The extreme speed with which Stephen Matthews is dominating the downhill world, is matched only by his speed on the bike. Behold this new video from the man himself — a collection of sweet moments and high speed.
NSMB.com – Stephen Matthews in Kananaskis from Stephen Matthews on Vimeo.
Finally, Tuesday nights are under way. We kicked it off with a night of shuttles on the longest day of the year. Surprisingly trails were in excellent shape with only a couple mud bogs. A minimum riding speed was required on this night for 2 reasons; 1) mosquitos – they are swarming and hungry so we needed to out run them, 2) gaps – Geoff came up short on a gap jump allowing us to witness the first spectacular crash of the season! I gave it a solid 8.3, too bad we didnt get a photo of the mid-air malfunction…
Its been a few years since I’ve been to kicking horse to ride downhill, so myself, Geoff and Mike set out for a day trip last weekend. Why haven’t we gone there sooner??? Aside from a stupid crash where I separated my shoulder, the hill was killler. The runs are steep, flowly and super long. Cant wait to go back…
Mike, Geoff and myself set out as a threesome tonight knowing that daylight is at a premium this time of year. It was good to squeeze this one in since we wont have too many of these warm nights left. Geoff was tail whippin everything in sight on his new Remedy while Mike was pedal mashing on his monster frantic with flats and 2.5′s – thata boy!!! Despite all the rain, the trail was in pretty good condition.
Its getting to be that time of year when lights are going to be mandatory for rides. Powderface short loop next tuesday with a bbq in the parking lot. Be there!
here are some more pics from the 24hr race. This year’s photographer did a great job, some of these are front page material!
Ahhhhh yes – our annual pilgrimage to Silver Star Mountain Bike Park in Vernon. This trip had it all… buff runs, sweet stunts, beer, Isidore’s insane cookin, injuries, beer, 6ft inflatable penises, great weather, sangria, beaches and more beer. Need I say more???
If you haven’t been here before – whats wrong with you?!?! What a great hill. The trails are always buff, the staff are great and the patrollers know how to look after our injuries (massive goose eggs, broken thumbs and concussions…).
Unfortunately action shots are minimal. I just bought a helmet cam but didn’t have time to get the proper mounts before the trip so all I got was footage of my front tire… boooooo!!
Back on track for another Tuesday, this time we rolled on the cruisers. It just happened to be my birthday as well, so we cruised down memorial drive to the Barley Mill in Eau Claire for some birthday beers and nosh. After the pub we terrorized Eau Claire for a bit, riding stairs, throwing down 6ft skids, wheelies and Big E’s wheel spins!!
The ride wouldn’t be complete without a quick stop at the beer parlour for a frosty pint!
We get a lot of comments on these bikes and for good reason. If you dont have one, get one!!
Pure Cycle’s Biking Biatches represent by finishing 10th out of 47 teams in our category!!!
It was a perfect weekend for the annual 24hr relay race. The sun was shining and the dust was minimal thanks to the months of rain we had prior. We set up the battle station and prepared for the race by having a few beers around the coleman heater(no fires allowed)!!
This year’s team was made up of 7 super elite beer drinking, fudgee-o eating athletes. From left to right we have Bill, Angie, Gayle, Nicole, Janelle, Paul and Geoff.
The 24 wouldn’t be the 24 without our annual jumping team photos….
Now for the race! Since I was captain, I made the executive decision to send our “go-to-guy” Bill down to the start gates for the classic Lemans start. Bill gets into the crowd at the start line and works his way to the front half of the pack with elbows high. As the clock counts down to zero, Bill erupts from the start like a silverback gorilla, mowing down all competitors in his path, trying to catch Crazy Larry who’s leading the Lemans in the right direction.
Crazy Larry!
Bills in there somewhere
As usual, Bill finishes the Lemans near the front of the pack and jumps on the Trek Fuel and takes off for the 17+km loop.
Bill blows out a tire on the first lap but still makes it into the transition area with a good time. I’m the second rider to go and I’m surprised I wasn’t in full wheelie mode leaving the transition area. I also encountered technical difficulties during my first lap – a kinked camelbak hose!!! I didn’t want to stop for 7 seconds to fix the problem, instead I relied on the 3 checkpoints through the lap to feed me some water and help wash away the gross white frothy goo that was building up on my lips and chin. yuck!
3rd rider on tap – Angie. Check out this sweet photo, she means bizzness! With a pack full of fudgee-o’s, she cranks her fork into speed mode and starts reeling in the riders. 606 is here to represent!
Next up – Geoff. He hops on the Devinci and peels away from the transition area leaving riders and a dust cloud behind. These next pictures show him bringing it home on our 4th lap. I particularly like the first picture…. yes that is Geoff in the background 
Props to the photographer!!!
We searched high and low for a replacement for the one and only Brad. His concussion kept him out of the race so we went out and found ourselves a little Nicole. She kept pace in regular Biatch fashion by putting her face to her stem and grinding away. I’m still trying to figure out why these girls are always smiling in their photos. I think a smile means you’re not working hard enough!!
6th Biking Biatch to hit the course was Janelle. She crammed about 327 gummie bears into her pack to help her get through the lap. Thanks to superior photgraphy, I was able to get her leaving AND returning to the transition area!!
Last but not least is Gayle. She’s going so fast you can hardly see her! And there’s another smile… this is a race, yer not supposed to have fun
Angie pimped out her wheelset rave style for the night laps. Yup, those are glow sticks!
And finally, here’s a good shot of Geoff and his parachute bringing home the Biatches 19th lap with the clock showing a little more than 11 minutes to spare. Great work Biatches!!!!
It was a perfect night for a ride. Tonight the Powderface trail was serving up a solid helping of pedal-mashing-climbing to help work the quarter pounders out of the system, followed by some rough, fast, rolling downs to bring you all the way back around to the parking lot.
The ride was great but we could have done without the 3 flats on Jamie’s bike(Erik, I hope you’re reading this, time to put those sales skills to work. Sell this man some tubes, tires, a new fork, heck maybe a new bike since one of those other shops in Bowness sold him a lemon and left him hanging out to dry.) Flat #1, we see Jamie about 2kms behind on the road, the pit crew returns for the tire change and we’re back in the saddle after a combined 114 mosquito bites. Flat #2, I hear “F$#%!!”, the pit crew turns back to find a flat front tire, this one breaks 2 tire pumps – luckily 3 of us had pumps – and we’re back in the saddle after an additional 193 mosquito bites. Flat #3 was right before the final descent to the parking lot. With no more tubes or pumps, we left him there to do the walk of shame as we coasted to the lot and fired up the bbq for some well deserved spolumbos and frosty bevies.
Lets do it again next week!!
Tonight we rode Jumpingpound loop. Twas a beautiful sunny day in Calgary, but as we head west from the city we see the usual black storm clouds. A couple of us did 2 laps, a couple did 1 lap, and Geoff decided to sleep in the truck so the rain didn’t work over his cold. Trails were pretty techy with a lot of slick roots and rocks but it made for a fun ride(except for Ross’s encounter with a large spruce tree).
This is a great lap as it has a bit of everything. Its great for those who are new to riding and looking to develop some skills, or the advance rider can roast multiple hi speed laps with some good climbs and fast singletrack.
Next up, 24hrs of Adrenaline this weekend…
