I grew up riding, racing and road tripping in beautiful British Columbia. I've ridden in almost every town, city plus the odd trail in the middle of nowhere. I love bikes, shuttled, climbed, descended and just plain ridden. I like bike riders, everyone unique with their own riding style and personality. Bike culture is BC culture, from the trails to the riders to the bike shops. Legendary characters and trails have made BC what it is today, a playground for active people seeking out mountain experiences.
Everytime I see a post about someone making the trip to whistler and not riding anywhere else in BC I want to cry. In my opinion, it's like travelling to New York and eating at Mcdonalds. Sure it's food, but where is the culture? If you fly into Vancouver and drive to the big w you pass more trails in North Van and Squamish than there is on all of Whistler. In fact my local town of 3000 people has more vertical and trails than Whis and guess what, no line-ups. They are free to ride (remember freeriding) handbuilt, lovingly slaved over works of art built by chainsaw weilding bike ninjas. If you don't want to climb most towns in BC have shuttle services that can be arranged at the bike shop. You could sit in the parking lot at the bottom of Seymour and within half an hour you would meet a local that will proudly show you these trails and in doing so get a glimpse at what the local culture is all about.
Go ride in Squamish, Pemberton, North Van, the Valley, the Okanagan, Lilloet, Christina Lake, Nelson, Rossland, Williams Lake and all points inbetween and have a real mountain culture experience. It will take more planning and getting out of the car to (gasp) talk to strangers than the all inclusive package but you won't regret it.
Ride British Columbia, it's good. :dancing:
Everytime I see a post about someone making the trip to whistler and not riding anywhere else in BC I want to cry. In my opinion, it's like travelling to New York and eating at Mcdonalds. Sure it's food, but where is the culture? If you fly into Vancouver and drive to the big w you pass more trails in North Van and Squamish than there is on all of Whistler. In fact my local town of 3000 people has more vertical and trails than Whis and guess what, no line-ups. They are free to ride (remember freeriding) handbuilt, lovingly slaved over works of art built by chainsaw weilding bike ninjas. If you don't want to climb most towns in BC have shuttle services that can be arranged at the bike shop. You could sit in the parking lot at the bottom of Seymour and within half an hour you would meet a local that will proudly show you these trails and in doing so get a glimpse at what the local culture is all about.
Go ride in Squamish, Pemberton, North Van, the Valley, the Okanagan, Lilloet, Christina Lake, Nelson, Rossland, Williams Lake and all points inbetween and have a real mountain culture experience. It will take more planning and getting out of the car to (gasp) talk to strangers than the all inclusive package but you won't regret it.
Ride British Columbia, it's good. :dancing:
again i gotta get out there, these pics are making me feel funny in the pants