I stumbled upon an old book I used to own at the salvation army 'Mountain Biking in BC' and was flipping thru and saw an old ad with Andreas in it... This video follows him around some awesome looking BC riding spots. The Brittania beach trail looks dope!
Back when I was in junior high school and riding tons on Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, XC racing was in its' hey-day. The likes of Roland Green, Alison Sydor, Ryder Hjesdal, and Andreas Hestler were just down the road in Victoria, training like ferocious beasts. Every once in a while we’d see them on the trails, and just be blown away. Andreas was very recognizable. He was a bad-ass, a smiley guy, and of all the different things that stand out I always remember people talking about his biceps! At the 1998 Hornby Island XC I was watching the pros race and when Andreas rode by, this dude beside me turned to his buddy and said “I don’t understand why he lifts weights so much to build up his arms, doesn’t that extra bulk just hold him back on the climbs?” Kind of a random memory I know, but that always just stuck with me because to my young mind back then it meant that you could be a strong XC racer but have the arms of a wrestler; as in: you don’t have to exactly fit the mould to be successful.
