Whistler Bike Park is open and my downhill rig is READY!

Thanks Race Face!

2012 Norco Aurum with full Race Face build in the house at Fanatyk Co Whistler!

Now. Time to shred!

-Leishner

If there was one trip I was most excited for all winter long, it was the road trip to attend the ‘Race the Ranch’ BC Cup in Kamloops. The ‘Loops’ is magical- I’ve only previously ridden the Loops once, but I vividly remember standing at the top of the Kamloops Bike Ranch (KBR) and being blown away by all the booters, big mountain lines, and single track in every direction I turned too. This time, I would do Kamloops properly; Friday off work, Harper Mountain, scouting, and Rio Escondito all in the cards….. oh yeah, I guess I was there to race as well! Lets back up a few months…

This winter did not go to plan. After returning from 4x World Champs in Switzerland, I took a much needed two months off to attempt to straighten out old injuries. I got back on the bikes in November hungry as ever and the stoked level immediately went through the roof. I was training, actually I was freedriding/ dicking around on my old 20′s, at Joyride150 in Markham, Ontario, and smashed myself pretty bad. A few stitches and a sore wrist were the immediate outcome… A few weeks, a couple days on the slopes, a couple rides, a couple doctors, and a couple xrays later, turns out my wrist was broken and a good recovery was only a hope! Needless to say my season was on hold and I was super bummed/ depressed. I finally found a specialist to help me out and when April rolled around I was given the great news that I should recover. I would need a couple month to get my ‘race finesse’ back, but it was game on and the Loops would be the kick start to my season. I decided I would skip the DH race, but focus on defending my Dual Slalom win on my new ‘Loaded’ Cove Hooker (gold and black= so bling!), and go out and explore Kamloops for all it was worth!

Unfortunately they cancelled the dual slalom the week before and so I was in a predicament. The DH race course requires pedal fitness, something I was definitely lacking at this point in my recovery, and I wanted to check out everything the Loops had to offer. Racing DH would mean keeping focused and conserving energy all weekend. Fuck it, I decided to do both.

   

clipped in, semi slick high roller, number plate, ready to race, but even more stoked to be freeriding!

We rolled up on Friday and immediately hooked up with Muddy Productions and CBC Photo and headed up to Rio Escondito. Wide open, fast, big booters everywhere= pretty damn unreal! Afterwards we checked out the DH course and followed that up with a session of the KBR jumps with some locals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many perfect jumps in such a small space. Superfun, and great start to the weekend!

Saturday consisted of some DH laps on the race course and a photo shoot at the KBR jumps. The track was running quite a bit better this year and it remained very straight forward. 5 laps would be enough as my legs started feeling pretty tired from all the freeriding. I suddenly switched to race mode. No more freeriding and lots of rest until the race was over. While I was not as fit as I should have been, I knew that I could do well if I put something together as many of BC’s top riders were down racing in the USA.

last practice run of the day in my new RF Canuck jersey!

Race jitters got the best of me as I had to throw a foot down to save a near crash in the 2nd corner of my race run. With this type of track, it’s one mistake and you are out of contention! I ended the day in 6th, less then a second to 3rd knowing that I would have easily been there without that mistake. I wasn’t too bummed as the #1 goal this weekend was to have fun and to do lots of freeriding, something I definitely accomplished. My first BC Cup DH podium will have to wait until the next round… Congrats to local Chayse Marshall for the win!

Emptying the tank into the finish line

I didn’t think it would get much better then riding Rio on Friday, but little did I know what I was in for.. I convinced the boys to stick around for a Harper lap and a late drive back down to the city on Sunday after the race. Actually, it totally wasn’t worth it, the jumps were tiny, the trail was slow and akward, nobody had fun, and we rolled back into Vancity around 2am. The boys were pissed! …….

Next up, a trip down to Port Angeles, USA to ride a real DH track. One of my favourite places to race and a good test of DH skills and fitness.

Until next time, happy trails!

If you haven’t been before, you have to go – but make sure you go in the spring or the fall. Who needs the desert in the middle of the summer or the winter? Not me, that’s who. I shipped off with a crew of absolute shredders to Utah for the past two weeks and had a fantastic time. The town of Moab is set up for mountain biking in a huge way and it’s pretty affordable to stay there for a while (and trust me, you’ll want to after your first pedal on the Slickrock trail).

There are other photos floating around but I thought it was worth it to throw in the couple of iPhone shots we gathered along the Porcupine Rim trail (a 10, 000 vertical foot descent!).

Porcupine Rim Cactus!

Best day ever.

The bike park opens tomorrow and the Whistler Strength in Numbers premiere is tomorrow night! It’s finally summer here in Whistler and you can feel the energy everywhere you go. Bring it on!

-Leishner

Few days ago I had my first in life experience with motocross bike.
The feeling was a bit scary at the beginning but today I think only this,
when can I go back..?

Sad about this weekend was, that we went fishing, and got nothing, nothing at all
Ok, something – if you count a 2cm fish “something”

This week we have our own, Estonian first race of the season in Vooremäe
And I must tell you, that I am very excited and waiting to race at home

Please take a look at the Video, and you can get a glimpse whats going on
in Estonia, Tartu&Vooremäe

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/257492/

WoofWoof

Check the link below for a nice video of the Race Face supported Rose-Vaujany Gravity Team tearing up the track at the second stop of the new 4X Pro Tour in Poland. Big congrats to Katy Curd who took the win in the woman’s event!

http://bike-channel.tv/film/rose-vaujany-gravity-team-4x-polen

Confidence sums up what I have taken away from the first MTB race of the 2012 Season. The Iola Bump n Jump this past weekend was a fun mud fest, but my bike did not fair well in the area of going FAST…

Lining up for the season opener I have never felt so calm and ready.  Usually there are some anxious jitters and second guessing about where one stands. Once I got to the line Sunday I felt completely collected, knowing exactly what the task at hand was and the tools I brought to the table.

The main reason for this is the new coach, everything he has said would be in place is observable through experience in riding/racing and in the power data.  Another reason is Mid-West Racing has shifted from being a main focus to a semi-focus.  My highest priority right now is to do well at Pro XCT’s and World Cup races, with secondary focus being on the Mid-West events, being the WORS races and Triple Crowns (Ore to Shore, Cheq. 40, Iceman).  So coming into the race I was looking for a win while keeping priorities straight.  We lightened the training load a bit this week, by about 7-10 hrs, but I still came in with 18 hrs in the legs for the week and in the middle of a base period. 

Feeling fresh and ready on the line Don said goooooo! and up the first MTB climb of the season the pack went.  I was pretty passive for my style and it was obvious people were HUNGRY for the front, but the goal was to observe the front while staying in contention.  I made sure to be in striking distance of the lead and sat about 5th-6th wheel, with the plan of getting to at least 2nd wheel by the 1st or second single track without killing myself.

GO TIME!

Race Start Video

Even with all the rain, I did not think the course would be too bad.  Iola is a sandy course, there might be a bunch of wet spots and slippery mud, but not peanut butter right?….OH WAS I WRONG.  In hindsight the front of the race was the place to be, I can usually ride anything as long as the way is clear, but the mud made for a whole lot of traffic. 

First traffic Jam Video

After the initial split up in the main mud section of the course Matter, Mark Lalonde, and Isaac Neff had a small gap.  This point of the race was very telling of the new tools I am bringing to the table this year.  You would think having to chase would be demoralizing, but in years past if I fell off pace in these familiar sections of trail I would be drooling over my handlebars, hanging on for dear life just to get back in contention…not this year.  I set what felt like a high-tempo pace with the lead still in sight, never going red in the least bit.  The lead was coming back and it felt fairly easy to pull it in, huh that is different… Confidence +1.

Chill Start

Start of Second Lap Video

Going into the second lap my plan was to go to the front and stay out of trouble AKA dismount traffic, but soon as we started climbing the gears started skipping.  Each time through any mud section it just got worse and worse.  Now I know everybody had issues with this in the mud, but I got ears and I got eyes, it would be like 1-2 clicks for people around me putting down full power afterwards and just riding away.  On the other hand with every revolution of any REAL torque I would lose half my pedal stroke.  Neff, Matter, and Lalonde were away again through the mud and the clicking was getting worse and worse…so while I am thinking there is no way this is just MUD, Matt Shriver came up on me while I was stopped checking for a stick or something jammed in the drive train, nope just MUD!  Rode a comfortable pace with Matt for the rest of lap 2 while managing the gears going crazy.  Starting the climbs going into lap 3 I could see the shattered lead group, we were reeling in 2nd and 3rd place, but Matter looked like he might already be out of striking distance in 1st.

Going into the giant bowl I took the inside line and tapped the brakes a bit too hard, made for an awesome 20 ft. slip n slide experience, but Shriver hit it hard while I got going again.  I crawled just about back to his wheel before the mud, but by this point my gears were all but done.  I fell back to 7th place this time through the mud sections, getting on and off continually with gears crunching and skipping every 1/4 a revolution now.  Thoughts of pulling the plug and not breaking my bike started rolling through my head.  Somehow I mentally found a happy place with my wasted efforts going into each pedal stroke and began reeling in 6th and then 5th place.  Going into the last lap I could see Mike Phillips just around every corner and salvaging a podium spot was just enough motivation for me to put up with hammering through every incessant twang and crunch of any gear I attempted to make work.  At one point I remember finding that bouncing my body into each pedal stroke as much as I could up “the wall” climb would at least keep the traction going while gears slipped surrounded by running lap traffic racers and Phillips in sight galloping up the hill as well.  I actually brought back a ton of time on that section.

I closed the gap to Phillips by the last quarter of a lap and I knew it was a game for the 1st one into the second-to-last section of single-track.  Prior to the finish at Iola there is a wide open 1/8 mile section leading into a very rooty section of single-track, then a short burst into open 2 track and then single-track pretty much to the finish.   Barring any big mistakes the 1st one into those roots should usually win, given they have at least half a match left to burn afterwards.  

It was obvious Mike thought the same and into every open section he was going full throttle to the next, there was no way I could come around with any sprint effort skipping the gears over like crazy.  It definitely had me concerned about getting past at all before the finish with all my torque/gear issues.  I started waiting for any mistake at all, in the single track or wide open, to take the lead and GO!  It got kind of crazy with lap traffic, we were zig-zagging all over the mucky trail jockeying for position, dodging people, into trees, into branches, you name it!.  It was really fun racing!  We came out into that 1/8 mile and we hit it hard! I skipped over a few gears, but once I got the wheel spinning Mike bobbled a tad and I took the opportunity full gun to the finish for the last spot on the podium…

Finish Line/Checkin the gap

Salvaged Podium

In the past I would not fair so well or keep my cool in these kind of situations…again Confidence.

This was not the result I was looking for, but sometimes racing is not about meeting the expectations of every specific race.  This race had much more to do with yearly progression goals.  The seasonal expectations were we well beyond met in how I felt, how I managed, and how I mentally persevered through the race.

Usually I walk away from a less than expected result with my mind scrambling for what I could have done different, and what I am going to do better, how I am going to train harder...

Sunday I walked away with no regrets or new plans, just Confidence in where this season is heading.

Post Race Interview

In 28-29 April we finally started our downhill season in Baltic States.
Ooh, it felt so great to have the excitement again. I missed almost the whole
past season because of the several injuries and this was a great start for this season.

I had a bit of tough luck a week before the race, had a little injury again.
The same leg that was in gyps and made all the trouble for me in last season. But this
time it was not so bad and after a week off riding, I could race. Not jump or do something
crazy, but good enough to take a part of the race.

In the end I won the race with surprising time, gap between 2nd place was 9,72 seconds.
I was so lucky I could dance..

In that weekend I was not the only happy racer. My team mate Paul Raid took the first place in Junior group.
Also he won the Style Jump contest

and for the bonus, his time was good enough to win the Men Elite class.

So with all that positive emotion I wish you all the same and see you soon

Triinu

Allan McVicar is a name that mountain biking never heard enough of and for the past couple of seasons probably heard nothing at all. His photography of other Kamloops locals was basically the reason I felt inspired to start working with photographers in younger years. And I’ve been fortunate enough to spend enormous amounts of time collaborating on different images with Allan, but for the past few years he hasn’t been around much.

He must have been missing mountain bike photography to the same extent as I missed working with him, or at least that’s the impression I got when he started uploading older images to Pinkbike.com recently. Since he has started uploading all these images titled as “the good old days” he has been gaining a lot of exposure. A few photo of the days, full screen shots on front page articles and images boosting views exponentially. It seems like all that positive feedback has Allan stoked on shooting again and I don’t really have words to explain how excited that makes me.

I also feel like it’s pretty bad ass that although some of these shots are from as far back as 2006, I still had a bike kitted out with Raceface parts. Back then it was all about Diabolus bars cut to 26inches so X-ups were easier and Evolve DH cranks so I would never have to worry about bending them.

Brett Tippie sometimes reminds me, “THESE, are the good old days,” and often times I have to agree. But these photos from “the good old days” certainly represent some amazing times too. Personal milestones and memories I’ll never forget.   And with the amount my phone has been buzzing lately, bearing excited messages from Mr. McVicar, I can’t help but feel like the good old days are still to come.

My new fun maker!!

When all there is to do is ride your bike in the Sea to Sky! I’ve been trying to get in as many hot laps as possible in Pemberton and Squamish while we wait patiently for Whistler to melt out. Whistler Mountain is now closed for skiing (and ski patrolling) and I’m entering my favorite time of year right now. The trails in Pemberton and Squamish have been in amazing shape and I’m off to Utah this weekend to change climates and scenery for a shred trip to Moab. The Whistler Bike Park opens in only a few weeks!

Pemberton in April.

-Leishner

Ps: hopefully you’ve checked out the Canadian DH Girls “Fill in the Holes” on pinkbike.com. Between that and a couple of double pagers I’ve had with Strand in magazines like MBR and Wide Open, I’m pretty pumped for what’s coming up this season. Stay tuned!