Loonie #17 - Apres at Earls

The Earls Loonie was well remembered from last year, not only for the course but also for the rocking apres they put on!

The course was exactly the same this year with the winning time a couple of minutes quicker than last year... proof of the progression ;)

So as a brief overview... Rainbow Park, Westside road, climb to Danimal, Whip me Snip me, Old Binty's, Bob's Re-Bob, Emerald Forest, Gravel pit.

After the finish in the gravel pit, racers made their way over to Earls for the BBQ and beer. A steady stream of riders (and somewhat disapointingly non-riders) made their way through the rapidly growing food and beer queues. Beer was being delivered by a plethera of lovely young ladies who were only too keen to see the dwindling beer mugs topped up. We managed to luck out on the spot to stand and I don't think I held an empty cup all night. Earls was super busy but spirits were high, not just from the race and beer, but also from the fast approaching 'Sing for the Samurai' event.

There was an open invitation for WORCA members to sing kareoke to a song chosen for them. There were few willing to partake but stakes were high as race numbers are limited and one sold at auction last week for £350!

One of our riding buddies big John Minton had been out bid on the auctioned race place last week so after a few beers and some gentle encouragement, decided to try and embarass himself and sing for a spot. Now, Johns not the most musically talented so he went with the rewritten lyrics trying to apeal to the judging crowd's creative side.

He did pretty well and overcame his stage nerves with some loud 'shouting' but got through relatively unharmed.

The real Samurai's looked on no doubt wondering how their race had got to the point that people would destroy the classics in order to be able to suffer for 2 consecutive days of racing Whistlers toughest trails!

Ken Quon Mermorial ride

Last year one of the Wild Willies ride guides died on trail of a congenital heart defect, in short, he passed away whilst on his bike and was riding in the clouds before he even touched the ground.




The memorial ride is dedicated to raise funds for the Whistler emergency services to help them be better prepared for incidents they respond to out on the trail.
This was the first annual memorial ride and if by the looks of the fantastic turn out from all sides of the riding community, it will be a long standing date for the diary.
There were families with chariots, the lycra clad elite, groms, young kids just off stabilisers, the regulars and a whole lot more.


Wild Willies and the IGA Marketplace put on a great event with Old Tom in full swing on the PA and funny as ever!

Loonie #16 - Fairmont Chateau

This weeks Loonie was the the highly anticipated black tie event hosted each year by the FAirmont Chateau Whistler. Another fantastic turnout with somewhere in the region of 400 riders signing in for the race. There was a strictly enforced mandatory ride to enjoy the apres and ride they did. There was a whole range of dress up going on at the start line with many of the town turning out in their best frocks - no kidding...!

Up at the start were the usual lycra warriors looking for the win and the prizes on offer. Why bother dressing up when there is a weekend in the Chateau up for grabs!



Not only were there prizes for the race winners, but also for the best dressed. This years best dressed couple was well desererved.


The course was pretty fun this week. A rip around Lost Lake Loop through to the Chateau climb that has many of the locals shuddering at the thought of riding up due to its close association with the 24hr event race and it being the final climb of the lap, down the Magic park, down the Merlins steps, back into lost lake, up Peaches through the No Horses links to Jelly Roll, up Hooktender, Molly Hogan and finished at Lost Lake park.... phew.. long course but smoking times set by the winners!

As always, a big thanks to the sponsors, Fairmont Chateau and Cross Country Connection.

Loonie #15

This weeks Loonie was put on by the boys over at Ticket2Ride with the food and beer provided by the Crystal Lounge and the Old Spagetti Factory.

It was a wet few days before the race and the rain had stopped before the off. The course was a a good choice through the lost lake trail network taking in trails such as Pinocchios furniture, Centennial, White Gold traverse and Peaches and Regalia.
There was a spin up the bike park and down Heart of Dearkness just for good measure.

Dave Birch was looking to make ammends for his wrong turn into Emerald forest last week that undoubtedly lost him the Time Trial win! He took second this week behind Matt Ryan.

Dale at Tyax Air was giving away a float plane trip to the Chilcotins too which was eargely awaited during the prize draw in the Crystal Lounge.

The food was spot on as Rich from T2R will no doubt agree.

Whistler guest movie

We had the pleasure of accommodating more return guests a few weeks back, one of whom ended up breaking his colar bone the week before he was due to fly (he broke it riding 'street' too)

Anyways, James ended up coming out on his holiday more than aware of what he would be missing out on which in most peoples shoes would've been an absolute killer. James was super upbeat the whole time and I don't just mean all week as he and his buddies were with us for 18 days! James ended up being official camera man of the trip and shot literally hours of footage up on the park and on some of the valley's trail network. All said and done, he had a pretty good time!

Cheers again for a great holiday,

It was a lot better than what I thought it would be.. From my point of view haha! I'm back riding pretty much now, still get occasional arm ache, but not any serious pain or problems, and I haven't done any street riding since. Although I was pulling no footers and 1 handers off jumps yesterday!

All of us would rather be in Whistler right now though! Seb is going back to Germany tomorrow too.

And I have completed the video, well the Teaser anyway, just over 2 minutes long, heres the link; Whistler Video

Let me know what you think!

Kind of a Sad song but more of a reflecting song on my part of what I missed, but still was great. You can expect the full video over the next few months.

Cheers,

James.

Scott Spark revealed on BM

Finally, a full picture of the bike that we are itching to get our hands on for next seasons riding and racing! We have only seen the detailed imagery before from Adrian at ScottUSA as there has been a North American media embargo on the full bike, but Bike Magic have revealed images of the Spark that Thomas Frischknecht will be riding next year.
22lbs built up for a 110mm travel full susser! Sweet jesus!

Pinkbike Weekender

Simon and Fiona, journo's from Pinkbike were in our neck of the woods as part of their BC riding roadtrip and hooked up with us for a days riding and a night in the 'extra' chalet that we took on for July due to our Crankworx demand and obligations.

Check out what they have to say about the shuttling in Pemby and what it is that we offer on Pinkbike

Rainbow Heli Biking trip

We were fortunate to have another fantastic set of guests in the chalet last week, they were here to ride and ride they did. Having been here for 2 weeks they got to ride a large amount of the technical trails on offer in the local area including a day riding the best of the technical XC in Squamish and of course the ultimate shuttle day - a heli drop!

Mark and I went along for the ride and what a morning it was. It was changeover day for us and we had set a relatively early departure time so were were riding to a tight time schedule. That didn't affect the trip at all though as we still managed to take in the stunning scenery and take plenty of photos on the way down.

The trail was super buff for the most part and quite different to the snow covered conditions when we last rode the trail back in October (Final Ride - '05)

We were all riding XC/AM bikes with Mark and I on our Carbon Ransoms, Charlie, Julie and Malcolm on Giant Reign, Trance and Specialized Enduro respectively and what perfect bikes to be on. I have to say that the heli biking trail really should be ridden on smaller bikes as opposed to big DH rigs as the environment really warrants appreciation which is something that seems wrong from inside a full face helmet and full set of armour whilst ploughing through everything on a 50lb bike.

Listen to be becoming a purist, next thing you know I'll be preaching the virtues of a ridid singlespeed ;)

Awesome day, stunning views and a big thanks to the Freeride Guides for letting us take a turn up there!

Loonie Race # 14 - Piñata fun

Having missed the last Loonie due to the Scott Industry party we hosted at the chalet, we were all set to make the most of this weeks course and apres put on by he Beet Root Cafe (formerly Auntie Em's). Once again Slope Side Supply did a great job of setting up all the timing equipment and software required for the only Timetrial race of the Loonie season and we all even got mini race plates - a significant improvement over last years masking tape and marker pen solution ;)

There was even a 2 minute time bonus on offer up one of the short technical climbs off cardio hill.

The course took in some pretty new single track and some old favourites including Upper Beaver Pass into Bobs Rebob and finishing at the gravel pit with a quick spin through the first section of River.

The course was pretty tough going but when I finished I was a pretty happy 5th... I sat there for a while chatting and watching the other riders come in with many progressively knocking me further down the table. Have't yet seen the final results to know what the overall results were but there was a new kid in the #1 spot!


The Apres at Auntie Em's/Beet Root Cafe was a little sparse on the food front but in no way lacking in entertainment! They had made a huge Beet Root shaped Piñata and each of the top spot finishers were invited up to give it a good whack with a variety of implements ranging from a brush to a toilet plunger, even a real beetroot!
I think everyone left full of endorphins after a good giggle at the evenings festivities!

Photos as always by our resident paparatzi cyclist Joern at Insight Photography.

Fi'zi:k Saddles

Marks tireless work over Crankworx and his fantastic upbeat attitude towards the people he spoke with over the festival, not to mention Adrian from ScottUSA's never ending links into the major industry players, resulted in the beginnings of an extremely exciting new sponsorship hookup with Suzette from Fi'zi:K saddles.

Saddles are a funny thing! I looked around for a long time for a new saddle for my Ransom but actually being able to try everything out there before buying is somwhat tricky so ultimately I went with what I coul dlay my hands on that suited a price point and a weight point and ended up with something that was more comfortable than what I had before.. but a saddle that still gives me a few problems in a few areas.

My DH saddle was actually a road saddle that eats through even the toughest shorts and does not lend itself well to those moments when you simply have no alternative that smack you googlies into the thing.

Suzette hooked all of us up with their Nisene HP saddle, I took the descision to put mine on High Octane, Mark's on his Ransom. I think it looks spot on an dI'm definately saving space on my Ransom for their flagship Gobi saddle.



I have actually had my eye on a Gobi for ages as the whole thigh issue has been what I have noticed from previous brand saddles. All being well, the Gobi will do exactly what it says on the tin!

I'm actually looking forwards to my next pedal into the park in perfect comfort ;)

Thanks Suzette for your support.

Tourism Whistlers Official Mountain Bike Holiday Member

Bear Back Biking are Tourism Whistler's only Mountain Biking holiday provider member. In short, we have been recognised by Tourism Whistler as a deserving company fit for affiliate membership with the organization!

This means that they feel that we offer a significant benefit to the promotion of Whistler as a summer resort destination and that we complement all of their other members.

Great news and a big thanks to Heather at TW for understanding and believing in what we offer to the resort and our guests.

BBB industry Party

Crankworx saw the invasion of Whistler by a vast majority of the industries major players. We took the oppostunity to host an industry party on behalf of our key sponsor ScottUSA as a way of returning the fantastic support that they offer us throughout the year. Adrian Montgomerie, Soctts Marketing dude wanted to get as much of the right industry, media and pro's in as he could so we set about planning a well orchestrated gathering at our flagship property the Black Bear Lodge.

The party was by invitation only with guests arriving in Style in both the WCFG's uniquely pimp shuttle van and the even more PIMP ScottUSA 4 wheeler. Once at the chalet guests were plied with beer, cocktails, food and good company with Scotts '07 kit on display as eye candy. Suzette from Fi'zi:k Saddles also was on hand to display their great range of saddles including a rather furry hide jobby.

A big thanks to all of out attending sponsor companies including ScottUSA, Crankbrothers, RaceFace and Fox Racing Shox. Not to forget those sponsors who couldn't make it to this party including Kenda, DT Swiss, Magura, E13, Lake Cycling and Dakine.



Also making an appearance were ScottUSA's team riders: Lisa LeFroy, Timo, Kyle Ebbett, Katrina Strand, Max the Chocolate Lab, Kyle Jameson, Adrian Montgomerie and new boy and all round nice guy Mike Hopkins.