All About Gravity Mountain Biking: Freeride, Downhill, Dirtjump, Urban and Trials
August 19, 2008 Published by Shovelpick.
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.
Spaniard Andreu Lacondeguy and Brit Lance McDermott snapped up the top two podium places at CrankWorx Slopestyle 2008 with some of the tricks that captured wins for them in European comps.
Whister local Brandon Semenuk rounded out the podium.
Lacondeguy captured the attention of judges with a double back flip followed by a slew of other stunts on a course that virtually everyone, from riders to media pros, agreed was flowier and perfected for tricks.
Whistler arrival time: Sometime after 3 AM Saturday morning. Mental state: Delirium. Actual time that we started sleeping: Around 5 AM. Wakeup time: Probably way too early.
Since that time, I’ve:
Chatted with Doug from Corsair Bikes (and anxiously awaited the prospect of demoing their Konig).
Scored some insider information from Lance McDermott about his plans for the comp as we chatted inside the fabulous Monster industry lounge located mid-course, which will be perfect for periodic escapes from the heat.
Learned from one of the Monster guys that the actual forecast temperature is 37 Celsius (that’s about 104 Fahrenheit for you Yanks), as opposed to the 35 Celsius forecast I heard. Argh. Looks like I’ll be scoping out shade in the Monster lounge and elsewhere on the course between now and 9ish tonight.
Spoke for seconds with Cam McCaul, who seemed hell-bent on getting up the hill to initiate course domination.
So Whistler Blackcomb is at it again. They bring us the most diverse gravity bike event of the year - Kokanee Crankworx. Gee Atherton wins the Garbanzo DH. This race is one of the longest Downhill Races in the world. It rained to make an already grueling track that much more difficult:
“We practiced on dry trails well before the race, so when the rain came, it changed everything,” says first place winner Gee Atherton. “You had to pick new lines and just go for it.”
Gee Atherton (UK), grabbed first with a time of 14:20.4; second place was Sam Hill (Aus), with a time of 14:37.8; third place went to Marc Beaumont (UK), with a time of 14.44.6 and fourth place went to Dan Atherton (UK), with a time of 14:50.0.
“This was not an easy track to begin with and the weather made it even tougher,” say Sam Hill, second place in this year’s Monster Energy DH. “I had a crash in the middle of the course and one of my shoes came off, I had to stay strong and keep motivated to make up the time.”
The top rider in the women’s category was Rachel Atherton (UK), with a time of 16:48.9; Fionn Griffiths (UK), took second place with a time of 17:25.1; Denise Uyesuqi (CAN), took third place with a time of 18:32.7; and Whistler local Rebecca McQueen took fourth with a time of 18:41.9. On a note close to home, Seattle’s own Joy Mutoli placed 9th in the pro women. Way to go Joy!
For the second year in a row, and by “popular demand” Kokanee Cranworx on Saturday held the Dual Slalom. The up and coming racer JD Swanguen beat out many more seasoned racers. The course was technical and damp and according to Stacy Kohut, “the weather really forced the athletes to be conservative to stay on track.” Nico Vink took second. Chris Herndon of Decline/Team America took third ahead of his teammate Cody Warren. In the Pro Women Anneke Beerten took first ahead of Rachel Atherton. Fionn Griffths finished third and Kathy Pruitt was fourth.
Closer to my home in Seattle, Luciano Worl took 2nd in the Junior X. Watch for him! Brad Tibbs and Clinton Fowler both took 4th in their categories. You can watch them featured in our video on the Fluidride Cup DS here.
Sam Hill comes back and beats Greg Minnaar to take the Bromont WC DH. In similar rain drenched conditions to Mont-Sainte-Anne the same world cup racers found themselves at the top on the stack. Luke Strobel coming back from a broken wrist had a tenth place finish. This made him the highest placed US rider.
The following photos of Bromont and Mont-Sainte-Anne are provided by Keith Valentine at Phunkt.com
Check it out for more photos.
For Results and More Continue reading ‘Bromont World Cup’
Last weekend’s Silveroxx Downhill Mountain Bike Festival at Silver Mountain, ID was a blast! On tap were two days filled with enough high-speed gravity action to satisfy any adrenaline junkie. On top of that, it was a great time to hang out with friends from the other side of the state who I only get to see once or twice a year — and to meet some new folks too. Continue reading ‘Silveroxx’
Saturday DH Update
Greg Minnaar takes the the Mont-Sainte-Anne Downhill for the men. This is his first win at MSA, even with a foot dab in the rock garden that knocked him sideways, threating to take him down. Minnaar was thrilled as he took the top box in the podium and the series lead in points. In second by 1.73 seconds was Sam Hill. Gee Atherton, Steve Peat and Fabian Barel complete the mens podium. The top USA finisher is the young upstart Aaron Gwin in ten place. He’s definitely a story to watch.
For more story and video Continue reading ‘Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup’
Saturday and Sunday Racing
A small storm came into the area Saturday night and made the course more interesting for the expert racers. As the day went on, between pro and expert practice in the morning, the ruts began to show in the muddiest areas of the course. The flat, slightly up hill root section became even more impossible to navigate (see my comments below to learn how they messed me up in my race). But in the end, the racing was fabulous and the competition was stiff.
When the pros raced on Sunday, the rain threatened again, but held off and everyone got an equal chance at winning. Well, almost everyone. I counted at least 10 flats. Geritt Beytagh won by two seconds over Cody Warren. They were the only riders to break 5 minute mark. Geritt had a great week, coming in second to Eric Carter in the Dual Slalom. Duncan Riffle was third, Curtis Keene fourth and Ryan Condrashoff came in fifth. Everyone agreed that the course was a brutal mix of gnar and peddling. Kathy Pruitt flatted so she was unable to revenge Melissa Buhl for her loss to Melissa in the dual slalom. Marla Streb got second by only 2.9 seconds. The rest of the pack was way back and included Dawn Bourque, Darian Harvey and Allegra Burch.
I’ll follow this up in the next few days with more photos and a video. Off to Mt. Saint Anne for the World Cup.
Sunday’s Results:
Bryn Atkinson got 1st in the Pro Men Podium. Lars Sternberg was 2nd, Bart McDaniel was 3rd, and Luke Strobel was 4th. Sunday wasn’t as hot, but it was still quite toasty and the dust made it worse. But there was racing going on, and that meant everyone was having fun. Even if they were crashing. Download Results
These Photos by Dawn Brent
Silveroxx, Idaho - details
July 19th, and 20th - 2 day festival
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, BC. - details
Sunday, July 13th. They need volunteers, badly. Contact Steph Grassi
Fluidride Cup #3 - Mt Hood, Or. - details
July 12 and 13th.
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