Last day of the year! Lone Wolf Productions wants to thank everyone out there who watched the videos, commented, and shared them with others so we are having a give away. The rules are simple. You must liked our facebook page, and then tell us which section you enjoyed the most from the 2011 season. The winner gets a brand new Bell Drop and Lone Wolf sticker package. The winner will be chosen at random on January 6th. Good luck people!
Give Away
I was recently filming a section with Dustin Greenall for Lone Wolf Productions. Dustin was commenting on how clean my bike was and how there was not a mark on it. I pompously replied that I had not taken anything close to a real crash for the entire year so far, and that was when everything changed. I should have simply said “thank you” and kept my mouth shut, because as soon as I made that one comment the bike gods all turned their heads and looked at me like a new guy to town walking into the saloon in an old western movie.
I came home and had planned to start shooting for my up coming Banshee section, which was set to have a number of large stunts in it. Unfortunately, the first thing I hit was a disaster all around. I was hitting a drop with a corner before it and washed out a bit. Thinking if I threw a quick pedal stroke or two in before the drop that I would be ok, I went for it. Big mistake! I knew as soon as I left the edge that I wasn’t even close. I front tire cased the top of the landing pad, ejecting me about twenty feet down the hill. I managed to roll out of it very nicely and walked away…luckily. Upon retrieving my bike I realized just how hard I had impacted the ground. My bars were bent down on both sides with stress marks all over them. I was very sore for a few days but all in all was simply happy to not have seriously injured myself.
brutal slam
Not long after Mike Kinrade and Steve Romaniuk came into town to shoot video for their new section of Stund, which I had offered to help shoot for. After a good day of hitting some of the biggest stunts in Kamloops we ended up at a large drop/gap I had built. Steve and Mike both successfully managed to hit it after several run ins. Then it was my turn. I did a few speed checks, made sure there was no wind, and the sun popped out from behind a cloud; I felt it was time to roll off the edge. This is where it got ugly. Due to the fact that Mike and Steve had already hit the landing it had a couple ruts in it by this time. I of course landed right in one of them which popped me out off the landing after impact. This sent me barreling into the bottom of the landing sideways and out of control. The next thing I remembered was Mike asking me if I was ok, as my vision came back from darkness to light. I quickly realized I had been knocked out for a few seconds, and that I had a concussion. Blood was all over the front of my shirt, and shorts from my nose; I was a mess. After a short trip to the hospital I was cleared to go home and rest up, with no major injuries.
It seems that after a full season of no crashes they simply condensed into two large crashes at the end of the year. I feel the lesson to be learned here is that none of us are immune to failure, and that we all make mistakes. I got a little to big for my bridges and I got knocked back down to earth. It can happen to anyone, so put some protective gear and a solid helmet on before you ride next time. Be careful out there!
It finally happened. We got the Greg Watts edit up and finished. Things looks good and Karl Heldt did a great job with the editing. Just a heads up for everyone one, Lone olf Productions will be doing an article with Decline magazine walking everyone through our Whistler shoot with Watts and Brendan Fairclough. Since I already did updates from Whistler, a pinkbike article for Watts, and still have the Decline artile pending I won’t continue to beat a dead horse and drone on again about how the shoot with Greg went.
Instead I thought I would inform everyone of what to expect in the near future. I am currently shooting for one of my sections which will be sponsored by Spank. I have over half the edit filmed and can’t wait to finish it up. We are also going to be shooting one more day with Aggy before we release his riders section for Bell. On top of all this I will be heading over to Revelstoke BC to do a contracted heli shoot with Lorraine Blancher for a cool new project she is working on at the end of September. Take a little peak at a line I shot for my section last week. It’s a b-role shot for sure but you can get a good idea of what the line looks like.
Hey Everyone,
New Lone Wolf Productions hats on sale now at the Bicycle Cafe for $25. There is a very limited supply so get yours now, and be the first!
Also, tell any Bicycle Cafe employee that Mike Kinrade’s section will be next, and get a free sticker!
I know I’m a little behind on this one, but I thought I should post some photos on my new bikes. Big thanks to Banshee Bikes, Hayes, Sun Ringle, Manitou, Spank, and Straitline for the help with the builds.
That’s a wrap. Joyride is over, people are excited, and Whistler is alive with loads of fans. Yesterday was certainly our best day of filming. We had a strategy, we stuck with it, and it worked well. Karl and Kaleb covered the top of the course, Jim shot with his tele photo from the Pinkbike booth, and I coverd the bottom of the course with my steady cam. All of the riders put on a solid show, but in the end the top three read as:
1st Brandon Semenuk
2nd Cam Zink
3rd Anthony Messere
Greg Watts made it into the super finals and placed 4th over all. Great work Greg! We managed to get lots of amazing shots on course of him which will be included in his riders segment for Five Ten coming up shortly. Stay tuned.
I even managed to get out on my new bike and ride it for the first time. Needless to say, I love this thing! Banshee, Spank, and the Hayes group really hooked me up, and made an amazing bicycle for me. I can’t wait to start filming on it when we get back.
Today looks a little hazy. Lone Wolf and the TNL boys had a bit of a night on the town last evening. We were fortunate enough to be invited to a BBQ put on by Banshee Bikes. There were tons of industry guys and pro riders in attendance and of course the beer was flowing. After that we spent some time the Long Horn bar. After a few to many we headed home for some much needed rest. After all we still need to keep our stamina up for the big party tonight.
Believe it or not drinking wasn’t the only thing we did yesterday. Qualifying was happening and our boy Greg Watts was set to compete. Greg didn’t disappoint with a 3rd place finish giving him a spot into the main event. Lets cross our fingers that he is able to ride in a similar fashion during Joyride tomorrow. A surprise finish from what was once an unknown rider by the name of Anthony Messere put him in first place. The kid (and I mean kid…he’s only 15 years old!) had by far the most amplitude of anyone on the course which is certainly a big part of the reason for his finish.
We plan on shooting a little more with Fairclough today. We would like to get a full top to bottom run on A Line with a go pro just to finish up his segment. After that is the main event, Joyride! TNL will be shooting on course as well as from the pinkbike booth, while Lone Wolf will be splitting up between top half of the course and bottom half. With any luck we will capture some excellent footage and photos today and bring them to you soon.
The first day of shooting went off… but with a few hooks. We woke up to rain and lots of it. Due to the weather Fairclough decided to wait it out and hope for a break later in the afternoon. Luckily that’s exactly what happened. At around 4pm we were on the mountain and cameras were rolling. Branden opted to roll down A Line into Crab Apple Hits which are massive now! For those of you that don’t know Brendan, he is a world-class guy. He hiked for us over and over again, throwing huge whips and tables over everything.
This is how you get side ways!
After a good session we walked down the hill and right into the best trick competition where were able to get some really good shots of Lone Wolf riders Greg Watts and Aggy throwing down huge tricks. Unfortunately Paul Bass suffered a bad crash and from what we know right now has either suffered a broken femur (leg) or an injured hip. In the end a new comer Benny Phillips, and Cam Zink took home the 2 top prizes. Congrats boys.
Greg after pulling a backflip no hander to late bar spin
The medics attend to Paul
We will continue our shoot with Greg Watts tomorrow while he practices for the qualifier for Saturdays main slope style event. With any luck we’ll be seeing Aggy up there as well.
TNL Photography after the contest
Ok, so we drove into Whistler last night and hit up the Aava hotel at about 11pm. Strangly enough as we walked in the door, there was one of our riders Brendan Fairclough. After a quick conversation we got some food and went to bed. Unfortunately, we got up this morning to a bunch of rain and clouds. Right now we are just waiting for the sky to clear a little and then we will head out to GTS (get those shots). Later in the afternoon the best trick throw down will happen and we plan on shooting with Greg Watts there. However things go down Lone Wolf and TNL are ready!
Just a little bit of gear for us to use this week at Crank Worx
Welcome to “Awesome World”. Sounds pretty neat right? If you’re lucky enough to catch even one airing of the biggest show on Sattelite Radio, you will know exactly just how “awesome” it is. I will start by introducing myself, and why I am living in an awesome world. My name is Brett Turcotte and I was born and raised in the interior mountain ranges of BC, which is an awesome place itself! I started my journey to awesome world at a very young age. At the ripe and ginger age of 13 I signed my first professional snowmobile racing contract with one of the biggest names in the industry, Blair Morgan. I am now 23 years old and would like to fill in the gaps between then and now on my journey into my awesome world. I started on two wheels racing moto-x throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. After some injury plagued years I decided to take a new approach to racing, and began to pursue the life of a professional Sn0-x racer. In the past ten years I have been able to experience things that some grown adults will never, and that is pretty awesome! I have to say that it was a great run, and it makes me proud to look at my 2008 Winter X Games Silver Medal, and say that I came and conquered what I wanted to do in the snowmobiling world, that’s pretty awesome! With the silver medal, came my induction into Jason Ellis’ “Awesome World”, a fantasy land that is far more crazy than life itself. I have moved on from the racing aspect, and have taken a new lead in life. I am happy to say that I have a full time job, a wife, and two amazing little kids, that keep my days filled full of fun and adventure!
I first picked up a mountain bike 4 years ago, at a local shop in the heart of Kamloops BC, a tiny little shop that is known for its awesomeness all around the world, “The Bicycle Cafe”. I got pulled into biking by a friend of mine, who always had good things to say about the shop, so when I decided it was time for a bike. I knew exactly where to go. I walked in and was greeted by two of the most friendly people in the Kamloops (maybe worldwide) biking community. Cheryl and Taylor. After a short evaluation on my riding preference and talent level, I was on my way out the door to KBR (Kamloops Bike Ranch). It seems as it was a whirlwind from there, as I have found myself looking back on the last 4 years in sheer disbelief. I have had a great time learning new things, riding new places, and meeting new friends. I have a new love for the sport of mountain biking, and I would have to say that it is one of the most enjoyable things in my life right now. I find myself wanting to push my limits every time I step on my bike, and when I look back at my day of riding, I feel a sense of accomplishment. That to me is my love for the sport of mountain biking.
I was approached earlier this spring by Matt Brooks, of Lone Wolf Productions, when he witnessed Aggy and I shredding hard in Kamloops at the ranch. He had mentioned that he was looking to fill the spot for the CAFE riders segment, in this years Lone Wolf Video Sections. I jumped at the opportunity, and couldn’t wait to give back the support to my local shop, as they have helped me out tremendously to get me where I am today. Aggy and I finished out our day, and on the drive home I found myself day dreaming of what I wanted my segment to look like. A couple weeks had passed, and in the mean time, I had dug a line specifically for my segment, in hopes of capturing “the” shot for my segment. All my hopes were dashed as a couple days later when I came across photos of several other riders, riding and capturing shots on my line. I instantly called the Lone Wolf crew, and told them I was ready to slay!
My section was filmed in a short period of two days, and looking back on it now, I am definately impressed, and amazed at the work myself, and the filmer/editors put in. My first day was on my small bike; a brand new Kona Shonky that I had just built up, and was eager to ride. I met up with the crew in the afternoon, and we began our shoot. After a couple of warm up runs, I was ready to go for it. I started pulling all my big tricks, and was feeling really good about how my ride was going, right up until I came short on a superflip, and launched myself into a massive wall, going head and hands first. I prepped for the worst. After the dust had settled, I was feeling a little shaky, and called it a day on the small bike. Feeling a little let down, and frustrated, I had a short meeting with the guys, and agreed on doing a big mountain day the next time we had good light. After a short healing period of 2 days, I found myself strapping up for descents on my Kona Stinky, In front of the Lone Wolf camera. Shortly after we started shooting, catastraphy struck, when my derailleur got caught up in my wheel, busting numerous spokes, and shredding my derailleur to pieces. After assessing the situation, we decided to head down the hill and try to salvage what we could for the rest of the day. With no abundance of tools , I began to knock on people’s doors, in search of anything to remove my chain, so I could go chainless! A couple knocks later, I found myself with a hack saw in hand, a chain that was perfectly cut in half, and a derailleur laying on the ground. It was now game ON! Matt and I headed back up the hill, in search of some gravity fed lines, that I could ride chainless. Needless to say it was an adventure, without the tension of the chain on the sprockets, my crank arms wanted to spin like crazy whenever I took my feet of the pedals. Plan “B”. I dug through my back pack and found a plastic bag. It was perfect, as I used it for a crank stopper, and was soon tricking everything again, including a very sketchy drop which had a flat run in. I had to run beside my bike, hop on, and get ready for a no foot can, VERY technical, and sketchy to say the least! We banged out a few more shots, and finished things up on a nice ramp to dirt step down. I could feel my rear wheel progressively getting worse, and decided to call it a day.
I learned a lot of things about myself during these two days of shooting. I found a true passion for the sport I love, and would easily say that it was one of the toughest segments to pull off. All things were stacking up against me, and it makes me feel a lot better now looking back and seeing that all the hard work, and perseverance paid off. I would like to thank Matt from Lone Wolf Productions, as well as Cheryl and Taylor from the Bicycle Cafe. I owe it all to them, as they are working hard to make my presence known, and giving me all the tools to be successful, and have fun on my bike. I would also like to thank all my local riding buddies, Aggy, Jake, Kris, Dylan, Russo, Riffel, Bubba…for helping me push my limits every time I hang on the bars and step on the pedals!
Happy Trails….
Brett
Lone Wolf Productions 