Catching up with Canada’s ‘Wild Man of the Mountains,’ Guy Perrett, has never been easy for journalists. This spring it’s been even tougher, since he’s been running wide open to get things ready for rounds one and two of the CEC series at Sun Peaks, near Kamloops, BC. After a world-class game of phone tag we finally caught up with Perrett to find out how things are shaping up for next weekend’s season opener.

Offroadmotorcycles.ca: Guy, have you been going nuts getting things ready for the CECs?

Perrett: Oh ya. It’s been a hectic spring! We had originally talked to Sun Peaks about doing an extreme enduro last September. Then Lawrence (Hacking) called me, so I went to Sun Peaks to pitch the idea of running the first two National rounds there. They were reluctant at first, since they are big into mountain biking and hiking…

Sun Peaks is a downhill mountain bike Mecca…

Yes, but with the downhill bicycle racing stuff they’ve had trouble with different sanctioning bodies. So they were cautious with us, and by the time they researched WEC and officially agreed to host the CEC races we were only left with four or five months to get ready. It’s been a mad dash to get things set up! But it will be a really good event. This is a beautiful spot, like a mini Whistler up here! They’ve always got so much mountain biking going on, riding the chair up and gravitating down! It’s awesome for that.

So spectators or racers can rent mountain bikes and divebomb the downhills as well?

Absolutely! The chair lifts will be running and there is even a great golf course. The pits are actually right between two fairways!

I went trail riding up there with your dad and Shane Watts and Dan Bernard last year. As we rode around I kept thinking what an amazing place Sun Peaks would be for an enduro…

Yes, Sun Peaks has beautiful terrain but unfortunately there isn’t a lot of parking. They have by-laws in the municipality about no camping on the streets and stuff like that. The area we are running the central pits out of is too small for everyone, so we’ll have to give the Pros first crack at it by the square foot. Then for the rest of the riders we’ve got a system figured out where they can unload their stuff on the pit row. There will be a shuttle running back and forth between the Pro pits and the other two parking areas on the other side of the village.

Will this be a spectator friendly event?

Absolutely! The motocross special test is right in the village, and it will be a real motocross track! Not a full-on supercross track or anything, but much more serious than just a lap around a gravel pit or anything like that. Sun Peaks has been really great about allowing us to put the special test sections close to the village.

So the other two tests are close for spectators as well?

Yes, the extreme test is a five or ten-minute walk from the pits, and the enduro test is only one kilometre from the pits up a main forestry road. All within easy walking distance. There’s a lot going on at Sun Peaks, so it’s good they’ve been so open-minded.

What about cell phone and internet coverage? How about other creature comforts for racers or spectators?

Sun Peaks is great! They have WiFi all through the village. The hotels are good, there are stores, a liquour store, restaurants and bars. It’s a little town. We’ll have live music playing in the P5 pits during the evening, plus later on at night in the bar with enduro videos playing on the TV screens. There is no camping on site, but there are good camping areas nearby. There are two lakes with great camping, swimming, and fishing. From McGillivray lake it’s only about a ten-minute ride on a dual-sport bike to the race location.

Can riders or spectators who get there early trail ride around the area?

Yes! Just not on the track of course. Our race stays completely within the commercial recreational area, but there are tons of trails outside of the recreational area. There is generally no riding allowed in the recreational area, but once you are clear of it you can go up into the hills. As long as you aren’t on the road there are no special plate or green sticker requirements. We’ll have a special practice loop set up for the racers who arrive early as well.

People think you’re a wild man, so they are nervous about what they might encounter at this race…

This will be a really good, solid enduro. But certainly nothing impossible for riders. We have a 35km trail loop, all rideable but it is demanding. My dad and his crew have been working hard laying out the trails. Even lesser ability riders will enjoy it, but it will be a challenge! One thing we shouldn’t have to worry about is dust. The elevation is right around 4000 feet, and there are still piles of snow in the shady spots behind the motocross test. Everybody will like this race. It’s fun riding there!

You can find more race details by clicking on the GPMP logo:

Information about Sun Peaks Resort is only a click away.