You may have heard that Miles and I are making a bike film called “Women Of Dirt.” Miles and I met through collaborating on Bones Over Metal.com. I was a fan of Miles’ work on Pink Bike. Over time our work started to be more coordinated. We started talking about wanting to produce a title. That’s when the idea of a bike culture movie that came from the POV of the women in the sport developed.
Miles grew up in Tahoe and The Big Island of Hawaii. He now resides in Hood River, Oregon. If you’ve ridden in Post Canyon, then you probably have run into Miles. The following video of Miles riding and building in Post Canyon shows Miles the way most of us know him.
There is a UFO research facility called Area 53. It was formed by a team of researchers with backgrounds in astrophysics, geology, aerospace, and investigative reporting. Area 53 is NOT a government facility. It is used strictly for research purposes (interviews, photo analysis, data collecting, etc.). I’ll have more info later…
Last weekend we attended two events. I got to Mt Hood early so I could run the DH course for Sunday on Friday. This freed me up to help Miles shoot the Super D in Post Canyon on Saturday. The national Super D champion Adam Craig won this event. However, from my observations there was something more important than who won. For the more than 100 racers, It was how much fun were people having. Unlike most DH competitions that I have been too, the Super D crowd seemed excited to just be out on their bikes having fun. Continue reading ‘Hood River Super D’
Born from the Windells Camp Revolution, comes the NW School of Freeride. The NWSOF brings the best of BMX and Freeride Mountain biking together. This video is of Ben Boyko at the NW School Of Freeride at Windells Camp in Oregon. Miles “Shovelpick” Sullivan was on hand while Ben Boyko filmed for a movie. Cheers!
Lately my ride life has been tainted with what I want to call life’s little momentum vampires. These little soul suckers come in all varieties. And they are unique to each individual. And contagious for sure…
Mine are too many to list, but have something to do with Unemployment and a site that seems to be popular, but no known EFFECTIVE way to monitize it. So, in search for a solution to these mental parasites, I called up Miles ‘Shovelpick’ Sullivan in Hood River and told him that Kim Sturts and I are coming down. You’ll know Miles from his work on Bones Over Metal (see video on this post.)
We showed up late morning and meet Miles who’d already been riding with some of the Transition Bike community down from Bellingham, WA. Miles is always good for a ride in and around Hood River. After a quick rip around the yard on Miles’ 50, we joined Anna from IMBA and headed up to the top of Post Canyon. By the time we were bouncing our way up the shuttle road my malaise was already drifting away. As long as the wheels are going round, it’s difficult for me to have a frown.
Post Canyon has it all. When you start well above Two Chairs you even get a fair amount of Downhilling. So, you’re nice and warm by the time you hit the jump lines. This works great for me, since I am just getting instinctive with jumping. That being said, Post Canyon is one place besides Whistler where you can learn to get your jump on. It’s all there. It was late afternoon, by the time we had sessioned all the way down to the bottom of Post Canyon. That’s more than 12 linking trails. Enough to call it a day? No.
This video is from a similar trip two weeks earlier.
For the evening romp, we meet up with Mike Estes, Steve Pinner and more for a couple shuttle runs down from Nestor’s Peak. This run is on the Washington side of the Columbia. It’s like Syncline, but better. By this time, my problems only existed deep inside me and all I wanted was vertical. Their was no limit.
This last run dropped 3,000 feet over six miles and is fast. FAST, I tell you. Old school singletrack that can be ripped as fast as your nerves will allow. The kind of fast that has you yelping and hollering to the guy up in front. We even got Carl Warren to put his camera down and join us. (This is why you see very few action shots in the following photos.) It was good to see Carl have fun.
By the time, we sat down for beer and pizza in Hood River it was dark. My soul was put back together. I felt that inner glow that we all know as our relationship with the bike and the dirt. The perfect threesome. But, just to make sure that it would stay that way for awhile, we did it all again the next day. Yeah!!!!
Check out Carl Warren’s Main Gallery for more from around Hood River. Carl lives on the Washington side of the river.
I traveled out to Boise and met up with Anna from IMBA for the Ride On event at Eagle Bike Park. I showed up earlier and stayed later than Anna so got in quite a bit more wheel time than her. We spent most of our time waiting out the rain, because it does dry rather quickly once the sun comes out, but it seemed like as soon as it got dry enough to ride the rain would come back. Bad luck I guess, because I hear that doesn’t happen that often this time of year. So we’re planning on making another trip back to cover the race that has been rescheduled for early next month. Meanwhile, enjoy this short video that I came up with on the fly.
Photos by Anna Laxague Article and Video by Miles ‘Shovelpick’ Sullivan
Miles ‘Shovelpick’ Sullivan goes back home to Hawaii over the break. Along with his friends from back in the day he puts together this fun and sunny freeride video. Check out the video as the latest Channel One podcast. Continue reading ‘Shovelpick Goes To Hawaii’
Red Bull Rampage: The event that started it all, and it’s back in a big way with a new venue just across town from the first one. They traveled the world to find a new spot, but nothing compared to the sick terrain of beautiful Virgin, Utah. So after 4 years sabbatical, this groundbreaking event returned home for another round of insanity.
Practice days had Cedric Gracia and Robbie Bourdon busting some of the biggest lines first. Cameron Zink and Kyle Strait cut their own unique double drop line that got them both into the finals. To see video and read more about Miles’ trip … Continue reading ‘Red Bull Rampage: The Evolution’
The season is over. We have come to the end. The master clock has stopped ticking… blah, blah
I don’t know about you, but I can’t get racing out of my head. The competition was getting better. The courses were dialed. The fun was not done! Alas, the final Fluidride Cup race had been run. The series’s final rankings were known. The best riders had won.
Bart McDaniel set a standard for us all. He won again and broke the virtual tie he had with Lars Sternberg in the overall placement. Lars took third in this sixth race. Luke Strobel off the World Cup circuit took third. Eric Loney and Charlie Sponsel laid down some sick times to take fourth and fifth overall. I look forward to seeing these two as Pros next year.
Bart McDaniel did it again! He narrowly beat Lars Sternberg by 2 seconds in a combined time for two runs. That’s cutting it close. Nathan Riddle and Simon Lawton were back a small step in 3rd and 4th respectively. Another honorable mention is Jared Hobbes, a semi-pro rider, who took 4th overall. It was a great weekend of racing. With so many riders tightly together in the overall points, many duals are set for the last weekend. Bart McDaniel and Lars Sternberg are virtually tied a top the pro ranks. This scenario is replicated through out the classes. See you all on the 26th and 27th of September. For video and more story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #5′
Sunday’s lesson came in the form of a rain storm. Everything we had practiced seemed doomed to be irrelevant. Saturday was dry and fast, Sunday threatened to be fast and slick. Even if you stuck your line, it seemed that you’d quickly go down. However, the riders who won, ran the same race in the wet as they had practiced in the dry. The word is that Bart McDaniel’s time from the qualifying when it had just begun to rain, was the same for the finals when the course was drenched. So, the lesson is, “Ride the rain just like you ride the dry.” For Video, Photos, and More Story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #4: Port Angeles’
At this years Crankworx there was yet another new event on the mountain for folks to enjoy. It was a marriage between the huge, fast action of last years 4x, and the tight, flowy party of dual slalom. Giant Bikes stepped up to the alter and produce the two races the Giant Slalom. For Video and Story Continue reading ‘The GIANT Giant Slalom’
This year the Kokanee Crankworx took notes from its Colorado counterpart and put a best trick comp into the mix of the infamous week-long mountain bike festival. And it was more than just big tricks and bikes we were treated to a handful of brave kids on their bikes throwing down some of their best tricks out of their quivers. At stake was $6,000. $3,000 for each different section of the boneyard they were riding.
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