BC 2016, Day 1-3

Day 1

It is 6 a.m. I am up for the 7th time this night. My body seems to know that there is a 9 hour time difference between Frankfurt and Vancouver and it is letting me know, too. I notice that it is raining and that does not help me to relax and fall back to sleep. But eventually, I do. When I wake up for the 8th time, I finally get up. I grab my kit and some breakfast and then I am of to ride the North Shore.

The first time I heard about the North Shore was in 1998. The German magazine Mountain Bike ran a story about it, the trails, the trail builders and local riders. I was immediately hooked and wanted to go. I saw many more pictures and once the internet was born, many videos. Today is the day that I will finally get to ride it.

Andrew and Bill from EcoRide take me to Mount Seymour. As we ascend the mountain, the rain turns into fog. On top, the mist ghostly lingers around the trees. But sunshine is just a mental state anyway.


Bill and I drop into CBC, a black diamond trail. Much to my surprise and relief, the trail is still relatively dry. But roughly 300m in, I have to ask Bill to stop for a while. The trail requires total attention, but I want to take in as much of the scenery as possible. Actually being here freaks me out a bit.


We continue our ride on a number of trails, Cabin Trail, Boogieman, Empress to name just a few. There are so many options and without Bill, I would be quite lost. The further down we get, the wetter the stones and roots get. I am actually getting on quite well with the challenging terrain. Still, I decide against trying some wooden features and riding some of the steeper slippery rock faces. I know that there will be plenty of opportunities to get hurt in the upcoming twenty days, so there is no need to jump on the first one.

Time flies and around 1p.m. I am back at the hostel. I spend the rest of the day drinking good coffee at Revolver and reading a terrible book.

Day 2

Still fighting jet lag, I am back at Seymour. We ride a number of new trails. Altogether the riding here is unlike anything I have done. It is both technical and flowy. Really hard to describe, but it definitely lives up to all the hype. While it is not raining, conditions are still wet and slippery, but many smiles were had.

In the afternoon, I return to Revolver for some more good coffee and start reading a good book.

Day 3

The summer has returned to BC. I leave Vancouver for Whistler, going up the scenic sea to sky highway. First impression of Whistler: awesome. Again, coming here had been a dream for so long that now actually being here feels unreal. Cannot wait to go ride tomorrow.