With the leaves already starting to change colour, me and my Dad pack up the truck for the BC cup finals in Golden, British Columbia. We pulled out of Calgary saturday morning in near negative tempertures, which is odd in August everywhere except Cow town seeing as it has snowed every month of the year here. As we made the drive for kicking horse we stopped in lake louise for one of the best breakfast's I have ever had; a heaping pile of eggs and bacon all stuff in a bagel with some BBQ sauce.
With my stomach full, we got back on the road and arrived at Kicking horse around 11. I geared up got registered and got up the lift to the top of snow covered kicking horse and proceeded to freeze my but off with 70 km/h winds coming at me as I whipped down the fire road on the way to Pioneer, the race course. After thawing my hands I went off for my first run down the hill. The course was near identical to last years race course, which helped me getting only one day of practice. My first run was pretty darn good, I blasted blind down the track at near race pace and from then on I knew it was going to be a good weekend. I managed to crank out a few more runs and just stayed relaxed as I knew I was feeling quite good.
That night me and Daniel went to the Bar to watch UFC 118. As a Mixed Martial Arts superfan I was pretty excited for the nights card which pitted 5x UFC champion Randy Couture against current IFA heavyweight boxing champ James Toney. It was an interesting matchup as a striker of that caliber had never fought in the UFC before, but "The Natural" Couture quickly submitted the boxer in the 1st round. Being a massive fan of Couture I was amped to see him pull of such a descisive victory. This only added to the positive energy I had surronding the race.
On race day I got up to a beautiful view of misty mountain tops out the hotel window, banged out three runs and then proceeded to watch the weather turn horrid. It rained earlier in the week put it hadn't been this wet. I sat and watched as riders came down progressivly getting dirtier and muddier. When it was finally time to go up I slapped a makeshift fender on my bike (a cut inner tube zip tied to the fork crown and arch) and headed up the lift with Dan. On the way up me and Dan were pretty care free joking and laughing, for the 15 minutes in the gondola. We exited the gondola and were greeted by a pounding blizzard at the top of the mountain. We somehow managed to make it to the course without being able to see from all the slete and muck flying into your face. There was a few patches of snow at the top of the track which pretty much guarenteed a loose and messy run. After joking and messing around on the way up I started up my pre race routine to get focussed. This includes cracking most of the injured joints in my body, swinging my arms laterally across my chest and tapping my Leatt brace against my stem plate. I set off down the hill and took it pretty easy for the first few meters but as soon as I hit the pioneer rock drop it was on! I began to let the brakes go and nailed the upper section of course. about halfway down shortly after a highspeed section I mis-timed a pre-hop of some roots and went down hard over the bars and slid about thirty feet from my bike, but the conditions were so bad I almost excpected it so I was able to keep focussed and run back to my bike and hop on without loosing to much of "race" state of mind. I got up sprinted back to my bike and ran with it until i was able to jump back on and get rolling again. I finished of my run really well by doing a massive drift through a wet berm in perfect control. As I got on the final sprint I was already exhausted but I just told myself that there was no way in hell I was going to sit down. I stayed standing and put absolutley every ounce of energy I had into the 45 second dash to the finish. I crossed the line with my legs burning more than books at a Nazi rally.
I ended up finsihing in seventh place which was a pretty soild result, but it also makes me more hungry for next year and this years remaining races because I know I could have been on the podium if I hadn't crashed. It reaffirms in my mind that I have the speed to make it on to podiums and know its just up to me to put it together and do it!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
My Summer... So Far
Well it's been a while since I've contributed to our blog here but I've been racing every weekend for the past few weeks now so I've got lots to write about.
First of all the Freeriders for Child Find Alberta charity race that was held on June 26th at Moose mountain. It was only my second real race of the season and it was more for fun but it was still a really good race. We raced T-Dub from the very top right to the river which was great because in my opinion T-Dub is the best trail on Moose. The track was made even better by the fact that we got to race down the gully rather than the newer and less technical re-route. On race day I was ready to go fast and I let it all hang out on my race run. I used minimal brakes and just hammered my way down the entire course. As a result I missed a few of my lines and I was pretty much all over the place. It seemed like I was going really fast but I definitely learned that it's beneficial to stay smooth and relaxed during race runs since smoothness contributes greatly to your overall speed. I ended up coming 6th in the advanced category which is a result that hopefully I'll be able to improve on next time. After the race Stu gave me some great advice that I've already implemented into my training and racing. (Thanks again for that Stu.) It was a bit weird that the race was held on a Saturday but other than that it was a fantastic event!
For full results please have a look here: http://www.freewebs.com/adhra/
The following weekend was the first round of the Alberta Cup up in Grande Prairie on the weekend the 4th of July. It was quite a road trip but to my surprise it was really worth it! We arrived on the Thursday evening and immediately hit up the water slide in our hotel. The following morning our course walk provided us with a few laughs, but they did the best they could with the terrain that they had. The course was lacking a bit in the technical department but it turned out to be extremely fun to ride - there were plenty of berms on the bottom part of the track to be shredded! I wouldn't hesitate to call it the best DH track in western Canada east of the rocky mountains. On Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to do a walking tour of Grande Prairie while our van was getting fixed because it almost blew up on the trip up there. Until now I always thought I had some pretty unique ways but I when we went into the gun store there I realized that my redneckedness is nothing compared to some people... I can't blame 'em though, If I lived up there I'd certainly have a badass truck that could transport my multitude of guns.
Anyways, back the riding stuff, we spend a couple hours on Friday evening helping the bike park crew (who are all volunteers) buff up the 4X track for the race the next day. The next morning I had the opportunity to participate in my first ever 4X race and it was a blast! I won all my heats to take the win in the Junior category. I packed in as much training as I could for the downhill, but I still only managed to get about 5 or 6 runs in because I couldn't pass up the opportunity to huck myself into a pool! At Nitehawk they have an outdoor facility that aerials ski jumpers use for training in the summer - it's pretty much a massive booter into a swimming pool, and they have an air compression system that allows an observer to release a bunch of bubbles into the pool so it doesn't hurt as much when you land. I did this jump many times and by the end of the day I had back flips dialed so I was pretty stoked.
On Sunday the race day was similar to most others. I did more practice runs than I usually do on a race day, but it was all good since it's only a 2 minute course. My race run went pretty well because I didn't take any diggers and I kept it smooth the whole way down. I was happy with my run but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough for a podium finish. I came 4th in Junior Expert with the 4th fastest time of the day. The trip home after that was long and boring but luckily our vehicle survived. In general I'd have to say that it was one of the best events I've ever been to.
For full results from GP please see here: http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/results
Last but not least, the race I most recently returned home from was the 2010 Canadian DH Nationals in Panorama. I showed up without high expectations, but I was bummed out to find that I didn't actually have enough points to race Junior Expert, so I had to race Junior sport. That was a pretty bad deal since I missed out on Saturday morning's practice and seeding. Luckily the course was super fun - probably one of the best race courses I've ridden in the past few years! I trained pretty hard and up until race day the damage done to me and my bike was minimal considering the situation. It would have been nice if the trailer was around though. I held everything together on my race run and when I got to the bottom I was fairly pleased. My run was pretty smooth, but I learned that in the future I need to do more top to bottom runs during practice in order to get a better feel for the course as a whole. I came second in Junior Sport having been defeated only by my teammate Evan... by only 0.34 seconds. (Good work by the way Evan!) It was a podium sweep for Calgary Cycle! My time would have put me in 11th place in Junior Expert and 32nd in Elite.
Check out the full results here and click the link that's just above the list of the Junior Expert results.
Daniel Banks
First of all the Freeriders for Child Find Alberta charity race that was held on June 26th at Moose mountain. It was only my second real race of the season and it was more for fun but it was still a really good race. We raced T-Dub from the very top right to the river which was great because in my opinion T-Dub is the best trail on Moose. The track was made even better by the fact that we got to race down the gully rather than the newer and less technical re-route. On race day I was ready to go fast and I let it all hang out on my race run. I used minimal brakes and just hammered my way down the entire course. As a result I missed a few of my lines and I was pretty much all over the place. It seemed like I was going really fast but I definitely learned that it's beneficial to stay smooth and relaxed during race runs since smoothness contributes greatly to your overall speed. I ended up coming 6th in the advanced category which is a result that hopefully I'll be able to improve on next time. After the race Stu gave me some great advice that I've already implemented into my training and racing. (Thanks again for that Stu.) It was a bit weird that the race was held on a Saturday but other than that it was a fantastic event!
For full results please have a look here: http://www.freewebs.com/adhra/
The following weekend was the first round of the Alberta Cup up in Grande Prairie on the weekend the 4th of July. It was quite a road trip but to my surprise it was really worth it! We arrived on the Thursday evening and immediately hit up the water slide in our hotel. The following morning our course walk provided us with a few laughs, but they did the best they could with the terrain that they had. The course was lacking a bit in the technical department but it turned out to be extremely fun to ride - there were plenty of berms on the bottom part of the track to be shredded! I wouldn't hesitate to call it the best DH track in western Canada east of the rocky mountains. On Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to do a walking tour of Grande Prairie while our van was getting fixed because it almost blew up on the trip up there. Until now I always thought I had some pretty unique ways but I when we went into the gun store there I realized that my redneckedness is nothing compared to some people... I can't blame 'em though, If I lived up there I'd certainly have a badass truck that could transport my multitude of guns.
Anyways, back the riding stuff, we spend a couple hours on Friday evening helping the bike park crew (who are all volunteers) buff up the 4X track for the race the next day. The next morning I had the opportunity to participate in my first ever 4X race and it was a blast! I won all my heats to take the win in the Junior category. I packed in as much training as I could for the downhill, but I still only managed to get about 5 or 6 runs in because I couldn't pass up the opportunity to huck myself into a pool! At Nitehawk they have an outdoor facility that aerials ski jumpers use for training in the summer - it's pretty much a massive booter into a swimming pool, and they have an air compression system that allows an observer to release a bunch of bubbles into the pool so it doesn't hurt as much when you land. I did this jump many times and by the end of the day I had back flips dialed so I was pretty stoked.
On Sunday the race day was similar to most others. I did more practice runs than I usually do on a race day, but it was all good since it's only a 2 minute course. My race run went pretty well because I didn't take any diggers and I kept it smooth the whole way down. I was happy with my run but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough for a podium finish. I came 4th in Junior Expert with the 4th fastest time of the day. The trip home after that was long and boring but luckily our vehicle survived. In general I'd have to say that it was one of the best events I've ever been to.
For full results from GP please see here: http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/results
Last but not least, the race I most recently returned home from was the 2010 Canadian DH Nationals in Panorama. I showed up without high expectations, but I was bummed out to find that I didn't actually have enough points to race Junior Expert, so I had to race Junior sport. That was a pretty bad deal since I missed out on Saturday morning's practice and seeding. Luckily the course was super fun - probably one of the best race courses I've ridden in the past few years! I trained pretty hard and up until race day the damage done to me and my bike was minimal considering the situation. It would have been nice if the trailer was around though. I held everything together on my race run and when I got to the bottom I was fairly pleased. My run was pretty smooth, but I learned that in the future I need to do more top to bottom runs during practice in order to get a better feel for the course as a whole. I came second in Junior Sport having been defeated only by my teammate Evan... by only 0.34 seconds. (Good work by the way Evan!) It was a podium sweep for Calgary Cycle! My time would have put me in 11th place in Junior Expert and 32nd in Elite.
Check out the full results here and click the link that's just above the list of the Junior Expert results.
Daniel Banks
Summer; mine and the majority of high school students entire basis for existence is finally here and in full force. I have raced the last three weekends and ridden my bike for hours each day. Blisters, cuts and the perpetual farmers tan are proof of that. The best part of it all is that the lion's share of excitement still remains. With a few weeks in Vernon, Crankworx, kicking horse and another Canada Cup still in store for me I couldn't ask for much more. While I am writing this my house is being pelted by larger than golfball-sized hail and heavy rain so trail conditions are going to be pretty darn interesting for the next 36 hours i would guess. I'll keep it updated.
Evan
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
COP in the Mud
Had a super fun day riding by myself at COP after school. It rained for like half an hour but that was enough to completely saturate the trails and make for some super rowdy conditions. I had an awesome time just sprinting every run, scrubbing all the jumps and sliding around the turns. On another note I am hoping I will be able to get out to the mountains a few times this week/weekend because I had an unreal time doing some runs at Moose on Sunday. Me and Dan managed one down Jean guy one down toothless and one down Shoulda. Last weekend was the first time I have ever rode shoulda and i have to say it was well worth the excessive calf burn from the 30 minute hike! Love the trail; super fast and and It was my first run so i was pinning it in front of Dan pretty much oblivious to where i was going. Riding a trail fully pinned for the first time is a feeling like no other. It gives you that feeling of uncertainty and adventure that mountain bikes are so well designed to produce. I already said this but the trail was fast, really fast. I bet the slowest me and Dan went was 50km/h, it was awesome. Looking forward to riding that trail again soon, and going even faster.
Evan
Monday, May 17, 2010
What's the Difference Between Dirt and Roost?
I recently got my new Session 88 and so far it's absolutely off the hook. The only real differences between this one and my old one are suspension, tires and weight, but this one is so much better. I got the new Boxxer up front, a DHX RC4 in the back, and it all tips the scale at slightly less than 39lbs (with pedals).
Today while I was up at nose hill riding my new baby and something absolutely amazing happened to me. I was having a pretty good run, when suddenly I decided to carry more speed then usual into a small jump, thus propelling myself through space and time directly into a berm. I G'd out in the corner, brushed my bars against the ground, and rode it out at a speed approaching that at which sound travels. Upon looking back to assess the destruction, I was amazed to see what was likely the largest cloud of roost I have ever prodroost (pun intended). Needless to say, I was pretty much in awe. After a short bout of laughter, it was back to business.
Luckily, it wasn't over there. On my way back to the top for another run, I had a epiphany that would forever alter the way I think about the powdery brown substance that composes the vast majority of our trails. While determining the manner in which I would describe the aforementioned events to my friends and associates, I thought about the term "a cloud of roost". What is roost anyways? How is it made? Why is it that mountain bikers, especially downhill racers, have such an affinity for roost?
In that very moment, it became clear to me that roost is so much more then just dirt. Like Holy water is more than just water or Hot chocolate more than just chocolate milk at an elevated temperature, I concluded that roost is dirt that has been anointed with radness; earth that has been jettisoned into the atmosphere as a result of awesomeness.
Ultimately, roost is tha bomb. All dirt aspires to one day be roost, so get out and make the world a better place by shredding some soil skyward.
Daniel Banks.
Today while I was up at nose hill riding my new baby and something absolutely amazing happened to me. I was having a pretty good run, when suddenly I decided to carry more speed then usual into a small jump, thus propelling myself through space and time directly into a berm. I G'd out in the corner, brushed my bars against the ground, and rode it out at a speed approaching that at which sound travels. Upon looking back to assess the destruction, I was amazed to see what was likely the largest cloud of roost I have ever prodroost (pun intended). Needless to say, I was pretty much in awe. After a short bout of laughter, it was back to business.
Luckily, it wasn't over there. On my way back to the top for another run, I had a epiphany that would forever alter the way I think about the powdery brown substance that composes the vast majority of our trails. While determining the manner in which I would describe the aforementioned events to my friends and associates, I thought about the term "a cloud of roost". What is roost anyways? How is it made? Why is it that mountain bikers, especially downhill racers, have such an affinity for roost?
In that very moment, it became clear to me that roost is so much more then just dirt. Like Holy water is more than just water or Hot chocolate more than just chocolate milk at an elevated temperature, I concluded that roost is dirt that has been anointed with radness; earth that has been jettisoned into the atmosphere as a result of awesomeness.
Ultimately, roost is tha bomb. All dirt aspires to one day be roost, so get out and make the world a better place by shredding some soil skyward.
Daniel Banks.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Race the Ranch 2010
This past weekend held the first race of my 2010 season; Race the Ranch in beautiful Kamloops British Colombia. With over 350 racers it was quite an event indeed. The course was super fun with plenty of jumps and a few gnarly parts thrown in for good measure - Nothing short of what I expected from the loops! After a full winter of training arduously I was quite excited to see how I would do in competition. Practice on Saturday went really well despite some hybrid precipitation during our special practice just for Juniors and Elite men, but it was all good since it settled the notorious dust for the following day of racing.
On Saturday evening I went to see the Follow Me premier with my friend and Teammate Evan. The movie was off the hook and seeing it out in Kamloops was a great experience, especially since most of the riders on the big screen were in attendance.
Come Sunday our category was one of the last to start. My race run was pretty clean, despite being a bit too conservative on a few parts of the track. My time was decent, however it only got me an 11th place finish. Unfortunately that's about 11 places back of where I wanted to end up. Riding on this team is a pretty big deal for me so I feel that I have to make the next race a lot better. Fortunately you learn something from every race, and in last weekends case I reckon that during races you have to ride with confidence in your skills and push yourself as hard as you want to win.
Overall, It was a super fun weekend and an excellent way to kick off the season! My next big race will be the Mad Trapper in Panorama at the end of June. In the meantime I'll certainly be training harder than ever in pursuit of my athletic endeavors. I'm really looking forward to see what this summer has in store!
Cheers!
Daniel Banks
On Saturday evening I went to see the Follow Me premier with my friend and Teammate Evan. The movie was off the hook and seeing it out in Kamloops was a great experience, especially since most of the riders on the big screen were in attendance.
Come Sunday our category was one of the last to start. My race run was pretty clean, despite being a bit too conservative on a few parts of the track. My time was decent, however it only got me an 11th place finish. Unfortunately that's about 11 places back of where I wanted to end up. Riding on this team is a pretty big deal for me so I feel that I have to make the next race a lot better. Fortunately you learn something from every race, and in last weekends case I reckon that during races you have to ride with confidence in your skills and push yourself as hard as you want to win.
Overall, It was a super fun weekend and an excellent way to kick off the season! My next big race will be the Mad Trapper in Panorama at the end of June. In the meantime I'll certainly be training harder than ever in pursuit of my athletic endeavors. I'm really looking forward to see what this summer has in store!
Cheers!
Daniel Banks
Monday, April 26, 2010
Race the Ranch 2010
The first race of the season has come to a close. I managed to get a 7th place finish in Junior which is my best finish to date. Be that as it may I am not completely satisfied with my result, but with less than 2 seconds separating me and a podium position this result gives me confidence that I can be on the podium very soon. I am taking my result with a grain of salt and using it to motivate me to train harder and continue improving.
My race run went fairly well. I lost some time after getting bogged down in the famous Kamloops dust but as far as having a game plan and sticking to it my run was almost perfect. I had planned to conserve my legs a little for the bottom rock garden bunny hop due to the fact that casing it would mean catastrophe, but now I know that I could have pushed it harder. I always look back at race runs and try to learn from them and every race I compete in seem to teach me something new. This weekend's lesson was to trust my training and not hold back.
The race itself was really well run and I am pretty impressed by the fact that they had an elite and junior practice only. This was fantastic because it cut down the long lines and you didn't have to pass slower riders on your way down the course. Despite the uncharacteristic weather conditions (hail and rain!) the course held up extremely well in comparison to last year only deteriorating in a few places.
Me and my teammate Dan also attended the Follow Me premiere Saturday night after practice. All I can say is I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of that movie, it was phenomenal! It was the first premiere that I have ever been to and it was heaps of fun and a great representation of mountain bike culture which only continued to remind me of why I love the sport so much. All in all the weekend was awesome and I can't wait to get out and continue racing and riding for the rest of the season!
Evan Blackwell
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Kamloops- Spring break
Well, Spring Break has come to a close recently and during spring break I was fortunate enough to head out to beautiful Kamloops, British Columbia and get a few runs down the course before the race in late April. My first few runs I cruised down stopping in frequently to check out lines and a few blind up-and-overs featured on the course. The course begins with a few man made rock gardens which then lead you into a steep left handed switch back. This steep section then sends you over a road gap and down a high speed section of table tops and a rock garden gap. The course levels out into a flatter pedalling section frequented by jumps and rollers. The course then exits into the dirt jump park where riders face a short sprint and a table top through the finish line.
The Race the Ranch course although not a course that lends itself directly to my riding style is a darn good time! After a winter with minimal jumping I was excited to get out on some decent sized jumps and throw my Session 88 sideways as much as possible! I also managed to clock about 10-20 timed runs during the 3 days I was there which also doubled as a cardio workout because I was beat afterwards, going against the clock forced me to give it everything I had every run. As well as being excellent for fitness training these timed runs also gave me confidence that I can do I good clean race run at full pace because I made very few major mistakes under the pressure of the clock; something I struggled with last season.
After riding the course I am looking forward to the race to see where I stack up against everyone as well as enjoying all of the vibe and excitement that comes with racing.
Evan Blackwell
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