The World's Greatest Bike Videos (#24)
Big drama this week, thankfully there are plenty of rad videos to go around!
Video Of The Week
An interesting week to say the least - not exactly what we were expecting, but when is that ever the case! I’ve got some exciting news to share at the bottom of this newsletter, and some fun stuff to check out between here and there. Welcome to Week 24 of the newsletter!
Dan Atherton + Dyfi Dig Crew
Atherton Bikes dropped the new S.170 aluminum bike this week, but the real treat was this video with Dan Atherton and the dig crew behind the Red Bull Hardline events. WOW. They’re just as good at digging and building insane tracks as they are at sending it. Insane style, so fast and loose, this one is super fun.
Kids React To Mountain Biking
This is fun to watch. A lighthearted look at mountain biking after a few heavy moments this week. Also…just saying…there’s a lot of mountain bike trials riding in there. You know I’m here for it.
Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle
Check out the first Crankworx Slopestyle event that featured a women’s elite class. Big congrats to Robin Goomes, Harriet Burbidge-Smith and Caroline Buchanan for their podium finishes! Excited to finally see this happen and I know it’s only going to grow from here.
The Shin Dig
I’m headed to London next month and I can’t wait to see these guys! Join along for a ride with The Shin Dig crew in Oxford. These are some of the UK’s most talented (and hilarious) riders. If you’ve ever wanted to see how trials riders actually ride and find ways to make obstacles out of just about anything, this is a great insight into how we get down. Always a fun time with The Shin Dig crew!
Did You See This?
This race is so crazy…Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo. Downhill racing through a village in Mexico, super tight turns and alleyways. I’ve seen plenty of urban downhill, but this event takes it to a whole new level.
Newsworthy
🏆 The Tennessee National DH event went off this weekend and VitalMTB has the goods. Keep an eye on Dakotah Norton if you’re not already. Vital RAW
🏁 Seth Alvo was invited to participate in Matt’s Off-Road Games this past week, and the footage that has been coming out of the event is insane! Check out Seth’s update here.
🔥 YES! George Ryan’s “Midlife Crisis” edit is exactly what we needed. If you grew up watching the George in any of Aaron Chase’s videos, you’re stoked to see his latest edit. Midlife Crisis.
👀 One rider we didn’t get to see at Crankworx Rotorua was Patricia Druwen. She unfortunately got sick right before the event, which is a bummer because we were all hoping to see her to throw it down. Check her out, you’ll see why.
🤘 I joined Ryan Leech and Travis Brown on a livestream to talk about “Practice Makes Progress”. Here’s the replay!
🤕 Rough start to the year for a grip of riders. Sending both Jackson Goldstone and Kade Edwards healing vibes after their knee surgeries last week. Here’s your last Jackson video for a while.
😳 There’s a mega bike sale going on at JensonUSA right now. If you’re still without a bike for this season, click this link and have a look! BIKE SALE
I Can’t Stop Thinking About
I’ve written and rewritten this section more than a few times. There’s so much nuance to the situation and no shortage of opinions about it. Crankworx Rotorua went down this past week and easily one of the biggest stories from the event was the men’s boycott of the slopestyle event.
At the core of the boycott are some basic asks (more practice time, earlier start times to avoid wind holds and cancelled runs) and then a guaranteed appearance fee for the invited riders. Basically, that fee covers travel costs so riders don’t have to come out of pocket to attend an event where they are the main attraction (which Crankworx is selling tickets to attend). It’s expensive to fly around the world to compete on the circuit, and the riders are asking for support to balance that out. Crankworx has been hosting slopestyle events for TWENTY years now, and this conversation has been happening the entire time. I’m genuinely surprised that the riders hadn’t taken a stand earlier on this.
Would the organizers have agreed to terms with a little more of a heads up from the riders? Will they resolve this situation in time for the next event in May?
You may be surprised to learn that this is common practice in nearly every major sporting event in the world. X-Games, Supercross, even Red Bull Rampage all take care of their athletes. It’s surprising to me that Crankworx wasn’t already on board with this, considering how well they take care of all the previous winners of the Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle event every year. Have you seen the rings they give out to the winners?
The important part about this is that when Crankworx agrees to these terms, they’ll apply it to the women who are competing in the series, which will be a huge boost in support for those riders. It can cost upwards of $30,000 to compete in a world series like this (hotels, flights, etc) - which is as much, if not more, than most of those riders are making from sponsorship. Supplementing their travel costs will only support slopestyle and help it continue to develop, which is what we all want.
There’s so much more to say. I could write a book on what I’ve seen in the past twenty years. There’s so much history and nuance to this whole thing. Slopestyle is awesome, and people overwhelmingly come to Crankworx to see this particular event over all the others. I think it would be a huge mistake for the organizers to ignore the situation; I can’t imagine we’ll get to the main event in Whistler without a resolution.
The Safest Way To Learn Drops
I figured out a way to teach all the skills you need to do drops in one video, and the best part is that you can practice EVERYTHING on flat ground. It’s the safest way to learn, build confidence, and refine your technique - without even needing to hit a drop. This single skill shows up in so many techniques and skills, if you only watch one of my videos and learn one single thing, this should be it.
Second Nature
This past week, I launched a project with my friend Dylan Bowman called Second Nature. It’s a weekly podcast about the business of the outdoor industry. My background as an “industry guy” at Red Bull and Dylan’s background as one of the greatest ultrarunners of all time (and the head of a trail running media empire called Freetrail) makes this a fun and informed discussion about the latest news in the space. It’s not all bike industry stuff, but you might be find it interesting. Hit this link and it’ll take you to our page where you can find the podcast, newsletter and YouTube links all in one spot. I hope you like it!
Thank You
Thank you for supporting this newsletter, we are twenty-four weeks in and still going strong. The sun is slowly starting to peek out here in Portland, Oregon - I can’t wait to get out on some proper rides!
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Thank you again for all of your support - I hope that you enjoy all of the content that I’m putting together (both here and on YouTube). I love doing it and I can’t wait for the year ahead!
I'm torn on the Slopestyle issue because I can see both sides. There are some economics associated with it as well and you can even look to other sports with A LOT more money that have similar issues. Example: triple A baseball.
Where other sports make most of their money that they share with athletes is on broadcasting rights, not ticket sales. And MTB events only really broadcast maybe 2 events a year and normally they are free? I really think the riders should be pushing for insurance for events where they are risking their bodies. I'm not even sure if that is an option either as I don't run events.
I also think there is less sponsorship, event money to go around right now with the hurdles that the biking market is going through right now so it might have been a better issue to push earlier. We don't have the financials so there is a possibility that everyone was making a lot of money but the riders for these events before this. But...I do know that cash is not flowing like it was before so if it was a smaller amount...it is even more now.
It's easy to say "we should be paid more" but where is that money coming from if it isn't there in the first place? I personally love watching pros do what they do. It is inspiring. But...most riders now are making more money making YouTube videos and shorts than competing in events.