This year, I’m doing a little ‘giving back’ to the bike community I love so much, and putting in some time helping with the Edmonton Canada Cup. The ECC team have it well under control no doubt, but it’s fun to lend a hand and get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes glitz and glamour. Last year, I spent the entire race watching and filming from the sidelines, and this year, again, I may end up not spending any time in the saddle, but that’s okay. This is going to be a killer race, and more than that, a killer bike event! The Bike Expo is back, we’re going to have beer gardens, and with such a massive Novice class turnout last year, we’re hoping to see an even stronger showing this July 11. More details to follow, but good times ahead. Here is an article/interview I did for the ECC website with Dana Ouellette, a local Edmonton Pedalhead Club rider and racer (not to mention my racing nemesis. He beat me by something like 11 seconds in the 2009 Perogy XC and I haven’t had a chance to avenge it yet!).

We’re going to do an article each month on a feature racer so check back to the ECC site for those. And so, without further delay, Dana is ‘Racer 1′. Enjoy!

When did you start riding ’seriously’ and what got you started?

I only started seriously mountain biking in June 2008. Back in the late nineties when my parents still lived in Edmonton, my dad got me into mountain biking. My dad and I would go to Terwilliger and just ride, not seriously, just have a good time. That was on an old Specialized RockHopper, which sadly got stolen. It wasn’t until June 2008 that I bought a new bike. I was excited because I had a lot of positive memories associated with cycling (just my dad and me having fun). So I bought a Rocky Mountain Fusion to go out occasionally on the weekends, and I got totally hooked. Then weekends turned into 4 or 5 days a week.

I don’t know why I got so hooked. I started riding with Pedalhead, and that was probably a large part of that. Once you make friends who ride, you want to get faster and be able to keep up, it becomes not just fun, but addicting. And it’s good for the self-esteem. It’s always motivating when you clean a climb you’ve never done before, or fly down a technical section you used to struggle with.

At what point did you decide to start racing?

To be honest, I really don’t know why I started racing. I started going out with the Pedalhead riders after our Wednesday night rides and a lot of them are racers and told stories about racing. That peaked my interest, but I still never thought I’d do it. Then all of the sudden, less than a year after buying my first mountain bike, I found myself buying a full suspension bike for racing. But I still wasn’t 100% sure I’d actually do it, until I found out about the Edmonton Canada Cup. I live only a few hundred meters from the Kinsmen Field House. When I heard where the course was going to be, that’s when I realized I could actually do it. Even if I sucked, at least it would be on trails I’m familiar with and ride a few times a week.

To read to full article link here.