If you’ve never shredded a bike park before you may be mistaken into thinking that each day is the same as the last. From a trail perspective, this may be a valid point, BUT, it’s the way your skills develop over the course of a bike park holiday that means that each day is completely different. And, kind of the point… It about getting the mojo rolling with you, your machine and the trail goodness.

Day two is always an interesting day – Everything is usually bedded down, you have semi learnt the trails and hopefully confidence is high, or at least starting to grow towards the usual day 3 sweet spot (Days 3 & 4 always the high point mojo wise). Today was therefore more of the same in the Bike Park, hitting some more sweet Gondola action after the mandatory coffee stop at Vudu Café.

Bike Park shred day always starts with the warm up laps to get things flowing. Invariably the body and nerves need to be coaxed into another day of battle, so installation laps are key. In Whistler its down B-Line before it gets rad and here in qTown it’s the done thing to hit Hammy’s to get things sorted. It was also time to shoot some video footage for another upcoming Dirty Video production:

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Outside arm up Wolf

It’s a trail bike friendly set up down Hammy’s and wolf was enjoying the early morning session:

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Wolf hits the cut line

As the day goes on, so does the pressure applied to testicle circumference. The gradual increase in radness can be applied through the addition of speed and then black diamond trails. First up, Dok showing some class on Thundergoat as the speed started to ramp up:

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Dok battles the inevitability of science and its cunty high centre of gravity issues

Ok, so I promise it’s the last time that we surrender to the cliché of taking a photo of that berm, but fuck, its VERY hard to go past given the epicness of the scenery. Before we stepped it up a gear though, it was lunch time and unexpectedly, we hit our first major Celebrity Alert! And it was an epic/tall one as well:

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“Are you trying to hug me bro?”…. “Just smile and go with it Gazza… It’ll be over soon”

No, its not James and the Giant Kelly, this is none other than Kelly McGarry! Please… Do not fucking say “Who?” If you’ve been criminal enough to say that, then you NEED to watch this below video to get the low down on what makes him one rad motherfucker. Yes, second at the Red Bull Rampage by being the first person to back flip the canyon of death ought to do it (check out the footage from 1.05 onwards in particular):

How insane is that shit?! In usual Dirty Nomad style, I rocked up and had another celebrity shocker by calling him a fucking legend (well, he is, lets face it) and asking for a photo. It was too much for the Wolf, who went and hid in a shop until it was all over, but full credit to the Dok who despite his obvious reservations and not wanting to be tarred with the stalker brush, still stuck around to take photos. I expect the restraining order to be in the mail.

We wanted to hit Fergburger for lunch, but once again it had been invaded by Germans (we want ze burger) and was rammed to the max. Ferg Bakery not so popular it seems:

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The boys embracing the hobo style lunch action… Dok also rocking the Cannasia DH Jersey in style

The afternoon session started with stepping it up a gear… Er… Right to the limits of ability, we found out again that Ants Track and Grundy being at the more extreme end of nut size compatibility. To be fair, Ants was a lot steeper than I had remembered it, even on a DH bike:

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Ah… So… Need to turn right, navigate the forest of death and not destroy anatomy on the back of the seat…

Yeah… Shit was getting real… But at the same time, when we went back to trails we had previously been hitting, the speed was going up and up and the Demo was simply begging for more. Some fork tweaks and another day getting to know each and it was really gelling. The freaking thing is embarrassingly fast and, its also silent. I have never ridden a bike so quiet. If you’re looking at getting one of these things, plumb for the carbon version and repeat the following sentence to your Specialized dealer: “make sure it has the Ohlins shock please”

However, another day of shredding and bitch slapping Goat Thunder was taking its toll, rear brake fade and the need for a bleed doing me in and Dok’s rear wheel screaming uncle saw us pull the pin early for some mechanic love to be administered:

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Reach in there and get my Demo…

The only upside? We FINALLY nailed a fucking Fergburger! I was beginning to think these things were as rare as a lap dance from Kate, but thanks to Wolf’s queue jumping antics we finally secured one. As Vincent Vega sort of once said “It’s a pretty fucking good burger… Don’t know if I’d wait 2 hours for one, but it’s a pretty fucking good burger”:

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And for dinner, more Hobo action

And so… Drum roll for today’s awards

Best product award – Dok found some awesome blister pads for his hands, so that gets a mention as hands are now getting cunted based on the volume of runs. The default winner of course is the Demo, another day of radness and the fucking thing riding through berms like its being sucked to the ground by magnets. Freak show.

Cuntponentry award – Has to go to Dok’s rear wheel. I am not a Stans rim fan, but probably a bit harsh to blame the rim when it was more likely the wheel builder we suspect. The fucking thing came apart like Bob Ford at a council meeting. Find a good mechanic and give him beer, weekly. It will pay dividends in the long run.

Favourite trail – Thundergoat was again super awesome today. Now that the mojo has started to increase, this thing is being attacked with some precision and audacity. The Demo has been egging me on so much that I have stopped breathing through some sections, my brain shutting down most of my other systems as it tries to simply process how we are going to get through some of the sections on a bike that just wants to pin the fuck out of everything.

Trail bike reaming update – The longer it goes on, the harder it gets for the trail bike… The fatigue factor sets in and the DH bikes start to provide an extra layer of padding against the repetitive punishment that run after run dishes out. Be fair to say that in the brrrrraaaapppp wide open sections that the DH bikes got a few fingers into the Bronson today. But, tomorrow may be a different story.

Tomorrow? Yes… Tomorrow the Gravity team are heading out of the captive boundaries of the bike park and into the wilds. Yes, its up to Coronet Peak for some shuttling radness and large volumes of Instagram gushiness. Stay tuned!

2 Responses

  1. Diana

    What are we like? You met Kelly McGarry (very cool!) and I met Tana Umaga! I shamelessly had my photo taken. He’s always been a hero of mine! Nothing wrong with a bit of celebrity! Like mother like son!

    Reply

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