DISCIPLINE: Downhill mountain biking
HOMETOWN: Squamish
AGE: 22
YEARS IN COMPETITIVE CYCLING: eight-ish
FAVOURITE BIKE: Santa Cruz Carbon Nomad with a Rockshox Reverb - perfect bike for Squamish!
COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 4th Junior World Championships; 2009 US Open Champion; 2011 3rd Canadian National Championships.
GOAL FOR 2012: Top 10 World Cup Overall, Canadian National Champion. And of course - have fun!
FAVOURITE LOCAL RIDE: Very hard to choose. I'd have to say it's a tie between Angry Midget/Half Nelson and Credit Line/Crouching Tiger. For cownhill, 19th hole hands down.
FAVOURITE OUT-OF-TOWN SEA TO SKY RIDE: The entire Whistler Bike Park
MOST UNUSUAL TRAINING TECHNIQUE: Fist fighting grizzly bears.
MOST SURPRISING THING TO HAPPEN THIS SEASON: It wasn't this season, but I survived the entire 2011 season without getting seriously injured - a first in a while. In this game this is certainly surprising. Come at me, 2012! - Bryan Raiser
DISCIPLINE: Freerider
HOMETOWN: North Vancouver
AGE: 38
YEARS IN COMPETITIVE CYCLING: 20. I started to race cross-country in the early '90s and soon got into downhill racing.
FAVOURITE BIKE: I have three bikes hat I ride for an equal amount of time throughout the ear - a light cross-country Element, an all-mountain Slayer and a Flatline for downhill. The bike that I would pick as my all-time favourite would be the Slayer. It's the do-everything machine.
COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS: In the early 2000s I was competing in early FreeRide events. At the time, and as it is now, the Red Bull Rampage was the coolest event. I won the inaugural Rampage in 2001 and placed second at the Red Bull Ride in Australia the following year. Another highlight was winning the BC Cup dual-slalom championship in 1998.
GOALS FOR 2012: I'm pretty stoked to compete in this year's BC Bike Race, a seven-day stage race on the best singletrack in the world. I also plan on hitting some fun Enduro races, ripping up the Whistler Bike Park and looking forward to my annual Wade's Excellent Adventure event this June 2 in North Vancouver.
FAVOURITE LOCAL RIDE: Climbing up the Baden Powell from Indian River Road, then up Old Buck and descending TNT to Dale's Trail then hitting Aftertaste to end it. A great, all-encompassing Seymour tour!
FAVOURITE OUT-OF-TOWN SEA TO SKY RIDE: SO many great loops in Squamish and Pemberton these days. I like hitting up Half Nelson in Squamish and then crossing over to the Ring Creek Rip and making my way up to Hood In The Woods or Somewhere Over There.
- Jan-Christian Sorensen
DISCIPLINE: Road racer
HOMETOWN: North Vancouver
AGE: 33
YEARS IN COMPETITIVE CYCLING: I competed in my first mountain bike race in 1992, was on my first pro road team in 1998 and retired from pro cycling this year.
FAVOURITE BIKE: I probably had my best season in terms of winning races in 2008 and I was on a Norco. In hindsight I probably should have kept that bike for the great memories I had riding it, but I sold it to a guy locally so there is someone in the Lower Mainland who's now riding a bike with some great mojo!
COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS: From a personal perspective, probably the podium results I had in the biggest races in North America, such as the Tour of Georgia, Tour of Missouri and the Vuelta Mexico. But some of my fondest memories come from team victories I had while riding with a locally based team called Symmetrics.
GOALS FOR 2012: My number one goal is to spend more time with my family. In terms of my involvement with cycling it would seem now that I've retired from the pro ranks I'm more involved than ever. At the moment I'm mentoring a local elite level cycling team sponsored by H&R, leading indoor cycling sessions at TaG Cycling studio in North Vancouver and am the head coach of a younger riding club called dEVO.
FAVOURITE LOCAL RIDE: Lots come to mind but probably a ride I like to call the Triple Crown, which involves riding Seymour, climbing to the top of the British Properties, then tackling Cypress.
FAVOURITE OUT-OF-TOWN SEA TO SKY RIDE: The one that comes to mind is actually a mountain bike ride that I did more than 10 years ago. It was a trail call Wild Bill and it's accessed from the top of the Duffy Lake Road. It had incredibly flowing singletrack that seemed to descend forever. I love that trail and hope it's still there and in good shape.
- Jan-Christian Sorensen
