The Crankworx Slopestyle event is now complete and Norco Factory Team rider Sam Dueck took home some cash with a 4th place finish. Sam lay down a huge lap first run down which held out for a final score good enough for 4th place. When all was said and done, this is how the results came through. Way to go Sam!
1: Cam Zink
2. Mike Montgomery
3. Casey Groves
4. Sam Dueck
I am now home from Colorado and stoked on the final result! after a lot of hard luck and disappointment on my qualifying runs and my first final run i finally was able to pull it off in the end and made it down to the bottom of the course that has been just killing the riders all week. I was so happy to be finished my run and be down at the bottom in once piece and i even did all the tricks i wanted to do. first was a 360 off the top drop which i was having lots of trouble with on previous runs. second was my downside tail whip on the massive hip booter after that i safely hit the wall ride and threw a bar spin on the Tressel bike park hitching post. I then peddles into the forcing wind to make it up onto the whale tail, I barely made it up and had just enough speed to 360 off the end. Casing my 360 a bit and losing a little control i was quick to get back on track and just have enough speed to t-whip the big double and lastly a perfect tail whip air on the quarter pipe to bank landing.
Photo By Ian Hylands/Pinkbike.com
Right after my run the wind was picking up even more. so windy that the judges and riders decided to have a one hour wind delay. after coming back the judges has discussed what to do for the second round of runs. I was the only one who made completed my second run and I was happy with my score. I was able to keep my second run at a score of 77 that put me in 6th place over all at the time, while everyone else was able to redo their second runs. I was happy with the decision i made at that point where riders were getting hurt on the course and the weather was picking up all I wanted was top 10 and to be safe.
I ended up getting bumped into 9th place once it was all over. I was super happy and soon after the top 10 riders went on to receive their awards.
top 10 results.
1st. Brandon semenuk
2nd. Grandeiri Yannick
3rd. Martin Soderstrom
4th. Greg Watts
5th. Grahm Agassiz
6th. Jack Fogelquist
7th. Darren Berrecloth
8th. Sam Pilgrim
9th. Sam Dueck
10th. geoff Gulevich
Photo by Ian Hylands/Pinkbike.com
On our way to the awards i ran into some more Fans that were so exited to see me and remembered me from last year. it was really cool to see how kids so young remember who you are and to be cheering for you on the sidelines.
Crankworx Colorado this year for me was very stressful. seeing fellow riders being carried away to the hospital, being force to ride in windy conditions, and the pressure of wanting to place high. In the end of it all when i look back it was a very good learning experience for me and there was a lot of cool moments during it all.
I had just received an email informing me that I have been confirmed a wild card spot into Whistler Crankworx slopetyle and best trick for 2010 for getting top 10 in Colorado.
I am so exited to have this opportunity once again this year to ride ride my bike.
See you all in whistler!
Sam Dueck.
Well today went okay, great hot sunny weather all day for the comp. every competitor was able to get in two qualifying runs and now tomorrow, weather depending there will be the top 20 for finals and then top 8ish for the super final.
Both my runs for today didn’t go how i would have like them to go. run one I attempted a 360 off the big road gap at the top and over rotated the slightest bit and tacoed my rear wheel and couldn’t make it down the rest of the course.
Run two, I tried another three off the top drop and I knew i had it, I landed perfect but then something very weird happened and my feet slipped off the peddles and got all wobbly and then couldn’t get in control in time for the next feature. HUGE BUMMER! but after I gained control again and took a breath I decided to finish my run for the fans, I chucked a bar spin on the little dirt table, 360ed off the whaletail, t-whiped off the big double and finished it off with a tail whip air on the quarter pipe. but before i could even catch my breath 4 kids were just surrounding me putting scrap paper, magazines, and pens in my face wanting my autograph so that was a pretty cool feeling and kept me going for the rest of the day after the contest.
After the little bit of disappointment I remembered that i am still pre-qualified for the finals for tomorrow, so lets hope the the weather hold up and there can be a finals so I can get a nice clean run in. if the weather is bad then they will just use the scores from today and that how they will determine the winner for the 2010 Crankworx Colorado.
Today was Crankworx Colorado slopestyle practice, a chance for every rider to get the course dialed up and to start thinking about tomorrow’s qualifying runs. It started if with a nice healthy bowl of cereal after sleeping in till 10 which was awesome because everyone was pretty tired from traveling the previous day. after getting my bike all built up and ready to ride, practice had started. I made my way up the course where the other riders started gathering. We all started by hitting the first big hip booter and into the wall ride. The wall ride took a few tries to get the hang of, but it got it now. Then there was the double wale tail feature and it was intimating to a lot of us riders for a while, but Greg Watts just decided to huck it and soon after everyone was trying it. I hit it 3 times strait and then did a nice 360 off the end into a tail whip on the big double and into the last feature which is a quarter pipe. The day went really well and i got a lot of good practice in. I also found out that the top 6 from last year are pre-qualifyed for the semi finals on Saturday so that took a lot of pressure off me for tomorrow. There was a few riders who’s luck didn’t go very well though. Logan peat from North Vancouver, riding for Santacruz over rotated a corked flip and broke is ankle really bad and had to get air lifted to the hospital. He took it like a champ and he’s is now being looked after.
Here are a couple of photos from today’s practice.
Sam D
Also, here is a video of me doing a 360 off the Whale Tail.
Last night I arrived in Winterpark, Colorado for the first Crankworx Festival. The course looks groomed and there are some cool features like the Captain-Hook Mustache, Kona Wall Ride and some big-ole’ booters that I can’t wait to ride. I am looking forward to getting on my Empire today and checking out the course before my qualifying runs tomorrow.
Walking the run, I bumped into some kids who remembered me from last year and were so excited to chat. Love the fans! I’ll check back soon once I can get a few runs in. For now, you can see a full course walk-through at pinkbike.com
More soon,
Sam D
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