Tag Archives: 2011

Jay Hoots’ Dreaded 2011 Update

Hello fellow riders! I hope you had a funtastik Holiday Season and you are enjoying a recharge for the upcoming riding season.

jay hoots dreaded update 2011

Welcome to the 5th year of the ‘Dreaded Update’. With so much going on during the year I have tried to keep y’all updated through my Facebook page and send out periodic articles on projects, however my 11 month long season has flown by and it is wicked cool to look back and see all the great things that have happened. With the perpetual spring rains of 2011 and long standing snow it was difficult to get my early season ride on…

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Apostilific good-ness on a windy day!

This set the stage for a trip with The Ride Guide to Australia with Ryan Leech. Landing in Tasmania, we explored every nook and cranny and then headed to the Melbourne area and wrapped the trip up with fabulous riding at Mt. Buller. What a fricking rad time! Australia is an amazing place to visit and their trails are world class, it’s no wonder some of the fastest riders on the planet come from here! If you want to ride wicked trail, see tons of cool stuff and hand pick your weather, book your flights tomorrow!

With a tan in hand from down under, I hit Canadian soil just long enough to load the moto to go explore 1300km of AMAZING trails over 6 days in Death Valley.

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Hello????? Service???

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Braaap! I was actively researching trail building techniques in the desert!

Upon returning I rolled into the last semester of Trail Building for the MBO program at Capilano University. April is the advanced building class, the students designed and constructed a dedicated DH trail in the Sprockids Park that is fun, flowy and sustainable! Great work class!!!

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Opening trail with Doug Detwiller

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Roaster Coaster kinda fun

The clear weather in June (finally!) set the stage for our first project and opportunity to get some shred on! The Hoots crew made a trip to the Vanderhoof Bike Park to work with local riders and volunteers to do some desperately needed maintenance work.

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The pump down!

Help came out from all angles and we got this park proper! We were able to modify and upgrade features, including building the progressive jumps bigger, reshaping berms and the ‘big set’ and removing the dirt spine to create a series of rollers you can double on the return route. Yeehaw!!!

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Spreading the butter.

The Hoots crew packed up and made the trip to the Hinton Bike Park where we had an opportunity to do full maintenance, including a rebuild of the progressive jumps in preparation for the Beaver Bike Fest,.

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Prepping to Send it!

A ‘pump track’ face lift and a tuning of all berms and rollers on the ‘Flow Master’ trail made riding oooh soo good! For some background check out this Ride Guide episode…

jay hoots dreaded update 2011  Bermalicious Goodness

While in Hinton we completed the Happy Creek trail revamp where we took a rooty, gnarly, muddy 6km loop that had steep, straight, technical hills with 8 water crossings and transformed it into 7km of flowy, sweet, sultry singletrack with brand new sturdy rock and wood bridgework, and proper drainage.

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Happy Divert – Dig-in-it!

The Hoots crew built roughly 30% by hand and the remainder by machine with a finished trail of 2’ wide. Yummy!

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Happy Hand section – test ride at work, yes!

With Hinton ready and set, I made my way to North Vancouver and Whistler for a week of riding for the 2012 NORCO Product Launch, where Norco ‘SENT IT!’ with the new line up of amazing bikes! Check this link for a quick vid I did while at the launch.

Since I was already in the neighbourhood I decided it might be a great idea to hang around Whistler for a little event called CRANKWORX!!! It was awesome.

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H-Town represent!

I did not compete, however, I managed to ride fully fun packed days with soooo many people and even got to ride with my teammates!

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Smooth talkin’ the girls into what trail?

While in the Vancouver area I headed to Ryders Eyewear, www.ryderseyewear.com where we worked into the night putting together this funny promo piece – check it!

The next day was a rad film-shoot up Seymour Mountain for 6undZwanzig Magazine, out of Koblenz, Germany with my teammate, Angie Hohenwarter. I immediately caught a ferry and hit up a wicked, steep trail, filming a segment for Norco, shredding on the Norco Truax 7” Freeride bike with Alex from Alias Cinema. Check it here…

It was back to the Shore where I went out with Margus Riga www.margusriga.com
for a sweet shoot in an incredible downpour of rain. One of his shots ended up in my TEDx presentation at minute 1:52 and some of the other shots went to Norco promo brochures. Man, Margus shoots reeee-al good!!!

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Tip tickling tingler. Photo ~ Margus Riga

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Hooty Hwy. Photo ~ Margus Riga

After finishing up with the boys I split to the Crowsnest Pass with the Hoots crew to build 5km of flowy singletrack and a bike park with the United Riders of Crowsnest Pass. All the trails tie into existing trails that summer students and the club itself had already built.

I brought in a couple of young guns… Sam Dueck and Simon Garstin, to help with the project. We designed and built a super kick butt park inside a forested area with jumps for everyone, including Sam’s signature big line.

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Come on in!

A pumptrack with endless lines, a full drop zone and skinny lines complete the park. Check out the full Crowsnest article here!

jay hoots dreaded update 2011   CrowsNest BP Back – Tight in the trees.

While the crew was busy, I slipped out east where I worked with project partners to develop the very first Hoots bike park in Ontario at the ROC in Georgina. The park is BIG and includes a huge wall ride and expert jump line.

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Jumps at Georgina.

Progressive jumps, a skills area,drop zone and of course log and ladder rides with multiple lines.

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The skills area at Georgina.

Coming back to BC, I was invited to present at TEDx in Sechelt. The theme was ‘The Nature of Creativity’ and I found myself challenged to pull my presentation together. Being a huge fan of www.TED.com, and having been present at the very first TEDx event at USC in California I found it hard to believe I was suddenly in the same league as all the inspiring speakers before me… I was nervous and had a couple technical blips but managed to pull it together for a well received presentation. Check out my thoughts on designing parks and the creative process as a rider, builder and instructor…

After the presentation I joined a fresh crew of Mountain Bike Operations students from Capilano University to head out on a field trip to Squamish and Whistler. Presentations and tours from both municipalities and Whistler Resort opened the students eyes to the world of trail building. It is always so inspiring to see how Squamish is embracing its awesome trail network and of course how Whistler remains second to none, on all levels of trail, from resort to municipal and club. After walking down A-Line, we all had some really good perspective on how to manage water and build jumps.

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Has anyone seen our instructor?

With the field trip over I met up with the Hoots crew and we headed to Bike Town, Alberta where we started Phase 1 of their bike park. Local Devon students lobbied and made submission to the KRAFT Celebration Tour and they won $25k!!! On top of that, the local ski area, Rabbit Hill donated their wooden ”bike” feature, complete with labour to get it set up at the new park.

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Devon locals getting it done.

The Bike Park is located in the river valley and has many cool opportunities for flow trail and other feature areas. Dirt was on hold so we moved forward and built all the wood lines and skills area which is in the shape of a giant bicycle.

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How Sweet is this!

With Devon in the ground and November well at hand it was time to head back to Sechelt to move forward with Semester 1 of Trail Building at Capilano University with the new group of students. The students excelled under the heavy timelines and were challenged with their very first trail building project. They busted it to get finished just in time and did a very sweet job, 2 thumbs up y’all!

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Working on their first trail.

The Hoots crew took advantage of me being away at school and took on a sweet hiking trail project that diverted Chapman Creek Trail away from the creek’s edge up onto a steep side bank. Everyone loved our finished product, even before  it was covered with mulch by the muni…what a sustainable option! My crew did an ACE job with a very technical project, awesome!

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Machine finish.

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Detailed and ready to rock! I mean walk!

With weather holding, the Hoots crew moved to Tofino where we worked with local contractors, the muni and local riders to design and start building what will be a sweet bike park.

jay hoots dreaded update 2011   The west coast plan man.

The forest is so SUPER BURLY GNAR we had to open the site up, build rock lines and figure grade but eventually the rain came and sent us home just in time for Christmas.
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Gott’R close.

Stay tuned for a huge wooden pump track, progressive jump line and tons of tech ride lines next year…

So there it is, a dreaded snap shot of the big stuff for Jay Hoots in 2011. Overall this year was HUGE! Lots of learning and a stellar year for riding.
What am I learning?

  • I managed to pick up a few new tricks DIRT jumping and feel my trail riding is vastly improving, especially cornering.
  • My communication with riders, students, parents, municipalities and my friends still continues to need refinement and patience but is growing significantly stronger every day.
  • Maintenance is still the single most important thing on trails and in parks.
  • People hold me accountable for parks and trails even after I have left it in the care of very capable people who own it.
  • I love riding my bike more and more!

I have hit some of my career goals with over 40 parks built now and my 50th park coming up in the very near future. Being able to instruct a professional level trail/design/build course as well as having presented at TEDx in Sechelt still takes my breath away! My professional riding career spans well over 10 years which is the best thing in the whole wide world!

Huge thanks for a super successful 2011 to my family, friends, my sponsors, my mentors, and all of the dedicated volunteers and businesses that have come to the table to get projects done. Special thanks to all my fans and riders out there who give positive feedback, support and appreciate the fun we have on bikes.

Have an amazing 2012!!! See you on the trails…

Ride ON!
Jay Hoots
Norco Factory Team
Facebook: Jay Hoots
Twitter @jayhoots
hoots.ca
facebook.com/hootsbikeparks

A Great 2011 Year in Review

It is hard to believe that it is already December. Another year has passed so quickly that it feels as if it was sand slipping through our fingers. That said, in retrospect we got a lot done in 2011. From shows to events, road trips and races there were a lot of great things that we have accomplished over the past year. Here are a few of the highlights.

Starting off the year, Dustan, Jonathan and Sam Dueck head down south to escape the cold on a two week road trip through California. With some spectacular rides through some amazing California terrain this was a great trip to kick off the year. Read the trip recap article here.

In February, Norco Factory Team riders Jay Hoots and Ryan Leech along with Norco PR Marketing Manager – Pete (a.k.a. Steak Sauce) took a trip down under with the television show Ride Guide. Now, you can watch the episode here or read the recap article here

In its fourth year, the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer had more than 10,000 participants spread over the four Canadian tours and has raised in excess of $130 Million. Norco was there for all four events offering free tech support to all riders. Norco will again be offering this free service to all participants in 2012. See you out there! Learn more about this past year’s Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer events here

At the 2011 Kokanee Crankworx in Whistler BC, riding legends Ryan Leech and Danny Macaskill met in person for the first time and put on a show. The amount of talent between these two riders is simply bewildering. What an amazing experience. Read more about this once in a lifetime trials demonstration here.

July was the month to be tuned in if you wanted to catch a first glimpse of the 2012 Norco lineup. The 2012 Product Launch took place in North Vancouver for Norco dealers and distributors. Riding on the iconic North Shore, this three day event was a spectacular way to live breathe and eat the 2012 Norco Lineup. Read more about the launch and the 2012 bikes here.

2011 was a great year for Norco Factory Team rider Catherine Vipond. After a fantastic racing season both Nationally and Internationally Catherine came home to win the title of Canada Cup Women’s XC Champion. Congratulations Catherine! Read more about Catherine’s season and champion title here.

With Cyclocross season coming to an end shortly Team H&R Blocks’ Aaron Schooler has had a great season. Calling Edmonton home, Aaron started off taking the Alberta Cyclocross Championship win. Shortly following Aaron’s hometown victory he came out west and followed it up with a win at the BC Cyclocross Championships.

 The past year has been a whirlwind of daily happenings. With more than 200 posts in the Norco News in 2011 so far we have barely scratched the surface of what has happened. What was your favorite moment on a bike in 2011?

Ludovic takes 9th at the Megavalanche

Norco Factory Team Rider Ludovic May out of Switzerland was out competing at the 2011 Megavalanche on his Norco Range. This is the largest Enduro/DH race in the world. Ludovic came into the finish in an impressive 9th place out of a massive 328 starters. Congratulations Ludo on a fantastic Result.

Here are the Top 10 Finishers from the 2011 Megavalanche

1 ABSALON Remy COMMENCAL (COMMENCAL France) 0:42:32,460 0:00:00
2 CLEMENTZ Jerome CANNONDALE (CANNONDALE France) 0:43:19,890 0:00:47
3 WILDHABER Rene TREK RED BULL (TREK Suisse) 0:43:30,000 0:00:57
4 VOUILLOZ Nicolas LAPIERRE (LAPIERRE France) 0:43:31,550 0:00:59
5 AMOUR Karim KONA (KONA France) 0:44:40,800 0:02:08
6 GIORDANENGO Olivier TRIBE SPORT GROUP YETI (YETI France) 0:44:46,720 0:02:14
7 BAILLY MAITRE Francois SCOTT LES SAISIES (SCOTT France) 0:45:05,030 0:02:32
8 GALY Theo TEAM PROBIKESHOP (ORANGE France) 0:45:08,220 0:02:35
9 MAY Ludovic NORCO FACTORY TEAM (NORCO Suisse) 0:45:35,860 0:03:03
10 BARNES Joe MTBCUT/ORANGE (ORANGE Scotland) 0:45:51,700 0:03:19

Megavalanche 2011 Alpe d’Huez

Ryan Leech and Danny MacAskill – The Ultimate Show

There are a few names in the cycling world that it seems everyone knows. Spanning over decades there are still names that make your ears perk up when they ring through the airwaves. These are names such as Pete, Tinker, Lopes, Tomac, Hill, the list goes on but in this case we are talking about Leech and Macaskill. Two of the best known trials riders around this past weekend they finally got together through the venue of Crankworx. Saturday’s 2pm Ryan Leech Trials Demo featured a guest appearance from Danny Macaskill where the two performed together for a massive audience on the biggest day of Kokanee Crankworx.

Watching the two ride together, the two styles could not be more different. Ryan is a a composed, methodical and precise rider while Danny is Fluid, momentum driven and powerful rider. Both incredible to watch, but approach each obstacle in a completely different manner.

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Jay Hoots and Dirt Norco Team Mechanic Alistair Beckett came out for the show.

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Both Ryan and Danny had different ideas of how to get over the high bar.

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They also had different styles of getting on and off the trailer. Both entertaining!

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What an amazing experience to see these two ride together. Thank you Danny and Ryan for putting on such an amazing show!

Canada is Conquering Cancer One Ride at a Time

The Ride To Conquer Cancer is in its third year of existence and has amassed a huge sum of money towards Cancer Research in Canada. This year alone, the first three rides have raised an astounding $37.2 Million from 9769 Participants. With one more ride to go, the 2011 Ride To Conquer Cancer tour is expected to raise in excess of $45 Million. For each of the four events Norco is on site as the Official Bike Tech. Working day and night during the events, thousands of bikes are kept shifting smoothly and rolling onwards towards the finish.

The first ride in 2011 took place in Toronto Ontario. The biggest of the four events, this ride was a massive 4610 participants coming together to raise $17.5 million. Over two days of riding, participants made their way from Toronto up to Niagra Falls before making the trip back. With generally nice weather and dry roads the event went off without a hitch. That said, the 8 Norco mechanics were still busy all day with flat tires, gear adjustments, seat height adjustments and even some improvised fixes on larger issues.

The second of four rides was in BC where 2879 riders from Vancouver BC to Seattle Washington over two days. Stopping off half way in Mt Vernon these dedicated riders raised an astounding $11.1 million. This works out to an incredible $3855 per participant. Unfortunately for the Vancouver ride, the eager cyclists dealt with 2 days of rain. Through wet roads, cold hands and soaking clothing the riders fought through to the finish. Along the way these riders were plagued with flat tires, rubbing brakes and jumping gears. Again it was up to the Norco crew to keep these riders on the road and moving towards the finish. A big congrats to all the participants on a great job raising money and pushing through the weather.

After Vancouver, the Norco crew picked up and drove East to the Alberta edition starting off in Calgary. For this ride, there were 2280 riders who raised an impressive $8.6 Million. The Calgary Ride To Conquer Cancer was an out and back total of 220km over two days. With sunny skies and warm air, Day one was a cruse to the finish with only minor ailments for a few riders. Starting off day two however the rains and wind rolled in and did a number on the riders. Fighting the circumstances tires, brakes and gears needed adjustments, pedals needed cleaning, and riders struggled to keep warm. Day two was a test of wits and spirits but with such a great cause the riders pushed on to the finish. Way to go!

Next up on the Ride To Conquer Cancer circuit is Montreal this coming weekend. Back to the East Coast for the last tour. The Norco Team will yet again work through the night to be sure that all bikes can cross the finish. Thank you to everyone that is participating in the Ride To Conquer Cancer, it is your effort that will eventually cure Cancer. If you would like to participate next year, head on over to conquercancer.ca and sign up now. You can make a difference!

For more photos from the event check out these flickr albums of Alberta and British Columbia

Alberta Ride To Conquer Cancer – Thanks Again!

The 2011 Ride To Conquer Cancer Alberta edition is complete and we showed you the fun, weather and determination in an earlier post. One more video is ready from the weekend though. A compilation of Time-Lapse and photos here is a recap of the weekend’s event. Thank you to everyone that participated and to all the volunteers that made the event possible.

Riding to Conquer Cancer Alberta Style

The 2011 Ride To Conquer Cancer out of Calgary Alberta took place this weekend and was a roaring success. More than 2200 riders collectively raised more than $8.6 million towards finding a cure for cancer.

Congratulations to all the riders and thank you for making a difference. Here is a short video that shows the joy, torment and determination that a rider goes through in such an endeavor.

And a few photos to seal the deal.

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BC Ride To Conquer Cancer – Great Work!!!!

The British Columbia Ride To Conquer Cancer is the 2nd of 4 tours across Canada raising money in the search for a cure to cancer. For the BC ride, 2879 riders participated riding approximately 220kms from Vancouver BC to Seattle WA. These riders came together to raise an impressive $11.1 million. That averages out to nearly $4000 per person!

The ride down to Seattle was the wettest of the tours 3 year history. Riders fought through rain, cold and wind for 2 days in order to complete this epic and inspiring ride. Along the way, Norco was on location as the official Bike Tech for the event. Changing flat tires, replacing tires, fixing brakes, adjusting gears, truing wheels and anything else that came up along the way allowed the whole lot of participants to make it through to the finish line.

A big thank you to all the participants, volunteers, supporters and RTCC personnel for making this happen. You are the means to finding a cure! For more photos check out flickr.com/norcobikes

Next week is the Alberta edition of The Ride To Conquer Cancer so stay tuned for coverage of that event as well.

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Heading to the Okanagan – Shops, Media and Racing

British Columbia’s beautiful outdoors are vast and diverse. While Vancouver is iconic of the shore and freeride there are other areas that have as much to offer. Heading East from Vancouver into the Okanagan Valley the trails get smoother, the air gets warmer and the riding stays spectacular.

The People at Kelowna Cycle know this all too well as the Norco crew stopped in at this shop in Kelowna BC for their annual Customer Appreciation Day. Offering free food and drink while Norco showed off some 2011 and 2012 bikes meant good times for all. Next time you are in the Kelowna area, stop in and say hi to the crew at Kelowna Cycle.

The Okanagan has some great trails that are fast, flowy and a whole lot of fun. They also look much different than back in Vancouver which makes for a great photo/video location. For this trip, we brought along a photographer and a videographer to document some of the trails and some new bikes to the lineup.

Spending the day in Salmon Arm BC, we filmed and shot the new Phaser along with a big-wheeled brother that we’ll tell more about later.

With one day of filming under our belts, the local bike shop Skookum Cycle puts on a race called the Salty Dog. This is an endurance race where you complete as many laps as possible in the 6hr time window. For the race, myself and two other keen Norco staff took part in the event. With a long climb, and a fast-moderately technical descent we all chose to ride a bike with 100mm of travel. There was one 29er in the mix though.

For the race, we joined several hundred other riders on the 11km course that would be home for the next 6hrs.

Six hours is quite a long time. It is pretty easy to cruise through a 3 hr ride on a Saturday but it is another ball came to do that twice at race pace.  With minimal preparations the race was a matter of perseverance, maintenance and selective battles. Five minutes into the race I was well aware that my climbing ability was not going to be my strong point through the race. That in mind, grasping for every possible second on the descents was the strategy in mind.

Through 6 hours, 7 laps and 75km there was no podium waiting at the finish but finishing in the top 1/3rd was a personal accomplishment enough to go home proud. The great thing about an event like this is that it isn’t always a race. It is a personal challenge. The personal bar has been set and when the time rolls around again next year it will be time to step up. 8 Laps is in order for next year.

Thanks to all the organizers of the Salty Dog for a great event. Also, thanks to the crew at Kelowna Cycle for putting on an awesome Customer Appreciation Day.