Shoes for some people, can be a dime a dozen. To me, they are one of my most important riding tools-call them equipement if you will. Nobody likes shoes that make their feet hurt while they ride, or slip off your pedals, or destroy your toes when they get a little too close to a rock while pinning it. I have a long history with clip in bike shoes and have finally found one that completely satisfies my DH needs.

Hard to believe that I am back and just a short while ago on Sunday, April 8th, we left Calgary at aprox 7:30 am in the new Calgary Cycle Truck pulling the team trailer with all of our bikes. By Monday April 9th we arrived in Santa Cruz, landed on the beach and it just so happened that it was the local's spring break. As nice as it would have been to stay and “site see”, our destination still lay on the other side of the bay outside of Monterey.

THE is proud to introduce the arrival of the much anticipated THE ONE IZYK Helmet. The IZYK helmet features all the same advanced features our other THE ONE Helmets are built with - by hand, off of our molds, to our specs. We are offering a full hand laid carbon fiber version as well as a composite soft touch finish version.

The Iron Horse/DHRacer team will be kicking off another bike season with their annual movie premiere party presented at the Cage aux Sports du Centre Bell where they will be showing the film Super 8: Illusionary Lines.

Like last year, many of Canada's top DH teams will be present displaying their new bikes and team colors.

So I’m in my truck's bed ready for bed, canopy over head. I’m in my sleeping bag, about ready to call it a day, I guess I could call it day three of my Trials of Life Canadian tour. Day 1, I drove most of the way across BC to Cranbrook, spent the night, and then performed at a local middle school; grabbed lunch with Scott from Gerick Sports before driving to Lethbridge.

After many successful years with Team Race and Gears Racing Institute, Ricky Federau has decided to follow the privateer route assembling his own sponsorship consortium and race program in order to best contest a spot on the 2008 Canadian Olympic Mountain Bike Team.

"With the program we have come up with there is a lot of freedom, it's really nice to pick and choose the races I want to do well at and the best preparation for those races."

Mark your calendars, because the Bear Mountain racing weekend is now happening July 7th/8th in Mission. This racing weekend will feature the XC Provincial Championships as well as a Downhill Race.

With less than 2 weeks remaining to the inaugural Ukbikepark/ Torico summer series race in Dorset. The Ukbikepark team have just finished preparing the new track for what looks like is going to be a great race series. The track has seen some big modifications over the winter with additional features such as a much needed rock garden and a huge 30 foot table top being added, as well as rejuvenated berm sections and another 18 foot table top jump being added. The track has over 400feet of altitude drop and has a mixture of technical rooty sections, berms, rock sections and plenty of opportunities to get your wheels off the ground.

Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Kirt Voreis rolled into So Cal today bringing his fleet of SRAM/ RockShox equipped Santa Cruz bicycles to San Diego for riders to satisfy their interest in which model would sweep them off their feet. With the assistance of Bicycle Warehouse, located at 5710 Kearny Villa Rd. in San Diego, and their knowledgeable staff on hand to assist, Voreis and his ace mechanic Travis Lucas, set up bikes and got people pedaling with off into the hills to put the bikes through their paces.

I've been trying to wrap my head around what an "All Mountain" mountain bike is to me, as it seems to vary a bit between bike companies. But the General concensus is that the bike should be able to do "All". Climb well, XC really well (has to be a good pedal ’er) and descend like a short travel DH rig. Sounds easy enough-haha not really, but there are bikes out there that do fit this bill. After a quick bit of research and a general idea of what I wanted in a bike I set out to build my own “All Mountain” mountain bike.

Check out the criteria:

On April Fool's Day, I didn't make a jump on Vedder Mountain in Chilliwack and crashed and hurt my shoulder, tore most of the ligaments around the shoulder - no crack. As with every injury its really disappointing, especially when you make plans to go to the Loops for the Easter Long Weekend. The crew was heading to Kamloops for the first group long weekend and I was out...

At 17 years of age Steve Romaniuk's parents and school let him walk away half way through his grade 12 year to board a bus full of other riders and hit the road. Little did they know that the bus was full of Kokanee and that it would be the catalyst to his career as one of our sports most recognizable riders today. Steve finished his grade 12, but its his riding that gets all the passing grades. From print ads to huge movie parts, Romo as his friends know him is just getting going and with the 2007 season underway he is now on a whole new ride. Enter Mongoose Bicycles, look out the Goose is Loose!

Based on the very successful Calgary Cycle Downhill development team, two new branches have sprouted-the B and the C teams.

Are you wanting to race or do you already race, but are wanting a team to be part of? Well have a read below and see where you could fit in to the Calgary Cycle B and C teams.

Only one weeks to go before the first event of the Qashqai Urban Challenge. Course builders are getting ready and the riders are busy preparing for a tour that will test the limits of mountain bike freeriding.

Just finished a week long shoot out at the Darren Berrecloths place on Vancouver Island. I call it, “The Clawpound”, loaded with every motorized vehicle for redneck fun! This was our first BC trip of the year, and we didn’t get a chance to film a few lines last year so this was our chance to get’er done!

Canada Cup racer Brendan MacIntosh has recently opened a bike store in
Revelstoke, BC. After training with Pacific Sport Victoria and racing
nationally and internationally for the past 4 years, Brendan decided it was
time to shift his focus and share some of his knowledge gained from racing.
Flowt Bikes and Skis provides expert bike fitting, professional repairs and
competitive pricing to all levels of cyclists.

Check out Flowt at 709 Victoria Rd in Revelstoke!

Between The Tape is the new and long awaited film by Clay Porter. Following the DH world cup series and visiting numerous riders homes, Clay brings fresh and new ideas to mountainbiking.

“Seven Sundays out of every year, they race the clock searching for the elusive perfect run…..and it all happens, Between The Tape”

RED BULL EMPIRE OF DIRT
15- 16th June, 2007
Newton Abbot, Devon, England

Red Bull Empire of Dirt, the world’s first BMX DIRT SLOPESTYLE contest, is the brainchild of UK rider Kye Forte, and combines influences from each of the BMX styles, to create one unholy new discipline guaranteed to challenge the very best on the planet.

www.mfxairart.com is stoked to be supporting a full team this year at the SDA and NPS race series and the UK and Scottland. Have a look at their tricked out 224s with the full custom paint jobs.

WHAT IS IT?:

A really great time with awesome people! Come and support Team Muddbunnies and Oak Bay riders raise $ for Canada Cup 07 in Quebec.

Come on out to the Kona Demo Tour this Saturday April 28th at the Bike Ranch in Kamloops. Give a 2007 Kona a whirl and watch as the Cafe Team puts on a Dirt Jump Demo. If you miss Saturday, you can always stop by the shop on Sunday to give some 2007 bikes a feel.

Check out www.bicyclecafe.com/kamloops to learn more.

The past few weeks have been pretty good for the ladies that are representing Norco Bikes. Catharine Pendrel was named the Kamloops Female Athlete of the Year. While Fionn Griffiths (her team mate on the DH side of things) was at the Sea Otter collecting a podium spot in the Women's Pro DH.

Fox Racing Shox sponsored athletes podium at every event at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic.

The 2007 Sea Otter Classic was a great week for Fox Racing Shox athletes as they climbed onto podiums in every event from XC to DH.

This past weekend, Jordie Lunn hosted the second annual dirt jump event in his backyard. The Lunn’s live on the Island in Parksville, British Colombia.

April in Alberta means a couple things for people who like to spend time outside. Number one is usually spending a lot of time inside getting things ready for summer. We’ve had a whirlwind of snowy winter storms come through and remind us that global warming can sometimes be a nice break from winter’s edge. April also means a chance for us to ride our bikes indoors at the Round Up Center for the annual Outdoor Adventure Show.

Big Mountain has launched Alpenrock, a new 9-day downhill mountain bike adventure in the Swiss Alps and the first trip of its kind. The guides to show you the way are none other than mountain bike legends Wade Simmons and Joe Schwartz.

2006 NORBA overall 4X champion Joanna Petterson surprised a few folks at Sea Otter ripping down the DH and DS courses sporting b team colors and piloting a pair of splashy new Brodies.

The Sea Otter Classic draws in people from all over the bike industry to one big spot for a few days each year to more or less kick off the season here in North America. I got the chance to talk to a few seasoned Otter goers and a newbie to the scene. Here is what they had to say about the 2007 Otter:

Last night Oak Bay Bikes in Nanaimo was broken into, one day before our first anniversary! The thieves knew what they were doing because they had to get through security film, metal bars, alarm and cable locks to get to the bikes. The thieves got seven bikes, a Specialized Sx Trail 1 med, Specialized Big Hit 1 med, Stumpjumper comp med, Stumpjumper Elite med, Sx Trail Test bike, Stumpjumper Wmns Test bike and a Devinci Ollie 2. The thieves missed out on a Demo 7 but that's not much consolation. The test bikes are distinct colours, Red for the SX Trail and Baby Blue for the Womens Stumpjumper. If you happen to see these bikes please contact Oak Bay Bikes 250-760-0211 and we can pass along serial numbers. Thank you for any help.

Our first Official Trail day on Ledgeview in a very long time. Meet at the Bike Brewery @ 9:30 or the SOB exit at Watcom road at 10:00.

FVMBA has been in discussions with the city of Abbotsford regarding the future of biking on Ledgeview after development is completed. As a result of these discussions, some areas have been identified that will remain viable for MTB trails. Some of SOB is within this area, but a new exit is required. Come help us re-route part of S.O.B. into the parkland.

This summer the legendary Sun Peaks Bike Park will be home to a fleet of Rocky Mountain Bicycles.

Both Sun Peaks Resort and Rocky Mountain Bicycles are excited to team up as partners in the Sun Peaks bike park. It makes perfect sense as the two brands share a commitment to quality and innovation.

The Sam Hill paparazzi were on site at the Sea Otter Classic and we were able to infiltrate the highly guarded Monster Energy/Iron Hose/Mad Catz Pit area. In one corner you could find Jacy Shumilack, the team mechanic, working his magic and meticulously paying attention to every detail, from decal orientation to aerodynamics of the cables. Sean Heimdal, the Team Manager, could be found inside the team trailer doing what appeared to be nothing!

That's right! On Sunday April 22nd Jordie Lunn welcomes you into his back yard for the second year of heated competition between DJ specialists.

Parksville British Columbia will be the place to be as some of the world's best jumpers gather and throw down for the "jordtron jumpathon"

See ya there!

(Sechelt) – “Trail Unveil: Capilano College Mountain Bike Festival,” is a celebration of mountain biking and trail building on April 21 from 10:00am to 5:00pm and hosted by the Mountain Bike Operations students of Capilano College’s Sunshine Coast campus. Join us in this free event at the Sprockids Park in Gibsons featuring the opening of a new trail, riding, skills clinics including dirt jumping with Jay Hoots of Norco bikes, and more activities for anyone who can have fun on two wheels.

After Saturday's massive downfall of rain, I was pretty happy to see the sun pop up on Sunday morning. Gear in hand, I headed out to meet up with Radek who was already up there shooting pics of the final Pro and semi-Pro DH practice runs. Today was the finals for the DH, the Furry Fury DJ event and the last day to scope around the pits. Let's look at the final day of Sea Otter 2007.

(Fernie, British Columbia) -- Sacred Rides, one of Canada's most successful mountain bike tour companies, wants to hear from riders who eat, sleep and breath mountain biking. The “Best Ride Ever” contest asks riders to tell in 250 words or less about their best ride ever. It could be in Tibet, the Rockies, or the backyard. What was special about the ride: The trail? The camaraderie? The scenery? The crashes? What drives your passion and why do you ride?

The Santa Cruz Syndicate riders had a terrific outing at the Sea Otter Classic with a podium result for each event they entered. Leading the way was Nathan Rennie smoking the international downhill field by 2 seconds.

Over the last few months, we’ve had a lot of interest in putting together a team for 2007, so we’ve officially sponsored our first 4 Loeka team riders. Congratulations to Tara Johnson from Novato California, Britnee Boychuk from Kelowna B.C., Kjersten Lone from Victoria B.C. and Amber Zirnhelt from Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Path Bike Shop in Tustin, CA, launches its inaugural race team spearheaded by current Sea Otter Pro Women’s Single speed champion Leslie Williams. Williams said, “I am proud to be a part of a race team that is sponsored by my favorite shop.” Other notables on the inaugural team are women’s cross country mountain biker Lacey Maxwell and downhill racer Jim McNeill.

SRAM continues to celebrate it‘s involvement with the annual celebration that is the Sea Otter Classic. This year marks the 15th year that SRAM‘s sponsored the Sea Otter Classic.

8pm April 19th, The Brewhouse, Taunton. Admission FREE!

Ride shotgun with the boys and follow their inaugural season as they jet set the globe, all for the sake of fulfilling the passion for riding. This 2 DVD set is a compilation of 7 riders, with 7 styles, with 7 visions, all with one passion. "This video is going to be an instant favorite, its entertaining from beginning to end." says Cut Captain Aaron Chase.

This year SRAM is celebrating their 20th anniversary. Twenty years ago SRAM started as a few guys in an old warehouse making products like twist shifters and now SRAM has 12 world wide facilities. Pretty impressive!

Ok so here is the low down on today's happenings-IT FREAKING RAINED! Yep that is today's coverage from the 2007 Sea Otter Classic. See you all tomorrow.

Ok so the real story is that I never made it to the venue due to a scheduling error and spent the whole rainy day at our hotel with a bunch of other Canadians. From what I hear the rain made racing interesting and the venue was a bog.

So its been pouring rain all morning here at the Sea Otter and I have no want to go outside and watch the mud fest that is out those doors. Instead I sat down and watched a little Rip.TV to see what new flicks they had on the go. Have a watch and once I'm over the whole wetness idea, perhaps I'll get outside and get wet for some more Sea Otter coverage.

Read More to view movies:

Its 1:15 am and I'm sitting down to reflect on the day that just past-lack of sleep is catching me and the sun burnt my arms today. Ah life is good when those are my only two complaints after Friday the 13th! Lots of bike stuff today-mostly a couple informative sessions, more cool people and parts, some rad DJ's/BOOTERS and a kick ass movie premier. Read on to see what all went down.

Another Best Western provided a great night's sleep for the whole crew. Now that we are with the Calgary Cycle gang, it means early mornings for the racers and I figured-heck ya let's get out there. Off to the Laguna Seca race way and the start of our 4 days here at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic. Skies are bright, the air is cool and the wind is blowing. It's gonna be a nice day.

VPS-Fest is Norco's one-of-a-kind Rider Appreciation Day. In 2003 we created our first VPS-Fest event as a fun way to give back to the riding community and a great excuse to get Norco riders together for a great time. Since our first event, VPS-Fest has grown and expanded into a much anticipated event on many Norco riders' calendars This event gives us the opportunity to say, 'Thanks!' to our riders by providing FREE (or discounted) lift-accessed riding, FREE tech support by World Cup mechanics, FREE flat and wheel repair, the chance to win thousands of dollars in prizes, and much more.

Canadian Child Fitness Tax Credit Reduces Taxes by $500 while Cam Zink and Cam McCaul are set to coach the first of five SGC Sessions

The first session of 2007’s summer season of Whistler’s Summer Gravity Camp (SGC) will feature pro coaches Cam Zink and Cam McCaul, first and second place winners of Kokanee Crankworx’s 2006 Slopestyle event. Run by freeride legend, Andrew Shandro, and a long list of the industry’s top pros, SGC is the world’s leading freeride mountain bike camp.

If you do only one thing this summer, at least say, “Yeah, I put my entry in for the Bike Parks BC Ultimate Road Trip”

Two winners and a friend of their choice will take in an 8 day and 7 night all expenses paid road trip to three of the world’s premier lift accessed bike parks in British Columbia, Canada. The trip begins in Vancouver on July 15 and finishes at Crankworx in Whistler on July 22, 2007.

Woke up at the Best Western in Dallas Oregon after a sleep that was too short, but that I can deal with as we were getting ready to hit up the Black Rock Mountain Bike Area just outside of Falls City Oregon. Everyone we've talked to said that we had to check it out, but to stop at the shop in Dallas-Santiam and talk to Chris for directions. Glad we did because the results from the day of riding kicked ass!

The Island Cup series is underway and there are two more great events to hit up in the coming weeks. Nanaimo will be hosting a DH event this coming Sunday and then on the 22nd, they will be hosting an XC event as well. Have a read to learn more about each event.

Jeff Lenosky along with fellow SRAM superstar, Kyle Ebbett recently coordinated with IMBA on a unique, urban trail project. The new trails are located in Highbridge Park in Manhattan.

Everybody is looking forward to the first weekend of June (1-3rd) when the tenth annual SYMPATEX BIKE-festival in Willingen will take place. The Wheels of Speed, a new addition this year, already promises to become a great attraction. None the top downhill riders want to miss out on this race and its prize money as it also takes place on one of the riders’ favourite courses. But this race will not only be an attraction for the international top riders, but also ambitious downhiller bikers are invited to sign up on the website.

I featured the Lupine Edison 5 in my Fresh Meat feature last month. I won’t go into details as to how nice the light looks but a bit more about how it works while on the darker side of the trails.

After yesterday's awesome rides up on Post Canyon, our intentions were to venture over to Syncline this morning for a ride. Mother nature had other ideas for us and let the rain fall. Yes I guess we could have sucked it up, but I chose to play tourist and well Radek, he went looking for a massage. Since I knew that Dakine's offices should be open today, that was where I was headed.

Litter OTB for the 2007 Sea Otter Classic is now open. Tons of prizes from TLD, SRAM, e.thirteen, Oakley and SDG.

Get yer bet on!

Rolling into Hood River we really had no idea of what to expect, but the results have been great. The locals have been nice enough to go riding with us out of towners and the dirt here is pretty good too. Got to see some of the jumps that Kirt Vories hit in NWD7 and get in a lot of verticle during the day. Over all it was a good Easter, even if no chocolate was consumed. Day 1 in Hood River has easily set the bar high for any other riding we do on this trip.

e.thirteen Components is excited to announce the addition of Aaron Lutze as the new marketing director and fifth member of the e.thirteen staff. e.thirteen has never employed a full-time marketing director but is stepping up to the next level with Lutze’s help.

Signed up for the Brodie Rat Race? Interested in sessioning the DH course before RACE DAY? We still have spots open for our April 14th clinic so contact ryan@muddbunnies.com to confirm your attendance.

Muddbunnies Riding Inc. in partnership with Denise Britton and the Freeride Dawgs, are putting on our first ever Brodie Rat Race Women's Only Clinic.

Well just like last week we have a whole schwack of great flicks to check out from the folks at Rip.TV. From this week's MTB news with Darcy, to the Wham Bam Thank You Jam piece from Kyle Thomas and the Toronto BMX Jam, its all here for you to view. Rip.TV's own Home Invasion features Andrew Neethling's crib and everyone's favorite road trip-Drop In Season #3 episode #3 is up too. While you are there you need to check out the Making of ROAM-Whistler! And "Brother"- a great documentary on two brothers and their passion for bikes.

Read More to view all the films:

SRAM is presenting the "furry fury invitational" at this year's Sea Otter Classic in Monterey California. Practice will take place on Thursday and Friday from 1-4 pm, with qualifying happening on Saturday from 3-4 pm. The big show will go down on Sunday with a 3 pm start.

The last few weeks in the office have been long to say the least, but there's been a light at the end of the tunnel. A road trip and this time the bikes get to come along too-HELL YEAH! Pinkbike.com is on the road and headed to the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Race Way in Monterey California. This year we are loading the bikes and making an attempt to get some rides in along the way from Chilliwack BC to Monterey California.

San Marcos, California (April 6, 2006) Utopia Optics is pleased to announce the addition of American mountain bike hero Eric Carter to the 2007 team! Carter joins Utopia’s family this season as an essential part of our program. Carter’ stature in the mountain bike community solidifies the fact that the Utopia mountain bike program is one of the best & most coveted programs around

Well thanks to all that wrote in with your tales about the NWD riders. Wayne Goss is known to give a mean wedgie if you comment on his nipple ring in an inappropriate manner, Cam McCaul wears beer goggles when he's picking up in Whistler and Geoff Gulevich will sign your brothers DVD Christmas present if you take him out for lunch... we would have never known this stuff if it wasn't for you.

Do you ride a BMX or want to watch some great riding go down? Well if you live in the Montreal area you should be heading over to Ugly Ass Bikes and checking out their 3rd annual BMX comp on Saturday April 7th.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is holding the third annual Melt Freeze Cup on Sunday April 8th. This annual bike race on snow is always a good way to start the season. Hit the snow with your downhill bike and win some cash and prizes! Prizes by Rocky Mountain Bikes, Norco Bikes, Mace Gear, Louise Ganeau, Impac, Selkirk Sports and Kicking Horse. Get out here...

Pietermaritzburg's Greg Minnaar once again tackled the famous Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race this past week, and for the second time in 2 attempts, made it to the finish line after a gruelling week of 7hour days in the saddle, for a total of 886km.

This year Greg rode with top South African female cross country rider, Hannele Steyn-Kotze in the Mixed Category, and with his recent signing for adidas Shoes, rode as the adidas Team, number 27.

Commencal/Marzoochi have invited you to happy hour at Sea Otter next week.

Ryan Denehy and Doug Smith are promoting the party with Master of Ceremonies, Cedric Gracia, orchestrating all the fun on April 14, 2007 at 3 p.m. in Booth #513 & 514. Girls, music, free beer and a good time. Be there.

Time for another installment of Fresh Meat and this time it's from the variety platter. A few bits for the rider and a few bites for the bike. Starting with your bike, we've got the new Speedplay Drillium pedals, MRP's system 3 chain guides and the Dangerboy Howitzer LP Stem.

Keeping you the rider in good shape are the TSG Timo edition knee pads, Troy Lee Design's XC gloves and the re-designed Mace 3/4 Ignition shorts. Read on to learn more about each part.

The Hannah's have returned from a recent MX trip to find some low life scum has completely cleaned out the garage at their Colorado Springs home. A heap of stuff has been taken - some of it pretty easy to spot. If anyone has information please feel free to contact either Mick's manager at gavin@freesport.com.au or your local authorities.

Read more to see what all was taken:

NS Bikes, a small but rapidly growing European company that specializes in dirt, street and freeride bike equipment is announcing their brand new product line, new website and has some great news for American and Canadian customers who have been trying to get their hands on these products for some time. It’s official - NS have set up their distribution networks in Canada (Lamacycles - www.lamacycles.com) and in the US (BTI - www.bti-usa.com). As you’re reading this, all their new products should be arriving to their warehouses.

Coming off a breakout performance in 2006, 26-year-old Vancouver rider Ben Boyko has been re-signed to a money deal with Sombrio Clothing for the 2007 season. “Boyko had standout segments in Kranked 6 and CKD in 2006,” says Sombrio owner, Dave Watson. “He consistently laid down huge, clean, technical runs at Saalbach, Crankworx and Monster Park. Basically, the kid is on fire.” Boyko, who has roots in BMX, is often cited as one of today’s hardest working riders, always digging, building, riding, and shooting. “I’m planning on hitting all the big comps this season,” explains Boyko. “I can't wait to work on a new segment again, travel the world and ride with good friends.”

www.sombriocartel.com

We are having a Seattle-area DVD release party and premier of “Northwest Dirt Culture II” on April 7, 2007 at the Full Throttle Xtreme Sports Bar and Restaurant in Renton, WA. The doors open at 8:00pm to close. All ages are welcome, bar with ID. It should be a packed house.

DVDs will be available at the show.

More info at www.grubworks.com