Norco Performance Bikes, one of North America's leading producers of high quality mountain bikes is proud to announce it has arranged a Norco VPS Owner Appreciation Day Sunday June 15, 2003. This event will be held at North America's premiere mountain biking resort destination, Whistler, BC. It's a day set aside to hop on your big bike and come out and play with a bunch of other VPS owners at the world-renowned Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

In a strange turn of events, Norco freerider and hucker extraordinaire, Mike Kinrade has decided to hang up the bikes in favour of, of all things, a hoola hoop? After injuring his knee and subsequently his hip, late last season, Kinrade's physiotherapist urged him to try the hoola hoop program to speed his recovery. Mike instantly took to the hoop and feels the time has come to leave the bike world behind while he pursues the up and coming sport of freestyle hoola hoop! Mike was recently overheard to say "I've found my true calling in the world of hoop". No official word from Mike's film company, MPF films but it's been rumoured they have been secretly working on Freestyle Hula's first film, tentatively called My Flaming Hoop. Not one to miss the boat, Norco announced yesterday they would be offering a Mike Kinrade signature hoola hoop by late spring!

On Saturday, March 29th, in Gibsons, BC, the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) launched the pilot project of their newest initiative: the CCA Sprockids / National Introduction to Cycling Program.

The program, aimed at getting kids off the couch and onto their bikes, is the first step in an integrated model for cycling, from the first introduction to high performance to lifetime activity. Based on the successful program of the same name from the International Mountain Bike Association, and created by BC schoolteacher Doug Detwiller over 10 years ago, the CCA version encourages the development of a broad range of cycling skills.

You may remember reading the name Blair Jones on Pinkbike's pages last July. Blair suffered a serious spinal injury after a road gap gone wrong at Rose Hill. The Kamloops Bicycle Cafe has begun raising funds to hook Blair up with a set of wheels to get him back ripping Rose Hill in time for the summer season. Their goal of $10,000 obviously needs your generous patronage to become a reality. Not only will they be organizing fundraisers and parties that will benefit Blair's quest, they've promised a percentage from all Kamloops Bicycle Cafe hoodie sales.

Thanks to all who stopped by the Pinkbike booth at this weekend's Outdoor Show held at Calgary's Round Up Centre. It was great to see so many folks taking some well deserved rest on the Pinkbike couch while watching a flick from our extensive library on Radek's huge screen television. Others stopped by to pick up their own personal copies of the Drop In season 1 DVD set, and were treated to some up-close and personal attention from MPF and Drop In stars Mike Kinrade, Dylan Tremblay, Byron Grey and Riley Macintosh.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KICKING HORSE MOUNTAIN RESORT AND GOLDEN CYCLING CLUB
JOIN TOGETHER IN UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP
Dirt Hosts Introduced to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Summer Mountain Bike Program

The elimination rounds have ended and we now have the four semi-finalists who'll compete in the second annual Race Face Ultimate Freeride Challenge. Congratulations to Matt Hunter who, in our closest round to date, beat out Katrina Strand for the final spot in the semis.

Now this is where it gets exciting. The hotel rooms in Monterey, California have been booked and all semi-finalists have been put on standby and are ready to fly out on Friday, April 11th should they make it to the next and final round.

Yeti Cycles has announced the re-birth of Team Yeti. In keeping with its tradition, Yeti has signed relatively unknown young racers that will specialize in downhill and four-cross events.

Team Yeti will be coached by Australian National Coach and professional downhill racer Scott Sharples and Keith Darner, who won three national titles as a coach at Fort Lewis College.

Not just any bus, this is the Red Bull Freezride bus jumped by Daver, Timo and Randy Spangler. Not many buses can boast that kind of talent has soared above them. Owned by Shaums March, the bus is currently in Whitefish, Mt and it's a best offer gig. It runs, but needs a little TLC for those longer road trips. Contact Shaums at madmarchracing@aol.com for more information or to place your offer!

Want to get faster and place higher or simply improve your skills? Check
out www.BetterRide.net for professional coaching, camps, clinics and
lessons.
Long time pro downhiller and 2002 UCI World Masters Championships Silver
Medalist Gene Hamilton has put together BetterRide Downhill to improve
your
riding and bridge the gap between North American downhill training and
the
programs used by European Racers.

Come down to the Outdoor Show this weekend to hang out at the pinkbike.com booth. We’ll have the big screen T.V. pumping out bike vids, the newest addition to the online store, Idun clothing, will be available to check out as well as the rest of your favorite pinkbike gear and the Drop in season 1 DVD. MPF and Drop In stars, Mike Kinrade, Dylan Tremblay, Byron Grey, and everyone’s favorite T.V. producer Tim from Drop in will be on hand signing autographs and answering your questions about next season's show.

I would like to begin this, my second piece, by thanking all of you who wrote me nice emails. I tried to respond to each email, however if I didn’t answer you, just realize that I have 400 emails in my inbox right now, and I am doing my best to go through all of them! Surprisingly, I only received one not-so-nice email, but we got everything straightened out.

The winners of the last two Dropin contests are:

Contest 3, winning a set of Smith Shades - Ryan Hill, Santa Clara,CA

Conest 4, winning a 661 Bag and tires - Ryan Barnes, Calgary, AB

Contest 5 is up so get your names in and we'll draw for another winner soon!

I have a confession to make... I haven't been giving 100% to the site, my family, riding, work, racing, my day to day responsibilities, or anything that matters really. I don't know what happened over the last year, but somewhere along the line, something took what little focus I had and tossed it trailside. I'm here to make amends, and as nearly every 12 step program dictates, the first step is recognizing there is a problem.

Over 120 riders braved brutal course conditions reminiscient of a gigantic Slurpee and not one complaint was heard. Well, maybe some of us did whine about the bitter wind that was blowing at the top of the course, but once things were underway, grandiose smiles were seen on all riders' faces. Win or lose, everyone walked away happy (with the exception of James Harris - more on that later). Most left with at least something from the truckload of swag brought by Calgary Cycle, Santa Cruz, COP and Norco.

IMBA announced today that four bicycle groups will receive cash awards in the first round of 2003 IMBA/Koobi Club Assistance Grants. The $500 grants support projects that
preserve and enhance trail opportunities for mountain bikers. Koobi and IMBA will award four more grants in 2003. The application deadline
for the next round is July 1, 2003. All IMBA-affiliated clubs are invited to
apply.

The Inaugural Whistler Mountain Bike Festival (WMBF) run on September 25th – 27th 2002, at Whistler BC is going to be the subject of a half hour show on Sweat TV on the Outdoor Life network shown nationwide in Canada!

At the end of this month, your votes will be counted and the 5 riders who garnered the most votes will tour Europe with the Phreemedia crew this summer. Imagine, two months of riding in Europe's most exotic locales filming with some of the industry's best. You'll see the top shots in Re Union and if all goes well, in an upcoming reality television series showcasing the riders, the riding and the best of the "behind the scenes" bits. As an added bonus, your vote is your entry into the sweet prize pool, including a Planet X Pitbull frameset and goods from Go-Ride.com, Pinkbike and Lizard Skins. Some of North America's best are vying for the trip, choose wisely!

Candidate Bios Here

Vote Here

Well, here we are…the 2003 season is about to start and we have a new bike and a new team to show off!
We are all excited to see both our factory team riders as well as our factory sponsored riders setting the pace this year on their newest Rotec Moto DH and Moto X framesets!
Gone are the days of the old Moto-link…. This year we welcome in “The Newest Generation” of the rotec design.

Ice Peep Productions is proud to bring you a Freestyle Mountain Bike competition at the Skate Barn in Renton, Washington. The competition will be held at 8:00 pm on Saturday, April 19th. The Skate Barn is an 80,000 square foot indoor park filled with tons of ramps, gaps, rails, ledges and banks. The Competition will be held in a jam format style, with riders separated into groups of 5, who will compete in 10-minute open heat sessions.

The winning bid in Cannondale's Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction was none other than Pegasus Partners. Pegasus was Cannondale's largest secured creditor and the company insists it'll be "business as usual". None of the motorsport division's bids were acceptable according to Scott Montgomery, but it's anticipated a decision will be made on the troubled, now closed division in the coming months. "Cannondale is one of the world's premium bicycle brands," said David Uri, a partner at Pegasus. "The fact that the bike division has remained profitable despite the distraction and costs of its now-closed motorsports business clearly demonstrates the strength of the brand. Our job now is to let Cannondale concentrate on what Cannondale does best--designing, manufacturing and marketing lightweight, high-performance bicycles for the specialty retail market."

If you haven't already cast your vote, today marks the end of voting in the first annual Alberta Freeride Awards. Calgary Cycle, COP, Santa Cruz and Karo have stepped up to the plate to sponsor these awards, take the time to show your support. Award winners will be recognized immediately following the final Fat Tire Snow Race of the season at COP this Sunday. Put the race together with the awards, and this Sunday, COP is certainly the place worth travelling to.

Another deep field this go around in the Race Face Ultimate Freeride Challenge. This week's winner will advance into the next round, competing against last week's winner, Ryan Hayes and earlier winners, Cameron Mccaul and Andrew Sage. Once again, BC sees some good representation, this time from 19 year old Kamloops native, Matt Hunter and 26 year old Katrina Strand, this year's only female finalist. Alberta also get a place in the limelight, courtesy of Lethbridge's Steve Tuchiwsky. Last but not least, is 26 year old Dave Davies of Louisville, Kentucky.

You know the drill, go to the UFC web site and cast your vote before Friday.

Get ready to learn mountain bike riding techniques that will get you places you never dreamed of! The Rocky Mountain Crystal Decisions team will send stars Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham and Richie Schley to teach 90-minute freeride clinics in the MTB Ride Zone, Thursday thru Sunday, April 10 - 13, at 1.00 p.m. Sign-up is "first come" and runs from 8 a.m - 9 a.m each day. Classes are limited to 5 riders, and the word is 'get in early.'

Cannondale's bicycle and motorcycle divisions' suitors await word from the company's closed-door auction tomorrow. For those of you who have been living under a rock, Cannondale was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year after the company's dismal foray into the motorcycle industry. No word yet on interested parties, but we expect full disclosure by day's end. I wouldn't be surprised to see the motorcycle division going to Harley Davidson, and to be totally honest, I haven't a clue who'll take the (profitable) bicycle division.

Stay Tuned

There's something about snow racing. I can't really put my finger on it, but of all the racing I've done, no discipline is consistently as much fun as COP's fat tire snow races. Snow, the big equalizer, where any rider stands a chance to advance regardless of the field.
This Sunday, at 7pm, it's your last chance to hit COP's terrain park.
James, Aimee, Vickie-Lynn and COP's stellar staff will once again throw one hell of a party. There's even a special treat this time around. In association with Calgary Cycle, Santa Cruz and Karo, COP's all-ages lounge will host the First Annual Alberta Freeride Awards. Even if you're down and out on the injured list, show your face for a chance to see Alberta's best riders, supporters and biggest hearts.

If you haven't voted, time's a wasting, cast them here by Friday!

Washington, D.C. - During the early March National Bike Summit in Washington,
D.C., International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) representatives met
with members of California's congressional delegation to ask them to keep
singletrack trails open for bicycling by not designating new Wilderness areas
that overlap popular trails.

You've made the nominations, now it's time to vote! Brought to you by Calgary Cycle, Canada Olympic Park, Santa Cruz Bicycles and Karo, the first annual Alberta Freeride Awards will recognize the province's best riders, diggers and advocates. The first round of voting is complete and the results have been added up. Now it's time for you to decide who the winners will be. Don't forget, we'll be announcing the winners at the Winter Bikercross Finals on March 23, 2003 at Canada Olympic Park.

You must vote before Friday, March 21st to be counted.

On May 31 and June 1, the second stage of the 2003 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series will take over Fort William in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. At least 300 of the World's elite Mountain Bikers from more than 25 countries will compete in the Downhill, 4-Cross and Cross Country events with more than 10,000 people expected to watch the thrilling action as it unfolds over the weekend.

We've reached the midway point of our elimination rounds and our first semi-final pairing is set. On March 25th, the winner of Round 1, Cameron McCaul will face this week's winner, Andrew Sage. Andrew secured his spot in the semis with a convincing margin of victory - over 59% of the votes.

A big thanks goes out to all who voted. And now, here's the competitors in Round 3

OWWWW, my wrist and palm are still in pain from the falls I took on the
half
pipe
and clover leaf bowl drop-in. My palm is black and blue. But really the
first
word is WOWWWWW.This being
my first time at Rye Airfield was an eye popping opener. I felt like
roger
rabbit
when he saw that vodacious female bunny. Picture 55,000 sq ft. of bike
ramps,
spines, bowls and
other various play stuff.I'm new to this ramp riding (great for the
winter) but I am catching on quick. Defying
gravity is FUN on the quarter pipes. To make a long story short, this was a BustedSpoke.com sponsored event to raise some moola for 47 acres of some of the best
technical riding in
in Milford,Ma nicknamed VietNAM for all the reasons you can
imagine. NEMBA is
close to
buying 47 acres of pristine land for us mtb'ers which will be a first.

Just a quick note to remind everyone that the Cadence party is this
Friday March 14th, and if you're cool you will be there. Should be
pretty sweet. Its Free. $3 beer. A Pounding Sound System.
Justin Pleasure and Skot Dub are spinning. Modern Meats are playing live punk and ska. Starts around 8pm and goes till the next day. Ya house! So come and rip it up in Bowness like the trash we all are. Please forward this email to all friends you feel are worthy to attend. Boo ya.

Cadence coffee is located at 6407 Bowness rd. On the same strip as bow
cycle. Enter around Back as to not expose the street to the thundering
bass.

Four and a half years later, I still vividly remember my first race run down Mount 7. It was a 30 minute adventure punctuated by a flat tire (25m into the race), lost jockey wheels, a jammed chain and broken handlebar. Not one to easily admit defeat, I finished that race, parts in hand, still riding my bike with the biggest shit eating grin you could imagine! I've been back every year since, trying to best the previous year's run. Four years... I'm still scared, still smiling and I wouldn't miss it for the world! On June 21, 2003, I'll be back again, and you should too! Mark your calendars, book your holidays, this is one race you don't want to miss!

Cost:$20

Who: Anyone 5+

Where: Didsdury Indoor BMX Track 85Km North of Calgary (1 hour door to door) Track is located across from the RCMP Station. Go into town turn right before the tracks, down the road about 300 meters on the right hand side. (Big white building)

With only days left to edit on Statement, Russ Morrell asked me for one more chance to shoot in Virgin, Utah.

He said he had big plans. When he busted the Robbie Bourdon gap (20x30 feet) from the second day Red Bull Rampage course and then followed it with a 30x30 foot drop, I believed him.


Download the video clip of the drop.

He also went for the Canyon Gap that Bourdon tried at the most recent Rampage...but you'll have to buy a copy of Statement to find out if he made it!



Oh, yeah! Did I mention he did all this on a Balfa HARDTAIL?


By the way, Statement will be available worldwide April 2003, and if you happen to be at the Sea Otter Classic, make sure to come to the world premiere at the BIKE party.

WARNER STARTS THE SEASON BY MULLERING HIS LEG BIG TIME
"I've broken me fibia and tibia, I'm in plaster up to me bollocks and the worse thing is I didn't even know I'd done it."

This contest is jam format for amateur and pro, because the pressure of riding alone is lame! Not only that but it gets the other riders and spectators way more stoked. My goal this year is to actually make the conservative Torontonians in the crowd bellow derogatory ramp-trash-ish remarks rather than the typical golf clap...

Don't eat the yellow snow

Planet-X just recently announced their 2003 Sponsors, as well as their MTB, Trials and Grass Roots Teams. To learn more about the team, visit www.teamplanetx.com where you will find the riders schedule, bio, diary, pictures, product info and lots more!! Keep in mind that the pages are still being constructed/updated as we speak and some details are still in the works...so check often for updates!

In just two and a half weeks, the Advil Outdoor Show and Rockies Challenge will be hitting Calgary's Round Up Center. Once again, the course will be designed by Canada Olympic Park's James Radke, so rest assured you'll see big jumps and tight racing action. No licenses are required and registration forms can be found here. As usual, stop by the Pinkbike booth, we'll have the flicks rolling and expect special appearances by MPF and Drop In stars, Dylan Tremblay, Mike Kinrade and Shawn Denny. There's also rumor of a post-show bash to be held at Coyote's Bar and Grill hosted by Pinkbike and Drop In. We'll keep you abreast of the details as they become firm!

Statement, the new Thor Wixom video is set for release on April 10, 2003

Webster defines the word statement as “an opinion, comment, or message conveyed indirectly, usually by nonverbal means.”

Thor Wixom defines “Statement” as the title of his latest mountain bike video.

And “Statement”, Thor’s seventh mountain bike title, defines the radical shift that has recently taken place in freeride mountain biking.

Read on for the - video teaser

The mission of the Snakebite Society Cycling Club is to get people riding their bikes more often. Through cycling, the Snakebite Society believes that people can learn valuable life lessons and explore their own personal limits, have heaps of fun, and meet other cyclists to have even more fun with. As an added bonus, the Snakebite Society has partnered with Sprockids, the world's leading mountain bike program for kids aged 10 - 15.

The 2003 Mountain Cycle North American Factory Race Team is now official. The Factory Team consists of semi pro and pro racers in addition to many grass roots teams throughout the world.

Response to the first round of videos has been awesome with record voting taking place over the last seven days. The votes have been tabulated and Cameron McCaul has won with a convincing margin of victory - taking 57% of the votes!

Cameron now advances to the semi finals which begin on March 25th where he will face the winner from Round 2.

After spending two years without major sponsorship backing, two-time world's silver medallist Fionn Griffths has signed a deal to ride for the Foes-Azonic team in 2003. The young British downhiller, who doesn't turn 21 until August, joins 2000 junior world downhill champion Julien Poomans on what is looking to be a formidable line-up for the California-based bike maker.

Welcome to the first annual ALBERTA FREERIDE AWARDS, where you, the rider get to nominate and vote for your fellow URBAN, DJ, FREERIDE and DH favorites in Alberta. We started the A.F.A's to give recognition to the riders out there giving it their all, day after day. To nominate and vote, simply click here and follow the steps on the page.

Attention Colorado.
On Thursday, March 6,  the Handlebar and Grill, in Denver, CO, will be having a Video Party. $5 at the door gets you a beer ticket and a raffle ticket for swag from Fast Forward Videos, Foes Fabrications, Santa Cruz, Azonic, Marzocchi and others. We will be showing "Changing of the Gaurd" and "Riders Anonymous" from 6:30-8:00. Raffle starts at 8:00 with Thor Wixoms latest offering "JIB" as our feature presentation. Huge props to Thor for hooking us up on short notice. All proceeds go to the Colorado Downhill Cycling Collective, helping get colorado riders better trails. For more info email us at info@dhcolorado.com

Norco Performance Bikes, one of North America’s leading producers of high quality mountain bikes, components, and clothing, is proud to announce it has signed Nelson’s very own riding prodigy, Dylan Tremblay to its Norco Factory Team.

Not only does Planet-X now have all of the Trialskings on board, but they've also just signed up Tibo and Lance Trappe to ride for them!

Red Bull always put on some great events, and this again was one of them! The format was simple, invite 24 of the best downhillers in the UK, put up a prize purse of almost £4000 quid (approx 6,302.00 USD) and then send the riders down in dual format...in the dark!! Go to Descent-World for a full report about this exciting event by jon_e. Enjoy!

Expodium On Wheels - Montreal 2003 is the first consumer show dedicated exclusively to the world or wheels such as Bicycles, Inline Skates, Skateboards, Scooters and Cycling Tourism. It's an event that will bring together, all under one roof, everyone who participates in any form - from manufacturers and organizations to the cyclists and skaters themselves - in this dynamic area of the sports and recreational activity sector, one of the most popular in Québec today.

Cannondale's production workers began returning yesterday to work full time in the company's Bedford bike factory. Employees had worked sporadically over the past several weeks building frames for Cannondale's European subsidiary.

Well it's now been almost 6 months since my little ('er big) accident in Kamloops that shattered both of my heels. I thought it was about time that I post another update to let you all know how I'm doing. I'm doing really damn good, actually. I wasn't allowed to bear any weight until Christmas, and since then I've gone through some pretty incredible stages.

Hello, my name is Tonya and I am a mountain bike addict. (But that is the least of my problems.)

Snow, bloody snow! Ok I admit it, sometimes snow can be good. When you want to go snowboarding or skiing, for example. Or even if you want to do a little snow biking. Then snow is good. And it always makes the mountains look more beautiful and rugged. So, snow can be good. But, for crying out loud, I am mountain bike racing in just a few short weeks. So what am I supposed to be doing with snow?