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.
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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.”
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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