Words by Adrienne Schofhauser
Photo by Danielle Baker
It’s a week before Whistler’s opening day, and out in Kamloops the only thing burning hotter than the blazing sun above the dry and dusty landscape is pro-rider Lorraine Blancher’s fire for coaching. At the moment, her closed fists are in the air a handle-width apart bouncing with microscopic jerks. She’s demonstrating the incredibly subtle way we’re supposed to compress our bike’s front end before launching off a wooden drop—so that the bike comes up into our hands for control through the air. It’s a nuanced move, but it’s the type of higher-level coaching we’re here for.
“Yeah-yeah-yeah. Right-right-right,” Lorraine says intensely, as we mimic her. She’s uber excited and laser-focused on the moment as if it’s her last to indoctrinate us in the art of riding a bike—the way she does.
We’re at the Kamloops Bike Ranch, the city’s incredible public freeride park. We’re 30 or so ladies who’ve scored a coveted spot at Lorraine’s inaugural Ranch Camp women’s skills clinic for the weekend. With that comes the privilege of being taught by some of the industry’s leading women gravity riders—including Katrina Strand, Casey Brown, Katie Holden and Lindsey Voreis—and just in time to be ready when the flood gates unleash on the opening of bike park season.
