Mike Truelove has welded thousands of mountain bike frames (over 1,000 for Chromag alone!) and, though some things stay the same, seen a lot of changes along the way. We are very excited to be joined by Mike this month to learn more about the bikes we ride and the evolution of mountain bike design!
Event begins at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 ($5 for Museum or Club Shred members) and are available at the Whistler Museum or over the phone at 604-932-2019.
There will be limited tickets available for in-person Speaker Series in accordance with the capacity of the Whistler Museum. Speaker Series events will also be streamed live – contact us to register for the livestream at 604-932-2019 or events @ whistlermuseum.org.
Summers in Whistler may be known for mountain biking today, but in the 1980s the sport was still young and Whistler was in the process of building its reputation as a site for races and events.
The first recorded mountain bike race in Whistler was held on June 20, 1982 and was organized by Jon Kirk. The race had few rules and lots of confusion. According to Jacob Heilbron, who came in third, the race may have been called the Canadian Championship, but, with no governing body for mountain bike racing in Canada until 1984, it would not have been officially sanctioned. The course began with a literal running start and some competitors switched between mountain and road bikes throughout the course.
Competitors cross a bridge in the 1982 race. Whistler Question Collection, 1982.
By the mid 1980s, some of the races held in Whistler looked a little different from that first race. In 1985, Whistler hosted the BMX World Championships, which brought 680 riders from fourteen different countries to the resort still finding its way out of a recession. Unlike the earlier Canadian Championship, this race was associated with the International BMX Federation. Whistler also hosted the 1986 North American BMX Championships and CanAm Freestyle BMX Challenge, but the Whistler Question reported that the races were hampered by wet weather and poor turnout.
A team of BMX freestyler cyclists added to the weekend’s festivities and gave Whistler just a taste of what things will be like here next summer when the BMX World Championships come to town in 1985. Two young performers on BMX bikes travelled from Pitt Meadows to represent the Lynx factory team. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.
The CanAm Mountain Bike Challenge, which was hosted on Whistler Mountain on July 5 & 6, 1986, did not have the same challenges. Over 70 racers entered the mountain race on the Saturday and the valley criterium race on the Sunday, with sunny but not hot conditions for both.
The mountain course followed an access road up to the Roundhouse (a climb of 1,200 m over 7 km) and then descended back to the valley. While those competing in the expert category completed the same course as the pro racers, those in the “sportsmen” category cycled only as far as midstation and then rode the Red Chair up to the top. The 40km criterium course took competitors on laps around the Lost Lake trail system.
Competitors appear to have enjoyed the Whistler Mountain course, comparing it favourably to the course in Crested Butte, CO. Jeff Norman, who raced for the Schwinn team, described it as “smoother,” while Tod Switzer of Ross Bicycles told the Question, “It’s much faster. Crested Butte is rocky and rutted. It’s definitely better here. I had a lot more fun.” Racers also commented on how their tires could hold on to the soil during the climb. One racer, upon crossing the finish line, even jumped off his bike to exclaim, “I like it, I like it, I like it!”
Paul Rawlinson cycles up the mountain during the Cheakamus Challenge a few years after the CanAm Mountain Bike Challenge. Whistler Question Collection, 1992.
By the end of the weekend, American teams for manufacturers such as Ross, Schwinn and Fisher had dominated the pro categories, taking home the cash prizes on offer. Despite this, Whistler riders were well represented in the expert and sportsmen categories. Merve Stalkie took first place in the expert category of the mountain race, followed closely by Paul Rawlinson, also of Whistler. Whistler rider Sharon Bishop came fifth in the women’s category and Eric Gunderson of Whistler took first in the sportsmen category.
The CanAm Mountain Bike Challenge marked the end of Whistler’s “Fat Tire Week,” which had begun with the BMX Championships. At the closing ceremony, president of the National Off Road Bicycle Association Glen O’Dell challenged Canadian racers to do better. O’Dell also hinted at Whistler’s future, referring to Whistler as “a mecca for the new sport.”
Crafts in the Park is back! Each week we partner with the Whistler Public Library to present a story and craft in Florence Petersen Park. This year’s theme is “When I Was In Whistler, I Saw…” and each week will feature a different animal, activity or object that could be seen in Whistler, either in the present or in the past!
Crafts in the Park runs on Wednesdays from 11am-noon. It is a drop-in program for all children ages 4-12, with a chaperone present.
Week 1: July 10
Have you ever seen a beaver in Whistler? In making their home in the valley, beavers made dams along waterways and changed the landscape for many years to come. Many of the rivers and streams in Whistler are still the way they are because of beavers. For our first craft, we’ll be creating cone beavers and paper bag dams.
Week 2: July 17
Traveling to Whistler became a lot easier in 1914 with the arrival of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Instead of 3 days, the trek from Vancouver now took about 9 hours (still a lot longer than we’re used to today). The railway had a major influence on making Whistler a popular resort destination, and we’ll be making our very own train engines in any colours you want.
Week 3: July 24
For this week, we’ll be collaborating with the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre to make animal headbands!
Week 4: July 31
Alta Lake became a popular fishing destination in 1914 and people caught many different kinds of fish. Just like those early visitors, we’ll be making our own mini fishing rods and fish. You’ll even be able to catch these fish with your rod, and fish can be designed however you want!
Week 5: August 7
Before the train came to Whistler, it took 3 days to reach Alta lake. The first day was spent on a steamboat from Vancouver to Squamish, and from there you would have to walk all the to Whistler, accompanied by a pack horse. When fishing lodges began opening on Alta Lake, some lodges kept stables and would take guests on rides around the valley. This week we’ll be making our very own horse, who can stand all by itself! For ambitious crafters, we’ll also be making clothespin riders.
Week 6: August 14
Sailing has been popular in Whistler for over 100 years and Alta Lake residents enjoyed taking all kids of boats out in the summer. We’ll be making our own sailboats out of sponges, corks and paper. Just like real boats, these really do float!
Week 7: August 21
While Whistler is very well known for its winter sports, in the summer mountain biking takes over the town. This week we’ll be making pipe-cleaner bikes and bikers!
Week 8: August 28
Downhill skiing came to Whistler in the 1960s and has been wildly popular ever since. Snowboarding was introduced to the hills in the 1980s, and now both sports are found on the mountains each winter. We’ll be making our very own skiers and snowboarders this week, as we look forward to another snowy winter!
Over the last week or so, the Whistler Museum hosted various events as part of our fourth annual Mountain Bike Heritage Week, including a Post-Toonie Retro Bike Show & Shine, a bike maintenance course, a film screening of Ride to the Hills, and talks on the Cheakamus Challenge and bike manufacturing in Whistler. We’d like to thank everyone who helped with this year’s Mountain Bike Heritage week and all of our amazing sponsors. With all of this going, it’s no surprise that biking got a little stuck in our heads.
Usually when we discuss the history of mountain biking, we look at events, races and the growing popularity of the sport. Reading through press clippings from the Squamish Citizen and the Whistler Question from the 1980s, however, a large portion of the reporting on biking covers accidents, injuries and growing concerns for safety.
Constable F. Pinnock runs through the bike safety testing course that he and Constable Gabriel of Pemberton set up at Myrtle Philip Elementary. Contrary to the advise of medical professionals, Pinnock seems to have forgotten to put on a helmet. Whistler Question Collection, 1981.
A July 1986 article in the Citizen reported on two separate accidents two days apart, both of which caused serious injuries. In one, a Whistler resident and a Maple Ridge resident collided on the bike path along Nita Lake, resulting in a broken hand and possible concussion for the Maple Ridge resident. The other claimed that a resident of North Vancouver “lost control of her rented bicycle and careened into a tree,” causing a broken leg and another possible concussion. Both injured parties were transported to Vancouver.
The RCMP received many complaints of bikers not following the rules of the road and particularly urged riders to carry lights when riding in the dark. In June 1987, a cyclist was reported to have struck an unidentified object while riding on Highway 99 and was transported to Vancouver for surgery for sever facial injuries. In an effort to encourage the use of lights, the RCMP began ticketing cyclists who didn’t have any, many of whom were shocked to receive a $75 fine.
By May 1987, it would seem bike accidents were so numerous in Whistler that the Whistler Ambulance Chief Jeff Sopel made a statement appealing to cyclists to “use common sense when using the Valley Trail.” Part of his appeal included a call to wear helmets and to be aware of their location in case an ambulance had to be called.
These helmets look suspiciously like they may also be used when skiing. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.
The Whistler Medical Clinic, then located in the basement of Municipal Hall, saw quite a bit of business from cyclists over the summer of 1987. Dr. Ron Stanley collected data from all the bicycle accidents that passed through the clinic between May and September and found that about 50 per cent of the accidents resulted in road lacerations or abrasions (also described as “Road rash – very painful”), 30 per cent caused head and/or facial injuries, 15 per cent resulted in fractures of some kind, 15 per cent of the injuries were serious enough to require a transfer to Vancouver, and 15 per cent of the accidents occurred while the rider was drunk or impaired.
According to Dr. Stanley, there was no obvious pattern to the incidents, which occurred all over Whistler on both roads and trails. He echoed Sopel’s call, urging riders to use common sense and wear helmets, also adding that wearing adequate clothing (such as shirts, shoes and gloves) would help prevent road rash and noted that the majority of serious injuries occurred when the rider was impaired.
Bike decorating contests for the children of Whistler often accompanied the safety demonstrations put on by the RCMP. Even ET made an appearance. Whistler Question Collection, 1983.
Mountain biking as a sport and bike safety in general have come a long way in the decades since the 1980s (as has the Whistler Medical Clinic, which moved out of the basement and into its current facility in 1994). One thing we’ve learned from talking about biking all week, however, is that the advise of Sopel and Dr. Stanley still applies today: use common sense and wear your helmet.
