Thunderstruck Kid Gets in the Van

The heat choked the air from lungs and drained sweat from pores, evaporating all energy and vitality from the town. Fleshy young girls and boys slunk around trying to find bodies of cool water and refreshment. Bikini trains led to the lakes upon which an armada of inflatable boats and beverages floated. Sweet conditioned air cooled the vehicles which crowded the serpentine route of the Sea To Sky, nose to tail like elephants’ carriages.

The air was still and the heat seemed to press the people’s spirit to the ground. Heavy heat weighed on bodies but probably no one felt such gravity as the 18 riders awaiting their date with the biggest proving grounds in competitive freeride mountain biking. These riders lay in late, resting all they could before the date with the coliseum. All paths had led to the Rome of slopestyle: The Red Bull Joyride slopestyle in Whistler.

Meanwhile up in the atmosphere, clouds were building, and the pressure was rising. Particles were clashing, sparking off each other. Charges rising. The wind which blew up the Howe Sound was aimed straight at the open field of the Boneyard. A thunderstorm was predicted so the finals were moved forward to beat the weather.

Clouds were growing as the crowds assembled to fill any and all available space. The loudspeakers blared, helicopters circled above, cameras of all shape and size aimed at estimated hotspots. The eight previous days of Crankworx had led only to this moment.

  Sea of people. 25,000 claimed. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Tyler McCaul is first to drop in and he makes his presence known. He tackles the big 60 foot jump but the wind drifts him a fair way. A tailwhip on the last drop couldn’t be ridden out cleanly and he washes across the line. Nonetheless, his run really showed where the standard of slopestyle is now and from this point on in competition it would only get bolder. 

  Kelly McGarry 360s the drop in. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Linus Sjoholm, Sam Dueck, and Kelly McGarry all follow suit with big brave runs straight out of the gate in the hot and windy conditions. There is no time for half runs and attempts – just heavy hitting, high-scoring runs. Casey Groves, whose cousin died the night before in an accident of the Sea-To-Sky highway, seems to be riding for two and flips, whips and spins an incredible first run down the course – adding height, style and aggression into his run. Brett Rheeder plays the game of cards with switch tricks and a flair all landed cleanly. Granieri then reminds the crowd how bad the wind is when he aborts a flip over the 60 footer.

  Granieri tuck flips the 60 footer. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Relative newcomer Thomas Genon from Belgium comes out strong with a highly technical run that includes an opposite double tailwhip, spins, a flair, 360 whip and a flip up to tuck no-hander off the final drop. A score of 82.4 sets the benchmark and the standard which the remaining riders would have to top. Martin Soderstrom comes out in full responder mode and adds his own flair to the previous run by spinning a very dumped 360 off the last drop. 

  Genon front flips the Red Bull double. No wonder he was scoping it in practice. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Sam Pilgrim follows Granieri’s lead and drops out of the sky on a huge backflip attempt mid course. The crowd holds their breath but the athleticism and awareness of Pilgrim is remarkable enough to save him this time.

  Pilgrim with a very clicked flip one foot X. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Cam McCaul, long overdue for a good result, flips the mid course 60 footer cleanly but you could see the wind push him at least eight feet across the landing. Then on the final drop he barely holds on to a tailwhip and runs out of the course into the back of the TV screen. His run still counts though. Geoff Gulevich styles down the course with three massive very corked backflips that seem to drift across each of the jumps. Then at the end of his run comments about the wind, saying “you feel it as you come down. It’s a little scary to be honest.” 

  Gully cork flips the Red Bull double. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Crowd expectation is high for Anthony Messere and he gets people on their feet as he barely holds on to a frontflip which sends him into a long nose manual. Otherwise a very clean run but nothing really wild yet.

  Messere was once again going largest on the SRAM hip. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Cam Zink pulls a huge superman which lets his bike blow sideways in the wind like laundry on the clothesline. He brings it back and still goes for a nac-nac backflip on the 60 footer. He lands deep though. Very deep. He gets up but it is obvious that he is done for the day. 

The wind is playing with the hearts and fears of everyone. It isn’t letting clean runs get cleaned.

  Cam Zink’s wind-assisted superman. He somehow landed this one and then overrotated a flip over the 60 footer that followed. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Then up steps Semenuk. The reigning champion of Joyride, FMB leader coming into this event, and clearly the crowd favorite. After a long wait while the medical staff help Zink off the course, Semenuk punched home a volley of event winning tricks, including a backflip off the starting flat drop which no one was expecting, followed by spins, flips and opposite tailwhips. However, an over rotated truckdriver on the middle hip leads to a swift and shocking tumble in the dirt.

  Brandon Semenuk backflips off the start ramp. This trick was only first seen in competition a month ago under Sam Pilgrim at the Claymore Challenge. Leveled up like Messere’s fronty at Joyride last year. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Semenuk seems to be in disbelief but he has been in this position before. As he drags his bike down the hill a streaker and five costumed characters charge onto the course, distracting the cameras and crowd long enough for Semenuk to disappear.

Down in the SRAM pits the mechanics and crew rush into position. As soon as Brandon’s beaten hair hide bike comes in there are hands all over it as the team of wrenches all chip in. It is somewhat akin to an F1 team working on a supercar. Everyone chips in, and it is plain to see this is not because it is their job, but because Brandon is their man, their brother and their compadre. 

  Semenuk’s first crash and taco. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Semenuk stands by quietly watching. Dylan Dunkerton gives Brandon his shoulder and whispers something to him. Brandon nods. Then Tyler Morland comes in close. Brandon looks astonished and frustrated. I hear him say, “I need the points though”. Back to the bike and it is nearly ready to go. Brandon turns to his closest mechanic, Shawn “The Wizard” Cruickshanks and seems to be saying something about his rear shock. Shawn runs to the support truck then minutes later comes out with a new rear shock which gets swapped into the bike. Later I asked Shawn what that was all about and he said that Brandon said he just felt something different about his shock. Brandon is renowned for being incredibly picky about his set-up so if he felt something errant or something he doesn’t feel comfortable with then it needs changing.

As the shock is fitted Morland uses the compressor to blow dust off his boy. Brandon takes an allen key and straightens his own seat. It has to be just right. He high fives all his bros then heads out of the sanctity of the SRAM pits and heads into the crowd to try make his way back up to the top.

  Brett Rheeder 3’s off the cabin after crashing higher on course. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

Back to the field and the second runs have begun. T-Mac gets a clean run this time. Dueck, with new shorts to replace his torn jeans, doesn’t improve on his first run. McGarry gets loose on a big flip and almost comes up short. Rheeder goes down on a flipwhip. Groves sits out his second run.

Genon then goes berserk on his second run and scores a 90.2. A floated front flip and a 360 off the last drop catapult him into first but with some heavy hitters still to come. However, Soderstrom falters on the second hit prematurely ending his run. McCaul gets huge amplitude, adds some more spice to his run and then yet again entertains with a finish line bobble into the bleachers. However, it gets him third place.

  Genon with a styled whip. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

With Zink out and Messere not able to improve it leaves just Semenuk to clean up what he left behind. He sprints out of the gate and throws the gainer off the first drop again. He spins a clean looking switch three off the boner log and then everything slows down until. time. seems. to. stop.

Brandon is in the dirt. It is unbelievable. The most consistent man in slopestyle has failed to make it down not once but twice. The whole crowd sucks air through their teeth, then sighs, and then is silent. It really seems to crush everyone. Seeing Semenuk go down like that really reverberates with the crowd.

In the pits Morland simply says, “I’m sad” but that’s all he needs to say. It is true. It is true for him. For me. For the whole crowd.

  Casey Groves tucks a 3 off the cabin. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

The top eight go through to the super final. One more run to lay anything extra on the line. Granieri has a tidy run but tacos his wheel on the last drop. Messere gets too excited on a flipwhip. Groves wrestles his way through a stunning and action packed run which in many peoples eyes should have seen him place higher than sixth. Rheeder slides out on a downside tailwhip.

  Cam McCaul flips the Jeep jump on the small line off the boner log. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

McCaul misses pedals on a double tailwhip and Soderstrom styles a superb run until the last step down where he fires out a double tailwhip 360. It looks like it will be a single tailwhip spin but when the second whip comes it surprises the whole crowd. Unfortunately he comes up short on the landing and gets pitched to the bottom. Dusted and dejected he can only wish for what if. 

  Soderstrom 3 whips out of the dish. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

And with that AC/DC’s Thunderstruck comes on and the crowd gives Thomas Genon his victory run. In the press conference later he comments that he had no idea that he had won. He remembers sitting in the start ramp listening to music waiting to go when people start smiling at him, “then someone say to me, you have won. I was surprised.”

  Genon coming in stoked as fuck. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

Thomas Genon had no idea at that point that his life was changing forever. Winning Red Bull Joyride means far more than $25,000 prize money, a champagne splash, and the memories. It means from that very moment that Soderstrom crashed people are looking at him different now. No longer is he just the gangly and curly haired kid from Belgium. He is a champion of the biggest slopestyle event in the world. Sponsors will be calling, obligations and commitments will be rolling at him, and all eyes will be fixed on him as a danger man. 

  Genon goes down in the history books. Photo ~ Toby Cowley.

When asked what he might do with the money he said, “I will buy a car, but a shitty one. A cheap one. Like a hippy van.” Somehow I don’t think he will have the time to enjoy van life as a hippy. Thomas Genon might very well be the next best thing, or perhaps he will disappear into a cloud of smoke and patchouli oil.

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Did Seb’s Joyride roundup stir up any emotions from Saturday? Or did you perhaps live through the contest in these words? Weigh in below…