Graeme Fitch Team Harbour Air descends into Whistler Day 7. Photo: Dave Silver
By Brice Minnigh
Organizers of the popular BC Bike Race have announced changes to their 2010 event, in an effort to streamline the seven-day stage race to include as much singletrack as realistically possible.
We were told this would happen. Everyone we talked to had an opinion on what the weather would be like in Whistler between late October and mid-November. Forecasts ranged from sunshine and crisp fall leaves to early-winter hell. So far we’ve had a couple clear days, but the rest have been on the rainy side. Everything from light drizzling to full-on downpour.
While this means a lot more laundry and can be a general pain in the ass (like hosing off the mud with an ice-cold hose after rides) the weather’s been great for bike testing. There’s no better way to get to know a bike than by holding on to it through sloppy, sketchy trails. Drivetrains and brakes are being put to the test as hard as riders are.
This summer 1,000 lucky Crankworx goers sat down in a Whistler ballroom before four giant projection screens to watch, cheer and be amazed by the Shimano Saint Deep Summer Photo Contest. The rules were simple—capture the vibe, the scene, the feeling and the riding of Whistler in just three days of shooting. All six sideshows came together miraculously, making for a truly inspiring audio-visual experience. A panel of judges awarded Mattias Fredriksson top honors, with Dan Barham picking up second place and Harookz nabbing third. John Gibson, Yorick Carroux and wildcard Bryan Ralph also competed, and even though the judges were required to dole out prizes, just like in T-ball, all who competed came away winners. In fact the only losing party was anyone who couldn’t make it to Whistler last August for the ultimate slideshow smackdown. Until now.
Here is the second in a series of slideshows, this one from Byran Ralph. Born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Ralph moved to BC more than a decade ago, and hasn’t gone back. His day job is working for Doppelmayr Canada, building ski lifts. He has been shooting skiing for years, and is a veteran of wintertime photo comps, including the Redbull Photochallenge Canada, the Deep Winter Photo Challenge, and more. Stay tuned to the Buzz section of Bike for more from Ralphie.
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This summer 1,000 lucky Crankworx goers sat down in a Whistler ballroom before four giant projection screens to watch, cheer and be amazed by the Shimano Saint Deep Summer Photo Contest. Bike magazine senior photographer Dan Barham was among the six elite contestants chosen for the challenge. The rules were simple—capture the vibe, the scene, the feeling and the riding of Whistler in just three days of shooting. All six sideshows came together miraculously, making for a truly inspiring audio-visual experience.
A panel of judges awarded Mattias Fredriksson top honors, with Dan Barham picking up second place and Harookz nabbing third. John Gibson, Yorick Carroux and wild-card Bryan Ralph also competed, and even though the judges were required to dole out prizes, just like in T-ball, all who competed came away winners. In fact the only losing party was anyone who couldn’t make it to Whistler last August for the ultimate slideshow smackdown. Until now.
Brian Lopes completed his tear through the Crankworx race circuits with a convincing win in the Canadian Open Enduro, a first-time Kokanee Crankworx event. The event was billed as the ultimate all-mountain challenge. The mass-start race dropped 4,000 feet of elevation to end in Whistler Village, and included enough spikey climbs to favor the XC crowd, and enough Whistler-style downhills to simultaneously scare the crap out of said XC crowd.
Jason Moeschler was one of the racers who had input designing the course, and he was right behind Lopes with some climbing left to go—where Moeschler expected to gain ground on Lopes—but the WTB-sponsored racer suffered a catastrophic rear derailleur failure that all but knocked him out of the race. Lopes and Moeschler, along with Mark Weir, recently earned a collective second-place as Team USA in the Trophy of Nations Enduro DH race in France.
Second and third place in the pro men’s category went to Matt Ryan and Chris Johnston, respectively, both local Whistler rippers. Lopes finished in 19 minutes, 45 seconds, about 50 seconds ahead of second place.