Winners Marie-Helen and Frank with Marin’s Mike Jones

Shaums March demonstrates “pro elbows”

The Ultimate Road Trip has begun! The winners flew into Vancouver on 15 July and we are now on the road. Marie-Helen, Frank, Chris and John are an instant gang. Red Bull put the team in five star lodging at the Westin Grand in downtown Vancouver. After our first group meal, food and cocktails made the evening pass quickly. The laughter roaring up and down the table gave us early signs that this trip will be talked about and stories stretched for years to come.

Day 1 – Mt Washington

Chris Jones, a 39-year-old married man with two kids, tells me that he spent the night counting the seconds away until he could get up and get ready. Pretty cool to see a grown man as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve. After breakfast at a greasy spoon we loaded into the Mad March Racing rig and set forth to the ferry terminal. Within two minutes of the van doors closing we fired up the plasma screen and everyone watched riding movies to get the stoke on.

At the ferry terminal it turned out that there was an hour’s delay. You’d think that a van decked out with plasma screens, PlayStation and all sorts of snacks from Clif bar should be enough to keep people entertained for an hour, but no. Next to the ferries we spied some speedboat rentals and the gang did the math: two boats, $15 a head, 1 hour to kill… Two minutes later we were racing across the bay.

The drive up to Mt Washington is straightforward one. With mountains on one side and the ocean on the other it added to the excitement of what was to come.
We parked up at the base of the slopes right outside Deer Lodge Hotel and each rider was given either a Marin Quake 7.3 or a 7.2.

After a quick coaching session (today’s top tip – keep your elbows high) we hit the lifts and shredded the killer trails of the Mt Washington Bike Park until closing time. With the Canadian National Championships rolling into town two days after and the Bearclaw invitational freeride happening the next week there were plenty of superstar riders like Darren Berrecloth kicking it at the resort, so the winners had some great photo ops.

With Day one over and day two on the cards we want to thank Brent and the team at Mt Washington for the hospitality – check them out at www.bikeparksbc.com or www.mtwashington.ca