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The Whistler Bike Park is like one big party, |
Words by Riley McIntosh
Photos by Cam McRae
You know that great feeling when you're at a party and it feels like you know everyone there, and you can barely get into a conversation with one person before someone else you're excited to see comes bursting into the scene?
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More and more people come flooding in until it feels like all you're doing is introducing people, trading inside jokes, greeting friendly faces and trying to say hi to a million people at once? I love times like that. And that's what Whistler Bike Park is like for me. In the last few weeks, I have spent plenty of time perched on the Fitzimmons chair at Whistler, meeting people from all over and listening to their stories. It's fun being on my own, because every ride up the chair with different people you make a new friend. I usually start by asking them how their day is going and where they're from, and the conversation goes from there. You might hear about an awesome run, a broken bike part, or how the riding back home is nothing compared to the bike park. In a few minutes of talking, I get a sense of why the person is up here riding, what kind of riding they like, and what they think of the bike park experience. |
Keeping it low on a bikercross table |
Usually, we'll invite each other for a run, and maybe after a few we'll have lunch together. Later on we might get separated but I always know I'll meet some other fun people to ride with, and learn why they love to ride. By the end of the day, the base of the mountain feels like that party.
Mountain biking culture in Whistler is interesting because it makes me realize just how alike we all are. You often hear people say, "If they bike, I'm sure we'll get along" and the proof is in the pedals in the bike park. It has made me realize just what a great bunch of people we are.
In a typical day on the hill I might meet a guy from Australia, a long-time local, an American rider up for the weekend, some warriors from the Shore, and even (woo hoo!) girls that rip up the trails. By the end of the day you'll be riding up the chair, watching riders fly by on the trails below and recognizing tons of people you've met and ridden with in the last couple days. How cool is that?
If drops could talk - the old GLC has seen its share of riders |
Riding to me is all about having fun with my friends, flying down trails and trying new things. The prospect of making new friends every day, people you can go stay with all over the world just because you rode with them for one day in Whistler. This is so exciting. I haven't met anyone that wasn't stoked to be up there riding. Over the winter, when I was missing warm summer days spent riding, I would flip through my address book and see all the phone numbers of the people I met in the mountains last summer, and I'd look forward to riding with them again. In three weeks at Whistler I've already seen almost everyone I met last summer! |
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The Whistler Bike Park is a very special place because it brings together
hordes of people doing what they love. By attracting so many like-minded
people together into one big positive party zone, riders' relationships
are staying strong and people from all over the world are
experiencing the joys of mountain biking.
Whistler is a big, silly, bike party, but it is also a very important landmark location for mountain biking. Never before have I been in one place where the energy of great riding is literally floating through the air. It is a place where veterans, young bucks, inquisitive foreign riders, and casual thrill seekers can unite and share the same experiences. |
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I'm not going to say that the scene in Whistler defines what mountain biking is all about, because the true reality of riding is defined by memories, places, and experiences that are different for everyone. But Whistler is a place where the soul and joy of riding bikes in the woods is alive and roaring, a playground where everyone can feel good about themselves and enjoy the spirit of the mountain biking lifestyle and culture. Sometimes I need a reminder of why I ride. Standing at the base of the mountain in Whistler and watching riders shake hands and excitedly trade stories from an awesome run down the mountain is invigorating. |
In Joyride - to air is human |
Riding the chair with a father and son who are riding the bike park together for the first time reminds me how I felt when I first started riding with my dad on hiking trails back home.
I live for the feeling of "that perfect run," and spending time in Whistler I am exposed to so much of that energy that I can't help but experience it more often in my own riding. Whistler, through the sheer amount of riding it offers to us, has the ability to sift out the elements that get in the way of us feeling that heavenly flow of adrenaline and power that we are all addicted to. We are all up in the bike park searching for our own definition of the "perfect run." Enjoy the party.
- Riley McIntosh
