''Finally it was go time. We loaded all our gear up and set out for a 17 hour drive to Kamloops. We got there super late, cracked a few cold ones and called it a night. We got up nice and early to catch the first chair at Sun Peaks. The first time I was able to roll down a trail with the Soda slope I knew I was in for an absolute treat. She's light at 27 lbs, but tracks true and flies like a big bike on the jumpy trails, only with a lot more pop. Once we finished up our session at the Peaks, we headed down to the Bike Ranch. This is the first time I have ever been there, and all I can say is "Damn I wish I lived in Kamloops". All the jumps were soo dialed and my rig felt right at home. We snapped a few quick pics and headed on our way to Whistler.



Sun Peaks was great, but in all honesty, Whistler is the cream of the crop when it comes to the MTB world. The trails were in great shape and the soda was destroying the berms and jumps at every chance it got. Dirt Merchant, A-line, Crank it up, Freight-train were among my faves, the bike felt right at home. Even though I was riding a small slope rig, doesn't mean I didn't hit up some of the gnarlier trails such as Joyride and Schleyer. In all honesty, I didn't expect the bike to perform too great in those rougher conditions but it held its own and ended up really surprising me. The soda was an eye catcher among the whistler crowd for sure. I almost couldn't make a lap without somebody inquiring about it, which I was more than happy to chat about.

   

Finally the final day at Whistler past and it was time to head back home to the flat, sad Prairies. As depressed as I was, I was excited to get back home, get the jumps cleaned up and get right back at it. Now that Im home, expect some photos and an edit to pop up in the near future.''



Leland Kirton