Text and Photo: Matthew Mallory
By all accounts it has been a mild winter in British Columbia, global warming may be harming the environment but it seems to be helping if you are a mountain biker. The Shore has been open for riding all winter as well as the trails in Squamish. Now going into the middle of March the biking in many parts of the province is in full swing. Reports have been coming in from the Okanogan, Kelowna and Pemberton that the snow is gone and the trails are ridable. Spring is here.
Three weeks ago I received a phone call saying that some of our favourite trails in Pemberton were ready to ride, the shuttle roads were not clear yet but with a little effort it was possible to push up the trails. Being that I was still caught in winter mode and busy with the transition of jobs I did not get my butt in gear right away.
It is strange, here in Whistler we are enjoying a fantastic snow year, lots of pow for everyone, yet just 35km up the road the dirt was clear and ready to be ridden. In fact as I am writing this there is snow falling outside and about eight inches of new snow on the ground. With a significant drop in elevation Pemberton gets a whole different weather system, the snow here is rain there.
I finally got my act together and headed up recently and let me tell you it is fantastic right now. The dirt is wet and tacky but not muddy, lots of traction so you can ride hard and fast. I met up with my usual crew of delinquents along with D'Arcy O'Connor, head engineer and mad scientist for Rocky Mountain Bicycles and Team Dunbar Cycles rider Lindsay Trimble.
Though the skies opened up and showered us with rain we got in two spectacular laps on Cream Puff and Grumpy Grouse. Both trails are awesome; the fast, rolling, rocky sections of Cream Puff are fun in any weather and Grumpy Grouse has just the right mixture of high speed, flowy trail and challenging steeps that left us grinning from ear to ear. On the second lap I carried my camera gear, with the low clouds and rain shooting was difficult, especially with my flashes at home but it was fun and the guys sessioned a big gap for me several times. I am sure it was for the camera, not just for their pure enjoyment.
With darkness coming on and a rumble in our stomachs (not to mention we were out of beer) we called it quits and hit The Pony for some food and a pint before we all had to make our way home. The only drawback to the day was that I knew it would be a week before I could get up to Pemberton again.
