Kokanee Crankworx Unofficial World Championship Whip Offs
Photos by Sterling Lorence and Matthew Mallory and video by Aaron Larocque
Crankworx Whip Off Contest on pinkbike.com
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 Who among us didn't spend our early childhood years on a bike pretending the it was a moto? Ripping around our neighbourhood sidewalks, alleys and parks, a clothespin holding a hockey card in our spokes. Imaginations ran wild dreaming that we were grabbing a handful of throttle and screaming around a track claiming to be Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael or James "Bubba" Stewart. Every opportunity to put a little air between the tires and the ground was taken. |
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| It was all about getting 'er sideways. |
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| Now with some years on our shoulders and riding state of the art, downhill mountain bikes the moto influence is still huge. From the bikes we ride to the full-face helmet with matching pajama suit we are all still big kids having fun. The most moto inspired part of riding though has to be the whip. A move that is revered and if you can pull a good one, flat, sideways and dragged out it is going to turn heads. Taking a page from our dirt bike riding brethren the whip will never go out of style. Bust out a big one and you are the man, it's a damn stylish move. |
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| Tyler McCaul prepping for Red Bull Joyride later that day. |
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| Downhill bike, check, pajama suit, big whip, check. Lear Miller shows some moto influenced style. |
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| Nice lazy one handed whip. |
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| With many of the best downhill and freeride dudes on the planet in Whistler, Sven Martin (Vital) along with SRAM spearheaded the first Unofficial Sick Whip World Championships. Held the afternoon before the Red Bull Joyride, throngs of people flocked to the recently rebuilt and massive Crabapple Hits. How could anyone resist watching the guys and one gal (Lorraine Blancher) huck their meat and swing the back end of their bike around. It was mayhem as riders trained into the jumps and gave it their all to impress the crowd. Their were signs, there was some booze (we do not condone drinking on the mountain), there was cheering, there were crashes, and in an hour and a half there were more stylish whips showcased than the average person will see in a year. It turned out to be one of the most entertaining afternoons of the week. |
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| Lorraine Blancher was the only girl to come out and play with the boys at the Unofficial Whip Off World Championships |
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| When all was said and done and the riders had gave it their all the judges went into deep deliberation. The final decision had Eliot Jackson winning the Best Scrub while, Graham Aggasiz won the Best Whip Not Pulled Back Award and the Best Whip went to Brazilian Bernardo Cruz who was nailing the biggest, dirtiest moto whips of the day. |
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| Oh yeah, that is definitely a nasty whip. |
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| BRAAAP, BRAAAP! |
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| Brendan was loving the crowd and the big hits! |
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| Fairclough styles up his whip with a knack knack over some crazy kids. |
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| Eliot Jackson and Brendan Fairclough rode side by side to lead the final train through Crabapple Hits. |
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| Eliot Jackson whipped out. |
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| More of Eliot |
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| Bernard Cruz and his whip. He is the 2011 Unofficial Whip Off World Champion. |
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| What better way to spend an afternoon than checking out some whip action. Guys were buzzing the spectator's heads. |
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| Ouro Preto showed up and threw it sideways. |
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| The moon was out in the middle of the afternoon. |
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Down on the left, purple shirt. Mega FOD
the best one is 2:04-2:16
www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/Untitled,8397/Root-Rider-TV,2859
enjoy
What's that about clips versus flats for control?
I beg to disagree, why . . . because it makes it even more dangerous for the second rider. And that's how you get hairs on your chest, and great bike dangling skills. . . dodging a r-tard trying a backflip on a crabapple hit