Last weekend Ben was at a fundraiser in Montreal. He sent us a quick story on the event along with some rad pictures taken by Rich Redmond.  Make sure to check out the links as well. Here is the lowdown:

A few traveling Riders from B.C.  held a Benefit Jam this weekend in Montreal at UAB Skatepark. The Jam was to Raise money for Stu Timms, a rider  from Australia, that had a bad accident on December 11th, 2009. Stu was at the beach and went to dive into the water and encountered a very common danger when he dove head first into a sandbar. Sadly he has suffered a spinal crush fracture at C5 level and has been paralysed from the shoulders down. The Jam was to raise money for Stu and his family. The Jam was super fun and raised a bit of money for the downed rider. There was a best trick over the box jump contest, a best tech trick contest, and a bunny hop contest. Some Crazy Riding went down. One of the best events I’ve been to in a long time. Stay Strong Stu! Here are some photos by Rich Redmond. And More Photos at www.benkaufmann.blogspot.com.

Check out a video of Stu on Transworld.net. Here is a place to see updates about Stu.

The last post we put up from Ben involved a nicely dented helmet. No helmets were harmed in this post; but a nice hole was put in the ceiling of a townhouse by a flair attempt. Here is Ben’s post on the event (the pictures are courtesy of Ben):

The Local Riders of Ottawa have been fundraising money all year long to improve one of our local parks in the Orleans area of Ottawa. None of the skate parks in Ottawa has a box jump so we have been trying to raise money to build one this spring. So far we are almost there, and with only a few events held. We had a race fundraiser jam, an Orleans skatepark jam and on the weekend we had a 39c apartment mini-ramp jam.

A few of the locals live in a townhouse style apartment in Ottawa and built a really tight mini-ramp. The event was a ton of fun and we had all kinds of contests like, most combo contest (I think 21 combo tricks was the winner after my 17 was shattered!) 1, foot down contests, best trick contest, oh and flat bottom wrestling as well!!

There was also a flair attempt by a rider which put a giant hole in the ceiling! Too much fun! I was much too big for this ramp but still a ton of fun! Hopefully a New box jump in Ottawa this spring!

Cheers, Ben Kaufmann.

Mace rider, Ryan Leech was recently featured in an Interview at NSMB.com. Not only is he exceptionally good on a bicycle he is also amazing at Yoga.  Here is a quick excerpt from his recent interview:

“Ryan Leech began dropping hints in videos and blogs.  Knowing his personality it was no surprise to learn he was into yoga. The moves he performs take large helpings of concentration, balance, strength and flexibility.  If yoga helps him get there I was keen to know more.” Go a head go to NSMB.com to read more.

A short while ago -and by a short while ago I mean last weekend- Ben Kaufmann, a Norco team rider was riding a park in Montreal when a mishap sent his head for a quick meeting with the coping on a new feature. His Mace helmet proved its worth and he walked away unscathed. But check out the damage, without a helmet I doubt he would have walked away.  Well, he tells the story better than I can check out the email he sent below. Oh, and all the pictures are courtesy of Ben.

” Hey guys!
Hope you had a Great weekend! Mine was pretty good -I guess. I went for a big day of riding up in Montreal on Saturday. We rented out the Taz Saturday night which was a blast! Before we went to Le Taz we rode UAB (Ugly Ass Bikes) which was so so. I felt so naked on my bike because it had been a couple weeks. I wasn’t feeling comfortable on my bike at all. After a couple hours I was feeling a bit better but still not great. I went for a Fufanu on this new sub wall just getting warmed up for hopefully an over ice pick to back over:

My brakes slipped and I did a half back flip to head smash right on this coping!! Rang the head super hard off the coping but got right up after and realized that somehow I wasn’t concussed. I was stoked! I felt that Helmet take every bit of the blow. Unfortunately, but fortunately, my helmet has a giant dent in it now. I don’t think it’s a safe thing to keep riding it. Let me know what you guys think.
Otherwise the night was really good. We went to Le Taz after and I had a blast. I felt normal on my bike and learned a few new moves like wall ride to no hander’s and re learned how to grind up big rails again. lol. I hope to go back to UAB to get some photos and video done in the next few weeks. Here is the damage to my helmet and a giant banner that you guys put up at Le Taz. Looks really good!

p.s. That helmet is amazing!!

Cheers Guys.

Ben Kaufmann

Earlier today, as I combed through the recent media titles that littered various cycling sites, I watched as the metaphorical bandwagon passed by and I thought I should hop on. Why can’t I create a list of things to do in the New Year, everyone is doing it and I want in? So I did! And here it is a list of ten things you should do this year if you are a cyclist. Okay, there is only five in this list; I’ll post the next five by the end of the week.

(Please note: If you don’t ride a bike then there is only one thing for you to try this year: RIDE A BIKE. Then try everything else on the list)

1.    Try dirt jumping: it is an awesome way to learn bike control and learn to be comfortable in the air, not to mention a lot of fun.

2.    Commute on your bicycle to work, school or wherever at least once a week. That’s right, park your car and ride or even take transit part way and ride. You’ll feel better and see things you miss when you are cruising by in your car.

3.    Try a singlespeed. It doesn’t have to be a fixie –you should try one of those too- but try a single speed and feel the freedom of not having a derailleur to worry about.

4.    Learn how to bunny-hop, it could save your life. Here is a story I heard the other day over a coffee.

A week or two before the holidays Roy, our product developer, was riding along a busy road on his way home. It was nighttime and in true BC form it was pouring rain and a strong headwind was blasting the droplets right in his face as he rode. Roy was hammering along on the shoulder, which is a poor excuse for a bike lane even though the city did paint a reflective cycling icon on it, when a semi trailer came roaring along from behind. As the trucks headlights lit up the side of the road in front of Roy he realized there was a large chunk of tire, discarded from another Truck, lying sideways and obstructing his path. It covered the whole shoulder and he was boxed in by the passing Semi Truck on the left which left him with very little time to make a split decision. He reacted, almost instinctively by bunny-hopping the shrapnel, riding away unscathed though a little shaken. As he was telling the story he recounted how stoked he was to know how to bunny hop.

The common Bunny-Hop is a simple skill but can be hugely useful in any type of riding making it worth taking the time to learn how to do it well.

5.     Go to a Downhill park. Like Disneyland for cyclists, spending a day at a lift access park is a blast and will leave you and your friends grinning from ear to ear.

Just to keep people interested I only put up five of the ten in this post and I’ll get the next five up by the end of the week.