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.
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| 2nd place - Stoked on it |
Slope Style:
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| Kelly ripping - Photo Luke De Jager |
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!
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