It’s funny how the trail goes by. Blurring past out of focus, occasionally reaching out to us with the scrape of an overhanging branch or the splash of a small puddle. We exercise delicacy but often times we fail. We roll and we smash our way through the forest oblivious to the many insignificant details lining the trail. If it isn’t an overturned rock or a jagged stump threatening to toss us aside then it really doesn’t matter. A little bird hopping from branch to branch, the stick that fell onto the corner, the rut that nearly sent you over the bars. Those are the things I notice. The lines gone wrong and the elegant accents that make the ride a pleasure.  The steep chute you didn’t think you were going to hold on through, the corner you blew off and the tree that brought you to an abrupt stop shortly thereafter. We blast past the good and the bad and the black and the white, and remember little of the in-betweens. When we reunite with friends at the bottom of the trail we celebrate. Exaggerating the points that blew our minds and made our smiles, speaking quietly of the sketchy moments and what we will do to avoid them next time. We talk of all that went by and why it was important and why we can’t wait for the next trail. Almost before the trail is through we are already looking on to the next.
 

The year 2010 is over now. I think its funny how that went by, comparable to a blur. I sure got scraped and splashed a few times. And I find it enjoyable to look back on all those steep rocks, the threat of the storms and the narrowly avoided disasters that continually present themselves. But I am carrying forward with reckless abandon. I am cornering hard to the right, tires tight rope walking the border between traction and explosion. Decisions, people, long windy roads. They are all behind me now. Burning in the dust that lingers along a well ridden trail. My right hand is brushing through a wet shrub as I feel the tires grab the dirt once more. The corner still bends right, but my eyes are focused further ahead. Scanning for treacherous rocks, narrow trees and nasty little nuggets that may line the trail. Looking forward with great anxiousness to the new opportunities, new adventures and whatever else the trail has in store for me. 2011 is almost here. Another year, another trail.

So I have links and promos to all my sponsors here except for the biggest one who really makes all of this possible…so below is a song from my wife Lindsay.  Without her I would not be a fraction of the man I am today.  She truly is the strong pillar in the foundation of my life, she exemplifies Proverbs 31 and her commitment to me has sharpened my character like no one else.  I love you Lindsay and adore these last nine years of which I do not know what I wasted my time with before they came (Anniversary Dec. 29th).

We have been trying to put together an actual album for years, but we have only managed some good rough recordings…just no album…hopefully we can find the contracts for both Lindsay and I in the coming year .  This one is by far my favorite from her, she played it at Kyle’s memorial.  It was written a couple years prior and was the product of one of the hardest times in her life.  One of those times when you ask God all the really hard questions, cool thing is, God answers.

For those who want a race re-cap on the Iceman footage and have not already read it, you can check my re-cap here. Of course it is all fueled by Powerbar.  They make hands down the best all around nutritional performance products out there.

My favorite on the bike.

These seem to assimilate into the blood stream much smoother for the high intensity sprint-sports like hockey and are now my personal favorite on ice.  They also go over much better with the players on the bench.  What is with all the Raspberry?… I guess it is just on my radar lately.

Huge thanks to Marty Tank on the video edit!  I gave him very little quality content to work with…much more on the way for 2011.

I have written a big long Snooze about Christmas, but decided to let this speak for itself and simply sing a few  songs of remembrance.

Uncle Joe, my wife Lindsay, cousin Joelle and a few friends made these a couple years back.

The crescendos on this second one are amazing!

This is a racing blog so ummm update on that is simply…total training hours this week=19 hrs and rising…

On July 14th after sliding out on a landing I went head first into a tree stump. On July 19th a doctor took a bone out of my hip and used it to repair the two vertebrae that the force of my crash knocked out of place. On July 24th I was released from the hospital and started on my journey back to my bike.

The first couple of days in the hospital I wrestled with the idea of riding again and was not sure what the outcome would be. Once I got home and inspected my bike I knew that I would ride it again.

I lent my Banshee Scythe to Banshee Team rider Paul Genovese, I built up a Banshee Rampant as a birthday present to my brother. Being surrounded by bikes on a daily basis did not help my rehab. I was dying to get back onto a bike. In October I decided that I would see how difficult it was to ride a road bike. The first night I think I did maybe five kilometers and was in a great deal of pain for the last four. The joy of being back on a bike was like a drug and I could not stop. I did ten kilometers a night for the next four nights. I over did it and literally slept for twenty hours. My body was telling me not to push it.

Fast forward to the beginning of December. Everyday my back was feeling better and I was getting fatter. Walking and the occasional road riding was not doing it for me anymore. I slowly started riding some downhill trails and pump tracks. Doing my best to keep my wheels on the ground. Then last weekend my front wheel slid out and I jumped for soft dirt, fell down and rolled out of it. I got up and felt great, no out of the ordinary back pain, just the regular every day pain.

My goal from the beginning was to jump again on Christmas day, but as a birthday present to myself I started jumping on the 19th. I could not believe how great it felt. It has been a long road to get here, but everyday I look forward to another ride, to riding with friends back home in Canada and spending a summer in Whistler with the Camp of Champions.

I have to thank my mom and dad for supporting all of my stupid decisions and taking care of me when I break myself. My brothers for putting up with me in good health and in bad. To Aaron, Ryan, Strahan, Mike, Alan, Paul, Nic and the other guys who put up with my nonsense on a daily basis. Jay and Keith at Banshee, Mike and Gavin at Spank, Rob and Marcel at Race Face, the guys at IXS, Eva at Pacific Cycles, Ryan and Curt at GEAX and …

Wear a helmet, Keep Riding.

Rob Dunnet

Vancouver Island is the best. Went out to do some shooting with Brian Park today. Doesn’t get any better than riding in t-shirts in the winter.

I am now a month and a half into my off season training, which has been going very well, and I am very excited for next years racing as it will be my first year competing in the full Canada Cup series and Canadian National Championships as a junior.  Last month I attended the first of three Cycling BC DH team training camps.   It was a very cool opportunity for me, and the testing was pretty intense.   The purpose of the camp was to get a baseline for our fitness level, so when we return in February they will be able to track our progress.   We also learned some stuff about recovery strategies and strength training.  

Last weekend I went out with a local photographer, Brett Wildeman, and got some pretty cool photos. You can check them out below.

Check out this sweet Stoke Contest vid from Ryan B ripping up a sweet Fromme trail with the best of the best- Mr. Wade Simmons. Then head to Pinkbike and enter to win some nice gear. Get your stoke on!!!!

Over the past few years I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with some amazing visual artists, AKA photographers. I wanted to share some photos I dug up in the dusty old memory banks of my laptop. Most of these photos never made it anywhere sadly, some are just ones I randomly took, but I love them all.

Thanks to all these photographers! You bring out the art in us all.

Check out more here PS: You need to be logged on to facebook for this.



Check out more here

Ryan heads to Kamloops for episode 9 of his stoked series…



Don’t forget to enter to win great prizes over at Pinkbike