The Diaries Downunder boys have just dropped their second episode and this one features ex-World Cup shredder Nathan Rennie and hair farmer Kelly McGarry (who seems to be in EVERYONE’S clips at the moment) and some ginger lad called Si. We pick a perfect morning to take Kelly McGarry, Nathan Rennie and Josh Clark Heli Biking with Vertigo Heli tours, thanks to Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters. A 45minute descent down to the Gibbston Tavern; Ex downhill racer Nathan Rennie also gives us a rundown on his new project; Lower45 Bike Camps. Thanks for watching! diariesdownunder.com for more

Tim Pierce just dropped this banga of a clip that makes you want to get straight on a plane and head to Queenstown.

So I’ve been travelling the last few days with no Internet access so have been sitting on a few updates. Jon Bokrantz brought us that cool little clip about the Outside Sports pump track a few days ago and here he introduces the start of his new JonTV web series.

“A video series with the single purpose of creating joy for people riding bikes, by portraying races, events and sheer mountain biking, my goal is to put a smile on your face and make you pumped on riding. Light hearted and heaps of fun, simply a lot like mountain biking itself!

After a massively successful first summer of public service in Scandinavia, Jon Television is back for another action packed season from the paradise that is New Zealand. The second episode features Maxime Bruneau, a Frenchie who has returned for his second season in Queenstown. We hit up Fernhill Loop, Wynyard and PLÄP – trails that showcase the variety of riding in Queenstown as well as Max’s preferred type of shredding. There’s also a guest appearance from none other than Mr. McGazza himself!”

Enjoy!

Pictures by: Anne Myrte Joon
www.annemyrtejoon.com

It’s been a huge year for Teva after unveiling the new Links MTB shoe. Designed by freeride legend Jeff Lenosky, these are the most functional and best looking MTB shoe on the market and have had loose lips sinking ships all over the world.

A few months ago we thought it was only prudent to send a couple of pairs to local New Zealand legend Kelly McGarry for testing and approval just to make sure that they would stand up to some proper freeride bashing by a Kiwi. The feedback we got was that they are most definitely “sweet as”. Which, if you’re not familiar with Kiwi slang, translates into a three thumbs-up endorsement (we’re not big on down-under hyperbole).

From there it was only a matter of putting two and two together and when we approached Kelly to make things a wee bit more formal it was a no brainer for him.

“I’m stoked to be on board with Teva for 2012. The shoes are rad and work really well when I’m on my bike. I’m also excited about some of the new products they have in the pipeline for next year!”

We’re stoked too. Kelly is a living embodiment of our “Living Better Stories” motto, with an energy and enthusiasm for getting out and amongst it that would make Bear Grylls need a lie down.

A few weeks back Justin Leov sent us a little teaser clip of the pump track he was building for Outside Sports. Well this weekend just passed saw its official opening and the folks at Outside Sports put this funny as little clip together. Oh and if you’re visiting Queenstown, the pump track and rental facility is smack bang at the base of the Gondola. For more details check the full press release below.

“It all seemed like a pipe dream and now it’s here! The Outside Sports Ride Demo Centre is in place and the Monster Energy pump track, designed by Justin Leov, is packed down and ready to roll.

Test ride the bike of your dreams, hang out and hone your skills on the pump track or drop in for a formula one style pit stop; bike repairs by pro mechanics that will get you back on the trails in no time.

Located near the bottom of the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown NZ, the new centre is a great addition to the rapidly expanding mountain biking scene. Some top end downhill bikes, as seen on the World Cup circuit, are available to test ride up in the Queenstown Bike Park. The Bike Park is a network of singletrack winding down 500 vertical metres of swooping corners, techy roots, shapely doubles and smooth highways into the centre of Queenstown.

The lineup of bikes for the demo fleet includes the Specialized Demo 8, Turner DHR and even 2 Commencal 24 Supremes which are great for younger riders.

Jim Hawkridge, Outside Sports Bike Manager said, “It’s so exciting that there is somewhere you can test these bikes in their element before you commit to buying one. You can really experience how the bike handles in all sorts of terrain and find the bike that suits your riding style best.”

Even if you’re not in the market for a new bike you can still test ride one of these high performance machines. The bikes are proving popular with Queenstown’s tourists and one said that “riding such an awesome bike up Skyline was phenomenal and made my trip. The bike was amazing and I didn’t want to give it back.”

The Ride crew threw a pump track jam which pulled in an awesome crowd. Kelly McGarry and Conor MacFarlane were among the keen riders pumping around the new track. The highlight of the event had to be the mini bike being hucked around the course… hilarious!

There’s going to be plenty going on at the new site all summer so head down and check it out!”

Well after today’s excursion to Chris Beverland’s recently revamped jumps (See Red Bull Back Yard Digger post here) I can’t say much, although we did turn out of the town after about only 50m of it… but it was an all right 50m. After the extended crew arrived—Kelly, Chris, Brook “Bulldog” MacDonald, George Brannigan and Lewis Jones—everyone started pretty promptly. Once again Chris’s epic location did not disappoint and we were lucky enough to be graced with amazing weather all day and a next level sunset. I won’t bore you with a blow by blow, but it’s worth noting that the boys “got er’ done” and here’s a little gallery courtesy of Cam Ferguson. On Your Bike kicks off tomorrow so you can expect an update from both the pump track and the show sometime in the next 24 hours. We’ll also be dropping a bit of Twitter love…

Kelly tables a flip

Lewis gets his shoulder buzz on...

Chris skips a whole corner

Kelly gets lazy with a table and only uses one hand

Chris drops a text book tuck no hander

After leaving Wellington at 3am this morning for Hamilton, I rendezvoused with Kelly McGarry and ABD’s John Oldale and Chris Beverland at Claudelands. The spray paint was laid down and Dave, the world’s best Bobcat driver (well maybe as good as Tom) got to work. By 5pm we had the thing mostly dialled, and were just waiting for the lime and dirt to dry/harden. By Saturday things should be all good. So if you’re around Hamilton get down to the On Your Bike Expo and throw out a timed lap, there’s $250 on the line for the fastest man and fastest chick.

This year at the Wide Open Product Launch we tried to bring back the old Wide Open Dream Track sessions.
Hopefully this can grow over the next few years.

Kelly “McMassive” McGarry or Kelly “my arm has a vagina” McGarry as Caleb put it, shreds Queenstown for my camera.

Kelly is one of the hardest working riders out there, putting massive effort into his video segments.

The helmet cam market is growing every other day, but GoPro seem to find new ways of upping the ante, like this Matrix style clip filmed with a tonne of GoPros on the Crankworx course. It’s not long enough I hear you say? Well if you can just imagine the amount of post production a clip like this would require, you can understand why it’s so short. But it’s worth it…

McMassive sending it at Highlands for fellow Kiwi Rene Van Wonderen's lens

KOKANEE CRANKWORX ANNOUNCES FINAL INVITED ATHLETES FOR TEVA BEST TRICK SHOWDOWN AND RED BULL JOYRIDE QUALIFIERS

Roster Determined Through Crankworx History, FMBA Rankings And Key Event Results

The Red Bull Joyride will be a game changer for the world of freeride mountain biking. With a whopping $25,000 on the line for first place, Kokanee Crankworx has confirmed the best mountain bikers in the world will compete at the Teva Best Trick Showdown July 21 and the inaugural Red Bull Joyride Qualifiers July 21 and Red Bull Joyride Finals on July 23, 2011.

Confirmed pre-qualified athletes for Red Bull Joyride Finals:
1. Cam Zink – Reno, NV
2. Mike Montgomery – San Diego, CA
3. Casey Groves – Kelowna, BC
4. Kelly McGarry – Nelson, NZL
5. Sam Dueck – Chilliwack, BC
6. Yannick Granieri – Craponne, FRA
7. Brandon Semenuk – Whistler, BC
8. Darren Berrecloth – Qualicum Beach, BC
9. Martin Soderstrom – Uppsala, SWE
10. Sam Pilgrim – Colchester, GBR

Confirmed for Teva Best Trick Showdown and Red Bull Joyride Qualifiers July 21:
11. Amir Kabbani – Munich, GER
12. Andreu Lacondeguy – Barcelona, ESP
13. Antoine Bizet – FRA - qualified through Chatel Mountain Style 2011
14. Greg Watts – Santa Cruz, CA
15. Jack Fogelquist – Santa Cruz, CA
16. Kyle Strait – Huntington Beach, CA – qualified through Claymore Challenge 2011
17. Lance McDermott – Manchester, GBR
18. Medhi Gani – Lannilis, FRA – qualified through 26 Trix 2011
19. Mitch Chubey – Langley, BC - qualified by top six 2011 FMBA ranking
20. Paul Basagoita – Minden, NV – qualified through Teva Mountain Games Slopestyle 2011

Wildcard Athletes:
1. Cam McCaul
2. Graham Agassiz
3. Kurt Sorge
4. Tyler McCaul
5. Geoff Gulevich

For more information on this year’s invitation format click here.

Six athletes will be qualified based on the results of two full-course runs on July 21, limited to the 15 athletes that are not pre-qualified for Red Bull Joyride. Red Bull Joyride judges will observe both the Teva Best Trick Showdown contest and the two full-course qualifying runs. Riders will be ranked based on overall performance of both Teva Best Trick Showdown and the qualifying runs to select six athletes to advance and join the ten pre-qualified riders for Red Bull Joyride on Saturday, July 23.

First place will take home $25,000, second $10,000, third $5,000, fourth $3,500 and fifth $1,500. Watch the first of an exclusive video series from Red Bull detailing the conception of the Joyride course design here.

Stay tuned to www.crankworx.com for upcoming news and connect with Crankworx through Facebook.com/crankworx or Twitter.com/crankworx.

The eighth annual Kokanee Crankworx is presented by Whistler Blackcomb and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Kokanee Crankworx is the biggest annual event held in Whistler and is also the largest freeride mountain bike festival in the world. Each year the best amateur and professional freeride, downhill and slopestyle mountain bike athletes gather for a ten-day, non-stop barrage of competition and celebration. Whistler has the world’s most diverse offering of mountain biking terrain, including 150 miles of single-track trails, 5,000 vertical feet of lift-accessed downhill runs in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, jump parks and 20+ miles of paved Valley Trail.

No photos yet but the results are in; Kelly McGarry landed in eighth place at the Chatel Mountain Style event today. Now I checked this course out last year and if you think it looks big on video it looks way bigger in real life, that’s why you’re not seeing a whole tonne of tricks. Chatel is a BIG mountain freeride event! Anyhow the results are as follows. It was a pretty stacked field as far as big mountain riders go with Bearclaw, Gully, and Semenuk all in attendence so landing in eighth is a super solid result for the Ware… I mean Diamondback rider.

Results:
1 – Cam Zink
2 – Antoine Bizet
3 – Kurt Sorge
4 – Brandon Semenuk
5 – Kyle Strait
6 – Geoff Gullevich
7 – Darren Berrecloth
8 – Kelly McGarry
9 – Sam Pilgram
10 – Andreu Lacondeguy

It’s an action packed weekend what with the MSA World Cup Triple (XC, 4X and DH) and the Chatel Mountain Style going down in France. Results just in show that Samara killed it in the U23 and landed in fourth! Meanwhile in France Kelly McGarry rode to ninth place qualifying in the Chatel Mountain Style in a pretty stacked field. DH finals are on in 16 hours (around 7am) over here.

Chatel Mountain Style Qualification Results:
1 – Andreu Lacondeguy 78.29
2 – Kurt Sorge 77.86
3 – Geoff Gullevich 74.71
4 – Garett Buehler 74.00
5 – Daren Berrecloth 71.43
6 – Brandon Semenuk 69.43
7 – Cam Zink 67.57
8 – Kyle Strait 64.57
9 – Kelly McGarry 63.86
10 – Pierre-Edouard Ferry 62.57
11 – Antoine Dubourgnon 61.14
12 – Ramon Hunziker 60.86
13 – Eric Lawrenuk 57.86
14 – Amir Kabani 56.86
15 – Nick Simcik 55.71
16 – Mitch Chubey 54.57
17 – Niki Leitner 54.57
18 – Simon Kirchmann 51.86
19 – Antoine Bizet 49.86
20 – Peter Henke 48.86
21 – Jonas Janssen 47.43
22 – Patrick Rasche 43.43
23 – Hendrik Tafel 40.43