One of Canada's biggest mountain biking festivals has arrived in Ontario for the first time - Action News
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Toronto

One of Canada's biggest mountain biking festivals has arrived in Ontario for the first time

The Crankworx Summer Series Canada begins Thursday andfeaturesa series of competitions where expert riders can show off their tricks. Organizers are also offering a variety of trails for beginners to get their feet wet in the mud.

The Crankworx Summer Series Canada begins Thursday at Barrie's Horseshoe Resort

Keon O'Brien jumps off a hill with his bike at the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. in August 2020.
Toronto resident and seasoned biker Keon O'Brien jumps off a hill with his bike at the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. in August 2020. He's now taking part in a major mountain biking festival that arrived in Ontario for the first time on Thursday. (Supplied by Keon O'Brien)

It's time to dust off your bike and strap on your helmet: one of Canada's largest mountain biking festivals is being held inOntario for the first time.

The Crankworx Summer Series Canada begins Thursday andfeaturesa series of competitions where expert riders can show off their tricks. Organizers are also offering a variety of trails for beginners to get their feet wet (in the mud).

Many local Ontarians say the event gives seasoned riders the chance to showcase their work.

"When I started riding ...we didn't have any slopestyle events or anything," said Toronto resident Keon O'Brien, who started mountain biking after visiting the Joyride 150 Indoor Bike Park in Markham as a teen.

The 20-year-old has been training for six years, often attending riding events in British Columbia.

"I have a lot of family coming out to this event," said O'Brien, who will perform at aslopestyle course on Saturday.

"It's super cool to have events back home with the hometown crowd."

Brayden Barrett-Hay sitting on the slopestyle course he helped design.
Brayden Barrett-Hay, from Uxbridge, Ont., designed the slopestyle course for Horseshoe Resort. (Supplied by Horseshoe Resort)

The Summer Series program began in 2020 with the goal of helping Canadian athletes grow. It's modelled after theCrankworx World Tour, which takes place annually in Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Whistler, B.C.

Christopher Coppitts, the project manager of Crankworx Summer Series Canada, said Ontario has always been on the team's radar as a host province.

"Ontario has a rich history producing some of the actual best slopestyle athletes, just with smaller hills," he said.

"That has some of them focusing their efforts more towardthe trick and slopestyle discipline."

Resort built three new courses for the festival

The festival is being held at Horseshoe Resort, locatednear Horseshoe Valley andPenetanguisheneroads in Barrie.

The resort said itbuilt courses for three main events, includingan air downhill track for large jumps, a dual slalom course anda track where riders race head-to-head.

There will also bea slopestyle course where athletes perform tricks in front ofa panel of judges.

Dual Slalom course at the Horseshoe resort where riders can race head to head.
The Dual Slalom Course is approximately 200 meters long. Riders race head-to-head, and some winners will get a chance to go to Crankworx Whistler 2024. (Supplied by Horseshoe Resort)

"It's really cool to bring slopestyle and Crankworx back to the province I grew up in," said Uxbridge, Ont. residentBrayden Barrett-Hay, who helped design the slopestyle event.

"I'll just be hanging out, riding the course with everybody in the event and sort of helping them to figure out the lines and how to ride it."

Festival will draw 5,000 people, resort estimates

Barrett-Hay said mountain biking is quickly gaining popularity in the province, in part thanks tosocial media videos showcasingthe accessibility of the sport.

"I think it's just more and more people looking for just really fun sports that are outdoors and like pushing their bodies physically, and it's just kind of progressing," said Barrett-Hay.

Brayden Barrett-Hay at the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. doing an 'opposite cork 720' trick where he rotates off-axis.
Brayden Barrett-Hay at the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. in 2021 performing a trick where he rotated off-axis. (Supplied by Brayden Barrett-Hay)

Horseshoe Resort's general manager Jonathan Reid said while the venuewould previously close in the summer season, the resort started offeringlift access for mountain biking in 2009. In the past several years, he says the resort has seen a spike in the number of people takingadvantage of thatservice.

Horseshoe Resort isn't the only one.With mountain biking gaining momentum,ski resorts worldwide have shifted gears to cater to the sportduring warm months.

"All the major resorts are taking bikes up their chair lifts, and people are biking down trails that have been created through the forest," said Reid.

Ski lifts at the Horseshoe Resort allow riders to take their bikes up the hills in the summer.
Ski lifts at the Horseshoe Resort allow riders to take their bikes up the hills in the summer. (Supplied by Horseshoe Resort)

Reid expects the festival toattract up to 5,000 people, helping support local tourism.

"Having these numbers of people coming out to the property ... they all stop in local communities and spend money and whatnot, and it's great for local employment as well," he said.