Monthly Archives: June 2009

BC Bike Race – Day Two

the-wranglerjpg3With the start horn, two Royal Canadian Mounted Police members on bicycles led the controlled start that carried racers to their first drop in of the day. From there until the first feed zone – anywhere from 80 minutes onward – riders gobbled up endless polished singletrack. The inside scoop on the Nanaimo area is that passionate riders in the local mountain bike club handbuild and painstakingly maintain the trails, some of which were purpose-built for this second BC Bike Race stage. Their efforts were not lost on the pack.

Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard (Team Jamis – Santa Cruz) were new to the trails in this area. “We didn’t know what to expect but it was honestly some of the best trail that we’ve seen. It was relentless, fast, flowing, tight technical. A little of everything – drop offs, bridges – everything of what mountain biking is about. There were some great new sections. Whoever built it deserves a bunch of clapping.“

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Out of Bounds Weekend July 9th to 12th

leogang_oob_logoDarren Berrecloth, Ben Boyko, Graham Agassiz, Greg Watts, Grant Fielder, Sam Pilgrim, Trond Hansen, Martin Soderstrom, Pierre Eduard Ferry, Yannick Granieri, Andreu and Lluis Lacondeguy, Marius Hoppensack, Benny Korthaus, Amir Kabbani, Nicola Pescetto, Andi Wittmann, Linus Sjöholm, Jakub Vencl and almost 50 more riders confirmed their attendance at the 26TRIX dirt jump competition in Leogang during the Out of Bounds Weekend from July 9th to 12th. The dirt line has been adapted for 2009: A huge sized “Suzuki Air Time Line” beats like all of the jumps seen before in contests worldwide. The Oakley Sick O award, a Crankworx wildcard as well as 10,000 Euros overall prize money will make the riders go big. The iXS European DH Cup, including the Austrian Downhill Championships, and a packed side program will entertain all the gravity fans.

Every year the Out of Bounds Weekend is an important event in the European freeride schedule. Unlike other great events that had to be canceled, because of a lack of sponsors and their commitment in the mountain bike scene, Leogang’s freeride festival is setting new standards in 2009. The riders are also giving their tribute to the Out of Bounds Weekend. Over 60 riders from 16 different countries will travel to Leogang even just because of the legendary 26TRIX dirt jump comp:

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Q&A With IMBA’s Ryan Schutz

the-geekFrom the reasoning of the Dawg name to the best comic book authors, from the history of the Hot to a timeline of industrial music, Cory has the trivia, and the opinions to mouth off about it.

Ryan Schutz is the Regional Director for the mountain states of the US for IMBA. Before that, he was half (okay, 2/3rds) of a trail care crew with his wife that crisscrossed the nation like some wayward pied piper with a shovel and a McLeod. If you have been to a mountain bike festival, you have met Ryan. Needless to say, the guy knows trails, advocacy clubs, and bikes better than nearly anyone. Here’s a quick Q&A that we had on the state of mountain biking advocacy today.

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The BC Bike Race Day One

the-wranglerjpg3At 10am sharp, the wait was over, the start gun fired and the pack worked its way up the 3 kilometer residential road climb up to the trailhead. The sight of mountain bikers is nothing new for inhabitants of this North Vancouver neighbourhood – they’re blessed with living within spitting distance of some of the best riding around, so cyclists come with the territory. Until today, though, residents hadn’t seen anywhere near this many riders spinning down their streets. It was an impressive site worthy of the onlookers’ applause and cheers.

And with the paved start conveniently spreading out the pack, the first riders dropped in to the much anticipated Mt Seymour singletrack. More climbs awaited as racers grunted up Old Buck and the Baden Powell trails to hit their first technical descent of the day – Severed Trail. Through the really technical sections, some racers found themselves running off their bike more than riding on, but with seven full days of riding ahead, it makes sense not to risk crashing on something outside their comfort zone.

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The Ride to Conquer Cancer

joe_dist1The humming of 1701 rider’s tires on the smooth pavement filled the air as we left the cheesy inspirational music blasting through loudspeakers behind us and started out on the first kilometer of our 267 km journey to Seattle. There were people lining the streets, cheering on loved ones and helicopters buzzing overhead with cameras capturing the moment.

This spectacle was the start line of The Ride To Conquer Cancer, a two day bike ride from Vancouver to Seattle. My girlfriend, Rachel, and I had been training and fundraising for this event for the last couple months, and it was a great feeling to join all these other riders and begin our ride. Our fundraising went towards the BC Cancer Foundation. The money we raised will drive crucial cancer research and help develop new cancer treatments at the BC Cancer Agency, Canada’s only cancer control organization dedicated to both cancer research and patient care.

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Old School DH Carnage Video

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Big In Bavaria Update

sdc15731Still four weeks to go until the BIKE EXPO and the BIG IN BAVARIA dirt jump competition in Munich on July 23rd to 26th. The building of the dirt jumps is already in full progress. The first doubles are shaped and the starting tower is finished. It’s not only the dirt line that is worth a look. The list of confirmed mountain bike and BMX riders also gives a preview of the first class action you can expect.

About 1,200 tons of dirt have been used to form the super sized jumps of the BIG in Bavaria so far. And 800 tons are still to come. The pictures of the now existing dirt jump course already promise a lot of airtime. The speed you need is guaranteed by a eight meters (about 25 feet) high starting tower including a steep bank followed by a smooth step down and the first double that has an 11 meters (about 35 feet) gap! But these will only be the first hits of the overall 180 (about 200 yards) meters long course with a whole bunch of jumps, including a section with parallel lines. The transfers will be as much fun for the spectators as for the riders, that’s for sure. The big names can’t wait for it and are already confirmed, so watch out for:

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Park This! Inspirational and Effective Solutions for Bike Parking

30Thursday, June 25 at 7pm
Museum of Vancouver

Three dynamic speakers present provocative and exciting images that chart the latest, most creative bicycle parking worldwide and opportunities for Vancouver.

• Adrian Witte, transportation planner, Bunt Engineering
• Stephanie Doerksen, urban designer, VIA architecture
• Richard Campbell, principal, Third Wave Cycling Group

Museum of Vancouver | 1100 Chestnut Street | Vanier Park | Vancouver | British Columbia | V6J 3J9 | Canada | museumofvancouver.ca

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Ride the Bongo Bongo Trail and Share Your Point of View

bongobongo_firstforestsection_bikepark-leogang2009Leogang Bikepark’s brand new freeride trail, the Bongo Bongo, is now open to the public. If you want to capture our bike park action on tape, you can also rent a helmet cam at the Bike Shop from now on.

Finally it’s done: Everybody can shred Bikepark Leogang’s Bongo Bongo trail. The trail splits up from the well-known “Flying Gangster” freeride trail. Right before the big, Kona bridge, which is located half way down the existing freeride trail, you have to make a sharp turn to the left to enter the Bongo Bongo. The masters of course construction, the „HU Cooperation“, did a great job. The Bongo Bongo looks a bit like a “small BC” trail, featuring a whole bunch of northshore elements, bridges and dirt berms. All located in Leogang’s forest. It’s your personal guarantee to enjoy a lot of flow including small jumps and gaps. The Bongo Bongo is not that technically challenging, but you should be a “little more experienced” rider. Absolute beginners might have some problems with the new trail – especially at wet conditions. To get a first impression, what the trail looks like, please watch the first movie below. The short clip shows about 80 percent of the Bongo Bongo and was filmed, when it was still under construction. What you don’t see in the video: a northshore corkscrew obstacle including a small river gap that marks the end of the trail. To get some more impressions about the Bikepark Leogang in general, please watch the second video. This footage was taken during the Opening Weekend and includes small segments of the Bongo Bongo, the Flying Gangster and the Speedster (DH-track).

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Barry Dreams Deep

wicknasty_dist3It took me a few extra cups of coffee to get things rolling this morning. I tried to get up earlier when Sarah was going to work, but quickly retreated back up stairs and fell in to bed with early morning singletrack dreams and naked-at-school type anxiety dreams about forgetting my shoes or tires. Racing Mt Bikes gets into your head and stays put. I just returned from the Test of Endurance up in my hometown in Oregon this past weekend and my neck hurts, my legs hurt and my nuts hurt and I couldn’t be happier.

The Caveman talked me into making the trip in order to be a guest rider on his “Team S+M Spencer Sean Wicks Explosion featuring Jeremiah and Brandon” squad, and with a name like that how could I refuse? Donning my old Team S+M jersey and racing in my old stomping grounds was rad and nostalgic, and reminded me why I love racing bikes around in circles in the dirt.

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Kris Sneddon Takes Third at the Test of Metal

krissneddon82771Squamish BC. Known for it’s kick ass mountain bike trails and all around riding. No better place to have a mountain bike race and this one is a doozy. Some of Kona’s factory team were there along with a few Kona employees. Wendy Simms returned to defend her win from lasts year’s Test of Metal but pulled out at the feed zone (to not over exert herself) due to the fact she has a bun in the oven. That’s right, Wendy is going to be a mom.

Kris Sneddon was there from the factory men’s team taking third overall with Max Plaxton, the US cup points leader, taking the win and walking home with some cash in his pocket. All sorts young and old participated in this field of a thousand riders. It was a great turn out and nice to see so much enthusiasm for riding and racing bikes coming out of that corridor. On another note. Hats of to Catherine Pendrel, the women pro category winner, for giving back a some cash to the best men and women performance residing in Squamish. Nice to see someone kicking back into an already enthusiastic community. Another hat off to the boys from Tantalus Bike shop for providing some good times at the feed zone. Can’t wait for next year.

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Mark MacDonald Hits the Podium

image0031Mark MacDonald from Team H&R BLOCK-KONA takes 3rd Place at the Banff Road Race today!! Check out our twitter feed on our website to catch up to date race updates from this weekend. www.teamhrblock-kona.ca

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