Krista & Anthony Pinkbike Videos, Riding/Racing and Race Van

Thanks to Big Mountain Enduro, Mike Day and Tory Powers for a short clip of us pre-riding and racing!

Click for Pinkbike Video

Thanks to Devon Balot for the pinkbike video of the van. #vanlife 

• Denver Fleet found a used AWD cargo van
• Colorado Camper Van installed a huge motorized pop-top complete with LED lighting and fantastic fan
• pgiWRAPS did the wrap

Click Here for Pinkbike Van Video

2015 Big Mountain Enduro Race Photos and Videos BME#1 and BME#2

Summer! Anthony continues to overhaul and custom tune suspension between races and I have switched gears a bit from Devo, clinics and team management prep work to more traveling and racing.  We are also doing quite a few photo and video shoots this summer, great for documenting our riding and racing. It's been an extremely busy and fun year!

Big Mountain Enduro promo videoshoot

Video: 

Click Here to Play: Krista, Diaz and Friends in Keystone BME#2 Promo Video 

Pictures of the videoshoot thanks to Nick Ontiveros:

BME #1 Aspen/Snowmass Race

Pictures thanks to Eddie Clark's BME#2 Mountain Flyer write-up

Devon Balet's Pictures

Krista, Race Run Jumps, Photo Credit: Devon Balet

Krista, Race Run Road Drop, Photo Credit: Devon Balet

Race Recap and Interview Video

Click Here to Play BME#1 Recap Video

BME #2 Keystone Race

Practice and photoshoot for Keystone resort

Krista, photo credit Keystone Resort's Cody Mendoza

Pre-Race Videos

BME#2 30 second Keystone Teaser, Mike and Diaz pre-ride Keystone BME#2

Full length 2min Mike and Diaz pre-ride a Keystone BME#2 run
Mike Day's helmet cam (12,000 views on the Keystone facebook page!)

Race Videos

Click Here to Play, Keystone BME including wrecks 

Click Here to Play different ways of getting down, Diaz as "the Pro"

Pictures thanks to Eddie Clark and his BME#2 Mountain Flyer write-up

Devon Balet's Pictures Full BME#2 Pinkbike Write-up Here

Non-race 

Anthony Diaz/Stan's NoTubes as Pinkbike header:

Anthony Diaz Osprey Product Video:

Click Here to Play Diaz Describes the Osprey Zealot Pack

Product Review 2014 Part 2 of 5, New Pop-top Camper Van

Now that I am living in Durango CO the big rig is for sale, please pass on to anyone who may be interested. Pictures and details HERE (or see tab above). Selling it for what is still owed on the mortgage.

New (little) rig!!!

Custom Camper Van: I was excited this year to design/buy a new (used) van.

Looking for the new van I called Tim at DenverFleet (recommended by my friend http://elfreakofromrico.blogspot.com/) to describe the van I was looking for, 4x4 or AWD, used, cargo, and something I can put a pop-top on. Within a week or two Tim found the perfect van, 2010 Chevy Express AWD cargo, I purchased it based on photos/emails only.




Tim drove the van to Derek at ColoradoCamperVan for the pop-top.  

Derek installed the most amazing 3.5 foot pop-top complete with bed cushions and stackable bed/ceiling platform, LED lighting, silent electric motor-driven pop-up control (with remote), three layer windows all around (1. opaque gray, 2. clear to see out but stay warm, and 3. a screen), a Fantastick fan and Yakima rails. He also insulted the floor and walls.

Upstairs/ Bed

Derek then trailered the van to pgiWRAPS.com. I was extremely impressed with the turnaround time and pricing on the wrap.  Time from first phone call to final design was about 2 days. 

Then a quick road trip from Durango to Denver Fleet to pick up the new (used) van!!

After installing two D31M Optima blue top auxiliary batteries in parallel, a 160amp isolator, two small invertors, more LED lighting, an amazing ARB 50 quart fridge, and curtains with custom KingCage Ti curtain rods, we were ready to hit the road.

Retriving vehcles after pre-riding Big Mountain Enduro Crested Butte Ultra Enduro



Big rig is for sale, please pass on to anyone who may be interested. Pictures and details here: 
http://kristapark.blogspot.com/p/itasca-horizon-40-40ad-diesel-pusher.html

Product Review 2014 - Part 1 of 5

We had access to amazing products again this year. Thought I'd post some of my favorites as a 5 (or so) part post. Enjoy post #1 and feel free to ask questions.

Stan's NoTubes Wheels and Sealant: Having a selection of the best wheels on the market makes life easy. If you have tried to set up tubeless tires on other rims you may know what I mean. 

2015 catalog: http://www.notubes.com/literature/2015-StansNoTubes-Catalog.pdf

This year I ran:
Flows: Turner DHR 26" downhill bike
Crest front/Arch rear: Turner Burner 27.5" all-mountain bike

For rougher terrain on the all-mountain bike I would switch it up between Arches front and rear or even a Flow as a rear wheel. 



Diaz ran:
Flows: Turner DHR 26" downhill bike
Arch front/Arch rear: Turner Burner 27.5" all-mountain bike

For rougher terrain on the all-mountain bike he would switch it up between Arch front and Flow rear or Flow front/rear. 















Why buy NoTubes rims?  Tires seat up tubeless on a NoTubes rim easier than any other rims I have tried. While racing cross-country (XC) I carried a handpump on every flight and set up new tires in hotel rooms in South Africa, Cyprus, Europe and Canada. Having or finding an air compressor, or even traveling with a floorpump, wasn't an option so I sure didn't want rims that required one.

Now that we are racing enduro and riding bike parks, my main concern (in addition to easy setup) is running rims that won't let the tires burp, or worse yet, peel off the rim.  See the details on Bead Socket Technology (BST) and why the NoTubes design is best for speed, cornering and more.

If something goes really wrong and I slam into a rock hard enough that something must fail, I like that to be a small dent in the rim while the wheel and tire are still holding air (no burp, no snakebite in the tire) and such that I will not have an issue setting up the next tire. 

In enduro racing you can change tires between runs but not rims. Rims need to be light enough to race and reliable enough to get you through an entire race weekend.

The 27.5" Turner Burner is the best all-around bike! It can climb more efficiently and descend more playfully and with more control than other bikes of similar spec. The climbing efficiency is due to good geometry and the DW link design. The best part of this bike stems from the fact that owner/designer David Turner gets riders. We don't all like the same headtube angle or the same amount of travel, so he designed a bike that everyone will find to be perfect...  

Before ever riding a Turner I saw an Interbike video of David describing his bikes. I loved how he designed the frames to be versatile and he seemed to be truly knowledgeable and inventive, David was not just repeating the latest marketing jargen. He spec'd the Burner headtube angle based on a 140 to 160mm travel fork and allowed for the use of an angleset. Usually the marketing of a new frame is that it is perfect out of the box, but then you either like it or you don't. Or, the rider doesn't know any better and their ride is limited by the bike.

Ride style, body positioning and other factors decide what is perfect for each rider.  For me (5'5")  the perfect setup is: small Burner, 160 DSD modified Pike (see future post), 50mm stem, 720mm bars and an angleset to slacken it a bit more.  

Photo Credit: Dan Holz

For downhill we rode Turner DHR frames with NoTubes Flow Wheels and RockShox Boxxer forks.


Dowhill bikes are fun, we may even add downhill races to the schedule in 2015...