Straitlines Lama DH Team!

Our Canadian distributor Lama Cycles takes distribution one step further than most.. they actually ride and have their own DH team! 
Crankworxs is on this weekend and its a cool way to see old friends prior to the tradeshow whirlwind. We deal with each other all year long but it takes events to pull everyone out from all corners of the earth and Crankworxs does just that.
I Called up the Lama Crew to see where they are at and by chance and they were hanging out with Justin Brantley and Mike Montgomery eating Breakfast in Whistler. All of them were heading off to coach at Camp of Champions, a camp we have sponsored since the beginning. Most of the coaches ride our gear and are our athletes.
The connections are endless, all the competitor brands who are all friends and being a dick in this industry is a very dumb thing to do. It is biking the raddest sport and day job anyone can hold.
This video from Lama perked me up and I’m stoked to hang with everyone next week when we roll up!

Camp of Champions gets Intense!

I love making those catchy one-liner titles like the local paper… but

So Camp now has Intense bikes added to the DH fleet for this summer!

They will be decked to the hilt in our freeride components along with Chromag and Spank and Maxxis and a few other brands evolving as we speak.

 

Show up and abuse their bikes not yours and get to ride a worldcup ready rig every day!

 

Check it out:

http://campofchampions.pinkbike.com/blog/Intense-Bicycles-Joins-The-Camp-of-Champions-Demo-Fleet.html

 

Then Check this out

Jack Fogel in X Gon Give It To Ya!

Straitlines, Jack Fogelquist Signed with X Fusion suspension a while back and he was pumped.

I saw this X video today and it had a great vibe, check it out.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Video-Teaser-X-Gon-Give-It-To-Ya-2011.html

Only Jack can pull of this music selection!

Fogel's Summer Adventure from Jack Fogelquist on Vimeo.

Mike Montgomery backflip cliffhanger !

Being the proud owner of a few freestyle motorcross games, Mike doesn’t impress me that much but I can understand how you guys get all excited on his new tricks. But I have been landing this stuff since Moto x on Xbox came out. Until I see a true double pits to chesty, Mike is an okay freestyle rider.

 

Maybe at camp of champions this summer he will impress me with the DPTC.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/184934/

 

This is me behind the lens trying to act impressed to fit in, but I  told Mike many times I have done this so many times in my xbox game it has lost its excitement. 

Not saying that doing the trick from the couch versus in person, I do understand that the blisters from the controller are not as bad as the ones from biking but they are dam close!

Camp of Champions bad ass team!

Stoked on this team for Camp… 4 of our riders will be repping camp and the sport in general stoking the hell out of kids.

Casey Groves

Mike Montgomery

Jack Fogelquist

And… Brett Tippie our new member.

 

http://campofchampions.pinkbike.com/blog/cocproteam.html

Oh and here is how I first really met Tippie outside of his free ride movies.

Its a good story,stay with me.

We were at Sea Otter classic heading to the Race Face Mansion party -better known as the sausage fest party- in our luxury Camp of Champions bus.

I so thoughtfully bought a Hello kitty piñata, 2 flats of Coronas and candy to stuff the piñata with.

 

Arrived fashionably late with 2 our house warming gifts…

We carefully hung it for the festivities to come…

Then Tippie came out of know where, removed it to what I thought would be a better place for us all to enjoy… but then this happened.

Brett lost control and showed us how he breaks piñatas…

The pinata never stood a chance…

 

Then out of know where Casey groves ripped its head off and wanted to become a human piñata…

 

So we gave him a beat down!

That's how I first met Brett, at a sausage party with my Hello Kitty pinata.

 

But back to camp… it is going to be a awesome year up in the mountains.

Mike Montgomery and the boy who couldn’t smell!

Mike was in town last night after flying up to Whistler to design the new Krankworxs slope style course with the Claw, Seminuk and Vanderham for RedBull. If you are not aware of it, Monster got the boot and Redbull is taking over and from what Mike explained to me, it will be redonculousy awesome.

We went out for some beers last night after a product design meeting and I do not feel too good as I type this. But I’ll power through like a champion and post a vid Mike showed me from Osiris Shoes http://www.osirisshoes.com/

Short and sweet…

 

Mike is also the new Head Coach at Camp Of Champions this summer so he is amped to have control over the compound and he will be redesigning the lay out there as well.

Its going to be a rad summer, Mike is pumped.

 

Guilty Pleasures are okay at Straitline!

Guilty pleasure music alert!! Straitline's Jack Fogelquist and his Cougar slaying Summer of Love re-cap1

http://vimeo.com/14312763

 

Fogel's Summer Adventure from Jack Fogelquist on Vimeo.

Who wants to go to Whistler?

This is Mike Montgomery, entering this video contest by Camp of Champions could earn you a spot next to him at Camp.

Simple rules… just click this link and watch this video and enter to be cool!

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/ryan-berrecloth-episode-4-place-of-higher-learning-2010.html

This vid is mainly shot at the compound up in Whistler and it opens up with me walking into Ryans frame with my girlfriend staring into the lens scared. I told everyone that day I was going to try a flip into the air bag, but Ryan wouldn’t let me because as you can see me limp by with my bunk leg. Glad I never climbed the ramp with my aircast on, its not all what it cracks up to be when you land, you still take a bit of impact on the legs.

 

Alan Hepburn and Jack fogel rip it up in this segment along with Mike, check it out.

 

Camp Of Champions Video

My buddy Brendan Howey and I put this video together for the Camp of Champions while he was down in Aptos for a couple weeks.  Stoked how it came together, check it out!

 

Fogel

Justin Wyper front flip stepdown/ Casey bike check

VOD on Pinkbike today is of Justin on his blackmarket killswitch filming out in Kamloops and Kelowna BC. If anyone reading this is ever coming to BC look at your airport on the map, most likely Vancouver international, and plan a road trip to the Okanogan. It’s not all about Whistler, the valley has 2 lift access hills Silverstar/Vernon and SunPeaks/Kamloops. This video shows only the Kamloops bike park on Rose hill but the terrain is diverse and fast, you’ll be in awe if you go and you can still squeeze in Whistler if you backtrack through Pemberton to Whistler on the back roads.

Casey Groves has discovered Pilsner in this video, by next year he will be either killing it on the bike or that guy hanging in the park with his shades on. Nah he’ll be killing it as usual.

 

 

Casey sent us his bike check, it’s pretty super!

An Amazing Summer to Say the Least!

I just got back a few days ago from close to two months spent road tripping around with some awesome people!  In a nutshell, it started at Camp of Champions, where I got to spend each day riding with and teaching rad kids who are super stoked to ride.  Howey, Wyper, and I made the trip to Colorado for Crankworx and I ended up with 6th place!  We made the journey back to Whistler for a week of shredding, and then Crankworx started.  I got 9th place there, so I’m super stoked to get top 10s in both Crankworxs.  I made tons of new friends and got to ride so much that I don’t think the summer could have gone any better.  Anyway, I collected random GoPro clips through the trip and put them together into this video.  Enjoy!

 

 

-Fogel

This reminds me of my friends

 

I like how they are so excited for the carnage… look at the kids face when he peels it from the dirt. It’s all good because the cool kids are laughing, but at least he has climbed another level in the school!

 

So, this is why you use foam pits and air bags… bikes found off of the Wal-Mart discount flyer is best.

 

This is Alan Hepburn at Camp of Champions on a non Wal-Mart brand bike, made by Banshee and of course decked head to toe in Straitline. I would laugh when Alan alls too but Alan never falls enough for a good laugh.

Here is Alans update from Camp A

“Camp A just wrapped up here in whistler, the whole week was so much fun, Lots of riding everyday and all round good times.The campers get to ride banshee legend MKII ’s decked out in Race Face and Straitline products so they’re all buzzing from the get go. Video coming shortly.”

 

Game on! Mike Montgomery California Roll

I found this shot on the web and I cannot believe the ingenuity and progression displayed before me. All jokes aside this is is an epic display of what can be done when you put your mind to it.!

And lots of progression this Canada Long weekend weekend on the bike as well! I spent Canada day up in Whistler at the Camp of Champions and was in awe at what I saw. Montgomery pulled a 360 body varial he dubbed the California roll and now everyone who wasn’t there is debating if it was the first but rest assure it is the first on a 26.

 

 

Here was my angle of it all…

 

I wish that I caught it on film but Greg was hitting the jumps with his hands backwards on the bars… wrist out. When I asked him why he is riding like that he just said “I’m bored”! He went through most of his tricks like that and landed everyone

This film is by Eric Peterson of Faultline, he is getting all the camp footage and carnage as it happens.

 

 

I’ll caption this shot for everyone… “My name is Mike and I just did a California Roll, WTF have you done?”

Camp coach and Straitline factory rider Alan Hepburn

Alan again but this time he’s spicing it up on his Unicycle.

Camp coach and Straitline Factory rider Jack Folgelquist was right behind Alan throwing tricks.

 

 

Jack smiles a lot and if you watch him mid air he is perma grin.

Watts, Hepburn, Montgomery, Dyer, Cho Cho and Ryan Berrecloth somewhere out of frame.  Mr Groves had to leave for Goatstyle, in fact everyone is heading to Goatstyle next week to earn a spot at Crankworks.

The man behind it all Ken Achenbach. He owns a backcountry cat skiing firm and runs a SKI/BOARD/BIKE camp in the summer aka my new BFF.

Found this thread and Kens response to player haters after viewing the video below. Sums it up pretty good.

“It's pretty classic how every thinks you get "Sent" to COC. Kids actually beg all year to come to camp and when they get here they ride from sun up to sun down because it's their dream to come to camp. It's why we work so hard to make every day absolutely insane. Coming from a single parent family without two cents to rub together I know how hard everyone works for the money that camp costs, whether you are rich or poor. It's my dream to enable people to ride in an amazing place, ride amazing bikes and meet amazing people and make friends with them. Give them the opportunity that I never had. So I can understand the "F that 2 grand" I can also understand the "I want that and I will do whatever I have to do to come to camp." I collected bottles, shoveled snow, and mowed lawns to get the things I wanted. Things taste the best when you work for it and 99% of the kids that come to camp work for it. Be it getting good grades, doing chores or slaving as a dishpig. That's why camp is so fun. Everyone here wants to be here. I'd kill myself if I ran a camp where people get "Sent" We teach riders to Send It!
Bored kids go to the mall. Smart kids go biking.
Ken”

Camp is on son!

 

Straitline Factory riders Alan Hepburn, Casey Groves and Jack Folgelquist doing some evening sessions at the Camp of Champions compound after a day on the hill.

 

I am heading up to Whistler this Friday, sadly missing Hepburn and Casey who are off to the Goatstyle comp in Creston but Jack will be there and so will the jumbo 365 stunt bag!! I am out of my air cast but I am thinking about putting it back on just to experience that airbag, too cool to be true.

Ps… the Freeride bc bike park in North Saanich is open and ready for summer.

 

Camp of Champions Compound… WTF?

Camp of Champions is the funnest place to hang out at  on and off the mountain, everyone is relaxed and just focused on play time and this video explains it all.

Casey Groves, Alan Hepburn Straitline’s Factory riders are up there as we speak testing the new stunt bag out with of Course Garth Dyer.

 

This season all the bikes are decked to the hilt in race gear from Straitline, Race Face, Chromag and Spank and the bikes are all the DH flagships… Banshee legend… Transition TR450… Morewood Makulas… Santa Cruz V10… with NS BIKES / Spank bikes filling the DJ void.

More shots to come but take a peek. All bikes will be decked in our silent guide Pedals, Boxxer 5omm stems and Platform pedals.

And… I am on a cane now and still not cleared to ride until Xmas so I hope it rains

Transition TR 450 & NBD Metzger style!

Metzger is a funny guy and the only guy I have every met who is dumb enough to wear the same wakeboarding helmet for riding like I do. Basically picture a plastic ice cream bucket with plush foam inside. The difference is Metzger hucks cliffs and I don’t!

Metzger raised the bar pretty high in this video. The guys has skills like no other, never seen a crotch rocket manual before but he nails it!

And check out the Camp of Champions DH rig we had on display at Sea Otter. Custom paint job I think 8 in all were made just for camp and of course dressed in full Straitline kits.

 

The Transition TR450 build

 

I am still busted up with my Achilles snappage and pretty bummed out on missing the camp this summer. I have Andi Witman arranged to come over from Germany and he said that he would teach me to flip at the air dome. Now Camp scrapped the air dome and has a stunt bag coming in… like OMG, bff COC forever.

This shot sucks and hangs half way off the page but best I could find but can you say BOOING! So sick.

Camp of Champions isn’t all bikes!

We have been a proud sponsor of Camp of Champions for some time now, 4th year I believe but what I find astonishing is how modest they are at times. Okay, they are shameless promoters most of the time but what they leave out are all the cool stuff, like private glaciers with a off limits camp only terrain park.

 

Casey Groves, Factory Straitline rider and camp coach, Taking a dump on whistler’s opening day. And pod again on Pinkbike.

The untold truth is that Bikers and skier/boarders can switch it up if they wanted, you can put the bike away and ride the glacier if you wanted and vice versa.

They even have a 40FT half pipe inside the COC tent with a booming sound system, it is basically just heaven for adrenaline junkies.

I have already asked the question we all want to know can you bring your inner tube and hit the big booter? Turns out Inner tubing has yet to be recognized as a adrenaline sport and that it was a dumb question to ask.

 

Check out this video of their 09 terrain park.

Camp of Champions Terrain Park Tour from Camp of Champions on Vimeo.

Camp of Champions iPhone app

Ken at Camp sent me his camp iPhone app, no clue how you just go about making one but props for being smart, it is pretty sick!

Check it out HERE and get it for free!

 

So if you own a iPhone go and download this app and spy on Whistler from afar, send it to your friends and someone buy me a iPhone!

I will trade my freezey blackberry touch for one!

 

 

Must  watch video, all work and no play is not cool so put your feet up and laugh!

Sea Otter with Camp of champions was sick!

Well, we are back or I guess I – Greg- am back from California Sea Otter 2010 and my Apologies for the dead site, I fell of the grid and it felt great!
Fresh air and ocean…



So I promise many vids, pics and updates from it. I had missed two of the 4 days because something in my leg went POP then I went OWE  but managed to do a mini vid on the chain guide with Bike magazine.

Rockstar I tell ya!

Straitline's Silent Guide from Bike Magazine on Vimeo.
And our camp of Champions bus ride down was so fun, even though it took 36 hours when the norm is 19-24… not saying someone never knew where they were going or anything !! Plus the 5 hour free physical we received from Homeland Security / US border Cross guards didn’t help shave any time off. 
 
Check out Ken from Camp of Champions fast edit capturing what we saw.


Race Face invited us to their mansion –Pinkbike and RF always rent mansions to accommodate all the people and we enjoy crashing their spaghetti parties.

As polite guests we brought house warming gifts… the Mexican food store next to the hotel only had hello Kitty Piñatas and candy so we settled for that and coronas. Not going to lie, it was pretty sweet!

Gareth Dyer, head coach at Camp of Champions was in charge of the piñata ‘s safety during transport.

Well.. it was sweet until Tippie came along. Confused with the tradition of the piñata… he created a awkward moment for all.

There are more, Ill show them later on!

So I hope that tides you over, the blog had a big stall my bad!

Greg