Jeremy Bresciani and Pro Team riders MAD MIKE and Logan Miller set out on the BC leg of the 2005 National Pro Tour on Friday, April 14 and returned home on Saturday April 30 with many accomplishments to speak of! After 17 days of riding, the Team had brought the sport of inline boarding to hundreds of people in BC as they held demonstrations and lessons in eight BC cities. With newspaper coverage obtained ten times and TV coverage obtained twice, the word was well spread and new riders flocked to the planned demos. A photo gallery of BC Tour highlights can be found HERE.

Check out the video compilation of tour highlights HERE. We suggest you right-click on the link and "Save Target As" as the video is over 90Mb (4 minutes in length).

THE TOUR BEGINS / WHISTLER (April 15-17)

The Tour began in Edmonton, making its way through Calgary on its long first day journey to Whistler. The Team arrived in town quietly at 6am on April 16, but as the village woke up, it was not long before they were attracting some serious attention. The Team rode bike trails along the golf course, bombed local streets overlooking the village and the melted base of Blackcomb itself! Thousands of visitors were onhand for the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival and were treated to an unannounced Dirtsurfer demonstration!
Whistler THIS WEEK was kind enough to add the demos to their list of top things to do in Whistler that week and respected local photographer Andy Dittrich spent a couple hours with the Team on Blackcomb taking some amazing photos. A photo of MAD MIKE became one of only eight pictures filling a full-color page in Whistler THIS WEEK as they highlighted The Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival!

VANCOUVER (April 18-19)

On Monday the team took to the road again, making the short drive down to Vancouver. They spent the next two days riding in parkades, skateparks and local longboard downhill hotspots! The highlight was a run down Cyprus Mountain's access road alongside our guide and new friend, Mike Benda, a crazy longboarder with serious skillz! The Vancouver riding landed the Team some upcoming footage on Global TV's SportsPage as well as a review by the longboard directory. Links will be posted once complete.

TOFINO / LONGBEACH (April 20-21)

The Team once again took to the road, catching the ferry to Vancouver island and more driving to Tofino, BC's renowned surfer haven! The drive was long, but passed through the amazing scenery provided by the Cathedral Grove and a chance sighting of a Sasquatch! Longbeach was the destination to get in some serious fun with the Kitewing! Unfortunately, winds were not cooperating and the team sat on the beach and stared at the perfect land-boarding location for nearly two full days. Nearing the end of the second day, the wind picked up and Mike and Logan were able to take advantage of the short window to play in the sand for a half hour. Although it was a tease, it was enough to make the trip there worthwhile and guarantee many more stops in the future!

VICTORIA / SOOKE (April 22-24)

The Victoria stop had been very well planned with The Times Colonist playing a key role as it ran this story a week ahead of time encouraging locals to attend the demos and try the boards for themselves! Thanks to them and the work of our local rep, Teague Griffin, over 60 Victoria locals tried the boards and many were caught on camera as SHAW TV came out for the show! Local grandma, Bronwin, as well as several six to eight year olds, ripped up the Topaz Park hills, demonstrating that age is not a factor! Notable hotspots included the Sooke Mountain Bike Trails through the forest and the access road to the Goldstream campground as the Team made great use of their last three days on the island!

KELOWNA (April 25-26)

Another ferry ride and long drive later, the Team arrived in Kelowna and were treated to the hospitality of Logan's good friend Joel Kayczka, as he gave them a much needed break from camping, providing sleeping arangements in his apartment and some great meals! The first day of riding included demos with several locals, including Paul Horton, a national level snowboardcrosser who moved to Kelowna to train at the Big White ski resort last winter. Finding the transition from snowboarding to inline boarding extremely natural, Paul rode alongside the Pros through the best and most challenging terrain Kelowna had to offer. Simply amazing!
Knox Mountain is a must for inline boarders nationwide looking for extreme fun in the trees! Beautiful double-track runs wind through the forest descending Knox, creating a fast, challenging, extremely fun run unmatched by any other encountered so far! Day two brought with it additional newpaper coverage by the Kelowna Daily Courier, that could possibly have been the best media coverage of our sport to date! Beautiful picture and well-written text provided a clear message to readers of what our sport is all about!

KIMBERLEY (April 27-29)

The Team got an early start on April 27 to make the trek to Kimberley and fourteen hours of non-traditional course driving later, the Team arrived appreciatively to a large dorm room generously donated by Rocky Pearson of Rocky's Ride and Glide, the Dirtsurfer dealer in Kimberley. A well organized demo session the next day provided the opportunity for twenty plus local riders to try out the boards in several great locations. The best of which included the Caminco trail, a nice wide, gravel, trail and a beautiful, grassy wonderland complete with countless natural kickers over sand gaps! Local rider, Tony, became one of our newest hardcore riders and will join us in the Inline Boarding category at the Top Challenge road race this September in Montreal!

GOLDEN (April 29-30)

Rounding out the successful trip, the Team was greeted by 180 boardshop, The Golden Star and local magazine, The Force as it began creating a buzz about demos in Golden on April 29. Several locals came out and proved that Golden has much more terrain to offer inline boarders than just the Kicking Horse access road! The ramp down into the old go-cart track area proved to be perfect for lessons and Mount Seven provided a nice, technical snake run into a gravel kicker! Local celebrity, Gray, a twelve year-old with national level unicycle skills joined us to inline board down the Kicking Horse road three times to complete the day.

THE RETURN HOME (April 30)

Anxious for some relaxation before their next trek, the team returned home Saturday to enjoy a Sunday of downtime. Next Stop: ALBERTA!

Special Thanks go out to Red Bull Canada, Andy Dittrich, Stephanie Matches, Whistler THIS WEEK, Mike Benda, Global TV, Jim Gibson, Debra Brash, The Times Colonist, Shaw TV, Sooke Cycle, Joel Kayczka, Paul Horton, Russ Ullyot, Gary Nylander, The Kelowna Daily Courier, Rocky Pearson, Rocky's Ride and Glide, The Kimberley Daily Bulletin, Tony from Kimberley, Richard MacKenzie, The Golden Star, The Force and 180 Boardshop for making this trip incredible!