Tom Pro's C.O.P. Report
Canada Olympic Park gets buffed
Words by Tom Pro.
Date: 2008-05-17
COP Bike Park Report
#4
May 2008
Happy Birthday, Pro
It’s almost surreal that the rain came on Pro’s birthday today. I almost want to remind the mountain bike “gods” who sent us this rain in sadness over Pro’s absence that it’s going to be okay; we’ve got Ryan, Adam, Kenny, Kyle, Mark and our hardworking trail crew making it all happen. Regardless of the weather, it seemed timely to have Tom Pro of Gravity Logic write us up a keeper for Bike Park Report #4. If you’ve spent time on the Whistler Bike Park site in the last couple of years, you may have read one of Pro’s reports. They’re typically clever, well thought out and they tend to jack up the stoke level every time you read them…
If you’ve been lucky enough to meet Pro, you’ll know that he’s a 16-year-old shredder in a grown man’s body (by “grown” I mean with kids and a missus…I suppose his birthday is the wrong time to poke fun at his age). He knows his craft inside and out and it seems like his mind is a kaleidoscope of rad mountain bike trail ideas. It’s been nothing short of amazing to have him here (not to mention DK, Rob, Ryan and the rest of the crew Gravity Logic brought here with them) to work with us and it’s really the icing on the cake to have this report go with it.
This one’s got some length to it, but it’s more than worth the 10 minutes it takes to read. Thanks so much for writing this for us, Pro. Happy Birthday!
Sarah Leishman
COP Mountain Bike School
May 5, 2008
Friday, May 2nd, 5:30 am I hit the Trans Canada at COP and headed west. Instinctively, my head swung to the left and I stole a quick glance at the woods of The COP Bike Park through the early morning darkness. I put the hammer down, set the cruise control at buck forty and headed down the deserted highway while trying to clear my mind of guilty thoughts. I was leaving unfinished business. Unfortunately this part of Trans Canada is so straight that it required little of my attention and I kept coming back to my troubled thoughts – did I leave too early, did I get enough done? To come clean, I decided to reflect on the whole trip…
Dave Kelly on the right side of the Avalanche.
DK (Dave Kelly) and I left Whistler on Sunday, April 13th at 8 am for Calgary to do a tune up on the COP Bike Park. Our route took us up Duffey Lake road only to find it blocked by a huge avalanche at the far end of the lake. Was this a bad omen? We should have known not to drive on the 13th. The only solution was to turn around and go through Van and up the Coquihalla. No big deal, it’s a road trip. We made it Revy by 8:30 pm and caught the 3rd period of the Sharks – Flames game, had some beers with friends and stayed the night. Next day we rolled into COP through a blinding snow storm. What month was this – January?
After meeting with Sarah, Mike and Wade of COP, we decide to brave the conditions and have a look at the Bike Park. I have never ridden here, but DK did last year, so he acted as my tour guide. As we drove up the road, there were piles of old wood scattered everywhere. A walk in the woods revealed skeletons of old stunts looming in the snow storm like medieval ruins. Both DK and I commented that this was someone’s labor of love that was being ripped out and we felt certain sadness. It became abundantly clear that this was not going to be a Bike Park tune up; this was going to be a Bike Park Makeover. We were starting from scratch. 
Tom Pro banging nails at C.O.P.
While Alberta “spring” weather was whipping us as with snow and wind as if it was trying to chase the intruders back to BC, we formed a plan that was going to strain our resources to a limit. Days were spent flagging new trails and evenings were spent trying to recruit experienced trail builders to get the job done. Our flagging often led us over old trails and I started to feel more and more like the girlfriend that moves into your place and before you know it, she’s got it all rearranged. All of your favorite decorative flags, Jack bottles and hubcaps are gone, replaced with scented candles, dried flowers, doilies (I know that this word means something) and pictures of puppies. You know what I mean, and if you don’t, it means that you’re too young. One day you’ll find out. I could almost picture the guys building the trail and now it will be no more. Too bad that there wasn’t enough room for all of the trails – old and new, but there just wasn’t.
In a few days the COP Bike Park looked like a parade float all covered in ribbons. The flow of the trails started to emerge in the sight lines of the flagging tape. My mind was imagining the riders ripping down the yet uncut trails. Once in a while someone would stop by to question us about our work and thank us for being there. It became evident that the local people were stoked that COP was investing a lot money and effort to upgrade the Bike Park. Meanwhile, Chad and Dan (COP Trail Crew dudes) got to work brushing the flagged trails. Pete and Quinn (COP Bike Guides) acted as the Bush Pilots (dudes that pile the cut bush), Tim was slinging dirt in the mini excavator and it was all happening.
Ryan Bowland showed up from Whistler and got his feet wet, more like frozen, by familiarizing himself with the trails. He is the chosen one that will stay to finish the job while Dave, Rob and I scatter to other parts of the continent and other Bike Parks. A Day or so after Ryan arrived Rob showed up while on his way to the East Coast. Rob and DK recorded all of the trails on a GPS and produced a map. Now it was looking like a Bike Park on paper at least, but there still was much to be done on the ground. Meanwhile Ryan and I started on the new wood structures. COP had a lot of wood stunts in the old Bike Park and it was only fair that we built a few into the new plan.
All of this time DK and I felt like a couple of headhunters scouring the corners (often seedy) of Whistler (by phone) for able and willing trail builders. Finally we enticed Adam and Kenny to come and dig trails at COP. Whistler was still getting dumped on and our tales of pretty Calgary girls, cheap beer and balmy weather did the trick on their impressionable minds. The boys mounted Kenny’s Cherokee chariot and practically flew out to Alberta. Thankfully the winter gave up the ghost and spring took over with warm, sunny days. It didn’t take long and the boys had the Black Trail all laid out and I was having a D1 (D1 is a trail in WBP) déjà vu, where the boys get hyper focused on building a trail because it is a trail that they will want to ride. This will be their personal gift to COP. They will eat, breathe and sleep (and drink) this trail till it’s done.
We still needed a skilled machine operator and our efforts to “steal” Jay or Marty from the WBP didn’t bear any fruit. They were getting busy dealing with the snow back at Whistler and were not available. Marc Jardine from Golden got the call despite the fact that we never met him or seen him work. But you don’t have to search too deep in the Ski/Bike industry to get the straight goods on someone, so a few phone calls and a lot of praises had Marc on the way to COP. He has since proven to be a keeper, not only as a skilled operator, but also as a skilled Pillie consumer worthy of Adam’s and Kenny’s acquaintance.
Around April 26th, both DK and Rob flew to the East coast to complete other Gravity Logic work. Ryan immediately took over the leadership of this job since it was going to be all his in a few days. I continued to concentrate on the wood work with Chad and Dan. Both were keen to learn the fine skills of timber framing with the 2 stroke chisel (chain saw) and proved to be quick learners, clearly taking pride in their work. The Trail Crew grew by a few more guys, the dirt was getting trucked and the top part of the Jump Trail was being shaped. The enthusiasm of the ever growing Trail Crew was inspiring. You can’t just employ someone to build biking trails, they truly have to want to be there and that is what I was seeing. The job was going well. While I knew that I had to head back to Whistler at some time, when that time came I was not ready to go.
Some detail work with the 'two-stroke chisel'.
My last day at COP was a beautiful, sunny, warm Alberta spring day. I tied up some loose ends, packed up the truck and got ready to go home. A nice dinner with the boys and Sarah was the icing on my Calgary cake. When I got to my hotel room that night I still felt uneasy though, as if I left something unfinished…
…The Rockies started to emerge from the morning darkness and I saw it would not be long before the sun lit up the peaks. Having reflected on the last three weeks, I now felt happy to be heading west, knowing that the job at COP is in the good hands of all the people working there. I was content with the accomplishments there and I was thankful for the opportunity to make a difference. I appreciated the commitment of the COP staff to this project. I’m confident that the changes will be well received by the riders and COP will continue to be a popular Bike Park to ride. My parting wish is to return to ride there sometime soon.
The peaks turned rose by the sun as I crossed into BC. This was a perfect Alberta farewell.
Tom Pro
canadaolympicpark.ca/ThingsToDo/BikePark.asp
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