BICYCLE CAFE

Bicycle Cafe Team 2011 Super Season Recap

2012-01-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

2011 was a big season for riders of the Bicycle Cafe Team, popping up in more places than ever before. It would appear as though everyone is growing up and finding their places in the industry, and still keeping things tight with the shop. Check out this collection of photos, videos and other content created by our team riders and their productions partners from last season!

SPRING
The season had a late start and people were itching to shred. By the time the trails were dry everyone dived head first into make new content. Dylan helped Karl and Matty start the season off with a new media crew titled as Silvia Films.

The first video released was an edit of Dylan showing off his big bike capabilities on the new Kona Supreme Operator.

Silvia Introduction - Dylan Sherrard on pinkbike.com

-Matt Miles back on his bike. Photo by Karl Heldt

Part of the gig with Silvia was that Matt Miles was back on his bike after a two season hiatus. The timing on that comeback seemed perfect as this video of Karl and Matt used carefully constructed cable cameras and flawless riding style to blow peoples minds.

Matt and Dylan also got together with riders like Ian Killick, Kurt Sorge, Graham Agassiz and Brandon Semenuk to do some photo shoots with Dan Barham and John Gibson that have been landing in magazines all over.

-A behind the scenes look at Barham's editing suite.

-Killick getting dumped!

While this chunk of the team were doing there thing, Aggy and Ian Killick were busy preparing for their fast approaching contest season.

Silvia - Graham Agassiz and Ian Killick on pinkbike.com

And Aggy released this 3 day collaboration project with Monster and Solos Productions.

Three Days with Aggy on pinkbike.com

Another really exciting event from the spring portion of the season was Matt Hunter finally getting back on his bike after a long recovery from a shoulder surgery.
Matt started doing some epic rides to get back into the swing of things and he delivered this video of one of his favorite rides.

Finally, a big part of the reason for spring in Kamloops being so fun and our riders being so successful was the addition of Brad Stuart to the Kamloops Bike Ranch. Soon after he started work as the park maintenance manager things were looking better than ever before and riders were as stoked as could be. Everyone got to know Brad a little better and we made a killer Silvia edit in his world famous back yard.

Check out Matt, Dylan and Brad shredding in this one!

Silvia - Going Big With Brad on pinkbike.com

SUMMER
When the summer season rolls around it seems like everyone gets really busy and does there own thing. Unfortunately Aggy went down hard at the 26 Trix event in Leogang and sidelined him just long enough to miss out on coaching at Sun Peaks, but the rest of our crew did a great job holding down the camps.

Also at Sun Peaks, Matt Miles threw it down with an edit to really inspsire everyone's chairlift spirits.

Silvia at Sun Peaks Bike Park - Matt Miles on pinkbike.com

Dylan took off to his hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon to produce some fun photos and stories with Dan Barham and Boreale Biking .

-Story and images here on Pinkbike.com

Quickly after all that, Crankworx came around in Whistler.
Aggy got rowdy in the slopestyle, and joined Matt and Dylan in getting sideways at the Whip Off World Championships.

-Aggy upside down out of the Kokanee Cabin

- Matty getting steezy at Whip Off Worlds

-Dylan playing Nac Nacs and Rock n Roll at the Whip Off Worlds

Killick went to Crankworx Colorado and everyone else took a little rest.
Then Brad built a foam pit at the Kamloops Bike Ranch and everyone finished off their summer's feeling a little crazier.

-Dylan practicing super flips. Photo by Riff Stills

- Kris Foster getting right rowdy. Photo by Riff Stills

FALL

Fall pops up like a big surprise every year. Finally it is time to relax a little more and enjoy the best conditions of the season. Fall is time for shredding tacky trails, making epic camping trips happen and watching all the seasons hard work start to appear on film. And the Cafe team was up to just that...

Killick teamed up with Silvia to release this crazy edit that dropped jaws and landed him a spot on the Giant Bicycles Team.

Silvia - Ian Killick rides Giant on pinkbike.com

Second Base dropped the teaser for "From the Inside Out" which featured sweet segments from Aggy and Hunter.

From the Inside Out - Official Trailer on pinkbike.com

We had an amazing From the Inside Out premiere in Kamloops where Karl and Matty also unveiled plans for a Silvia Winter Web Series soon to come and surprised the crowd with this Bicycle Cafe Team Teaser.

Silvia - Bicycle Cafe 2011 on pinkbike.com

Dylan and Graham went on an epic heli biking/back country camping mission with Kona, Sherpas Cinema and Blake Jorgenson to produce a commercial for their Supreme Operators.

Kona / Saint Supreme Operator on pinkbike.com

There is a short article about the project here on Pinkbike.com
and some sweet behind the scenes images seen here on Blake Jorgenson's blog.

As the season slowly started winding down many of our team riders found new friends at the Full Monte Dirt Farm just outside of Kamloops. Ron Penny, Tedman Parkinson and Krystina Green have some heavy hitting lines at their farm and anyone who rides there seems to come back raving about not only the amplitude and excitement of the riding but also the precision and dedication all three farm owners have put into their land. Ron Penny going full speed tuck for the distance world record. Photo by Ian Hylands.

Ron and Tedman went on a mission to set a new distance jumping world record for bicycles. Here is some video about the event and a massive photo article about who they are and what they do.

World Record Jump Weekend on pinkbike.com

Later in the fall Dylan published a Rider Perspective Column on Pinkbike.com, look out for his feature column to appear monthly in the 2012 season.

Finally, Silvia Films followed up their Bicycle Cafe Teaser with a 6 part video series to wrap up the year. Check out each installmentlisted below...

Jeremy Tenisch In Merritt

Silvia - Jeremy Tenisch In Merritt on pinkbike.com

Jamieson with Matt and Ian

Silvia - Jamison with Matt and Ian on pinkbike.com

Jackson, Tritan, Liam and Justin at Sun Peaks Bike Park

Silvia - Jackson, Tristan, Liam and Justin at Sun Peaks on pinkbike.com

Ian Killick Crashing

Silvia - Ian Killick Crashing on pinkbike.com

Matt Miles In The Fall

Silvia - Matt Miles in the fall on pinkbike.com

Dylan Sherrard Season Finale

Silvia - Dylan Sherrard Season Finale on pinkbike.com

Well I think that's that for 2011. Everyone mentioned in this post has a lot of exciting new plans already in development for the 2012 season. Keep your eye out for a lot more action in the months to come and thanks for staying tuned in all year!

Sun Peaks Silvia web edit

2011-09-08T03:39:00.001-07:00

Sun Peaks Silvia web edit is up! Full credit to Matty and Karl for an amazing job on this one! Super stoked!

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Silvia-at-Sun-Peaks-Bike-Park-Justin-Terwiel-2011.html

Silvia Coaching Edit

2011-09-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

On a chairlift ride part way through filming with Silvia on Wednesday we were discussing our goals of what we were trying to communicate through the edit and how we were going to express them. As well as discussing what I wanted to show with my riding, what kind of shots we were looking for and where this collaboration would come to fruition, we also talked about what riding is to me, the impact that the resort has had on me as a rider and how much of a role coaching plays for me in my relationship with bike riding. We concluded that coaching is such a major part of riding life for me that it would be cool to include some of my riding protégés in the edit to add some color, differentiate it from all the other edits out there and give the younger Café riders some exposure. As Karl and I had Saturday off I suggested that we bring 10 yr. old Café shredder Jackson Philips along to shoot on the weekend. Over the next two days it turned out that 14 yr. old Café slayer Tristan Klasaut was also available and stoked to shoot, so we added him to the roster. On Saturday morning upon arriving at Sun Peaks we found my longest standing riding protégé, 14 yr. old Liam Stevens, up from Rossland with his dad. After some short discussion Liam was added to the stacked Limitless Racing / Café line-up. It was really fun and refreshing to get to film with the three of them that day as they all ride savagely, have a ton of energy and truly love riding for what it is. As well, I have been coaching both the Café boys for the last 3 years and Liam for the last 5 years so it is really cool to see them progressing as riders and growing as individuals. The boys were equally stoked for the opportunity and I heard more than once that filming with Silvia was fulfilling dreams, so I was pretty happy to have them there. Unfortunately Matty was still down for the count from his crash on Wednesday, so Karl had to fly solo, manning two cameras and one extra heavy pack for the whole day. We rode in a train, for the first run hitting Gummy Bear to Sweet One and then later shredding a Steam Shovel / Route 66 / Steam Shovel to the Jump Park. It was definitely a creative challenge to capture four riders down a piece of trail but Karl was up for the challenge and the shots I caught a glimpse of were rather epic. For singletrack sections we rode with myself at the helm followed by Liam, Tristan and Jacky. Jacky stayed pretty much right on our tail despite being on 24” wheels and eating clouds of dust, and Karl made good effect of it. I felt bad but then I did hike both our bikes up most of the steep sections - such is the life of the youngest rider. The boys were all pinned and looking good, their speed keeping up with their excitement levels and their front tires just off the rear tire ahead of them. When we left the singletrack to find some air we switched up the order. It was super fun to be part of the pack and just play all over the hill. Over the wooden creek gap four-pack on Sweet One Jacky led and we sessioned for a good while before moving on. The jump looked gigantic with a ten-year old sailing across it so it made for good effect (I apologize for the poor iPhone picture quality).

We sessioned a number of other sections on the hill while constantly looking for new angles on things and then headed down to the Jump Park. We split up into two groups, with Trist and Liam sending the dirt jump to step down with style and myself training Jacky over the first jump in the Pro Line. As it was the end of the day and we were getting tired, after a couple runs through we called it and ran a massive train down the Bikercross to the bottom of the hill. With big smiles on our faces high-fives were exchanged and then we said our goodbyes, packed up and parted ways. Many thanks to Karl Heldt of Silvia Productions (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silvia/149128011826656) for another epic day of filming. Not a bad day, considering the night previous I hosted my going away party at my house and had 2 hours sleep…

I am now off in Lyon, France for at least the rest of the year and if I get to post it won't be of the Kamloops dirt I love and miss. I wish all the best to my friends and Cafe teammates over the fall and can't wait to go for a rip when I return! All the best!

Matty Miles Slaying!

2011-09-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Matty slaying the big step-up in the Sun Peaks Jump Park like only he can, compliments of Royce Sihlis Photography (http://www.roycesihlis.ca/)

Sun Peaks Silvia Edit Shredfest

2011-09-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

After my grassland shoot with Rick Hanchard I thought that I was in good enough shape to get back on my downhill bike, so that weekend I headed up to Sun Peaks to meet up with Café rippers Jackson Phillips and Keenan Kovacs amongst others for a day of fun. It was sooo good to be back on my DH bike after 3 weeks off the Glory and the boys were all shredding so I was well and truly happy. I felt good enough to try to get some more filming in so I called up the Silvia boys and set up 2 more days of shooting that week. Matty, Karl and I shot a solid day on Tuesday, filming one run of Barn Burner / Mach / Spicy Taco / Wagon Wheel and the Bikercross over 3.5 hours before I had to head to town for my last night of work.

On my bike I was fairly pinned but I felt a little off balance and lacking focus. As such I had a couple near-death moments, getting in over my head coming into sections fast and not thinking far enough ahead. On a wide-open section of mach I hit a fade away corner into a stump drop chicane on a completely new line, drifting to scrubbing the stump and landing hot on the inside of the next corner before slashing out… definitely a first, and possibly a last. I like to earn my speed by being smart and riding well, but on this day I seemed to have the throttle wide open regardless. Hopefully it resulted in some good shots but really I am happy I walked away in one piece.

That night was my last night of bartending at the Noble Pig before my trip to France, so from filming I was a little tired but I walked away from that night a free bird. We shot again on Wednesday, joined by my friend Royce Sihlis on stills, and put in a solid 5.5 hour day as I had my first completely free evening. For the first run we shot a warm up of sorts down Steam-shovel to the Bikercross before heading towards some more serious terrain on Kaboom to Honeydrop for the second run. Honeydrop is my favorite run and was amazing to ride but exhausting to film.

We shot it in 5 sections, shooting each section 5-6 times, so needless to say it involved a lot of hiking. The s-berms on the face we shot to death until we decided that it wasn’t possible to ride any faster. On my last run down the section I powered a berm, got hot in the next corner and then couldn’t make the following turn. Unfortunately Royce was entrenched right in the spill out zone so I hit the tree beside him and had to bear-hug it to avoid sailing into oblivion. On one of the lower sections Karl caught a moment where I slashed off the side of a rock face to get direction into a following corner and in the process sent a rock flying, illuminated directly by the sun... Definitely a shot I am looking forwards to seeing in the edit. By the bottom of Honeydrop I was so spent I could barely stay on my bike so we called it a day and headed down to the jump park so Matty could get some shots in the low light. My god that boy can lay it out, to the point that he has coined his own style… done right they are no longer Fairclough whips, they are Matty Miles whips. New appreciation for that style of whips for sure. Unfortunately Matty threw it so far sideways on his last jump that he took it to the ground on landing, and though he was ok, his day way done. I got to ride from there down with his full pack and I have new appreciation for the weight the boys cart around while riding from shot to shot during a day of filming.

Many thanks to Matt Miles and Karl Heldt of Silvia Productions (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silvia/149128011826656) and Royce Sihlis of Royce Sihlis Photography (www.roycesihlis.ca) for their creative collaboration, hard work and mad skills behind the lense. Keep your eyes peeled for the Silvia edit, coming soon.

Golden Light Shoot

2011-08-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Over the Simpcw camp I was quite surprised and really happy with how my wrists held up so I called up some cameramen to try and make something out of the end of my injury-compromised season. Nobody seemed immediately available to shoot, but a friend at work put me in contact with her cousin, Rick Hanchard, who had recently moved to town and wanted to break out his camera. He seemed super excited to get behind the lense and the weather was epic so a few days of rest later I found myself out in the hills of Knutsford seeking to capture some all mountain riding in the grasslands under the golden afternoon light. I was out on my little Giant STP, which is an absolute blast to ride on the smoother, flowing terrain on Knutsford. We shot for two afternoons in the grasslands and I was really happy with what we came out with. Check it!

Many thanks to Rick Hanchard for the excellent shots and hard work!

Nationals Disaster and Simpcw Sun Peaks Camp

2011-08-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the Sun Peaks Freeride Camp this summer I was reminded of the reality that you just cannot rush coming back from injury. The day previous to the camp I had a hard fall and injured my hands, among other things, straining tendons in my wrist and fingers. The first day of the camp I was unsure if I would be able to hold on to the bars but through pain killers, medical tape and ignorance I made it happen as I really wanted to coach. Over the five days of the camp, through adjusting my hand position on the bars in order to guard the injured fingers, I brought back some old tendonitis and irritated a bunch of nerves in my wrists. After the camp I was unable to grip my bars so I was forced to take some time off the bike and work with my physio to try to regain my ability to ride. For the two weeks preceding Nationals I saw my physio 5 times a week to advance the healing process, employing the ultrasound machine, alternating hot and ice baths and stretching. Two days before Nationals Kevin taped up my wrists to mid-forearm and I went for a light ride to test out the progress. I was pleased with the results, other than the excruciating tape removal, so I shaved my wrists and decided that I would try to compete that weekend in Panorama. I packed up my van and after work, powered mainly by hopes and dreams, made the trek to the Kootenay Valley. I slept in my van and in the morning awoke with a strange stiffness in my wrists. After a good breakfast, warm-up and stretch and receiving my registration package I geared up under sunny skies and headed up the hill. When I dropped in to my first run I found that I had very limited grip strength, although I hadn’t taped my wrists, so I took it fairly easy while getting reacquainted to a course I had raced a good few times before. When I got to the bottom I taped my wrists up tight and headed back up for a second run. Upon dropping into the second run the support helped me feel noticeably better so I started to open it up a bit and play on the track, although I was far from 100%. The Panorama course combines high speed with flow, gnar and tech. I felt comfortable on the flowing sections but had trouble gaining confidence enough to truly let it go through the burly sections. About half-way down the trail I stopped to look at tech transfer through the rocky creek-bed section. I was stretching my forearms while scoping the entrance and I felt a zinging pop in my wrist. My immediate concern turned into legitimate worry once I tried to grab onto the bar as I couldn’t close my ring or pinky finger onto the grip with any strength. The rest of the run I basically had to hold on with my middle and pointer fingers of my left hand to make my way down, downgrading my grip to one finger when I needed the front brake. It was really frustrating because the rest of my body felt great except for the one stupid limitation. When I got to the bottom I phoned my physio for advice and ended up looking up a physiotherapist at the hill. A few hours later I was again in the hands of a specialist trying to find a solution to enable me to ride. Try as we might what my wrists needed was time, so I was forced to call the race and drive home empty handed – definitely not what I was hoping for when I had made the trip in the opposite direction. When I got home we concluded that I had some temporary nerve damage along with advancing tendonitis that would most likely take 6 weeks to heal. As I only had just over a month left in Canada before I departed for Europe I decided to call my race season to an end and focus on other things. Over the next couple weeks I was contacted through a friend by the Simpcw First Nations to do a beginner camp for a bunch of their kids involved in their youth leadership program. I was a little tentative as to if my hands would be good to go, but testing them out while commuting lent me enough confidence to agree to the camp. Two days before the camp I went for a light ride and they felt good enough to coach beginners so I was happy. Three weeks after Nationals I was back on my bike and loving it. The group was awesome, filled with keen kids who learned quickly and were a ton of fun. They had never been downhilling before but after three days of coaching were confidently riding all the blue trails on the hill and were confidently challenging technical lines and easier parts of black trails. Aside from the riding, I was also really impressed with the kid’s attitudes and how the Simpcw First Nations are engaging their kids to stay active, learn constantly, get in touch with their heritage and stay out of trouble. I see many economically more advantaged kids who are sorely missing the foundation skills these kids are receiving through their community, so hopefully the future continues to shine brightly for them.

the reign sx!

2011-08-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's getting pretty far into the riding season and I've just recently finished adding a few new parts on to my favourite bike I've ever owned (Giant reign sx). Its prettymuch the perfect do-it-all freeride/all mountain/slopestyle bike. I recently rode it in Crankworx Colorado, and more than a few times I had people come up to me and say "Dude that bike is huge, how are you riding slopestyle on it?!" My response was usually something along the lines of "It's way lighter than it looks." Then they'd lift it and there would be a shocked look on their face. The weight of the bike (33 pounds), Isn't the only reason I like this bike so much.. the dudes at the Bicycle Cafe set up a suicide shifter and a hydraulic gyro for me so that I can spin the bars as many times as I please without having to prewind them or worry about kinking my cables. Last but not least, the guys at Loaded U.S.A. hooked me up with red wheels, bars and stem along with a seatpost and clamp for this bike. Not only are they the most luxurious looking components I`ve ever laid eyes on, they`re also insanely tough. I aboslutely pumelled my bike in Colorado and I`d check my bike at the end of the day to see that everything was still straight as an arrow! I don`t know how you could possibly make anything that tough, but they did. That`s all I`ve got for now, see you on the trails!

Sun Peaks Freeride Camp Day 1 and 2

2011-07-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

Over July 4-8 Sun Peaks hosted their 5-day long Freeride Camp and I was hired on as lead coach. Fourty-two riders from across Western Canada came to the hill to improve their skills and shred with the best. The coaching staff included a large Bicycle Café contingent of Matt Hunter, Graham Agassiz, Dylan Sherrard, Ian Killick, Thomas Sullivan, Shawn Melnechuk and myself, as well as my father and Chayse Marshall. The camp started out a little painfully for a few of us, as Aggy was coming back a broken elbow and Dylan, my Dad and I all had hard bails on Sunday. Mine wasn’t too pretty and I was sharply reminded of why I only leave my full gear behind once every couple years. Yeah, one of those…

So day one started without full confidence that I would actually be able ride, but a few Advil, a little athletic tape and some mind over matter saw me at least able to hold onto the bars. As my bike was in the shop waiting for parts for my fork I picked up one of the rental bikes to ride for the first couple days. Headlining coaches Hunter and Aggy were joining us on day 2 and 3, so I got Café shredder Thomas Sullivan to move up the ranks from a tail-gunner and kid I used to coach to one of the team. Inevitably the first morning involved a fair bit of time invested in organizing all the groups and handing out all the Dakine kits to the riders, but all in all it didn’t go too badly. By the time the lifts were turning we were all in line, kitted out and stoked to shred.

The first day saw me taking Group 7, the most advanced group of 14-16 year olds. Out of the seven riders, five were return campers and two were returning for their 3^rd and 5^th years, respectively. It is really fun to work with riders over a longer term and get to make progress over consecutive years, so working with this group was a treat. The kids were slaying! Second time up the lift we went over the trail crew who had seen our first run down Route 66 and they were raving at me about the group. We were raving right back about the condition of the trails - the trail crew have been on fire this year and the trails were buff! Many of the trails have been reworked, berms have been added everywhere and overall flow has definitely been increased. After a few runs the kids were tuned back in on the foundation skills so we worked on advanced moves and style for the rest of the day. I found that holding on to the grip with my busted pinky finger was less painful than letting it flop around, so despite inevitably being a bit slowed down after a while I stopped paying attention to it.

On the second day Hunter arrived and I bumped down to group 6 with Thomas joining me as a wingman. The group was full of enthusiasm and the sun continued to shine down strongly. While not quite as fast as the top group, the kids made up for it in enthusiasm, were fast learners and picked up skills quickly. The riders really thought out everything we worked on and with a bit of Socratic method we got them to figure out much of what they needed to learn in their own minds. Thomas, who I coached for a couple years as he was coming up in the race scene, made an ideal wingman and together we worked together to help the kids reach for their potential. By the end of day two we were pushing it with big smiles on our faces, but also starting to feel the effects of two days of non-stop park riding in the heat.

Day Three and Four

2011-07-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

On day three Aggy joined us, three weeks off a broken elbow, and I bumped down to Group 5. Group 5 were under 13 but were all little rippers (with my 11 year old Café protégé Jackson Phillips at the helm), and as I got my bike back I was stoked! Fox sent me a new 2011 compression cartridge as a surprise treat (THANKS FOX!) which felt great, and despite my appreciation for the rental back-up bikes while mine was down, it was sooo good to be back on my Giant which fits me perfectly, weighs about 20% less and performs flawlessly in every aspect. Again, Group 5 the riders were thinkers, and together we discovered what worked best for them on the trail and in the air. While fine-tuning advanced moves is great, there is something really satisfying about working with riders on perfecting foundation skills and watching them progress quickly and gain a ton of confidence and control as they learn. Good times indeed. Day 3 was really hot and the kids were starting to fatigue, so by the second half of the day we had to stop for water breaks every run. Unfortunately Aggy came to the conclusion that 3 weeks was a little too soon to be riding, so he decided to just come back and hang out for the last two days.

Day four saw me bump back to Group 7 and I decided to take Jackson with me. I have worked with Jacky for 3 years on both on dirt and on snow, and he seriously has everything together he needs to succeed in either sport (think spinning 3s, hitting double black park jumps and winning races at 9 years old on skiis, and shredding his little Stinky 2-4 just as hard). While not able to role quite as fast on his 24’s as the older riders, on most of the hill he was only just behind them and on the jumps a lot of the time he was taking the lead. While the whole group have progressed into seriously amazing riders over the time I have known and got to work them and it is hard to single any rider out in the crowd of over-achievers, Liam Stevens (http://www.pinkbike.com/video/164020/) returning for his 5^th year was a definite highlight for me. At 9 years old when he joined us for the first year he was already standout rider and by the third year Hunter had helped him get on a junior development program with Specialized. Now at 14 on a dialed little SX that can finally keep up with his skills, he shreds for the love, mirrors the pros he rides with, has zero attitude, slays corners and jumps equally well and nacs harder than your mother (or your favorite pro). I know he has the skills on snow to match, so like Jackson he is a 4 season shredder. Very cool. Day four had to be one of the most fun days I have had on a bike, with the riders and I basically discussing riding as equals in between fantastic shred-fests. We did a few group drills but mostly only minor individual fine-tuning was really needed. Every rider was throwing down everything they had while screaming down the hill in a massive supersonic pack, mixing up the order, trying new things and feeding off eachother’s energy. I seriously regained my sense of youth on a bike, just shredding in a massive pack and having the most fun possible. Part way through the day the riders had been earning it hard so we focused on developing their style in the air with different types of whips, scrubs, tables and a few tricks. Again it wasn’t a teacher-student atmosphere, instead we discussed our favorite styles, brainstormed ways of achieving our goals, demoed different moves for eachother and all of us (including myself) came away having learned new style moves. A couple highlights for me were getting to be mid-pack in a massive scrub-whip train and following a couple feet behind Jackie on the last big step-up on Steamshovel while he layed out a flat one-footed euro-table. Pretty much blew my mind… 11 years old.

Day 4 (cont'd) and the Devil's Dandruff

2011-07-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

By the time we only had a couple hours left we were pretty spent so we decided to slow down the pace a little, grab a camera, session and get some filming in. We had a couple whip off’s, sessions and train shots before finally settling on the last step-up of steamshovel for a last massive session. Jonas Burke had his x-ups absolutely clicked and all our jaws collectively hit the floor when Liam pulled a 90’d moto-whip nac-nac. So cool. Finally we decided to put down the camera and make our way down to the bottom. We ended the day with a massive bar-hump train on the last step-down and called it a day with smiles on our faces while laughing over the day’s events.

The final day saw the weather turn against us. We arrived at 9am to find the clouds unleashing the devil’s dandruff all over the top two-thirds of the hill, inspiring Safety-Ken to shut down the lift on us. We were told we would have to wait it out until the snow melted off the wood structures, so we took over the empty child-minding center, found a TV and DVD player and plugged in some riding movies while deciding on our next moves. We got word that we would have to wait until at least lunch to ride so after a couple movies we decided to open the floor to the kids on any topics they were interested in. Getting shut down on riding turned out to be a really positive opportunity for the kids to learn from us as we got to discuss our experiences growing up riding, our careers, the bike industry, filming, racing, building jumps, hitting gaps or lines for the first time, injuries, recovery and strategies for minimizing risk. A bunch of the kids I talked to afterwards were very appreciative of what we had to say and took a lot from it so I was happy. After lunch Safety-Ken decided that the hill would remain closed to the public but that the camp would be allowed to load the lift, ride half way down the hill on fire roads and access the bottom of the hill from there. The top of the hill was indeed coated in a couple inches of slush but the bottom of the hill was in decent condition. I rode again with Group 6 and we collectively decided that the weather was not going to hold us down or back. The last hour or two of the camp even saw sunshine. By the end of the day my back had had it with the 6^th day straight of riding, so when one of my kids got a flat on 24” wheels I switched him bikes and walked out. When I got to the bottom of the hill the campers were gathered at the trucks and we handed out prizes and schwag. Afterwards we took a group shot as well as lots of individual pictures and said our goodbyes to the 2011 Freeride Camp.

Despite all the challenges of running a camp of this size, the roadrash, strained tendons and nerve damage I sustained and the ensuing tendonitis that decided to plague me afterwards from riding hard for 5 days on an injured wing, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and would not have given it up for anything. I love coaching and the camp presents such a unique opportunity to work with so many upcoming riders, many on a multi-year basis, that after 9 years of being involved with the camp I am sure I will be back for a 10^th year and well into the future. I wish all of the riders all the best and hope to see them all next year!

Justin Terwiel

Bear Mountain Challenge 2011 (Mudfest)

2011-06-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was the 15^th running of Bear Mountain Challenge DH in mission. It was the 2^nd BC Cup DH of the year, but the first race back for me from my extended bout of injuries and 11 months away from the race circuit. I have raced Bear at least 8 times before, have always loved the track and placed 4^th there two seasons ago (crashing hard there last year), so I was cautiously optimistic about what I could pull off. I knew my fitness still wasn’t going to match that of my competitors who had been able to train the entire winter, but being that it is a bit of a shorter track and I have been training like mad, I hoped to be able to strategize a way to play my strengths and minimize my weaknesses in order to pull off a decent result.

The adventure started for me when I decided to resurrect my van as a means of travel. As it hadn’t moved in over 10 months since I took the insurance off it after my knee surgery, that meant replacing the tires and brake pads, changing the oil and refilling the tranny fluid, all on the most minimal of budgets possible. Adding to the headache was the fact that seemingly every bolt rusted itself on. Fun times. After getting the van running and insured and working late into Friday night at the bar, I packed up all my gear and early the next morning began the voyage down to the coast. It was rather satisfying to pack down the van with all my gear, crank the tunes and head down there surrounding by everything I needed to succeed.

When I arrived a couple of the boys who had come down the night before were already training. The first task I set for myself was to find and maintain a consistent race-head as I have not had much opportunity to practice long runs at a race pace and I needed to increase my level of focus at speed. The mischievous weather had thrown a bit of a curve ball at us, so on the track we found deep mud, to the point that on the four packs that usually you would have to scrub to avoid landing flat, you had to sprint with everything you had in order to make the first set before landing in squelch and missing the second sets. Tristan, Thomas and myself got to do a number of runs together which was fun, figuring out the track while sliding around in the mud. The track was sloppy as all hell but I really enjoyed it, drifting corners and surfing tough lines. It took a good few runs to get up to speed but by race day I was feeling half way to my old self.

It was fun to work with a few of the younger guys who are just getting into it and see them put together a solid weekend of racing. I was really impressed with their attitudes as they faced bad weather, a super foreign type of track and mechanicals, but despite the adversity, came through charging. Jordan blew up his back wheel casing a muddy double in training on Saturday but managed to get a new one built so he was back in the game. Tristan’s back brake decided to die on him late Saturday and as it was a Formula no one had the required equipment to fix it so Sunday morning we poached the brake off my hardtail to get him back running. There was also the obligatory Bear training line-up in the rain to deal with, but as the boys learned, all such is racing. Being more prepared for adversity than the next guy is half the battle and we pulled together our race-heads while putting together everything we needed to at least be in the competition.

Bear Pt. 2

2011-06-27T18:17:00.001-07:00

I faced a mechanical myself just before my race run - as I took my rear caliper off to clean out the grime that was packing it, the connection from my brake line came loose so when I reattached the caliper and squeezed my brake lever oil spewed out everywhere. I managed to bleed the brake before my run but as I was about to find out, the damage was done and my rotor and brake pads were contaminated, with no brake clean to be found anywhere. Despite this I headed up the course in a good mind-set focused on the task at hand. I did a thorough warm up and was as ready as I have ever been by the time I was in the gate. Just into my run I realized that I had minimal if any stopping power in my rear brake, which forced me to be a bit conservative in the technical upper sections, my main card I was hoping to play. Once I got to the second hairpin entering the long flat middle section I was consciously relieved and set to work on the pedals. The weather had wrought havoc down on the course to the point that run-times increased by over 50%, so I found my handicap in conditioning really impacting me as I slogged through the muck. Save for a few dabs and a wash-out to near dead stop I felt I had a pretty consistent run, but by ¾ of the way down the course I was seriously hanging. I really didn’t have any power left at the end of the track, but I made it down safely and was pretty happy to find the end of the track.

After my run I was pretty satisfied with how things had gone, all things considered. My race strategy and mental game both went really well and I didn’t get hurt, which were three of my main goals. My mechanical was unexcusable, but there was nothing I could do about it at the time. I didn’t feel that I rode at my best and my lack of stopping power didn’t help, but a bunch of friends came up afterwards and complemented me on the sections they saw, so that was encouraging. As well it was really satisfying to work with our younger riders and see them pull off a successful weekend. I ended up 23^rd, which was a long way off where I was hoping to be, but it was my first race back in 11 months and my conditioning, confidence and speed will only increase as I get to spend more time on my bike so I have to try to be patient. A highlight of the weekend for me was getting to throw Thomas in the Old Mill Pond after he placed 3^rd, a Bear Mountain tradition for those who earn the podium. He is killing it every time I see him on the bike and undoubtedly has good things in his future. Our next race is Arduum on the weekend of the 10^th, so we have our work cut out for us over the next 2 weeks in training for the most technical race of the year, undoubtedly much more my style.

2011-05-26T20:14:00.001-07:00

I've had my share of fear-filled pivotal moments, standing completely still and staring anxiously down some misshapen escarpment. One foot readily pressed against the leading pedal, my other foot planted firmly in the seemingly safer ground beneath me. Eyes transfixed with a piercing gaze in the supposed path I should take. Although my planted foot may leave the ground to meet briefly with the other pedal, and my sights may lift up to the bottom of the line below, my fingers remain clutched against the brake levers. And while the wind whips cold and never gives up on trying to rip the shirt from my back, I just can't seem to find an answer to my rhetorical question, "Should I go?"

I've been putting myself in that pivotal position a lot this year and it's a scary place to be. In one hand I can have my celebratory moment where work and risk pay off. But on the other hand everything could blow up in my face before I even knows it's coming. This year in particular, the other hand often seem more likely. I have had a lot of friends going down hard and coming up short with major injuries. Haunting nightmares of their injuries and my potential absolute destruction have plagued my daydreams and the hesitant moments while hiking back up the roll in. Still even with all the scary moments and all the horrifying thoughts that occasionally cross my mind I have been stepping up to the plate and pushing myself to ride bigger jumps, trick sketchier lines and tweak my bike further and harder than I ever I thought I could.

What's my motivation? I have a continuing curiosity that bugs me so much that I can barely call it a curiosity anymore; it's become an obsession. I am constantly asking myself, can I do this? If I have been shredding for years and I don't keep stepping it up, am I just wasting my time? I'm not totally sure where the questions stem from, but every time I drop in it feels like the opening track of an old punk CD. I'm a little too excited, a little bit aggressive and admittedly, maybe a little misguided. But for the first time in my life, I sort of feel like I have something to prove. Maybe at the end of the track I won't be any further than I was when it started, but at least I'll know I tried. So even when I'm feeling more than sketchy, and the whipping wind tells my planted foot to stay planted, I am letting my fingers off the brakes. I'm dropping in and the best is yet to come.

Its Only May

2011-05-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Check out what I have been getting up to lately with my friends Matty Miles and also Kaleb and Jim from http://www.tnlphotography.com !

If I told you I handled a year of riding in the past six weeks, would you believe me? I suppose everyone rides on their own schedule and a rider's methods of measuring the ride will vary. But what if you rode almost everyday? And every lap was a balls to the wall, all killer no filler, blast straight to the bottom succeeded by floods of laughter and equal amounts of excitement from all your friends? By those measurements I feel content in my exaggeration. I've been rushing to cram as much as I can into every day and between the rides I've taken and the people I have shared them with, I certainly crammed a years worth of golden moments into April alone.
Surrounded by friends I pedaled into sticky trails while whoops and hollers echoed between the trees. Pedaling faster I chased the sun across picture perfect photo frames. Silhouetted against the shimmering layers of hills I became a black sail in another spectacular sunset. I'd Shred and slash from side to side through silt and loam and mud, dodging branches of leaves who had barely began to bud. Skidding up to my truck I would toss my bike to the tailgate and rally shuttle roads at an uneasy pace. I was in a mad race, squeezing out the final moments of glorious sunlight and laughing about the few sketchy minutes before the forest turned completely black and cold. The fires felt so warm and the beer tasted so cold while the scent of fresh split wood and wide open meadows stained the sleeves on my flannel sweaters. And between fast laps down the trail and slow sips of the bottle I couldn't help but wonder, why am I in such a rush?
I worry about a lot of things, really unnecessary things, and that's probably why I'm always rushing. Will the barely budding leaves have the chance to glow green before they fade to yellow this fall? What if the sun doesn't set so bright for another six or seven nights? And even if it showers tomorrow, will the trail ever be that tacky again? In retrospect it seems ridiculous to me, but in their conceiving moments those worries are valid reasons to trade a good nights sleep for a killer set of photos and some black bags under my eyes. It's only the middle of May and I've already counted over 50 rides, helped out at some races, snapped some photos with Gibby, filmed a few videos and launched a new website on the side of working full time every week. At least the rushing is productive. Maybe I should slow down a bit, drink a few less coffees and stop rushing so much. After all, it's only May.

March session

2011-04-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last month Graham and I had a good session at the bike ranch. I ended up crashing a few too many times, but fun was still had by all.. Matt Miles And Karl heldt put a fun little edit of it together. Here it is.. http://www.vimeo.com/22589250

Somtimes Simple

2011-03-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Matt Miles Photos
Shredhard Words

Spring may have sprung and the temperature may quickly rise but a fine ice still shines on the root of the trail, still clenched in winter's fist. Winter was colder and longer, meaner and deeper than usual. It came unannounced and tore the scene apart and the forest has still yet to recover. While the cracks and the contours of the forest floor where I usually play have yet to escape winter's hold, wide open valleys where dirt jumps live are clean and dry, even dusty in some places. This has lead me to a new bike, one I never would have seen myself riding. The Lacondeguy hardtail. I have long been known as a hater of the hardtail, dirt jump specific hardtails in particular. I have always loved to jump and it's my favorite part of riding. But I like riding big jumps on big bikes. Long distance gaps with long travel suspension. A bike with narrow tires, one brake, one gear, and no rear suspension? Sounds pretty useless to me.

Buried deep in thought of tossing old ideas to the wind and contemplating whether or not I could make use of a useless bike, I figured out something pretty simple. If I ride a hardtail into the energetic resurgence of the Kamloops Bike Ranch, I could be riding a month before a single trail in Kamloops dries. Even if the area in which I ride that funny little bike is featureless and grey and leaves me with nothing to daydream about, I'll still be riding. Even if it lacks all of the technical features I thoroughly enjoy tinkering with and the bike has nothing to think about, I will still be riding a bike. So I built up my Lacondeguy with collected parts from a short travel bike and gave it a chance. And I really didn't expect much. Flying through trees, skidding down boulders and navigating my way through the unimaginable are elements that excite me. I don't see how I will have fun riding a simple bike over simple terrain, with no chance of the unpredictable presenting itself.

I guess now is the point at which I can admit that I was completely wrong. As soon as the Lacondeguy's tires touched dirt the simplicity and predictability pulled me in. Even if the jumps aren't massive and the terrain isn't in the least bit sketchy, even if I don't have compression dials and pressure setting to play with, I am still riding and that gets me smiling. Every time the bar leaves my grip and spins back into my palm, every time the tail floats out from under me and the pedals whip back around to my feet, every time I come back to the ground and feel the bike do absolutely nothing, the simplicity drives me wild. No matter how far I throw it away from me, it comes right back to me right when it needs to be there. I haven't had a bike that has been this fun to play with since I was a little kid. It is more responsive and more nimble than I could have imagined. I am so glad I gave in to my previous way of thinking and gave my hardtail a chance. I am riding weeks before the trails are dry, smiling every day and making great use of my useless bike.

Spring Has Sprung

2011-03-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

This past winter tip-toed by at a pace seemingly much slower than those of winters past. At first I was restless and couldn't find an outlet for my energy. Then as the days grew to their darkest I became bored. Reading books, watching my beard grow and counting the days between sunshine. Eight was the longest sun-free streak I counted. It was all a waiting game for which I had crafted many plays. But once my new bike arrived insanity began setting in and I was no longer set to win. The past few weeks of winter had really began taking their toll on me. More than once I found myself with the whiskey bottle in my mouth and my finger on it's trigger, asking myself irrational questions. What if spring never comes?

After having touched tires to dirt a few times now, I believe I am safe in making my call. Spring has sprung and once again I can see the familiar and anxiously awaited transformations taking place. Steadily warming winds sweep through the valleys and wick away the snow and ice. The trails are thawing and coming back to life. Birds now fly overhead and sing to me the songs of their winter travels, the places they've been and the things they've seen. The world is being painted again, shaded valleys and carefully brushed hillsides with the greatest attention to detail. More and more each day I see truck boxes filled with bikes and bright shining smiles in the cab. Wheels are turning, brakes are squealing and hearts are beating.

Time is on our side and it seems we can go anywhere we want from here. I am starring down the barrel of a loaded season and in the scope I see a lot. There are a lot of roads, some I have traveled and some I have yet to drive. A lot of trails, some I have memorized from beginning to end and some that will plant me flat on my face. And a lot of challenges lie ahead, some that I will conquer and some that will snap me in half. It's Time to shift into top gear and hammer out every last pedal I can. Here's hope for a long healthy season filled with laughter and adventure. This is going to be a big one, look out.

February Update

2011-02-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

It’s been a long winter but It looks like it’s finally almost over. I went and checked out the bike ranch the other day, and it looks like at least some of it is going to be rideable within the next couple weeks. I haven’t ridden my bike since the first heavy snowfall this winter but I haven’t been hibernating.. About a week ago I did an interview for NSMB.com which I think turned out pretty good. You can get to the link in the post below. Thanks to Dylan Sherrard and Cheryl Beattie for doing the writeups and putting it together for me. There are also a few new companies that I have been working with this winter. Coming into the 2011 season I’ll be riding for Loaded, Giro, Raceface, Oakley, Dakine. I’ll also be competing a bit more this year in events like crankworx Colorado, and Goatstyle. Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for now.. Hopefully the dirt dries up soon and I’ll have something more to talk about!

NSMB interview

2011-02-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

About a week ago Cheryl asked me if I wanted to do an interveiw for nsmb, and I said something along the lines of "Of course I do!!!" Well, here it is.
Thanks to Dylan Sherrard for doing the writeup, and John Gibson and Allan Mcvicar for the photos.
http://www.nsmb.com/4167-behind-the-loops-part-i

First day back!!

2011-01-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

This morning a shrill alarm roused my consciousness and despite a brief desire to curse my clock, silence the dream thief and roll back into my warm cocoon, I got out of bed rather slowly. Cutting through the fog was the thought that today, for the first time in the 7 months since my knee surgery and back injury, I would get the chance to take my downhill steed out of the lonely basement and point her tires downhill. That thought alone made the slight pain in my head and exhaustion slightly less relevant. I opened my door to find every available inch of counter space in my house covered in bottles of every size as well as various partially eaten potluck dishes and birthday treats. I greeted the broken wine glasses, spills on the floor and wine-soaked rags in the sink and grabbed a glass of water before laughing to myself. Last night was my room-mate and her twin sister's birthday party and we had done it up in style. Epic celebrations consisting of a packed house of the best of friends anyone could ask for, delicious potluck feast, singing, dancing and general mayhem flashed through my head... And that was before we made it to the bar. So epic, but that is another story all together.

I called up the two like-minded hooligans who were to be in on the mid-winter jailbreak of a riding mission. They were both slightly worse off than I, but the excitement of the adventure was contagious and before long excuses were set aside and a plan to ride Rio was enacted. After a fitting breakfast and a lifesaving cold shower my best friend and ride showed up, and we packed up my bike and bags containing the gear from a seemingly long-lost life. We met up with a brother from old-days, my best friend from high-school who had a lot to do with why I got into riding in such a big way. The three of us headed up the hill discussing life and exuding pure stoke.

At the top of the hill we found a fair bit more snow than expected but we geared up and giddily did what we had come there to do, pointed our tires downhill and got on the pedals. Now the 3 inches of snow at the top of the hill didn't do too much other than bring a new dimension to the trail and increase our stoke, but what lay ahead promised to be more challenging. Once we hit the treed-in flats the snow increased in both depth and crust and we were forced to get off our bikes and push. We achieved the downslope into the roadgap and were again getting zesty sliding everywhere but the fun was cut short once we hit the side-hill and were again cursing winter's cold heart. Once we got into the gully the snow got even deeper, but we had come too far to go back so we counted on the snow loosing depth further on and hammered through it. Adding to the challenge of just riding in the snow was a layer of crust from snowshoers who had apparently become fond of walking the trail, so needless to say the first third of the gully was a lot of work, pedalling like mad on the flats just to maintain rolling momentum. At one of the road-crossings the snowshoers turned off the trail and the snow simultaneously became hard enough to ride on. This was what we had come for - the hard work until that point had sapped at our lacking energy reserves but we put it behind us and immediately picked up both the pace and the volume of our cheers down the trail. I instantly fell back in love with my Glory - light, balanced and responsive as ever - and the mid-section was a lot of fun. After the steeper ravine section the snow had become quite shallow but, as I was soon to discover, under the white veil of winter there were patches of black ice in inopportune locations. Unweighting into a compression while thinking to myself how happy I was to be on my bike, I came down on a slightly off-camber downslope and instantly lost the front end. I saved the drift in staying upright but I shot off the trail directly into a little stand of trees, letting go of my bike right as I slammed into a decently-solid sapling. Hearing my buddy fast approaching and out-of-control behind me, I pretty much rolled out and had to scramble off the trail to avoid getting hit. At that point we looked under the snow and realized that we were pretty much riding on sheet ice. This made the bottom part of the trail super fun - it was pretty much like a burmed out luge track with next to no traction. I love anything drifty so this was a nice little challenging slice of heaven - the best kind of escape from my usual-as-of-late world of studying - so it was nice to have a clear mind and focus on staying upright. At the end of the trail high-fives were exchanged and we rode out to the truck. One part of the trio was in too rough of shape to challenge a second run so we called it a day at that point, making plans to try to escape winter's grip again some time soon in the future. Slightly later on we decided a mission to Savona and Batch must be pursued in short order, so plans are in place to break out at our first coming chance. It was so indescribably good to get back on the steed and steal back a major peace of my life it is tough to communicate. I cannot wait for the next chance and all who are interested are invited to come join! All the best!

Justin

Bicycle Cafe Bike Store Webisode 2 - ShredHard Gets Rowdy

2011-01-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

WARNING: Video containts mature subject matter and is not suitable for children or grown-ups with no sense of humour.

Untitled from karl heldt on Vimeo.

Bicycle Cafe Bike Shop Videos

2011-01-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Winter is painfully quiet at the bike shop and so the Bicycle Cafe crew is collaborating with Karl Heldt to help him dial in some new camera gear and show everyone the high stress lifestyle of working in a bike store. Check ‘er out!

Day At The Bicycle Cafe Episode One from karl heldt on Vimeo.

A Last Chance

2011-01-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

It was the coldest morning I’d felt so far that year. At least the coldest morning my feet had yet to feel against the frozen creeking boards of my living room floor. A soft grayness waltzed past the window leaving its perimeter clouded and sparkling with frost. I felt a chill as deep inside me as my bones and as cold as the winter winds. The warm air blowing from my register said it was probably a good idea to stay at home, and the hot coffee in my hands agreed. As if the obvious warmth and comfort of my home weren’t reason enough to declare that day another relaxing one, I had doctors’ orders to make it so. Only two weeks had passed since I’d been cut up and had a hernia removed and riding a bike wasn’t exactly part of my recovery program. But I was watching winter creep its way further down the mountain day by day, and I was feeling a ”last chance” itch. Plus I have never been good at doing what I’m told.

Nearing the trailhead my body was developing a steady shiver. Good at convincing myself of my own ideas, I figured I would warm up once I started riding. But then when I lifted my bike from my truck I felt a bit of a sting in my stomach. And stepping over the top tube was harder than ever. Snap. The first shoe was in. But before I could push off and put my other foot to pedal I realized what a dumb Idea that might be. Sure, I could sit and pedal without discomfort. But what if I slip on a patch of ice and fall? Stranger things have happened. And then I would be straight back to the hospital and stuck in bed for another two weeks. That’s the last place I wanted to be. Besides, I had already declared my last ride of the year a few weeks prior with a victory lap on the Rio trail. And this ride wouldn’t turn out to be anything spectacular, would it? If I were to continue I wouldn’t even leave the fire road, I wouldn’t even touch a tire to trail. I unclipped the pedal and took a few steps back toward my truck. I paused for a moment, looking at the ground, at my bike, and then back at the ground. Defeat. I grabbed onto my bike and began to hoist it over the tailgate. Just as my back tire hit the bed liner a patch of the sky parted over a nearby rock face and a pocket of light burst through. It was glowing there atop the road I wished to pedal, shining triumphantly in what very well may be the last patch of sun I see for months. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know very much. But I knew then, it was a terrible idea to go home. I lifted my bike back off the truck and hopped over the top tube. Snap, snap. With both of my shoes clicked into my pedals, I was gone.

That ride set me free. I had disobeyed my doctor and my own conscious but it was something I needed to do. The Doctor told me time would heal the wound and time I should allow it. But on that chilly morning, it felt as if time itself were the wound. It was itchy and I had to pick the scab. Do you ever feel that unexplainable urge that you can’t say no to? Even when I know its a bad idea, I still can’t say no to it. Even though I already had my “last ride of the year,” I needed that one. My last ride was a fully pinned lap down a high speed trail with one of my fastest friends plowing the trail behind me. Those kind of rides are my favourite because I feel like I am on the edge of destruction. But when your slashing and pumping and squeezing in pedals strokes between roots your eyes are focused on the trail ahead. Your eyes don’t have the freedom to wonder and to appreciate things like a the sun flickering off a water beaded leaf or a small breeze dancing through a field, drawing pictures with a trail of flickering blades of grass. Sometimes when I am riding on the edge of control I feel like I am locked in a cage, unable to appreciate the finer details of the places I play. Those chill rides like I had that day are the key that opens the cage and sets my eyes and imagination free to be. And to see whatever they wish to see.

Remembering A Dull Afternoon

2011-01-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

The color ran out and the well worn path hadn’t even stirred up dust to speak of on this static afternoon. There was no sun giving light to the hills and no breeze putting wind under birds’ wings. All around me the land stood still in ugly shades of grey and it fealt as if I was the last person left on earth. I looked over the hills and felt nothing but distress , the world seemed like a lost cause. Every sage brush and every blade of grass had lost it’s flicker. Nothing made a sound and any treese in attendance hadn’t a leaf left to shed. They stood tall and black but looked cowardly with their rounded shoulders. Then a Jet flew over head leaving behind a white trail on an otherwise featureless sky. It was a terribly dull afternoon that left me with nothing but a few photos to speak of.

Just as the evening began to roll in, the juggernaut clouds parted and light broke through. Restoring the lively features of the world that I am more comfortable with and bringing back to life what had apeared to be the left overs of a bomb test village. The sky turned from smog to fuscia and I smiled. Pink sky at night, Sailers delight. Perfect. For a few minutes I thought the world might be coming to an end. I’m Stoked that on even the ugliest day Matt Miles can still shoot a killer photo or three.

A Trail, A Year

2010-12-31T11:27:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how the trail goes by. Blurring past out of focus, occasionally reaching out to us with the scrape of an overhanging branch or the splash of a small puddle. We exercise delicacy but often times we fail. We roll and we smash our way through the forest oblivious to the many insignificant details lining the trail. If it isn’t an overturned rock or a jagged stump threatening to toss us aside then it really doesn’t matter. A little bird hopping from branch to branch, the stick that fell onto the corner, the rut that nearly sent you over the bars. Those are the things I notice. The lines gone wrong and the elegant accents that make the ride a pleasure. The steep chute you didn’t think you were going to hold on through, the corner you blew off and the tree that brought you to an abrupt stop shortly thereafter. We blast past the good and the bad and the black and the white, and remember little of the in-betweens. When we reunite with friends at the bottom of the trail we celebrate. Exaggerating the points that blew our minds and made our smiles, speaking quietly of the sketchy moments and what we will do to avoid them next time. We talk of all that went by and why it was important and why we can’t wait for the next trail. Almost before the trail is through we are already looking on to the next.

The year 2010 is over now. I think its funny how that went by, comparable to a blur. I sure got scraped and splashed a few times. And I find it enjoyable to look back on all those steep rocks, the threat of the storms and the narrowly avoided disasters that continually present themselves. But I am carrying forward with reckless abandon. I am cornering hard to the right, tires tight rope walking the border between traction and explosion. Decisions, people, long windy roads. They are all behind me now. Burning in the dust that lingers along a well ridden trail. My right hand is brushing through a wet shrub as I feel the tires grab the dirt once more. The corner still bends right, but my eyes are focused further ahead. Scanning for treacherous rocks, narrow trees and nasty little nuggets that may line the trail. Looking forward with great anxiousness to the new opportunities, new adventures and whatever else the trail has in store for me. 2011 is almost here. Another year, another trail.

The Arsonist

2010-12-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

Words by Dylan Sherrard
Photos by Matt Miles

Most days start as the hot coffee burns my tongue a little bit. It wakes me up and accompanies the morning music as I look out from my deck at all the rolling hills and little shrubs swaying in the warm breeze. An arsonist rises from the east, sparking a fire that gives life to all the cracks and the contours that make my sights something to see. When I raise the cup to my face a short steam hits my eyes, forcing me to close them. I imagine all the mentionable things I might find that day. A new feature laying hidden in the woods? Maybe a new line on an old trail? Perhaps if I am really lucky, I may even stumble upon a whole new trail on fire. Now that would be something worth mentioning.

Some days that fire from the east blazes on for what feels like an eternity. It follows me off the deck, down the road, around the bends and up the trail. It fills those cracks and contours with deep shadows and their opposing ridges light up in the flames. All the little shrubs continue to sway, their trunks black as a wick with glowing extremities. A million little candles along the trail. I race through the inferno weaving side to side with hope that I don’t spark myself amongst the arson. The heated winds pinch my nerves and the little white strings from my hood sway with the flames. Leaving behind a trail of smoke and ash I make my way out of the blaze and back to a safer, less exciting place. The wildfire is extinguished shortly thereafter and the arsonist runs off, leaving me yearning for his next blaze. And it is never much of a wait. Day after day he stokes a new fire, always starting in the same place. If it weren’t for such picturesque burnings I suspect someone would try to stop him. It seems he may never leave. Eventually though, one day the rivers freeze and summer ends. He stops lighting fires and everyone seems to miss the flames that roll over the valley.

There aren’t many fires these days. I drink my coffee through a thick pane of glass, warm blanket wrapped around me. Those hills are bare, Covered in snow with tiny black burnt out shrubs poking up from beneath. Everything stands still. The warm breeze is now cold and the arsonist himself can barely make his way through the thick gray sky. I’m not sure where he goes, but I anxiously await his return. Maybe he lost control and set himself on fire and all the gray that envelopes the world are his very own ashes drifting away in the wind. I hope not. But if such is the case I hope someone takes his place. Winter is painful and I miss the wildfire mornings.

Aggy's Journey Into Neldor

2010-11-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

Aggy embarks on a mission into Nelson, sampling some of the loam and lines the local trails have to offer. Scope the video as well as the write up by Mitchel Scott over at
the Kona Cog

Aggy's Trip Into Neldor from Christopher Halcrow on Vimeo.

Matt miles Demo Reel 2010

2010-11-29T19:12:00.001-08:00

matt threw this down. sickest editing and so fun to watch.

Bicycle Cafe Weiner Jam

2010-11-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

There once was a day when the Kamloops Bike Ranch was home to massive mounds of finely crafted dirt and riders galore. Over the years those mounds have dealt with the violence of the sun and much more riding than care. Early last week Taylor Hollstedt realized something was missing these days. He Figured it would be a good idea to let local rampaging redneck and jump building extraordinaire, Brad Stuart, have his way with this precious zone. He missed riding dirt jumps and having a place to gather with friends so much that he filled up a bob cat full of diesel and let Brad loose for the remainder of that week. Excitement was in the air when the word got out. Those massive mounds of dirt were quickly taking shape again. Coming back to life, taller, wider and steeper than ever.

It is getting cold in the Loops and the riding season is quickly falling behind us. Taylor Hollstedt wanted to celebrate the return of the bike park in a big way. In only a few short days he managed to bring together over 30 riders to help pack, shape and ride the new jumps. Everyone from the big dogs to the little guys and the little guys' parents were in attendance. Weiners were eaten, bikes were jumped and smiles were passed from face to face. When the already clouded over sky turned black
the temperature dropped dramatically and everyone packed it in for the year, taking comfort with the new dirt piles. Already anxious for spring. Thanks for the "Weiner Jam," Taylor.

Brock Anderson - Kind Heart, Quick Trigger

2010-11-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

I was feeling sympathetic for Brock last weekend as he stepped from his yellow car, and pulled a rather large and fuzzy winter hat over his head. He had been in Kamloops for nearly three days specifically to shoot some photos and yet his memory card was empty. Miscommunication and broken cell phones lead us to this unfortunate situation. And conditions were not prime. Brock needed to hit the highway within an hour. It was cold, windy and starting to rain. I was tired and lacking motivation. To round off our list the sky had just clouded over thick and gray. Having already been out for a cold morning ride, hot chocolate and a warm blanket seemed a lot more inviting than a photo shoot. But Brock had his back pack loaded and an eager smile on his face. Game on.

Brock is a smooth and calculated operator. Out with all the elements firing against him he shows no fear and draws his camera with confidence. From the moment he straps the camera over his head he is not seen on two feet. Always laying in the dirt, crouched in an awkward stance, tunneling his way through shrubbery. Creativity is his goal. He wants you to see things the way he imagines them and conventional angles wont do the trick. His thoughts are too far outside the box, you probably won’t get a chance to understand them. Most times I have shot with Brock he uses a fish eye lens to drastically curve his captured moments. It seems to do just the trick for zoning in and exploiting the technical pinpoint of a complicated image. I learned one thing from Brock last weekend. Once the camera lens covers his eye he becomes a killer.

Laying in a patch of withered fall grass the hunter accepts his task. He is cold, tired and a long way from home. But his hunger is fierce and he refuses to return home empty handed. It is late October and the days have been dragging on. The Hunter’s Moon begins to rise full and bright from behind a distant mountain. He knows now that time is running out. Stationed in the side of a small bank he has fashioned his own foot and knee holes to ensure he sits lower than the grass. Out of sight. The hunter has killed here before and he is certain he will kill here again.

Restlessly, he continues using his feet to excavate the bank just a bit deeper. Checking his shot once more he exhales a tormented sigh. Nothing. His breath creates a small fog, adding to his worry of the cold. A few more minutes drag by and he becomes agitated. Fear of the dark will prevent him from staying much longer. Movement catches the corner of his eye. Standing tall atop a nearby hill he sees what he wants. If his calculations are true the prey should pass over top of the hunters bank any moment. It will be an easy strike. Frantically regaining composure the hunter focuses in on the prey and prepares himself. His breath now slow and his stare uninterrupted. He blinks in slow motion. As eye lid touches eye lid he hears the sound that will set him free. A harsh rolling sound against the path he sits beside, getting louder quickly as the prey approaches. He checks the image finder once more. Perfect. The prey springs out the top of the hunters mound. Two wheels flying over top of him. The prey stomps his foot just inches from the hunters lens. CLICK CLICK CLICK. The sound of the camera firing off a sequence. Brock Anderson was in Kamloops and in only a half hour, he killed it.

Thanks Givin'er

2010-10-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

I’m blown away that the year is this far through and we are already celebrating Thanksgiving weekend. I have another really exciting weekend coming up with lots of riding planned as well as a trip to Kelowna to Broken Social Scene play on Sunday evening. While the washing machine cleans my clothes for this weekend I am relaxing on my couch, having a beer, and reflecting a bit on how amazing this year has been and all the great things I’ve had the chance to experience…

Getting 2 brand new bikes. Riding 83 different trails covering everything from epic cross-country single track in Canmore to Machine built trails in Whistler. Shooting a gun for the first time. Shredding into the sunset. Spending a week snapping photos with Aggy and Gibtron. Coaching camps at Sun Peaks Resort. Countless hours driving to my favorite tunes. Catching my first fish. Ripping down Blue Flag in the hardest rain storm I’ve ever seen. Attending Brett’s wedding. Spinning my downhill bike off a drop for the first time. Moon-lit canoeing. Riding my BMX ’till the sun came up. Getting a new truck. Filming with amazing riders for lots of different videos. Swimming in Heffly lake after Sun Peaks Days. Doing my first bungee jump. Riding XC until I couldn’t see straight. Pedaling through snow. Whistler hot laps. Jumping a golf cart. Sitting by so many camp fires. Flying between sage brush. Sessioning the Flow Zone with old friends and new friends. Spending a week cruising single track in mid-summer heat followed by cocktails each night. Getting sideways often. Staying strong and healthy (for the most part!) and I am probably forgetting a ton.

If you were a part of or helped out with anything I mentioned then THANK YOU, for making my life so fun.

Supporting the Whip

2010-09-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

Inspired by whip videos from The Coastal Crew and Ian Morrison, I really wanted to make one of my own. Whips are a neat move. Every rider has their individual style and no two whips look alike. I wanted to make mine fast paced and fast cut. Matty Miles was the man for the job. We spent two evenings filming whips on the same two jumps and then compressed it all into one 40 second edit. Usually my interest would fade filming the same thing for two days but whips just never get old…

Back on my feet

2010-09-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I finally left my crutches behind and even got out for a light pedal on two wheels. You really don't really know what you have until it is gone, and you don't fully appreciate it until you get it back. And generally I am pretty appreciative of every chance I get on my steed. Stepping backed on the pedals this weekend marked the end of a little over six weeks off my bike due to a knee injury and the subsequent surgery. Feeling confident I could finally get a full stroke in on the pedals, I pulled my bike out of my basement and decided to ride down my street to the end and back. A little over an hour later I returned home after having ridden back and forth down every street downtown above my house. It might seem pretty elementary to enjoy riding a downhill bike down a paved road but it was a huge relief to just be on my bike again and achieve that milestone in my recovery. I still couldn't stand up and pedal with much force, but I am noticing improvements every day and am pretty stoked not to have to crutch around school anymore. I lust for the day I can sit on my bike at the top of Rio, looking down the valley through the grasslands and knowing that I can finally enjoy what I love every day, hopefully surrounded by a crew of likewise smiling Cafe shredders. Here surrounded by textbooks and projects up to my ears, God I can't wait.

crashing

2010-09-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to talk about how much I like crashing. Crashing is a great thing to do into soft dirt, or anywhere that doesn't have rocks, trees concrete and other hard things. I hope that next riding season I can find lots of soft, sketchy jumps and crash all over them, and I highly recommend crashing to anyone who is good at riding and doesn't crash very often. Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, here's a picture of me crashing, taken by Allan Mcvicar.

sponsed

2010-09-16T21:07:00.001-07:00

dug this up. gettin hella steezy.

Sun Peaks Freeride Camp

2010-09-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to ride your bike down a variety of different trails ranging from tech shore style runs to high speed, bermed up, machine built race courses? How about build some new skills and ride some stunts you never thought you could? Snack on some fancy food or soak up the atmosphere of a super laid back European style resort? What if you could do all this at the same time, under the careful instruction of the locals who know this zone the best? For one sunny week in July a fortunate group of young riders got to experience it all at the Sun Peaks Freeride Camp.

On the first morning of camp I immediately began to sympathize for my high school teachers. I used to make fun of them for being awkward and appearing to be so nervous. Standing in front of 27 sugar-high-super-stoked kids all jumping around asking questions and super-keen to hop on the lift, I think I got a taste of what it was like to be in the shoes of all those teachers I hassled. Lucky for the coaches, we were all at Sun Peaks to teach the kids about riding bikes and not to teach them about math. With a stacked roster of coaches including myself, Matt Hunter, Graham Agassiz, Chayse Marshall, Justin Terwiel, and Justin’s father, George Terwiel, the kids knew they were in for some excitement and that made it easy for us to mellow them out. As with any sort of multi-day event, the first day at freeride camp was spent getting organized and feeling everything out. I was about to spend a week helping kids push their limits on their bikes and it appeared to me that ensuring those bikes were safe and the riders were up to the task was number one on the checklist. After the first day of feeling out riders abilities and making some adjustments to the groups we had our wheels rolling smoothly.

For the days to follow their was nothing but hard shredding and good times. I was continually impressed by how enthusiastic and open-minded my campers were to learning new things and taking advice on old things. Stepping it up on a daily basis riders were dropping down rock faces they’d previously thought to be too steep and airing over gaps they never imagined they would have the confidence for. It was insane to watch all of the riders feed off each others excitement and help push each other to new limits. Especially at the moment when my 9 year old buddy, Jackson Phillips, who I know through work at the Bicycle Cafe, launched himself over the biggest doubles in the park, only to be followed by the rest of the kids. By the end of the week we all walked away with some new skills, a lot more confidence and a whole new group of friends to ride with.

I’ve always enjoyed doing events with kids or helping people learn to ride and this was my first time having my own camp. Helping people to realize their potential and have a lot of fun at the same time are both extremely rewarding tasks for me to work at and working as a mountain bike coach is the perfect way to accomplish those tasks. It ends up being a ton of fun for everyone involved, and nobody walks away without a smile. Sun Peaks Freeride camp was a new experience that took a bit of work to get in the groove of but I found my way pretty quick and had just as much, if not more fun than all the kids I had the chance to shred with. Thanks to everyone at Sun Peaks Resort, Race Face and Dakine for making the camps possible. Now I just can’t wait till next summer’s camp!

BR

2010-09-12T19:36:00.001-07:00

Ross, Gully, Harookz and a group of the bicycle rocker dudes did a trip down to Merritt this weekend to shred some mountain, i showed them around to a couple of trails and some abandoned condo's. I ended up with these, soo stoked!

Road trip!

2010-09-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

I love road trips! My last one (which was just over a week ago) Jason and I decided to go to the Kootenays and ride Rossland, Castlegar and Nelson. I figure we got to ride some of the best the Kootenays has to offer. Some of the trails on our agenda: The Flume & Whoopity-Do in Rossland, The Awakener & Grandiflorum in Castlegar, Baldface and other random awesome trails in Nelson. In Rossland, we stayed at Derek Frankowski’s place and were lucky to have popped in to the studio where we got to see a clip of his new bike movie Life Cycles. This movie is so visually stimulating; I felt shivers through my body as I watched it. The Awakener in Castlegar didn’t let us down. This trail is littered with med-large size jumps, gaps, step-ups, skinnies, etc. We were pleasantly surprised with the trail on the other side of the road, Grandiflorum. It’s a super long, flowy, fast trail with amazing corners and non-threatening stunts. A real good, feel good trail for anyone! Nelson showed us what we almost were expecting: great hospitality, great people, and great trails. We were lucky enough to have run into Roland, a friend of Sacred Ride, who shuttled us both of the days we were there. We also managed to end one of our rides at the shop on “100 beer Wednesday”......and needless to say we had to help them out! Many beers later we managed to make plans to ride Baldface the next morning. Good idea or bad? After that many beers it was tough to say. Luckily it was good. A great way to end our trip, a 5,500 ft. descent from alpine, wild flowers up to my head, through steep , rocky technical corners, to the fast flowiness of Shannon Pass. Thanks to Leroy Brown and the crew at Sacred Ride! It was definitely the highlight of the trip! I encourage anyone that is in need of something new, the excitement of riding in a new place does wonders for your soul. Or it did for mine anyways!

(photo is from Baldface in Nelson - I wanna go back!)

average shred

2010-09-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

matt and korb came down to merritt a couple weeks ago stoked to shoot a video on my favorite trail. I had alot of fun because we share really similiar idea's and im stoked on the outcome. its short but alot of fun.

Sideways Days

2010-09-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

It must have been a pleasant scene to view for anyone riding the hill that day. The dirt stained a slightly darker brown from the previous nights rain. Thin clouds passing over the sky, not so much as to block the sun but to allow everything a fine gold tint. Small pink flowers brushed the green hillside and three young men wore yellow boots. It was fall at Sun Peaks.

Beyond the orange flags and black signs urging riders to wear helmets and gauge there speed accordingly lie a particularly exciting addition to the adventures Sun Peaks has to offer. Freshly sculpted mounds of dirt shaped carefully to ensure a flowing succession of big airs. No brakes, no pedals. Just shredding. This area was designed as part of the ride down the mountain but we found ourselves stuck in this section for hours and hours , riding the jumps over and over. Rushing to get the shots as if we were addled enough in our thinking that we might forget whats important to us if we don’t show others.

Eventually the thin sky grew thicker until the sun could no longer stab its way through. The temperature dropped and the scene grew dark. We could smell the rain before it even began to bead up on our sleeves. As the rain began to pour we put the cameras away and worked our way to the bottom where we could find warm, dry clothes and hot chocolate to aid in regaining or warmth. It was one of those epic days where everything went right and anything that wasn’t right wasn’t real. One of those days that make you feel both content with recent events and excited for what might be around the next corner.

Killing It

2010-08-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I think it’s killing me. But more often I like to think I’m killing it. Plans change as fast as the weather. One minute its raining and the next its shining. In either case its all good. It’s hard to keep a balance between working, riding, and riding to promote myself. And it keeps getting harder. Especially since there are no definitive lines between the three. Working means not riding, but still promoting. Riding means riding, working and promoting. Promoting means working and riding. Working in a bike store, as a bike coach and being a rider certainly keeps me busy. It seems that I never have a full day off without some sort of project I need to work on. But then again I don’t have an office or a suit, so perhaps I have a lot of days off? I’m not complaining by any means. I’m extremely grateful to have a life filled with passion and aim. I’m also grateful for the opportunity to work on media projects with Sun Peaks Resort and Lone Wolf Productions. The kind of projects that help me fill in those definitive lines and remember how much I love doing what I do. Killing it.

VIDEO HERE

Check out some recent photos from Sun Peaks Resort sniper Adam Stein and the latest Lone Wolf Productions edit from Karl Heldt below.

2010-08-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hi! My friend James Van De Kamp from the coast posted up this video of James, Loren Lyftogt, Trevor Angeluci, Jimmy Lucas, and myself on a road trip from may long weekend and I thought I'd share it with you guys! Hope you like it. Inferno Jam is this weekend in Penticton. Ive been told the Ten Pack team, Macneil team, and Volume team would have some riders there. So if you wanna have a good day riding bikes or even just enjoy some nice weather and watch some rad riding make the trip out! its always a good time.

Kamloops Trip from James van de Kamp on Vimeo.

Sun Peaks Resort Bike Park Video #1

2010-08-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

It’s’ not a very big secret that I really enjoy riding my bike at Sun Peaks Resort. I can’t really think of anything that makes me happier than banging off lap after lap of high speed single track littered with jumps and steep rocks, only to hop back on the lift for more. Sun Peaks is close to home and everyone is a bro. I could go on for paragraphs, or I could show you the first installment of a three part video series by Karl Heldt featuring myself and Jeremy Tenisch. Erip!

MOVIE!

Wild day

2010-07-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

Today was the first time down Greenstone from the tower. Trail’s in great shape (don’t tell Chuck) for the most part anyways. It’s actually very overgrown and grassy in some sections which makes it hard to see the trail. We need more people riding it! I managed to have a good crash as well, but escaped with only minor injuries. I now have a leg that looks like I have an extra kneecap. Oh well, at least it’s not broken. I’ve been trying to keep things at a medium pace lately, and it seems people around me have been getting pretty badly injured. My BF Johanna broke her femur a few weeks ago, and another buddy Douglas almost had his foot ripped off his leg about 5 days ago on our new Greenstone trail. These are the things that are going through my head lately when I ride. Needless to say, I didn’t do any of the stunts that I normally would’ve. I really just wanted to make it down in one piece! An hour and a half later, I made it! Such a long, awesome trail. If anyone’s interested in riding something a little more technical, let me know and I’ll try to arrange something. The next run we decided to do “Shorty” (the name for the new trail). Short.....er than the last one, but still over 5 km of trail. There’s one little spot on the trail that requires a short pedal, and I just thought Warren and Jay were waiting and resting a bit at the top when I looked to the right and I saw this young moose! “hey – look at the little moose!.......ummmmmm........where’s the momma?” I said/asked. “Oh, she’s just around the corner in the trees” was Warren’s reply. Ummmm, ok, thinking she was far enough away and we were safe. Nope...WRONG! She was about 50 ft away. All I heard was some trampling bush noises coming towards us and we all started yelling “GO GO GO!!!!!!!” I was the last in line, closest to get trampled, and I almost pushed Michelle out of the way to get past. I didn’t look back. If I looked back and saw her coming , I probably would’ve pooped my shorts. That wouldn’t have been nice. Whew! Crazy! Avoided another tragedy today! Success! Can’t wait to see what happens next time......

Rough creekbed love

2010-07-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Creekbeds are not soft.

Sunday arrived early at Bear with shuttles starting at 8:15. The track was wearing in a bit but the dirt was tacky and my lines were working flawlessly. I did one training lap with one of my U17 racers and decided that I was satisfied with my runs. Everything was flowing perfectly so I cleaned and prepped my bike, ate a delicious lunch, visualized my race run a couple times and settled into a chill day of hanging out in the pits, playing lots of guitar and cheering on other racers. I spent a fair bit of time over the day planning my run out and committing my headspace to the task ahead. It helped a lot and I felt more centered than I have yet this year before racing. As the last bus headed up it started to rain on us a bit, but by the time we got to the top it had subsided to misty drizzle. As everyone was warming up riders were joking that the roots would be super slippery and everyone should slow down and be careful, which made for a good laugh, but I pretty much decided it was not going to affect my pace. The top of the mountain during pro starts is honestly my favorite place in the world, and at Bear it was no different. There is no place where you have such a clear, focused mind and are surrounded by so many friends in the same head space. The energy is unique, empowering and slightly addictive. In the gate I thanked my start volunteer friends and then charged. I carried my momentum well over the flats up top while staying committed to pacing and quickly made it down into the most technical section of the trail. I hit my first couple lines perfectly and carried perhaps a bit more speed then in training into a stepped out rocky creekbed section. The section entailed a fallaway right turn into a series of high-speed rocky whoops and then a jump turn from the last step onto an off-camber rock to hip out. It was pretty tech to ride but became kind of gnarly at speed. I came in hot and dropped a little further than before out of the right hander into the first step. I landed in the compression a little outside on a root I had been avoiding, which threw me forwards and inside. I hit another rock and flipped, gapping across the creek bed to land on a large boulder with my hip and elbow before ragdolling down the creek-bed, ending up on my back upside down in the mud. All I can say is thank god for pads. It took me a bit to right myself, and when I got up vollies were running up the trail with scared looks in their eyes. I asked them to take my bike off the trail and limped to the sidelines. I was pretty sore and shaken so it took me till after the next rider had passed to decide that I was not going to end my weekend walking down the trail. I straightened my bars, got back on my bike and started down the trail. I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to ride but after a bit I was flowing pretty decently. I let another rider pass mid-way down the trail as I didn’t want to inhibit anyone else’s runs, but I was able to hit everything on the trail and still have some fun with it. Once I got off the bike I was not nearly as mobile, however. I was also a bit disappointed that I threw away another run on the circuit. Crashing is part of racing and one of the strongest motivators for learning, so the lessons are in my face and I have my work cut out for me.

Happy trails,

Year of the Crash......?

2010-07-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hi, it’s me, Marcie. I know I haven’t been posting in a while. I like to do the disappearing act every once in a while, mostly because either I haven’t actually done anything worth writing about, or I’m injured and I feel like poo and just don’t want to talk about it. This time is the latter. About 6 weeks ago I was riding on our new trail for the first time this season, and next thing I know my bars were sideways and I was flying through the air, landing on my ankle completely sideways. I thought I broke it. It was so painful I couldn’t bear any weight on it whatsoever, and had to ride out the rest of the trail one-legged. My ankle swelled up and became jelly-like when I tried to walk, therefore giving the name to the new trail “Jelly-foot”. Kinda funny I guess. Since then it’s been a long road to recovery. I deliver mail for a living, so that means walking up to 4 hrs/day. Not a lot of time to rest the poor thing, and every day I’m still in a lot of pain. To make matters worse, I decided to try riding again last week. I had one good day on the new Greenstone trail, and the next day went to ride Rio, and ended up doing almost the same sort of crash, except this time I did a full superman lander. LOL - I can laugh about it now, but it was actually not very funny the days afterwards having felt like I got run over by a truck! Argh, I’m too old for this shit. I don’t crash very often, but this year seems like the year of the crash for me. It’s extremely frustrating, like I’m sure you all know, not being able to ride the way I know I can and to have to slow down and take it easy for the time being. But this is all part of what we do. It’s a very risky sport and anything can happen at any time, especially if you like to push your limits!
So that is my verbal diarhea for now! I hope you’re all having a much better summer than me. I have some trips planned for the next few weeks. Swansea, Steamboat, and Paradise mines. I haven’t been to Steamboat or Paradise Mines, so I’m pretty excited for the new adventure. I definitely need it!

summer start-up

2010-07-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

i've been doing alot of mountain riding this year as opposed to the usual hardtail shredding, which is alot of fun. I hit up whistler a couple weeks ago and got super stoked, than went to peaks last week and rode with ALOT of friends for toonie day, couldnt have had a more fun time. Me and matt dedicated last run to shoot a couple photos which turned out pretty sick. Back to whistler on monday with ian to get a bit of practise in before goatstyle this coming weekend. Hopefully i do alright, seeing as i got bumped up a catagory from last year. But oh well, just ginna go and have fun. Heres a little video and the photos from peaks.

Bear build-up

2010-07-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

So just sitting in PoCo, watching some race vids after finishing prep for the race tomorrow. I am super well fueled after a delicious dinner a la Jen McMillan, my bike is dialed, I know every bump on the course and I am feeling strong. The course is super fun and playful with lots of jumps, but it is a little bit simple after coming from Arduum. This means that to be competitive you have to dial in the course to an even higher level since everyone can ride it fairly quickly. My bike is so perfect and easy to ride that I have a smile on my face the instant I am on it. It makes it so much more simple to push it when you have complete confidence in your equipment. I feel that I have the potential to be extremely competitive on the technical parts and with line choice. My biggest challenge will be with pacing, as their is quite a bit of pedalling and it is easy to go out to hard. As well I need to make sure that I reign in my aggression in the race run so I stay upright, as I have not had the best track record so far this season... If I can sort out my mental game and ride a measured run I feel that I can come away with a good result. I cannot wait to arrive at the race tomorrow, surrounded by the best of friends in the atmosphere I love facing an inspiring challenge.

Hope tomorrow is as fun and exciting for everyone else as it will be for me!

2010-06-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

Hey! This is my first post since joining the Cafe team this season, and I'd say far overdue. I guess Ill start by saying that this season has been great so far! I've had some really great Trips and days here in town that have been memorable for sure. Like Jim and my trip to the island for Gorilla Jam, and our trips to Vernon, Penticton and Clearwater. To top thing off, having the support and friendship of everyone at Cafe has been great. So thank you! I have lots of plans for the rest of the year so Ill keep you updated. Hopefully with some good pictures and maybe a video or two! Last. I got my new parts in today! I love it so much!

Arduum (Gnar-Doom)

2010-06-23T02:05:00.002-07:00

So this past weekend saw the 3^rd BC Cup DH of the year, the Arduum Challenge, go down just outside of Mission. The track is located directly across the valley from the Bear Mountain Challenge course, but Arduum is surely Bear’s taller, meaner and much more evil sister. Three years ago when I first attended the event the course was rich and loamy, but the steep terrain combined with increased traffic sent all the soil packing in short order. Unbeknownst to our innocence then, beneath the rich till was evil, slimy roots of death holding together a boulder field. Fast forward to the track now, steep, turny, physical, highly technical and requiring an extreme level of both commitment and trail knowledge. The erosion has left a large portion of the track on off-camber rock with a maze of cross roots everywhere. Combine all of the above with heavy rain the night before practice and you had the perfect recipe for slime covered roots and a busy paramedic team.

Coming into the weekend I came down with the plague, so instead of resting for the two nights prior, I practiced staying up all night, curling up in a ball and sweating as much as possible. I can’t remember being so sick or afflicted by fever but I was determined to race so I spent most of Friday in a daze working on my bike and trying to get prepped. Due to logistical challenges I arrived in Mission on Saturday with all the pieces to my bike with me but the wheels still to be built. It took forever in my state, but after a trip back into Mission for spoke nipples and gracious help from Buckwheat and the Bryson Racing Clan I got everything together and was on my way up. Once on track I was taken off guard by how much the track had changed, so I took my time to figure out the course, memorize sections, take a soil sample, befriend a trackside cedar and get a little too intimate with a boulder. My bike felt amazing with my new Hayes Stroker brakes on and it helped me to overlook the fact that I didn’t have my normal strength or precision with me. Near the bottom there was a large new hip who’s crucial and extremely tricky run in took a few tries to master. Just before I hit it the last time I asked the time and realized it was two minutes before the last shuttle went up, so I had to settle for one run on training day.

After training Dunbar held their 16” BMX dual slalom which was an absolute hoot. Picture grown men racing 2 at a time down a mini-ds course on 16” bikes, trying to pin it around berms and over jumps but mostly falling on their faces or into each other while drawing loud cheers from the crowd of drinking hooligans. I will post a quick edit of the event shortly. After 4 advancements I lost in the semi-finals to Tyler Gorz, and then lost in the loser-finals by a hair to Jeff Hunter to take 4^th. Dunbar had some pretty sick prizes on tap, including a frame for Tyler who won. My prize was a big smile and lasting stoke at sharing so much fun with the best of friends.

Race Day

2010-06-23T02:05:00.001-07:00

Sunday I awoke and headed into Mission to begin training early. Fast lines on the course required you to be perfectly balanced while being powerful yet light on your tires. Precision in line choice was everything. The course was also extremely rough and forced you to be making saves constantly so it was very physically demanding. I started to open it up and began to find my confidence but I also tired more quickly than I would have liked, so after 2 runs I called it. After some food and a stretch my Mom showed up so we hiked up the course to find good viewing spots for her to watch from. Tippie was on the mic at the bottom jumps so we had a brief stop for a chat on his couch before moving upwards. Up course in the amateur categories it seemed to be a war zone, the injured walking down the trail, crash stories coming from every angle, radios calling in severe injuries and stretchers going up-trail with paramedics, so after re-assuring my mom I was not long in staying. My vibe was a bit thrown so I headed back to my van to listen to some sweet tunes, re-focus and visualize. I got my head back in the game, had a really good warm up to G’n’R and headed up the hill with confident anticipation. The start area is seriously my happy place, and at the top of the hill looking down into the valley everything was really green and fresh looking so I was extra content. I also really enjoy the presence of the officials who grant me my run with their countdown. I thanked them, put on my goggles and at 5 seconds to go was out of the gate. My first section was really solid, but perhaps a bit on the aggressive side. Maybe 20 seconds in, coming off a wide open root infested side hill I got a little late bounce turning off a rock pile and missed the critical catch root to give me direction into a cross-rooted wall-ride high line so I ended up lower then I needed to be and started sliding. I tried to save it but on the side hill laced with exposed downwards facing roots there was nothing I could do. I slid out, hit the tree I was supposed to be above and flipped off the trail. I righted myself, got my bike through the tape and started on again to the encouraging shouts from spectators. Unfortunately the biggest thing I had lost other than my speed across the rooty flats was my headspace. I tried to get loose and start flowing again but all I could think was about was making up time. This was not a course to muscle your way down, so my aggressiveness saw me quickly shoulder a tree and from there my headspace was shot. I tried to refocus but I started riding defensively, fatigue set in and after 2 more crashes, what was left of my run was done. What a disaster. With the course being my favorite on the circuit and after my second place there last year I was definitely emotionally attached to putting together a good run, and the hype that surrounded it didn’t help. More than the result, what disappointed me the most was my loss of headspace. Despite everything, I could not be presented a better or more personal situation to analyze and grow from. I had an amazing weekend surrounded by everything I love, got to partake in an epic challenge and am left inspired and empowered to put together better race weekends.

Many thanks to the race organizers, volunteers, medics and everyone who was involved in putting on such a flawless event. There could not be a more challenging event to host, but it went off as well as could possibly be accomodated. My start time was even on time despite all the course holds. As well, props to the two juniors who won the top male and female times of the day and their coaches who got them to where they are today. Nice work all. Can’t wait to see everyone at Bear Mountain in two weeks!

Justin

In The Press

2010-06-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last year I started getting the chance to shoot photos with some pretty high profile photographers. Photography has always been my favorite aspect of mountain biking media. A nice photo can generate so many feelings and raise so many thoughts. I am extremely fortunate to get to know some of the worlds best photographers and work with them to create amazing images. It seems as though I am getting the call to shoot photos more and more often these days and weather it is for commercial use or just plain shooting pretty pictures, I love it! Recently I have had a couple photos published in Bike Magazine, which is my favorite magazine so I am really excited. One is an Adam Stein photo shot at Sun Peaks Resort and used in a Bike Parks B.C. add campaign, the other is a from my buddy John Gibson, shot in Kamloops and published in the BUZZ section of Bike’s current issue. I just finished up a few days of shooting with Gibby so hopefully we will get to see more soon!

North Shore Bike Fest

2010-06-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend saw the North Shore Bike Fest DH go down on Mt. Seymour. It was held on Neds, which is armoured (think cobblestone path) in between all the roots, so basically we were riding on either rock or wood for 90% of the trail. Combine the trail surface with rain and you have a tech setting for a race. Despite the race’s anti-Kamloops nature, it was a ton of fun to ride and even more fun to put a race run together on. One of my main process goals coming in was to find lines that would allow me to link sections without braking. It was an interesting challenge to say the least, and my lines had me riding all over the trail up on stumps, trees, rocks... whatever I could find that would allow me to straighten out sections and carry speed. I had a ton of fun in training with a couple of the kids I am coaching, working in depth to put together our runs. They are putting it together piece by piece so I am excited to see what they can achieve in the near future.

I felt confident coming in to my race run that I could really open it up and achieve a good result. I was a little worried about my back with the rough track and the high-speed drop to flat in the middle, but I decided I would just put it behind me and lay it all down. My first section went really well with my bike felt absolutely spot on. I consciously thought to myself coming through a rough section early on that my suspension felt absolutely perfect - thank you Manitou. Mid-way down the trail there was a tech chutey rockbed section that was a bit faster and steeper with a bit of a twisty armoured staircase feel to it. It was the dominant section that I had been working to no-brake due to its crucial position above a flatter tech section with some s-corners and then the dreaded 6 ft drop to flat. Carrying speed out of it was crucial, so in practice I was airing into the staircase, cutting the first two corners inside, drifting outside around some gnarly boulders and slippery roots, diving inside on a massive, slippery exposed tree / root and then hammering into the s-corners. I came into it faster than I had in practice, nailed the first 2 corners without braking, drifted outside perfectly on the third and then got a little loose which forced me to hit the exposed root high, taking my back wheel out sideways and forcing me to slide off the trail downside on the wrong side of the next tree. I jumped off my bike, lifted it back up on to the trail and got back on the hammers, but the damage was done. The rest of the run was a bit wild but for the most part went pretty well. At the very bottom there was a long section where most of the crowd was watching from with a couple tech corners and a finish line gap. The corner before the last jump had a tech inside line where you had to snipe between a stump and a rock to hit some roots and kind of hip turn off a tree. When I hit the tree I got bucked off my pedals and did a no footed seat bounce that excited the crowd quite a bit, but after I found my pedals I still was able to get speed for the gap and hammer through the bottom corners to the finish.

The weekend was a ton of fun putting together my race, hanging out with friends, coaching my racers and being a part of the atmosphere. I was a bit disappointed with the results of my off-trail excursion, but I am feeling confident and more motivated than ever coming into the next race. Fuel for the fire. I cannot wait.

jump on it

2010-06-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

having only ridden my hardtail once this year, i put this little video from last year together of some jumping and tossed in a rad funny song.

tonto, jump on it! from Luke Beers on Vimeo.

other good use of this song.. best show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCFRJEjM3fc

Bring it on

2010-05-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

So the last couple weeks have been comprised of getting this season rolling! The next short while will see my bike and all my gear finally completely together and I am stoked. My bike is so amazing to ride it is mind blowing. It is so light and agile and the new suspension is so dialed I really have a hard time understanding how a bike can feel so perfect. Every time I look at it I smile and the second I am rolling I feel at home. My coaching business is rolling with my race program in full swing and my ladies program in the works. I take possession of my new home this weekend, which I am really excited for but will involve a lot of work. I have been training like mad in the gym, on the trail and seeing physio a couple times a week. My body seems to be coming together one session at a time but I took a couple hard hits over the last couple days so hopefully there will not be too many steps backwards there. Unfortunately I think I have destroyed my beloved Troy Lee moto helmet so there is another mangled wreck to put on display. Poor thing, sure did it’s job tho.

Island / Vancouver trip

2010-05-26T03:07:00.001-07:00

The first couple races have passed and it is amazing to be back on the scene. It is a little strange that something so perfect only happens a couple months a year, but it makes you appreciate it that much more each time it roles around. I haven’t been that satisfied with my results so far, but the season is a giant puzzle and each race gives me more pieces I need to build the picture of success I am seeking. I just returned from an epic trip to Nanaimo for the second BC Cup DH with a quick stop on the way back in North Van. I went down with two kids I am coaching and Jen McMillan of the Bryson Racing Clan. The combination of good company and excellent events packed into a whirlwind tour made for an excellent adventure. After some new race organization pains in training on Friday, the race turned out to be a super fun event. Unfortunately I had a dispute with a slimy root in a corner before a crucial flat to uphill corner near the end of the track, so my save to dead stop cost me a fair bit of time and I finished mid pack. All the kids I am coaching were happy with their races so that left me quite pleased. Since the race was held on Saturday we decided to stay the night in Van and shred some Seymour laps on Sunday. We met up with Wade Simmons for a couple laps and all I can say is Mr. Simmons has not missed a beat. He is pinned but at the same time finds every little gap to snipe and feature to jib. I swear he is the one of the most fun riders to shred with and such an inspiration. Big smiles and high fives all round. The weather was pretty much worst case and I had a pretty nasty slam but nothing could hold us down.

Heffley soil samples

2010-05-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

I recuperated Monday and then went out again today with my race group up on my home trails in Heffley. The trails were a nice balance between grip and drift so as we pushed it there were some pretty interesting moments followed by hooting and hollering. After some trail shredding we decided to go hit some of my neighbour’s perfectly sculpted doubles. The line we were hitting had absolutely perfect flow and it was really fun to start hitting some big jumps on the new bike. It felt perfect. As the sesh progressed I started to get back to my sideways style ways and unfortunately mid-air a couple rounds later my bar decided to venture into my shorts. It must have like what it found because it decided to stay there despite my best efforts to get them out and the bike straight. The resulting slam was not very fun. There was pretty much a crater where my head impacted the ground. Thank god for my poor Troy Lee moto helmet, which now sits gouged, broken and covered in blood along with my new gloves and shoes. Blast! I was mostly pissed for hurting my helmet and new gear. Really, all I can be is thankful that I had such a perfect piece of equipment to protect me when things went wrong. From full height and speed on a sizeable gap I pretty much went straight to my head at the bottom of the tranny and I am in pretty good shape, aside from a sprained finger, a stiff neck and a bunch of stitches. If I was wearing a lessor rated helmet I might not be in such good spirits right now. I must say to all reading, please consider getting a moto helmet. You will be happy you did, and if you need reasons why, just ask me. Reason number one: As long as I can see out of my swollen eye I will be back on the trail riding with my mom tomorrow instead of taking a couple months off to rest my head injury. All the best!

Unicorns CAN fly!

2010-05-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

So I had to wait until I got this picture to write about the Unicorn. The race was pretty awesome, the course was so good and fun. I always say I don’t like racing in general, but to me when there is a unicorn attached to your bike, it’s not a race, it’s a journey....into a magical universe!(lalalalala...) My journey down the race course was going so well, my Unicorn was on FIRE....I mean FLYING, until I hit the new section that was created just this year. I’d only been down the new section once for the pre-run, and even then I wasn’t really paying attention because my Unicorn’s head kept falling down. Well, I ended up coming around a corner and somehow managed to go UNDER the tape (how? I don’t know) and onto another trail. “Ahh shit....this isn’t the race course!” So I had to run back up the trail back to the course, get back on the horse and just giv’er! I must’ve been going a good pace, since I still won, but I really think I could’ve been under 6 minutes had I not taken the wrong turn. That’ll be my goal for next year. To read more about the race check out Tyler’s write-up: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Unicorn-5001-results-2010.html

Back in the Loop

2010-05-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Although I never left Kamloops, I have certainly been out of the loop for a while. Breaking my Scaphoid bone in Merritt last fall proved to be one of the most difficult situations I’ve ever dealt with. Being misdiagnosed on my initial trip to the doctor lead to riding on a broken hand for a month and making the injury a lot worse. Long story short, it is May now and I’ve jut begun to ride my bike again.

Being off the bike for that long really gets to my head, but in the end things have worked out pretty well. The trails were already well on there way to being dry halfway through January so in an effort to maintain my sanity i started into the unthinkable… Cross Country riding. It was really boring at first but I started noticing an increase in my fitness fairly quickly and from then on I was getting excited for the burn. Eventually I got the cast off and then it was rehab time.

After a few months of XC riding my wrist and hand started to feel pretty strong. Between being on the XC bike and doing a ton of physio everyday I was coming back fast. I finally got the go ahead from my physio therapist a few weeks ago and things are feeling great. I back on my bike with a higher level of fitness and a higher level of excitement than I’ve ever had in the past.

As of recently I have been snapping some photos with one of our local team kids, Matty Miles. He is starting to get serious about photography and he has a lot of interesting ideas, so I love going out shooting with him. He has posted our recent rad shots below... expect to see a lot more soon!

Golden Hours

2010-05-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

black and white

2010-05-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

Went out for a nice evening shoot as the light was going down today but still had some luck.
stoked to see Dylan back shredding the bikes again!

2010 shock bike

2010-04-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

So i picked up my faith the other day, been out on it everyday since. so stoked on shredding it all year long and a big thanks to cheryl and everyone at cafe for getting it for me

Tick check...

2010-04-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

I’m being violated by ticks on a regular basis these days – it’s something I’m not too fond of. It freaks me out every time I’m out in the bush thinking and knowing that they’re probably crawling around on me at that moment, and I can’t feel them until they are half way into my brain......or scalp.....whatever! It’s gross! I hate them!! The last couple of weeks have been spent mostly cutting, digging, shaping the beautiful line we will soon have the pleasure to ride. This weekend while everyone was racing, a group of us decided to check out the scene at Harper. Delicious would be a good word to describe it right now. Also got over to Rio and played around on the new stuff we built. It’s so fun. I managed to get a wicked shot of Warren on the hip-road gap. Well the photo quality isn’t the greatest, but I thought it was still pretty good. Pretty good for an old man that is.......
Plans are to be off to Kelowna this weekend. Crawford, Gillard, Postill.....all places that are so much fun to ride! Can’t wait! Till next time.....

Spurs are on

2010-04-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

So I am super stoked to say that I just registered for the Kamloops BC Cup DH race next weekend at the Ranch. As some know I have been struggling with some recurring injuries and wasn't going to make the call to race until a few days before the event, but over the past couple weeks I have been logging some serious hours training and rehabbing so things are finally starting to come together. It is still early season and I am a bit behind on my training, but after a slightly hellish winter it is nice to realize a decent fitness level early on. To say that I am pretty excited to finally get into competition would be a slight understatement. On the trail everything is coming together, the new Glory is phenomenal and my confidence hasn't gone down since training in the fall. I do have a bit of work to do on bringing my focus up to the speed of my riding after being off the bike for so long, but all in all things are coming together.

As well training and work, I have been burning the candle finishing up the semester at school. I am super stoked to say that I only have one final left, coming up on Tuesday, so that will be a welcome milestone to put behind me. After that it is just work, train, race, and get my coaching business up and running at full steam. And everything else I haven't had time to do with the end of finals...

All the best!

new bikes are good.....

2010-04-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

Oh hi! It’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog. I guess I just didn’t have anything cool to write about this winter. I was in a bit of a hibernation, but I’m out now and definitely have a renewed enthusiasm for the upcoming riding season! One of the reasons for this is my new ride which I just picked up a few weeks ago, the Giant Faith 1. I think it’ll be a great bike for me as it’s a fair bit lighter than the Glory I had last year, and 7” of travel should be enough for me! I’ve done a few changes to the bike, put on some 888’s and also swapped over my purple anodized Race Face components. Once you see this stallion you will be drooling – it’s such a sweet looking machine! Another reason why I am pretty stoked is because the trails are so awesome right now, lots of maintenance has been done thanks to a dedicated crew (Carlos and gang – thanks!) Rio is mint, and we added a new fun alternative line near the top that adds a bit of character to the trail! One of the features is a hip road gap – I’m not sure the size of it, but I think it’s about 20-25 ft-ish (?) We were sessioning this gap Easter weekend and I got a good feel for my bike and also a realization that I now don’t have to put in the extra effort to huck a bike that’s much heavier. I usually have to try harder than most of the guys to make a landing if it’s far, and seeing how almost all the guys were coming up short on this gap, I decided to go for it with as much speed as I could get. Well, I overshot the landing....not too much though......but it was perfect. I was a little shocked because I didn’t think I could actually make it. That bike wants to fly! So, yes, it’s been a great few weeks. A bunch of friends came to visit for Easter – the annual official beginning of the riding season. I got to see a some friends I haven’t seen in a while, Danika Schroeter, Kelli and Darren Butler from Endless Biking, a bunch of John’s from the island to name a few. And also got to meet some new friends as well which is always good! Since the long weekend, it’s been all about getting trails dialled. Hopefully we’ll have a couple new lines to ride soon. Team D (Dedication) is on a mission! I’ll leave you with a photo of me and my flying stallion. Hmmmm, white stallion that flies....isn’t that called a Unicorn???? How suiting ;)

aint nuttin to it.

2010-04-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ian wanted to ride a bit before we went digging, I didnt have my bike but i had my camera! The stepup got old quick so Ian did some freeride. Amazing what you can get with only 10mins left of battery :)

VIDEO!

New Glory and Summer Redesign

2010-03-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

So after a winter plagued with recurring strain injuries and financial challenges, last week I was finally able pick up my 2010 Giant Glory 00. Saturday I decided to finally put down the school work and take it out for its first ride. God it is good to get the wheels rolling under me, if only at a mellow cruising pace. With an extensive warm up and a high degree of focus and caution I was able to make it down the trail without any negative repercussions, which was a relief in itself. Have to thank all the yoga for that one. I still can't pull up or take much compression with my lower back, but just cruising down trails and rolling the bike through corners left me with a huge smile. The bike is amazing to ride... with a 10% weight reduction from last year's design and wider bars it is absolutely effortless to ride. The angles are spot on and it is going to be really fun once I can get it up to speed. I am excited for the suspension to break in a bit more so I can get it really tuned and take full advantage of it's potential. Other than my back I am feeling quite strong, which was a welcome realization, but I have a long way to go before I can really let myself go. Good times...

The last few days I have had the opportunity to look at my summer goals and start making the appropriate adjustments due to my current situation. It has been a trying exercise, as I have a lot of big goals that I hoped to have everything in line for right away, but unfortunately I find myself a few steps behind where I wanted to be. I have also been offered quite a few new opportunities in all different directions, so trying to figure out which ones to accept and how to link everything together has been a creative challenge. After this re-adjustment it looks like my season is going to start slowly and bring it up to peak for some of the bigger events later in the season. Not what I had hoped for, but if things go half as well as I am hoping I should be in a strong financial position with a healed and fully active body and all the resources I need to compete as I intend for the important events in the second half of summer. One piece at a time... first I just have to slay the rest of this semester and get my body back together.

All the best,

spring!!

2010-03-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

Summer Memories

2010-01-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

We’ve been having spring-like weather all over B.C. for the past few weeks and it feels like the season is getting an early start. So there is no real need to look back on last summer and dream of sunny rides gone by. Most of the photos your going to see in this post were shot in a rain storm anyway. But do you ever see photos of yourself that take you back to a moment with so much intensity that you can almost feel the raindrops hitting your skin, hear the puddles splashing under your tires and smell the sage brush soaking in the rain?

Allan Mcvicar has been a friend of mine since the day I moved to Kamloops. I still remember the first time I met him. I sat in the middle of his little pick up and awkwardly had the hand of an almost complete stranger touch my bum several times while shifting gears on the way to the bike park. Although we got to know each other fairly personally and quickly, it wasn’t untill we had known each other for a while that we discovered a common love for rainstorms.

Allan and I have been on countless photo missions on the sunniest of sunshine shred days and we’ve bagged a lot of amazing photos. Regardless of how gold the sun sets shine, the stormy days and photos are the ones that always stand out in my memory. There is something I find truly unique about being out in the crashing thunder and pouring rain. No matter how far you look, there is no one else around. Everyone is hiding in-doors where it’s warm and dry. And if they were outside during those moments they would probably be cowering under umbrellas and trying to run away with long faces. But Allan and I are always laughing and trying to squeeze as many shots out of the storm as we can before it passes over.

We had a few of the nastiest stormy days last summer and they were some of my favourite moments on my bike. Allan just let me have few of the photos we had shot in those storms and they take me back to those moments like nothing else. I figured I needed to share a few of Al’s amazing nuggets with everyone. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Last ride of the season, first photos with the 7d!

2010-01-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

merry christmas!

2009-12-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

this picture is the best.

merry christmas everyone at the shop

thanks for everything year in and year out, you guys are unreal

jeeea

2009-12-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

BUY SOME CALENDERS! lukes vid was siiiiiiick and so is dis! http://nsmb.com/3428-killing-it-in-kamloops/ thats 4 reasons to buy some calenders bra

Bicycle Cafe 2010 Calendar

2009-12-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Check out these sick calendars we put together at the shop. 13 killer photos of Graham Agassiz, Matt Hunter and myself. Shots By Bike Magazine staff photographer John Gibson, Matt Miles and Brock Anderson. For $19.99, who doesn't want one?

fun in the..rain?

2009-12-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

rain is my favorite stuff to ride in, everthing gets super tacky and lips smooth themselves out and all your have to do is ride. heres a little summary of my fall, on my favorite jumps with some nice tacky dirt. matt shot it all, good kid huh?

cant seem to get embedding to work.. so heres the link

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/112986/

Octopus's garden

2009-11-22T19:39:00.001-08:00

So last week I embarked on another trip to Vancity, scoring another 3 days of riding out of my poor body. On arrival we headed out to Fromme for some monsoon drenched fun. As well as being very wet, it was also pretty cold and windy, but the pedal up did well to warm us up. We rode pipeline, a rocky blue trail 5 switchbacks up Fromme that was pretty much underwater. There wasn’t much mud as most of it had washed away, so the traction remained pretty decent. The ride wasn’t too long, but it was a nice North Shore warm up to get dialed in for what lay ahead. We ended up getting completely soaked and pretty much chilled to the bone, so the apre ride coffee was probably the most enjoyable in memory.
Wednesday we rode Seymour with a large crew of Banshee riders and other locals. We had a U-haul moving van from helping a friend move in the morning, so we packed it full and shredded a bunch of epic runs. The first run we hit a pingu-pangor and it was SUPER FUN to get to ride with a pack of racers pushing local lines and pinning the trails as hard as we could. We started in snow and a majority of the trails below remained under water but I was starting to get the hang of Van waterbiking so it didn’t bother me too much. I was feeling on and super focused, and with some adjustments to body position my increasing comfort level allowed me to pick it up quite a bit. The second run we hit pingu to severed dick and I had an epic time following Mr. Bryson. Had some interesting moments with a severely fading rear brake forcing me into commitment moves, but in the end it was all good and smiles were held all round. After the second run Jen McMillan and I decided to trust Bryson and go searching for an old trail he thought he had figured out the location on. We took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ended up following some old overgrown skidder trail through the rainforest, spending as much time cyclocrossing over fallen logs as actually riding. It was all good though, I was just happy to be riding.

Techy Goodness

2009-11-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

At one point I rode fast onto a green rock slab and realized too late that green means stop in rainforest, not go. Another lesson for the desert invader, green means not only beware but be very, very slippery. After we made it back down to Ned’s we decided to ride out to Bryson’s instead of back to the car. Another mistake. By that point in the evening it was getting very cold, and over the long trek back up through the slush from the bottom of Seymour to the other side of Fromme all our heat was given away to the damp night and my back decided that it was going to start rejecting all the punishment. We made it back in varying stages of hypothermia yet holding high spirits, and when we got back to the coffee shop after retrieving it was love once again. No hard feelings Mr. Bryson, all in the spirit of adventure.
Thursday the trio of myself, Jen and Bryson met up again for some Cypress laps and I was excited. So far in my North Shore adventures Cypress had offered up the steepest, gnarliest and most tech runs, and Mother Cypress was not keen to disappoint. I was also in for a surprise. The first run we hit Chery Bomb to Pilsener. They were right what I was looking for, serving up Cypress’ grittiest offerings. I was hot on Bryson’s tail and despite some trail diversions the wrong way around trees and scary blind root complications I remained in tact. Our fearless leader again had to pioneer some lines for me to understand how to they were possible to ride, but this time I was up to the challenge. I had a ton of fun and learned a lot by watching and pushing my limits. My body began to protest again, especially when we hit a lower trail with lots of NS style roll drops to short flattish landings. Further down I came off one a bit awkwardly, jarring my already stiff back, and it was the beginning of the end for me. For the second run we hit Mystery DH, and it was bloody good. The first half was like a sped up version of what we had been riding earlier in the morning and the bottom part was, dare I say, Kamloops-esque? The trail became super high speed with constantly flowing drifty turns, but by that point I had to take in the reigns as my seizing back decided enough was enough.
My trip was a ton of fun. I got to explore a bunch of new trails, dial in my riding, increase my confidence, learn a lot and get to see a ton of friends. I most likely won’t get to go back for a good while, but whenever that happens I am sure it will be good. All the best.
J

Kinda kool

2009-11-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

thought this was pretty tweet

http://www.lifecyclesfilm.com/blog/loops-getting-aggy

Budget Stretchin' Love

2009-11-05T01:10:00.001-08:00

So lately we have been making the absolute most of the skinny piggy bank, stretching every last half-penny to the max and loving every section of trail I can find. Last week I had a couple shreds down Rio that were mindblowing. With all the rain the dirt was moist but had dried up just enough to be superman tacky. That trail puts a grin on your face in the moon dust, but on tacky soil it is euphoric. Gets a little scary how fast you can go actually.
Last weekend I spent down in Van and got to ride a bunch of Mt. Seymour, which was muddy and delightful. Coming from the desert, it is hard to fathom how much the trails are shaped by water, and just how gnarly they can get once the majority of the dirt is gone leaving just rock and crazy roots. My speed arrived with me before my full focus did, and being that I was on new trails the results involved three pretty heavy crashes. On one I was leading, putting down a solid pace, and just after I thought to myself that I was pushing pretty hard I came around a corner and there was a downed tree sticking off the side of the trail on my line at ankle height. I cut hard to avoid the tree but my pedal caught it and I was sent over hard. These sorts of things just don’t seem to happen in Kamloops where you can look further ahead and be fairly confident that there aren’t going to be rogue dead heads unheeded around the next bend. Or maybe I should just slow the pace until my I have my full focus on new trails…

Seymour Gnardeath

2009-11-05T00:21:00.000-08:00

Did a few lesser known trails that seriously pushed my idea of what was rideable on a bike. Like trying corner on wet offcamber rock with cliffs below you to wallride across steep waterfalls around trees and over their wet roots to hip drop into a gnarly creekbed runout. Unreal. When your mind isn't used to percieving something as rideable, even in the absense of fear it is interesting trying to figure out what to do. And riding everything blind at speed doesn't help either. A few lines I had to stop to try and comprehend how I was going to proceed, and luckily on one of them that I actually thought wasn't rideable I was out with Mr. Bryson who showed me how they do it in North Van. There is so much rock and so many roots down there, everything is at some stage of creekbed, and there are no off-trail runout options anywhere if you screw up. Despite how un-Kamloops it may sound the trails were super fun. I love challenge, variety and having the opportunity to learn, so with those things in mind North Van served up the perfect new kind of meal. I am back now and trying to let the poor body recover, but for next week I am planning another trip down, so hopefully there will be plenty more trails and a bit less carnage, coming soon.
Much love.
J

DEBO!!

2009-10-28T18:18:00.001-07:00

Deon Gibson from Matt Miles on Vimeo.

Good Day

2009-10-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

So we are counting inventory at the store this week. Its lots and lots of counting, definitely not the most exciting task. Just when we were feeling blue, local movie star and shred rat Matt Hunter came in looking for a bike box so that he could mail a frame away to a friend. We had just the right size box Matty was looking for and he was stoked! He even stopped to talk for a minute and tell us about the progress he has been making on building his very own cabin! Pretty cool!

What's Next? Seggy

2009-10-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

Aaron Larock's movie "What's Next?" is now available on the internet for free at www.pinkbike.com. Watch the full film or check out my segment below.

shortie

2009-10-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

matt and ian came down today and me and matt got in a little less than an hour of shooting..hopefully a follow up with some shock biking will happen before the snow comes..here it is

lukebeers from Matt Miles on Vimeo.

Sun Peaks Promotional Shooting

2009-10-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

You can probably guess that Sun Peaks Resort is my favourite place to ride since my blog posts are always talking about the place. I have been scrounging the west coast for a few years and still haven't found another place where I can get in so many different styles of riding in one day, so easily, and it's so damn close to home! Not to mention the killer scene around the resort. It gets me filled up but I always want more. As a result of how much time I spend there I get the oppourtunity to participate in a lot of cool media projects. One of the more fun projects this summer was spending a day shooting with Adam Stein. Adam runs a photo bizz with the resort, pumping out images for the resort to use for various promotional purposes such as their website, posters, billboards etc. I was stoked to bag a few solid color-filled summertime shred photos with Adam back in early August. Take a gander at some of the photos they have been kind enough to pass along to me!

All photos Adam Stien, Sun Peaks Resort, B.C. Canada.

Vancouver Shredtastic

2009-10-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a delicious feast for the soul. I have been trying for a while to get down to the coast to do some riding but last weekend I was finally able to coerce the schedule into allowing for such a trip, and I dragged the empty bank account along for the ride. This meant an absolutely survivalist budget, but I managed to get a fair bit of riding in and had a blast in the process.
I got down there on Saturday and the weather was decidedly fair, being about 15 degrees and sunny when I arrived which was a bit of a surprise, coming from -2 and cloudy in Kamloops. Once I dropped my bags we proceeded directly to Seymour to sample the local goods. The first trail we hit was CBC, and it was an intriguing little monster indeed. For those who haven't ridden it, it is like riding a raised bridge made completely of rocks... like a mini roman cobblestone road, only for bikes. Strange indeed, but it was nice to have my wheels rolling under me anyways. I was a little tentative about the flat drops on the wrist, but after a little testing I concluded it was good to pin it, so pin it I did. From CBC we headed to Ned's, and it was a blast. I had some pent up not riding aggression to get out, and despite not having ridden the trail before hit it at pretty much full speed. Such fun. Ned’s was fast and pretty tech so I was in my element, and a smile didn’t leave my face. When we got to the bottom we decided to go sample some dirt jumps just up the mountain and they were equally delicious. After a few partial runs through the slightly uneven main 10 pack I felt pretty good and happy to be in the air, finding my dj flow again on my dh. I love dirt jumping.
Sunday we decided to go hit the Woodlot and it was even better than Seymour. The push up was a bit interesting over pretty much a rocky creek bed but it was definitely worth the effort for the long ride down. We met up with a random crew of locals once we got to the top and decided to use their local knowledge to find the best lines. I can’t remember the names of all the trails we hit but they were so much fun it was ridiculous. The trails were tacky, super flowing and tech with tons of corners, so I was pretty much in heaven and got a little rowdy in my excitement. I had a bunch of close calls diving blind into corners with random stumps hiding behind ferns until finally punched a tree hard enough to mangle my knuckles on one side. Ah well. One of the bottom trails had a sweet little line with two opposing hips before a pump turn and a big gap over a fallen tree, with a nice tight corner just after the landing. The first time I overshot by a fair bit and had to pull out a nice slash save into the corner, but after that we sessioned it for a while, getting it super dialed and it was quite amusing. When we got to the bottom we all had perma-grins on our faces and the reggae beat helped us keep the vibe all the way home.
For bang for the buck, my trip last weekend takes it hands down. Despite riding 2 days in a row, eating like a king and going out 1 night, I managed to spend less than 20 bucks the whole weekend and got to spend a lot of quality time with friends and family. Tomorrow I am heading back with 14 bucks to my name, but luckily have a pay cheque on direct deposit for Friday so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Pack up the cooler, another excellent adventure awaits.
Peace, love and respect.
J

Strawberries

2009-09-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Sun Peaks is all closed up for the winter now. I wanted to have some nice memories to keep me warm this winter so Karl and I spent the last two weekends at Sun Peaks getting this nugget all dialled in. Enjoy!

Untitled from karl heldt on Vimeo.

pictures!!

2009-09-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've had anything to post on here but last weekend Brock Anderson and the ginger kid Wylie Easton came into town. Karl Heldt met up with us and we all went and got some video and pictures. I don't have any video to show off right now but I can assure you it will be amazing! I do however have a couple pictures that I liked.

The last dumped 3 you'll see for a while. promise.

sickass b-hump

random dusty corner

Wylie and I on rio!

Poor brock seems to get hurt every time he comes to kamloops. This time he faceplanted and stuck his tooth into his lip.

round 2?

2009-09-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

rebuilt my confidence and tried 3 more double whips yesterday..i fell really hard on the first one and shoulder dove the landing, but apparently that sort of helped me overcome being so scared..i tried twice more after my fall and got to here- http://www.vimeo.com/7195388

The best is yet to come

2009-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was pretty dissapointed that I had to miss out on the Dirt Diggler Race in Fernie last weekend.....and the Gummy Bear Race at Sunpeaks. I had agreed to do the Rona MS Bike tour a few months ago, and didn't realize how conflicting it was. I could've just ditched the tour, but I kinda felt obligated to stick it out with my work pals, so I got up super early and headed down there with my vintage cruiser bike and rode it out - 35 km in total, in my jeans, in about an hour. I was pretty tired from partying the night before, but our friend Jay Morrisey was in town and we wanted to show him some Kamloops riding, so we took him to Greenstone and we rode the new trail all the way to Beaton road. It's such a long, epic ride. I love greenstone! The trail just seems to go on forever. It's got some technical steeps and some skinnies that you don't normally see in Kamloops, and that's more of what I'm used to riding and loved so much about the Shore. That one run took us over 2 hrs, so needless to say I was beat! I was pretty stoked to see the photo I took (see below) of Warren (the main trail builder) doing the wall ride on "Martha". The step down before the wall is still unrideable, and he didn't think he could get high enough on the wall without it. He was wrong. We all had an awesome ride that ended with the most amazing sunset view from the top of the mountain.

Greenstone and Merritt have been my rides of choice lately - just super long, exhausting runs. Got 4 runs in on Merrit in one day a couple weeks ago! If you've ever ridden there, you know that is a feat in it's own! I am looking forward to the next few weeks though. I'll be heading to Whistler for a couple days, more Kelowna, and Williams Lake in the near future. This is the best time to ride, so enjoy it before the snow flies!

Rising Action

2009-09-16T19:58:00.001-07:00

The temperature is getting cooler. The sunsets are getting more intense. My Riding is getting more and more dialled. My arms and back are sore while my shovel is getting flexier by the day. Stoke is on the up. Im not working as much. The next two months are going to be sick!

Stealing a little summer back and wildlife candy victory

2009-09-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

So just got back from Vancouver doing a first aid course in preparation to head up north. Since Sun Peaks I have had to play it fairly chill due to end of season lack of fundage and a ton of commitments, still having an amazing time, but at a fairly reduced level of life. Then this last week hit, and life came back together for me in a big way. The last five days has been for me a combining all the best pieces, places and people in my life into one amazing celebration of life. Over this time I rode every day, started to see the fruits of my hard work, all my school friends came back to town, a couple of my closest friends had birthdays, Sun Peaks hosted a race, we had BBQs and dinner parties every night, I got to coach a bit and my best friend and I celebrated every bit of it before we both had to head away to work for a while. And a hundred other things. I don't like to push my body quite so hard, sleep so little or get hurt riding as a result, but it had to happen in this fashion. Life just encompasses that many amazing pieces, and we had to experience all of it and take a bit of summer back before it was time to move on and get serious for a while. I haven't ridden in town much over the last few months as I have been either away or at the hill, and being back riding in town has been SUPER FUN. My body has been doing decently, my bike has been feeling awesome, and I have been feeling super confident on it, so I have been enjoying pushing it especially on larger jumps. Saturday I sprained my wrist and pulled my back taking it down pretty hard on Rio, but I still managed another Beacon run that afternoon. Pretty intimidating challenging those lines while not being able to bend my wrist, but kept it in super in control and had a wicked time riding it with two of my buddies from high school. Had a pact to do it with the three of us there before we left so it had to happen. My one buddy had a pretty sketchy bail on it up top, missing one of the corners, clipping a rock wall and doing some steep flips for a ways but he was ok so it turned out alright. Sunday was the Gummy Bear DH at Sun Peaks which was super fun, but I was hurting pretty bad early on. I did a training run in the morning which did not go very well. On course I was extremely limited by my wrist, having to take it super easy and pretty much having no ability to recover, just a passenger on my bike. By half way down the mountain I was riding mostly with my good arm and by the bottom I could not hold on so I coasted sitting down with my one hand off the bar. I almost didn't run, but as it was the last race of the year I decided that I wanted to just have fun with it and race my own race. I decided to rest over the day, work on my bike, tape up my wrist super tight and pop a bunch of painkillers to make it happen. Pretty irresponsible really. For the course I decided on a strategy of being super smooth, braking super early, carrying speed out and hammering on straights, and generally not taking to many chances as I really had no ability to recover if things went sideways. I felt strong mentally in my new approach, my wrist felt fairly supported and not in too much pain, so I hit the race prep as ever. The run went ok, I was happy to be riding and I put down a consistent run given my limitations. I didn’t think there was really a possibility of winning, but I thought that maybe if I was really lucky I might pull a top 3. At the bottom of the course we waited around for a fair while on the hill for results, and it was cool to see the crowd the chill local race drew. There were a bunch of younger kids there that are now inspired on racing, so I was stoked. When awards came and the last category was called I had my fingers crossed. When 3rd and 2nd passed by I was sure that I had missed my chance, but then my name was called for the win and I was equally surprised and stoked. It was super rad to win at home surrounded by friends, and it definitely made the trip to Vancouver a lot easier injecting a little flow into the tiny budget.
Peace, love and respect.
J

practise makes not so perfect!

2009-09-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

well back in the day when it was summer, and i was still in whistler, i practised double tailwhips aloot at the foam pit, and ever since i got home ive wanted to try one real bad. I also have been rebuilding the best jumps in town a whole bunch and they are finally dialed, so i decided to give it a go tonight and it worked out not to bad, but not as well as it could have. i got it under me and rode out on my seat. heres the clip!

http://vimeo.com/6602631

Birth of a new trail....

2009-09-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

My muscles are huge now. Massive. I’ve been hanging out with my good friend Macleod (the tool) for the last 6 weeks, building and maintaining when I felt it was too hot to ride. One more trail to ride now. It’s got some nice corners, some for drifting, some built up berms for speed. The “hump jump” is a super fast floater jump that you can hit as fast as you want with an endless long tranny. We tried to make the best use of the natural features this land has...which is lots of gullies and nice rolling terrain. I wish I got more pictures while we were still able to – but for now all I have are these few for a teaser. More to come in the future......

NSMB article

2009-09-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Went out a couple months ago with some guys from Van and showed them around some Iron Mtn here in town with one my riding buddies Carlos. They said they were doing some roadtripping for an article, but i wasnt fully understanding of what for and i kind of figured it just never happened until today, scrolling nsmb i noticed it on the front page.

http://www.nsmb.com/3270-riding-in-merritt-bc

Im stoked that Merritts getting a little more well known to the riding community

Sept. 10th, Killing Season Starts!

2009-09-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

During the month of August I got out for a few exciting photo projects and went down to crankworx but other than that I didn't ride much. I was just plain bored. Jumps and trails were way to dusty and it was far too hot for me to enjoy riding. Not being a complete downer, I speant alot of time hiking, working out my weak shoulders, and relaxing. After not riding for a few weeks and the weather chilling off a bit I've found myself in better shape and more excited to kill it than ever. I've ridden the last seven days in a row getting back into shape and I'm feeling very confident. For the first time in over a year I can confidently crash without being terrified of hurting my shoulder. It was a big problem for me all year, I took a step back in alot of situations simply because I was too scared to fall. But lastnight Killick and I rode the KBR step up and I consistantly landed hard on my right shoulder while learning flat spins, and it was all good! I have tons of plans for this fall so I am out of control excited right meow. So many photo shoots to do, so many fun new hits to ride, so much good weather and so many bros to shred with! This morning I am actually waiting for my cover buddy Kelly Mcgarry to get into town, he is driving up from Van to shred for the day! I also have a fresh digi cam that I figured out how to load photos with so look out for sweet behind the scenes sneeks and lots of stories over the next couple months. WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Cafe Day and Tippie Lines

2009-09-08T00:52:00.001-07:00

Last couple days have been super epic, just riding tons with family and friends. Today we had a Cafe team ride day at Sun Peaks with the whole crew and it was super fun. It has been raining a lot lately so the ground was borderline muddy delightful and I couldn't keep a smile off my face. It was also so cold up there that it actually snowed on us a lot of the day up top. We were there all day, did a ton of runs, made our presence felt and shredded the entire mountain which was awesome.
After Sun Peaks I came to town and rode this crazy old school Tippie-esque line with my buddy Steve. Out by my old high school there is this rocky mountain called the Beacon... it has a bunch of cliffs up top with chutes and a rock field below. Back in high school we would hike around under the cliffs with our bikes and then ride the chutes into the rock fields below. I would guess it would be 40 degrees or a little steeper, with a 500 meter + decent. We pioneered it back then and haven't done it in 5 years or so... lately we have been talking about it lots, so this weekend a few of us decided we were going to do it this week. Today Steve and I were the only ones to follow through, so when I got to town we met up, cleared a little runaway path of smaller rocks through the boulders at the bottom and spray painted it blue so we could see where to aim from the top (when we were kids we just rolled the dice and shot into the boulder field at speed hoping for the best. How did we survive that age anyways?). After we finished we hopped in the car, cranked the Led Zeppelin as loud as it would go and were giddy as school girls the whole ride up to the top. The hike in was gnarly as ever, and once we got to the top we scoped out the now very eroded chutes and the tiny blue dot at the bottom we had to aim for. The chutes had changed fairly dramatically over our time away, but you still had to start sideways to drop in straight down, make a hard right around a boulder to avoid a rock wall, make a hard left into the main chute, jump a boulder in the middle and then just survive and try to control your speed to the bottom. I went first as I suppose was customary in the old days, and Steve filmed. The hardest part after the hike in was just getting on the bike.

Blast from the past

2009-09-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

Once I accomplished that the chute part went fairly well, like a memory or a dream returning to me. What I forgot was how fast you got going or how hard it was to control your direction once you were on the main rocky slope to try and aim for the blue dot. The slope was STEEP! Our line on the rock field had a strip of the smallest rocks down it so it was the ground was decently consistent under our tires, but you would hit random larger rocks on the slope while trying to brake as hard as possible and it made the bike squirrel around like crazy. As I approached the bottom I still had a ton of speed and could not slow down at all. As well, just before our little rocky run out, the ground turned from small rocks to grapefruit and watermelon sized rocks in front of me for the last 100 meters of the slope. Coming into it at speed I decided I would let off my front brake right before the ground turned mean and then just hope that the run out did its job and didn’t kill me (the run out was comprised of a flat group of watermelon sized rocks, about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long before a concrete culvert). Needless to say, the run out worked perfectly, and once I stopped I let out a scream of victory like I haven’t done in years. Steve came down in a fairly similar fashion and we shared a moment of youth, relishing what it feels like to be alive while buzzing from adrenaline. I haven’t really sought or wanted adrenaline rushes in a fair while as most of the time they happen from mistakes or close calls, but the feeling of commitment to something relatively unfamiliar culminating in victory resulted in a seriously good feeling. Since then I’ve had a perma-grin on my face and haven’t really thought about anything negative or stressful in any depth. The footage we took didn’t really turn out, but later in the week we are planning to do it again and this time get some better shots, so keep your eyes peeled. What a sweet end to an epic long weekend.
All the best!
J

Last Day of Summer Shred

2009-09-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today most of the team headed up to sunpeaks to enjoy wet dirt in kamloops for a change and was it ever wet! Everyone put aside the super cold air, rain and snow and had a blast. The day had its share of mechanical problems which were all fixed fast. Once the clouds broke and the sun poked through it was the best conditions i've ever ridden the mountain on. Solid day to end the summer with and back to school in the morning :(

Summer coming to an end!

2009-09-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well, sadly in three days we will be back to school for another 8+ months. This summer for me consisted of lazy shred days for the first 2 or 3 weeks, hitting goatstyle earlier in the summer and doing a bunch of trips over to vernon for silverstar and my friend brads house, but more recently i have just been working, trying to get some money saved up for next seasons bikes, and maybe a vehicle sometime in the next several months. One of my highlights of this summer was definently a road trip i went on in mid august with my causin and his good friend, both from edmonton. We shredded over to whistler for a week, and it was soo good. We werent sure what to expect after crankworx but it turned out that everything basically had been buffed right after crankworx, and the mountain was amasing. we also shredded alot of airdome which i had tons of fun at.

So that was my summer wrap up, probably alot less fun to read than it was to live, but oh well..i leave you with a shot from today at the bikepark..i love rain! : http://www.vimeo.com/6447649