14th April 2010 – Kelowna – Knox Mtn.
Guest Riders – Rob Cochrane, Steve Romo(Appearance) First day on the bike for a while and I really wanted to wipe off the rust and the cobwebs with some runs down Knox Mtn. Met up with Rob Cochrane, one solid Kelowna rider, and his buddy for some morning shredding.
Shuttling for a few hours really gets you on form pretty quickly and really lets you appreciate Knox for its sick riding. Just fast, loose, and technical runs thrown in with some little features, makes it really good for training on.
Rob is really good friends with a lot of people in the mountain biking scene. Working at “Sun Country Cycles” in Vernon, BC, he sees and meets some big names. One of which being Steve Romo, who happens to be sitting in his truck at the bottom of Knox after a run. And for me, someone for a small country, with not many pros around this was a big thing for me.
After meets and greets and some chilling, Romo gave us a ride up the hill and we got some more riding and shooting down, not after getting a shoot set up with him, so watch this space.
15th April 2010 – Kelowna – East K & Knox Evening
Guest Riders – Keeton JendruckAnother amazingly hot day in Kelowna starts, 20 degrees Celsius, it's April, and time to ride some more bikes. Today we planned to head out to east Kelowna where there was some supposed big free ride jumps out there. I had never heard of this place or seen any photos, so it was going to be really hit and miss. But we rock up, and I must say we got lucky. Prime, freshly buffed jumps, that are BIG.
And really I can’t say much, but just have to show some photos. For me it was more of a riding day so I left the shooting to Toby and a few buddies.
Keeton is really one of those guys that I must say, ALWAYS performs. Like he loves to just go so big off of jumps, and usually no matter what he calls before he drops in, he will always stomp it, which is rare for a lot of people. People, watch this guy, also he has no sponsors!
After East K was all wrapped up we headed back over to Knox for some evening shooting. Got the flashes out and had a play in the woods. Night riding can be sketchy, you should have lights, unlike us!
16th April 2010 – Kelowna – Skyline Today was a pretty chilled out day. We had a later start and decided to head up to Skyline for a bit of a build. Got our build on, buffing up some of the jumps, then rode for a bit, getting a few shots. Nothing too special, but was fun to build.
17th April 2010 – Kelowna – Ben Lee Skatepark
Guest Rider – Brandon Van DulkenOn what seemed to be a day inside due to the rain actually turned out to be a killer day. Met up with one of Kelowna’s up and coming young park stars, Brandon Van Dulken. And people, this guy rocks I must say, just stomps everything in that bowl so buttery. Here’s what we got.
Again, watch this guy, I wouldn’t be surprised if you start seeing this guy on magazine covers. Great guy to shoot with, and a solid guy all round. Keep up the good work buddy.
18th April 2010 – Kelowna – Postill
Guest Rider – Nathan “Nato” KemilaThis was a day I was looking forward to for many weeks and months. Just to ride Postill would be amazing, but to ride it with such a killer rider as Nato was just sick. Most people will know, but if you don’t, Postill is the location of the world famous trail “Addiction” as seen in STUND, and I must say it has to be up there in Top 3 trails I've ever ridden.
Nato just killing it down the trail , hitting every feature like he has hit it a thousand times, probably because he has. He had it all so dialed.
It didn't take us long to get a crew on the go for photos. Had 7 or 8 of us just all throwing it down and getting some killer shots.
This week has really been so amazing for us. Hitting up new spots, learning new things, meeting up with some amazing people. Thanks to all for coming out and riding with us. Has been awesome.
What's to come? This week isn’t over yet and Kelowna still has a ton to offer. We have a stack of trails to ride and people to meet. Then on to the Loops to meet up with Chris Van Luven for some rad times up there. Let the good times roll on!
-Laurence Crossman-Emms
www.laurence-ce.com
