Taking my Hyrax to Whistler?

[Renier]

1 hour ago, Jewbacca said:

I'd rent a DH bike while there

We simply don't have the same level of steeps and features in SA to understand fatigue and constantly being on the edge

It also eliminated the hassle of transporting a bike safely across the globe and will give you peace of mind that you will be on a suitable bike 

But up to you. 

That's a fair point, we don't have those kinds of descents around here, especially riding around the Tygerberg. The trails here are fun, but really not very technical, aside from Contermanskloof's harder trails.

My issue is just the cost of hiring. If it's R1500 a day, that adds up very quickly, so it may be worth investigating buying a DH whilst I'm in the States and have time to look around before I go up to Whistler.

[Jewbacca]

26 minutes ago, Renier said:

That's a fair point, we don't have those kinds of descents around here, especially riding around the Tygerberg. The trails here are fun, but really not very technical, aside from Contermanskloof's harder trails.

My issue is just the cost of hiring. If it's R1500 a day, that adds up very quickly, so it may be worth investigating buying a DH whilst I'm in the States and have time to look around before I go up to Whistler.

Absolutely. Or take the Hyrax, ride the valley and surrounds and hire a DH bike for the 3 or 4 times you actually ride the big stuff in the park?

Either way, it's an amazing trip and you want to enjoy it

Working out the best way to do so is always tricky

[TitusTi]

Stating the obvious here, Tygerberg != Whistler.

The run from the top lift back down can be upwards of 30 minutes depending on how you stick it together. We do not have those types of trails to ride here, it can be quite relentless. Added to that a Whistler XC bike is 140 rear, 150 front.

[splat]

1 hour ago, Renier said:

So, it looks like anything upward of R1500 a day, which is pretty steep if I do a 2 week trip.

Sounds like an awesome trip!

Do you think that you will ride every day for 2 weeks ?

[TitusTi]

And for clarity, not trying to put you off, trying to make sure that you know what to expect to enjoy the ever living hell out of what I can only describe as adult Disneyland. 

I have been a few times, it is phenomenal fun. 

Oh, make sure you have hard shell pads, knee and shin at least.

[Renier]

4 hours ago, MintSauce said:

I get the comments that say not enough bike and take a DH bike.

Before you do, the question that needs to be asked is what is your intention? Whenever most people think of Whistler, they only think of the park and the lifts.

If you're only going to ride the park, then I would agree on taking a DH bike. However, if you've not ridden outside of SA, then the riding outside the park will BLOW. YOUR. MIND! It's so far beyond what we have here.

If I were to go again, I would take an adequate bike i.e your Hyrax. That gives you the perfect bike for the stuff outside the park and you can use it to get acquainted with the park. There are tons of amazing trails in the park well within the Hyrax's ability. Once you know your way around, hire a DH bike for 2-4 days to hit the properly gnarly stuff.

This is coming from someone that spent 3 weeks in Whistler on a 130/125mm travel bike many moons ago.

I'd definitely want to try some other riding, too. Most of my riding has been in the Western Cape to date and that said, not even that much of it, so I will likely be blown away by how different it is. So far I've only ever drooled about riding in areas like that.

[Renier]

13 hours ago, splat said:

Sounds like an awesome trip!

Do you think that you will ride every day for 2 weeks ?

Well, I'd like to ride every day, but I doubt that my body will be able to keep that up 😂.

I'll probably take a rest day here and there.

[PhilipV]

Whistler isn’t the only park in North America. While you are in the USA you can hit up up Silverstar as well, and probably some parks I haven’t even heard of. 

[Duane_Bosch]

I've not done Whistler but I've done Morzine and the surrounding parks 9 or 10 times.

My 2c

1. If You're going late the trails will be rough with lots of braking bumps which means your body is going to take a beating. Take anti inflams. 1 in the morning 2 in the afternoon.

2. try to build up hand strength beforehand. Those hand strengthener goodies always worked for me

3. I'd highly recommend renting or buying a dh bike. Remember all of your altitude gain is free so riding a big DH rig doesn't come at a huge physical cost. Also when you get fatigued and start making mistakes a DH bike is way more forgiving. Something with VERY GOOD brakes. You can ride a 160mm bike but you want to be on a big bike. Especially if it's your first trip. You'll pick up something 2nd hand for not much money.

4. The youtube vids DO NOT do justice to the steepness of the trails and the size of the jumps. A Line will be quite challenging for a virgin Sa rider. The jumps on there are likely to be the biggest you've ever ridden. The trails are color coded so slowly work your way via the easier trails to A Line. If you just try send A Line on day 1 you'll likely hurt yourself.

5. Ride within yourself and finish the trip. You're on holiday not trying out for Rampage. You'll see loads of day 1 hero's with broken arms sucking beers while their mates are having the time of their life hitting laps. Don't be one of those guys.

6. Try your best to take it all in. You might never go back.

*Edit

7. don't turn your nose up to the easier trails. The easy trails are the most fun ones. The worst green trail over there is likely to be way better than the best trail you've ever ridden here. Especially as you got to the top of it on a ski lift taking in amazing views and chatting to some like minded people.

8. These trips are the most fun with a crew of mates. Try to go with friends or try to make new ones when you are there and ride with them. Most people are super friendly and are happy to ride with a tag along. On our various trips we've often spent the day riding and having a beer afterwards with a total stranger.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Duane_Bosch

[Paul Ruinaard]

Having ridden there - simply put - hire there. Bikes are top quality and are new. You can hire everything. Just pre book as it gets busy. You can hire DH, Enduro etc as long as you plan. 

FWIW those runs are long and if you dont start to panic on your first ride up the lift when it starts to get steep you aren't normal. Also once you descend - the length of the trip down is just much longer than anything i have experienced in SA. Wrist pump etc, you will be shattered unless you are a DH beast...

Enjoy

[Renier]

53 minutes ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I've not done Whistler but I've done Morzine and the surrounding parks 9 or 10 times.

My 2c

1. If You're going late the trails will be rough with lots of braking bumps which means your body is going to take a beating. Take anti inflams. 1 in the morning 2 in the afternoon.

2. try to build up hand strength beforehand. Those hand strengthener goodies always worked for me

3. I'd highly recommend renting or buying a dh bike. Remember all of your altitude gain is free so riding a big DH rig doesn't come at a huge physical cost. Also when you get fatigued and start making mistakes a DH bike is way more forgiving. Something with VERY GOOD brakes. You can ride a 160mm bike but you want to be on a big bike. Especially if it's your first trip. You'll pick up something 2nd hand for not much money.

4. The youtube vids DO NOT do justice to the steepness of the trails and the size of the jumps. A Line will be quite challenging for a virgin Sa rider. The jumps on there are likely to be the biggest you've ever ridden. The trails are color coded so slowly work your way via the easier trails to A Line. If you just try send A Line on day 1 you'll likely hurt yourself.

5. Ride within yourself and finish the trip. You're on holiday not trying out for Rampage. You'll see loads of day 1 hero's with broken arms sucking beers while their mates are having the time of their life hitting laps. Don't be one of those guys.

6. Try your best to take it all in. You might never go back.

*Edit

7. don't turn your nose up to the easier trails. The easy trails are the most fun ones. The worst green trail over there is likely to be way better than the best trail you've ever ridden here. Especially as you got to the top of it on a ski lift taking in amazing views and chatting to some like minded people.

8. These trips are the most fun with a crew of mates. Try to go with friends or try to make new ones when you are there and ride with them. Most people are super friendly and are happy to ride with a tag along. On our various trips we've often spent the day riding and having a beer afterwards with a total stranger.

Thanks, this is super good feedback 🙂.

Unfortunately, I'll by going by my lonesome, so I'll have to make some friends there.

When you say hand strengthener goodies, do you mean those spring type things that you can clenched your hands on?

I'm terms of buying something in the states or Canada, other than pinkbike, where can I look?

 

[Baracuda]

14 minutes ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I've not done Whistler but I've done Morzine and the surrounding parks 9 or 10 times.

My 2c

1. You're going late so the trails will be rough with lots of braking bumps which means your body is going to take a beating. Take anti inflams. 1 in the morning 2 in the afternoon.

2. try to build up hand strength beforehand. Those hand strengthener goodies always worked for me

3. I'd highly recommend renting or buying a dh bike. Remember all of your altitude gain is free so riding a big DH rig doesn't come at a huge physical cost. Also when you get fatigued and start making mistakes a DH bike is way more forgiving. Something with VERY GOOD brakes. You can ride a 160mm bike but you want to be on a big bike. Especially if it's your first trip.

4. The youtube vids DO NOT do justice to the steepness of the trails and the size of the jumps. A Line will be quite challenging for a virgin Sa rider. The jumps on there are likely to be the biggest you've ever ridden. The trails are color coded so slowly work your way via the easier trails to A Line. If you just try send A Line on day 1 you'll likely hurt yourself.

5. Ride within yourself and finish the trip. You're on holiday not trying out for Rampage. You'll see loads of day 1 hero's with broken arms sucking beers while their mates are having the time of their life hitting laps. Don't be one of those guys.

6. Try your best to take it all in. You might never go back.

I have done a few weeks in Morzine and surrounding bike parks that are similar to Whistler and can't but reiterate the advice above many times over.

Just to add - the schlep and cost of getting your own bike there, flights costs, shuttle costs, services before, services after, new tires, brake pads, ... when you work it out, is pretty similar to hiring a DH bike or freeride bike there. What I did not realize before is that you fit more than a year of SA riding into a week. Here we ride tokai etc once or twice a week, say 4-6 downhill runs a month on average. In Morzine, you do 8-12 long runs a day. So you will accumulate a year+ of wear and tear on your bike in a week. I go through a set of tires in a year here, last year in Morzine, I went through new DHFs on a rental bike in a week.

This amount of riding obviously requires next level hand strength and upper body strength. It is a different kind of fitness to SA riding. Hand strengthening, push-ups, sit-ups, swimming, rowing-machine etc.

Invest in protection, knees, elbows, arms, shoulders, hips and a full face helmet. The rental stuff is not the most comfortable, but is often cheap and often just comes with the rental bike.

Shop around on the bike rentals, if one spends a little time and book a few months in advance, one can save quite a bit.

Lastly, as noted above, start slow and ride within yourself. Take a day or two to get your eye in and to get the suspension dialed.

But jealous as hell, hope you have a fantastic trip

 

 

 

[Duane_Bosch]

28 minutes ago, Renier said:

Thanks, this is super good feedback 🙂.

Unfortunately, I'll by going by my lonesome, so I'll have to make some friends there.

When you say hand strengthener goodies, do you mean those spring type things that you can clenched your hands on?

I'm terms of buying something in the states or Canada, other than pinkbike, where can I look?

 

It's no worries going on your own. You'll make friends quickly. just be a friendly saffer. And legit ask a crew of similar ability. Hey I'm here on my own. Can I ride with you guys?

Yes those spring loaded boys. I start using that about 6 months out to try and build up hand strength. Also on the topic of hands. Don't buy new gloves. Rather take nicely worn in gloves that you know won't give you blisters.

I'd also suggest riding with a hydration pack that has a built in back protector. That takes care of 3 things. Water, spares, protection

Can't help you in that last one. 

On the riding. Don't just send a trail blind. The trails do turn into a blur of fun but do at least 1 sighting lap before you bam a trail. Also if you do stop on trail pull right off. You NEVER stop in the trail. Ever.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Duane_Bosch

[Duane_Bosch]

19 minutes ago, Baracuda said:

 

Just to add - the schlep and cost of getting your own bike there, flights costs, shuttle costs, services before, services after, new tires, brake pads, ... when you work it out, is pretty similar to hiring a DH bike or freeride bike there. What I did not realize before is that you fit more than a year of SA riding into a week. Here we ride tokai etc once or twice a week, say 4-6 downhill runs a month on average. In Morzine, you do 8-12 long runs a day. So you will accumulate a year+ of wear and tear on your bike in a week. I go through a set of tires in a year here, last year in Morzine, I went through new DHFs on a rental bike in a week.

 

I've always taken my own MTB but on my last roadie trip with my wife we rented and the convenience was great. Just arrive and pick up your bike. No lugging huge boxes around. No stressing whether your bike will actually arrive.

And yes. The wear and tear is unbelievable. a standard day in Morz (6000m of descending) is 50 runs at Paarl. I imagine whistler will be similar.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Duane_Bosch

[Renier]

53 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Having ridden there - simply put - hire there. Bikes are top quality and are new. You can hire everything. Just pre book as it gets busy. You can hire DH, Enduro etc as long as you plan. 

FWIW those runs are long and if you dont start to panic on your first ride up the lift when it starts to get steep you aren't normal. Also once you descend - the length of the trip down is just much longer than anything i have experienced in SA. Wrist pump etc, you will be shattered unless you are a DH beast...

Enjoy

Thanks, I saw online that you also get discount of you pre book.

[Baracuda]

(Lots of last notes ) - but when it comes to bikes, the focus is different to here - it is all about geometry, suspension and brakes. Weight and drive train really don't matter. On my first trip to Morzine, I initially hired a fancy carbon bike, but after the brakes packed up, ended up getting a second rental down the road - an alu Giant  with an arb collection parts on it, but with decent fox suspension and Shimano Saint brakes (and big fat DHF/DHRs). The french dude running the shop made me ride around and bounce off pavements until he was happy my "suspension is balanced". It was brilliant and all that is required for a DH sled.