Pinkbike: The Mongolia Bike Challenge

When I first set foot in the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar the idea of travelling to Mongolia had only been a reality for roughly fourteen days. I had agreed to photograph the Mongolia Bike Challenge at the encouragement of my travel partner and Videographer, Darcy Turenne, after exchanging only a handful of Facebook messages with the Race Director, Willy Mulonia. I had no idea what to expect, but knowing that I didn't need any vaccinations to enter the country somehow made me feel surprisingly confident about the trip. I had also received advice from those who had gone before us; photographers and videographers who have all documented the race previously were sure to tell us about everything they experienced from the flash floods to the lack of toilet paper, and especially to beware of the fermented horse milk – it is for sipping, not chugging. The most valuable piece of advice, however, came from Aaron Larocque who said, "if you want the experience of a lifetime, you should go." 

More words and photos here. 

Pinkbike: Exploring the Kootenays

Take six people, some of whom have never met, and put them on the road for a week of big 'Kootenay' rides, close living quarters, and beer sampling at every stop, what happens? They form a travelling family that is full of laughs even when the going gets tough, the sun gets hot, and the tires go flat (over and over). Our trip took us, along with the Mountain Biking BC contest winner, Jason Wright, to Rossland, Kimberly, Fernie, Nelson and Retallack. We played with foxes in the woods, drove through thunder storms, drank margaritas, and stayed off the grid. We braved the rapids of the Slocan Valley and got some of the earliest tracks on the Peak to Creek trail, not to mention that we almost won at 80's music trivia in Nelson. There is a good chance we also bought too much homemade candy in Kimberly, but that was really an unavoidable inevitability. 

The photos below capture just some of the highlights from an area that is rich in history, mountain bike culture, and community. As a group we feel lucky to have experienced the balance of the warm welcoming people and rugged, natural trails. And of course we can't wait to go back!

Check out the photos here.

Pinkbike: Parenting With Ronnie Renner

Words like ‘veteran’ and ‘superstar’ are often thrown around when describing Ronnie Renner, and they should be; he set the world record for a step-up on a moto in 2007 when he hit the 35 feet 6 inch mark. And the following year he set another world record when he sent it 59 feet 2 inches off a quarterpipe. So when I sat down to interview him at Rampage this year I wasn’t expecting the topic of conversation to focus on parenting rather than his motocross career. But as Ronnie explained, “I’m at that point where I’m realizing my kids are my legacy.”

Read more on Pinkbike.com

Pinkbike: Behind the Rampage Trophies

I know Jeff just well enough to know that he is brilliant and, like most geniuses, probably a little crazy. When he told me “I feel like I am a messenger,” I braced for what I was expecting to be the convincing dogma of a, not yet recognized, new religion. And, because he is charming, I would join. In actual fact what Jeff had to say was much more practical and sane, “if you can’t be the one jumping off the cliff then you can still be the one helping design the thing to jump off it with.” As the machinist and the creative mind behind the Red Bull Rampage trophies, he wants the next generation to understand that they can find ways to pursue their own skills and still have a hand in the bike industry, like he does. If you drink his Kool-Aid, you will see that these are the people who will progress and evolve our sport, perhaps more than the athletes who are pushing the limits currently. 

Read more on Pinkbike.com 

Pinkbike: The Godfather Speaks

The Godfather of Freeride, Wade Simmons, tells us about what Rampage was like back in the day, offers some advice for the next generation at their new site, and explains why he isn’t old enough to go back to Utah yet. 

In contrast to the heavily marketed, cyber-accessible, airspace-navigating event it has now become, the first Rampage was ‘grassroots’ and existed in a time without social media, texting, or live-streaming. “Things were different then,” says Wade “there was no official invite, we were a small community. The organizers just got all the guys together to ride who they thought would make it out alive, and put on a good show.” As with the current roster, in addition to the expected freeride names, there were also racers at the event. Wade explains that there has always been a little competition between racers and freeriders, “racers hate freeriding until they are forced to retire, and if they still love riding their only option is to become a free rider.”

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Endless Biking - Where have all the ladies gone?

In 2007, Kelli Sherbinin created the EB Chickas Downhill Race Team and spent a season travelling to local races around BC with eight other women. This is twice the amount of ladies who raced in the BC Provincials Race in Golden this year. With a continual decline in attendance on the local downhill front for the ‘fairer sex’, it has left us all wondering, where have all the ladies gone?

A quick look at overall attendance in BC Cups between 2010 and 2013 shows a slow and steady 20% decline in downhill racing; however, the 2014 registrations reported a small but promising 4% resurgence of participation in the sport. Looking at women’s attendance, specifically at the Dunbar Summer Series - some of the few DH races offering equal cash prizing for pro men and women - the participation in women’s categories has decreased 40% since 2011 without any sign of making a comeback. 

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Canadian Bacon

“I had seen photos of the place and I had lost my mind, just completely lost my mind.” Rookies on the Norco team in 2001, Mike Kinrade and Darren Butler had their sights set on this new big mountain contest; Red Bull Rampage. With a simple phone call from a friend to one of the organizers, they were both granted entry. Since then, Mike has been in attendance at every Rampage, taking in the changes and challenges over the years as both he and the competition have matured and evolved. 

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Behind Deep Summer with Paris Gore

If you have not yet seen Paris Gore's second place winning Deep Summer slideshow from Crankworx this year, do yourself a favour and click here. In delving into the behind the scenes of his project it is clear that Deep Summer is much more than shooting photos. In fact the contest is more about communication, planning, ethics, team work, and simply surviving without sleep the longest, than it is about pointing a camera. Paris' crew, that included Kenny Smith, Kevin Landry, Jackson Goldstone, Graham Aggasiz, Kate Holden, James Doerfling, and a host of other support people, spent three days intensively shooting, riding, and waking up before the break of dawn. Read on to find out exactly how unglamorous but completely worthwhile the experience was, why Jackson does not always need his own bike to make the shot, and exactly what it takes to get a killer super moon image. 

Read more.

The B-Side: Sidelined

When, as a mom and a wife, Marilee decided that she needed something just for herself, she found mountain biking. It provided her with an identity outside of the home. As Marilee fell in love with riding, she introduced her then four year-old son Jake to it. The pair rode a loop of hills, roots, rocks, and berms year round – even in the snow. It helped them form a close and unique mother-son bond, a strong relationship that would help them survive the break up of their family and would continue to span many years and many bikes. Three years ago, after a failed shoulder surgery, Marilee discovered that she would never ride again and is now assessing what a life without bikes means to her. 

Read more.

Pinkbike: The Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge - Chrystal Viper Five Cinco de Die-O

Last Thursday night Crankworx hosted the Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge and crowned a new Queen and King; Caroline Buchanan and Barry Nobles. Adam Billinghurst and Kenny Smith make up half of the team that has built the track for the last five years. Possibly suffering a little with hangovers and definitely having spent too much time together over the years, Kenny makes a good Statler to Adam’s Waldorf. 

Within an hour I had learned everything I needed to know about kangaroo hunting, Kenny had been fired twice, and I had stopped the interview when I started to learn a little too much about the twosome. 

  How many years have you two been working together on this?

Adam: Too many. And by the way you’re fired. 

Kenny: Good. 

Adam: We’ve done it every year together. It has been me, Kenny, and Gunner, Chester has been there for four years now. 

Read more.

Pinkbike: The Purple Haze of Provincials

After a few dry, but chilly, days of practice the sun finally came out and scorched us on Sunday at the Western Open/Provincials this past weekend. While flesh obsessed black flies that swarmed like repellant was a pheromone, the Dunbar Cycles crew taped the course on Thursday morning. By Friday racers were slowly arriving for practice laps and the camping areas filled up while the lift lines began to stretch as far as five people deep. Tippie's voice rang out across the land, or at least over the mic for Saturday, and it really started to feel like a race weekend!

Read more. 

Pinkbike: The Road to Provincials

The week between the Silver Star BC Cup and The Western Open (Provincials) has become a bit of a road trip tradition full of bad ideas, riding, and general shenanigans. No one has ever died, but this year we narrowly escaped serious injury from flying go-kart tires, excessive amounts of sushi, falling trees and lightning strikes. We competed in the Summer Championships which are totally made-up, have nothing to do with bikes, are very official (completely unofficial) and extremely competitive. Only one could win but many would eat giant balls of wasabi for randomly assigned points. The winner had to show prowess at go-kart racing, mini golf, and bowling. Bonus points were allocated for consumption small green balls of death at all you can eat sushi and the reward came in the form of a much sought after and forever cherished plastic gold medal and the sweet satisfaction of earned bragging rights. 

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Keeping the Momentum

The last time we all assembled at Silver Star Resort was for FrostBike back in March, when we headed to the mountain on Saturday morning the temperatures didn't feel all that much different. After driving through a hot and smoke filled Kelowna where the city was desperately fighting forest fires on Friday, the torrential downpour the next day was a welcome relief for everyone but the racers. Most found that the course was slippery with some tackiness in surprising areas, however paying attention to the wet lines while dialling in their practice runs that morning had little value as the sun was out by noon and the course was nearly dry by the end of the day. Unfortunately the weather was as unpredictable as Britney Spears during her head shaving years, and the wind came up; course tape billowed, trees threatened to fall, and only part way through the timed practice runs the mountain had to shut the lift down.

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Endless Biking - Kids These Days

This could be a story about how mountain biking saved Eric (Lornny) Lawrenuk from a life of professional rollerblading, but instead it is the story of someone who found mountain biking at an early age and has used it to shape his path in life. 

If you have ever met Eric it is clear from the start that he has the right mix to be successful at anything he sets his mind to. Dedication and skills are only half the equation of being great; it is equally as much about who you are as what you can do. And it is clear that Eric has a strongly developed sense of self. Following in his older brother’s footsteps he experimented with hockey, skateboarding and rollerblading before finding mountain biking. Biking is where he stopped following and set out in a direction that would define his individuality.

Read more on pinkbike.com.

Pinkbike: Machetes, Chickens, and Bike Checks

Barra de Potosi is a small Mexican fishing village tucked into a nook where an expansive lagoon meets the Pacific Ocean. As with any area dependent on the commerce generated by fishing, there have been years of financial struggle for the people who live there. The Red Cross rebuilt the village after a Tsunami all but wiped it out in 1985. Since then, the community has proven resilient against international developers, global warming, pollution and many other threats to their way of life. 

Read more on Pinkbike.com

Pinkbike: A Wolf Amongst the Sheep

Some names have been changed to protect the innocent and unfortunately not-so-innocent.

Last month local police executed a warrant for a home in a middle class neighborhood in Vancouver; they were searching for stolen bikes. The house belonged to a businessman, his wife and children - your average nuclear family. Nothing stood out about the property, a well kept house with a nice car parked in the driveway, that would alert you to any wrongdoing within. Next to his kids' pedal bikes in the garage hung the owner's mountain bike, next to that police found roughly $20,000 of suspected stolen bike parts.

Read more on Pinkbike.com

Pinkbike: Endless Biking - Mother Huckers

No matter how passionate you are about riding, having a child changes your world. It changes how you do things, how long it takes you to do things, and most importantly, how much you do for yourself. 

At one time in your life you may have looked outside to a sunny day, grabbed your bike and headed off for hours of riding without a care in the world. Days like that feel like a distant memory when you are trying to get out the door and your child is having a meltdown. You are almost always late by the time you make ten trips out to the car, are confident that you have everything, the tears are dried, the pouting has subsided and a suitable distraction found. Technical climbs and rocky descents used to be the hardest part of the ride, but now simply exiting the house leaves you exhausted. 

Read more on Pinkbike.com

The B-Side: Death and Tacos

I spent much of last year with my head deep in bikes. I rode bikes, photographed races, organized the BC Bike Race, and wrote a column for Bike Mag; it was an amazing year where a biblical Crankworx and an Apocalypse Now-esque Red Bull Rampage, on behalf of Pinkbike, were just two of the many highlights. Over the years, my social circle has become very two-wheel oriented; when I was not out riding with friends, I was making plans to go, or meeting new people with the same passion. Mountain biking has slowly infiltrated every part of my life, even to the extent that my work and personal time blend together around events, parties and contracts. But then suddenly, it was all gone. 

It would be three months before I finally pulled my bike out of storage and started to think about my new column with Pinkbike again; now 90 days overdue. The only problem? I would not know if I liked riding bikes anymore. 


Read more on Pinkbike.com 

Pinkbike: Endless Biking - The Roots

Endless Biking is celebrating 10 years of building riders, as part of their celebration they are sponsoring ten articles that revolve around the fundamentals of their business; bikes, community and learning. 

The roots of Endless Biking push back beyond their inaugural camps in 2004 to the early 90’s and days of riding in hiking boots and chasing buffalo on borrowed bikes. Raised in non-mountain biking families, Kelli and Darren, owners and operators of Endless Biking, both still remember the moment that riding came into their lives and the profound change it brought with it. 

In Nelson, British Columbia, Kelli remembers a purposeful adventure on borrowed bikes into the mountains that made her both want to puke – on the climb – and feel the spark of addiction – on the singletrack. Immediately she began to dream about the feeling of being a kid again and it was not long after that she got her very first bank loan and purchased her very first mountain bike. 

Read more. 

Pinkbike: Race Report: FrostBike Finals 2014

Racers woke up yesterday to a powder day, loose track and freezing temperatures. Despite a frozen generator for timing and the course markings obscured by the new snowfall, the event started on time and ran smoothly. Standing at the start line, racers looked like they were dropping into a snow globe as the flurries of new snow continued all day. Most came in hot to the first berm during practice, kicking up snow as they got a foot out in time or didn't. Resort staff skied down the track in intervals to pack down the snow and by the time the race started everyone was used to the new conditions and the times were fast with some racers even boasting clean runs!

True to a grassroots event there was nothing but fun with crowd approved grandstanding, good-natured heckling and plenty of Tippie jokes. Even mechanicals and crashes that often warrant angry adult tantrums at the more serious races where embraced here with laughter and head shakes. More that anything, FrostBike gave us the chance to get in some pre-season practice, see our long lost racing friends and drink beer. 

See more on pinkbike.com 

Pinkbike: Practice Makes Perfect, Right? FrostBike 2014

With temperatures low enough to make Farley Mowatt proud, this year's FrostBike course is a little faster and a little less treacherous (only a little) than the inaugural event last year. The crew at SilverStar Resort worked hard to prep a course this year that has not only provided a little extra challenge and fun in snow, but with below freezing temperature, has kept the ruts to a minimum, speeds high, and with some smoothing out overnight, the berms feeling luge-worthy. 

Check out more photos on pinkbike.com