Who Dat? It's Jac Wakim!!

Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Current home: Sydney, Australia
Years riding: around 10years
Sponsors: Myself haha. You can see what I’m up on here.
Favourite trail/spot: Gorge Road, old Rampage site, and Green river.

The Gorge jumps, Queenstown. Raise you hand in the air if you like riding there!! Jac does!!

How’d you get into biking? I moved to Whistler to snowboard 2006/07. I stayed a few years just to snowboard, have some adventures, and travel around in the summers. I worked at EBCB (Essentially Blackcomb) which in summer then turns into the well renowned Garbanzo Bike and Bean (GBB) . The guys told me as staff I could get free bike rental, and I thought why not have a go.

I wasn’t instantly hooked I’m not going to lie. The first run my friend and bike guide took me down was the sketchy, old Angry Pirate. Realising I had zero biking skills, we went out of the bike park to the trail ‘River Runs Through It’. Was so hilarious and I still wasn’t that great. The next day I was determined to get biking, and finally found some flow and loved it. From the second day on, I was definitely hooked!
Maybe two years later I bought my first bike a Kona Coiler and started doing races in Oz. After that I started living more for the Whistler Summers than Winters and I started doing ladies nights and progressing. Racing forced me to ride things I’d normally go around and ladies nights were amazing. I loved the group I had for the 3 years, and had the best coach, Derek Foose. A lot of my skills came from doing ladies nights and I recommend them to anyone!

Do you have a favourite type of biking or do you love them all? (Skatepark, DJ, DH, Enduro, Road, etc.) ohhh definitely Downhill. (26inch for life haha ). Especially big hucks on my big bike. I can’t help but froth over that feeling of being in the air. For some reason when I’m on my big bike I’m another person, I love who I am on it, it’s kind of weird really. Just comfy and confident. I like enduro and Dj equally, however I do love digging dirt jumps a lot.

She likes big jumps and she can not lie!! Some of the biggest jumps around!! Crabapple in Whistler!!

You’re a teacher, what is the best thing about teaching preschoolers?
Firstly I love being a preschool teacher. I love how brutally honest and real kids can be in a hilarious way. Apart from educating, I generally spend most of my day laughing and arguing with small people. You hear them repeat words you say and they start to sound and act like you . I say “nice one mate” with a thumbs up in an over exaggerated Aussie accent to them sometimes just for a laugh and they all now do it back to me. It’s hilarious. I love how creative I can be with teaching. It sounds cliche too, but it is a rewarding job. I love seeing their progression of things you teach them throughout the year. It’s always amazing to me how capable kids are at learning anything as long as you let them. They are more capable than what people give them credit for.
In my class, I teach a thorough school readiness program. The best part is when I have sent them off to big school and when they come and visit after their first few weeks there, you hear how amazing they are doing. That they are at the top of their class and making friends. The parents are so appreciative of how well we had prepared them. You build such a bond with the families over the 4 years we teach them so it’s always great to hear how well they are doing. It’s a humbling feeling.

That’s a cool teacher is I ever saw one!! Photographer: Dan Gosse

Australia has been having a tough time with the fires lately as a preschool teacher, how do you help your kids understand and deal with this?
Without trying to distress them. We speak about it truthfully and honestly to the children. We say that because the weather in Australia is so hot and it hasn’t rained in a long time it’s easy for bush fires to start, because everything is very dry and thirsty. That’s why it’s important not to waste water, so it can help put out the fires, and the animals have something to drink.
We reassure them, explaining how fireman are working really hard to put them out. From here we speak about different ways we can help. Talking to children and showing how they can help others can be empowering for them. I like to brainstorm a lot with my kids, ideas about what small or big actions you or they can take. Together, the kids and their friends can raise money, make posters or any other creative ideas that spring to mind to help out.

Dirt and road gaps ain’t no thang for this girl!! Maydena Bike Park gap on the left and the new Dirt Merchant in Whistler on the right.

You often make the jump to Whistler Canada? How long have you done that for? And what’s biggest change since you’ve seen since starting to coming to BC?
I’ve done that since Whistler winter 2006/2007. So a good 13 years now. Geeze I didn’t think it was that long haha. Guess I need to go somewhere new .
BC always feels like home when I go back just a lot more full and busy. Before there were dead seasons and the weekends were the days you worked cause they were the busy ones. Now I noticed everyday is busy and there isn’t really a dead season.
Another thing that stands out is the lack of wild life you would see these days compared to previous years.

How’s the ladies bike scene Down Under? Is it growing?
The scene is definitely growing. Slowly, but it’s growing. I have noticed a generation gap when it comes to female riders here.
I see more younger female riders (8-15 years) and older riders (35+ years) but not a lot in the middle.
When I was first getting into biking it wasn’t really as accessible or inviting to girls of my age and there were only a few brave pioneers who got into it when I did.
The older ladies ride more enduro stuff and there’s quite a network of ladies that ride, which is great.
The very young girls are getting into it as the sport is growing and it’s finally more appealing to female riders. It will be interesting to see if they stick with it and we see more young adult females riding from Oz in the future.

Bike scene Canada vs Australia, similarities or differences? Any funny ones?
The bike scene hmmmm…. There are definitely a lot more girls/women of all ages that are really into riding compared to here. There are also a lot of little kids and kids bike camps too in Canada..
I notice Canada is more focused on the freeride, fun steeze scene, potentially because it’s a more accessible style of riding over there. Canada has big mountains and long descents for quality free ride jump trails to be built on. Which I absolutely love!! It’s carefree and it’s all about fun.
When I ride with people here in Oz it’s more serious, race lines and pinning it, could probably be because we have a lot of single track trails.
We don’t have a vast mountain range like Canada, so in Australia we have heaps of single track trails. We are a bit behind when it comes to jumps. The bike community spends a lot of time and energy trying to get trails legalized, built properly and not knocked down. Everything is also protected by national park so it’s hard to get trails legalised .
However, I’m excited to say there is a brand new bike park being built here 10 minutes from my house with massive big bike hucks. The trail building company called Dirt Art is building it, they built Maydena Bike Park in Tasmania. Even though that’s taken a good 10 years to get approved with councils, it’s progress nonetheless.

I see one Canadian versus Australian difference, barefoot while building jumps!! Not only is that hardcore, dirt jump building takes some skill and dedication!! Respect!!

You just got a new puppy? How’s that going? Trail dog in the making?
Yes her name is Skye and she’s a kelpie x border collie. I had kelpies before so I knew I wanted that breed again as I’m very active and so are they. She’s now 16 weeks old and I love her to bits . It’s been about 8 yrs since my last dog and I’ve had dogs my entire life, at one point I had 3 dogs at once. Two lived till about 17,
I missed the companionship so I felt it was time.
I love her but man I forgot how hard puppies are. Especially after teaching 20 3.5-5yr olds all day then coming home to her. it’s exhausting. If your thinking about having kids, have a puppy first just to test the waters. I’m not going to lie it’s crazy how much puppies are like toddlers. Skye is very smart and she is definitely a trail dog in the making. She’s so fast and full of energy. She just has to learn not to bite my bike pedal, she will get there.

Lover bug and trail buddy!! Life looks good!!

You have an adventure mobile what’s the story behind that?
Yeah my van. It’s great. It has slide out bike racks inside, a sweet bed, a pull out kitchenette and a galaxy light ceiling. I didn’t actually get it to on big road trips, but more for everyday life. One thing living in Whistler taught me was to make the most of everyday as best I could. I wake up early workout and after I either go for a quick surf or bike, take the dog out, then go to work. After work bike/ surf/ workout and take dog out again.
So I need everything with me, safe in my van, because to be honest, if I go home there’s no way I’m getting off the couch. Haha!
Spent a lot of time designing what I wanted and began to build it with an and old friend, but life got busy. So a buddy who owns Happy Camper Conversions here in Sydney managed to fix my dodgy DIY work, and worked his magic on my van. It looks amazing now and I love it. As all van owners know, I am constantly wanting to add or take out stuff and it’s a constant build and re-design.

Said adventure mobile with all the trims, including trail dog. See Jac’s first adventure mobile trip with Kelsey Begg here.

I heard you have a trick jump, when did you build that? How did that come about.
Well years ago we use to have a fun place to ride that had a foam pit. I learnt to do 360’s and backies in it . Then one day it burnt down and I had nowhere to keep practicing them so, I lost the skills to do them. Since then there hasn’t really been anywhere here that I’ve felt comfortable to re-learn those tricks again.
At our local dirt jumps we have an area where we decided to build a trick jump. We discussed that I’d build one ramp and the other guys will build a big one.
I then msg my mate Josh Johnston and he guided me with the best radius and measurements for what I wanted. I mentioned that I was doing this to one of my students dads who is a carpenter, he said I could go to their place and use their tools. So I bought the materials I needed thinking he would help me with it. Instead when I arrived, he said “If you want to do this, then you have to do it yourself.”
Each step he showed me what to do then would walk off and leave me to it all on my own, until I was ready for the next instruction. I felt like Daniel off the Karate Kid. Getting told to paint the fence by Mr Miyagi then being left alone painting the fence.
It took one weekend to build and we used a tractor to lift it up and also to suspend me above it so I could drill the top. That part was super fun.
Once finished I realised I made it bigger than needed, so we sliced the top off. At this point we realised we could add bolts and use it as an extender. It’s great cause some people want a big trick jump and others a small so all we have to do is add or take off the extender when necessary. Lucky that happened because the other guys never ended up building their big side .
I loved the jump and even more so, I love seeing how stoked people get when riding it and people progressing their tricks on it . Needless to say I am proud of myself for building it especially because I’m definitely not a carpenter .

Working the jump in cute boots hanging from a lift, that’s pretty badass!!

Any shoutouts?
Yes!
- Derek Foose, my bike coach for 3 years at Whistler ladies night, and all the chicks in that group too. Derek made me trust my ability. He was chilled and if he said I could ride something when I was scared, I would never question it, I would do it and he was always right.
- The Whistler Bike Park crew for building and maintaining and progressing Whistler Bike Park.
- To everyone here in Oz who build trails and spends their time maintaining them and the people in the bike community who are working and fighting hard to legalise trails here in Sydney. Also all trail builders around the world!!
- My buddy Gerad Lagana (@g_imagery for using his great photography and editing skills to always fix my crappy edits and photos I always take on my iPhone haha, see above images. )

- My cycle class trainer Andrew Colony . I have been doing his class for about 12 years, he keeps me fit for sure!!

- My Chiropractor Andrew Callister for treating me weekly for the past 5 years, healing me both physically and holistically. If your in the Sydney area and need and adjustment, he’s the man for the job.
- Everyone I ride with here in Oz and around the world.