Toonie Race Madness

One of Whistler’s biggest secrets in the mountain bike scene is the underground local Toonie($2 coin in Canada) Ride series.

It started years ago as a “Loonie Race Series”. Everyone would bring a dollar and put it in the pot and the winner would take all of the money. It was a bunch of the valley’s best riders getting together to have a fun night out while the fastest one on the night take the cash and buy the beers. As with anything cool, it grew and a lot more people would show up. At one point Chad Miles, local legend XC and all around ripper, was making a enough money to pay his rent from winning the race every thursday night.

Today with anywhere from 100 to 300 plus riders per week, the race is a bit of a big deal in Whistler. The top  20 or so people race their butts off to get a chance at the prize. Now that prize is only $50 for the winning man and $50 for the winning woman, while the rest of the cash goes to WORCA to prove a budget for to maintain build new trails. The 300 riders have their own little races within the pack or are just out for the ride and social aspect.

The race is always sponsored by a local business who decides the course. Some are really technical, some have savage climbs that are actually hike a bikes and others are more like a typical xc race. The consistencies the race time about 35 to 40 minutes for the winning time and just over an hour for the most recreational rider, the price (2 bucks), the great social with dinner and beers included and the challenging Whistler riding. When you look around the start area at the 300 plus people, you see all ages all types of bikes, DH, XC, old ones and strange ones. You can here accents from all over the worlds and best of all you get a real sense of our community.

I started doing these races 2 years ago and was instantly hooked. I was somewhere around the 30th places on my first race and was determined to make it into the top 10 at some point. Being a free rider and not an xc racer, that was a bit of a hefty goal for me. This season I have done 3 and been in the 10-15th spots and last night I cracked that top ten I was looking for with a 6th place finish. Now I can die. Haha. Matt Ryan, local import form Oz won as he often does.

If you haven’t been out to a Toonie or you are visiting Whistler and want to get a real sense of our community, come on out and give it your best shot. You won’t regret it and it is the cheapest meal and beer in town, just a Toonie.