A collection of words have aligned themselves to form Liam Mullany's first editorial for Ridemonkey. He has also released for us a video of life at university in Kelowna, BC. (Click photos for BIG!)
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Words, Video and Photos by Liam Mullany
My name is Liam Mullany and you probably have absolutely no idea who I am. I feel we can get past that because we most likely have a few common interests. I can assume that we are both literate for starters, and I?m also willing to bet that you (like me) have access to some form of internet. You most likely ride bikes with approximately two wheels which provide you with some form of excitement. Maybe we also share the experience of having a favourite place to ride these bikes, whether it be a narrow strip of single-track, a rocky downhill line or a set of sculpted dirt jumps. For me, I choose all of the above and more, and luckily, I have access to a place that caters to almost every type of mountain bicycling out there.
I just wrapped up my second year of engineering at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna BC, having moved there from Vancouver for the past couple years. Hours of precious brain activity devoted solely to Laplace Transforms and vector calculus can surprisingly get a tiny bit boring after a while, so as a result I spend about 93% of my class time completely ignoring what I will later have to learn the night before the final exam. I guess I can attribute most of this academic restlessness to windows. Windows that point right across the Kelowna airport to the adjacent mountains containing some of the most fun trails I?ve ever pointed my front tire down. As it turns out, I would much rather use my brain to envision how cool it would look on video if we did this from that angle, or how much fun it would be to hip that from there all the way to over there. It?s this never-ending thought process that keeps me from getting the top marks in my class (yea, I?m gonna stick with that excuse).
Cast and all, John Fisher enjoys the Addiction wall ride in Kelowna. Photo by David Peacock.
Coming from the soggy trails of Vancouver?s North Shore, Kelowna?s climate spins a big 180 and throws dust in your face when you would usually be picking mud specks out of your eyeballs after a hard days ride. Dust aside, the general lack of precipitation makes for faster and harder packed trails than the misty shore (located only 4 hours west) can sustain. One of Kelowna?s most popular spots, Postil, is home to the famous ?Addiction,? a fast, flowy, jumpy, bermy concoction of all out pinning through high speed open lines mixed with, well, high speed pinning off of big senders. Keep your hands off the brakes if you don?t want to look like a fool! The riding at Postil is complemented by a tighter, rockier track aptly named ?Technical Difficulty? along with the newly built ?Inferno? which consists mainly of tightly linked woodwork to keep your tires from getting dirty. You can easily spend a whole day riding Addiction (I know I have), but to keep yourself well rounded get the hell out there and hit everything.
A hop and a skip down the road (or 45 minutes thanks to Kelowna?s brilliant traffic layout) gets you to the base of Gillard. In August 2003, a firestorm ripped through this area, destroying many of the old trails that wound their way between the logging roads on the mountainside. After the smoke cleared, the riding community really came together to rebuild the trail network that was once there, and the result of their efforts is amazing. Fresh wood features sit amongst the charred skeletons of trees with lush green grass inching its way back across the forest, indicating the early signs of nature?s rebirth... or if I wasn?t trying to be poetic I would just say it looks damn cool to weave in and out of black trees. The riding at Gillard takes you from elevated ladder bridges to rock faces to narrow single-track in many cases, all in one run. Usually I take 5 to wipe the dust and ash out of my teeth before I hop in the back of the truck and go for round 2.
The trails at Gillard are lined with charred trees and fast riders. Photo by David Peacock.
Other primo hotspots are the short and sweet Knox Mountain which overlooks Kelowna?s downtown, and Powers Creek which is just a floating bridge away. Silver Star, although actually in Vernon not Kelowna, is also worth mentioning. The diversity of the trails offered at this lift accessed park is amazing. Of the 5 BC bike parks I?ve ridden, (Sun Peaks, Mt. Washington, Silver Star, Whistler and the short lived Cypress) Silver Star comes in a close second to Whistler, but given more time to expand I could see it becoming a fan favourite.
The ball and chain school usually has around my free time makes it impossible for me to get out and ride as much as I like. With Postil, Gillard, Knox, Powers and Silver Star all located a short drive from one another, Kelowna has more than enough amazing spots to keep my mind off the math and my eyes out the window. The community has been doing a good job to encourage the growth of the sport as well. Far too often I?ve seen city jumps get torn down because uninformed powers deem the riding to be unsafe, only to have kids migrate to the woods and dig out sketchier lines which prove to be much more dangerous. The city?s new skills park was designed by dirt jumping legend John Cowan, and should be a good indicator for other communities as to what riders are actually looking for when it comes to public dirt jumps (although they?re currently in rough shape from unauthorized poaching). Hopefully, other cities can catch on and work with the riders to develop a better plan to encourage fun, safe parks, rather than simply tearing anything down taller than 3 feet.
With downhill trails and jump spots to boast, if you?ve got a fever for biking, K-town?s got the prescription. I?ve been riding here a couple of years and still haven?t got to everything the little city that could has to offer. A couple more years of daydreaming and midnight exam cramming to go, but I guess if I really wanted to excel in my school work, I could have gone to the University of Saskatchewan.
