Hello Everyone!

I (Ben Kaufmann) Just finished up with a good 3 and a half week tour out to the central western side of Canada for some Craz-E-Crew Stunt shows. Pretty exhausting but fun with the 3 to 4 shows a day at 20-30 minutes each. All that riding and driving almost the whole 7000 km round trip from Ottawa, I feel it all has hit me harder than being jet lagged! All together the trip was amazing! We stopped in every town or city we were able so we could ride the local parks and street.

The tour brought us to perform shows in Mattawa, Ontario, Longlac, Ontario, Red Deer, Alberta, Strathmoore, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan. We got to ride some pretty awesome stuff along the way. We all had the pleasure to ride Millenium Skatepark in Calgary, Kenora, Ontario`s Skatepark, Winnipeg`s Fork`s Skatepark, Strathmoore`s Skatepark, Sudbury, Ontario`s Dirt Trails, Street in almost every town we were at. The team had tons of press coverage for the shows we performed and here is one of the article interviews I had with the Red Deer Advocate.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort

The Western Open Downhill – Update

25 Days to RACE DAY, party lo-down, course cam and more . . .

August 3, 2010, Golden, B.C…. With only 25 days to go the Western Open downhill race at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort the final details are dialed.  This month’s race update includes the announcement of the Saturday evening shake down, a link to the course cam, this month’s pre-registration prize winner and more.

And the winner is . . . .

SE Racing, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and Calgary Cyclepath have teamed up to build a sweet pre-registration perks program.  All racers who pre-register online at cyclingbc.net are entered into a monthly prize draw leading up to the race.  This month’s winner is Jessica Huntington from Sechelt, BC.  Jessica has scored a new set of Knee and Shin pads from 661 and will be able to claim this Calgary Cyclepath prize at the registration desk on race weekend.

A new prize has been drawn every month leading up to the Western Open.  However, if you have not won, the best is yet to come with the grand prize draw for the Spank Puff Frame happening at the pre-race patio shakedown on Saturday August 28^th. 

The Party . . . .

Big Rock Brewery, Peaks Bar & Grill and the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort events team have teamed up to ensure that everyone will have plenty of fuel and beverage options at the finish line over the course of the weekend.  The patio will be rocking over all three days of the event with the shake down party happening on Saturday evening after training.  The Big Rock Brewery Untapped connection is please to present Urban Divide on the main stage on Saturday Night.  This 7 piece Calgary based funk band is sure to bring a vibe to the plaza on Saturday night.  Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/urbandivide.

The course . . . .

The race will be run on the Pioneer Race Course and running and estimated 2.5km length, 300m in vertical and average run time of 4 minutes.  Course preparation continues as the Kicking Horse Bike Park trail crew has been inspecting the run and making a couple smaller tweaks to a few spots that the average rider might get a little squirrely.  A few smaller berms have been added to the mix along with some other smaller changes.  All racers are encouraged to check out the recent chest cam of the course, run by our own Black Crowe. http://www.pinkbike.com/video/148024 He told us he took it slow so everyone can check out the line options.  Note: the official finish line for the race will be between the two lifts, not over the stunts known as Bert and Ernie.

The schedule . . . .

Volunteers . . .

It takes more than two humble race organizers to bring together an event this big, hence the shout out for additional volunteers for the race.  Marshals and first aid attendants are needed to help ensure a smooth race weekend.  All volunteers will receive a bagged lunch, t-shirt, bike park tickets, refreshments at the Saturday evening shake down and of course entry to a huge pot of prizes.  Drop Jordan a line at jpetrovics@kickinghorseresort.com.

The Racers Skinny . . . .

Registration and Fees

• $50 for most categories if pre-registered by Sunday August 15th on www.cyclingbc.net
  • Kicking Horse Mountain Resort will be extending a special lift rate for all racers
  • Two 4 One / Saturday & Sunday for the price of a one day lift
• There will be a $10 late registration fee for all registrations after August 15th 2010.
• Early bird registration ends Aug 15th.
  • Fees will increase by $10 on Aug 16th.
• Online registration is open until Aug 22nd at 5 pm.
• THERE WILL BE NO RACE DAY REGISTRATIONS.
• Racer check in only on Sunday August 29th 2010
• Day licenses will be available for all non-licensed riders, please see the commissar or technical delegate when registering.

The Categories

Race etiquette

• All UCI rules must be followed
• Race officials are to be obeyed at all times.
• Any abuse of race officials will result in disqualification.
• Any racer being overtaken on the course MUST yield the right of way and not impede the other competitor.

Re-runs

All instances are at the discretion of the Chief Commissar with support from there on hill officials.

Equipment

• Full face helmets are mandatory.
• Arm, Leg and body armor are highly recommended.
• Bring extra tubes and a selection of tires
• Number plates must be affixed to the handlebars and be clearly visible.
• Number plates cannot be altered in anyway.

Prizes

• Cash prizes for the top Elite riders in both male and female categories.
• All podium finishers will receive prizes generously donated by our sponsors
• Draw prizes will also be given to select lucky participants.
• All prizes must be accepted as given.
• Draw prize winners must be present at the time of the draw to win

Amendments & Notes

• Friday Night will be walking practice only after 5pm – you must be at the Catamount chair 4:30 to 5:30pm only
• Saturday will be open practice until last hour of training which is open to Pro/Elite and Juniors only and  with no sessioning permitted.
• Sunday (race day) runs will not be mandatory if 2 runs taken are completed on Saturday.
• As much as we would love to offer seeding runs for all, our current timing system does not allow it.  As a compromised solution, juniors and Elites will be issued plate #s based on BC Cup standings which will seed riders based on points.

Learn to race . . . .

During the Western Open on Saturday August 28th, BaSE will be running a Learn to Race DH clinic for teens seeking a solid start at racing.  Find out more about the Learn to Race Clinic and any other camp at www.TheBaSE.ca

Expo Space . . . .

Our prime expo space has been reserved for the key sponsors who have helped make the event possible.  However plenty of space remains in the plaza and area for teams and additional industry representatives to set up right in the heart of the action.  Race teams and additional industry folks who are planning to attend are welcome to drop the organizers a line to reserve some space.  In return we are seeking some prize donations for the volunteer teams (or even better, help us out by providing a volunteer or two)

The accommodations….

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has been working hard to get racers hooked up with the best accommodation deals for the event.  On mountain packages for the weekend are on sale now for $69 per person per night (based on double occupancy).  For details on the best on mountain or Golden based accommodation call Kicking Horse Central Reservations at 1.866.SKI.KICK.  They can get you the details and prices on a wide range of accommodations in the area. The Highland Lodge could also be a great option as they have the Local Hero Pub attached and great rooms.   http://www.highlandlodge.net 1-250-344-7272 is the number at the lodge.

The Venue . . . .

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is located high in the Dogtooth Range of the Purcell Mountains, 14 km above Golden, British Columbia. Surrounded by towering peaks of two other mountain ranges – the Rockies and Selkirks – it is also close to six of Canada’s most spectacular National Parks: Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Glacier, and Mt. Revelstoke. The resort is just 1.5 hours west of Banff (145 kilometers) and 2.5 hours west of Calgary (270 Kilometers) on the Trans-Canada highway.  Note:  The Trans Canada highway between Lake Louise and Golden is under major construction ~ please leave time for possible delays if arriving on Saturday morning.

Jordan Petrovics                                                                       Stephen Exley

Manager of Corporate Alliances, Media Relations                               Race Director

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort                                                                           www.loveforlola.com

Phone: 1.250.439.5529                                                                                          Phone: 1.403.945.0568

E-mail: jpetrovics@kickinghorseresort.com E-mail: stephenexley@shaw.ca

The other weekend the Norco crew went over to the sunshine Coast to help out with a skills weekend for the Sprockids. The Sprockids is an organization that gets kids out  mountain biking, how great is that! I can’t really think of anything better. The weekend started with a little ferry ride over to an area of B.C. called the Sunshine coast. I jumped aboard the Jay Hoots mobile and had some good old fashion catch up time with Hooty. Even though I had been in school all winter we didn’t miss a beat and we were back laughing and joking around like nothing else, I knew it would be a good weekend. On the ferry my new team mate Sam was eating sausage wrapped in ham and bacon…. all three food groups?

We arrived at the Sprockids skills park and they were waiting for us, kids of all varieties, just pumped to ride their bikes. My part was to take them on a little trail ride and teach them how to corner through a berm. All the kids were excited, and I have to say that they  have some great trails in their park. One trail called Mr. Smiley was a super sick little freeride trail – I only wish it had been longer! This is where I got the kids railing a berm and rocking a few skinnies. Now that being said the skill level was diverse but some of these kids were on fire! I mean doing pretty big drops, a foot or two, but on pretty simplistic steel rigid bikes, no suspension there!

After doing a bunch of laps with the kids, it was BBQ time so I stuffed myself with 3 hot dogs Mhhhhm… After the BBQ Sam and Hoots put on a little jump show, of which I was a spectator, due to early season jitters. Then we did a little group ride through the upper Sprockids area. Wow what a climb, not to mention we may or may have not ended up on the wrong trail that kept going up! The funny thing was the “wrong trail” was so clean and nice, like freshly raked. My theory is that bears were raking it at night and it lead straight to a den were we would immediately become bear food… Animals are smart. We eventually turned around and had some wicked fast and fun downhill!

After this there was another BBQ at Doug Detwiller’s house, the founder of the Sprockids program, where I may or may not have been rumored to have mistakenly picked up dog poo with my bare hands… It was an awesome BBQ though and I was stuffed. Thanks Petra! We then headed off for a good night’s sleep at the Up The Creek bed and breakfast in Roberts Creek to save up our energy for the next day of riding. No partying of any sort with the Norco crew happened that night.

Sunday we ripped Robert’s Creek, and for those of you that don’t know, it’s amazing like super, super, super amazing. This is the area where the Coastal Crew filmed their Kranked segment. There are so many awesome trails over there, you will just have to go over and see it yourself, but don’t tell too many people . After a day of shuttle laps I was totally done. It was so much fun to ride with Hooty and Sam, as well as the rest of the Norco crew. We jumped back on a ferry and headed from the coast back to the mainland. I love the ferry and there was an incident with soft serve ice cream that will never be spoken about again…. I always keep it classy.

DK

It’s Friday morning, last weekend is now fading into the back of my memory as a new weekend sits right in front of me –only hours away, begin countdown.  This is probably a perfect time to reminisce about last weekend.

Day 2

Light splashed through the curtain waking me up much to early, I tried to sleep through it but to no avail.  By the time I awkwardly crawled down from the bunk bed, I could already smell the sweet aroma of bacon -everyone loves bacon. PJ and Jon had prepared a feast of eggs, bacon, sausages and toast. My only gripe was that the coffee was gone by the time I got to the kitchen, my fault. We ate breakfast loaded the trucks and headed out to the race; it was the cross-country day and four members of our crew were riding in the race.

We drove the Norco truck right into the finish area and set up our tent, pit stands and comfortable folding chairs. – I would like to note that the other truck went into town where they managed to track down coffee, I missed it twice in one day.

Everyone took turns tuning up their bikes and when we were almost ready to go we realized that the Norco truck would be staying right where it was; the entrance to the staging area had been closed off. Bummed for no more than a second we realized that Dustan was still not in riding shape so he agreed to be our morning shuttle driver –most excellent.  Bikes over the tailgate, a glorious 6 Norco team Dh’s we headed up to shuttle.

Our first run was filled with wooden stunts and then led to a wicked jump run or two and a fast berm filled ride out.  It should be noted that riding on the Coast is awesome. Our  second run was a blazing decent on the Downhill course, the third run was similar to the first. At high noon the XC race started. The Thursday before we left the smack talk had started; one of our Crew had sent a menacing email to the other riders stating that we were the grass and he was the lawnmower. I can only assume he was referring to a strange fetish to be a ride-em lawnmower of some type. Regardless he didn’t mow anybody’s grass in the XC race and looked nothing short of shattered when he finished.

I admit I didn’t actually see him finish because by this time we were all very hungry from a wicked morning of shuttle. It was time for lunch and the Gumboot Café was just down the street. If you are on the coast definitely stoop by the Gumboot for a meal. The food is made from fresh, organic ingredients which they lovingly turn into delicious meals. I also made up for my lack of morning caffeine at this point by consuming 5 cups with lunch: an excellent chicken burger with bacon and aged cheddar, I could go for one right now actually.

With full stomachs we headed back for some more afternoon shuttle action. As we were pulling past the staging area, Dustan was leaving in the Norco truck and we realized that we had left one-armed Dustan all by himself to clean up the tent etc… Ooops. To be fair he had disappeared up the course to take pictures and we had no idea where he was and we were hungry. Sorry Dustan, you were a rock star all weekend long.

It was four o’clock and we shuttled up to take photos. A couple of runs and some pictures later, the sun was setting and it was time to go make dinner. With only half the grill working PJ orchestrated a magnificent  bit of cookery, serving up 8 big steaks and a pack of Italian sausages. With beers in hand we ate a huge meal that even included salad. By 11:00 everyone was beat and we all crashed. Another great day was in the bag.

Here we are, another Wednesday afternoon and like so many hump-day’s before it I am starting to look forward to the next weekend, while maintaining a vague nostalgia for the last. Three days ago, at this time I was sitting at the bottom of a downhill course having a celebratory beverage of the malted type, swapping stories about how great our weekend of riding on the Sunshine Coast had been. In a vein attempt to relive all of its glory I thought I would write a post about it. Here goes.

Day 1 (Friday)

Our trip began Friday afternoon, as I pulled into a parking spot in front of my house, the Norco truck was already waiting across the street with three bicycles hanging off the tailgate– ten minutes early.  Dustan, the Norco PR/Marketing coordinator and PJ, our Engineering Manager, were standing relaxed in the shade of the front door to my house.  I hopped out of the car, “Your early” I said almost to myself as I bounded up the stairs. We were all anxious to get going so with minimal pleasantries I grabbed my bike and over-stuffed red and black back pack full of gear and tossed them in the back of the waiting truck. We picked up one more rider, Jon, our team guy and set off for the boat to the Sunshine coast.

One thing should be noted here: The Sunshine coast is not an island even though you have to take a ferry to get there.  This misconception is a pet peeve of Dustan’s, as he grew up there and I am setting this story straigh just for him. The ferry ride was inconsequential -there was some water, sunshine and wind and banal conversation- so we will skip that and get on with our day.

By the time we rocked up to Up the Creek Hostel–a great place to stay- the rest of the crew had already arrived and we were all itching to get out on the trail, so we ditched our gear, suited up took off for the sweet costal trails.  As we began to hike up the trail the sun was just starting to descend over the horizon casting a patchy warm glow between the trees of the forrest. When we got to the clear-cut the setting sun set the distant ocean a fire with a crimson flame.  “Wow, that’s a horrible view” Jon joked as we kept pushing up the berm racked trail.

We got to the top and jumped into the trail in a long train of eight riders, stopping to session a few of the tricky sections on the way down and argue over line choices. Part way down, Dustan decided to try a new and difficult technique off a drop and was sent flying through the air at a rather crooked angle, causing him to land in a rock garden with the clang of metal and the thump of his body, ending his time on a bicycle for the weekend. We would find out on Monday that he had broken his wrist with this stunt. However, trying to look on the bright side: we now had a dedicated shuttle driver.

A little disappointed, Dustan agreed to take us back to the top and we took one more fast lap from top to bottom. This time without any injuries. As we burst from the trees at the bottom the sun was just setting and the mosquitos had come out in force. Satisfied with two good runs we returned to the Hostel.

When we got there Jon and I busied ourselves with making a giant pot of spaghetti while everyone partook in a couple of beverages. Jokes were made and dishes were done and then we all crashed hard.  Awesome day, and the next day would prove even better: with copious shuttle runs, a cross country race and a delicious lunch. But I’ll get to that tomorrow – a little closer to the next weekend.

DAY 2 (Coming Soon)