High Five: the 5th Annual Rubberhead Bike Festival

Rossland, BC, is once again welcoming riders from throughout the Kootenays and beyond to participate in the 5th annual Rubberhead Bike Festival, Sept. 1-7. Featuring three awesome events: the Seven Summits Poker Ride, Dreadhead Enduro DH and Huck N’ Berries Bike Jam, the Rubberhead offers single-track bliss, eye-watering speeds and high flyin shenanigans for everyone. Here’s what’s coming down the trail for 2013:


Seven Summits Poker Ride:

Seven Summits Poker Ride takes place on the “IMBA Epic” designated Seven Summits trail in Rossland, BC, on Sept. 1. It’s a fun, social ride and not a race. Costumes are encouraged, competitiveness is not.

In addition to enjoying world-class single-track with friends and soon-to-be friends, you’ll be gathering cards from 7 stations as you ride the length of the Rossland Range. Best 5-card hand takes it…and if you make the side trip up Old Glory, you’ll get a Wild Card as well.
Start time at the Nancy Greene Summit trailhead is 8am-10am. Shuttles from town to the start of the trail will be provided starting a 7:30 a.m. A post event gathering will again happen at the Lion’s Campground starting at 2:30 pm.


To Register: You must call Revolution Cycles at (250) 362-5688. Cost for a spot and all the fun is $55 if you don’t have a Kootenay Columbia Trails Society membership, $45 if you do. Registration includes snacks on Granite Mtn, mechanic assistance at Granite Mtn, beers and burgers at Lions campground, and a sweet T-Shirt. Tons of prizes to be given out too…spots are limited!



Dreadhead Enduro DH:

The Dreadhead is evolving! This year the Dreadhead (Sept. 7) will be an “Enduro DH” event meaning it will involve two mostly downhill races and a combined time to determine the victor. The courses will be Larch Ridge/Monticola and BS/Lower Monticola. Racers will pedal half way up Larch Ridge trail, where the timed first leg will begin. This has a little up and a lot of down. The finish line is just before the road at the 3-kilometer point on Neptune FSR. Participants will then pedal up COG/Gibbards/Larch to the top of BS. There will be a minimum 45-minute time allowance to pedal back up to the same start location (mandatory). Racers will then be timed again on an all-downhill track (BS/MC) to the same finish line.

This format is in keeping with the continually evolving concept of Enduro DH racing, and we’re excited to provide more gravity-fed racing fun with these two courses. It also opens up the opportunity for those who are shy of the cross-country aspect in previous years’ courses. However, the pedal up is mandatory and we anticipate these courses are best suited to all-mountain bikes.


Registration will be Friday evening (Sept. 6) at Revolution Cycle and Service and in the morning at the trailhead (starts at 8 a.m.). Both courses are open to training leading up to the event and two hours will be provided prior to the race start for training. Note: it is highly recommended people have taken at least one run on both courses prior to the race. Price is $40 per person, including a shirt, hat or beer cozy and a free beverage ticket for the party at the Huck N’ Berries Bike Jam in the afternoon.

For more information, call Race Director Ryan Kuhn at 250.231.9343.


The Huck N’ Berries Bike Jam:

The Huck N’ Berries Bike Jam is back, five years young and ready to get schooled.
From the ABC’s of dirt-jumping, to timeouts for untimely radness, the volunteer corps is busily beefing up features for Saturday, September 7th.

Playing in the sandbox at Centennial Park includes revamped gap-jumps, a pump-track, the “Broner” and a “Whale’s Tale” are being sculpted with craftsmen’s precision and the help of Powder Pig Excavating and a dedicated team of loam lovers getting down and dirty.

“The course this year is bigger, better, and berrier,” promises organizer Rory Belter.


The Huck N’ Berries is the younger, spazzier sibling to the Dreadhead Enduro DH and the mustachioed Seven Summits Poker Ride; you never know what’s going to get thrown down or atcha! While lacking a head full of dread and a bad teenage mustache, The Huck N Berries has come into its own, climbing out from under the shadow of its elder relatives to become the most well attended event of the weekend.
Perhaps it’s the snack-time (BBQ run by Rossland Rotary), the recess-like atmosphere (family friendly), or the return of The Bar-Spin Beer Gardens that keeps the event well-oiled… but more likely it’s the berry-hucking hijinks of the Kootenays’ best freestylers going head to head in this sweet, peer/rider judged event!

Entry fees are $35 for Junior & Prodigy, and $45 in the Intermediate-Advanced division…and a bundle of swag accompanying complimentary high-fives.

Register in advance at Revolution Bike Shop, Columbia Avenue, Rossland. Or, if you leave it to the last minute, you can still register the day of the event. The course opens to practice runs at noon, the Show and Tell-It-Like-It-Is part of the jam getting going at 3pm with awards for both the Huck N Berries and Dreadhead winners commencing once the dust settles.

For more information, please contact… Rory Belter 250 231 1481

http://www.rosslandrubberhead.com