Jim Tremblay does not consider himself an adrenalin junkie, but some could think that, he says.
“I find that I just feel more free and at ease if I’m on two wheels. The whole stress of the day disappears within a hundred yards of riding down the trail,” he says.
When most people in the city are winding down for the evening, Tremblay and members of West Coast Mountain Bike Meetup Group gather at the base of Burnaby Mountain Tuesday evenings to gear up for a night ride.
Helmets, gloves and working lights are a must, Tremblay says. Some wear shin guards and elbow pads, but not him.
“I find it a bit restrictive and hot. I’ll take my chances on getting a bit cut up maybe if I crash,” he says.
'It's magical'
Tremblay has been mountain biking for over 30 years. He bought his first bike in the mid-’80s, a green 18-speed Nishiki for little over $400. Today he rides a grey Pivot Mach 5.7 with a carbon fibre frame, six inches of suspension in the front and back, 30 gears and speeds, and a hefty price tag at nearly $5,000 new in 2014.
“When I think about when I started riding, the bikes were not capable of managing the terrain like today,” Tremblay says. “The old days when they didn’t have much suspension, they would bang you and throw you all over the place.”
He started riding at night in the ’90s when he read about it in cycling magazines. After working until 5 or 6 p.m., in the winter especially, he said riding at night was a chance to extend the biking season. Apart from the hour of the day and wearing a headlight, there is something different about riding at night, Tremblay says.
“I would say almost romantic, but that’s not the right term for it: it’s peaceful, it’s magical,” he says. “It’s just something special about night riding, especially on a night when it’s a clear sky, the moon is out … the moonlight on the snow on the trails.”
Extending the season
Charles Koehler also rides with the meetup group. He has been mountain biking since the ’80s and night biking since the ’90s.
He says biking at night, in Canada where winter days can be short, gives him the chance to extend the biking season. For Koehler, biking at night is about convenience, camaraderie and exercise.
“I don’t find it scary or intimidating or anything. I’ve been doing it long enough and (I am) experienced enough,” he says. “It’s a different experience. You have to hold off a little bit, (be) a little more cautious, but for me it’s just socializing and fitness.
“Being out on the trails and slipping and sliding through the mud, the roots and the rocks, breathing in the fresh air, getting all muddy: it’s just fun.”
Extreme sport
Mountain biking – riding off-road on trails and in rough terrain – is considered an extreme sport.
Nicole’s Trail on Burnaby Mountain is rated black diamond: the second highest difficulty rating for bike trails. Rugged and technical, it has steep drop-offs upward of 24 inches, rocky terrain, exposed tree roots and wooden ramps and bridges.
“If you crash you’re in a natural environment, you’re in a forest. There’s rocks, there’s tree roots. Trees don’t move when you hit them, very easily,” Tremblay laughs.
After years of riding, the trails become so familiar that riding at night does not seem as dangerous anymore, he says. But this is still an extreme sport.
“The only thing I’ve ever encountered in the trails, and it was (at) Burnaby Mountain, was a low-hanging branch,” Tremblay says.
“A tree had fallen across the trail, but it was high, and I hit my head on it. At night you don’t see up into the trees very high because you like to use your focus on the trails.
“I just banged my head and went home.”
For Tremblay, biking at night is really just about exercise. His wife Laura Stearns thinks the biking is good for him.
“When you first think of it, it sounds scary. But once you do it, you realize it’s not,” Stearns says.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re biking during the day or at night,” she says. “You can get hurt doing almost anything that’s fun and active.”
