Canyons

squashing some tables

The Canyons is in the process of building a new bike park and today we went up there to check it out.  We met Tanner and Bill Hart who we often hook up with on gravity rides.

We knew going into this they only had one or two trails with plans to build more.  The flow trail they have completed is called Alley Cat.  Alley Cat is similar to the Giant Slalom in the Whistler Bone Yard.

Drifting the first corner on Alley Cat

The entrance to Alley Cat has a small double filter feature followed by a drifty corner (see above photo).  Further down, after some small features,  the trail cranks into some high speed berms with some larger tables and a floaty step down.
 

The Canyons has a plan to expand the bike park over several years and if they keep building trails like Alley Cat, I am in for a while. 

Brad (The Honey Badger) steezing a hip

 

Brianhead 2011-Feeling Bad for Parker

      After a four hour drive down to Brianhead, Utah, my dad and I got our camp sight, met up with some friends, and got our gear on to start practice.  After four or five runs, we had the course figured out pretty well.  I had a good time talking to Sam Casper about a future project that will take place during the ski season.  A lot of people were not too happy with the course that we were running, but it was a fun, proper downhill race, with a gnarly sprint near the end.

    

     That night along with some of our friends we decided to get a pool poach in at the hotel that some of our friends were staying at, The Grand Lodge.  The Grand Lodge is a pretty awesome place if you ever get a chance to stay there.  They have an indoor pool with waterfall, two hot tubs, an outdoor covered patio with dual fire pits, a bar, and a band.  Pretty outstanding amenities in the middle of the Utah desert.  

   

     It took a while to find the correct hotel but we eventually got there.  The pool was amazing with two hot tubs and a large waterfall.  We got a little crazy and almost got kicked out of the pool.  Actually, two adults that were with us did get the boot (Wilson's dad and Bill).  It was pretty fun and funny.  

     The next day was race day, and I got 3 or 4 practice runs in before the race.  I ran into Parker Degray.  Parker is an 18 year old pinner who was trying to make it to worlds, but despite having very solid results all year, he was not picked.  He seemed kind of disappointed when we hooked up, and for good reason.  Looking back on it he would have benefited from having a deeper history in the previous year as well as more focus on a couple of important races this year.  Note for the future. 

     I crashed in the race and got last, but on the brighter side Parker won, like he should have.  In spite of the crash I crushed tons of kids who all mysteriously seemed to have amazing crashes and clean kits after learning that I had taken a beater.  Unlike the other kids who had "crashed" my kit, hair, and even teeth were full of dirt.   I had broken my hand and still managed a reasonable time.  This has been the year of the crash.  If I can stay on the bike I can win races.  The best is yet to come.        

Logan enroute to the pro win

Final 2011 Crankworx Slideshow

Here is the final Crankworx 2011 post.  Enjoy!!!!!!!!


2011 Crankworx Final Edit from Shawn Carter on Vimeo.

Crankworx 2011/In the books

The strangest things happen at Crankworx.
 
People are connected in unusual ways.
 
Last year my dad jumps on Fitz with three total strangers.  He really doesn't pay attention to the whose who of the biking world like I do.  He ends up riding the chair with none other than Brian Lopes.

Being clueless seems to put him into contact with the superstars of the biking world.  The funny thing is......... he relates to them and actually makes friends with them without any concept of who they are.  Perhaps his vibe is different because he actually relates to them about issues that really have nothing to do with biking.

Yesterday my dad and uncle were waiting in an obvious spot on the enduro course in order to re-supply me with pb+j sandwiches as well as give me unwanted advice.  They had waited quite a while when another dude who had also been waiting, with full face helmet and goggles in hand, approached them.  He seemed concerned that he was perhaps waiting in the wrong spot as his girlfriend had entered the enduro and he was to swap helmets.

My father assured him he was in the correct spot and that was that.  Unknown to all of them, the race was behind schedule due to logistical issues.  After some time passed my dad decided to walk over to the end of the fourth stage on Blackcomb Mountain and asked the chap if he would like to join both he and my uncle.  The stranger thought that was a good idea and joined them for both the walk over to Blackcomb and then a conversation at the end of stage four.  They spent around 30 to 40 minutes talking about whatever it is that adults talk about.

My father learned many things about the stranger.

He was from the Isle of Skye

The surfing isn't good there because its an inner island but the outer islands have epic surf. 

He had been jumping earlier in the week over at Crabapple Hits and had injured his back and felt fortunate to not be hurt worse.

He was shooting a movie for the next month in Vancouver.

He mostly road "street".

In fact my dad learned so much about this guy that he is certain that at some point he will move to Vancouver.  Without directly saying it the stranger had told him so with his description of the perfect place to live.  My father feels fortunate to have gotten to know him the way he did.

What he did not learn is his name.  Just like when he road the chair with Lopes he did not put two and two together until after the fact.  After finishing the fourth stage of the Enduro I even asked my dad who he was and he just said "some guy into biking from the British Isles".

My dad had just spent the better part of an hour with Danny MacAskill.  Danny might be one of the most talented bike riders on the planet.  If you don't know who Danny is, here are a couple videos to help you understand what Danny is about.

 







Whistler's energy is something else.

Cheers

Kokanee Crankworx 2011/Day 9 Canadian Open Enduro

The Canadian Open Enduro finish-GLC drops on a trailbike 

     The course for the Enduro is long and pretty challenging.  The first three stages are very cross country/xc in nature.  The race starts in the Whistler Bike Park using some of the easier gravity trails , then goes over around Lost Lake.  The Lost Lake area has some outstanding xc trails and the course is designed to take advantage of this  under utilized area.  Anyone visiting Whistler who is into mountain biking should spend some time exploring this trail network.

    The transition to the fourth stage has a big steep climb using a logging road to access Blackcomb Mountain.   Blackcomb has its own trail network.  Because of its proximity to the Whistler Bike Park the trail network on Blackcomb sees very little traffic outside of local use.  The fourth stage of the Enduro is a technical and rocky descent.  One of the kids I was racing was running light XC type tires, and he got a flat on this stage.

     The last transition involved riding two lifts up the Whistler Bike Park and a short ride down to the "Containers" where the last and fifth stage started.  At this point I was comfortably in second place and well out of first so I just tried to keep my run smooth.  That strategy worked and I ended up back on the podium in second.   Not a bad day.  

Second Place in the Canadian Open Enduro

Kokanee Crankworx 2011/Day 8 Whip Off Worlds

Today there was an unofficial Whip off on Crab Apple Hits.  I thought Brendog was going to kill it and it was going to be a comp for second place, I was wrong.  On the way over there I meet up with Mikey Silvestri, little Nicky, and the boys.  Together we bombed over to Crab Apple Hits for the Whip Off.

Whip Off Worlds - More Mountain Bike Videos

The hits were packed with spectators and whippers as well as dozens of pro photographers.  Because of this many riders were doing silly things way beyond their ability level.   We took a few laps, and when we were hiking back up we heard someone crash.  As soon as Mikey and I got up there we realized it was bad.  The dude was out cold, for almost ten minutes.  Then he started making weird sounds.  There were rumors going around that he messed up his sternum, collar bone, shoulders and obviously his brain was fried.  He got hauled off the mountain on a stretcher.  

The whip contest continued, and an obvious star came from no where.  Bernardo Neves from Brazil smashed them all.  He consistently went over the 90 degree mark on his whips, and was a real crowd favorite.  There was some humorous stuff going down.  One guy hit all the jumps with his naked butt hanging out.  Toward the end of the powwow I started cranking some big ones, but still nothing like Bernardo.

Super Brendog impressing the groms

Bernardo doing his thang

   

Bernardo Neves-Whip Off Worlds Winner

Crankworx 2011 Day 7/The GS.....Finally a Podium

The Giant Slalom Race was today.  I have been riding the course for fun all week, so I know it quite well.  It is similar to riding A-Line except faster with a slightly more technical nature (step up and step downs).  I was debating whether to use my hardtail or my DH bike, but was convinced that it would be faster and smoother on the big bike.  In practice I timed three runs and they were all pretty consistent.

In this race you had to take two runs and it was the combined total of both runs.  My first run went well and I ended up in third.  I was a little nervous for my next run though.  Never the less I came down in the next run and got third again so I was on the podium.  It feels good to finally get that monkey off my back, because I finally got one.

Finally....a podium

This Sunday is the Kokanee Canadian Open Enduro  It is going to be a very tough race and is set up with a format similar to European style enduro's.  There are five timed sections linked together with four transition stages.  The transitions are not timed but have time limits.  If a rider doesn't make the limit they are cut from the race.

A couple of the transition stages have navigational challenges through complicated trail networks.  Jack Iles, a local ripper, and prince of Crankworx, was very generous and helped me out.   Together we pre-road the Enduro Track.

Jack Iles the Prince of Crankworx

It should be quite an interesting race, the course is long and  has one brutal climb, up Blackcomb Mountain followed by a long and techy downhill.  We stumbled into a bear that ran across the trail in front of us then stopped.  It wasn't like most bears here that don't pay any attention to humans and are busy eating grass and blueberries.  This bear was interested in us.  It even started walking toward us at one point.  We ended up walking around it and it didn't bug us again.    

Mitch Ropelato and Jill Kitner are the King and Queen of Crankworx 2011.  Mitch is the only Pro man to win two races at Crankworx this year, and Jill killed it in all the races she entered.

Mitch and Jill the King and Queen of Crankworx