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The dream summer

About 15 or 20 years ago I did a lot of downhill racing. I wasn’t pro or anything exciting like that, but I raced the BC Cup series, a few Canada cup races, and one World Cup that happened to land in Canada.
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About 15 or 20 years ago I did a lot of downhill racing. I wasn’t pro or anything exciting like that, but I raced the BC Cup series, a few Canada cup races, and one World Cup that happened to land in Canada.

I really loved it and it gave me some amazing experiences.

I learned early on that the statement “That’s racing,” was very accurate and despite your best efforts, you needed luck to be on your side as well.

I won a few races, I stood on the podium a bunch, and also had some horrific results once in while. Some days I rode as smooth as silk, and other days had me splayed out in the dirt, 20 feet away from my bike.

Lately, I have been missing racing quite a bit and wondering if I should jump back into the sport, but doing something half assed is not my style. So last week I planned my dream summer. I want to load up my family, all my bikes and gear, tools, spare parts etc… and move us all into my travel trailer for the summer.

We’re going to start with Whistler in late June, then head to Sun Peaks in July, and from there, drive all around our province racing the seven BC Cups this summer. Week after week of riding mountain bikes in the best places B.C. has to offer with some awesome racing mixed in as we go.

I plan to arrive home in early September, take a couple of weeks down time, and then drive up to Mt. Washington for the final race of the year. And if luck is on my side, maybe I can win some races, or better yet, the series championship for my age category.

Have you ever had that perfect dream, and when you woke up you were euphoric for a second … then realized it was just a dream? Now that I think it through, I have no time to travel around the province like a lottery winner, my family would go nuts being stuck in a trailer while I rode my bike every day, and oh yeah, I run a bike shop where things tend to get hectic in the summer.

I think I just woke up.

It’s good to dream though, and maybe with some planning I can pull it off in a couple of years. Besides, the older I get the less competition I will have, so better chances of winning right? Ha, still dreamin’ I guess.

I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…