IMBA-affiliated clubs across the U.S. are encouraged to schedule volunteer projects for National Public Lands (NPL) Day and enter the IMBA/B.O.B. Trailer Trailwork Challenge. This one-day celebration of public land will be held Saturday, Sept. 18, 2004.

With the 2004 summer Olympics just weeks away, SRAM and RockShox are preparing their factory athletes for gold with limited Olympic editions of their RockShox SID World Cup fork, SRAM PC-990 HollowPin chain, PG-990 cassette and X.0 Twist Shifters. The custom componentry will be made available to every SRAM and RockShox sponsored Cross-Country (XC) mountain bike racer selected for the Olympic games taking place August 27-28, in Athens, Greece.

July 27, 2004, Port Coquitlam, BC — What do you get when you combine 700 riders, $4500 in prizes and shwag, 25 Norco staff, 5 team riders, 30+ degree temperatures, 1 amazing lift accessed mountain, and 2 Free day passes? The perfect weekend! (and one that those of us who attended won’t soon forget). And this weekend, we're doing it again...

Shot some video this weekend in Whistler at the Crankworx slope style so I just spent a couple of hours throwing some of the footage to some music. Our favorite bike band Removal of course.
The bone yard at Whistler is incredible this year and this should show off all the new additions and what can be done on them.
If you have footage you want to share with everyone else, email Karl and he can host it on the Pinkbike servers for everyone to download.
Enjoy.
This is a large file so you might want to save it if it does not stream.
Crankworx
Another clip from the event bp_crankworks.mpg

It was no less than a 7.6 on the sick-ter scale. Friday's top qualifier, Paul Basagoitia showed he had what it takes, earning a cool $3000CAD for his unbelievable final run which included, among other things, a backflip onto the last feature, a scaffold step-up and finishing with a tailwhip off that same scaffold. The win could have been had by virtually any one of the competitors, and judges had to be hard pressed narrowing the numbers as the event progressed through the rounds. Besides the crowd of 10,000 at the event (according to event organizers) some standouts in my mind that are worth mentioning...

You know what makes mountain biking cool? Well, besides the obvious two wheeled lovin', it's the fact that the average joe/jane can ride and hang with the sport's biggest stars. While making the walk across Whistler Village to write this, I witnessed an amazing cross section of the sport. From the likes of Jeff Lenosky, Kirt Vories and Cedric Gracia to the sport's future gravity stars, to travellers from distant continents, to cross country riders and even some Mom and Pop recreational riders. Riding, chatting, signing autographs or just plain watching. There's no question that all of them have come to Whistler to see what all the hype is about. It's about bikes dammit! All kinds of them...

The 4Runner's loaded, the bikes have been tuned and in a few hours we'll be on our way to Whistler for the CrankWorx Festival. Some of the Nelson contingent has already departed, like Kona's Robbie Bourdon; but Mike Kinrade, Ryan from Evilution Bikes and myself will wheel into Whistler late tonight, while the rest should be under way as soon as work will allow. The hospitable folks at Ticket2RideBC will be putting us up for the duration of the festival and Scott tells me there's still room for some last minute stragglers wanting to see some of the action. I got a good glimpse of some of the slopestyle features and the Biker-X course while there last week, I'd have to say it's going to be worth the drive out...

July is just starting to wrap up and our stoke is still building! What a year we are having! So far this year we have had visitors from such exotic locations as Ft. Mc Murray Alberta, Quebec, New York, and Chicago. The Kamloops trails have lived up to their reputation as being some of the fastest and “flow”-packed trails in the world!

Don't miss out on this rare opportunity to learn from one of the best! Darren Butler, star of various mountain bike videos and season 1 of Drop In, is partnering up with Byron Grey's Purcell Mountain Bike School to host a one time 5 day freeride camp starting August 2, 2004 at Panorama Mountain Village.

You may never get a chance to sit behind the wheel of a $200,000 Ferrari or take the controls of a $5 million dollar jet fighter, but with the help of your local bike shop and Cannondale, you’ll be able to experience for yourself some of the most advanced, high-performance bicycles in the world.

It all started off an unusually warm Friday afternoon at the SCB offices in Santa Cruz, California. Mark Weir and Forrest Arakawa from MTBR showed up to discuss some last minute details about the ride. Small details like where the ride would take place and where was the bike he was riding. Mark's initial plan was to stage the ride in what he refers to as his backyard - Mt Tamalpais in Marin, about 90 miles north of Santa Cruz.

When CrankWorx brings mountain biking’s hottest ‘air-grabbing’ action to Whistler this month, it will bring the sport’s most popular athletes including superstars Cedric Gracia, Timo Prizel and John Cowan as well as local B.C. heroes Wade Simmons and Richie Schley. A concert series will also keep the action pumping all weekend long highlighted by Vancouver’s Yoko Casionos as well as Los Furios, Curtis Santiago and Billy and the Lost Boys.

“We’re out of eggs… we’ve just had the biggest breakfast rush ever”, explained the girl behind the counter at Bagg’s, Sun Peaks’ best breakfast joint. The day was going to start off rough, up unusually late I’d just missed the hill’s military 10:30 am breaky deadline, no matter how hard I’d tried I couldn’t get fed.

Sweeeet, is the only way to describe Mr. Berms, the newest addition to the ever-expanding mountain park at Fernie Alpine Resort. Mr. Berms is a smooth cruising trail featuring high-banked turns, which appeal to intermediate and above riders. Take it at your own speed and enjoy the ride!

It’s hard to say what will, or will not be popular in the biking world today. Which products will be fads (anyone still riding bio-pace chain rings?) and which will end up being the next thing riders can’t live without?

FERNIE ALPINE RESORT, BRITISH COLUMBIA – For the fourth season, Fernie Alpine Resort, located in southeastern B.C., is looking forward to hosting the Quixtar Canada Cup Mountain Bike Series, on August 14 & 15, 2004.

"Saskatchewan is not a province that many bikers associate with mountain biking. In fact, most people laugh at the idea of "mountain biking" on the prairies. But more and more, Saskatchewan is gaining a reputation as a quality mountain biking destination. Saskatchewan may not have mountains, but we have valleys that can leave you crying for your mommy.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort hosts the Terminator Downhill this Sunday, July 18th. Featuring some of the steepest, most technical descending in Western Canada, the Terminator is without a doubt one of the best DH courses on the planet. For more information, visit www.kickinghorseresort.com or call 1-866-SKI-KICK.

"When you think of a bicycle, you most likely think of 2 tires, a chain, some gearing of some sort, and other assorted mechanical bits. However, when Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, and over 180 other riders get together to compete at the Tour de France every year, there is a lot of technology that comes along for the ride too. From Lance's Sunglass'/MP3 Player to the advanced use of composites seen on Tyler Hamilton's time trial bike, there are many examples of high technology making the racers faster through better training, materials and aerodynamics."

While you wait to see Mike Kinrade's personal view and the accompaning photos of Joyride as both a competitor and spectator, please enjoy the results from Saturday's event...
Also check out all the photos from the event in Russ Day's photo album

"Biblical" rains in and around Marquette, Michigan have forced the postponement of Bike Magazine's first ever Monster Park Slopestyle event. With the course's features turned into a virtual bowl of chili, event organizers have rescheduled for the weekend of August 5-7th, 2004. According to the Element Road Trip log, many of the riders who had already showed up made the best of it in the "1st Annual Bike Monster Parking Lot Slopeless Style Asphalt Anti-Session".

Every mountain biker has some outgrown or unused bike gear cluttering up their basement. And the cost of new bikes and equipment for growing families can be a challenge. The North Shore News Mountain Bike Gear Swap will bring buyers and sellers together to swap quality, used bikes and gear on Sunday, July 18 at Lynn Valley Centre (1199 Lynn Valley Road) in North Vancouver from 9am – 2pm.

Mt. Biking in the forests that surround the majestic mountains of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams have brought the kings and queens of the cycle world to enjoy the adventures of Gorge Games.

If you're a regular visitor to Pinkbike, you're obviously familiar with Whistler and its amazing bike park. Companies are quickly popping up offering various levels of comfort and service to fellow riders. From basic accommodation and airport transfers to all inclusive shuttles, meals, skills clinics and guide services, Whistler visitors are able to tailor amenities to their budget and needs. Started early this year by Scott Lanzi, Ticket2RideBC is one of those companies. What makes them especially notable is the quality of service and amenities available at unbelievably low prices.

The ExtremeSportWeek in Norway was held in Voss the week before last, and for the first time ever - Freeride was represented. During three days, the chairlift in the local ski resort brought Freeriders to the top of a 3km long set of trails with North Shore sections, step-ups, step-downs, kickers and one massive roadgap.

June 30, 2004, Golden, British Columbia - After recently learning it had set the record for the highest lift-accessed mountain biking in North America, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort decided to upgrade its already legendary mountain bike offerings with additional trails and a challenging Bikercross course.

Check out a short bike video by Fall Line Productions from their new bike movie "Genesis," featuring footage taken on Panorama's incredible lift-accessed downhill mountain biking terrain. The footage speaks volumes on the kind of downhill mountain biking experience Panorama offers!

I have nothing but fond memories of the DevineRIDE Mountain Bike Camp for women I attended this past weekend in Rossland, BC. It was a “World Cup Weekend”, where my cup was over-flowing.

During last month's Bike Festival in Willingen, Germany, Nicolai showed off its long awaited and much rumored about update to the original G-Boxx prototype shown at EuroBike/InterBike 2003. Dubbed the Nicolai Nucleon TFR Enduro, it is the next level in performance enduro/trailbike applications. Centered around the G-Boxx mounting system, you will find cues from our extremely successful Helius series, with a few updates and of course the G-Boxx system.

Scott Dorrett is the lucky winner of our Joyride VIP giveaway. For answering our Sun Peaks trivia correctly, Scott wins deluxe accomodation courtesy of Delta Sun Peaks Resort, VIP Guest Passes to Joyride and the after-party, dinner for 2 at Masa's Bar and Grill, $200 spending money and 3 days worth of lift tickets. Congratulations Scott, now get in touch with us to claim your prize.

Today's DH events at Canada Olympic Park started off under steady rain fall. The course conditions changed through out the day from light wet mud during heavy rain, to sticky speed robbing clay, and back again. During qualifying it was most noticable as the first half of the field aired through the doubles and tables at the top of the course while the remainder hammered to barely roll up the lips. Eventually they had whittled the 104 riders down to the top 80 for the big show.

Let me begin by saying, there’s no easy way to get from Nelson to Sun Peaks Resort. There’s more than enough choices what with options via the back roads of Trout Lake, the Slocan Valley, Kaslo/New Denver, not to mention the 2 ferries. Then there’s the major routes of highway 1 and 3 and the Chase/McGillivray Lake logging road shortcut. No matter how you cut it, there’s no short, direct route. The tight, twisty “shortcuts” and ferry schedules will easily make the 500km trip a 6 hour + sojourn. In any case, it’s still worth the trek!

So I'm sitting here in the media room at COP overlooking the rain soaked crowds waiting for the men's World Cup Calgary winner to cross the finish.
For all you keeners I'll update this with the winners as they cross
1st: Filip Meirhaeghe
2nd: Christoph Sauser
3nd: Jose Hermida

For the seventh time, the Siemens mobile X Lake Jump was a spectacular event highlight. This time, visitors of Switzerland’s largest public festival, the famous Züri Fäscht, could watch some of the world’s best mountain bike and BMX stunt riders speed down the six meters tall ramp, shoot off a two meter high kicker, climbing up to six meters high in the air, then pulling off a range of unique and original tricks before plunging into Lake Zürich.

Just 30 minutes before, the Pro DH practice finished under beautiful blue skies. Just as expected of Calgary weather, dark skies rolled in and in minutes hard rain and hail pounded the on going XC race.

Look at the intensity in the photos.

From the beginning of the Drop In Tour of 2003 there was a plan in place to do a movie. We couldn’t shoot 10 – 15 hours of footage per episode without using more than the 24 minutes needed for the show. We needed to give the fans of Drop In, who didn’t like the lifestyle aspects of it, something that hit hard.

Men
1. Michal Prokop (CZE)
2. Roger Rinderknecht (SUI)
3. Eric Carter (USA)
4. Wade Bootes (AUS)
5. Brian Lopes (USA)

Women

1. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA)
2. Jill Kinter (USA)
3. Tara Llanes (USA)
4. Celine Gros (FRA)
5. Katrina Miller (AUS)

“This is an interesting product category for the industry,” describes Mario Galasso, VP of FOX’s Bike division. “It’s a category of bike that wants to be lightweight, but with the travel the bikes will have, they will be ridden very hard."

THe UCI World Cup stop in Calgary Kicks off today with the best riders in the world. Cedric Gracia, Brian Lopes, Wade Bootes and Marla Streb highlight the field in the DH and 4X this weekend in Calgary at the UCI World Cup, July 2-4 at Canada Olympic Park. Weekend passes or daily tickets for the inaugural Bike Calgary Festival, July 2-4, 2004, featuring three World Cup mountain bike events – cross-country, Mac’s Froster four-cross and downhill – can be purchased at Canada Olympic Park or Mac’s Convenience Stores in Calgary. Weekend passes for spectators 10 years of age and older are available for $30 (incl. GST) at Canada Olympic Park, while day tickets are available for $12 at Mac’s. Spectators purchasing day tickets at Mac’s will also receive a free 550 ml Froster. Children under 10 years old are admitted free for the entire weekend. Check out the BikeCalgary website for more.

Race Face Performance Products, one of North America’s leading producers of high performance mountain bike components and clothing, is proud to announce that it has come on as an official sponsor of the first ever Monster Park Slopestyle Invitational, presented by Bike Magazine.