This past week I attended the Dirt Series Mountain Bike Camp at Blue River up in British Columbia, Canada.  This is the second camp I have attended and it rocked!  The first camp I attended was in Corona California and you can read about the adventure if you like.  The Blue River camp was a specialty camp as it had a really neat extra feature.  A helicopter drop into the alpine.  I’ll write more about that later.  I planned this trip back in May and originally was only going to attend the camp, visit Whistler for a day, then fly home.  As it turned out Dave, Nik and Jody were going to be in Whistler all week.  So I extended!

The Journey Up

I flew into Vancouver on Thursday afternoon and picked up my rental car.  This didn’t go so well.  Online I had rented what was supposed to be a Subaru Outback but they had a Toyota Corolla waiting for me.  Big Problem!!!  I had a huge case which contained my mountainbike and there was no way this was going to fit into the Corolla.  I feel the rental company mislead me and was a little pissed.  The only ‘available’ vehicle they had which could carry my bike was an Explorer.  At three times the rate.  I bartered with them and got them down to two times my rate and settled at that.  Just an additional blow to my budget on top of replacing my front fork.

After I got out of the airport with my car I had to decide what to do with my afternoon.  I figured since it wasn’t too far away I would go check out Vancouver Island and the provincial capital of Victoria.  About 20 minutes from the airport I got to the ferry terminal and the attendant said “That’ll be $60.25.”  I thought I misheard her and asked “$6.25?”  She replied with “No, six zero and 25 cents.”  It turns out it is about $60 each way on the ferry.  I opted for the u-turn and headed back to Vancouver.  Now what?

The rental company gives you these coupons for free attractions.  So I looked through the options and decided to check out the aquarium for the afternoon over in Stanley Park.  Its was raining pretty hard so the park and aquarium weren’t crowded.  Fun diversion.  They had giant catfish, sea lions, otters, crocodiles, and beluga whales to name a few.   Walked around until I was soaked.  Then got lost trying to get out of Stanley Park.  Its a big loop and if you miss a turn off you get to drive the whole loop again.  At least its pretty!

Afterwards I debated staying in Vancouver or heading NE to Blue River.  I opted for the later and drop until I was getting tired.  I stopped in Abbotsford and grabbed a hotel room.  I figured getting someplace outside the city would be cheaper.  I was wrong.  Grabbed some food at a restaurant next door to the hotel.  During casual conversation with the bartender I found out that I was hanging out in the third most likely place to be shot as an innocent bystander within Abbotsford.  As I looked around, I had to agree.  There were a bunch of young wannabe gangsters all hanging around.  I figured I’d get out before I increased my odds.

I got up early and hit the road to Blue River.  The drive through this area is beautiful.  I had been through this region on my trip to Alaska last year.  Its a high desert much like inland California with similarities to Colorado.  I stopped in Kamloops to stretch my legs and check out a few of the bike shops.  Really nice shops!  Really expensive prices!  I learned later that bringing some things in from the USA is expensive with all the middle-men.  Unfortunately it makes them price domestic items at the same levels.  Much more expensive than back home.  I arrived into Blue River mid-afternoon after driving most of the day.  Nice village, nice people, nice views!

Friday night we were on our own.  I took a walk around town and ate at the only restaurant I could find.  When I got back to the room I went to put a sandwich in the fridge and it was magically full of beer!  Turns out my cabin mates had arrived fully prepared for a fun weekend.  I met Terry and Colin to be shortly followed by Paul and Ruben.  Candace had specifically put me in this cabin as she thought I would get along with them the best.  I have to agree, I think I’ve made some life long friends. 

Camp – Day 1

Ruben on the Drops

Saturday started with a buffet style breakfast and getting signed into the camp.  This camp was going to be different than the last one.  We had three sessions in the morning then a trail ride in the afternoon.  Sunday would be no sessions and primarily focused on a helicopter drop into the alpine.  I had chosen Braking and Descending, High Speed Corning, and Drops.  I figured all three would be appropriate to refresh and improve my skills for the rides ahead.  (Honestly I took High Speed Cornering because its a blast!)  That afternoon we broke into ride groups.  My group was the downhill group.  Composed of Terry, Colin, Ruben, Amy and I with our instructors being Geoff Gulevich and Lorraine Blancher.

Quick note for those who don’t know our instructors.  Lorraine is an phenomenal rider.  Very skilled, great coach, and she won the Women’s division at Crank Works in Whistler the prior week. (Congrats Lorraine!!!)  Geoff is a very talented young man.  I say young man because he’s 21 and does stuff that is just incredible.  At the same time he’s super cool, very humble, and a blast to hang out with.

The Camel Toe Gang

Now back to the ride.  The downhill ride was the most difficult trail I have ever ridden/walked/slid down in my life.  It was wet, rooty, STEEP and very difficult.  One the way up the hill I was actually getting a little sick after hearing Geoff and Lorraine say how hard and step this trail is.  I thought about chickening out but I knew that Terry and Colin wouldn’t allow it and I’d get endless crap because Amy did it and I didn’t.  So, I was in.  I’m not even sure I can describe the trail other than how I already have.  So, I’ll let you enjoy the helmet cam footage from Terry and I.  (It doesn’t not do a good job of showing how steep it really was.)