Riding Blind…Well Almost

24 Jul 2013

Yesterday was one of the single best days I have ever had in the bike park.  The weather was amazing, good buddies and we hit a ton of trails. 

To really cap it off in the afternoon we had Mac join us.  Mac is currently on the Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team and races in the visually impaired category.  His older brother guides him down the course with Mac following close at ridiculous speeds.  Mac is also the youngest competitor on the IPC World Cup circuit and podiumed his very first year, only being beat out by his teammate with 15 years experience as a visually impaired ski racer. Canada is killing it!

Sorry for all the crappy photos - I took them before we got the Drift Innovation package on a camera made by an inferior company.

But what about the bike park…..no problem.  Mac is actually the second visually impaired rider to ever set off in the Whistler Bike Park.  The first rider, Ethan, came out just 3 weeks ago.  He raced for years and ran the kicking horse mountain bike park, no better person for a guinea pig.  I was super bummed out that I could not connect with Ethan but he will be back soon.  Ethan sweet talked his way up the mountain early to hit A-line and was killing it over all the jumps.  The real hard part was finding a bike guide fast enough for him.

But back to Mac.  A few things needed to adapt to make this day happen and Whistler Bike park was already prepared for us.  Just getting the bike on the lift was hurdle number 1, but they have a chair parked at the bottom for practice loadings.  Something you usually wouldn’t consider at all but a quick practice run made all things super easy.  Next thing we needed was a super bright green guide jersey, and our One Industries Defcon Chartreuse jersey was perfect!  Last thing we needed was a system.  We rode close, rode fast and I shouted out ‘jump,’ ‘steep up,’ and ‘slow’ (only when we really had to).  Mac did yell at me to speed up a few times which got me thinking about the possibility of getting run over but it worked out well and he only bailed once. 

I got more strange looks than anyone else that day.  Imagine riding down ‘Crank It Up’ with a dude 2 bike lengths behind you, pinning it, and you are shouting jump every time you get air.  Yeah you’d give us a funny look too!

It was utterly fantastic when people learnt why.  They were completely blown away.  I can’t wait to guide again.  Thanks for the sick day Mac!    

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