Pre-Ride Ritual: A Ballad Of Belonging

Story and photos by Dylan Sherrard. 

There’s really no need to chase that first chair.

The trails are going to be here all day. And it’s not like the powder’s going to be tracked out, right? Because in the Bike Park, the pace is truly yours to set, and that pace often begins with a pour. It’s that first sip feeling when the coffee hits the table, signaling the shred is about to begin.

The ‘Après ride’ is a love story as old as time, but some of us romanticize the wind-up…

The pre-ride ritual, if you will. A chance to let the stoke percolate, while strategizing the perfect lap to be stacked from the singletrack charcuterie board that we call the trail map. 

Everyone's got a flavor, and Sun Peaks offers so much to mix and match. Whether you like it steep and smooth, and pure and piping hot. 

Maybe we can start with a little low angle tech, tickling our grips through wild flowers on Cat Trax. Or perhaps bounding along the bedrock and berms that shape up as Barn Burner.

From there we could wander across to something that takes a little less thinking about where our tires are touching. Bermalade for pure turning bliss, or Canada Line for stacking the side hits.

 Either one slides nicely into Holy Rollers for that singletrack sensation of forgetting we’re even in a Bike Park. And if flow really is the flavor of the day, why not rally the remainder of Bermalade to lose count of the turns and floating feelings. 

Brew it your own way. But no matter the route, the goal is always the same. Blending that perfect balance of spice, speed, and flow… sipping and pondering on it slowly. 

Because it isn’t just about the trails. Somedays it’s the hundreds of decisions perfectly made in curating the ride. That ride comes and goes, and the après is all-time. But the pre-ride ritual is when the next best lap truly begins. 

A Ballad of Belonging. Short stories of the moments that define our ride.