RTG3 – Event Summary
Ride the Giant 3 was an epic battle with an expert level hill and some aggressive new features and an extended racecourse. The event was a hot one with temperatures reaching a consistent 30*C or 90*F but the heat was manageable with a quick jump in the beautiful Okanagan Lake. Thanks to the efforts of Adam Auger and the Vancouver stoop riders were able to complete a scorecard to collect points in an effort to win their entry fee back. The scorecard challenged riders to complete tasks like “pinecone slide”, “early grab the mini ramp”, “hit all features”, etc… The three day event felt like an afternoon – time fly’s when having FUN(1 point). The focus of the event was progression and I think all in attendance would agree that they left the Giant a better rider.
Thanks to the hard work of Kyle Martin, Travis Craig, Jon Huey, Billy Meiners and many more the course had 3 extra surprises which claimed much flesh and a few more sever victims. The first of the features was an 80ft banked wall which most were able to navigate and accelerated riders into the straight before “gravel corner”. The second was a short cut, which cut a mellow hairpin. The time saver was gnar and definitely through a few riders into the dust as the last of the short was a dirt ride. The last feature was a long wide kicker. Billy Bones set the record with a launch over 5 people. Each feature had its own level of difficulty and in the years to come we hope to build off each feature to offer riders an even better experience. The hope is as we continue to grow the event that riders skills will increase along with it.
The last day of the event was the race and we split the mountain in two so those not wanting race the hill could still freeride the top section. The racecourse started and finished in the same section as the pervious two years for the first 3 rounds. The top eight were then shuttled to the upper section of the course to just below tight rope(thanks MikeMC). In moving the course up the hill the racetrack had an injection of 5 new corners. Exciting for sure! The top 8 riders were Zak MatumVSMike McGoldrick, Matt (Grizz) KroetschvsVSKyle Martin, Adam YatesVSMackenzie Yoshiada, Justin OrtizVSDillon Stephn. In the end it was Zak and Dillon for the finals and the home town boy took the win! Congrats Dillon. Although the focus of the event was really on the race it was definitely a blast to watch. A HUGE thanks goes to Mike Benda for organizing the race which couldn’t have went any smoother.
Thanks to our sponsors Rayne Longboards, Switchback Longboards, Pabst, Abec11, Orangatang and everyone involved for making the event what it was. All in all the weekend was a huge success and I look forward to having everyone back.
Andrew
