Being away from Whistler for the Winter Games has been a bit sad, but I have had a few games of my own going on.

Goggle testing in the mountains outside of Nelson, BC with the adidas eyewear team. Great trip and great skiing. Thanks to all the cool people that were there.

Training riding and testing in Laguna Beach, CA with Lopes, Hans and a bunch of my bros from home. Mostly on my Rotwild X1 with a 2011 Marzocchi 55 air forks and DT Swiss EXC 1550 wheels. These all mountain bikes can do almost anything.

I even got some time in at the Olympics in Vancouver. What a cool vibe.

Stay tuned for more news from the hills.
Richie

Baldface Catskiing

Baldface Catskiing

A little air with the Cat waiting below to take us back to the top.

A little air with the Cat waiting below to take us back to the top.

Ripping the local trails in Laguna Beach

Ripping the local trails in Laguna Beach

Another sweet sunset in Laguna Beach

Another sweet sunset in Laguna Beach

Chiquita trail in the Santa Anna mountains.

Chiquita trail in the Santa Anna mountains.

Fall is a time for riding with friends, trade shows and finalizing things for the year to come.

This fall I did a lot of sick rides all over the place. I dialed in a bunch of the epic rides around the Whistler area that I had wanted to do all summer long. Several rides with Wade Simmons, Matt Ryan, James Collingridge and several other rippers.

We hit the North Shore, Pemberton, Squamish and I even got to Lascht, Italy for a week with Rotwild, the Crew from DT Swiss and a bunch of my European friends.

Holger Meyer and I hosted a bunch of rippers from Germany in Whistler and showed them the goods in my back yard.

I went to Eurobike, Germany and Interbike in Vegas. Set up some new sponsorships and secured some current ones. Partied with a bunch of friends from all over the world. Vegas, what can I say…

The snow is piling up in Whistler while I write this update from Hans Rey’s house in Laguna Beach. We just returned from Sedona and Prescott, Arizona where Wade, Lopes, Hans, Scott Markewitz and I, got shown around by Chewy from the “Bike and Bean” in Sedona. It is a must check out riding location and the bike and bean guys are the hook up.

I am heading back to Whistler at the end of the week to buy a snowmobile and get deep into the powder. Whistler is breaking records for the amount of snow that they have received in November. How appropriate on the year of the 2010 Olympics.

Until next time. Get outside and rip it up! Whatever your sport or toy you plan to play with.
Richie

Simmons and Schley on an epic in the Whistler area. Photo: Blake Jorgeson.

Simmons and Schley on an epic in the Whistler area. Photo: Blake Jorgeson.

Hans Rey, Irina Kalentieva, Dave Wiens and Schley, pre party in Vegas.

Hans Rey, Irina Kalentieva, Dave Wiens and Schley, pre party in Vegas.

Heli Biking with Holger Meyer and the German crew.

Heli Biking with Holger Meyer and the German crew.

Schley and Holgi on PHD. Photo: Jorgenson

Schley and Holgi on PHD. Photo: Jorgenson

Schley at the "Barber Shop" One of those awesome fall rides. Photo; Jorgenson

Schley at the "Barber Shop" One of those awesome fall rides. Photo; Jorgenson

richie schley and james collingridge tower of power/pemberton

richie schley and james collingridge tower of power/pemberton

Hey Everyone, sorry for the laps in communication if there was any with you.
With Crankworx and a lot of industry people in town, it has been pretty busy.

I did a bunch of internet hosting for www.go211.com for the event and was the featured host on the Jumbotrons at the bottom of the mountain, so I was seen a lot during the event world wide.

I also competed in the Canadian Open Enduro for the first time and was going pretty good for the first part of the race in second behind Brian Lopes, but couldn’t hold it and fell back to 15th.

I had the chance to work with Photographer, Yorick Carroux and Wade Simmons and Bearclaw on a Photo contest and produced a lot of good shots. They are attached below and are available for purchase if you are interested.

Also, got out shooting with Mattias Fredrickson and Manfred Stromberg for a couple shoots and haven’t seen the shots, but will get some sample to you when they are available.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at Eurobike. If you need me for anything at the show, please let me know.

Thanks for the continued support.
Richie

richie shoe's deep summer photo challange/whistler

deep summer photo challange/whistler

deep summer photo challange/whistler

deep summer photo challange/whistler

I just found this video of Kranked 1 on Youtube. Brings back some good memories.

Thanks to the V.I.O Sport guys I’ve been able to do some headcam in Pemberton.

The trails are Gravitron, Overnight Sensation & 8 Seconds.

One of Whistler’s biggest secrets in the mountain bike scene is the underground local Toonie($2 coin in Canada) Ride series.

It started years ago as a “Loonie Race Series”. Everyone would bring a dollar and put it in the pot and the winner would take all of the money. It was a bunch of the valley’s best riders getting together to have a fun night out while the fastest one on the night take the cash and buy the beers. As with anything cool, it grew and a lot more people would show up. At one point Chad Miles, local legend XC and all around ripper, was making a enough money to pay his rent from winning the race every thursday night.

Today with anywhere from 100 to 300 plus riders per week, the race is a bit of a big deal in Whistler. The top  20 or so people race their butts off to get a chance at the prize. Now that prize is only $50 for the winning man and $50 for the winning woman, while the rest of the cash goes to WORCA to prove a budget for to maintain build new trails. The 300 riders have their own little races within the pack or are just out for the ride and social aspect.

The race is always sponsored by a local business who decides the course. Some are really technical, some have savage climbs that are actually hike a bikes and others are more like a typical xc race. The consistencies the race time about 35 to 40 minutes for the winning time and just over an hour for the most recreational rider, the price (2 bucks), the great social with dinner and beers included and the challenging Whistler riding. When you look around the start area at the 300 plus people, you see all ages all types of bikes, DH, XC, old ones and strange ones. You can here accents from all over the worlds and best of all you get a real sense of our community.

I started doing these races 2 years ago and was instantly hooked. I was somewhere around the 30th places on my first race and was determined to make it into the top 10 at some point. Being a free rider and not an xc racer, that was a bit of a hefty goal for me. This season I have done 3 and been in the 10-15th spots and last night I cracked that top ten I was looking for with a 6th place finish. Now I can die. Haha. Matt Ryan, local import form Oz won as he often does.

If you haven’t been out to a Toonie or you are visiting Whistler and want to get a real sense of our community, come on out and give it your best shot. You won’t regret it and it is the cheapest meal and beer in town, just a Toonie.

This June in Whistler has been so epic! It has been sunny everyday and felt like August. It makes it so easy to want to be out riding everyday. My friends and I have take full advantage of the situation and hit up a ton of cool stuff this last week.
Sunday; shuttling in Pemberton; Gravitron to Overnight Sensation, then a short pedal up and down Meat Grinder. A quick can of Tobourg and shuttle back up to Mackzie Cruz.

Monday; Comfortably Numb for the first time. Whistler’s xc epic trail. Cool ride.

Tuesday chillin.

Wednesday; hangin with Willow and rode Lost Lake trail right after a quick thunder storm.

Thurday; Took Willow to the airport, rushed home and did the Loonie race (Whistler’s weekly XC race series) got 15th and was very tired. Lots of climboing.

Friday; Chromag ride in Squamish. Four and a half hours of sweet single track and good times. Even had a session at BRT’s new pump track on our all mountain bikes. Cool.

Saturday; Preroad the BC Bike Race Day 7 Whistler stage with Dre Hestler and gang 5 hours of heat and not so exciting trails. Too hot. Pretty much crushed from the week.

Sunday; worked on bikes all day with Lenn Hornige then had my first real pump track session in Alta Vista. So fun, but hard work and technical.

Hope this week will be just as fun as last. Riding is the best and we have so much variety here it is insane. This week I will ride the bike park and maybe even go dirt jumping.

Chromag ride; Gin, Matt, Chris, Ritz, Aussie, JJ, Julian, Dimwitty and James.

Chromag ride; Gin, Matt, Chris, Ritz, Aussie, JJ, Julian, Dimwitty and James.

Sean Dimwitty, rockin out with his boobs out.

Sean Dimwitty, rockin out with his boobs out.

Dre telling us how it is. That's something new.

Dre telling us how it is. That's something new.