The latest issue of Litter "Mega"zine is now available for mass consumption. This issue features 36 full color, ad-free pages of mtb flaccidness. Redbull Rampage, Sea Otter Classic, Tour of Canyonlands, Plattekill and other crap fills the pages being groped by your dirty little mits.

The end of last weekend's Canada Cup that took place on the desert-like terrain of Fernie marks Calgary's turn to play host to the nation's prestigious event. Whether you're riding or just wanting to get your fix of extreme mountain biking, come check out the gorgeous Canada Olympic Park for this weekend's action. Inside is everything you need to know.

Last weekend Fernie Alpine Resort in B.C. played host to the Canada Cup. Blazing hot weather surrounded the two day event as Canada's best raced for the podium.

Photos and results inside...

It has the potential to become one of the best mountain bike races in the world - The Cape Epic, the new Magical and Untamed African MTB race which will kick off on February 28th, 2004 on the Garden Route in Knysna and end eight days later on March 6th in style at the world famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town. The route leads aspiring amateur mountain bikers and pros through more than 700 kilometres of the unspoilt nature of the Western Cape and across some of the most magnificent passes in South Africa.

Been renting bike boxes? Using cheap cardboard boxes? Well I think it’s time you got a real carrying bag for that precious bike.

Just wanted to give you everyone a heads up, Kona has posted their 2004 lineup on their website.

Some good stuff, those black marzocchi stantions look awesome!

You might recall my brief review of the new 2003 Romic crown I did a while back? If not, you can read it here.

Panorama Mountain Village, BC - Byron Grey's Purcell Mountain Bike School will be hosting a celebrity bike camp at Panorama Mountain Village on August 9-10. Join Mike Kinrade, founder of MPF Productions and rider for the Drop In television series to learn how to ride like a pro on the new terrain at Panorama.

Johnny Smoke here from Bush Pilot MTB Guides.
Long considered the best all round shin and knee pad, the old Roach pads have started to show their age. I remember when I wouldn’t ride with the hardshell version of the Roach pads because I didn’t like how bulky they felt. Now the three little strips of plastic that serve as the “hard” shell knee pad seem like a bad joke.

The Race Face Ultimate Freeride Challenge is back for its third straight year and, once again, we're ready to take another rider from the amateur ranks and deliver them to freeride super stardom. And this year, the total "winner takes all" cash prize is US$25,000!

Distinction Productions just recently released a new mountain bike film called The
Spectacle. If you love seeing racing footage and are tired of freeride oriented mtb movies, then The
Spectacle is for you!

Riders and mountain staff weren’t the only ones hard at work during the Gravity Fest at Whistler the other weekend, bandits were too. Cody Swansborough, Gareth Dyer and Darren Berrecloth all had rides illegally relieved of their possession at the event that otherwise had a scrupulous and chill scene.

Hello everyone, I have some good news.

John and his mother made the trip back to Australia where John was checked in to a hospital. His mom went home after the first day to spend the night in her home.

When she came back the next morning, she was surprised to find Johnny awake, sitting up in bed eating soup, feeding himself!!

The first annual Oso Negro Express and Nelson Freeride Jam are coming together in the beautiful community of Nelson, BC for this coming Monday and Tuesday. To get onto the Monster Shuttles, simply meet at Oso Negro on Victoria St at 8:30am Monday. Some confirmed celebrities who'll be joining us on the epic shuttle are Cedric Gracia, Shaums March and Lars Tribus. After the ride, it's back to Nelson for the Oso Express mass-start downhill and the RISE premiere at the Royal Pub on Baker St. For Tuesday, we'll be heli-dropping Old Glory in the Rossland area before heading back to Baldface lodge for a dirt-jump jam, dinner and party. Pinkbike.com has graciously kicked in $500 in drinks for party goers. For more information contact mental@pinkbike.com or via telephone at (250)352-1652.

Event Details Here

It's the time of year where we flog all our demo gear at $100's even $1000's of dollars off. All product is demo gear that has been on the floor, demo'ed in the parking lot, or has some minor shipping scratch.

Sale Starts Thursday 24th at 12pm and goes through Sunday July 27th.
Line up at noon, as quantities are mostly in single items and are first come, first serve.


Click Here for Demo Product list, Price and avaiability.

Freeride Entertainment celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France with a historic jump.

Freeride Entertainment was recently on location at the Tour de France where Kona Clump rider Dave Watson jumped the tour peloton during the Alp d’Huez stage of the tour. The jump took place just before the summit of the col de Galibier. The set-up and preparation had to be done in secret, as the reaction of the fans and organizers was unknown. Showing up several days before hand, Dave with help from some staff at Big Bike, a French based Freeride magazine, built the jump and cleared the landing before many fans showed up.

With the Canada Cup at COP in Calgary just over a week away, there is still a need to fill some volunteer spots. We are still looking for some help in the way of course marshalls and lap counters for our Canada Cup event. This is an awesome chance to be part of one of the best races in Canada while checking out the best riders in the country!

"Sweet seat belt buckle, where'd you get that?"
"Nice bag, love the firebird (ed note:it's a Griffon), who makes it?"
Or there's my favorite, "Daddy, can I put this in your purse?"

No matter who I speak to about the Chrome Metropolis, they all agree it's one hell of a bag.

Race Face, Manitou and Giant Combine Forces

(Newbury Park, CA) - - Giant, the world's leading supplier of performance bicycles, has joined with Manitou and UFC Founder Race Face Performance Products to more than double the prize list in the annual Ultimate Freeride Challenge.

Those of us who have been able to attend the UCI World Cup at Grouse Mountain or the Whistler Summer Gravity Festival over the past week had the opportunity to grab an early eyeful of 2004 Norco product at the Norco support truck.

The Dropin TV boys have been working hard on the road, riding, filming and editing up a storm. The new season is a huge step above the previous.

Sick riding, great locations, all-star guest riders and a tight crew to keep you glued to the tube.

Here is the latest Video straight off the bus.
Quicktime required
Download Dropin episode 2 teaser

Questions/Comments

My apologies for it being so long between updates, there wasn't a whole lot
of new information to report except for the last couple of days. Irene (John's mom) and I had been back in Quebec, waiting and working with
John. At the same time I had been contacted by an old acquaintance after he
heard the story of John on the Internet. This old acquaintance it so
happens is a friend one of the best neurologists in the world. We arranged
to fly out the neurologist, Dr. Peter Cassini, who is on staff at Stanford
University Medical Center, to look John over before John was flown back to
Australia.

Just one week from today, some of the world's best will be gathering in the small town of Nelson, BC for the Oso Negro Express and the first annual Nelson Freeride Jam. We've got some pretty heady sponsors, including (but not limited to) Oso Negro, Baldface Lodge, NRG, Nelson Brewing Co., Gerick Cycle, the Sacred Ride, MPF Productions, Red Bull, Mad March Racing, Freeride Entertainment, and MTB Films, so you can be sure there will be tons of great coffee, beer, Red Bull and bike swag to be found. There's also some awesome prizes for competitors including a highly coveted video appearance for the winning amateur in the Oso Negro Express mass-start downhill race.

Mountain bikers and freeride bikers are asked for their presence at a meeting with representatives from Parks Canada. Current national park policy, closures and future trail opportunities will be discussed.

What a truly stellar event – the world’s best known household names in freeriding throwing it down for cash on the Slopestyle course in Whistler Bike Park’s Bone Yard thoughtfully constructed by the Joyride crew to provide the sickest lines and craziest aerial assault. The much anticipated show emptied Whistler Village and stuck the spectators to the barrier tape surrounding the epicenter of madness like flies to fly paper.

Fast was the action today for all categories in the Tim Horton’s Canadian National Mountain Bike Downhill - literally. The fastest Pro Men’s rider was clocked on the new DH course down the run-in into the skill testing rock garden at an even 90 km/h, speeds typically held steady at around 70 km/h, so speed definitely wasn't in short supply.
Read on for photos and results...

This weeks Wall of Fame photo additions are Daver 'Danger' Parks, and Aaron Cro-Mag of the B-team!

You guys are on the wall, and you can go grab yourself breakfast and coffee at Cadence courtesy the fine folks at Cadence Coffee (in particular Alex) and Mimo! (Cadence - located 6407 Bownewss Road NW in Calgary)!

David Wootten from Tioga was nice enough to send me a pair of their ever so popular MX-Pro flat pedals to try out. I’ve been using Easton Cully’s for as long as I can remember, and never even thought about trying another pair of flats until recently and I’m glad I did!

For those who haven’t visited our events page recently you’ll notice that things have changed. Gone is the text-only event link. Now every event gets its own titled section that includes the event logo for easy location, followed by a brief description that links to the complete details.

David House, formerly associate publisher of "Mountain Biking" and "Flow" magazines, left Challenge Publications to launch his own consumer bicycle magazines.

At the Mountain States Cup series race at Sol Vista, the Trek/VW Rocky Mountain Team faced a very talented field of racers and an incredibly demanding course and came out on top!

We're currently wrapping up production of our new mountain bike movie titled RISE - and just in time too! Our World Premiere is taking place tonight, July 16th at the Garibaldi Lift Co. in Whistler, BC....it would be great to see you there! Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door (or at local bike shops in advance). ALL ticket proceeds benefit the Zero Ceiling Society.
The Whistler Bike Park has extended hours on Wednesday, so you can ride until 8pm, and then grab a drink and bite to eat at the GLC while you wait for the show to start! Doors open for the premiere at 9:30, and the movie plays promptly at 10:30pm - so those of you who have to work on Thursday can get home early if you want.

Ride Guide TV; Canada’s national mountain bike television series has produced a feature segment on the Norco VPS Customer Appreciation Day at Whistler, B.C.

The Ride Guide episode will air on OLN Canada on Sunday, July 20 at 10:00 am Eastern and throughout Alberta and Manitoba on A-Channel, on Sunday, July 27 at 10:00 am Mountain/Central. This episode will also feature a speed tip with Norco Team Rider, Deb MacKillop.

Durango, Colorado a world-class mountain bike venue, will play host to the 1st Annual Durango 100 mile Mountain Bike Race on Saturday, August 16th. The event will welcome nearly 200 mountain bike racers, ranging from the elite to first-time challengers.

About Tyler Klassen

About Steve Romaniuk

About Chris Glew (Left tour following Chiliwack episode -- episode 5

About Jared Jesperson

Ma Nature let up on the hill today for the Joyride Air DH. The sections of the course I managed to scope out seemed just right, A-Line was buffed out and damp with just the right amount of tackiness, from the start gate at the lift to the bottom of the GLC drop.

Photos inside...

Like the Egg Beater, it is simple, lightweight and has a 4-sided entry mechanism.

The Candy has a larger platform area for your shoe, which is good for riding unclipped.

This new product rounds out our pedal range for 2004 which includes the Egg Beater, Mallet and Candy.

See crankbrothers.com for more info

Before we get to the results, please allow me to apologize for the delay getting them up. I suffered a bit of a crash yesterday and I was a little coook-a-looo when it came time to write. Things are still a little fuzzy, but to the best of my limited recollection, here's how it went down...

Photos inside...

The rain hasn't let up since it started 1/2 way through the World Cup DH at Grouse . Whistler's Bike park is packed with talent ready to lay it out for the over $7000 cash purse. Much of that talent joined the industry big wigs at last night's Highways premiere at Garfinkels. A road trip flick by Neil Saunders, Highways was very well received by the crowd, and the party continued late into the night with a wet T-shirt contest. The sport's future and past were well represented with the likes of Gareth Dyer and Corey Derpak pouring water alongside pioneers like Greg Herbold, Rob Roskopp and Brett Tippie. If last night was any indication, it's gonna be one hell of a week!

Did you get some solid footage this season you want to share with the world? Are you and your bros looking for your big break to make it onto the big screen? This is your chance. Submit your short, biking, skiing or other action sports videos to Hot Shots. You could have your movie screened for hundreds and maybe pocket some cash and prizes.

Still awaiting official word, but preliminary results show Fionn Griffiths and Gary Houseman were today's big winners. With the top 30 men still waiting for their shot at the course, the skies opened up and dumped a whole lot of water on the dusty course. By the time the top 10 were in ther gate, the course was a slimy, rutted, slippery maze. Visibility was extremely limited, so much so that most professional photographers had left the course.

Official Results and Photos Here

Qualifying is now complete and the skies have yet to open up at Grouse Mountain. Kathy Pruitt was the fastest woman across the line in 2:19.94 closely followed by Fionn Griffiths, Tracy Moseley and Pruitt's Luna teammate Marla Streb. On the men's side, it was mere hundredths of a second separating the top 4 riders. Quickest of the bunch was Joel Panozzo in 2:02.16, followed by Mickael Pascal, Chris Kovarik and Mick Hannah all coming in well under 2:03. Looking out the window, it seems as though Mother Nature may give us a break and hold off dumping on the course until after racing action, although top men's qualifiers may be making some last minute tire changes if the skies do open up.

With just minutes to go, riders are still clipping tires, focusing on the course, spinning on the trainer or simply wiping the dust off the bikes while the skies begin to fill with clouds. Tire selection may be crucial as the forecast is for rain this afternoon. I've heard the prerunners just hit the course, gotta blast to get some of it on film. Look for qualifying results in a few hours.

Right from the start, Mike King was the man to beat. He was owning the short 4-X course and looked super smooth throughout his heats before finally taking top spot flanked by World Cup points leader Eric Carter and Michal Prokop. Crowd favorite Cedric Gracia was eliminated early on after a bad start and bobble cost him dearly. On the women's side, it was all Katrina Miller, who sealed up the overall title with one race remaining. Tai-Lee Muxlow was killing it in both practise and the earlier heats but had to settle for 3rd place behind Sabrina Jonnier followed by BMX convert Jill Kintner.

According to most racers, today's 4-X course is a very short-BMX-y affair with more than one passing zone. The water man has been kept busy hosing down the jumps and berms in the super hot, dusty conditions. Old man of the day, Mike King was also fastest in qualifying at 23.44 seconds. Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic qualified second followed by Chris Powell and Cedric Gracia. On the women's side it was Tai-Lee Muxlow with a 27.62 followed by Katrina Miller, Sabrina Jonnier and Jill Kintner. Unfortunately, the 4-X goes in just minutes at the bottom of the hill and the press room (with the free bar) is at the top so I've got to race to the gondola to see the race action! Look for more in a few hours to see who's on top, and who simply showed up to play!

For some initial World Cup 4X qualifying photos to ease your salivation click here.

On a very dry, dusty course, especially by North Shore standards, downhill practice is just wrapping up for the afternoon. At the moment, (from my perspective at least) some riders stand out as looking just a little smoother and faster through the few tricky sections of the course. On the women's side, Sabrina Jonnier, Tracey Moseley and Whistler's Claire Buchar are all podium material, while on the men's side, I'd put my money on Nathan Rennie, Chris Kovarik and Cedric Gracia, although, Minnaar, Peat and Bas de Bever are also looking super fast.

Well, we're here, in the great city of Vancouver and it's hot as hell. As we drove into town temps were well above 30C but the weatherman promises it will drop to a more bearable 22-25C for this weekend's World Cup. In a few minutes it's off to the No.5 Orange Club for Kona and Freeride-Entertainment's World Cup kick off party. I've heard rumors of an open bar and 12 strippers. If I'm able to sneak the camera in, I promise some evidence of tonight's debauchery. If not, look for updates from tomorrow's DH practise and the 4-X running later on in the evening. Till then... ciao!

Every day is a new adventure and we're livin' it to the limits. The good times keep rolling and the riders are killing it this year.

The latest with John’s condition is this:

He still needs no outside assistance for his breathing, and he is stable. He developed a fever over the weekend due to an infection in his arm from where he had thrashed around and pulled his IV out 3 times. They gave him some antibiotics and his fever went away. He can still move his arms and legs, same as before.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association
along with Subaru of America, Inc. today announced the 1000th trail project
of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew, marking a major milestone for the
program. Now in its seventh year, the Trail Care Crew program has trained
more than 35,000 people in sustainable trailbuilding techniques and logged
half a million miles of coast-to-coast travel in its official Subaru vehicles.

The
Tim Hortons Canadian National Mountain Bike Championships in Whistler July 19th and 20th will feature what is likely the most impressive start list of Canadian cross-country mountain bikers ever including top riders such as Roland Green, Seamus McGrath and Alison Sydor.

Mountain Creek's 'Diablo Freeride Park' has announced that they will host the 'U.S. Open of Mountain Biking' this September 5-7, 2003.

The three-day event produced by TerraLogic Park Industries carries $10,000 in cash & prizes, and offers $1,000 cash prize for first place in both the men's and women's categories, one of the largest cash payouts for a regional mountain bike event.

Lucky dog, Tom Brownlie from Ithaca, NY is the first winner of the Maxxis loot. 10 Maxxis tires of his choice are now being shipped to his door step.

Just enter the contest and you too will have a chance at being a random draw winner in the weeks to come.

What tires did Tom get?

In an effort to raise funds for Blair Jones, the young Kamloops man who suffered a serious spinal injury last summer, the good folks at NSMB have stepped up (with many cooperating sponsors) to host an online auction. All funds raised go directly towards the purchase of Blair's new Off-Road wheelchair. On the block is a sweet collection of parts from Race Face, Titec, Rocky Mountain Bikes, Whistler Bike Park, Answer/Manitou and more. If you're looking at picking up some new parts for your ride, check it out. You may find a stellar deal, while at the same time helping a brother out!

Visit the auction here

Season 2 of Dropin is being filmed as we speak. This year the bar has been raised and the boys are pulling out all the stops.

Here is a taste of Episode 1 - just a little teaser as the episode has not been on TV yet.


Right click, and save as on link below
Server 1 : VIDEO - Episode 1 teaser
Server 2 : VIDEO - Episode 1 teaser

Questions/Comments


Also check out the dropin site www.dropintv.com

Thanks to the fine folks at Cadence Coffee (and in particular Alex), that fantastic purveyor of fine coffe and fabulous breakfast - located 6407 Bownewss Road NW in Calgary, - Mimo's pictures of biking and scenery will be featured on the Cadence Freeride Wall of Fame.

The Peak of Vancouver will host for a third year the UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP. The event will run from July 10 to 13 with all three World Cup disciplines: cross-country, downhill and 4-cross. Brian Lunn, patriarch of the mighty Lunn cycling family has been on site dialing and buffing the World Cup DH course and we're hoping organizers have been listening to the riders and will have a worthy 4-X course prepared. We'll be arriving early Thursday to begin our event coverage and for a change, you can expect multiple updates and photos to accompany our results. If you're lucky, expect photos from the Kona/Freeride Entertainment kick off party on Thursday night!

Currently sitting in 3rd overall in the NORBA standings, Dustin Adams was hit by a car while riding his road bike just outside of Kamloops earlier today. Adams escaped serious injury once again suffering a broken wrist that will most likely remove him from competition until the World Championships. This marks the 3rd time Dustin's broken that same scaphoid and he's consulting with a specialist to see what he can to do speed recovery this time around.

SnowCovers Sports and Trek Bicycles are proud to announce that Nick Lacko, from Winnipeg, Manitoba is the winner of the First Annual “Adopt a Privateer” Contest.

The Surrey Off-Road Cycling Enthusiasts Society, is set to hold the Second Annual Bike Fest 2003 tomorrow Saturday July 5 from 11 am to 5 pm at the South Surrey Athletic Park, 14601 20th Ave. in sunny Surrey. The event will feature the Dirt Jump Jam, the MTB Freeride Skills Challenge, Bike Olympics, trade fair, bike demo, a BBQ and discount goods. Superheros star Gareth Dyer will be there, so what’s stopping you? For event details visit the
SORCE website and while you’re there check out the
clinics,
trail maintenance days,
group rides and all the other benefits this amazing cycling organization has to offer.

As promised, we'll be giving away a year's worth of Maxxis tires to one lucky winner tonight. If you haven't entered, make sure to do so here. Just think, 10 free tires, that's over $1000 Canadian at retail. This contest is open to all readers, whether in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa or South America. The winner may choose any 10 Maxxis bicycle tires and we'll have them couriered right to your door. Good Luck!

I first met Big Red Ted at the first Red Bull Freezride 2 years ago. Of the large crew assembled for course construction, none possessed the work ethic or vision of the tall, skinny man from Squamish. Among his more famous projects, are Helltrack II and the mammoth 14-foot loop ridden by John Cowan (and Cory Leclerc at the Freezride). What's surprising, Ted doesn't do it for the glory, he's doing it for a genuine love of the sport. Warwick's no different.

In an effort to appeal to today's youth, the IOC announced today that BMX will be added to the program for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The BMX event will replace two track cycling events, yet to be determined. The UCI will study to find which 2 track events are the least popular before making the decision as to which events will be pulled. IOC president Jacques Rogge called it a "new, spectacular event." "We believe that this introduction will definitely enhance the Olympic program," he said.

With well-known sponsors such as Sugoi, Cycling BC, PowerBar and SISU headlining the first annual Gravity Fest - this new summer event promises to successfully lift off July 4th, 5th and 6th. The Gravity Festival, while primarily a mountain bike event, has something to offer every member of the family.

I’ll keep this short and sweet, since over half the front page of Pinkbike is full of Ski Hill Bike Park “opening weekends”. First of all I’d like to Thank Michelle Leroux (the communications co-ordinator for Panorama) for organizing this little opportunity for us to check out the new park, greatly appreciated!

After some initial growing pains due to sponsorship conflicts (no auto sponsor logos allowed, forcing Lopes and Carter out of event), the Jeep King of Mountain, three race series kicked off last Sunday at Wintergreen Resort. With a $100,000US purse, some of the sport's best were in attendance with Cedric Gracia and Sabrina Jonnier taking top spots. Next round goes July 19th at Telluride with the final venue still to be announced scheduled on August 23rd.

The IOC announced just minutes ago that Vancouver-Whistler will play host to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now you may be asking yourself, what the hell does this have to do with mountain biking? With the rush to build new facilities and upgrade old ones; improve infrastructure and the focus on winter sport, it will be interesting to see how this will play out in the coming years in the now cycling-rich area. Let's hope bikes don't get forgotten in the excitement.

Everythings Running along smoothly here on the Drop in tour. We are now in the desrt of Osoyoos B.C. and we're leaving the RV park that we've just been kicked out of. We got kicked out of the campground we were at in Penticton yesterday and we were told that we are the worst they've ever seen... we made the lady that runs the place cry. She thought Doug Fink, guest rider for this episode, was raping or trying to kill Jared.