Casey Finishes on the Podium

August 14, 2010

Thanks to PinkBike for the image.

Congratulations on a spectacular third place finish at Whistler.  Crankworx is the biggest slopestyle comp of the season, and a podium finish there is massive.

Way to go, bro.


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Casey Groves #1 at Crankworx

Well, he’s starting first in the slopestyle today after qualifying 7th. Let’s hope he kills it in his runs today.

Go Casey!


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Skills Park Open

July 7, 2010

The City of Kelowna’s first mountain bike skills park is now open.

“The City collaborated with local riders and the Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan to build a park that provides something for of all ages and abilities,” says Park Projects Manager Andrew Gibbs.

The Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan will manage the park, provide education and training for users and maintain the bike facilities. The Club is planning an official grand opening for the park later this summer.

Located on a 3.4 hectare site at 1960 Hollywood Road South, the skills park includes a pump track and six dirt jump lanes progressing from beginner to expert. Riders can access the park by bike via the Mission Creek Greenway.

“We have been working closely with the mountain biking community and this type of facility was identified as a priority,” says Gibbs. The 2008 Kelowna & Area Mountain Bike Strategy, a joint project with the City, Regional District and BC Parks will guide future development and management of mountain bike facilities in the area.

Completed at a cost of $243,000, the park was designed by a Gravity Logic of Whistler and van der Zalm & Associates landscape architects in collaboration with local riders and constructed by Cormode and Dickson of Kelowna and Gravity Logic. Many businesses and individuals in the community helped with construction through the supply of labour, equipment and material at reduced cost.

Find links to Kelowna’s parks and beaches at kelowna.ca/parks.


2 Responses to “Skills Park Open”

  • Thomas says:

    What’s the status of the “skills” section (ladder bridges, skinnies etc) of the park? Is that still coming?

  • Rider says:

    That was my thought when I drove by. How can you call it a mountain bike skills park as it sits…. More like a bmx park. Hopefully there will be Skinnies, drops etc for some real mountain bike skills training.

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Cyclist knocked into ditch

June 2, 2010

by Castanet Staff – Story: 54914

File photo: Kelly Hayes - Castanet

A cyclist ended up in hospital after she was struck by a vehicle which then took off leaving the injured rider in the ditch with a head injury.

On Tuesday at 5:50 p.m., Kelowna RCMP responded to a motor vehicle collision at Sexsmith and Longhill roads.

Constable Steve Holmes says a witness stated a cyclist was headed south on Sexsmith towards Highway 97 N when a white four door sedan, which was headed north on Sexsmith, made a left turn on to Longhill.

“The vehicle failed to yield to the approaching cyclist, who was struck and knocked off the road and into the ditch. Fortunately, the 53-year-old was wearing a helmet, but still suffered a head injury due to the force of her fall,” says Holmes.

He says the woman was taken to Kelowna General Hospital where she is expected to make a recovery.

“Had she not been wearing a helmet, her injuries could have been much more severe.”

Kelowna RCMP are looking for anyone who may have witnessed this collision and have a more detailed description of the vehicle (ie. make/model, licence plate).

They are asked to contact Constable John Doane, at the Kelowna Detachment (250)762-3300.


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Take a Free Ride

May 31, 2010

Wednesday June 2 is National Clean Air Day. In celebration of this environmentally focused event, the Central Okanagan will be offering free transit all day.

To enjoy free transit this Clean Air Day, all you have to do is tell the bus driver “It’s Clean Air Day” and enjoy the ride.

Additionally, a free continental breakfast will be offered to environmentally friendly commuters.

Environmentally friendly commuting conists of walking, cycling, rollerblading, skateboarding, taking transit, working from home, riding a scooter or carpooling: anything but driving alone! And you don’t have to be a participant in the Commuter Challenge to stop one of the Clean Air Day breakfast buses.

Between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m.Wednesday June 2, the breakfast buses will be parked at the Queensway, Orchard Park Mall and Stevens Road Transit exchanges serving up delicious baked goods and coffee compliments of Blenz, Percs and Bliss Bakery.

Commuters can enter to win one of three $100 gift certificate to Outbound Cycle, Cyclepath and Union Cycle, and  they can sign up for the Commuter Challenge to be eligible for even more great prizes.

Clean Air Day is a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities that promote clean air and good health across Canada. It is a great opportunity to make environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices, for you, your family and your community.  Clean Air Day takes place during Commuter Challenge Week (May 31 – June 5) which is also National Environment Week.

Transportation is the largest contributor to the decline of our local air quality. Fewer cars on the road also means reduced need for new roads and parking lots, less noise and the ability to preserve our natural green spaces. Everyone can make a difference, with small changes to their driving habits.

For more information on Clean Air Day, visit  www.i-Go.ca.

To Register for the Commuter Challenge, visit www.commuterchallenge.ca.


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Bike to Work Week is May 10 to 16

May 7, 2010

The Central Okanagan will participate in our sixth annual Bike to Work Week along with Bike to School Week and Bike to Faith Week.


YouTube -

Workplace teams from around the Central Okanagan are encouraged to participate for your chance to WIN great prizes! Visit our sponsors page to view our generous prize sponsors.

Registering a team and reporting your results is easy. For more information on signing up your team and to get all of the resources you need like a team leader kit, and view all the prizing and reporting results visit our Team Leader Hub.

BTWW-Team Leader HUBLike any program that raises awareness of a new habit or activity, we want this to be a fun opportunity to create a new culture in your workplace where employees can try cycling for the first time and decide to stick with it throughout the rest of the year. Cycling can be a REAL alternative to the car for Central Okanagan commuters!

Check back often for updated and downloads, and get your bikes tuned up for another successful event!




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Bike Thief Caught on Tape

May 4, 2010

Police are  looking for a man who stole this bike from outside a gas station early  Monday morning. (Photo: RCMP)

Police are looking for a man who stole this bike from outside a gas station early Monday morning. (Photo: RCMP)

by Castanet Staff – Story: 54337
May 4, 2010 / 4:00 pm

A brazen daylight theft has been caught on camera.

RCMP are looking for a man who was caught on tape stealing a $2,400 mountain bike from outside the Petro-Canada gas station on Ross Road in West Kelowna about 7 a.m. Monday morning.

Police say surveillance footage shows the suspect come into the store then go outside and jump on the bike and ride away.

The owner of the bike had parked it just outside the door before going into the store.

The suspect is described as being Caucasian, 5’6″ to 5’7″, weighing 140 to 150 pounds. He has fair skin, is clean shaven with short, buzz-cut, blonde hair and blue eyes.

He was wearing blue denim long shorts, a red t-shirt and a black hoodie with white graphics and the word ‘EKKO’ on it.

The bicycle is a Rocky Mountain ‘Element 10′ mountain bike. It has a dark blue frame, full suspension with front and rear disc brakes.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call West Kelowna RCMP at 250-768-2880 , or Crime Stoppers.


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Cyclepath presents: ‘Follow Me’

April 28, 2010

FollowMe

Date:

Location:

April 28 (7:00 PM)

Kelowna Community Theatre

Price: Advance:        $ 10.00
At the Door:    $ 12.00
Tickets: Available at CyclePath
Available at the Door
Website: anthillfilms.com

CyclePath presents ‘Follow Me’, a mountain bike film produced by Anthill Films.

The Anthill crew is no new-comer to the world of mountain bike films.  Made up of five key members from the award-winning film company the Collective, Darcy Wittenburg, Darren McCullough, Colin Jones, Jonathan Shramm and Sterling Lorence, have been making films together for the past six years. The one new addition is Ian Dunn, who will be holding down the business side of things as Producer/Marketing Director, so the crew can focus on creating the best possible film.

“Whenever we start a new project” says Darcy, Creative Director for Anthill and Co-Founder of the Collective “we ask ourselves what we want to do next – we’re always pushing ourselves to come up with new ideas”.  When the crew learned that Jamie Houssain (Producer and Co-Founder of the Collective) would be pursuing new opportunities outside of filmmaking, the guys decided it was the right time to start something new and build upon what they had already done.

‘Follow Me’ will be a natural evolution for the Anthill crew and will give them the chance to explore new ideas and concepts that did not fit within the style of the Collective.  “Our goal is to really push ourselves as filmmakers to come up with something completely original” says Darcy.  “We want to create a film that is super upbeat and remind everyone why we all love mountain biking”.  The film’s central concept is ‘no one rides alone’ – focusing on the idea that the best times we have on our bikes is when we’re riding with our friends.  ‘Follow Me’ will be filmed completely in HD using the latest camera technology, including the new super high-def Red One camera.


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Venture Gear is now Union Cycle

April 12, 2010

Hey riders… yes it is official, the brothers Letkeman have laid Venture Gear to rest and would like to thank everyone for their business over the course of the last 8 years.  It is time now to welcome Union Cycle.  The re-branding goes well beyond new signage, and is a reflection of their commitment to fostering healthy relationships between people and their bicycles.  From sales to service, group rides to community fundraisers, Union Cycle wants you to have the best bicycling experience possible.

New shop hours are Tuesday thru Saturday, 10AM – 6PM.  Drop by the shop to see their exciting selection of bikes from Norco, Marin, Intense BMX, Supercross, KHS, & Lapierre!  Check out their ‘events calendar’ on the web at www.unioncycle.ca.  Union Cycle… Bringing people and bikes together.


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Tourism Westside Launches Trail Guide

April 7, 2010

From Castanet.net

Finding your way to hiking and biking trails on the Westside just got a whole lot easier with Tourism Westside’s new Westside Trails Guide.

“One of the most frequent questions we get at the Visitor Centre is about our hiking trails,” says Leah Thordarson, Visitor Centre Manager.

“In response to these numerous inquiries we thought it would be best to package our regional parks, provincial parks and hiking trails into one concise brochure to better serve the visitor.”

The new 24-page guide is just one of the tools that will be used to market the area and it will be distributed to Visitor Centres throughout the Okanagan Valley, as well as at key Visitor Centre locations around the province.

Fifteen trails and parks have been highlighted in the guide ranging in length from half a kilometre to over 15 kilometres.

The length, elevation gain and trailhead directions with GPS coordinates are described in detail for each trail. These descriptions compliment basic topographical maps for the various trails. The full-colour guide also describes the area’s volcanic history, geology and ecology along with interesting tidbits and Traditional Ecological Knowledge as it relates to the Westbank First Nation People.

The Westside Trail Guide is now available at the West Kelowna, Kelowna and Peachland Visitor Centres as well as on Tourism Westside’s website.

Link: Tourism Westside website


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