Just got a heads up from Stephen Anderson at Vibe Racing about their new DVD Wheels Of Fortune 2, which is slanted for release sometime this winter.

How cool are the guys at Iron Horse? Cool enough to give Pinkbike "exclusive" first peek at the 2005 Iron Horse high end lineup! Thanks Todd! Before reading on, I would make sure to have some tissues in handy - if you get my drift ;o)

A week after the races at Fernie, the boys were back at it again in Sun Peaks for the final Canada Cup of the season. Check out footage of the event here provided by Big Time Tours. Dustin Adams took home the win over 5 seconds ahead of the competition. Pinkbike Teams' Ryan Yastremsky filled up the 6th spot with a stellar run, while other team members Daniel Ehler(13th) and Stuart Cooper(22nd) placed solidly in the field of 36 in the Elite Mens category. In the Womans Elite, Danika Schroeter won it again continuing her dominance of the Canada Cup Tour. Pinkbike's Kelli Sherbinin grabed the 6th spot. Pinkbike team riders were of course racing on their Sinister R9's, check em out here.

Over the past few months I've been testing, or should I say 'enjoying', some fresh new products. Here are a few that I really like.

Calgary Olympic Park hosted race number three in the Canada Cup Mountain Bike series. The course received praise from all of the athletes, and was comprised of a mix of high-speed sections, rock gardens, tight and technically challenging woods and large jumps. The weather, though threatening, cooperated for the weekend and we were treated to a fast and fun course, unlike the gnarly mud-fest we faced at the World Cup last month.

Last weekend Fernie played host to the latest stop of the Canada Cup tour. Congrats to Geoff Pendrall of Devinci Bikes who threw down the fastest time in the downhill at 3:22.49. Missed the action? Check out this 2.5 minute clip filmed by Chris Elder.
Read on for all the results.

Some of the Oakley Freeride team has stopped by our fair city to film with Freeride-Entertainment for Disorderly Conduct (see teaser here) that premieres on October 7th at the Palms Casino. I'm told this year's party will be poolside, so be sure to add some beach gear to your Interbike apparel. I'll be tagging along with Wade Simmons, Kyle Strait, Robbie Bourdon, Cameron Zink and Freeride's film crew as they run Rilor's latest creations, get Disorderly and even find time to relax, Kootenay style. Till the full feature, here's some photos to whet your appetite!

Several years after the original PLUSH came onto the scene, Thor Wixom has finally come out with its sequel, PLUSH 2. Features Voreis, Shaums, McCaul, Strait and Chase and among its extras contains the entire PLUSH 1 movie! Check out Plush 2

Also new this week in the shop The Collective plus ALL the other films including Chain Reaction 5, Suspect, Back in the Saddle 2

Canmore, Alberta - The Rocky Mountain Bikes Team of Andreas Hestler of Vancouver and Karl Platt of Germany kept up their furious pace in the final stage of the toughest mountain bike race in the world to win the overall men's championship in the 2004 TransRockies Challenge.

WEST COAST FREERIDE GUIDES, LTD. – A new mountain bike freeride vacation company in Whistler, BC.

A beautiful example of riders making a living at what they love to do, the West Coast Freeride Guides (WCFG) offer guided bike tours of the best British Columbia has to offer. Owned and operated by local freeride militiaman Michael Hallett and Brian Cameron, the West Coast Freeride Guides offer heli-biking, single-day, multi-day adventure vacations that will take you to riding spots that until now resided only in your dreams. WCFG are happy to pick you up at the Vancouver International Airport, and can offer a discounted rate at several local hotels. On overnight adventures, WCFG will provide tents and provisions or arrange discounted hotels.

You've read the title, now get to work. In association with Pinkbike.com and the Whistler Bike Park, Ticket2RideBC.com is giving away one week's stay for one lucky reader and a friend. Actually, that should read writer and a friend. Yes indeed, to be eligible to win, all you've got to do is put together your best road trippin' story and submit it to mental@pinkbike.com. There's no limits, make it one paragraph or one hundred, just make it interesting. We'll take the best stories (and any accompanying photos) and post them here for the world to see.

Seebe, Alberta - The Rocky Mountain Bikes Team of Andreas Hestler and Karl Platt today catapulted into the overall lead of the toughest mountain bike race in the world, with a strong finish in the sixth stage of the TransRockies Challenge.

The race for first place in the TransRockies Challenge, the toughest mountain bike race in the world, became tighter today with aggressive riding by the Rocky Mountain Bike team and a serious course error by the first place team of Troy Misseghers and Neil Grover.

With just 2 stops left, both strategically located in British Columbia, Fernie Alpine Resort hosts the Quixtar Canada Cup this weekend. The nation's best will be hanging it out in Fernie's new and improved Bike Park, hoping for top finishes before heading west to Sun Peaks Resort for the final stop on 2004's Canada Cup calendar.

The battle for first place in the toughest mountain bike race in the world, the TransRockies Challenge, continued under sunny skies today with the Rocky Mountain Team of Andreas Hestler and Karl Platt edging out yesterday's winners Troy Misseghers and Neil Grover by just 1 minute and 15 seconds to finish the 63 km stage with a time of 3:50.07. Misseghers and Grover continue to hold onto the overall lead over today's winners by almost 38 minutes while last year's champions Andreas Strobel and Silvio Wieltschnig fell behind to third place in both today's stage and the overall rankings.

Last weekend Calgary hosted the lastest Canada Cup races at Canada Olympic Park. Read on for a complete list of results.
Check out Karen's photos from the race. All available photos are up.
Don't forget this weekend is another Canada Cup in Fernie

Muddy trails from yesterday's rains made the 97 km track of the third stage of the TransRockies Challenge the longest and most challenging yet for riders in the toughest mountain bike race in the world.

BIKE Magazine's Monster Park Slopestyle Invitational opened a new chapter in the world of freeride mountain biking by pushing the limits of the world's top athletes and introducing a unique rider-judged competition format. The competition drew a record 6,000 spectators and brought out some of the sport's premiere athletes to compete for the $10,000 prize purse.

Last year's TransRockies Challenge champions, Andreas Strobel, of Germany, and Silvio Wieltschnig, from Austria, chased yesterday's first stage winners Andreas Hestler of Vancouver and Karl Platt of Germany for most of today's 95 km course from Blairmore to Dutch Creek, Alberta. They finally caught up and crossed the finish line to capture the stage jersey with a time of 3:58.45, one second ahead of yesterday's leaders.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has unveiled a comprehensive new marketing effort that includes new logos, graphics, slogans and advertisements. It's all the product of a new partnership with award-winning advertising firm Carmichael Lynch. The goal: build a higher awareness for IMBA and recruit new members.

The North Shore Ripper pioneered it. Now you have the chance to once again ride one of the legendary trails on the Shore. The idea is this - the trail is yours to ride as fast and as hard as you can from top to bottom. And, you'll get a time bonus if you ride the CBC's epic stunts on your way down. It's simple, ride the stunts, you get a better time!

There's more than one way to make a bicycle wheel stronger. For example, you can make the rim wider, deeper, thicker or reduce its diameter. Hubs are no less important and over the years many companies have tried unique flanges, asymmetrical and/or proprietary designs in an effort to keep optimum strength to weight ratios. In the spoke department, you can reduce length, increase thickness, or add numbers to increase strength. Bombshell's Crusher wheels take the latter approach, using a whopping 48 spokes at each end. Just for good measure, they use some of those other tricks to build the most indestructable wheelset I've not only ridden, but seen to date!

Cyclists from around the world today set a blistering pace on the first stage of the world's toughest mountain bike race, the TransRockies Challenge, the first stage of the seven-day, 600 km trek through the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Fernie, B.C. to Canmore, Alberta finished with a tight race for the lead.

Check out the final installment of www.the-red-pill.com, the website solely dedicated to RockShox's all-new Motion Control technology.

The weekend came to a close with the downhill contest on the Banzai downhill course that dropped 1700 feet in 2.4 miles. Claiming a win in the women’s competition was Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.), and in the men’s contest, Nathan Rennie (AUS) was the fastest.

A large crowd gathered for the afternoon’s final event - the pro men’s and women’s mountain cross finals. Leana Gerrard (Sumner, Wash.) put her stamp on the weekend by taking her very first win in the women’s contest, while Eric Carter (Temecula, Calif.) continued his success and claimed his second consecutive victory this year.

The first samplings of NWD V – Disorderly Conduct are now available online exclusively this weekend from Freeride Entertainment @ Pinkbike.

Download NWD5_teaser.mov (right click, save as).
Shot entirely in windscreen on 16mm and HD, the BIG DAWGS are back with the all-killer-no-filler follow up to the award winning Ride the Lightning.

Ridden to World Championship Overall Titles in 2001, 2002, 2003 and now 2004, there’s no denying the Rock Shox BoXXer, first introduced to consumers in 1998, has an impressive racing pedigree. In fact, according to an informal survey at the 2003 Downhill World Championships, the BoXXer outnumbered all other suspension forks added together, gracing an impressive 58% of competitors’ bikes. This is even more telling when you consider that only about 20 riders were directly sponsored by RockShox and a large number of racers at the World Champs are privateers, who foot the bulk of their own product costs.

The MTBchicks are at it again, bringing passion and advocacy for women’s cycling to the trail. This weekend the MTB chicks hit Snowmass Resort, near Aspen, in what will be the 7th of 9 races in the 2004 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series. Following the competitive mountain bike events on Sunday, Aug. 8th, the girls of MTBChick invite beginner and junior women to “come get dirty” in a free one-hour mountain bike skills clinic.

It became official 24 hours after Smith rider Steve Peat capped a run of podium appearances on the World Cup Downhill circuit with a solid third in Calgary - He had clinched the overall World Cup Title with one race left on the calendar.

Shaums March of www.madmarchracing.com is coming to Calgary today and tomorrow. With personalized instruction, one-on-one bike set up including suspension tuning tips, downhill line choice and even some freeride specific lessons thrown in for good measure, Shaums' clinic is sure to please all riders who attend. Things get going at 9:30am at Guest Services both days and drop in students are more than welcome. For more information contact Shaums at 805-570-3330 or COP Guest Services at 403-247-5452.

There are no words to sum up how much I love my .243 frame. After receiving it sometime around February I soon figured out that we were in for one hell of a roller coaster winter, but that didn't stop me from riding. I had to get my fix, it was like a drug, the bike just made me want to go bigger, longer, faster. It wanted to do it all. So if it wanted it, there was only one thing to do......

He's been called the Father of Freeriding.

Ask any mountain biker who has been their biggest inspiration and you will likely get the same response; Wade Simmons.

Now, exclusively through Bush Pilot Biking, you can have the opportunity to rip the legendary freeride lines of BC with the one and only Wade Simmons. Along with guides Johnny Smoke and Barb Haley come along and experience the soul that exists beyond the hype.

Well, another Calgary Stampede is over, hockey season is past, football season is in full swing but life has, more or less, returned to normal here. The only bandwagon left to hop on in this town is the one heading to the top of the mountain for a sweet ride down! My crazy summer experiences so far involve getting the heck out of Dodge to get on the bike. See, summer tends to drive everything up – the number of people, the amount of traffic, drink prices, blood pressure… and I simply prefer going to the mountains with my bike while all these events take place.

On Saturday August 7th Kicking Horse Mountain Resort will be offering mountain biking for 5 bucks. Come on down and check out our 6 new trails and Biker-X course. Ride North America's longest lift accessed vertical. Take the gondola to the top of the mountain and rip 3,700 feet of trails. We offer high alpine, single track and machine made trails with huge berms and jumps. Come on down and Ride the Horse.

It took a while but the photos from last weekend’s Crankworx Gravity Fest in Whistler are up.

Follow the link…

Gravity action continued at Schweitzer Mountain Resort Saturday afternoon with the mountain cross finals. Securing a win in the women’s category was Jill Kintner (Murrieta, Calif.), as Eric Carter (Temecula,Calif.) was victorious in the men’s competition.