes of Neil Kindree, current U23 National champion, Matt Ryan, a pro for Specialized, and most of the Whistler/Rock Mtn team. definitely some fast guys.
Early morning I had a couple of cups of coffee, no big deal, but then also another at registration as it was free, and oh so dark. That was fine, the problem was whenon top of all the coffee I had the Red Bull during my warm up. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever been so jacked in my life. I was counting down the minutes until the race started as I was pretty much shaking on the bike.
Off the line the race went pretty quick. The Pro/Elites were at the front, and I made a note not too look back. Its a weird feeling knowing there are 250 people riding behind you. Because I didn't know the course I stayed about 8 back and played the patience card. I didnt know what would be coming up so I kept and eye on Kindree who knew the loop like the back of his hand. I made a note of his gearing as some of the guys in the front were just giving it with all they had in the big ring. Seeing Kindree, I tried to keep a low gear to keep the legs fluid.
The race progressed and I found myself in the top 3. It was a toss up between me, Kindree and Matt who is an insanely good tech rider. On the race went, and for most of it we stayed in a group of 3 going back and forth, keeping the tempo high, but not insane.
The breaking point happened when the lead group came back together again in a pack with about 6 guys. There was someone on the front givin'er, when Kindree went around him and took off. I knew that would be the move so I followed and we rode together before he whipped me out on the top of the climb.
Eventually Matt Ryan came up and we rode together for a bit, but I took a wrong turn and by the time I got my shit together, I couldn't get back up to him. The last 20 km I rode mostly alone, and I was starting to hit the wall as I ran out of water and such. I managed to roll in at 3rd in Pro/Elite. The youngest in the category.
In Squamish, mountain biking is big. As soon as I crossed the line, I was asked to give an interview with the local paper, and a bunch of kids wanted autographs and everything. It was pretty cool. The whole community comes out to see these races and offers full support. Its great to see.
After that, I had to rip to AL's place to grab a shower before podium. On the pedal home it was time for something special, and I grabbed a beer and some deadly Mexi food. It was a solid good day, and I'm glad I could add the GearJammer to the resume this year.
(Big thanks to Al, who ownes Tantalus bike shop in SQ, who let me stay with him, hes also from PEI)
Today was travel travel travel. I jumped a bus, boarded the boat, and then took a shuttle back up to Cumberland. My body's feeling the hectic past few days, but hey, there is another race tomorrow
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