Andre`s Adventures #2 Skids, Whips and Heli-trips

http://video.mpora.com/watch/Hqpw9CrkC/

Check out my latest vid.

Enjoy!

Andre`s Adventures: Nelson

Check out my first webisode from Andre`s Adventures. Me mucking around and riding in sunny nelson.

Enjoy!

Diaries Of Ken: Christmas Shreddit

Check out this webisode from some UK boys living in Queenstown.......

Been riding and filming with these guys and its been a blast. Enjoy the Vid!


 "The jolly month of December in Queenstown, New Zealand. Featuring Russ Paver, Andrew Weeding, Hugh Gashman (Guy Hewitt) and some rowdy locals!"

Click the link below for video goodness!




------------>    Diaries Of Ken: Christmas Shreddit

Queenstown

Since Nationals are only just around the corner I decided to spend a couple of weeks down in Queenstown, My time has been filled pedaling up hills, riding the dirt jumps and smashing out some dh runs.  Below are some pictures from the last couple of weeks, Photo Credit Phil Mclean

The Tr450 loved Mini Dream and being thrown around doing whips and tables

Adam Corking his flips

Phil Ripping up George Rd. Check out this 3 table

Conor McFarlane stepped up an threw a 360 off the stepdown and flipped the hip. Props!

I also had a couple of hours free one afternoon so I went up remarks downhill track and made a little self filmed video. Check it out over on Mpora ---->

http://video.mpora.com/watch/cq34EQurw/

New Bikes

This summer I have been lucky enough to have Revolution Products sort me out with some spanky new Transition frames. To satisfy all my biking needs I got myself a 4" Transition Double and the TR450 Downhill bike.



The Transition Double can handle pretty much anything you throw at it. Give it anything from dirt jumps and Cross Country to steep technical Downhill runs, the double will take it and make it fun.







For the upcoming nationals series and other local races I went for the TR450 Downhill race bike. The tr450 is a cut above over downhill bikes and loves the abuse given during shuttle days and races.

Crankworx final report

Crankworx is the pinnacle event of mountain biking in whistler. A 8 day event that has people and athletes invading the village in to watch and partake in various events throughout the event.



Crankworx offers 6 major events; dual slalom, garbonza downhill; canadian open enduro, canadian open downhill and giant slalom. Also spotted amongst the crowd are some tight jean wearing hipsters. Also known as slopestyle riders, all looking to take victory in the event that attracts the biggest crowd; The monster energy slopestyle.



Dual Slalom:

The first day of crankworx was also my first race of crankworx, Dual Slalom. The track was very tight with corners and jumps to spare. Earlier in the year I had placed 6th in the dual slalom at Sea Otter, so I was confident about this race. Come qualifying run I wasn't feeling it and made a few mistakes putting me back in the field. My day ending with 9th place in Senior men.



Garbonza Downhill:

One of the major races of crankworx is the Garbonza downhill. A single race run from the very top of Whistler mountain. A rough challenging course with plenty of pedaling and technical sections, around 15min of arm pumping, leg shaking, eye rattling downhill to keep you on your toes. Today was race day and rain leading up to the race was ensuring that the track was going to be loose. I had a good run but just as we got into one of the technical sections I caught up with the rider in front of me and had to ride the section at his pace until I could pass him. Not soon after I caught up with another rider who proceeded to crash on the track in front of me, causing me to come to a stop and navigate around him. With those two out of the way I kept pinning it and caught another rider on a sprinting section, I passed him when I could and carried on to the finish line. I finished in 16th place, a little disappointing due to my interrupted run, but thats racing. Highlights of the race were fellow kiwis Justin finishing 2nd and Blenky slipping into 3rd!



Giant Slalom:

After my disappointment in dual slalom I was looking for some redemption in this race. The format was a cross between four cross and dual slalom. Two riders leave the top with your own start and finish lanes but it is an open course in the middle. I did qualifying and pinned it to 2nd place seed,a good improvement and I couldn't wait until racing. Luckily my Transition Double was perfect for this course. The track was fast and wide open and my bike was hooking all the turns and keeping pace.

Racing came and my strategy was to smash out of the gate and hold the lead down the whole track. This worked perfect and I made my way through the ladders. The crowds had started to roll in by now and the whole event had started being played on the big screens and a live broadcast was playing on the net.

I eventually made it into the finals and knew I was going to be top 2. I put it all down in the finals but my opponent was stronger out of the gate and I rode behind him in both run to watch him take the victory. Next year ill be back and looking for the top step of the podium.

2nd place - Stoked on it

Slope Style:

Kelly ripping - Photo Luke De Jager

This years slope style was an interesting event. As per usual a massive crowd had flocked in to watch  the riders lay it all down on the table. Some upsets in the finals saw Brandon Semenuk and Darren Bearclaw both crash and injure themselves. Last years winner Greg Watts got a flat tyre and missed out on the top 6. Big probs to mad dog Kelly McGarry who placed 5th in the final. Cam Zink took 1st with Montgomery in 2nd (on a hardtail!).

Another highlight of crankworx was kiwi boy and flat mate Bryn Dickerson pinning it to take the Junior win in the A Line air downhill race over No.1 Canadian Remy Gauvin. Scrubbing and hucking are two of Bryns favorite things along with jumping sheep in the back yard, which seemed to be the key combination for this race. Lopes won pro but Blenky took 2nd on a downhill bike with flat pedals, making him the peoples champion of the day.

With Crankworx done and dusted it was time to pack up and head home, the bus hadn't left the village yet and I was making plans for my return. It will be good to be back in New Zealand for the summer with lots of races and riding to look forward to!

Whistler Wrap up

This year I escaped some of the New Zealand winter by spending just under 2 months in the mountain bikers paradise that is the whistler bike park. Canada is an amazing country and Whistler is a the perfect place to relax and ride a chair lift all day. 

I jacked up some accomidation with kiwi boys Luke de Jager and Bryn Dickerson and ended up in a pretty sweet flat. But of course living with fellow kiwis gave some wild times from full moon parties to Luke's drinking antics, there was always something interesting happening!

Full Moon parties

Cider + Bryn = Whole lot of fun

Lake

Day to day life in whistler was very chill and usually involved getting up around 10am and then going and doing some runs for a few hours, then go relax at the lake and rope swing then go do some more riding at the pump track or dirt jumps. Slip in the occasional race and you have your standard day in Whistler.

Freight Train

A line

Because the town is nestled  in an area surrounded by plants and trees it meant there were lots of chill animals around all willing to come say hello. We had a raccoon called Steve that would visit the flat and grab a feed. We also had Keith the beer who visited us a few times until we came out one morning to find him locked in the house. He casually left but not before eating the chocolate biscuits and a whole tub of margarine.

Steve

Keith

Whistler is the perfect place to chill and enjoy riding your bike and the small ski town atmosphere. I recommend it and am definitely returning next year.