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Words: Anthony Bousaetta
Another big ride, another long article. And I still find it much harder to write than to ride. And the documentary coming soon is adding to the pressure.
Where can I start with this one? After last year’s Triple Triple Crown https://www.pinkbike.com/news/completing-the-north-shore-triple-triple-10500-meters-of-climbing-260-kilometers-and-40-hours-of-riding.html, I had a lot of people asking me “what’s next?” I didn’t know what was next or even if I wanted to do another big ride, but then remembered these challenges are to help me discover a bit more about myself, mentally and physically. To help find and push my limits, and to see how it feels to start something that I have no idea if I can complete. Something I could not have imagined a few years ago. I needed something to focus on, that would force me to continue my work on myself and improve not only physically, but especially mentally. Step by step, or pedal stroke by pedal stroke I would say.
I said I wouldn’t do a ride bigger than the Triple Triple (10500m elevation and 260km). In the end, the metrics of this ride were similar, but the project and the goal itself this year were waayyy bigger. And a lot comes with it.
Last year’s ride was my way to redirect negative thoughts and behaviours onto a different path. I hit a new low, and decided to jump upwards from that point. How I got there is still not the most important part of the story, as it’s a complex combination of many personal things. What is important is how I use these big rides to find positivity and keep the ball, or the wheel in this case, rolling to recognize and redirect past patterns that I want to change. Last year’s ride also helped me as I was able to share my thoughts, my process, and why I did this ride with others. It brought about different conversations during and after the ride, which was refreshing. I found that I got more positivity out of it than I imagined I would. So, I decided to step it up for 2022.
And what better way than sharing my journey linking 10 mountains in one ride around Vancouver to keep the wheel rolling for a good long time? We say we live in the Sea to Sky, well let’s connect them then.
I planned to link Squamish – Britannia Beach – Sunshine Coast – Bowen Island – Cypress Mountain – Grouse Mountain – Seymour Mountain – SFU/Burnaby Mountain – Eagle Mountain – Burke Mountain.
Non-stop.
No sleep.
No car.
Only my bike…and a boat for the first four mountains!
I would only ride down MTB trails of course. I mean, I still do it for the fun!!!
I would start by night in Squamish. Ride to the top of the Diamond Head trails, then pedal back to town to take a private boat to Britannia Beach. Ride up to the top of the Britannia trails, and back down to the boat. Then take a hired boat to the Sunshine Coast and hike-a-bike to the top of Mt Elphinstone. Next, back in the boat to Bowen Island to climb to the top of Mt Gardner (yes, another hike-a-bike) and ride down to the Ferry. After a short Ferry ride, I would do what I call the Reverse Triple Crown. Starting from Horseshoe Bay, climb to the top of Cypress and ride back down some of the newly sanctioned trails (thanks NSMBA!), through the edge of the British Properties and across the Capilano dam. Then up to the top of Grouse Mountain ski resort via the BCMC hiking trail (a big 850m hike-a-bike) and ride down the classic Fromme trails, crossing over to climb to Seymour Mountain ski resort. From the top of Seymour, ride down to cross the Iron Workers Memorial bridge. Pedal to Burnaby Mountain, up to the top, ride down, pedal over, climb up Massage Therapy on Eagle Mountain, and ride down again. Finally, pedal up the 10th mountain, Burke, and ride down “Triple Crown” on my way to the water to end in Port Moody.
Do you feel lost and exhausted reading this? I felt doubtful planning it but stoked for a good challenge.
I had this idea in my mind only a few weeks after the Triple Triple last year but I kept it to myself for quite a long time. I even came up with a title at the time: The Octopus, because I had eight mountains linked together. But, because I like a challenge, I ended up adding two more mountains. No more ideas for the name, but I was sure one would come at the right time.
I usually keep these rides to myself, create a WhatsApp group the week before and invite some friends to join for some parts if they want. However, this year was a very different project.
At one point in the preparations, I ended up asking for feedback on my plan from Darren Butler from Endless Biking. He suggested that I connect with Gordie Rogers, a talented local filmmaker who wanted to do a documentary about this year’s ride. He wanted to shoot something that showed the mental journey as well as the physical one, and the motivation behind them. After three months of deliberation, I agreed. With Gordie’s help, the project got funded by TELUS and the adventure began.
I remember Gordie asking me how I felt about the ride a few weeks prior and I told him “I’m getting there, I visualized myself doing 75% of it…I’m almost there.”
I’m a visual person. I need to imagine and feel (?) myself doing a feature before actually doing it. I visualized the whole ride. I saw myself at various points throughout the ride, how I would feel on each mountain, how hard each section would be, how sick this or that trail would be, etc. As much as I wanted to keep it positive all the time, I also quietly envisioned scenarios where my bike or myself would have a problem, or the weather would change badly. I prepared mentally; always focusing on a positive outcome as much as possible. Gordie asked me multiple times “what if you don’t finish the ride?” I never answered him. I’ll finish it. Period. No matter what.
It’s really funny how I can be strong and confident on my bike and how my mind can fail with some things in general life. I could say I’m more confident on my bike because I can control almost every aspect to stay confident. In reality, I should be able to control my life the same way as I’m the only one having those thoughts other people’s thoughts shouldn’t interfere in my confidence. However, our brain is built to focus on problems. When we don’t have any, our brain will create one for us to overcome. That’s our nature. Someone said, “Nature is so well made.” Yeah, sure.
THE RIDE:
Mountain #1. Diamond Head, Squamish.
Start of the ride. Friday night, 8pm, Squamish.
I was stoked to start the ride. To start, I had Jonathan (aka Cervo) riding with me for the first two mountains, and the first two cameramen: Gordie and Scott Secco. The only catch was that they all were on e-bikes! But I had prepared myself to be passed 100 times during this ride by the film crew on their e-bikes.
After three minutes they had a problem with one e-bike. After 25 minutes, Scott crashed his drone. Good start guys! After 40 minutes of pedalling, I looked at my watch and saw my heart rate was at 165bpm. I had to ask them to pedal slightly slower or I knew I would risk not finishing the ride.
We went down Birdwire and took the clear-cut option, but I had only ridden the slab line before so we started off with the safe option: riding blind. Well, I thought the clear-cut line was super easy, so I came in faster. Loose dust in steeps at night made for a great moment. The laughs were huge! Good start for an epic.
It was a great first lap! We then rode to the town of Squamish and into the Marina to board the boat. Trevor, the Captain, was there waiting for us. What a weird thing to do, taking a boat in the middle of the night from Squamish to Britannia. I’m so grateful that he agreed to do this.
Mountain #2. Britannia Beach.
We laughed so hard with Cervo the whole way up that the steep climb went easy!
Especially for him, he had tons of battery left in his e-bike. We rode down some steep slabs, we hit some dusty loam, we laughed more, and we finished with his two trails “Minecraft” and “Mine the Gap” to get back to the marina around 3am. I filmed my top tube instead of the trails with the GoPro, but it was great to experience this spot at night. I was ready to take the boat again, but Captain Trevor didn’t want to take the risk by night and told us “we leave at 5am!” Not ideal, but that’s how it is.
I waited while listening to the film crew getting organized and getting sleep-deprived with me. Two lost hours wouldn’t affect my motivation to do this ride.
Mountain #3. Mount Elphinstone, Sunshine Coast
After a magical boat ride along the coast watching the sunrise, my friend Alex was waiting at the dock to join me for this segment. The Mount Elphinstone lap is about 6-7h for 30km and about 1500m elevation total with a steep hike-a-bike.
I don’t have a chance to ride with Alex often but he was so eager to join me. He was a bit concerned about the way down and said in French “it’s way too steep for me but don’t worry, I’m the golden goat,” meaning he’d run what he couldn’t ride. We kept a good pace. He showed me a great new unfinished climbing trail section, but I don’t think I liked it at the time. Thanks for the detour and the souvenirs, mate! We finally peaked Elphinstone, and what a view it was from up there.
Two people from the film crew camped there the night before waiting for us to arrive in the morning. Talk about dedication! Now, time for the fun part with the downhill. Alex practiced his golden goat moves while I was melting my rotors. This is my ideal big ride; riding steep, technical trails at a fun pace.
We came back to the boat with big smiles and good memories, and Captain Trevor was there again waiting for me with a treat from a bakery! Now, en route to Bowen.
Mountain #4. Mount Gardner, Bowen Island
There I would meet Sylvain and Brendan, two more riding buddies, and Scott who was rejoining our group. Next, we headed to the top of Mt Gardner. If you’ve been there, you know how steep the way up is. Well, I thought I’d be walking most of it but we all kept a good pace and stayed on our bikes on the way up. Once we reached the hiking trail, it was another hike-a-bike to the top.
Scott was supposed to stop once we hit the hiking trail, but when I told him about the trail we would ride, he had no choice other than to come with us. I could see his eyes getting bigger just hearing the magic words “loam, steep, fun.”
The view up top was incredible once again. It’s a really good feeling to summit a mountain from sea level. I was stoked to bring some friends up there to show them things they had no clue about. The trail delivered and we didn’t stop much, other than to let Scott take some riding shots on some old freeride stunts. We were still doing that when Gordie called me. “Hey guys, the ferry leaves in less than 20 minutes, and the next one is in three hours. Better hustle!” It was time to ride hard, and pedal harder.
At the ferry, I thought about the day so far and I only saw smiles on people’s faces around me. I was stoked that they were stoked.
Mountain #5. Cypress Mountain, North Vancouver.
After roughly the fourth quick wrap of the day, and my first coffee (I rarely drink coffee so when I do, it keeps me awake for hours) we started the way up. No one else would join me for this mountain and I don’t blame them. I mean, the Trans Canada trail is a relentless but efficient climb and it was going to be at night. Once we hit the forest, I took my 2008 iPod shuffle and started to play random music. I had French rap, Metal, Rock, Drum’n’bass, Techno, Hip Hop, etc. you can hear my karaoke skills in the video.
From the top, it was time for some super-tuck section on the road…
I rode Mystery DH to Stupid Grouse nonstop. Good times. I didn’t shred but didn’t go slow either, considering it was probably 26 hours in. My friend MF left a box of BBQ food in the British Properties for me. Good motivation, and a good reason to ride fast to make sure a bear or a raccoon wasn’t feasting before me. Once I found the stash, there was no time to stop and enjoy it. One pinky around the grip, and the rest of my digits in the box as I kept pedaling.
Mountain #6. Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver.
Basically, to get to the top I would hike-a-bike the BCMC hiking trail, a more rugged trail parallel to the famous Grouse Grind. 800m, straight up. No pedaling sections as it’s only 1.8km long.
Natural root steps or man-made ones all the way (and not your average size steps either). We started well with Jarrad who joined me for this segment. We chatted but the atmosphere was quiet since it was around 1 am. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I hadn’t slept for 40h since I woke up Friday morning. But I kept going, slowly but surely.
At some point, I asked the group “guys, can I take a break?” and Jarrad told me something that stuck in my head during the ride that I hadn’t realized at all yet. “Dude, it’s YOUR ride. Take a break whenever you want, do whatever you want.”
Similarly, a few hours earlier when I asked Gordie if he thought Stupid Grouse was a low enough exit point on Cypress to make the ride legit, he told me “It’s your ride, your route, your energy.” I was still asking for validation, I think.
Anyway, I decided to finally take a power nap break. I set my alarm for 14 minutes. I fell asleep in a second. When I woke up, it took me some time to realize that I was in the middle of the forest on the BCMC. I thought we were halfway. But we were only 8/50 of the way up! Eventually, we made it to the top. I was surprised my glutes weren’t destroyed yet.
Gordie and Mike were waiting for us at the top, sleeping on the cold ground when we arrived.
I went to admire the view for a bit, long enough for the crew to think I left without them, so they left without me! Communication at 3 am isn’t always easy.
Once we rejoined each other, we rode down the road and then on to Pile of Rocks, Expresso, and Lower Expresso. We definitely were the only riders on the mountain. Jarrad went back to bed before work (2h of sleep, you must have been super productive mate!) and I continued my way to Seymour via Fisherman’s Bridge. I knew some homemade cookies were waiting for me up there.
Mountain #7. Mount Seymour, North Vancouver.
The daylight was starting, no more night riding hopefully. There are two ways to go up Seymour. One is on a nice climbing trail. The other is terrible through a steep slippery powerline access road. Everyone knew at this time I’d make good decisions and they were right, I took the powerline.
Pedalling up, grinding up, I could see four cameramen and suddenly, coming down towards me: my friend Blaise arrived! I thought he would not join me. What an incredible surprise! Good friends are always here for support. I learned that this past year.
Seeing him reminded me of some rides I’ve done previously where he also showed up and joined for some segments while unprepared. Really under-prepared.
The way up afterwards is on the Seymour Road, less steep, but quite long. The truck full of cameraman was following at my slow pace. We did some wheelies, no hand wheelies, etc. to make it more fun. When you are pedalling up and it’s difficult for you (mentally or physically) you can always trick your mind by focusing on other things.
I do wheelies. I flick rocks with my front wheel. I think about some life stuff. It’s my meditation time, the escape time I’m looking for. I also deconstruct the uphill into smaller parts to reach goals more often and keep motivation high. For some reason this is easier for me to do on the bike than in life, where I tend to focus too much on the end point and not notice my progress along the way.
On the way up, another friend, Arama, joined us as well. That warmed up my heart and made my stomach happy because he prepared a full-on breakfast with everything you could imagine. At this point, though I wasn’t mega hungry (I stayed on top of my nutrition again this year, no idea how I managed that) I still had a bite of everything! And a mocha! Second coffee coming at ya…
After feasting on top of Seymour, it was time to go ride some loam. Three riders, two film crew guys, game on. What a fun lap down! We didn’t film anything, but you can summarize it with “we had some good times on bikes!”
At the bottom, Geordie was waiting for me with fresh croissants and preparing a freshly pressed espresso on his tailgate! Deluxe friends.
Oh man, three coffees! For someone who never drinks coffee, I felt like I could climb many more mountains with them in my system. Good thing, as that’s what I was going to do.
Mountain #8. SFU-Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby.
I left alone and made my way over the second narrows bridge to go to Burnaby Mountain, 20 km away. This was the smallest mountain, and the one of the hardest at the same time. It was so hot outside, around 30ºC by that point in the day. No wind, lots of sun, and again my eyes wanted to be closed. I pedalled slowly with Curtis who joined me for support. That guy has done some massive rides as well, he knows how it can feel. He was chill and quiet, adapting to my low speed. We were chatting about his last 400+ km gravel ride he did and the difficulty during it. How cold and tired he was.
We then arrived at the debate: Would you consider yourself a failure if you didn’t achieve your goal or complete your ride? Ask yourself this question and be as compassionate for yourself as you would be for others. I struggle to apply that self-compassion.
I decided to take another six-minute power nap, the last one of the ride. I now had 32 minutes of “sleep” in the last 54 hours. It feels weird to write that. It also feels wrong to do it, but at this time it felt amazing. I woke up feeling much better. We arrived at Port Moody for a quick gas station stop to get all the luxurious things: a Coke and a Red Bull.
Mountain #9: Eagle Mountain, Port Moody.
I was concerned about Eagle Mountain. When I planned this ride, I saw it as the crux, even more than Mt Elphinstone. It’s a steep and technical climb.
To help me with this 9th mountain, Erin, New Guy and Mike joined me. Good crew right there to tackle it. We were keeping it steady and made it to the famous Lungbuster trail. The name says it all. I was really surprised that I could pedal it all! I never stopped, never thought it was too hard. In the end, the real crux was climbing Burnaby Mountain with the heat and heavy eyelids pulling downwards.
It took me 3h to climb Eagle Mountain from the starting point on the beach. Not too bad considering I passed the 200km mark some time before that.
The downhill was so fun even though I didn’t really have any chance to rest. We rode More Therapy, Manhandler, 3 Little Pigs and Rock and Roll, all the way back down. Party train. I remember pushing hard in a corner and drifting both wheels into the berm. Still riding and not just rolling felt so good! “On n’est pas là pour enfiler des perles” as we say in French. Nine mountains done.
Mountain #10. Burke Mountain, Coquitlam.
I didn’t know yet, but the group planned to ride Burke with me as well. So, we got going and rode the road to Coquitlam. It was an easy liaison, until we started pedalling on another steep and long road. After riding Bowen Island together much earlier, Sylvain met us for the last mountain. It was amazing to see everyone being stoked on this ride. They all had fun. I asked every single person during the ride, even the film crew. They all had a big smile on their faces. They were all stoked on the trails I chose, the opportunity to do a bigger ride, it was one of New Guy’s biggest rides for example. I felt happy for him pushing through and going for it. Way to go, and it gave me the idea to organize something for everyone next year. Everyone will be happy to push their limit a bit, however far they want. Exciting new project, you heard it here first!
We had a nice break at the bottom of Burke Mountain. We took our time, set the lights, ate, and it was time to go. At this time, I still wanted to ride this last one quickly and finish in the daylight. But this was without knowing that we would have another 20min debate where we all stopped in the middle of the trail while climbing. I, obviously, brought up the topic I had in my mind since my discussion with Curtis.
It was interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives and arguments. They all were correct in their own way. It didn’t make me change my opinion though. I’m still harsh on myself and if I set my mind to something, I will do it. It’s not “I will do my best to finish it.” It’s “I will do it.” And it reminded me of the question Gordie asked me before the ride “How will you feel? What will happen if you don’t finish the ride?”
I set my mind to it. I visualized myself doing it. I will do it. Period. While I’m writing this, I realize it can be a bad attitude as well if I can’t make it. It would bring me so much negativity, and negativity I brought to myself directly. It’s a risky thing, and I’m conscious of that.
Alright, time to get back on the bike and finish this last climb. We went to the trail “Triple Crown” to start our way down. It was dark again, starting my third evening without any sleep. But the adrenaline, dopamine, and friends around gave me all the energy needed. Another really fun party train.
I didn’t want to finish this epic ride in the middle of the parking lot, so I told them I wanted to pedal back to Port Moody to the water. What’s an extra 15 km at this point anyway?
Some shenanigans on the way they’re seeing smiles on everybody’s face. This is it. The ride I imagined is done. Officially ending it with single-leg pistol squats on both sides.
At first, I had no idea if this ride was possible to do, but I put my mind and body into it. Making your body ready is I think the easy part. I diversified my activities: I went swimming, ran a bit, riding for fun, and played squash. I didn’t follow an endurance program but it helped me knowing I was doing all these sports to gain some fitness.
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The mental part was more about trusting in myself, trusting that I was ready for the challenge. Knowing I would have a hard time at some point but believing that I wouldn’t give up. I would persevere. I discovered through these rides that this is one of my strengths. Some friends have told me that I’m resilient. I think I show I am externally, but deep down it’s still really hard to recover from everything. My thoughts aren’t always the best reflection of what’s around me.
I use those long rides to deal with some stuff on my own. Therapy is great and has had a lot of benefit for me, but it’s not the only way for me to help myself. Even though we mountain bikers spend a lot of time and money on our bikes, we don’t spend much on mental health. I don’t always use my rides as an escape anymore, I now also use my rides to think about my struggles. Think about that hard discussion with someone. Past traumas. Unknown futures. What to say to some people around me. To stir shit up in my mind, for good or for bad.
I do those big rides for myself but afterwards, I realized this one wasn’t just for myself. It was for sharing with others and showing that no one is alone in having struggles, no matter what they are, and there is a way to do some work on yourself alone. I’m still navigating all of this but having the will for it is already a good step. Keep it rolling.
While I was stoked finishing the ride, I don’t think I was ready to celebrate it yet. Mostly because the film wasn’t done yet. I’m still really wondering about how welcome it will be.
My goal with this movie is just to raise awareness about mental health. Not just mine, but everyone’s. Also, to show that even myself, who never wanted to share my struggles and my past with anyone, who never wanted to talk to a counsellor, was able to change and seek help when it was needed and open up. It cost me a lot by not doing it earlier, but I did learn from it, eventually. I’m not giving lessons to anyone. I’m just a regular guy who learned some stuff the hard way, thinking I didn’t need help and I was better than others. Nope.
Riding is a great way to escape but at the end of the day, it won’t fix anything if no work is done on top of that. Maybe this will help someone to imagine a big ride and bring friends into it. Maybe it will make you want to see what’s possible with your body, and how far your mind can push you to continue the ride.
PS: Thanks
I want to thank every single person who helped me in any way. Not only for this ride. I’ll continue to surf the wave…up and down!
And a big thank you to Gordie, Zach, Casey, Matt and TELUS for funding the project and everyone involved in the making of the video: all the film crew and helpers, my friends who joined me for the ride and the one who sent me messages for support, Ben at Wirth Hats and Patagonia for organizing a fundraiser and advance screening. I’m grateful to see people supporting this cause and trying to spread the message. Thanks Max for helping me with the writing part, next time you’ll be riding with me. There are more people but I’ll see you and tell you directly as well.
let’s enjoy the ride or make it more enjoyable.
