AllRide Chronicles VII - Crankworx

AllRide Chronicles VII –
Crankworx, Whistler, BC

Each year our Crankworx
experience in Whistler is one to remember. Ten epic days of riding the downhill
mountain bike park and technical cross country trails, world-class racing and
competitions and catching up with industry friends is a great way to celebrate
the bikes we love so much.

Kirt raced the Dual Slalom
and said, “The course was technical and fast with a lot of high-speed manual
roller sections and it was fun to race!” During the race young Tyler McCaul
capitalized on Kirt’s berm blowouts in the first round for the transfer spot. As
disappointed as Kirt was to leave the race so early, he was equally excited to
see Tyler kill it out there! However, the best part of the Dual Slalom was
seeing Kyle Strait take the win!

Santa Cruz AllRide Academy
member Austin Aldrich had an amazing Dual Slalom race. He is still fairly new to
racing and took out some seasoned racers to place 3rd in the Jr. division. That
firey redhead is going to be a star!  

Next up was the infamous
A-Line “Air Downhill” where riders race down a 4+ minute track full of tabletop
jumps and sweeping berms. The course was in need of some moisture and Mother
Nature fixed her right up. With a solid day of rain the day before the event,
the course workers slaved away to rid the corners of any pesky chatters or
potholes. Kirt said: “With over fifty tabletop jumps A-line is one of the most
fun but stressful DH races there is. You must stay low and scrub over every jump
at top speeds without overshooting the landings. I was happy with my run but
almost killed myself when I hit the last table exiting the trees. They did some
course maintenance before the finals and steepened the previously flat lip. I
landed to flat, hard”. Overall Kirt was super excited about his run and ended up
10th against some gnarly current world cup racers. Great job Kirt!

The highlight of the trip had to be Kirt’s “Camelbak
Karaoke Kickout” Jump Jam! We planned this funny idea with Camelbak a few months
back and weren’t quite sure how it would pan out. It ended up being a huge
success! The Dirt Jumps were packed with both eager riders and singers! I cooked
200 hot dogs and gave them all out in under an hour and Kirt played deejay and
encouraged the brave souls who belted out tunes in exchange for some super sweet
swag! The dirt jumpers flipped and whipped through the pack, the singers sang,
the eaters ate and the crowd enjoyed the spectacle!

With so much going on and
the constant riding, I didn’t take as many photos as I normally
do.  I rode more cross-country this year than downhill and must say
I am impressed by the difficulty of the trails around Whistler. I rode the Blur
LT Carbon and it was the perfect bike for the powerful, technical climbing and
the super technical, wet, rooty, rock-drop laden downhills. That bike, my
Rockshox PIKE fork and my CrankBrothers Joplin seat post saved my life a few
times down some rock rollers and ladder bridges. I was fortunate enough to do a
killer XC ride with our Smith Optics sponsor and friend Gabe and his buddies and
boy oh boy did we do a ride to remember! Whistler’s a sweet place to ride
it.

UP
NEXT:  Mountain Bike Oregon in Oakridge, OR. Demos, Deschutes
Brewery beer and riding galore!

Thank you to all of our life support... You’re
keeping the dream alive.

Santa Cruz Bicycles, Santa Cruz Syndicate, SRAM, RockShox,
Avid, Truvativ, DT Swiss, CAMELBAK, Fox Head, Inc, Bell, Crankbrothers, Smith
Optics, MRP, WTB, Lizard Skins, Clif Bar, Chris King, V.I.O. helmet cameras,
Thule, Deschutes Brewery, Nike 6.0, Skullcandy, Nightrider, Dumonde Tech Racing
Oils, Cog Wild Mountain Bike Tours