One year ago at the Norco 2008 product launch, I remember seeing deep foundations being laid for the new Peak 2 Peak gondola that will span the 4.4km between Whistler and Blackcomb mountain. This year, the cable is in place, and it looks as crazy as ever, amusement park like, and it will be ready for opening in December of this year.

Two world records will be broken:

1. longest span between two towers (straight line) at 3.02 km.

2. 1427 feet high above the Fitzsimmons Creek

Still haven’t decided if I’ll be brave enough to ride it?

Watch some of the constructions videos here, some pretty impressive human engineering going on! As Norco guru Pete Stace-Smith would say, “They’ve got guys with glasses this thick (finger gesture) working on that”.

July 17

Just finished a half-day at the Whistler Bike Park, and good thing it’s just half a day because my forearms are pumped! Funny that I can ride trials all day, but make me hang on through brakes bumps and ruts and I can hardly hold on!

Jay Hoots helped me tune my suspension in for the bike park, and I think that combined with a second day of practice really helped a few things click, I was on the offense on the jump lips instead of on the defense. It’s really enjoyable letting my body learn and adapt and remember these movements and techniques; once again I can see how people get stoked on riding this mountain.

There is a future shop convention happening at the same hotel as the Norco launch; I’ve been watching them come and go and do their thing. Seems like they’re in meetings all day long, and it sure makes me glad I’m in the bike industry, we get to play on bikes for most of the day!

July 18^th

I went on a fantastic cross country ride this morning through all the Whistler Valley trails, about two hours worth of singletrack, without all the huge braking ruts. Then after lunch I went and had one run at the bike park, but couldn’t hold on to the bars, again my forearms are shot, I guess they’re sore from yesterday. Chasing riders like Jay Hoots and the two Austrian Norco stars (and such nice people) Flo Gottschlich and Angie Hohenwarter, proved just too much for me today, so I thought better of it before the mountain got the better of me, and instead chased back to the condo for a very short yoga session, and now I’m quickly typing this blog, and will then go up to the top of Whistler for an interview with my trials bike for CTV’s evening news.

If you’re living in Kamloops BC, I have a show there on Sunday at the River Festival, come say hi.

Happy Friday!

 

 

No sure if I’ll have time to find internet today; seems that Norco’s 2009 product launch is keeping me quite busy! Norco sure is spoiling everything with great food and amazing riding. Whistler is the perfect venue for this event.

The first couple days Norco hosted the top Norco dealer’s, the last couple days they are hosting international distributors and media. On Tuesday I went out with about 14 dealers and rode the short loop of Comfortably Numb. On Wednesday I went and shot a podcast about the Fluid on the same trail, then went up to the Roundhouse for lunch. We rode from the top all the way down, then back up to film with the Ride Guide. Then I went to get set up for a trials show that I did later that evening at the Longhorn.

Riding the bike park is always a steep learning curve for me. Last year I had one run down the bike park in Whistler, and about half a day at Silverstar, the year before about the same; so after a couple runs yesterday, the first of the season for me, I’m hoping to build on my confidence, and hopefully start to get the feel for jumping. When I do manage to hit the jumps just right, it sure does feel good, I can see why so many people get addicted to the scene up here. I think it would be easy for me to get carried away, but I’ll be keeping it safe, I’ve got loads of shows to do still this Summer! Perhaps I’ll get more specific with the new bikes later, but I’ve gotta go get my gear on right now for the next ride. Ciao!

 

 

Ahhh, just finished a practice on my backyard deck with a nice long savassana in the shade from the maple trees. Like anything good, I wanted to share it with you. Eoin Finn, one of the finest yoga instructor around, has some great resources on his website, you can download a variety of sessions for free on his downloads page.

I’m just taking my time this morning getting ready for a week in Whistler; Norco has their 2009 product launch and will be hosting the top Norco dealers, distributors, and media for riding and dining.

This will be the first time riding in a bike park since VPS Fest last year at SilverStar mountain; I think it’ll be a pleasurable shock to my body and forearms. It’s actually always surprising to me that I can ride trials all day with no forearm pump, but a few minutes of blasting downhill in a bike park, and I can hardly hold on. I guess it’s a matter of what you’re used to.

I’ll figure I’ll post a few times this week with rumors of what will be in store for Norco’s ‘09 line-up. The weather looks great, so I think we’ll all be a bit spoiled this week. If you’re up in Whistler on Wednesday, I’ll be setting up for a trials show on Wednesday evening at about 7pm, come on by and say hi!

Happy Monday everyone, and all my best….

April 13th,It’s been hovering around freezing all day with a mix of snow and rain, heavy at times. Recovering from the deep down chill that I got while setting up my demo obstacles was next to impossible, until my first show that was. I’m in Whistler village, my first day of 10 days of demos for the World Ski and Snowboard Festival. It would have been so easy to say, “Oooh, it’s just too wet and cold to ride, it’d be dangerous, no one is going to watch, they’re all rushing toward the next warm cafe!!”. But I buckled down and kicked a show off anyway, just one person watching. One move in to the show, babbling to myself on the microphone, I see that at least 20 people are now watching; where’d they come from!!! Kept riding, and before I new it, I had a crowd standing there in the freezing cold sleet, watching me slip and slide around on my demo stuff, cool!! Second show went even better, and now that I’m part way done a cup of tea, and warming up in my hotel room, the third show should be just as good…and wet. So I had two Trials of Life presentations this week, one in Squamish, and one in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. Two incredibly beautiful places, I truly am fortunate to be a BC resident, and I am striving to do my best to learn about what I can do to help reduce my impact on it, not in terms of tires landing on roots, but in the amount I pollute ;-).I had an awesome meeting with the David Suzuki Foundation, and am proud to announce that I’ll be an ambassador for the Foundation, and will do my best to spread the word at all my school shows and regular demos. Please do take the time to visit The David Suzuki Foundation and also, sign up for the Nature Challenge.Well, I’m looking out the window at the snow, and looking at my watch, putting the two together, equals Snow Demo. Yeehaa, here we go!!!Peace,Ryan