A big congratulations goes out from RaceFace to Rocky Mountain Team rider Chris Sheppard. Chris recently took the elite men Canadian Cyclo-Cross (CX) title, his first national title since the Canadian junior mountain bike championships in 1991. The two-plus kilometre circuit barely gave riders a moment to rest, with multiple short steep climbs, and constant twists and turns on the flat sections. While the weather conditions were excellent, with sun for much of the day – rain earlier in the week made many of the corners slippery, and a number of riders crashed as they tried to push the pace. The Rocky Mountain CX team handles their bikes through the tough conditions with their RaceFace Next and Cadence handlebars, stems and seatposts. A big shout out to fellow Rocky Mountain team rider  Evan Guthie as well, with his 5th place finish in the CX National Under-23 race. Evan has had a tough year with injuries and its great to see him bounce back with this strong showing.

This one will be a tough one to swallow.  Didn’t get to defend my title from last year, a massive crash 30 seconds from the finish line to shoulder dislocation.   Really couldn’t get any more disappointed.

Quali run

It must have been a pleasant scene to view for anyone riding the hill that day. The dirt stained a slightly darker brown from the previous nights rain. Thin clouds passing over the sky, not so much as to block the sun but to allow everything a fine gold tint. Small pink flowers brushed the green hillside and three young men wore yellow boots. It was fall at Sun Peaks.

Beyond the orange flags and black signs urging riders to wear helmets and gauge there speed accordingly lie a particularly exciting addition to the adventures Sun Peaks has to offer. Freshly sculpted mounds of dirt shaped carefully to ensure a flowing succession of big airs. No brakes, no pedals. Just shredding. This area was designed as part of the ride down the mountain but we found ourselves stuck in this section for hours and hours , riding the jumps over and over. Rushing to get the shots as if we were addled enough in our thinking that we might forget whats important to us if we don’t show others.

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This past weekend was the first DH race in the Fluidride Cup series, a race series based out of the States but for some reason the first of the five races was held in Whistler. Fine by me! I headed to Whis on Friday for my first day in the park this season, got myself registered for the race, and did a few laps on the course. The race went from Schleyer to Detroit Rock City so it was a fairly technical course, and with the rain we were having it was turning into a pretty wet and slimy ride down.

Lucky for me I enjoy the techy stuff and get my share of rainfall living in North Van (especially this spring!) so wasn’t too out of my element on the course. The more I rode it, the more I loved it! My bike was running like a dream despite a few crashes, and I even managed to get my bike a last minute tune-up on Saturday night after practice – thanks to James Downing at SuspensionWerx!

Race day was full of good energy – the rains held off, the course was drying up, and Tippie was on the microphone. I think I heard more jokes that day than I had so far this year! My race run went well – a few places didn’t go quite as planned but others went better, so all in all I was happy with how it went when I crossed the finish line. I managed to finish first with a time of 3:39 which was awesome! I was also very stoked to share the podium with fellow Canadian DH girl and RaceFace rider Katrina Strand who finished 2^nd with a time of 3:45!  Seana Wright of Port Alberni came in 3rd with a time of 3:50.

I went over to Victoria this past weekend to film for a new web video and get some photos. Saturday was perfect weather but it rained all day Sunday. So in an effort to be productive we rode some street at the University of Victoria. Here is a sequence shot in the rain by Sterling Lorence. Enjoy!

180 rail hop in the rain

Cheers,
Frankie

As 2009 winds down, and most riders minds have tuned to the “snowy” channel, I can’t seem to shake the need to get out on my bike. What is not helping is all the goods that are landing in my hands.

New Cranks, grips and chain rings... so when is the snow going to melt.

In lue of the Raceface sixC bits, coming soon I am told, I grabbed a pair of the Atlas Freeride cranks for my bike. These bad boys should hold me over until they arrive.

Enough with this gear talk and to prove that I did in fact get out and throw some laps, good friend Curtis Robinson and I headed out for some pre-Christmas hot laps of the local trails.

Wating in the rain as Nina snapped the picture. Rain left on the lense for dramatic affect.

Once I have my new wheels and a few other things I will be sure to post up some pictures of the ride.

Hope everyone has a great New Years!

Cheers!

Dan

I’ve been riding Mt. Washington Alpine Resort for years now. Each season they’ve been stepping up their program with improved features, increased maintenance, and new trails. 2009 has been no exception. They’ve punched in a few new lines and among them is a trail full of berms, bridges, gaps, wallrides, drops, step-ups, and step-downs called “Back in Black”.

With some rain early in the week followed by warm sunny weather, Ken Perras & I determined that the conditions would be supreme. We loaded up early and made the trip up from Victoria. Despite the perfect tacky dirt and beautiful fall conditions enticing us to pound laps, we managed to make some time to snap a few photos on Back in Black.

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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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Neds Practice

So the dust settles on another year of the BC Cup downhill. This year was the best of seven and what a variety of courses we saw. Every downhill course on the circuit was different from the previous and led to a well rounded series.
We started the season with the Neds Smackdown. Unusual as it sounds, this was the first time a BC Cup downhill race was held on Vancouver’s North Shore mountains. Most Vancouver riders have ridden Neds Atomic Dustbin a lot, but it became a whole different trail to ride once a race was being held. I had never seen so many people checking out lines on a trail in the weeks coming up to the event. Everyone was expecting the worse with wet roots and rock but the weather was sunny and the course as tacky as Neds could get. Neds was about staying smooth and not flatting on the rough chunder at the top, making the jumps and going hard to the finish.
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Hi!! I´m at home, I was two weeks in Canada racing the World Cup of 4x, Mont Saint Anne and Bromont.
This year, Mont Saint Anne was a new track, very funny! I enjoy a lot riding there. The final result was not very good for me, 10th, but I´m happy for be there, because I had a lot of fun and trained a lot.
The past saturday was the race in Bromont, the same track than last year, but better ground. The days before rained a lot, but the race was very good, no rain!!! I´m happy with my race, I was 7th. I made some good passes and enjoy. The 4x was long and and had a bit of everything.
My Specialized sx with all my new Race Face stuff worked great! I love Canada!!!
You can view a video of my semifinal here: