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.

With 30+ riders on hand, they were able to make quick work drying off the jumps after some brief showers. Once the jump faces were buffed, qualifying kicked off. Kyle ‘Herc’ Ritchie, Claire Buchar, and a recovering Geoff Gulevich providing the judging.

New to Jordie’s jumps was a massive ‘step-up, step-down’ feature that all the riders were sizing up.

When it was all said and done, Norco Factory Team/SRAM rider, Ben Boyko once again came out on top.

1st Ben Boyko: 94pts
2nd Darren Berrecloth: 93pts
3rd Brandon Semenuk: 91pts
4th Joe Perrizo: 88pts
5th Ryan Meyer: 84pts

Immediately following the victory laps, a BBQ broke out which was followed by a Karaoke session at the ‘Rod & Gun’ club.

Source: SRAM.com

Photo: pinkbike.com

My cross canada Trials of Life tour is about to begin! This is shaping up to be the most extensive tour I have ever embarked on, with at least 40 school presentations, and 15 public demos planned, it going to be full on!

I am so excited to announce that the presenting sponsor for my tour is The Cooperators Insurance, a Canadian company I have worked with numerous times over the years. The Co-operators support youth in many ways, one of which is their WiseRider program, which promotes bike safety throughout the school system. Teaming up with them was a natural fit in so many ways, right down to their companies sustainability policies. So I am proud to represent them, and stoked that they’re helping make this tour happen!

So I’m 5 days done the 10 day World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler. Here's a little video of one of about 25 shows I've performed so far this festival.

And here's a video of a crash, it happens... Well, I have to get back to performing, in the sun today, so I hope everyone has an awesome day!

Ryan

In her own words:

Last night was the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame Banquet. I had been nominated for “Female Athlete of the Year”. Quite an honour to be nominated when so new to this community. Never having been to a Sports Banquet before I had no idea it would be so well attended. I should have guessed though with this being the Tournament Capitol of Canada. Anyhow it was Friday and I still didn’t have a ticket for Keith…no problem I thought I’ll just call to order one. Well all 380 seats had been sold out, but I was on the waiting list. At 6:30 Friday night I got Keith a ticket for the following evening.

It was a fun night with drinks at 6, dinner at 7, awards, speeches and slideshows. I steered clear of the wine until after Female of the Year was awarded on the off chance I would have to give a speech. The slideshow for my category began and I became increasingly more nervous. I had some pretty stiff competition, but the announcement came and I was up to accept my award. Female athlete of the Year. Wow, what an honour. I shook a little through my thanks, but I think made out okay.

Henry Pejril, the man you have to thank for hosting many National championships and the 2006 BC Summer Games cycling events was very deservedly awarded “Sportsperson of the Year”. A good night for cycling.

The evening’s guest speaker Kelly Smith did a fantastic job. Smith was an enthusiast of every extreme sport including mountain biking. A rock climbing accident changed the course of his life leaving him paralyzed from the waist down at a young age. Still an adrenaline junkie Smith threw some mtb tires on his chair, dived back in to white water kayaking and tried out the wheelchair race as part of the Vancouver Sun Run. Within 8 years Kelly had groomed himself into an olympic athlete in the Wheelchair Marathon Event. Through an inspiring slideshow he gave us insights into his Olympic preparation and what it was like to win Silver. It was a really inspiring evening and helped to refocus my goals and determination for the Season.

Source: Catharine's Blogspot

MONTEREY, CA - The 1st international DH race of the year was a huge success for British female riders Rachel Atherton and Fionn Griffiths who finished 1st and 2nd respectively at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic. Fionn, who has been working hard training in the off-season, was hot on Rachel's tail finishing about a second off the young rider's winning time. "I feel the race went pretty well," remarks Fionn, "It was quite windy in my race run so I was focused on tucking and sprinting anywhere I possibly could. I had a pretty clean run and only really made one little mistake with a cross rut but it couldn't have cost me too much time. I'm happy with the result. 1st International race of the year - 1st podium." Fionn and Rachel bested the current World Champion, Sabrina Jonnier who finished 4th just behind one of the US' finest, Melissa Buhl.

MORE. . .

Fionn Griffiths, Norco Factory Team Pro and founder of Griffith's Racing, took a strong 2nd place in the Women's Pro DH category this past weekend at the Sea Otter Classic.

Fionn, riding her Norco Team DH, finished just over 1 second behind her fellow UK countrywoman, Rachel Atherton against a tough field that included Melissa Guhl, Sabrina Jonnier, and Kathy Pruitt.

Congratulations Fee!!

Top 5 Women
1. Rachel Atherton (Animal/Commencal) 2:33.5
2. Fionn Griffiths (Griffiths/Norco) 2:34.9
3. Melissa Buhl (KHS) 2:36.2
4. Sabrina Jonnier (Monster Energy/Iron Horse) 2:36.4
5. Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) 2:37.1

We are racing near Fountain Hills Arizona. The venue is placed within an old growth Saguaro Cactus forest. Many of the Cactus surrounding us at any point during the races are hundreds of years old. The weather is clear skies and a gentle breeze which helps keep riding comfortable.

Races got underway with the Pro men at 12:15. The top ten were sent at 1 min intervals starting with last year’s Norba series winner JHK. It was a fast 6 mile (~10km) loop with lots of turns and undulating terrain. JHK (Sub –gary) held the lead the entire time with a smoking 19 min 44.1. Adam Craig (Giant) followed in 2nd at 9 secs back and Ross Schnell (Trek) Rounded out the top 3. 4th and 5th places went to the U23 riders Sam Schultz (Sub-Gary) and Sam Jurekovitch (USA). Sam S “The course was really fun…there was a limit to how fast you could go ...but it was really fun”. Matt Hadley was the only Canadian racing and finished in 23rd. Kabush, Talousse, Sneddon, McGrath, Plaxton, Legga, Evan Sherman and Tim Heemskerke will be racing this weekend,s cross country but opted out on the TT.

MORE . . .

Before this interview, my knowledge of 'Ben Boyko' was pretty much limited by his riding and a few comments I'd read in magazines. I knew he was a smart yet fearless rider, with a buttery-smooth style influenced by years of practice and competition in the BMX scene. I'd also heard him described as 'reserved', 'taciturn', and 'the hardest working pro in the business'. What I found was a blunt spoken guy, with a quirky, infectious sense of humour, who has more than earned his 'hard working' reputation. Whether he's creating the perfect line for a photo or video shoot, hauling logs to build a new stunt, appearing at events with his sponsors, or attending dirt jump and slopestyle competitions all over the globe, Ben approaches it all with his unique blend of quiet intensity and self-effacing good humour.

The Full Interview on NSMB.com...