With Summer Solstice providing 16 hours of daylight, Christina saw an opportunity to tackle a huge ride in Whistler. She set out on a route with 4 ascents spanning over 50kms and over 1700m of elevation.
Dudes who live in Ontario, Quebec, and the Midwest... who think 1700m of elevation on a trail bike is nothing because they did it on their road bike once back in 2005.
Seriously haha. The difference between spinning up a fire road or easy singletrack and tech climbing and descents are huge. I’m always surprised just how much attacking a tech climb can take out of me and if I’m on a typically desert gnar trail down here in Arizona I usually am wishing I was doing something else by mile 20.
@nzandyb: Bromont in Quebec is like 350m but I still do 900-1300m at every ride. I do it with a Knolly Warden LT (170/167mm). We also climb on singletracks, no roads here! So yeah, probably dudes who live in Ontario! Just kidding!
I was thinking more like some dudes who ride in the desert with a trail or xc bike, or something like that.... We don't have big mountains here but still tech stuff to climb and descend so we know that 50km/1700m is huge and I would never be able to do that!
Based on the picture showing her hiking, I suspect the climbing was a bit more than most folks are doing on their "monster" rides.
5k of climbing is a good day, could be monster even with 2k of climnbing if there was a lot of hiking involved, so yeah, gve the lady a break, I suspect 90% of Pinkbikers wouldn't do it.
1700m of elevation is impressing for me. About length - it was funny to see in pinkbike poll that very many riders never ridden more then 30km by themselves.
@christinachappetta: I'm all in for big rides, but I got the same problem down here, folks don't want to disappear for an all day ride. Chalk it down to laziness. If I could do an epic every weekend, I'd be a happy camper. No lift served for this guy, it's all about earning it!
Love your vids. I like that you always have so much fun and your commentary is so upbeat. Makes me want to get on my bike and go for a ride. Keep cranking them out please.
Thanks @christinachappetta for some more great content. Keeping it real as always with the right balance of shred and real world life, starmix included!. BUT, what the heck is that box in top shelf of your wine rack? JK
Whistler climbs are though and doing 4 in the rain its a big day, going down Crazy train in the wet is a nice way to start the day as well haha. Good work!
*Little typo on the 4th ascent to Heavy Flow, that is Chekamus / Creekside /Whistler mtn area, Sproatt its on Westside.
Christina is spot on with that product which is called Sudocrem. My local 24 hour racers put me on to it. Much cheaper than bike-specific products (which did not eliminate saddle sores), you use a lot less of it, it is far more tenacious and it is cheaper per volume and far cheaper per ride. I use it three or four times a week.
Nice! I love big days and earning my turns. We did something like 33k/1100m at bromont this canada day and I feel like it broke me, 50/1700 is a much bigger number and with equally gnarly trails as well!
Great video! Love the positive attitude and good vibes despite the conditions. Just makes me wanna call some friends and go on an epic ride. Impressive amount of climbing aswell.
Respect! A few weeks ago I did a solo ride of Into the Mystic, plus all the pre-ITM stuff, plus the top extra loop followed by LOTS and Chipmunks etc for a total of 37kms and 1874m climbing and it darn well killed me. Not sure I could have added another 10km. The hard part was some of the hike a bike sections because it would make different parts of my legs cramp up. Great experience but next time i would bring more water and snacks!
Wow, nice! Did Mystic and LOTS for the first time last month. It's a bit of a grunt, but so fun. I'll never forget entering the alpine meadow for the first time. Absolutely stunning.
@housem8d: Not sure about the editing advice. That is definitely a refined skill. Lots of people think they know what they want, but are rarely able to nail it.
@christinachappetta I am assuming you are using a gopro with chesty mount. Do you use superview or just regular wide setting? Your camera setup really shows the steeps. Thanks.
Cool vid @christinachappetta , looked like a lot of fun. Can never underestimate how challenging a big ride can be when you throw in a decent chunk of technical climbing. Keep the fun stuff coming :-)
Thanks! That was big and sloppy day in Whistler! Same amount of climbing as an EWS day but way more fun to take the chill
Pace and have all the snacks.
Great video Christina! So cool to see that done in non-perfect conditions, yet smiling all day, haha. Brings back some nice memories of my Whistler week, thank you so much
stongly depends on trail selection.. yeah 50km ride on gravely/double track stuff is definitelly not a monster. but try to do it on blue/black whistler singletrack? it is quite a ride for sure.
I agree that this can be a normal "day" for a lot of folks. But even within Oregon, 50 km in the Coast Range is much more difficult than 50 km on the western slope of the Cascades, which in turn is much much much much more difficult than 50 km on the eastern slope of the Cascades.
All of that is to say, a ride 50 km/2000 m ride is nothing out of the ordinary for me, but 50 km of techy single track in Whistler is nothing to sneeze at and sounds much more difficult.
@playdead: Krvavec, Slovenia, 2 runs on a Nukeproof Mega. Maybe I'll attempt 3 runs next year, my goal is everesting but it's just mind boggling how much energy I would need for that....some day maybe.
I might not be a big ride for you, but it's kind of a dick move calling someone out for not doing a ride big enough for your standards. If they think it's a Monster Ride, it's a Monster Ride.
It also depends on the amount of time. If charging it at a faster pace, shorter time frame, and minimal resting it is much tougher than if it is slower pace, stretched out longer throughout the entire day, and more resting.
Bunch of muppets, 98% of folks on this site would struggle with this. I didnt think the BC Bike Race would be as tough either based on the numbers, after getting hammered on my XC bike I realized how much the tech descending in BC kills ya. Even a Mystic Squirrel loop, which is less than this, I'm ready for beers in the village...
I was thinking more like some dudes who ride in the desert with a trail or xc bike, or something like that.... We don't have big mountains here but still tech stuff to climb and descend so we know that 50km/1700m is huge and I would never be able to do that!
And in the rain too. Riding any tech in the wet always takes the wind out of my sales.
5k of climbing is a good day, could be monster even with 2k of climnbing if there was a lot of hiking involved, so yeah, gve the lady a break, I suspect 90% of Pinkbikers wouldn't do it.
Agreed. Whistler is a different animal.
I can ride 50km with 2300m of climbing in Squamish and feel fine. I can ride 37km with 1200m of climbing in Whistler and I'm absolutely annihilated.
Monster ride, monster fun and good times!
going down Crazy train in the wet is a nice way to start the day as well haha.
Good work!
*Little typo on the 4th ascent to Heavy Flow, that is Chekamus / Creekside /Whistler mtn area,
Sproatt its on Westside.
Just a question: do you prefer epics in squamish or whis?
Keep the fun stuff coming :-)
www.trailforks.com/route/travis--big-stupid-loop-ride-plan
All of that is to say, a ride 50 km/2000 m ride is nothing out of the ordinary for me, but 50 km of techy single track in Whistler is nothing to sneeze at and sounds much more difficult.