Well it’s been a supremely busy summer at Casa Chaos (otherwise known as the Tippie/Fenton household). Brett was busy announcing a bunch of MTB events, such as some BC Cup races, the Redbull 5000 down, doing daily webisodes for Crankworx, doing over 50 (!) interviews at the World Championships at Mt. St. Anne. Not to mention other events such as Rocky Mountain days at Mt. Washington etc etc. The best on a professional and personal level was his induction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame during Interbike this year, along with his fellow Fro-riders, Wade Simmons and Richie Schley. It was a funny, emotional, and very proud moment for us.

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Well the last few weeks I would have to describe as pedally.  I’ve spent quite a bit of time on my road bike and xc bike, putting in some miles and giving my legs something to talk about.  More importantly, I finally made it back out on my DH bike after what seemed like forever.  My shoulder has been holding me back for a little while now – injured my rotators a few weeks ago and have been trying to let them heal up since.  I was hoping to be back in the saddle and ready to go by the Canadian Open but no such luck.  I rode a couple of days in Whistler during Crankworx to test it out and knew pretty quickly that I wasn’t quite there yet.  So it was back on the xc bike for me…

Bryden and I headed out to Squamish and spent one of those very hot days pedaling up hills on the Test of Metal course.  That course isn’t really the funnest riding around but it definitely makes you work for your milage and we were both feeling ready for a workout.  So we spent a good 5 1/2 hrs riding around sweating… it was fun in that hot sticky kind of way.

By the time we were done the sun was setting and we were happily exhausted.   Not quite the adrenaline rush of the Canadian Open, but a great day nonetheless!

Congrats to Michal Prokop for taking the gold at Crankworx in the Giant Slalom. Michal tamed the fast track and world class field, taking out Danny Hart in the final while sporting RaceFace SIXC Handlebars and other RaceFace hardware. Check out Michal at the next World Cup in New York and the Worlds in Mont St. Anne.

Another big shout out to Remy Absalon on taking the title at the Crankworx Enduro. Remy took on the amazing course and world cup class field and pulled away on his RaceFace SIXC bar and DEUS crankset. Remy told me after the race that the SIXC bar ‘is the perfect handlebar’, I really cannot disagree with Remy on that one! Good luck to all our riders as they push through the final races of the season and head toward the MTB Worlds in QC.

Wow !   Another Blurry week of Crankworx has come and gone !

I did a little Racing myself, Garbonzo DH,  I passed 5 guys and ended up 6th  Air DH I caught up to the Guy ahead of me at the beginning of Hornet and he panicked and creeped through that section so I ended up 10th.  Between that and Working with the Bern and POW guys all week I did get out for a photo shoot which was super fun. Check it out !

Now the european MTB enduro season have started and the first races was good. This year, I ride on 2 championships : the Enduro Series and the Maxi-avalanche Europ Cup.

The season started very well for me because I won the 2 first Enduro Series in Métabief and Allos. I won too the 2 first Maxi-avalanche Europ Cup in Vallnord and Samoëns.

But the first objective of the year is the Megavalanche in l’Alpe d’Huez. A nice event : 2000 riders, 1 week of ride and the longest downhill marathon of the world with a mass star on the snow and a finish 30km after. Regrettably, I fell on the snow and can restart only in the last ones. The victory flies away and I can finish only to the 4th place. That’s a pity, they are the uncertainties of this event. It will be for a next time…

 This weekend finally, 3rd round) of the Enduro Series in Vars ! Beautiful spot, beautiful enduro tracks and one stage by night with lights, wonderful ! I led the first day but broke my chain the 2nd day, I can finish only 2nd. I lose the possibility of taking the general. But I took lots of pleasure to ride in a very nice spot !

 Now, I thus concentrate on my coming in Canada for the enduro of Crankworx. I have never been to Whistler, I am sure that it is terrible!

This summer was one of my best summers period.

I spent the seemingly endless blue bird days riding one of the best new bikes for 2010, a Proto Rocky Mountain Flatline WC on various cool objectives. SOooo lucky. I again took my jumping and overall riding to the next level… Life was amazing!

Crankworx was ramping  up to be the highlight. I was in Whistler the week before coaching for Andrew Shandro and his Summer Gravity Camp, fun fun! I was going into Crankworx feeling fit, riding strong and jumping big. Crankworx if you have never been is always a good time, so many great people roll into town for a fun filled week of riding, competing, hanging and tons of socializing. It is kinda like the mid season gathering sandwiched between Sea Otter and Interbike!

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Its that time of year when it feels like our holiday season is winding down, but in reality there’s still a long way to go.
Crankworx has been and gone, Eurobike is over, Interbike is on the way and most of the 2010 product has been released, leaked or flaunted in all its glory!

Here at BBB we still have another 25 guests to welcome and showcase Whistlers riding to before our shut down date of October 4th!

Between now and then however there are still a couple of events to round the season out. Westside Wheelup and the Cheakamus Challenge two Whistler classic XC races. Interbike is on the cards for me this year – my first time to Vegas baby!

So, we still have a good deal of riding to get done. We’ve somehow got to fit in all those “trips that never were” into the fall months.
We still have last minute season end bookings coming through almost daily – I guess like me, our guests aren’t happy to lay down their bikes for the winter in submission to the media’s suggestion that 2010 is already here!

Now, even with all these plans to finish off 2009 with a bang, its hard not to be excited about 2010 and what it has in store. We have Frankowski in town filming for his new project ‘Life Cycles’ – a movie who’s teaser will simply blow your mind! (go check it out at Vegas!), Raceface have their new SIXC stuff, Scott USA have the new Voltage FR, and DT have some uber pimp new wheels, how are we expected to focus on what’s left of ’09 as opposed to what’s to come in 2010?

Now, if only Raceface did some ski stuff – maybe i’d be as pumped about the winter as I am about next summer!

Crankworx this year was a blast! I rode my ass off at the beginning and the middle and did a whole lotta interviews and on camera reporting for webisodes the whole way through. I got to interview Shaun Palmer, Sam Hill, JS Therrien, Brian Lopes, Leigh Donovon, Micayla Gatto and Miranda Miller just for starters. I did a standup comedy show in front of 1000 people at the Deep Summer Pro Photographer Shootout and got in a food fight with Lopes. I did a photoshoot with Sterl down The Khyber Pass with the Race Face team and a media ride for Rocky and the new Flatline WC with 5 trucks full of writers and photographers. I stayed out late and got up early. I rubbed elbows and socialized as hard as I could. Ah, it’s good to be back!

Here’s Crankworx day 1 through 9 courtesy of Whistler Creek Productions:

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At this point in the season I have just one question on my mind, where did summer go? It seems like summer just stopped by to give me a high five, “sup Bro?” and then got outta town as quick as possible. I’m actually excited that summer is out of the way now but it really freaks me out thinking of how fast time is moving by. Soon fall will come with lots of cool weather and rain for us, so all the amazing riding will be restored.
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