On a course where the race could be won in the first turn, all the usual suspects were present. On the men's side, Carter took the holeshot while Lopes slipped a pedal giving Michal Prokop second place and his best ever World Cup 4X finish. For the ladies' round, it was all Anne-Caroline who bested the resurgent Katrina Miller and Sabrina Jonnier. Cedric Gracia was eliminated in the semis after crashing against Lopes and Bootes and eventually had to settle for second in the small final losing to Mike King. Top Canadian was Jordie Lunn in 20th spot qualifying with a time of 33.30.

Steve Peat and Anne-Caroline Chausson won the third round of the World Cup downhill series in Mont-Sainte Anne, Quebec. Peat's win puts him just 23 points behind men's DH leader Chris Kovaric, while Chausson takes the women leader's jersey from Sabrina Jonnier.

Sun Peaks Resort, located near Kamloops BC, opens for their summer season today. For a donation to the Kamloops Food Bank, riders will be treated to a free lift pass. Sun Peaks’ mountain bike park offers over 24 candy sweet single track trails. Come experience real lift access mountain biking, downhill, free ride and cross-country trails are all accessible at the top of the Sunburst lift. Biker-cross and BMX courses are also located on the slopes. Descend a very large 2,000 vertical feet every run! Check out the Canadian Mountain Bike Festival at Sun Peaks July 13 – 21 featuring the Tim Hortons National MTB Championships July 19 – 21.

Starting On Monday, On routes 6 and 7, bike racks will be available for use on city buses. Following in the tracks of Edmonton, Calgary Transit has decided to place bike racks on the front of buses for cyclist use for no additional charge. If all goes well, expect to see racks on other major routes.

This Link is the general Calgary Transit bike info page.

Here is a Link to the page in which you can learn how to use the bus bike racks.

This weekend (Jun 28,29,30) is the Bow Cycle 45th Anniversary. To celebrate Bow is putting on the "UN-REAL" sale.
Amazing deals on bikes, Frames, Forks, Accessories, Parts and Clothing.
And un-real door crashers each day. (Remember all prices in Canadian dollars)

Check out the door crashers for Day1,Day2, and Day3,

Do you wish you could see the lines that the Pros are taking? How do they select the line? How do they remember when to slow down, when to hammer?
Well now you can get some coaching straight form the source. Learn from the pros at Betterride/Rocky Mountain Downhill.
These camps are taught by 7 year pro racer and BetterRide/Rocky Mountain Downhill owner Gene Hamilton. Since these take place right before a race these camps are designed to improve your course inspection skills, help you find the fast "pro" lines, teach you how to memorize the course and use reference points, and prepare mentally and physically for race day. After one of these camps you will feel much more confident and prepared on race day.

Shoes have always been a mainstream part of skateboarding, but its not something you give much thought about when your riding, things like your fork and pedals are more important. Besides, most platform pedals do a good job of tearing up shoes anyway. For those who think twice about riding footwear, if you don't know about Mole shoes, you should.

Yes. The Pros were there, but everyone covers that!


Non-pro riders started to accumulate on Wednesday the
12th for the weekend at Alpine Valley Resort in
Wisconsin. It was the second stop on the NORBA
National 2002 tour and a great break for mid-western
riders who wouldn't usually be able to make a national
event.

So how good could a gondola be, that shuttles you up 4,000 feet of screaming fast fireroads and super buff downhill singletrack? Absolutely amazing, and by amazing I mean totally fantastic!

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, the largest resort development in North America in the past 25 years, opened for it's summer season on Friday, June 21st. The folks at Kicking Horse were kind enough to give us a preview of what the resort has in store for mountain-bikers this season!

Celebrating Bow Cycle's 45 years in business, this sale is running for 3 days only, Friday June 28th to Sunday June 30th.
A sale so big that we have to hold it outside of Bow. It will take place down the block @6501 Bowness Road. Visit www.bowcycle.com/2002/bowsports/to check out sale details including daily door crashers and other deals.

June 21, 2002, Golden, British Columbia… Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, Canada’s newest four-season mountain resort, opened for its second summer season today.  From now until September 22, guests will enjoy hiking, mountain biking, sightseeing and dining on the mountain, all while enjoying spectacular alpine scenery.  The resort will operate daily from 12:00pm – 10:00pm.

Way back in February, RedBull held its first ever "Freezeride" at Big Mountain, Montana. They set up a snow course featuring big gaps, hips and berms, as well as some man made stunts. One of the main stunts was a full length school bus that had a step-up gap jump on the back end and a really long tranny on the front end. Well who could resist that? Special thanks to Mike Porter of Pinkbike and Kevan MacNaughton of The Bike Shop for making my trip to Montana possible.

This Tuesday, June 25, the weeknight Dual Slalom Series will begin at C.O.P. Cost is $18 if you don't have a Season's pass and $11 if you do have a pass. The new course for the season is ready to rip and should provide a stable footing for some sweet racing! Hope to see you all there.

Check out some pictures of the new Dual Course



Here.

Forget everything you thought you knew about bicycle suspension. Because unlike every other suspension design in cycling history, our new Epic knows what terrain you're riding on. And responds appropriately. The secret's in The Brain.
On smooth ground, Brain technology keeps your Epic hardtail-firm. And hardtail-efficient. But when the going gets bumpy, Brain knows that too. And instantly delivers the fully active/fully independent benefits of FSR suspension.

"Do Not Ask For Whom the Bicycle Bell Tolls, It Tolls For Thee!!"
Come join the G8 Bike Brigade as we ride to the G8 and People’s Summits in Alberta this June! Brigadiers will be departing from Saskatoon, Sk., Salmon Arm, B.C., and Red Deer, Alta and will converge in Calgary for a huge critical mass on June 22. We intend to participate in the peaceful Family March in Calgary on Sunday, June 23rd. This should provide one and all with ample time to greet the leaders of the G8! The Bike Brigades are totally inclusive, peaceful and non-hierarchical! We encourage everyone and anyone to join us, as individuals or to campaign as a group. We are a diverse community of Brigadiers and we want to celebrate that diversity. We promise much fun to be had by all!

A friend and I participated in a skill camp dedicated to women in Vancouver last weekend (June 15-16). Was it worth going to Vancouver all the way from Calgary? Most definitely. The camp was organised by Cycling BC and sponsored primarily by Shimano. The instructors are some of the top women riders in the country including Elladee Brown, Candace Shadley, Cindy Devine, Sylvie Allen, Penny Deck, Kelli Sherbinin, Daamiann Skelton and Andrea Kraft.

There weren't Little Pink Houses everywhere, but the hamlet of Plymouth,
Indiana seemed like a nice enough place to get some horizontal time. We
had been driving late, to make up some time between the Alpine Valley,
Wisconsin NORBA event and the next event in Snowshoe, West Virginia. I
was driving the big truck for SRAM and Steve Ziegler, who helps me at
these events, was driving my van and trailer. Tracy Moseley, a swell
gal from Great Britain and also a recent World Cup downhill winner for
Kona, was riding shotgun in the SRAM vehicle with me. As we approached
Plymouth through an open stretch of cornfields (yawn), a Super 8 Motel
billboard effectively did it's job, and Steve came on the radio " . . .
how 'bout stoppin here". I retorted with a big "ten-four good buddy"
and Tracy concurred in her usual polite English manner.

Joyride Bikercross is on track and some of the world's best are coming.

After last week's cancellation of the Grouse Mountain World Cup downhill and 4X, the Western Canadian mountain bike scene was once again under heavy scrutiny from the worldwide industry, athletes and media. Rumors flew and fingers pointed, but in the end it was Mother Nature who was to blame for the heavy snowpack on Vancouver's North Shore. Up in Whistler, the organizers of the Joyride Bikercross were bummed for the WC scene but stoked to have the big name athletes on the West Coast with time on their hands. "We were definitely disappointed to hear that Grouse was cancelled," says Chris Winter of Joyride Productions, "but after the dust settled, we realized that Joyride Bikercross is going to go off huge no matter what."

This weekend, the beautiful town of Revelstoke BC will host the 6th annual Mount Mac Challenge. Events get under way Saturday June 22nd with the DH race and continue into the evening with a Fat Tire Criterium, where big bikes are not only allowed, but encouraged. XC racing continues Sunday on one of the toughest courses in the area. Competitors can take advantage of 50% off the Revelstoke Mountain Beats and Blues Festival on Friday and Saturday! Here's your chance to get in some racing action, quaff a pint (or more) of Mt Begbie's Tall Timber Ale, and chill at the Blues Festival. A full weekend's worth of fun, bring the family!

Want a reliable chain guide, but don’t have the money for one? Well here’s your answer! Set yourself up a welfare chain guide.

Want to ride some of the hottest down hill and Free ride spots in Western Canada? How about Golden, Fernie, Panorama, Kimberley, and possibly Sunpeaks or Whistler?

The Bicycle Cafe, Substance BMX and Hooligans Night Club bring you SKID VICIOUS, Canmore's first bike skidding contest. The event will take place on Saturday June 22nd outside of Hooligans Night club and is free to enter. The skidding will begin around 7:30 with a 30 minute warm up skid jam, after that each competitor will have four chances to be the SKID VICIOUS champion.

There will be trail restrictions in the Kananaskis Valley during the G8 summit that will effect several mountain bike trails.

The earliest closure of any recreation facility is anticipated to occur on June 17, 2002. Security area access restrictions, including on Highway 40, will be removed early on the morning of Friday, June 28. There may be minor additional delays and specific restrictions in limited areas to allow for the removal of security infrastructure.

Check out more details and maps on the restrictions

Questions/Comments

This july 26-28 Blachford Lake Lodge is hosting a mountain bike clinic with Wade Simmons. The clinic is for all types of riders and will give people a chance to ride the sick rock outcrops and nutty bush trials that are bringing Wade back for a second summer! Riders can fly into Yellowknfie with daily connections from calgary and edmonton. Everyone will then get on a bush float plane and fly 20min to blachford lake lodge (www. blachfordlakelodge.com) and spend the weekend riding under the midnight sun (24 hours daylight) and learning with Wade. Out door hot tub, gourmet meals and sick facilities

The first round of testing the Norco VPS Team DH 'guinea pig' has concluded! After a few short months of hammering the bike as hard as I possibly could it has yet to show any signs of being overly abused! The bike came with a killer arsenal of spec'd parts click read more to view the spec list)

Coming from a lighter, freeriding background it took some adjustment to get used to riding a monstrous rig like the Team DH! Due to the minimal standover clearance I was not able to run the bike at it's potential 7.875" rear travel. Slacked back to 6.2" allowed for a little more clearance and stability on the gnarly steeps. The VPS ate up drops and craters like they were non existent. It definitely instilled some brass balls and pushed me to ride and jump it harder! The only con to mention at this point would be the Blackspire AS-1 chainguide which tends to fail at crucial points in a ride! I'd recommend placing an MRP or Evil chainguide to complement the rest of the bike! Stay tuned as Krazy-J takes round 2!

Due to the numerous infrastructure changes and upgrades that are ongoing at
Silver Star Mountain Resort this summer there is a concern for
rider/spectator safety at the BC Cup and Canada Cup Events. After careful
consideration a decision has been made to cancel both of these events.

Both the CCA and Cycling BC are considering options of replacing these
events at another venue. Please watch for information to be posted on their
web site.

The Resort is continuing with it's regularly scheduled lift accessed bike
trails, Thursdays through Sundays from 10:30am-5:30pm starting June 28 and
closing after the 24 Hours of Adrenalin on Sept 2nd. For more information
go to www.skisilverstar.com.

Redline Productions will be fusing Music and Big Air on the July 1st long weekend in Golden, BC! Over 40 DJ's and Bands will take to three stages while pro BMX'ers, Motocross and Skateboard competitors session the ramps, jumps and track which have been constructed on a discrete location near town. The good folks at Redline Productions and Rude Boys Seven (where you can purchase tickets) were kind enough to give us a sneek peak at what the weekend has in store! Check out some of the photos!


The Golden Cycling Club will be operating the beer gardens for the event. Proceeds will be put towards maintaining and constructing new trails around the Golden area! So swing by and down a few beers with the crew and show your support for the riding community in Golden!

Progressive Suspension announced yesterday they will be making their 5th Element Shock available to the public for aftermarket sales. This is the same shock spec'ed on Team Pinkbike's Santa Cruz V10's. Ultra adjustable, super light and surprisingly durable, consumer demand has pushed Progressive into making this shock available years ahead of schedule. Progressive continues to work on applications and fit, and many models are currently available. Contact info@progressivesuspension.com for details and pricing.

Perfect weather, awesome course and epic tricks could describe the
2002 Roundhouse Rumble. This years competition was held in downtown Toronto,
on June 9th, 2002. This comp was displaying street, north shore style,
trials and big air types of riding.

Back again starting on the weekend of June 22, 2002 is the Squamish Mountain Bike Festival located in Squamish B.C., a half hour drive north of Vancouver on the Sea to Sky Highway.

I realise that it's pretty short
notice, but I only got the email myself this morning. It's something that
means a lot to us Ottawa riders. We only have two really good trail areas
close by, and it'll soon be down to one if we don't do something.

IMBA has designated San Francisco, Cleveland and New York City as IMBA Hot
Spot locations in 2002, as part of an effort to improve mountain bike access
in urban areas.

Urban access is one of the most difficult challenges facing IMBA and its
affiliated clubs. As cities continue to expand and open space dwindles,
mountain bikers and other trail enthusiasts struggle to find convenient
places to enjoy the outdoors. The IMBA Hot Spots program focuses on
improving urban trail access by applying a variety of advocacy resources
simultaneously.

IMBA-affiliated clubs in Canada can now purchase insurance from McKay Insurance Agency that will protect the club, its members and its leaders from liability claims that result from organized club activities such as trailwork sessions, group rides and bike patrols.

You read the hype last fall and have been waiting months for production models to show up at a shop near you. Your search could very well be over. Derek over at Calgary Cycle called today to inform us he just received a large selection of V10 framesets. Now that word is out, you'll want to get yours soon as they won't be there for long. Some of us have been on our V10's for a few weeks, and let me tell you this is one bike that lives up to the hype. There is a limited number of these available for 2002, if you can get you paws on one, I highly suggest you do!

This is a quick note to keep you all in the loop on what is going on at Freeride headquarters. Once again we will be releasing our third NWD film at Interbike prior to the Red Bull Rampage. Guaranteed to be the best party in Vegas for a third straight year.

Chris Kovaric narrowly beat Steve Peat by 1/100th of a second in round 2 of the World Cup DH series. That makes 3 World Cup wins in a row for Kovaric including last season's closing round. Fabien Barel and Nicolas Vouilloz rounded out the top four on the men's side, while Anne-Caro crushed the field, redeeming herself after last weekend's disappointing DH in Scotland. Sabrina Jonnier took second spot while relative unknown's Petra Bernhard and Anita Molcik took third and fourth. In the women's round, light rains on the course favored slower qualifiers as conditions deteriorated. Jonnier's finish put her in the rainbow leader's jersey for the first time in her career.

Haro Team Manager, Mike King took round 2 of the World Cup 4-X beating Brian Lopes, Steve Peat and teammate Kirt Vories in the final round. It was King's first major win since '96. Peat said of the new 4-X format, "It's a war zone up there!". Since Ann-Caroline has decided to compete in the 4-X format, it seems all that needs reporting is how the rest of the field fared. Katrina Miller finished second, Sabrina Jonnier third and Tara Llanes fourth. Thousands who came out to cheer their favorite riders in the 4-X were treated to crash filled heats and a "Sexy Miss Bicycle" contest after the finals.

Our good friends over at Atomic Laboratories and their Canadian distributor, Yodobike have graciously donated a super sweet Atomlab stem to be given away to one lucky Pinkbike reader. Crafted from 6061 T6 aluminum and available in 35, 50 and 65m lengths, the reversible MTB stem features I beam construction and is available in your choice of Satin Black or Ti Silver. I'm sure we can talk them out of a few She Devil stickers to be included in the winner's package. The winner will be announced in late June.


ENTER THE CONTEST

Rod and I were just reminiscing about last summer's awesome 8 day Freeride Adventure we had courtesy of Freeride Tours. A quick email to Chuck let me know what's on tap for 2002. Looks as though they've got a mere 6 spots available over the whole summer all from June 22-29. The trip consists of eight days of riding in places like Golden, Nelson, Kamloops, Squamish, and the North Shore. There's also heli-biking in Britannia (aka Disneyland), with 6000 vertical feet of ear-to-ear grins. In each place we'll show you the trails that are in the best condition and take you for a spin on the trails you'll never see published in any trail books. The trips start on Saturday and end on the following weekend, which means you only have to skip out on a week of work. Check out this little video for a taste of what they have to offer.

Due to extremely high snowpack, Gestev, organizer of the Grouse World Cup, has been forced to cancel the Downhill and 4X events scheduled for early
July. The XC events may be stretched over 2 days with the men and women racing on separate days, and all may not be lost as Gestev is planning a world class weekend that includes events catering to the gravity groupies. With such short notice, it is highly unlikely to have the events rescheduled restoring the full race calendar.

One of the UK's leading freeriders from the last few years Elbry Sandland has
picked up a deal to ride for DMR bikes. Elbry has been on such brands as Finnpeak
and Remec for the last couple of years before going alone. Now picked up by DMR
to be part of its Factory DMR of BSX World Team and sole freerider of the brand,
Elbry has just finished shooting with Wasted Videos new freeride vid Shindig.
The deal will see Elbry ride hardtail only with a full bag of dmr parts, Elbry
keeps Co-sponsors Vandal clothing and Pro-Grip goggles. " Stoked to be on the
factory DMR team and riding Hardtails again, looks like I will be over in Europe
a lot and maybe getting over to the North Shore later in the summer."

June 4, 2002. For Immediate Release

Whistler, BC, Joyride Bikercross, will be held in Whistler, July
3 rd, 2002.

In an unreal transformation that seemed to take a few days, the snow
disappeared, a new bikercross track emerged and the Whistler Bike Park
re-opened. Over a thousand starving downhill fanatics came out to feed on the
man made booters, berms and puddles of mud on opening day.

GRAVITYBOLIVIA.COM currently has two positions available for Interns (read
"little to no pay") to work with us until 1st December 2002. Interested people
need to be totally into the DH scene, and be prepared to juggle working in the
office (selling trips and helping with paperwork), mechanicing (providing training
and quality control on maintenance of our fleet of 50 KONA bikes), and riding
(guiding 40 mile downhills, racing with our team, guiding 3/4 day clinics and
Single-track Downhill rides).

By all accounts, the first stop of the World Cup gravity tour in Fort William, Scotland was a huge success. The usual suspects made it into the final rounds of the 4-X with Anne-Caroline taking the women's side. On the men's side, it was her Volvo-Cannondale teammate Cedric Gracia holding his line against Lopes and taking top spot. In the Men's DH, Chris Kovaric spanked the field by more than 14 seconds, while crowd favorite Steve Peat had no less than 2 crashes and had to settle for 17th spot. Top female qualifier, Missy Giove flatted early on in her run and was forced to settle for 5th spot while Tracey Moseley took her first World Cup win ever on home soil. The course took its toll on many top riders including Vouilloz, Chausson, Gracia and Minnaar who crashed on or more occasions during their race runs.