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Tom 'Pro' discusses Crankwo...

Interview by Nicole Trigg

What was the deal behind the transition for the Jumbotron drop in last night’s Slopestyle?

Definitely the feedback from the riders was that it was a bit too flat but there were other issues – if we were to build it up, it would be too much of a snipe trany so it’s a real trade off but I think that’s something we’ve got to work on next year for sure. We got the feedback 5 minutes before the comp was going to start that all the riders thought the trany was too flat. Basically we decided – everyone decided - the riders included that there was nothing we could really do about it so let’s just ride it and do our best.

Any surprises that took place this week for you? Things that you didn’t see coming or were unexpected in the comp.

The kids, the 16-year-olds, really stepped it up – Brandon Semenuk, Kyle McDonald, Alex Pro. I thought they really rode quite well for the conditions, for the course. It was a burly course with some pretty burly obstacles on it. Sure it was criticized that it was too burly to trick but you’ve still got to ride the course.

Were you surprised about the Giro box and how the riders rode it this year?

That thing’s knarly! Ya, for sure. I quite enjoyed it and I think if the riders wrapped their head around it and if they really practiced a lot I think a lot of the top guys would do something off it like 3 or no foot can off it or something like that. But I don’t know. I have to say the riders kind of put themselves into a bummer because they started complaining and then I think they just weren’t in a good space of mind.

And it’s such a mental sport.

Yes it is. And you know what I’m not dissing the riders because they’re the ones who have to ride the course. So I don’t really have a quick answer for it all. I’m proud of all the riders that rode the course.

How is trail maintenance with the number of racers not to mention the riders in the park – I hear there’s an average of 1700 people going through the park right now and that’s up from 1200 last year during Crankworx?

We had three days of over 1700 and the last two days were over 2000. That’s pretty substantial. It’s something we can’t really plan. We don’t know how many people we’re going to have but for sure over the next couple of weeks it’s going to be serious maintenance in the park.

What event do you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed the Slopestyle – just how big everything is. The Garbanzo race – how knarly was that. I can’t really pick favourites. I’m looking forward to the downhill – I’m going to go up and watch it. It’s a pretty demanding course but my view is that this isn’t mini golf. This is the Canadian Open and this is where we invite the best pros in the world and we need to give them a challenging course and everyone I’ve talked d to likes it.

Were you impressed with how the girls rode in Womenzworx?

I didn’t get to watch it because I was so busy but I know how those girls ride. I know a lot of those girls and I’m impressed for sure and I think it’s one of those things it would be so cool to do more of.

How does this Crankworx compare to previous ones?

Numbers wise I think it’s bigger, way bigger.

Is there anything you’d like to see different for next year?

Maybe a steeper landing for the last drop. We change up the Slopestyle course every year. Maybe we’ve got to look back at what we think is the best course and follow that footprint but all in all it was pretty good. And something has to be done about helping people who want to ride the park get up the mountain a little better. There were long line-ups but there is only so much capacity that these two lifts have down here. Our solution is to build more trails in Garbanzo. Because once people go up into Garbanzo you don’t see them for half the day. They’re gone. So if we can accomplish that then we’ll take care of the overcrowding down here.

Have you had a pretty social week?

O ya. I’m pretty much done. I actually stayed away from the parties in the middle of the week but went out last night to the Summit party – that’s always a good one.

Did you see any of the video premiers?

I saw the New World Disorder premier, the Oakley movie and Blake Jorgensen’s Nepal slide show with Richie and Wade. That was really good. Spectacular. The Oakley movie was pretty cool. My kid’s in it. It’s something you put on and watch at home to really get into. They had a really cool trip down to Oregon when they shot that.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I want to see Crankworx get even better and there’s a lot of effort that goes into it - a lot of volunteers and a lot of people that put in a lot of time and they should be thanked. I think it was a really good event.

By: mtb.colonies.com

9/1/2007 | 196 views

Part 2: The Mountain Bike M...

Interview with Kenney Smith

By: Nicole Trigg

Photos By: Ian Millar, Skippy Photo, Nicole Trigg

Part Two: The Riding

KENNEY SMITH

How do you mentally approach your riding?
I want to spend every second I get on my bike. Basically I get out of bed and I’m just like what do I have to do today. I have to work, I’ve got to pay bills and stuff and I get to ride bikes. And when is the bike park finally open until 8 o’clock every day o sweet that starts in two weeks. I’ve got 60 days on my bike if not more this year already. I just want to ride every day. I just want to pin it and go as fast as I can with my friends and we push each other pretty hard to go faster. It’s pretty sweet. I want to challenge myself with building really nasty lines that to some people are just ridiculous. But I like challenging myself and building lines that are really high consequence and just such a mental challenge where you know you could ride it but it takes you days and days. You’ve got to build it and building stuff around here means sledgehammers. I try to stay away from ladders. There are so many natural rock features in this whole valley from Vancouver to Pemberton. Some of the lines you can find in the bush are like a rock face and a shelf and all these super natural features and just add a bit of ladder add a bit of dirt and then you can ride a gap it’s just endless really the lines you can find.

How do you classify the different areas that you ride around here?
People think of Vancouver as skinnies and bridges and all these weird ladder features but they have some of the coolest natural terrain around. It’s some of the most technical stuff ever. Vancouver you’ve just got to ride the trail ten times and get some lines going on and get it figured out and learn how to ride those slippery roots and steep rock. It’ll come together after a while but it’s really technical. Then you go ride Squamish and it’s still kind of like Vancouver but a little more flowy. Then Whistler’s like flow and A-line. Then Pemberton comes in and it’s like straight the f**k down hang on get your brakes on! <laughs> Pemberton’s sweet. It’s like you’re surfing. I love Pemby.

How do you know when you’re getting faster if you’re riding with the same group of guys and you’re all progressing?
You’re riding the same trails so much then you hit a corner and a week later you hit that corner again and you drift a little more and you can tell it’s coming together. You get in the matrix - that’s what we called it this spring – we just do 1’s and 0’s. <laughs>

What are you working on to incorporate into your freeriding?
Personally I don’t like practicing tricks all day. It just doesn’t do it for me when you’ve got all these sick mountains sitting here. You can go up that hill and come down at 80km an hour over all kinds of knarly stuff and there are so many lines on a trail and every time I’m on a trail it’s different for me. There are all these lines to jump. I’ve got 5 lines roughly picked out this year. One line is an 80 ft high cliff - it’s pretty much a sheer cliff and has this grass chute coming right down the middle and then it comes out onto this shelf and the shelf is 30 ft down to the flat ground so you could ride down this grass chute and then air off this shelf...I’ve been looking at it for two years.

There are a lot of complaints out there that a lot of riders just go and ride the trails then leave and don’t put in the time to build them or even take care of them.
A lot of people don’t know how to build stuff but it’d be cool if everyone came and helped dig - why not? You should want to I think in a sense. I’ll go dig with my friends all the time, like let’s fix that up then it’s good for the next month or two. I don’t really get bitter about people not digging or anything. People get busy right? Who has time to dig? Most people have got to work 40 hours a week and when they get time off they don’t want to go pick up a shovel they want to right their bike right?

How do you see mountain biking changing 5 years from now?
I’m hoping in 5 years mountain biking really goes back to big mountain stees. Like big airs, sick tech lines that are really challenging to ride. That’s what I’m really into, what I’ve always been into, building those super sick jumps and those crazy ass rock faces and big drops. If slopestyle got accepted into the X Games or something like that it would be unreal for mountain biking. Financially mountain bikers would be dialed. Moto guys are driving around in their own jets. They’re good athletes but mountain bikers are sick athletes too. McCaul and all those guys are flipping 20 foot drops which is insane.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A mountain biker. I wanted to be an airplane pilot when I was really young then in high school I wanted to own a bike shop then by the end I just wanted to ride bikes. I think I’m doing that.

By: mtb.colonies.com

6/13/2007 | 517 views

Exclusive Interview: UK Pro...

Q & A's with Fionn Griffiths

Questions By: Nicole Trigg

FIONN GRIFFITHS

How do you feel about your performance at the Lisbon Downtown?
"I was fairly happy with my performance. I was having a really good race run and I had been riding well all weekend so it was unfortunate that my front end slid out in my race run. Just trying to keep the bike upright in Lisbon is a challenge in itself. The street are all marble and cobblestone so it is super slippy on every turn and every stair set. I wouldn't have ridden any differently. You can't afford to ease up anywhere on that track or else you lose too much time. They put more jumps in this year, which for me is great! I hit them all first run before any of the other girls had a chance to psyche me out :)"

How do you prepare for a race?

"I have been playing with a few new pre race ideas including pre race meditation, full scale warm ups on a wind trainer and sprint drills. In Vigo none of this was working for me though. It just seemed to leave me too much opportunity to think about things and get nervous before the race. So after a nervous qualifying run which resulted in 2 crashes, I decided to try some new stuff and turn up last minute to the start gate. It seemed to work well for me there. So I am still working on this stuff!"

What's your training schedule like?

"That is top secret! I have hired a new trainer - Elke Brutsaert - and she has a whole pile of exercises to keep me entertained in the off season! Mainly loads of explosive plyometric drills and plenty of time on the road/street bikes. We have been focussing on core a fair bit as well."

What kind of bike do you ride?
"I race a Norco Team DH and a Norco 4XXXX. If you haven't tried them out, you should! They are pretty cool. I worked closely with Norco the last couple of years to get the two bikes to where they are at and I love every second I spend riding them!"

Who are your sponsors?
"Norco Performance Bikes, Kenda Tires, Zeal Optics, Shimano, Fly Racing (Kit), Foes/Curnutt Suspension, THE Helmets, MRP, Hope Brakes/Hubs, DT Swiss rims, Rich Art Concepts (Custom Helmet Design)."

How many countries has your pro riding career brought you to?
"Ummm...I have not been keeping count! That is a really good question. This year alone I will visit about 15 different countries! I have been to some pretty cool ones racing though - Brazil, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia."

What was the first race you ever won?
"I actually won the 1st race I ever entered. It was a Midland Super Series at Hawkston Park in Shropshire,UK. Winning that was what really pushed me to keep racing."

How old were you when you first started riding? Racing?
"I always kind of kicked around on my bike and rode a bit, but I didn't start racing or anything until I was about 16. "

Do you have BMX riding/racing in your background?
"No BMX. Straight into the MTB for me. I do own a BMX now though and enjoy riding it when I get the opportunity."

What's been your worst injury?

"I have had a few, but breaking my ankle 7 times in a year and a half was the one that hindered my race career the most. I'm glad to have that behind me."

Your words of wisdom to other women and girls getting into the sport?
"Don't be put off by anyone who is negative towards you out riding. Just keep doing what you are doing at your own pace. You are just as capable of reaching your own personal goals as anyone else. You will know when YOU are ready to go faster and step up to the next level."

What setbacks have you experienced?
"Just the obvious ones that many of the people, especially female riders, encounter: financial setbacks, sponsorship setbacks and of course, injuries."

How has mountain biking evolved for chicks since you've been on the scene?
"When I first started there were really only one of two girls that could race on a high level. A few girls occassionally had good results, but in comparision to racing now, it was not nearly as competitive. I would say that now at a World Cup event any of the top 10 ladies has a good chance of winning. We are pushing one another to be faster and we are doing just that! It used to be that I could crash, get up and still finish in the top 10 but a crash now puts any girl out of the top 10!"

Will you be competing in Canada this year? Crankworx?
"Not sure yet about Crankworx. It conflicts with European Championships. We'll see. I will be racing the Mont Ste Anne World Cup though which is the place I won my first ever World Cup."

Check out Fionn's profile at http://mtb.colonies.com/fionngriffiths/

By: mtb.colonies.com

6/12/2007 | 339 views

The Hunt for El Dorado by M...

The Hunt for El Dorado

In search of the perfect singletrack in the Atacama Desert

By Mike Brcic

Sacred Rides Mountain Bike Holidays

"Pancho, where the #$%^ is the trail?" I yelled at my Chilean guide, former amigo, and now nemesis. We'd set our from San Pedro de Atacama, in the middle of the driest desert in the world - the Atacama - in search of a trail that was rumoured to be one of the best in the world.

Now we were waist deep in thorn bushes, in the bottom of a narrow canyon, with no idea when or where the canyon ended. The ‘trail’ that we had begun following 3 hours back had started promisingly, a sweet ribbon of singletrack cut into the side of the canyon, following the Puritama river in northern Chile. We’d stopped by a tiny hotspring, laughing and sure that we’d found our singletrack Shangri-La, bathing in the warm waterfall underneath the rock. Now the trail was exacting its revenge on us for being so cocky. Smooth dirt had become razor-sharp boulders and unrideable stretches of thick vegetation that tore at our jerseys and exacted bloody sacrifice from our legs.

After another half hour, we pu

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