To our friends, family and business partners:

On February 25th 2006, while skiing in the backcountry near Nelson B.C., Carey Bokser, senior production manager and team icon of Freeride Entertainment, fell to his death while attempting an extremely challenging ski descent.

Here's some buzz that just leaked out. A well positioned photographer snapped some sneak peaks of some of our new X.9 gear! Complete details will be released at Sea Otter.

I was asking myself that question early last season, when I saw a few of my buddies on their new frames. What makes them so stoked on their new rides, I wondered? Since I wasn’t happy with my new bike (we’ll leave it un-named in all fairness to the manufacturer) I’d just gone out and bought. I had bought it as I saw so many walk out of my old shop and figured this bike will kick ass. Well it turns out that I’m pickier than that and just couldn’t adapt to the new steed. (Or maybe I’m just a slow learner?)

To all friends of Freeride,

It is with our deepest sorrow that we inform you that our dear friend and colleague Carey Bokser was tragically taken from us on Saturday February 25th. Carey was backcountry skiing and died in a terrible fall.

We have a new stock of Pinkbike hoodies in and an all new color too! Along with our much loved black hoodie, we have brought out Olive. Check them both out here.

K.libre is an indoor bikepark with over 2000 square feet of ridable surface that can be used during after school hours. The Ambience is very friendly, music to give guts to pull out big tricks. A chill room is open to relax and talk about anything with other riders. Different meals will be prepared by my girlfriend Jessica each week. The bike park is located at 50 Des Cascades Beauport in Quebec city.

Wow, the Alberta Freeride Awards are into their 4th year already! Seems like yesterday, Derek was sitting on the can and came up with this great awards night idea. It has grown into the premier night to recognize Alberta's Freeriders in their own disciplines, be it Downhill, Street, Park, Freeriding or Dirt Jumping.

Go to the AFA site and see who's in the running this year and cast your vote. For more on the evening....

It's not often that I recycle stories – but I feel this one is worth it. Back in 2003 I wrote this little article about Sand Hill Ranch, this little riding paradise riding spot located in Brentwood, California. I use to hit that place up on a regular basis during the winter, but last year I neglected SHR in favor of more trail riding. A few weekends ago I went back, and it made me realize how much I missed that place.

Meet the Clumps

The riders of the ’06 Kona Clump Team are prepping for another season of full-throttle riding, trotting the globe in search of epic gaps, drops and lines, and this year they’ll be rolling on fresh rubber thanks to new tire sponsor Maxxis.

The name Bontrager has been around for a long time and to many it goes hand in hand with Hand Built Bikes and high end components. While Bontrager no longer produces his great hand built hard tails for the general public, the component line lives on. Bontrager components are found on all Trek, Klein and Gary Fisher bikes. Over the past few years the sub catagory "Big Earl" has really come into its own as a freeirde brand to look at for quality, reliable after market parts. I've been riding my 2006 Rocky Switch 2.0 for months now, but leaving anything stock for too long makes Tyler a dull boy........

New name, new jumps, new highlights

The time of Bikeworld Leogang has passed. With its new name and new jumps Bikepark Leogang has already provided a stage for the first hotshots of the year, at temperatures below zero. In the snow-covered mountain landscape, Austria’s first Snow Bike Slopestyle Contest, the “White Style”, was held last weekend at an altitude of 1,800 metres.

Keeping it sketchy! The crew made it home in one piece. Well except for Tyler who was puking the entire way home because of a dirty grocery store chicken that had food poisoning. The CKD trip was a success. We even managed to get Ambrose and Cory back with enough time to “De-Dirtbag” before there flights off to Costa Rica on there next film mission.

Giant Bicycle Canada is pleased to announce the signing of Canada’s top three professional downhill racers. We are also excited about the introduction of Giant’s revolutionary Maestro suspension system, which is now integrated into the new Giant Glory downhill bike. “ I am really looking forward to Canada’s top three riders pushing our new bike to its limits”, stated team manager Sean Jenkins, “Those guys will show the country the new capabilities of a downhill bike designed with Giant’s Maestro suspension platform!”

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 28, 2006 - The SIXTH ANNUAL BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL will be held in New York City May 10-14th at the legendary Anthology Film Archives. The Festival will then tour to Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco, Tokyo and Kyoto.

Last season it was evident in the local Alberta riding and racing circles that there was a new kid on the block. After sweeping the BC cups and some Canada Cups in sport men he made a really break through performance at the Redbull Psychosis race where he took an impressive second place to Tyler Morland in Pro. So people are starting to wonder who the hell this guy is and where he came from.

A trip that started off with intentions of driving a 21 year old Winnebago down to Utah was “Dodgy” to say the least. Tyler Klassen and Myself were looking to jump the gun on the new season and get down south out of this gloomy weather! Aligning with Ambrose, one half of Pist-N-Broke productions to film for their upcoming movie Bits3 CKD Collectively, Krankin up the Disorder as well as sniping Harookz to capture stills the stage was set! Lets shred!

SRAM is glad to continue the relationship with Jeff Lenosky. Jeff will continue to ride SRAM, RockShox, Avid and Truvativ product for the next two years.

Semmens Bros. Racing


Ever wondered how the fragrant coffee beans that supply your morning jolt of caffeine made their way from the jungles of South America to your mug?It turns out it’s an amazing journey, as my old friend Jeff Boeda and I found out when we visited several organic coffee plantations in Peru last fall. Deep in the cloud forests at the headwaters of the Amazon River are tiny villages perched on lush green hillsides where farmers grow some of the world’s finest coffee. As guests of the Perunor Coffee Co-operative, Jeff, head coffee roaster for North Vancouver-based Bean Around the World, and I spent two days visiting remote villages that supply top-quality beans to coffee houses around the world. What we saw provided amazing insight into the amount of work that goes into a cup o’ joe.

Anaheim, CA: Chumba Racing is pleased to announce that David Woronets will be joining the company as its new production manager. He’s probably best known as “Evil Dave” from several free ride films or as the former Team Manager & Event Coordinator for Ellsworth Bikes. David is a long standing member of the cycling community, and has competed in everything from Category 1 Road Races, World Cup Downhills, and even world record jump attempts.

Accomplished Free Ride and Downhill instruction camp chooses Marin’s new QUAD XLT platform as their bike of choice.

Marin Bikes, manufacturer of performance bicycles, announced today its signing and support of Mad March Racing Camps. As partners and principals of Mad March Racing, Shaums March and Mike Jones will exclusively conduct Downhill and Free Ride camps and compete on Marin bikes this upcoming season. Mad March Racing has teamed up with Marin to promote mountain biking in a new way throughout North America, sharing their passion, knowledge and skills with riders of all levels.

News from over the pond: Yesterday I got this e-mail from my good friend Si "Superfly" Paton, which I though I would share with you. Lost of good racing currently happening in the UK - good stuff!

enjoy!

GRAVITY GROUP, international downhill and four-cross MTB, most progressive team ever formed, begins its activity from the 2006 season with passion and dedication to racing- podium-visitors.

If you’re going to be attending the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo event in Tucson, AZ February 17-19 or the Southridge Winter Series race in Fontana, CA February 26th, here’s your chance to try out one of the new Haro Sonix VL120 bikes. In fact, since these are our first demo events of the year, you’ll be among the first to see what the Sonix is all about.

Summer Gravity Camps (SGC) at Whistler Blackcomb will introduce a new 10,000 square foot, covered mountain bike facility this summer. The Air Dome features a foam pit, resi ramp and trampoline. Located at Base II on Blackcomb Mountain, and scheduled to open this summer, the Air Dome is the first mountain bike training facility of its kind in Canada.

SRAM is excited to welcome one of the freshest riders on board, Cameron Zink.

Wade Simmons and Richie Schley re-sign. New Talent joins team.

The 2006 season is knocking and the talent pool at Rocky Mountain Bikes is set to represent in all forms of gravity competition. Young guns like Micayla Gatto, Ryan Vanderham and Alex Pro will be building their already impressive rider profiles. While the likes of Wade Simmons, Richie Schley and Thomas Vanderham will comtinue to push the progressive boundaries of Freeride and Slopestyle events.

unscene is a new film from our good friends across the pond. Fed up of watching movies of riders launching themselves off cliffs, Nick Hawker and Tom Hodder decided they would rather be watching something that was slightly more relevant to the type of riding they do over in the UK.

World’s Best Freeriders Descend on Whistler July 22-30, 2006

The third annual Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival, one of the world’s largest freeriding events, is set to go off July 22 – 30 in Whistler this summer. Expanding to nine days of serious excitement both on and off the hill, the festival will be bigger and better then ever with an exciting lineup of freeride events and Canada Cup cross-country and downhill races.

Canadian freeride hero joins SRAM for better product and service. Canadian freeride icon Darren ‘The Claw’ Berrecloth will continue his career with SRAM drivetrain. The 24 year old athlete signed a contract for 2006 riding X.0 triggers and derailleur to future victories

Hammer Nutrition introduces an organic health and energy bar that takes sports fueling to new dimensions of taste and nutrition. The easy-to-eat, gluten-free Hammer Bar comes in two flavors: chocolate chip and almond raisin.

FVMBA has had a busy winter so far with all the races and clinics being held at the Abbotsford Indoor BMX track. This sunday will mark the last of the dirt series for the winter months. With that being said, numerous trail clean up days are now being marked on the calendars. If you enjoy riding these areas, we would like to see you out doing your part during the clean up days.

LADIES-There are 3 upcoming events for you to look into and attend if you want to start sharpening your riding skills for this spring. Check it out!

Eastside Freeride Productions and Ugly Ass Bikes are pleased to announce the Ugly Ass Jam II on February 17th, 18th, and 19th in Montreal, Quebec. It will be a Pro, Expert and Amateur MTB park competition in Jam format. Pro riders will face off to win Prizes and to get a part of a $1000 purse. Amateurs and Experts will be competing for an assortment of great prizes from our sponsors.

CLEVELAND, OHIO -At the inaugural Ray's 3Ride event held at Ray's indoor Mountain Bike Parks in Cleveland, Ohio. Lopes competed among the best Dirt Jumpers and Racers in the 3 set events, finishing 1st in both the Speed Trail and the Pump Track contests. The 3rd event, the Jump Competition, was won by Jaime Goldman. Lopes took a 2nd place in the overall, the 1st place was won by Greg Watts

Irvine, CA. –February 6th 2006. DHRacers LLC. with the ongoing support of Honda North America, are proud to welcome new sponsor Iron Horse Bicycles and top USA pro downhiller Duncan Riffle to their program.

Diablo Freeride Park is pleased to announce the 2006 Diablo Domination Downhill Series event lineup. In its second year, the series returns with 5 event dates and nearly $30,000 in cash and prizes. Mark your calendars, the 2005 series proved to be heavily contested with huge cash and prize offerings on the line.

It didn’t matter that Cleveland was slated to get smashed with a huge snow storm, athletes showed up to throw down at the best indoor mountain bike park in the world. SRAM and RedBull teamed up with Rays Mountain Bike Park for the first annual 3Ride Pro Invitational.

On February 4th a group of over 30 DH racers and supporters met to initiate a new association in Alberta. The Alberta Downhill Racing Association is being formed to help promote and develop a downhill racing scene here in the province. ADHRA is currently in it's infancy and having had only one information meeting has yet to "officially" exist. That being said, the amount of support and energy that was present at the meeting shows that this type of group is overdue. For the past few years being a DH racer in Alberta meant traveling out of province in order to race as there were very few races held in Alberta, last year, there were none at all.

Looks like I wasn’t the only one doing product testing in Bootleg Canyon! Scott Crabill from Go-Ride.com was there testing a new prototype El Cuervo. I got to spend some time riding and chatting with Scott. I first got to ride with Scott two years ago, also in Bootleg Canyon. Like most of us, he’s pretty passionate about the sport. No attitude, no ego, just loves to ride his bike(s) and share the experience with others!

Cannondale Freerider Breaks his leg While on Vacation at the XGames in Aspen

ASPEN, CO USA—While vacationing from his pedals, Aaron Chase went down riding a board vs. his signature ride from Cannondale.

What do you do when the weather in your area is interfering with your riding? You take a road trip and head for the dryer parts of the country! This past weekend I loaded up the car and headed down to Boulder City, NV for a fun weekend of downhilling and product testing.

DH Specialist Chris Van Dine Signs with Cannondale

His dad Galen was an East Coast mountain bike pioneer so some may say that he was born into the 26” lifestyle. Chris Van Dine has been racing mountain bikes since 1988 and concentrating in DH since 2000. And, having grown up in ‘Cannondale Country’ it seems as though CVD’s career is coming full circle.

On a very cold frozen day in Coed Llandegla Forest in North Wales after a weeks preparation Jason Rennie the holder of the world indoor and outdoor distance MX jump records has added the MTB record. Read the whole story and see the video HERE

Mountain biking is a sport of expression. We see this through the bikes we ride, the style we exhibit, our sheer love for the sport and sometimes the least acknowledged item, the trails we explore. Over the years free-ride mountain bike trails have arose out of the most unique areas creating and only adding to the already breathtaking views our travels on a bike take us. Trails like the Woodlot, Rose Hill and A-Line to name a few have become legends of sheer perfection in the mountain biking world. They all offer different attributes that make our day on a bike that much more meaningful and only help us appreciate the sport more. During my tour through BC this past summer I came across a gem of a trail that was unique in its construction, surroundings and story. Because of the contents surrounding the area and the individual who helped make this possible, the location will remain anonymous.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Burnaby Velodrome

The Dizzy Chicks, a Vancouver based cycling club is hosting their 3rd Annual Bike & Gear Swap Wednesday, February 15, 2006. This is a great opportunity for spring cleaning for some and spring bargains for others. All cycling disciplines welcome. The swap meet will be held at the Burnaby Velodrome, located at 7564 Barnet Highway, Burnaby, B.C. from 5:00pm to 10:00pm.

Well, it’s been a long road to get here, but the 2006 site updates are finally live! Thanks go out to Troy over at Tidan for putting in the extra hours.

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