I'm happy with the race. Very much so. But to really describe Whistler, I have to start from the beginning, because for me this trip was much more than a World Cup stage.
Going to Whistler has always been one of my dreams.
When I was racing with Canyon, I hoped to eventually make it there for Crankworx, but for one reason or another, it never happened. Once, I didn't have the results I needed, then came injuries, various setbacks... well, Whistler just kept popping up on my bucket list.
Also because my girlfriend's brother lived in British Columbia for eight years, and despite that, we'd never managed to visit him. The year we finally seemed to have made up our minds, they moved back to Italy. 😅
So when I saw Whistler on the World Cup calendar, I didn't have many doubts: “Okay, I have to go this time.”
Four riders and a mechanic. Organization? More or less.
The team doesn't compete in races outside Europe due to the very high costs, so I started making a few phone calls to see who would be interested in racing with me.
The first person to say yes was Chris Hauser. He immediately told me to wait to organize everything because he knew some people who might be able to host us.
A few weeks before we left, Stefano Introzzi joined us. Then, in Val di Sole, after Filippo Gilardino's incredible result, I started pestering his dad to send him with us. Opportunities like this don't come along every day, and in the end... I convinced him.
Result: four riders, plus Chris's mechanic. Pretty disorganized. 😅
And this is where the story started to get even more absurd.
On the day of the Val di Sole final, I was in the hotel lobby to drop off my keys when a gentleman stopped me.
“Hi, are you Loris?”
“Yes, it's me.”
“Nice to meet you, Amedeo. I'm the one hosting you in Whistler for the Cup.”
We started talking and soon it came out that Amedeo used to ride bikes with my girlfriend's brother when he lived in Canada.
Absurd.
We hadn't even started yet and it already seemed like all the pieces were falling into place.
Welcome to British Columbia
Once we arrived, Amedeo came to pick us up at the airport. Our bikes, however, had decided to take it easy: they hadn't arrived. Fortunately, they would be delivered directly to our home the next day.
During the car ride we discovered another little detail: Amedeo is the owner of Velosolutions Canada.
He showed us some of their work, and after seeing what's out there, I started to think that British Columbia has more pump tracks, trail areas, and bike parks than cities. 😂
Amedeo and his family welcomed us like kings.
The first day, without our bikes, his son Tobia lent us his dirt bike while he was at school and we went jumping all morning.
For ten days, his mother cooked us breakfast, lunch, and dinner, washed our clothes, and took care of us. In short, she was like a mother to us.
And Amedeo allowed us to have experiences that, truly, don't happen every day.
Whistler: The Mecca of MTB
We had passes for Whistler and Tobias was our guide, taking us to the best trails.
On our own we probably would have gotten lost after half an hour.
A week of riding It wouldn't be enough to see everything: there are more than a hundred trails, from flow lines to jump lines, to huge rock slabs and super technical trails.
What impressed me most about the bike park is the progression. Whether on jumps or in technical terrain, you can find lines suitable for any level and gradually continue to raise the bar.
To be honest, we basically just skipped it. 😅
We also went to Squamish, about 45 minutes from Whistler, and it was incredible there too. I don't think I've ever seen so many people biking in one place.
Il riding It's different: still trails of any kind, but with a more natural and “handmade” feel, with hand-built jumps and rougher trails.
Then, one evening at dinner, Amedeo asked us a question.
“Do you want to go to Coast Gravity?”
We weren't waiting for anything else.
Coast Gravity, all for us
We knew it would be quite a long trip to do in one day: about two hours by car, the ferry to the Sunshine Coast, another half hour on the road and then all the way back.
What are you doing? You're there, and you're not going to one of the most iconic places in the world for freeride and slopestyle?
Amedeo is working with them, along with Curtis Robinson, a former freerider, to expand the park.
He took us down on a day when the bike park was closed.
And they opened it for us.
Not only that: they also opened up some lines that are normally closed to the public because they are large.
But really big ones.
Being there, seeing live the drops and jumps that I had seen in videos and films of Brandon Semenuk, Curtis and all the others was something that is difficult to explain.
Thanks to the bike I've had so many opportunities to travel, but this was probably my favorite experience.
I would do it again tomorrow.
And if you love mountain biking, at least once in your life, go and ride in British Columbia. It's crazy.
Whistler is truly a MTB Mecca, and in my opinion, so is all of BC.
Oh, I almost forgot something.
At home, Amedeo has Stevie Smith's first Red Bull helmet.
Stevie has always been my idol.
When I saw it I couldn't believe it.
And then there was also a race to do
At that point, honestly, I arrived at the race already satisfied.
The previous week had been so beautiful that I told myself something very simple: “Ride as if you were still in the park. Have fun and don't think about the race.”
The 1199 is a real track downhill.
The first section is fairly flat, full of roots and jumps where maintaining speed is crucial. About halfway through, you enter the rock garden, and from there, everything changes: it gets really technical and steep.
As soon as we finished the track walk it started to pour.
And he basically didn't stop until the night before qualifying.
I was quite worried because wet roots aren't exactly my favorite thing. However, from the first few test rides, I immediately felt at ease.
Then, on the last lap before Q1, I broke a fork and a wheel.
I had an hour and a half.
Somehow I made it.
I changed the wheel and fitted an air cartridge without even knowing how it would work.
In Q1, I made too many mistakes. I was a bit stiff, I kept making mistakes, but at least the fork was working very well.
In Q2, I had a much better start. I made a mistake, managed to recover fairly quickly, and from there I kept pushing.
P7, about 3,6 seconds behind first.
The first had given 2,9 seconds to the second and, behind, in just 1,3 seconds there were nine of us.
This shows how tight she was.
The adventures of a small team overseas
The final tests didn't go so well.
I kept breaking a steering bearing because the plate that goes on the plate had worn out. In practice, I managed to put together half a test lap during the entire session.
But these too are part of the adventures of a small team – or a privateer – when it decides to take on a trip overseas.
In the final, I started trying to keep the promise I had made to myself: to ride as if I were at the bike park.
And I had fun.
Maybe I could have jumped a little less. 😅
I landed long on a triple before a flat jump, and as a result, I came up a little short on the next jump. I lost a little there, but when I crossed the finish line, I was still happy.
Fifteenth in the World Cup.
Today is a result I'm really satisfied with, especially considering that on a trip like this you have to be the rider, the mechanic and, in the meantime, also think about organizing travel for the subsequent races.
Unfortunately, Stefano didn't make it to the final, but on the day of the competition he gave us a huge hand, both to me and Filippo.
And in the end we managed to bring home two good results.
The dream continues
Now we're on the road again.
Destination Lake Placid, for the last stage of the World Cup.
We're excited.
But above all, we are aware that we are living a dream that so many people would like to be able to experience.
That's why we want to enjoy it to the fullest and give our all until the last metre.
Whistler was supposed to be a race.
It ended up being one of those experiences that I will probably remember for the rest of my life.
And to think that it all started simply with:
“Okay, I have to go this time.”
