I wish I ran my steer that long instead of cutting it. It's nice to be able to adjust your bar height to whatever the course would need without having to have a slew of stems.
Giving bikes to the winners of competitions never really makes sense to me. Sweet, he got a downhill bike for winning a race on his own downhill bike. Or like when Casey Groves won that Kona Stuff. Can't they assume the winning competitor doesn't need a bike suitable for the competition they just won?
Amateur racers don't get paid so they get bike parts, frames, or complete bikes. This is all thanks to the event sponsors. Even though he is sponsored by Giant, I'm sure he was glad to get that bike, as with all the money he got from parting it out. Diablo Freeride Park probably offer the most and best rewards out of all the events happening in the US.