Win a FREE Whistler Trip

July 05

IrishDH in conjunction with Ticket2RideBC are please to announce the winner of their FREE Whistler trip is Martin Mullan of Linavady, Co Derry who is 18 years old and rides a Coyote DH3!

Martin's entry of his most memorable day's biking is as follows:

Most memorable experience on my bike

It was a miserable day, the sun was hiding behind the clouds and the rain was bucketing down, just a normal day in beautiful Ireland. I had just purchased a Raleigh 300 and today was its virgin run. I was anxious to get out on my baby and after a bit of persuading I got all my friends to join me. We all cycled from Limavady to Ballycarton a tiresome six miles with the wind pounding on our face. We finally reached our destination.
The first section we challenged ourselves to face was the bombhole. The bombhole had two lines into it, one of which was really bumpy which made it hard to carry your speed out of it and the other was really smooth but if you hit it to fast with not enough control, it threw you out of it to the left, into a tree. My friend was the first to gather the courage and hit the bombhole, he hit the bumpy line with his hard tail. He was powering down through the line really smooth until he came to the end and the bombhole through him out to the left. He then lost complete control of the bike and the bike slid out from underneath him, it was hilarious, he then got back up and pulled up his top, it was a nasty injury the whole right side of him was bruised. After that the smooth line became the most popular. After a bit of time passed and my friends had their runs at the bombhole, it came to my turn. I never really hit the bombhole fast in the past but with the Raleigh 300 came a new sense of confidence within me. I hit the smooth line and was flowing through it relatively quick, I came to the end of it and pushed my nose into the line to guarantee I did not get thrown out into the tree, but my line was all wrong and I got thrown out to the left hand side but I kept my cool and just slammed on the brakes and luckily enough I stopped before the tree. My heart was racing because I never hit the bombhole this fast in my life and for the first time I got air out of it. I then had a chat with my friend to tell me were I went wrong. He showed me his line and I gathered the courage and hit again using his line.
This time I came out of it flying with lots of air and kept the bike under control. The feeling this tome was greater than previous by ten fold.We then decided to head to the log jump. This was the second last section in the track. I usually hit the right hand side of the log jump because it is the smaller side and is easier to control when landing but today I felt like I would be able to control the left hand side. I just hit it flat out and hoped for the best, I landed it perfect carrying my speed out of it and just sprinted to next section, (the hump back jump section) I hit the hump with some authority and lifted of it. The landing was very narrow which left little room for mistake. I landed my bike on the front wheel, really smooth and just carried my speed through the rest of the section. I then went back to the top to spectate. Next up to hit the jump was my friends little brother. This was his first time up benevenagh and he hit the jump like he was up here every weekend, he came flying off the jump and to the end of the section were he forgot to use his brakes to slow down and just flew of a five foot drop off in between a lot of trees into a wee stream. This was the first time anything like this had happened and my sides were sore laughing that much. After we stopped laughing we dug him and his bike out of the stream. It is fair to assume that this was his last time in Ballycarton.

This was first time I really tried to push myself on my bike, but ever since then I have been hitting new lines, building new section and jumps and trying to hit the lines I normally hit faster. It was such a good day because of my friends and this will always be the most memorable experience on my bike.

Ticket2RideBC Ltd started operations in 2003 inspired by the diversity of riding, lifestyle and culture of the mountain biking community in Whistler, BC. Over the past 2 years under the guidance of Scott Lanzi, the company has evolved exponentially and now offers a whole array of holiday packages including all inclusive 5 day tours, bespoke fully guided holidays, season stays as well as custom trips. We have a large cast of guides and a fleet of vehicles waiting to rise to your occasion. All of the trips are designed for the mountain bike enthusiast, newbie to advanced.

It’s your holiday so let them take the strain and organise it for you. They will look after your every riding whim, show you the best trails, teach you new skills or let you loose to do your own thing. Whatever your choice you’ll achieve something special in Whistler.

Our lead guides are qualified Canadian Mountain bike Instructors (CMIC) some from the UK and some living locally in Whistler. They've been doing this for a number of years - and with this experience comes local trail knowledge.

Also this summer, Ticket2RideBC will have Irish local lad Glyn O'Brien on hand all summer, living, guiding and as he'll be holding his First Tracks Guiding from Ticket to Ride Headquarters.

T2RBC are passionate about mountain biking and having fun. We know the best local trails in and around Whistler,Pemberton & Squamish so we will ensure you get the riding you came for and lots of it. We're not one of those last minute slapstick holiday companies trying to cash in on the new Whistler riding 'phenomenon' either - we moved here for the riding years ago and our motivations remain the same.

We ride & have ridden for years in the UK too - our guides range from XC national champs to DH racers - we understand UK riders and how you can make the most of your holiday in Canada.

T2RBC are also the Iron Horse official North American demo/rental centre for 2005.

IrishDH.com and Ticket2RideBC would like to thank everyone who entered into the draw, from far and near, and would like to congratulate Martin on his trip - we know he'll have an amazing time!

For more information on Ticket2Ride click HERE