Source: Center of Gravity

Wet Ape Ltd. and Eventus Management Ltd. are pleased to present the 2008 Center of Gravity which will be held in Kelowna, BC on Aug 2nd and 3rd, 2008. It will be a festival style event that will showcase some of the world’s top freestyle mountain bikers and beach volleyball athletes. The agenda is packed with attractions for all ages including DJs, a Concert, Beer Gardens, Fashion Shows, the Flow Show, the Nintendo Entertainment Zone, and an Exhibitors’ Village. The two feature attractions are “Volleyfest”, which had its successful inauguration in 2007, and “Flirt’n with Dirt”. The event will provide great exposure to our top Canadian athletes and some local super stars in a fun interactive atmosphere that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages.

The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips.

Stickrock is now open! Phase I was cracked last week. This is Kicking Horse’s first Double Black Diamond trail. Not that it is crazy difficult, but there are mandatory gaps and steep rock slabs, so you want to have a good hard look and think about the trail before committing. But it is designed to flow; all the gaps can be cleared at casual trail speed. No need for death-defying leaps of faith. If you are comfortable riding all of Spiral Tap on Pioneer trail, then you are ready for this one. It was already my favorite trail before we even started decking.

Helmet: checked.
BMX: checked.
Dirt jumps: checked.
Bag of tricks: ummm…. checked.
Jura Barać is a 19 year old Croatian bmx talent. Please take a seat and enjoy the show.
3 videos

August 24th marks a big step in Yukon mountain biking as the first ever Yukon DH Race will be held at Mt. Sima, Whitehorse.

Source: Kona Bikes
- Bas Out 6-8 Weeks After Crash In Australia; Will Attend Kokanee Crankworx In Whistler -

For the first time in his high-flying, competitive biking career Kona Clump Team’s Paul Basagoitia has broken a bone. His right collar bone to be exact. The injury, which Bas sustained while riding and jumping in Australia, is the first major set-back of the young riders’ career and will sideline him for 6-8 weeks, according to physicians.

This past weekend saw an amazing amateur event take place over the course of two days. Day one was a street course on the movie set of Chicago Town in Vancouver, while day two moved everything up to Whistler for a show down in the Boneyard. While the riders battled it out for two days, everything was getting captured on film by amateur videographers as well as some Red Bull assigned pros.

Now it's time to cut the footage up and submit your best ReCut from the weekend's event. Read more to learn all the details. (Links to over 200 pictures inside)

For anyone that’s ever visited COP in the past you’ll remember that the trail network was a bit of a maze, ok so that’s really what it was. Everything intersected, some features had no rhyme or reason, but at least it had features seemed to be the recipe for their set up. Well this year it’s all changed and a whole new program has been put into place. With the help of a CODA grant, they were able to bring in Gravity Logic from Whistler BC to aid in the restructuring and rebuilding of their bike park.

Here’s what’s going on for 2008:

Source: Winter Park Resort
Crankworx Colorado Comes Back to Winter Park Resort July 31 – August 3

The countdown to Winter Park Resort’s second annual Crankworx Colorado is on with only two more days before this massive four day freeride mountain bike festival takes over Mountain Bike Capital, USA™. From July 31 – August 3, Crankworx Colorado will showcase Winter Park Resort as Colorado's ultimate mountain bike playground, featuring exciting events such as Cross-Country and Downhill Races; Super Downhill, Big Air, Slopestyle Contests, and new this year, Dual Mountain Downhill. Crankworx Colorado is the only qualifying event for Kokanee Crankworx taking place in Whistler B.C. Canada August 9 - 17, 2008. Crankworx Colorado is a free event and open to spectators from 10 - 5pm, daily.

Cameron McCaul takes the win at the Highland Claymore Challenge

(Glen Rock, New Jersey) The first annual Highland Claymore Challenge is officially in the books as Cam McCaul takes the title at Highland Mountain Bike Park. Some of the world's best riders came out for the events inaugural year and were treated to what winner Cam McCaul described as the the most fun course of the year so far.
"The Slopestyle at Highland was so sweet!" said Cam, "it reminded me of what slopestyle is supposed to be, fun courses with a great atmosphere. I can't wait to see what they do over the next few years!"

News Source: O2 Sports Media
Columbus Day weekend, October 11th and 12th, Behind the Rocks Moab will be transformed into something truly extra-terrestrial when the world's top mountain bike ultra-endurance racers gather to determine who is the fastest of them all.

Yes it's true, we've got a brand new hoody here at Pinkbike.com and it's ready to ship. High quality Canso sweat shirt with our newest graphic on the front.

Pick one up!

After a very successful season on board the 2007 Devinci Wilson 2 bikes, it was a no brainer to stick with the bike company out of Quebec for 2008. Devinci had been hard at work creating a whole new version of their successful Wilson and it is what our DH Team is on board this race season. The team is on board the all new Wilson 4 frames with some custom love from the rest of the sponsors.

Read on to check out the fancy new rigs:

After its inaugural year in 2007, Womensworx is back this year with women only mountain bike clinics August 11-12, as well as the Gala Competition taking place August 12.

Each day, the first 100 ladies to hit the bike park will receive a free Whistler Mountain Bike Park lift ticket.

Ninja Cougar is Whistler's newest trail addition and we at Pinkbike.com along with a few Norco Factory team riders got a first hand experience of this new creation. This amazingly well hand crafted trail will take riders from just above the mid station gondola (think B-Line entrance) and will tie in to Karate Monkey.

Have a look at the Pinkbike.com exclusive pics, the three videos and the crew that has made it happen:

Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club has been lobbying and for a long time to put the dead space under I-5 in Seattle, WA. to use. Their goal is a multi-use park that will connect two neighborhoods, and offer a covered trail system.

BBTC has been working on this for a long time now. I remember reading a small blurb about their hopes for this area under I-5 some four years ago, and thinking WOW!

Tired of the same old group rides on the same old trails? Want to get out and have fun with your friends?

Then bring yourself, your bike, and your ladies out for a group ride, followed up by a wine and cheese evening. Sounds to good to be true? How about this, its for ladies only!

The relentless spring rain wasn't enough to stop Pinkbike from putting in the miles on the latest and greatest parts. For the last few months I've been trudging through the mud on DT's stunning E2200 wheelset.

It's Swiss and it's red, but are they worth your hard earned coin?

Read on to find out.....

The first of three races making up the 2008 Willamette Pass Oregon Bicycle Racing Association Series took place on Sunday, July 20th. The event saw 69 riders register for practice during Saturday, a record for pre-registrations! People were hyped up to get the mountain back from the snow. Come race-time Sunday, 76 riders were on the mountain and ready to go.

Here is how it went down.

Source: Kathy Sessler

Santa Cruz Syndicate had a great romp at the UCI World Cup downhill at Mt. Ste. Anne, Quebec today with Greg Minnaar taking the win in the men’s race and becoming the new overall leader. Josh Bryceland took over the overall lead in the junior men and placed 15th overall in elite, and the Syndicate keeps the lead in the overall team classification. Steve Peat has been on every world cup podium this year and stood in 4th position today and Nathan Rennie had a solid run to finish 7th.

RaceFace is a British Columbia based component company that has been a constant supplier of durable, strong, and well thought out quality products. Whether it's developing a new rock solid stem for the North Shore, or kicking back working on some casual wear, they are always developing something, and are constantly pushing the envelope.

The all new RaceFace Atlas FR cranks are no different, they are peeling the envelop wide open-check them out!

Only 2 Weeks Left Till VPS-Fest at Silver Star Mountain!

The clock is ticking, we're packing the truck, and the Norco staff are getting stoked . . . WHY?

Source: Simon Stevenson

Mont Sainte Anne has one of the world's best Downhill courses, high speed with some serious tech!

There was no way I was going to miss this year’s Canadian National Championships. A staple of the World Cup Series since 1994, you see it in film after film and it’s a killer part in Seasons by the Collective. Mont Sainte Anne was amazing to race against the best in the country.

Norco's 2009 line up isn't just about the big bikes for boys, they have also introduced the all new Vixa Women's Freeride bike! Developed around feed back from Norco factory rider Darcy Turenne and other lady shredders, the Vixa is here to help women push the sport on a bike that fits them right.

We can't forget about all you DJ and street riders either. Lots of refinements have been made to the hardtail line up too, so have a look at what 2009 has in store:

Dincus Crankworx Party '08 - For those about to ride, we salute you!

The third annual Dincus Crankworx Party cranks it up to 11 with live music at Whistler’s pre-eminent patio and bar.

The Hanover Freeride club has begun to put some good tread beneath itself on the Hanover MTB park.

Some of the eroded sections are being removed and the first feature has been constructed.

Here is the rider's list for this weekend's Red Bull Round Up that will take place in Chicago Town, Vancouver B.C. and up in Whistler B.C. These local riders have all been hand selected by Red Bull for a two-day bike battle, with Day One a street/dirt course built through a classic movie set, and Day Two featuring a slopestyle course ripping through the Whistler Blackcomb Bike Park.

This event also has an open call for amateur videographers to grab some dirt and shoot both days of the event. Check out what Red Bull camera man Aaron Larock has to say about the event:

Norco Bikes of Port Coquitlam B.C. chose Whistler B.C. as the place to launch their 2009 bike line up to the Media, Dealers and International Distributors. All last week you could see their new bikes ripping laps in the bike park under happy riders. I've shown you the new Empire 5, the Team DH, the Alines and the Atomik, so today let's have a look at the Shore Series, the SIX series and the 4XXXX model.

Here is a look at 2009 bikes:

A couple weeks ago FLMG set out on a week trip up to Squamish and Whistler. Check out this story to see all the photos and watch the new FLMG Webisode, the second in our summer series.

I just wanted to bring something to the attention of all the riders currently running a 2008 Dirtjumper Or Dirtjam Series fork from Marzocchi.

There is a common trend right now of "softening" forks, which is not only very bad for the fork itself but a hazard to the rider as well. Read on to see what is being done wrong and how to rectify it.

The Homecoming with Rocky Mountain Bikes – July 26

Sun Peaks, BC – Ride with one of the legends of freeride mountain biking at Sun Peaks Resort this summer. The Homecoming with Rocky Mountain Bikes happens Saturday, July 26 as Wade Simmons makes the trek to his hometown of Kamloops with Andrew Sherry, Jarrett Moore and Brett Tippie.

The other day I gave you an introduction to the Norco Empire 5 and you all seemed pretty stoked on it, so today I bring you the entire DH / Park Series of bikes. Yep the Team DH, the Aline Park Edition, the Aline and the Atomik. These bikes are built for gravity's play ground! Be it shuttle runs in the back of the truck or loading up the chair lift at your local bike park to winning WC DH events, this is your series of machines to take on that task.

Check them out!

News Source: e.thirteen
With the first chunk of World Cup races on the books, it would be easy for riders to take a break before the next run of events: Mt. Ste. Anne, Bromont, Crankworx, etc. e.thirteen athletes, however, are definitely not relaxing between World Cups. On the contrary, they are out on the mountains, practicing hard and finding more podiums on which to stand.

The weekend of July 5th-6th, 2008 marked the 10th Annual and Final installment for the World renowned Mount 7 Psychosis in Golden, British Columbia. Psychosis, which has been dubbed “the world's most demented downhill race” spans a total of 4000 vertical feet from the top edge of Dead Dog to the bottom of the Snake Run. Over the past 10 years the race has continued to grow and be graced with the presence of many notable Pro Racers including Ironhorse’s own 2007 UCI World Cup Champion Sam Hill, Tyler Morland, Santa Cruz’ Nathan Rennie, Chris Kovarik of Intense Cycles and Coves Bikes’ Stevie Smith. With every year that passes- records get shattered and bones get broken as racers continue to push themselves to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion for the sweet taste of Mount 7 glory.

Aptos is home to the world renowned post office dirt jumps. Also Aptos area is the home a hand full of very talented up and coming riders and rising stars.

I am calling out to everyone who rips post office to a photo shoot Sunday July 27th.

Setup Industries are a small team who are pumping out casual clothing aimed at the downhill and dirt scene.

For 2008 the Setup team is out there ripping up the European dirt scene, all fully togged up and styling it out.

Source:Sombrio Cartel

Kokanee Crankworx organizers are proud to announce the popular Mountain bike clothing company Sombrio as the official merchandise partner for the festival. Sombrio will be producing all the Kokanee Crankworx branded clothing including hats, T-shirts and hoodies.

Panorama Mountain village is nestled in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and home to a great family orientated getaway destination. My reason for the getaway was to re-experience their bike park and its changes over the years. My last visit to Panorama resort was close to 3 years ago, so I was more than due for a refresher.

I was lucky to be joined by the head of the trail crew Darcy Lehr and a few west coasters, Tim Coleman and Martin Newman for a great tour of the resort. Check out our day in the sun (New video attached):

The twelfth annual Bear Mountain Challenge in Mission BC went off this past weekend with 289 racers from all over coming out to take on the XC and DH events. Our own Pinkbike.com/Devinci DH team was there in full force. The skies stayed blue and an amazing event was held.

Check out the results and pics inside:

From Movie set to Mountain Top: Red Bull Round up Draws emerging BC Mountain Bikers for two-day skills showdown.

Caught in the Round Up will be videographers/editors via an open call to shoot the event and edit their own highlight clip using their own footage and/or community footage available @ http://redbull.pinkbike.com/roundup

More contest details inside:

Source: Whistler Bike Park

Whistler Blackcomb is making an unprecedented move and celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park by giving away a Bike Park pass good for 10 years. Also up for grabs is a Kona Stab Garbanzo full suspension mountain bike that can be won by simply entering online at whistlerblackcomb.com/bike.

Source: Carter Holland

I just got home from the first annual Avoriaz Roof n' Slopestyle event in the beautiful French Alps. As a rider you never know what to expect when you arrive at a slopestyle event seeing as they all differ greatly... one event will be designed with big bikes in mind and some are more hardtail friendly. This one fell somewhere in between ...

Source: Mount Washington

The Bearclaw Invitational is one of the world's most popular slopestyle competitions. This summer, Bearclaw's event runs from August 20-23rd with training taking place on August 20th and the 21st. The first free slalom to hit the racing world takes place Friday, August 22nd and the acclaimed Bearclaw Invitational slopestyle hits the slopes the day after on Saturday, August 23rd. All of the action shakes down at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island. Want to know what's going on at the event this summer? Here's the lowdown from Darren Berrecloth himself, who just sent this in from his current tour of duty in the French Alps.

News Source: John Roche
The Mayhem Festival 2008 is another action-packed 7 Day Freeride Festival at Åre Bike Park, Sweden. After 6 years of festivals, this is the final Mayhem event, so don’t miss it.

Recently Jami from Evomo clothing was doing a photo shoot and things got a little heated. Police were involved, people were arrested, but the best part of all is that Pinkbike.com has the goods on it.

Read on to figure out what happened with Evomo's Jami.

Base Camp & ZEPtechniques partner up to offer a new style of multi-week, mountain bike performance camps and instructor training courses in Whistler.

Base Camp are a long established UK company that specializes in adventure sport training, offering camps and courses all over the world in a variety of sports from skiing and skydiving to mountain biking.

Base Camp’s recently launched summer program includes one of their most exciting courses, at least for Pinkbike users and readers. The new Mountain Bike Camps and Courses are in partnership with ZEPtechniques, a British owned Mountain Bike Coaching and Instructor Training company in Whistler.

It is finally here, Bike Park BC is pleased to announce the 2008 Ultimate Road Trip winners for an ultimate mountain bike park odyssey in beautiful British Columbia.

Two “Ultimate Road Trip” winners have won a weeklong trip with their guest on either an eastern or western mountain biking tour, starting July 26th. Tours feature Panorama Mountain Village, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, and Silver Star Mountain Resort or Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Sun Peaks Resort followed by a stay at Whistler during Kokanee Crankworx.

Chris Kovarik dominates the field on Phat Wednesday, the campers clean Goats Gully, and the coaches get to test out a new feature in the Airdome!

I'm currently at the 2009 Norco Bikes launch in Whistler BC and they have a ton of changes in their line up for everyone to see for next year. I got a chance to take an Empire 5 for a few rips and wanted to share some pics of it with everyone.

Here you go:

I feel like I've been kicked by a donkey and then hit by a car...both times on my right side. Here is the story of my double right side spanking.

I spent my winter snowshoeing around the Canadian arctic, exploring for diamonds. My days where spent hiking by myself through deep snow in ridiculously cold conditions, then spending my nights hanging out in my tent flying my toy helicopter (air hogs for life!). My chopper was my greatest form of amusement and my most reliable distraction to keep me from constantly thinking about riding my bike (and girls).

July 11th to the 13th 2008 was a date already penciled in diaries almost 12 months ago for the mountain biker in the know.

In fact you can't call yourself a mountain biker until you have descended quite literally on l'Alpe d'Huez in the South of France for what can only be described as the event of the year..

Robbie Bourdon has been riding for Kona the last few years, but recently it was announced Robbie will be riding a Intense Cycle bike. Congrats Robbie!

Source: Ryan Kuhn

Saddled up and whippin’ it!

Back in the day – 2001 to be precise – Kicking Horse was a raw, untamed beast. There was a brand new gondola spanning a sparse base area to an upstart and elegant Eagle’s Eye Restaurant at 7,700 feet – Canada’s “most elevated dining experience.” It was the infrastructure of dreams, linking 3,700’ of raw alpine, sub-alpine and densely treed vertical. It was, by all accounts, a wild stallion.

From throwing no-footers at the local dirt jumps to achieving top results at the Canadian Nationals for downhill, Anne Laplante is an up and coming name to get to know. At just 17 years of age, she is fast, talented and leading Canada’s junior women to the podium. Laplante recently took the 2008 Junior Canadian National Champion title for DH at Mont St. Anne on July 13, and her time was so fast that she would have placed 5th overall in Elite Women.

News Source: Shawn Orecchio
Whether you are a competitive cyclist, casual rider or just a fan of music, entertainment and the arts, Diablo Freeride Park at Mountain Creek in Vernon, N.J., is the place to be on August 22-23. Jeep 48STRAIGHT, the largest sports, music and entertainment event in the U.S., will roll into town with some of the top professional riders in the world, backed by a full line-up of musicians and a host of social and environmental activities – all designed to empower people to celebrate and connect with the outdoor lifestyle

For the second year in a row Kirt Voreis is leading the Santa Cruz All Ride Tour all over North America and on Sunday, July 20th he's making a pit stop at Station Flats in Bragg Creek, Alberta located 30 minutes West of Calgary. Come out and test ride the Santa Cruz that you've always wanted including the Nomad, Blur LT2, Bullit, Superlight, Juliana & the good 'ol VP Free.

All was not looking rosy in the FlowMTB chalet on Friday night. Petra and Jo had just managed to get their bikes fixed by the SRAM guys, when Jem discovered his frame was cracked and Rich took out his bottom bracket only to find it cross threaded and wouldn’t go back in. Luckily Jem had come on holiday with a spare frame (these guys had a week in Verbier too so had not packed light!) and had a late night building that up. Guy offered Rich his spare Heckler, but with the late hour, and various parts needing fixing to it he decided against it. Maybe something to do with the rain…..

This past weekend was the Canadian Downhill Nationals at Mount Saint Anne in Quebec. The weather all week was really friendly and I think gave a bit of a false sense on niceness to the course. But as Mother Nature would have her way, the clouds rolled in and the water came down for Sunday's finals.

We're super stoked to say that our own Simon Stevenson won the Men's Master Expert category (for the second year in a row), while Danice Uyesugi took 4th in Women's Elite.

Here at Calgary Cycle we REALLY like bikes... we fix 'em, we sell 'em & we ride 'em... we do it all because we think that BIKES ARE FUN! We agree that everyone should feel the same way so we've got tons of bikes on sale from brands like Santa Cruz, Yeti, Devinci, Trek, Scott, Lemond and Blk Mrkt. Beginning Thursday, July 17th thru Saturday, July 19th we've got all your bases covered with killer deals on Downhill, Freeride, Street, Dirt Jump, Cross Country, All Mountain, Road and Cyclocross bikes. Be sure to stop by the shop bright and early to get in on the sweet DOOR CRASHER deals!

Source: Peter Appleton
I have received tons of emails from both Ontario and Quebec, this will be a sanctioned race in Quebec and Ontario this weekend and will hopefully lead to the 2009 Ontario/Quebec DH Challenge!

Finally the answer everyone has been waiting for....What Course??? What Course??? Well Matt Woods and his amazing trail crew have created a whole new jump section on last years Provincial Championships course, so this should provide some excellent flow at the start of the course and lead into some of the more demanding technical sections lower down.

New week with some rippers, a Canadian open update, and some big burritos.

Week 4 is here and I am pumped. Every week is a lottery of the skills of riders and which group goes with which coach. This week I am coaching with Xavi and our group has some rippers! It isn’t very often we get to take the group down Goats Gully on the first day and have everyone clean it! I am really excited to see how far these guys come throughout the week. By the end we might just be racing everything!

This is a small video I put together on local Northern Irish rider Colin Ross to get himself and myself a bit of recognition. It was shot at cave hill just above Belfast city. The interviews are more aimed at non-bikers but will give you an idea of who he is.

Source: Santa Cruz Bikes

Oh, no, not another bike from Santa Cruz...

Following in the footsteps of the Blur LT's redesign earlier this year, the Nomad is the latest recipient of SCB's next generation VPP.

The Bear Mountain Challenge DH race just north of Mission BC has been a long time staple on the BC Cup DH circuit and this coming weekend is looking to be another great race. Two days ago I went out to do a few laps with Darryl Bartlett, Dave Mackie and Fiona Taylor to see what kind of shape the course was in and Dave and Darryl wanted to do some trail work.

Here's a look at the course from a few videos shot there recently:

Kokanee Crankworx announces the largest prize purse in the festival’s five-year history. Totaling more than $70,000 in cash a prizes, Kokanee Crankworx has increased prizing for all events while adding a “Cash Grab” element to the VW Trick Showdown.

News Source: Eric Schutt
Heralded as the unofficial ‘All Mountain World Championships’, the Downieville Classic in Downieville, California has become a much talked about event. Racers compete on the same bike for both the 29 mile XC point-to-point race as well as the epic 17 mile DH course.

Need a new lid? How about something a bit different, a helmet with some unique features that you may not have seen before?

I've been rocking UVEX's xp 100 for some hot Summer miles in order to see if this German helmet can compare to more more common brands. What do I think?

Read on to find out......

Highland Mountain is in full swing as the crew gears up for the first annual Highland Claymore Challenge, July 25th-26th. Resident Pro Dave Smutok has been slaying the tractor building a progressive freeride course full of jumps, drops, wallrides, and other unique and interesting features. With option lines at every hit, including different size drops and jumps, the course will allow riders of all skill level the opportunity to have fun on this one of a kind course.

Now most of the people that read this web site go up to Whistler and ride the chair and huck off whatever and crash their brains out and yada yada yada. Well I had a different idea, the plan was to pack the car up with an XC bike and the road bike and my kayak just in case and see what can happen and it was all good.

I have not had this much fun in a while, mind you I am now quite wrecked but it was all worth it!

Race Face Components Inc., one of North America’s leading producers of high-end mountain bike components, apparel and protection, is proud to announce the re-signing of pro shredder Wayne Goss to its factory team. Signed for another two years, Wayne will continue to kill it well into the next decade using Race Face’s line of high performance components, clothing and protection.

News Source: Aaron Lutze
Wheels4Life, the charity started by mountain biking legend Hans Rey, has joined forces with Phil Sundbaum and the Summer Of Shred. Hans will be joining Phil for a Summer Of Shred tour stop in Tanzania at the end of August. The two riders will ride together through the Pare Mountains and safari through some of Africas most epic terrain.

The 2nd Châtel Mountain Style Contest, an international downhill mountain biking event in freeride and slopestyle disciplines for professionals and amateurs, with Timo Pritzel as honour guest, a €6000 prize purse together with different sponsors’ prizes, was promising a very high level of competition this year.

Here's what went down:

One of the best ways to be a part of the freeride mountain bike action taking place during Crankworx Colorado at the end of this month is to volunteer. Up close and personal to the action, Crankworx Colorado volunteers will receive this year’s event t-shirt and a winter 2008/09 lift ticket for every six hours worked or an event t-shirt for partial shift work.

Gearjammer organizer Curtis Roberts announced today that the course for this year's race is fully marked and ready for pre-riding.

“We've covered the whole course, so those who are unfamiliar with route and wish to pre-ride can follow the black Gearjammer signs from Alice Lake back to Squamish,” Roberts said.

This weekend 2x World Cup Championship Silver Medalist & Norco World Team DH racer, Fionn Griffiths will be attending the Blue Mountain Resort VPS-Fest.

And, don't forget, Jay Hoots and Dylan Korba will also be on hand to teach, guide, and mostly ride with YOU!

Come 1 come all, Drumheller Alberta recently opened their newest addition to their lift access bike parks, and prices are cheap. So come in, bring the kids, and the pets, and come enjoy the scenery.

Freeriding in Hawaii is amazing. A few of us take an hour drive down to Laie for a bit of freeride craziness session!

I would like to start out by saying that I can't tell you where this place is, but I will say that you should be very respectful when you enter Laie. If you come to Hawaii and show respect to the area then I'm sure we would be happy to show you around.

July 11-13, 2008 is the biggest weekend of the season for bike racing, river jumping, and robot dancing. Four World Championship titles are up for grabs at the 13th Downieville Classic!

The ADHRA (Alberta Down Hill Racing Association) is hosting a downhill race on Sunday July 13th at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, BC. Races don't happen on their own and volunteers are needed to help make everything run more smoothly. Those of you racing - bringing a parent, a girl friend, a boyfriend? Why not ask them to volunteer to help keep the racing scene that you love alive.

The 2009 Marzocchi line is launched and the new models will soon hit the market. For XC riders the Corsa will be the best choice thanks to the all new design and the excellent weight-performance ratio.

"Going down in Golden, BC for a Decade" was this 10th and final year's slogan. Looking back at the 9 years that I've attended this event I can't help but smile and remember all the great memories that it's brought to my life each year. Every time I pull into Golden B.C. I know it's going to be epic, be it either due to weather or because some of the world's finest are in town to battle it out with the locals for bragging rights. Year after year, the crew that comes together to put this race on is nothing short of amazing and very well organized as this is no small feat to pull off.

Here's a look at everything that happened this weekend up there on Mount 7 from our lenses, enjoy it as I know that I've thoroughly been stoked by it all!
3 videos inside

News Source: Shawn Orecchio
Diablo Freeride Park, America’s Premier Mountain Bike Park, is proud to welcome pro rider Adam Hauck to their 2008 Gravity Team roster. Hauck, a New Jersey native, has been accumulating top event finishes across the globe with his progressive spirit and huge roster of tricks

The Legion of Dirt is proud to announce the 2008 Oregon Bicycle Racing Association Willamette Pass DH series dates/information. Providing each racer with 22 hours of Gondola mountain access that is sure to test everyones abilities.

Plan for an exciting weekend event and a unique awards/raffle immediately following the race.

RASE Components, LLC announces the launch of the Black Mamba Model in the Rapid Adjust Seatpost Series.

The patented Black Mamba Rapid Adjust Seatpost instantly raises or lowers “on the fly” up to a full nine (9) inches and locks securely into place at all intervals, providing the rider with the ultimate in power and control when faced with tackling challenging and variable terrain.

The straight goods on Kicking Horse Bike Park, straight from the trail crew's fingertips.

Super Berm is now linked! The final section (section 2) of this Kicking Horse Bike Park blue run opened on July 7 to great fanfare (well, ok, two guys high fived – WoodChuck and me). Section 2 was a swamp with a drainage system more complicated than Middle Eastern politics. But one year, three machines and scads of lumber (props to Brett Soles for the cedar and fir) later it is a serpentine blend of berms and bridges. It nicely ties into the rest of Super Berm to create a very long run that has something for every skill level. I think there must be more than 40 berms, which is pretty, ya know, super.

I would have never thought 599$ in the biking world would get a complete bike that was worthy of being ridden hard. Commencal has proven my theory wrong with their marketing of the Max Max. The Max Max has been one of the most exciting bikes I've rode in a while, and it's definitely unique. Start with an Aluminum frame, stir in some rigid forks, a pair of v-brakes, and a set of wheels and you've got yourself the Max Max, or better known as "my best investment all year".

Three weeks ago, the 26TRIX unfortunately had to be canceled during the Out of Bounds Weekend because of the bad weather conditions. But the 26TRIX, as one of the biggest dirt jump competitions worldwide, will hit Leogang on September 19th and 20th again. Be prepared to see world’s best dirt jumpers battling for 8.000 Euros prize money in total.

One month prior to the fourth adidas Slopestyle that will take place between 31 July and 3 August 2008 in Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria’s ONE BIG PARK SalzburgerLand, the 600 metre long Slopestyle course is already built. A ten person freeride crew led by adiridas Joscha Forstreuter, Niels Peter Jensen and Niki Leitner has worked a total of 1680 man-hours to complete the spectacular single line course which they believe is the best adidas Slopestyle course ever.

The outdoor recreational capital of Canada (Squamish) hosted the BC Bike Race for the last 2 nights and served up the full meal deal of bountiful BC singletrack to racers. From punishing grunty climbs to “wooohooo”ing bermy downhill bliss, there was something for every rider on the Day 6 course. Some would call this the Squamish highlights tour, as the course consists of the Gearjammer and Test of Metal courses combined.

Shaums March and Marin Bikes came to town and went huge with a very successful bike skills camp.

Venture Gear of Kelowna and MTBco delivered good times for local riders. Marin Bikes brought a bunch of their demo full suspension rigs which riders of all ages and skill levels excitedly took advantage of. There were three skills camps - beginner, intermediate and advanced, and every one of them was rammed with demo rides. Following a bike fit and set up session for each rider, Shaums took the riders down Gillard's "Snakes Back" trail, a perfect choice as it is fairly mellow with a few hits to work on.

You’re an inspiration, a fighter – that’s what you do: stay strong!

The 22nd of June, 2007 went down as one of the blackest days in BMX Dirt Jumping. That afternoon, 3-time gold medalist Stephen Murray crashed in the midst of performing a double back-flip. The impact crushed his 3, 4 and 5th cervical vertebrae and consequently suffered damage to his spinal cord. Though he managed to survive, Stephen Murray professional athlete, husband and father of two young boys, is now a quadripaligic & paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Fancy a trip freeriding the best of the Swiss Alps? Get out to flowmtb’s Swiss Freeride Week, based in Champery, over the week of 26th July - 2nd August.

Right on the doorstep is the Champery world cup down hill track, the Swiss national track, plus miles of barely used singletrack. There’s also a fantastic jump park in town if you don’t want to stop riding in the evening just because the lifts are shut. Local guest riders and guides will be there to help you get the most out of the trails.

Have a look at Eric Carter shredding the Whistler Bike Park on his 2009 Mongoose Boot'R!

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C. will be the host venue of the first round of the Alberta Cup DH series for 2008. Hosted by the Alberta Downhill Racing Association and generously sponsored by Calgary Cycle (www.calgarycycle.com) the race is scheduled for the weekend of July 12-13. Running down “Super-berms” and finishing in the KHMR plaza this race is set to be a memorable event for everyone involved.

Silver Roxx is Silver Mountain Resort’s premiere mountain bike festival. This is a once a year event revolving around downhill mountain biking, with 3 main races and live music this is worth driving for. This event is made possible by using the world longest single stage gondola to access our fast growing trail system with close to 3,000 feet of vertical and miles of downhill single track to challenge any ability. Please help us make the sixth year of this event the most successful. Here is a run down of the events

The clouds parted and the racers were treated to an amazing day at the 10th annual Mount 7 Psychosis DH race in beautiful Golden BC. The full story will follow in a few days, but for now here are the top 3 placings in each catagory:

I’ve been using various Juicy’s on all my bikes for a few years now and have developed a very close bond with them. They are simple, low maintenance, reliable and super easy to bleed and in my opinion were perfect – but I guess not perfect enough for the tireless designers and engineers at Avid. I was pleasantly surprised to see Avid launch a totally new brake at the Sea Otter Classic this year – the Elixir R.

BC Bike Race repeat competitors knew what was in store for Day 5 of the seven-day mountain bike stage race from Victoria to Whistler. In fact, they’ve been eagerly counting the days to get to this stage. And new comers quickly found out what all the hype was about.

Do you love the trails on Fromme?

In 2007/2008 A Final Draft of the Fromme Mountain Sustainable Trail Use and Classification plan was created. This 174 page document described the process used to manage recreation and mitigate environmental impacts.

With a successful first week of operations, Sun Peaks is ready for you and your two wheeler! With 70km of trails and 255 features to experience you'll be busy for days!

Come see what the trail crew has been up too.

So you've got yourself some fancy new suspension for your two wheeler, but have no idea what the dials on it do? Well that is a common situation for a lot of riders out there, so last weekend I had the opportunity to do some testing to see how different set ups can effect the ride of my bike. Feel is one thing, but I also wanted to know how the set ups would effect my time on a set course so I met up with Tyler Morland, Kenny Smith and Adam Billinghurst for some freelap testing.

Here are the results and my impressions from the various set ups we tried that day-enjoy the video too!

2008 saw the launch of e.13’s range of guide rings in odd sizes, aimed squarely at the singlevspeed and racer market. But do the odd sized chain rings really make the difference and are they as ‘groundbreaking’ as e.13 seem to claim?

Here are my thoughts,

“The Arduum Challenge is back this year with a vengeance.” This was the opening line from the pre-race release. It was quite the understatement.

The top notch First Aid was kept busy all weekend.

Nick Bayliss of Royal Racing Fame is well known for his design skills. Back in the day it was "Moves" before he spent a spell working with Troy Lee and then becoming one half of Royal Racing!

He is also responsible for this little beauty..

"3-2-1 – drop in!" The Silver Star Mountain Bike Park "soft-launched" its opening on Thursday to the delight of the hundreds of Okanagan-area mountain bikers.

Traditionally the Silver Star Bike Park opens on a Saturday, but due to strong early bird season pass sales, the decision was made to open a couple of days earlier.

Source: Sun Peaks Resort

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride with one of the best in the world. Known in the mountain bike world for going big on natural terrain with his own unique style, Kamloops local Matt Hunter is returning to Sun Peaks this summer for the Matt Hunter Free Ride Camp, July 14-18, 2008.

Three O-cup DH races and three weekends of rain so far but could that dampen the spirits, no way!
In fact if anything the rain improved and helped bed in this brand new course at Heights of horseshoe.

Stop number 2 is ready to go in the 4X series and it looks like perfect weather for once this year, 24 and sunny!

Source: BC Bike Race

BC Bike Race staff showed their national pride by donning red and white garb to reflect Canada Day – the national holiday that celebrates Canadian independence from Britain. Red Canadian flag and ‘BOB’ (bear on bike) logo tattoos found their way onto many racers, staff and volunteers alike. With beautiful hot, sunny weather, why not celebrate Canada Day with a 67km mountain bike ride along the Sunshine Coast?!

Last season a young filmer by the name of Jonathan Desrosiers came to us with his film that he'd been working on for the past 2 seasons. He filmed it all over Canada and with some riders that we hadn't heard of before and others that are well known in the industry. One part that really stood out was that of Isael Cote and the massive double road gab that he does in the film. Recently Jonathan sat down with Isael and they talked about the gap and life in general, here's the interview.

While everyone else is recovering from the Independence Day festivities, come be the first riders in the Pacific Northwest to ride a selection of 2008 Norco bikes.

On the 5th the crew will be at Mt Hood, Oregon. Take the chairlift up and challenge yourself on the downhill trails or ride the smooth single-track at Ski Bowl.

By the time this article goes to print, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour will have shown the special edit of my segment from Kranked 6, “Trial and Error”, to over 100,000 people. In this film I share my instinctual feelings of concern when seeing or thinking about clear cutting a forest.

Plattekill Bike Park will feature full slate of events starting July 4th and continuing thru July 14th, 2008. First up is the 4th leg of the 2008 Gravity East Series. Racers from all over the nation will be here to test the terrain at Plattekill Mountain’s Bike Park infamous “Whiners” downhill race course. The Park will be open Friday, July 4th to pretest the course and freeride the hundreds of trails that Plattekill offers.

Source: BC Bike Race

Under brilliant blue skies and a hot summer sun, the BC Bike Race start gun fired to launch more than 400 riders from around the world into the first stage of the second annual multi-stage mountain bike event. Over the next 7 days, racers will cover stages totalling more than 550 kilometres as they race a combination of singletrack and logging roads from Victoria to Whistler.

The second event of the SDG Dirt Comp at the Hellentrails in Goirle, the Netherlands, was won by Joris Ottschytsch (MTB pro) and Sven Grieten (BMX pro). With a few hundred people standing around the course and a sun warming us up every now and then, the mood was great.

Check the results and pics inside:

The 10th annual Mount 7 Psychosis is upon us and it's gonna be a good one. This will be the 9th year that I've attended the event and it keeps blowing my mind year after year! The format for the races varies a wee bit this year but the idea is still the same-survive and have one hell of a good time and create stories you'll be able to tell your grand children about.

Check out this year's schedule of events:

"Bike course rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire."

Riders, local volunteers and Toronto Crime Stoppers have teamed up to rebuild the city's public BMX park, two months after it was destroyed by flames.

Contractors who had read about the story in the newspaper also came by to volunteer their time, helping the kids to rebuild and teaching them a thing or two about wood working. Crime Stoppers pitched in more than $1,000 for the reconstruction of the wooden ramps and to help break the barriers between police and the youth at the park.

Ever ridden the gnarly, hard packed awesomeness of the Central Okanagan? Are you planning to? Or maybe you plan a trip to Silver Star resort, near Vernon, this summer? Checking out Kelowna, Gillard, Powers Creek, Postil, or Crawford? Trying to find the remains of the legendary Gillard Road gap, or that amazing photo-op with Okanagan Lake in the background? Want your buddies to take a photo of you beneath the "Addiction" sign or a video of the Addiction wallride but no idea how to get there? We can help!

Read on - MTBco offers free membership, in exchange for just 30 seconds of your time, and your chance to support mountain biking.

Registration is now open for the Harper Mountain Drip N' Rip race.

Competitors race to the top of the mountain then to the bottom of Harper. Categories include solo racers and teams of two (climber switches off at the top with DH partner). There is a limited amount of spots open for logistic purposes so the first 100 registrants are in!

The third stop of the BC Cup Downhill circuit took place this weekend at Panorama resort, just 20 minutes outside of Invermere B.C. Over 170 racers came and enjoyed the great weather and what has also been received as a great course. Blue skies and high speeds were the norm for this year’s Mad Trapper event.

Enjoy all the pics and results:

Avid's mission in designing these new brakes was to enhance ride quality, increase power, and improve modulation. They were also able to reduce weight, improve temperature performance and reduce some noise issues with the Juicy line. The Elixir has a new, very sleek look, which is almost a throwback to the days before large reservoirs. But large reservoirs do not improve stopping power or modulation. The real trick is inside the Elixir R lever, which features Avid's all new Taperbore technology.

Get a hold of your emotions, because we’ve got another epic bike ride for you! Last year 53 amazing riders braved rain, cold, mud, and knarl and one lucky lady came up with the best poker hand to win a sweet New Years powder skiing trip at Baldface Lodge. The other 52 lucky souls were treated to fantastic swag bags, prizes, a delicious BBQ and a heck of a fun day. The event is a fundraiser for the Nelson Cycling Club, and with all the trails around Nelson and the amount of work they do, they need all the help they can get!