"Why go uphill when you can go down?" This is how a group of Squamish teens describe their love of racing downhill mountain bikes and their shift from cross-country biking.
Now, after a year with the local team Mad March Racing, the group is competing in their last race of the season and their coaches are reflecting on how their skills have increased.
Twelve athletes race out of Squamish and train with the Mad March Racing camps and group members credits their coach's instruction with their improved skills.
"I go faster now," said Sam Mallet, 15, who trains with the team. "A lot faster. I have also learned how to ride lines."
Jeremy Allouche, 17, said training with the camps has allowed his biking to be taken to another level in terms of speed."I learned turning, looking ahead, lines, and jumping," he said. "Basically, the essentials of going fast."
Many of the athletes started as cross-country riders and found the switch to downhill racing a no brainer.
"I couldn't find the inspiration to ride my bike uphill when I could just go up in a truck and go down" said Harrison Gould, 17, who currently sports a broken leg gained after abandoning a biking bridge obstacle and getting his leg caught between the planks.
Miranda Miller, 16, the women's Junior National Champion said she enjoys the sport because of its independence where competitors race the same 3 to 6 minute courses at separate intervals, with the fastest time winning.
"It is you against the clock," she said.
"And the clock doesn't lie," added Allouche
Former National Champion Mike Jones and World-Cup competitor Shaums March know about racing the clock and as the team's coaches they are hoping to pass the information on to their protégés.
Describing his switch to coaching, Jones said: "I still love racing but it came to the point that it wasn't the only thing I wanted to do. We have a vast knowledge about the sport and we saw that there was a need for it in Squamish, and as a result the kids really enjoy it and they have got a lot out of it."
Jones said he has seen a big shift in the mental toughness of his athletes.
"We noticed at the beginning, kids were not necessarily setting goals and there was not a lot of conscious reason for being there," he said. "Now the kids are still having fun but are consciously doing things to go faster. They have more self-awareness and more responsibility at the races."
March, who is based in Squamish but, along with Jones, takes the mountain bike training camps he developed all over North America, said the locally based athletes are the future of the sport in Canada.
"We would like to see Squamish pump out national champs," he said. "We already have done that with Miranda Miller but we want to have more and we have the community, the trails and location to do that."
March also recently became a father and said he sees himself as a role model to youth he coaches as well as their parents.
"I have shown parents that mountain biking can support a family and it can be a career. I am hoping to use some of these kids for coaching roles in the future, " he said. "With training for the races, the kids have had improvement with their self esteem. They are more responsible - a lot of them have their [driver's] licenses coming up and they realize that is important for getting to races or going up to Whistler to train. A lot of them also have jobs so they can pay for what they want to do."
Next weekend, the athletes will compete at the Island Triple Throwdown: BC Cup Finals at Mount Washington and March said the experience would be another confidence booster.
"The kids get to see how talented they are and they are able to impress themselves," he said. "I think they are realizing the training they do today will help them in the future. We are opening their eyes to the rest of the world."
Mad March racing start their skill sessions this fall. For more information visit . Or call Camp Administrator Dave Hord at 604-849-0076 or Mike Jones at 604-898-2250.
