To make big jumps while pedal biking you just need experience and confidence.
That’s the consensus of the pedal bikers who came out to 100 Mile House’s Slopeline Bike Park for the annual T10 Fall Bike Jam. Once you figure out how to land a jump adding in flips and tricks is just a matter of practice.
The T10 Fall Bike Jam, organized by Slopeline’s founder Dalton Anderson, is held every year in memory of Tyler Tenning. It attracts dozens of riders from across the province to the park which was built and maintained by local riders.
“It’s awesome because we don’t usually get that stuff in 100 Mile. No one actually wanted to build a bike park but then there was this one guy named Dalton who actually built one and got a lot of people coming out and having a good time,” regular Slopeline biker Colton Sanford said.
Sanford, 18, who has been riding since he was 13, said Anderson has been a big inspiration and mentor for him. The fact the Slopeline has been built with just a hand and a shovel still remains crazy to him, even after he’s helped build some of the jumps.
Anderson himself is humble about his contributions and said he just built the park for people to ride and have a good time. He and his friends will spend their evenings at the park tweaking and improving it to give it a better flow and its users more air time when they launch off the ramps.
READ MORE: Riders catch some air at T-10 Bike Jam
“It’s awesome seeing people come out to enjoy the place and it’s pretty cool to share it,” Anderson said. “I’ve been pedal biking here for seven years and I enjoy just having a good time with all my friends.”
Sanford agreed and said it’s “pretty cool” to come out and ride with all “the boys.”
Mitch Wilden has been working on the Slopeline and riding with Anderson since they were both in high school. Wilden said the park was originally intended to be a temporary set for a film contest they were entering.
“It was one jump line for the film and that was going to be it but then a bunch of people started finding it and were really into it. So we’d just thought we’d keep it and make it grow.”
Seeing how big the park has become since is “crazy” to Wilden. Now that he and Anderson are both in their mid-20s, he figures they’ll eventually grow out of the place and pass the park down to the younger generation of riders like Sanford. The lesson he’s taken from pedal biking is that if you have the determination to make something happen, it will.
Kelowna’s Oliver Cole came down early last week to help put the finishing touches on the jumps, which he said involved a lot of shovels and packing dirt.
Cole said he only got into pedal biking two years ago and before that enjoyed downhill mountain biking. The key to his success when he makes jumps is just “to chill out” and let the jumps do the work.
“I just get to forget about everything else. You’re in the zone and it’s like nothing else matters when you’re on the bike,” Cole said. “You also get to meet so many sick people and everyone can connect over such a sick sport.”
Anderson said they have lines set up for children and beginners and always welcome new people.
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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