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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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. 


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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. 

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