Hi folks, I hope you enjoyed the Holiday Season. I also hope Santa was good to you as well. So… what did you do over the break? Anything interesting show up under the tree for ya? I ended spending some time over the break at Joyride 150, an indoor bike park up in Toronto, Canada much like the two Ray’s down in the States. I gotta say, indoor bike parks are a good idea for the whole family because there’s something for everyone.

I ended up riding indoors 4 times in 2 weeks, taking my XC, trail and DJ bikes out for spins. I rode just about everything they had to offer from the two pump tracks on my DJ bike to the challenging skinnies on my trail bike to the XC track with my XC bike. Joyride also has progressive jumps and a vert park for those who dare to enjoy air. Believe it or not, indoor riding is a great way to stay in shape and sharpen up your riding skills during the “off season.” I spent a ton of time learning a sweet new tail whip move on the progressive jumps, something I always wanted to do on the slopes but was a bit too shy to try. The idea of sucking dirt and rocks just doesn’t appeal to me so a controlled environment like the one at Joyride (high skill, low consequence) is perfect for building skills.

During some of my visits to Joyride 150 there up to 280 riders, not to mention families hanging around and watching everything from a few folks honing their trials skills to others nailing 360-degree backflips and tail whips into the foam pit. The great thing about many indoor parks is that they’re usually close enough to a hotel and other attractions that can add to the experience of your mini vacation if you have to travel. Fortunately I live very close by so I get to ride pretty much whenever I like!

Mark Summers, one of the owners at Joyride 150, explained how he got the idea to open the place after taking his own mini vacation a few years back with his family. He said he loved the idea so much they had to do it here (Toronto) and it was just a matter of finding a location big enough to do it (Joyride is 80,000 sq ft). These days Joyride is well established and has partnered with local hotels for deals and family packages. This, in turn, has lured more and more out of state visitors.

Well needless to say I continue to have a great time at Joyride and find that I use the facilities often when testing new products as well. I can always count on some of the key features to be there so I can evaluate products without second guessing if it’s the product or the terrain that is making a difference.

New MTB Gear

The photos below show a sneak peak of some hotly anticipated skid lids I just received. The new T2 from THE is for the gravity park folks and the new XAR is for all of you who want a lightweight XC / AM lid with superior protection and fit.

Speaking of products and parts and stuff – Santa (and his manufacturing reps) recently sent out some of the new 2011 items for product review. Look for product tests from Giro, POC, THE, Mavic, Fox and more to help you gear up for the upcoming riding season!

Looking further into 2011, we also have more cool contests on tap as well. Thanks to your word of mouth, singletracks has been growing and with growth comes notoriety (which helps us get great prizes for giveaways). Just above is my Opus Nelson FR bike which this year is sporting the all new Fox 36 Talas 180 FIT RC2 and a SRAM XO 9spd drivetrain in red.

My DH project bike, the Banshee Legend II, has been coming along nicely as well. Here is a glory shot of the bike just waiting to hit the slopes! The build now comes in at just a hair over 36lbs. with dual ply rubbers from ITS. The new Mavic Deemax Ultimate wheels, in case you’re wondering, are under 2,000 grams (1,965).

We’re stoked for mountain biking in 2011 and hope you are too! Stay tuned and stay well everyone.

Happy New Year.

Not since the premier of Happy Days has Milwaukee been stoked for such an occasion: the grand opening of Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park November 12-14. Of course at this point Ray’s name has become synonymous with indoor mountain biking, having opened the original (and IMBA-certified epic) indoor MTB course in Cleveland in 2004. The grand opening festivities in Milwaukee will include a park preview on Friday (no bikes allowed) followed by a celebrity BBQ on Saturday with legends like Cam McCaul, Dave Mirra, and Ross Schnell in attendance. Then on Sunday you can ride with the XC Pros all day or check in during BMX night from 4-10pm with Dave Mirra. Seriously. Here’s a bit from the official press release:

After an extensive search, the location for a second Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park has been secured and Milwaukee-area mountain bikers can now rejoice!  The 110,000 square foot former Menards Home Improvement Center is currently undergoing the transformation from empty warehouse to the most exciting indoor mountain bike park the world has yet to behold.

Building upon the success of the our original Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park of Cleveland, Ohio, Ray’s of Milwaukee will provide cyclists from across the Midwest an unrivaled place to ride, train, and develop their skills throughout the long winter months when local trails are closed or often unridable.

Ray Petro, founder and namesake of Ray’s Indoor MTB Park, had quietly planned the opening of a second Ray’s Milwaukee locale for the past few years. When financing stalled at the last minute, Trek Bicycle stepped in to purchase the business and ensure the continued expansion of Petro’s indoor MTB park vision.

In case you missed that last little bit, Ray’s is now owned by Trek which is convenient since Trek’s HQ is located less than 100 miles from Milwaukee in Madison. Does this cash infusion mean we may see indoor mountain bike parks popping up in more cities around the world? Let’s hope so!

Get more info about both parks at raysmtb.com.

Words by Justin Mann, Photos by Allison Mann and Justyna Wlusek

I think that everyone can agree that the purest form of bicycle racing is the Individual Time Trial.  ITTs are elegant: one person, a bike, a specified course, and of course the clock.  There are different ways to approach an ITT and you don’t have to have a silly helmet or wind tunnel tuned parts. In fact, downhill mountain bike racing is a very pure form of ITT requiring tons of skill, fitness, and even luck, to ever approach greatness.  So if you were to sit down with some typical mountain bikers and invent an appropriate Cross Country Individual Time Trial, what would it look like?

The ideal course would be just long enough to really test the person’s ability to pedal as hard as they can and go really fast.  It would be just technical enough to create a chance for errors.  If an error was made then of course there would need to be a time penalty.  Ideally one would be able to eliminate external factors like course conditions and wind.  Add in a bunch of screaming fans, some jumps, berms, drops, maybe a bunch more screaming fans, and a whole lot of cowbell…  Sound pretty awesome?  It is!

The event

On January 16, 2010 a few top cyclists were invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Tri-Flow XC Indoor Invitational in Cleveland, OH.  For those who have not been, Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park is the perfect venue for such an event with literally hundreds of lines and features to ride including jumps, bridges, whoops, skinnies, berms, and even climbs!  With equal payout, $5k in prize money, and killer unique “Leg” trophies this event is quite a show!

The course

The riders are allowed a rolling start and trip a beam to start the clock.  Once the clock starts the riders drop off the GT platform and onto the “Prologue” line with a tricky turn, some 10-inch high speed skinnies, through the “whoops,” 2 fast corners then out onto the “XC Loop”.  The “XC Loop” starts with a quick up, a tricky left, then a drop into a big left-hand berm.  Option lines abound on course as one can choose to ride a “plateau” with speed bumps or drop into a “Rock Garden,” then all lines go over a tabletop jump and up a ramp into the rafters.  Dropping out of the rafters the racers fly through left, then right-hand berms, over another tabletop, and into the “Beginner Room”.

At the entrance to this room a high speed left hander leads to a ramp back up toward the rafters, then a treacherous downward sharp right hander.  A short sprint through a hallway leads to a sharp 90 degree right and a steep up onto a platform.  Dropping off the other side of the platform throws the rider into a right-hand berm and an option to jump the table top to the right or roll it to the left. Carrying speed, the riders fly through a hard right, then a left and sprint to a 180-degree uphill turn through a doorway.  After negotiating this speed robbing turn, the riders sprint off a 3′ drop into a right/left option.  The left-hand line is higher and takes more energy, but sets up the next corner with more speed.  The proper technique and a bit of risk taking can make the right-hand line very fast as well!  Another right-hand berm and then the racers face the horrible leg burning climb into the rafters.

The climb is tortuously steep and riders are forced through a momentum-destroying tight 180 switchback midway.  A narrow catwalk provides the racer with a moment to reflect on their new found max heart rate and the pain in their legs and lungs before dropping from the sky into a series of left-hand berms and high speed rollers and finally back to where they started.

At this point you might think the course was done, but indeed you have to make three complete circuits of the “XC Loop” and in between each one the riders are forced to ride 2 of the 6 “Technical Lines.”  These “Technical Lines” consist of bridges and skinnies and other obstacles that can be tricky when fresh, but when your eyes are blurred from sweat, and your heart is trying to jackhammer its way out of your chest (not to mention lack of mental function due to oxygen debt) it gets really interesting!  To make these lines even more treacherous, 15 precious seconds are robbed from your elapsed time for an “Incomplete Line”.  So a slip of a tire or a dab of the foot, or worse yet a full on yardsale crash, can spell disaster for a race run.  Now this is mountain bike racing!

The male contestants came in all forms including: Scott’s Aaron Snyder on a full suspension Scott Scale with an integrated seatpost (this alone was a feat of courage on this course); local neo-Pro and fast man Kyle Spisak on a Cannondale Scapel; and Trek’s Tyler Morland (Canadian National Downhill MTB Champion) and Giant’s Adam Craig (Olympian, and holder of both National and World titles!) rocking hardtail dirt jump bikes. A last minute addition allowed Rock N’ Road Cyclery’s own and yours truly, Justin Mann, to race with the big boys on a rental 26″ dirt jump bike courtesy of Ray.

Adam Craig

Kyle Spisak

Aaron Snyder

Tyler Morland

Justin Mann

Competing for the women, the only returning contestant was Lindsey Bishop, representing Mafia Racing and rocking a SRAM XX equipped Felt full suspension race rig.  She was up against some stiff competition though.  Also on a full suspension bike was Rock N’ Road Cyclery’s Allison Mann on a full carbon Specialized S-Works Epic and a fierce duo racing on hardtail dirt jumpers consisting of Lizzy English (Giant STP) and 15-year-old local ripper Lyndsey Prososki on a Gary Fisher.

Allison Mann

Lindsey Bishop

Lizzy English

Lindsey Prososki

Out of this mayhem the winners were awarded their $1,000 prize purse in $1 bills and a full mannequin human leg trophy custom painted for the occasion.  Adam Craig showed in dominating fashion how to rip up a course with skill and power and won despite a 15 second penalty (yes even the best make mistakes!).  His time without the mistake would have blown away the course record previously set by nearly 15 seconds!  Allison Mann showed off not only the power to speed to a winning time, but the skills to make a flawless run to the top of the women’s podium.

Race Results

Men
1 Adam Craig (Giant)
2 Kyle Spisak (Canondale)
3 Aaron Snyder (Scott)
4 Tyler Morland (Trek)
5 Justin Mann (Specialized)

Women
1 Allison Mann (Specialized)
2 Lindsey Bishop (Felt)
3 Lizzy English (Giant)
4 Lindsey Prososki (Gary Fisher)

photo courtesy ColoradoDaily.com // MARK LEFFINGWELL

Boulder Indoor Cycling is offering classes for surprisingly young mountain bikers over holiday breaks from school and teaching skills that many adult riders have yet to master. Young bikers, ages 5-10, learn how to roll over teeter-totters, logs, ramps, and skinnies, how to be safe on the trail, and how to make minor bike repairs. Over the winter holidays many of the sessions were filled to capacity with 15 young riders tearing up the indoor course.

An article I read mentioned that a 5-year-old was able to master the double black diamond course (rated from green to dbl black) and that kids as young as 18 months receive instruction at the indoor park. Many of the youngest riders are still rockin’ Strider scooter bikes but some of them are even learning to ride rocks and stairs already!

In addition to biking, the kids also spend time coloring and drawing – but instead of cuddly animals, these kids are imagining and drawing their dream bike tracks. If all of this is any indication, I think we’re going to be seeing some sick new riders hitting the scene in 10-15 years, pushing the boundaries of what we think is possible in terms of riding and course design. I just hope I’m still limber enough to get out there and ride with ‘em!

Tri-Flow and Ray’s Indoor MTB Park are holding the second annual XC Indoor Invitational Jan 15-17 at Ray’s in Cleveland. The race is open to pro riders only and after qualifying rounds on Friday, the top riders will compete in a time trial around the XC course. No word on how long the course is or how many laps the riders will complete but I’d say to qualify as an XC race it should be at least 10 miles long.

Pro mountain bikers including Jeremiah Bishop, Nick Waite, and Sue Haywood will be competing for a piece of the $5,000 cash purse. On Sunday the public is invited to meet some of the pro riders and maybe even sneak in a lap or two around the course.

If that isn’t enough indoor MTB action for you, check out these videos. The first is a 1990s indoor mountain bike race that appears to take place on a BMX track. The announcer says the riders will complete 40-something laps for a total of 12 miles!

This next video was shot during the 2007 Red Bull Ride the Sky challenge. This has to be the most creative indoor MTB course ever constructed.

Who would have thought riding mountain bikes indoors was so common and established?

Hey everyone, just a quick reminder that Joyride 150 opens tomorrow. In case you didn’t read my previous post, Joyride is Ontario’s (and Canada’s) first indoor bike park with something for everyone inside the 90,000 square foot mega-complex. Pack your bags and your bikes and get out there for some fun!

Bob_the_builder and I will be out there ASAP. The courses are well thought out and expertly built and this is the place where you can ride to your heart’s content all winter long. Check out the Joyrides website and get details. I’m sure once you check out Joyride you will be as stoked as I am!

Cheers