7 days of Crankworx
Following the Downieville Classic and nationals in Granby CO, I was off to Whistler BC for the week long Crankworx bike festival. I drove up to Seattle two weeks before the start of my race, the Canadian Open Enduro, so I could once again familiarize myself with riding on wet roots and rocks. Armed with my Stumpjumper FSR and Enduro, both bikes were totally dialed after getting a mid season update with new parts from SRAM.
I rolled into Whistler early afternoon on Sunday after a mellow experience through the Canadian/USA border crossing which gave myself a day and a half to get the course dialed for my Tuesday race run. After a couple days rain prior to my arrival in Whistler, the lines in the darkest sections of the woods were moderately greasy requiring a one foot out, two wheel drift approach to linking many of the turns. Sun and wind quickly dried the course out, and by Tuesday, only the wood catwalks required a subdued riding style.
The Canadian Open Enduro is a mass start event, with this year having 40 or so pro men taking off at the fire of a gun. The course had 3,800 ft of descending and about 500 ft of climbing and was NOT a Le Mans style start. The winning time was going to be in the 19 minute range and full face moto style helmets were mandatory. Total free-for-all start, we descended down a 10 second hill before hitting a 30 second climb which decisively moved the strongest to the front. Following the climb was our first section of singletrack which again separated the field even further. By this point I was sitting top 10 leading into the first wide open fireroad traverse leading into the second technical trail section. Laying off the brakes and following the three frenchies, Ross Schell and Specialized teammate Matt Ryan, I managed to land a 6th place finish on the challenging yet fun course.
BC Business Hub, Whistler Canada
1. 55 Absalon Rémy FRA Commencal 18:52.44 +0.00
2. 45 Vouilloz Nicolas FRA Team Lapierre 19:00.76 +8.32
3. 59 Schnell Ross USA Trek, Oakley, Cran 19:12.99 +20.55
4. 56 Amour Karim FRA Kona 19:24.22 +31.78
5. 57 Ryan Matt CAN Specialized 19:34.86 +42.42
6. 66 Bradford Aaron USA Specialized 19:50.75 +58.31
7. 60 Slaven Matthew USA Kona 20:05.36 +1:12.92
8. 5 Leov Justin NZL Trek World Racing 20:14.78 +1:22.34
9. 100 Nicoll Jamie CAN 20:15.82 +1:23.38
10. 58 Johnston Chris NZL Dunbar Cycles 20:18.94 +1:26.50
Post race, it was time to enjoy the mountain and ride with friends. My S-works Enduro continued to treat me well after repeated days of park and trail riding. On Wednesday, I got out with a local Vancouver ripper and “the Czar of suspension” Jason of Specialized for a plunge down the “ride don’t slide” trail. This trail is steep with a capital S. The trail drops 3,200 ft in 2.5 miles, that’s off the back of the bike steep. Half way down, Jason dialed in my suspension, “faster rebound is better” and the Enduro ate the trail up better than I ever thought possible. Good riding with you guys, looking forward to the next adventure!
It is so easy to have an amazing time in Whistler and there is always someone to ride with. On Thursday I got out with the Specialized crew again, which included all the frame/fork/wheels designers of Specialized along with freeride ripper Matt Hunter. What a pleasure following these guys on trails they have ridden so many times, good stuff.
The event to see on Friday was definitely CamelBak Karaoke Jump Jam hosted by Kirt Vories. Although there were plenty of people with more balls then musical talent, there were a few brave souls who rocked the house with mad singing skills. CamelBak was handing out hydration packs all while riders were shredding the jumps next to the river. Good turnout and fun times.
Kirt doing what he does best, getting the crowd stoked!
On Saturday, the plan was to compete in Richie’s Rally which was a three stage Enduro, so Clif Bar rep and long time good friend Garret along with Ross Schnell and I took off to do a little reconnaissance on one of the stages. We immediately got lost and rode trails on the north end of Alta Lake and nearly 5 hours later we were back at the car. Regardless of getting lost we were stoked after some good riding in the woods. Once race day rolled around I followed the Whistler locals up to the start of each stage. I had relatively clean runs and only got lost 2 or 3 times during the event. It was assumed local knowledge was needed for the win but at the end of the day it was Ariel Lindsey of Santa Cruz who had the lowest combined time. Nice work brother and good shredding with you! Post race we regrouped at the Whistler Brewery for brews and awards, only after taking a refreshing dip in Alta Lake. Good times and a fun event, I look forward to seeing more events using this format.
Saturday evening Crankworx hosted the main event of the week with the slopestyle competition going down. The course was unreal and the level of commitment with some of the features was just plain nuts. Words can't describe how crazy it was so check out the videos.
It was an amazing week loaded with adventure after adventure while riding with good friends along the way. Another Crankworx in the record books, see you again next year!
I rolled into Whistler early afternoon on Sunday after a mellow experience through the Canadian/USA border crossing which gave myself a day and a half to get the course dialed for my Tuesday race run. After a couple days rain prior to my arrival in Whistler, the lines in the darkest sections of the woods were moderately greasy requiring a one foot out, two wheel drift approach to linking many of the turns. Sun and wind quickly dried the course out, and by Tuesday, only the wood catwalks required a subdued riding style.
The Canadian Open Enduro is a mass start event, with this year having 40 or so pro men taking off at the fire of a gun. The course had 3,800 ft of descending and about 500 ft of climbing and was NOT a Le Mans style start. The winning time was going to be in the 19 minute range and full face moto style helmets were mandatory. Total free-for-all start, we descended down a 10 second hill before hitting a 30 second climb which decisively moved the strongest to the front. Following the climb was our first section of singletrack which again separated the field even further. By this point I was sitting top 10 leading into the first wide open fireroad traverse leading into the second technical trail section. Laying off the brakes and following the three frenchies, Ross Schell and Specialized teammate Matt Ryan, I managed to land a 6th place finish on the challenging yet fun course.
BC Business Hub, Whistler Canada
1. 55 Absalon Rémy FRA Commencal 18:52.44 +0.00
2. 45 Vouilloz Nicolas FRA Team Lapierre 19:00.76 +8.32
3. 59 Schnell Ross USA Trek, Oakley, Cran 19:12.99 +20.55
4. 56 Amour Karim FRA Kona 19:24.22 +31.78
5. 57 Ryan Matt CAN Specialized 19:34.86 +42.42
6. 66 Bradford Aaron USA Specialized 19:50.75 +58.31
7. 60 Slaven Matthew USA Kona 20:05.36 +1:12.92
8. 5 Leov Justin NZL Trek World Racing 20:14.78 +1:22.34
9. 100 Nicoll Jamie CAN 20:15.82 +1:23.38
10. 58 Johnston Chris NZL Dunbar Cycles 20:18.94 +1:26.50
Kokanee Crankworx - Day 3 Canadian Open Enduro from Crankworx on Vimeo.
Post race, it was time to enjoy the mountain and ride with friends. My S-works Enduro continued to treat me well after repeated days of park and trail riding. On Wednesday, I got out with a local Vancouver ripper and “the Czar of suspension” Jason of Specialized for a plunge down the “ride don’t slide” trail. This trail is steep with a capital S. The trail drops 3,200 ft in 2.5 miles, that’s off the back of the bike steep. Half way down, Jason dialed in my suspension, “faster rebound is better” and the Enduro ate the trail up better than I ever thought possible. Good riding with you guys, looking forward to the next adventure!
It is so easy to have an amazing time in Whistler and there is always someone to ride with. On Thursday I got out with the Specialized crew again, which included all the frame/fork/wheels designers of Specialized along with freeride ripper Matt Hunter. What a pleasure following these guys on trails they have ridden so many times, good stuff.
The event to see on Friday was definitely CamelBak Karaoke Jump Jam hosted by Kirt Vories. Although there were plenty of people with more balls then musical talent, there were a few brave souls who rocked the house with mad singing skills. CamelBak was handing out hydration packs all while riders were shredding the jumps next to the river. Good turnout and fun times.
Kirt doing what he does best, getting the crowd stoked!
On Saturday, the plan was to compete in Richie’s Rally which was a three stage Enduro, so Clif Bar rep and long time good friend Garret along with Ross Schnell and I took off to do a little reconnaissance on one of the stages. We immediately got lost and rode trails on the north end of Alta Lake and nearly 5 hours later we were back at the car. Regardless of getting lost we were stoked after some good riding in the woods. Once race day rolled around I followed the Whistler locals up to the start of each stage. I had relatively clean runs and only got lost 2 or 3 times during the event. It was assumed local knowledge was needed for the win but at the end of the day it was Ariel Lindsey of Santa Cruz who had the lowest combined time. Nice work brother and good shredding with you! Post race we regrouped at the Whistler Brewery for brews and awards, only after taking a refreshing dip in Alta Lake. Good times and a fun event, I look forward to seeing more events using this format.
Saturday evening Crankworx hosted the main event of the week with the slopestyle competition going down. The course was unreal and the level of commitment with some of the features was just plain nuts. Words can't describe how crazy it was so check out the videos.
Monster Energy Slopestyle 2010 from Crankworx on Vimeo.
It was an amazing week loaded with adventure after adventure while riding with good friends along the way. Another Crankworx in the record books, see you again next year!
posted by Aaron.Bradford at
2:41 PM
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