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.
