Bike Magazine – Photo of the Day January 4, 2012

Here we are again. Same website, same trail, same hour even! But 2 Bike Mag features in 2 week times, i’m stoked! Reuben Krabbe is a man, maybe even a wizard.

http://www.bikemag.com/photos/reuben-krabbe-010412/

Bike Magazine – Photo of the Day Dec. 26, 2011

A lesser known trail from Big Timber Park, “Know Your Roll” is a fall line, technical decent that is over before you even realize it’s begun. To get up here, you have to climb up Kadenwood Drive out of Bayshores, and when you reach the beginning of the popular “Big Timber” bike trail, follow a skidded out root line straight to your right.

Reuben Krabbe and I had a great day shooting this zone, as I avoided hitting a line I had built because the weather wasn’t with us. In and amongst the large Douglas Firs, we were protected from the weather and got a few shots. Check it out!

Inside Out Premiere – A Spark of Progression

Mountain bikers love to gather and watch their peers on the big screen. Rider Stephen Matthews rolled out the red carpet for the Calgary contingent last week. This is what went down.

Being able to witness the spark of progression in a rider’s eyes is inspiring. To be able to sit back and watch the faces of the amazed as they view mountain biking’s most recent landmark maneuvers is as entertaining as the production itself. For me, hosting movie premiere’s is great for just that. This year, I put on Secondbase Films’ “From the Inside Out”, and am able to boast an attendance of over 240 people, all of which left with a grin from ear to ear. The organization of a Calgary premiere landed me a premiere date of November 10th at The Plaza Theatre.

The film is an effort made by the much admired Coastal Crew, from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. I’m lucky enough to call these boys friends, as they are some of the most inspiring people i’ve met in mountain biking. Dylan Dunkerton, Curtis Robinson, and Kyle Norbraten are not only unbelievable cyclists, photographers, videographers, and builders. But they are some of the most genuinely hardworking and positive people i’ve met. Working with action film industry leaders, Anthill Films on this one, “From the Inside Out” was destined for success!

It’s hard to pick out only a few shining moments of the film, because to me every section was a stroke of genius. I love seeing the Coastal Crew ride, because they are very pure with how they exemplify how much fun you can have riding a bike. Kenny Smith came out with a non-stop, edge of your seat kind of section (wasn’t expecting anything less!). I’ve seen most of the lines in person, and I can assure you they are insane. Thomas’ “Ride to the Hills” throwback hit it home for me as well, as it was the flick that got it all started for me.

Calgary Cycle, Pure Cycle, and BigMountain Bike Adventures filled the guests’ hands with swag, and thanks to their support and vision for community involvement, we had some great draw prizes along with the usual blitzkrieg of DVD’s.

Photos: Shayne Saskoley

Photo of the day, and 4th overall this month – Pinkbike

It’s nice when you’re just messing around and things work out in your favour. On this particular day, Toby and I were up on Garbanzo, and were looking for something to chute. It was extremely sunny, so nothing in the trees was going to work, and anything under direct sun could be over exposed at the drop of a hat. Up on bearcub, there’s a whole zone of rock chutes. The most famous one is “Filthy Ape”, but there are lots of little technical cracks to sneak down.

As I rode up to this line, I exclaimed “Seattle Hucksquad” and dropped in…offending the American visitors who were watching. None the less, Toby Cowley snapped a photo and people liked it!

Screen Grabs

So the NSMB.com boys and I were taking screen grabs from a few of the edits, and this is what they got for me. It’s been one hell of a season, and to be quite frank it’s still going. This week is the Calgary Premiere of “From the Inside Out” (which I acquired yesterday and can assure you, it’s brilliant). I also went riding yesterday, a full day of shuttling in 2″ of snow…the most fun ever.

Screen grabs!

Rippin Rutebega with Paul

Crabapple Hits with Matt Montandon

Crabapple Hits with Matt Montandon again

Dirt Merchant Pre-Demo 8

Whip “The Mother” in Vernon

The Creeping Killer

A chance to explore can always be there, but the seasons pass quickly, and the light limits where.
Hesitating no longer, we went where we knew, but something was different, a new way through?
Once moving among, the crackling trees, snow flaked passed our faces – this was a tease.
Could this be a haven, a discovery at large? We brushed loam from our sneakers, and forward we charge.

Someplace we knew, we’d been here before, but we’d forgotten the demon beyond the green door.
Controlled by the workers, but more so by the earth, a creature so deadly it would take from us birth.

Something you can’t see, nor touch nor feel, you’ll smell it once, then it’s true self’s revealed.
Necessary to us, but can be oddly evil, we took forth to shuttles and I sat for retrieval.

I sit and I wonder, how helpless I’d be, if I caught just a scent, there’d be no time to flee.
Death would take place, do what it will, by the time they got back, I’d be lying still.
I quickly came to, I thought “not allowed”, its Halloween Eve and we’ve not but a cloud.
The truck pulled right up, and I spoke with my breath. “Let’s do a lap, man should not fear death”.

Video by Mike Brothers: The Wildest Rose

Lots of the shuttle zones near Calgary are access roads to Hydrogen Sulphide gas plants. While settling into a Halloween mood, I thought I’d write a creepy poem about H2S gas leaks. Here’s a video from this week, Happy Halloween!

Forest King – Video

Check this final project we did for the Summer of Summit series! It’s 1 minute, where there are no time lapses or self-reflecting puddles. It’s 1 minute of 3 inches of blood, smashing corners, and going fast. It’s what’s fun in mountain biking. The only thing it’s missing is coffee.

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/30529631

NSMB Best of 2011

Here’s a piece of media that will continue to bring back fond memories for me everytime I watch it. 2011 was an exciting season for me. It was full of hard riding, limited crashing, and even a little contest competition. I worked my way onto the NSMB.com team through their AirPrentice competition, and since then have had the opportunity to make film and produce media for their site!

Here’s Matt Dennison’s amazing take on the Best content of 2011…of which there was a lot of.

NSMB Best of 2011: Here

From the Inside Out – Calgary Premiere

Who hasn’t heard of this film!? Talk about one of two of the most antipated films of the year. These boys happen to be good friends of mine, so I jumped at the chance to help them spread their movie across the globe! Calgary Cycle, Pure Cycle, and Big Mountain Bike Adventures are sponsoring the Secondbase Films’ From the Inside Out movie premiere at The Plaza Theatre in Kensington on Nov. 10, 2011. Doors at 7pm, and tickets can be purchased from Calgary Cycle, Pure Cycle, or through myself!

From the Inside Out Teaser: http://vimeo.com/30532901

Get updates! Twitter: Stephen_matthws

Little Foothills Heaven on that Northern Rocky Range

It’s always an adjustment coming back to Calgary for the fall and winter months. It’s where I’ve grown up, so my ties with the surroundings and people stretch back my entire life. On the other hand, I’ve made my adult life all about the exploration of new environments and adventure, so coming home always has an underlying mundane feel to it. Every year I come home, I see new faces in the riding scene, but I quickly find myself in and amongst my lifelong friends who are still out there digging, riding, and sharing laughs.

The approach is a little simpler when you’re not dealing with mountains and old growth forests. Photo by Peter Matthews

Everyone remembers the guys who you used to cruise around with when it all began on a bicycle. Night sessions on the embankment outside 7/11, digging trails where at the time, location secrecy was the most important thing in your life. Everyone’s grown up in one way or another, but I’m fortunate to have a group of Albertan riding buddies who have way to much passion for the sport to stop now.

Step up, and over into another coulee. Photo by Peter Matthews

Life’s not bad in Alberta. There’s plenty of great riding that’s untapped by most! Photo by Peter Matthews

I came home after an incredible season in the Sea to Sky, to some amazing trail work in and amongst the foothills of Calgary. The boys have built this super fun step down to step up across the coulees of Calgary. The inventiveness of creating a freeride mountain bike line in a relatively mellow area has got to be acknowledged.

Fall in Alberta is incredible. The deciduous leaves beneath a big blue sky are a classic look to Calgary in autumn. Photo by Peter Matthews

Life in Calgary can feel a little mundane to me, but then I just remind myself of what we have here. We have an exciting riding scene that’s really starting to blow up. In and amongst a hugely sprawled city are little one hit senders that satisfy the need for excitement, and our trail network is continually growing. I’m a little east of where Corb Lund was talking, but I have found myself “In my little foothills heaven on that northern Rocky range.”

Here we are right in the middle of a city of a million people, using our imagination to create something new. Photo by Peter Matthews