He might not have won the Crankworx Pumptrack Challenge but in this photo Troy Brosnan shows us how much innocent fun riding a bike can be. Seventeen years old and about to rule the earth like a cute little emperor of radness.
As I missed the whole event and James Allen (thank you for more photos James) can’t string a sentence together about the pumptrack event I have to simply cut and paste the Crankworx press release. Wow, that’s a first for Spoke Magazine, maybe we are becoming a real website now…
It felt like déjà vu at the Ultimate Pump Track Challenge presented by Rock Shox, as last year’s defending champs in both the Pro Men’s and Pro Women’s categories kept their titles. Mitch Ropelato and Jill Kintner took the wins for the second year in a row.
Despite a rainy week the Crystal Viper track was in good shape for the fast-paced, highly entertaining action. Mitch Ropelato (USA) secured first place against Blake Carney (USA) and Tomas Slavik (CZE) emerged victorious in the small final to take third. Jill Kintner (USA) pulled in first against second place Melissa Buhl (USA) while Steffi Marth (GER) took third.
Pump tracks, an endless loop of steeply banked corners, doubles, gaps and rollers, have grown steadily in their popularity through the last five years. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park’s track, dubbed “Crystal Viper” is a compact and spectator-friendly arena. The riders accelerate by pumping aggressively with their legs and arms rather than pedaling and as was shown over and over again last night, there is no room for error.
