Kamloops- Spring break

Well, Spring Break has come to a close recently and during spring break I was fortunate enough to head out to beautiful Kamloops, British Columbia and get a few runs down the course before the race in late April. My first few runs I cruised down stopping in frequently to check out lines and a few blind up-and-overs featured on the course. The course begins with a few man made rock gardens which then lead you into a steep left handed switch back. This steep section then sends you over a road gap and down a high speed section of table tops and a rock garden gap. The course levels out into a flatter pedalling section frequented by jumps and rollers. The course then exits into the dirt jump park where riders face a short sprint and a table top through the finish line.

The Race the Ranch course although not a course that lends itself directly to my riding style is a darn good time! After a winter with minimal jumping I was excited to get out on some decent sized jumps and throw my Session 88 sideways as much as possible! I also managed to clock about 10-20 timed runs during the 3 days I was there which also doubled as a cardio workout because I was beat afterwards, going against the clock forced me to give it everything I had every run. As well as being excellent for fitness training these timed runs also gave me confidence that I can do I good clean race run at full pace because I made very few major mistakes under the pressure of the clock; something I struggled with last season.

After riding the course I am looking forward to the race to see where I stack up against everyone as well as enjoying all of the vibe and excitement that comes with racing.

Evan Blackwell