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10/11/2008
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Are
Freeride Icons Freeloaders?
Old dudes move over, young
punks are in the house.
Words ~ Mark Steinebach
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One of the only nice things about nursing a major injury is getting caught up
on all your reading. I had plenty of time to read all the trashy novels I wanted
and every one of my many biking mags - from cover to cover. Decline - one of my
favourite publications - has been carrying articles in the past several issues
by some very prominent freeride honchos that indicate a disturbing trend.
Wade Simmons - does it look to you like he's washed? Photo ~
Cam McRae
The gist of these articles has been that invitational contests are inviting old
has-beens to be part of the contest roster while some young hot-shots are being
left out. One of the prominent writers refers to this as “old guys who are
milking it.” This trend offends these writers and in their opinion reduces
the validity of these contests in the eye of the freeride community. Case in point;
Crankworx which included a handful of these has-been competitors thus making this
contest a joke to those who are not “milking it” big time. What becomes
apparent upon reading these rants is that while some of the young hotshots like
Cameron Zink are on top of their game right now, they may not be very aware, as
your grandpa would say, of who butters their bread.
Vanderchild is no longer a young gun. Photo ~ Cam McRae
While freeride or so-called “slopestyle” contests
have been the belles of the mountain bike ball as of late, they are not inherently
different from any other competitve sporting endeavour. For the most part human-kind
gravitates toward competition. We want to know that we are better than some
other dude who's doing what we do. If all we had were wheelbarrows we would
most certainly have wheel barrowing contests. There is no doubt that some would
contest how fast they are with the wheelbarrow and others would contest how
stylish they are with theirs. These kinds trials occur even in the absence of
an audience or of apparent gain. Eventually all contests gravitate towards something
resembling a professional level. This is where the average contestant has achieved
a level of skill that most do not possess. Not only do these contestants possess
greater skill, they must, by the very definition of professional, be dedicating
themselves full-time to their craft so as to maintain their competitive edge.
These folks must try to derive an income from their sporting ways. This income
comes in part from winnings at contests and from the generous and sometimes
deep pockets of sponsors.
Sponsorship is the Holy Grail for every would-be professional
competitor; freeriders included. But why should sponsors (read business people)
give any athlete money for competing in their sport? What is in it for them?
Remember, business people are all about profit. It would simply be bad business
to invest a dime in something that did not reap a return of at least two dimes.
So how does giving money to a rider like a Cameron Zink, Richie Schley or Wade
Simmons pay the sponsor two-dimes?
Cam Zink can throw down a three as well as controversial opinions.
Photo ~ Cam McRae
When riders win contests they prominently display corporate logos while they stand
on a podium in front of the audience. This is a passive form of marketing to the
masses. You have your target market right in front of your walking advertisement
and they are hopped up on adrenaline. The business person’s hope is that
the passive-marketing message of “buy our product and you to can be a big-time
honch like Mr. Zink” gets through to the throngs. The other way that sponsorship
pays dividends is a much more deliberate and active form of advertising. This
is where the sponsored athlete is an active ambassador for the company’s
products to the wider community (both those already involved in the sport and
those the company hopes to entice into the sport). This is where a rider like
Richie Schley rides his Rocky Mountain bike at the Whistler bike park with some
regularity and not only demonstrates exceptional riding skill to those around
him, but also talks directly and indirectly about the merits of the products that
he uses. He is not riding some unobtainable prototype but a bike you or I could
reasonably own. And he rides this bike at the park in a way that entices the onlooker
to strive to be like him. Riders like Andrew Shandro, are actively involved in
the research and development behind the bikes that we ride. You will see these
guys at bike shows and events and they are good ambassadors for the companies
that pay their way. They are not only credible, having achieved everything there
is to achieve in their field, but they themselves are good business people and
they understand what turns the handle of economy.
Darren Berrecloth - and some teenagers. Left to right Claw, Basagoitia, Zink
and McCaul.| Photo ~ Cam McRae
So when old has-beens have been invited to invitational contests,
is it so that the organizers can piss-off a few hot-shots that think these guys
are outclassed and should not be there? Do they do it because these old “milkers”
are their buds? No way. The organizers know big-business. They know what sells
and what gets people out to watch these contests and what eventually gets money
out of these people’s pockets and into theirs. These are the people who
are hopefully going to part with their dollars when it comes time to buy a bike
or a t-shirt or whatever it is business is trying to sell. Does this invalidate
the participation of these individuals? Never. Without them it's likely that
many contests would not exist and that many products that we buy would not exist.
Without them a market for these products would likely not exist either. Do not
forget that these guys were throwing-down big when most of the hotshots of today
were still trying to learn to wipe. Does launching a flip-whip or spinning off
a massive gap invalidate their skill, passion, and contribution to freeriding?
Forget about it. These individuals are invited time and again because they give
business a guaranteed return on its investment and they can still “send
it”. They are great ambassadors for our sport and the public knows their
names and still wants to see them participating. As Andrew Shandro and Cedric
Gracia showed at Rampage 3, they can still “kill it” with the best
of them.
Let’s look at this from another perspective. Let’s say that business
does not care about profits first and just wants to see the very best quality
ride that is out there. Their prime motivation is to simply provide entertainment
to the masses without a profit motive. They make contests open to the first 30
riders who can “one-foot, table” a big gap. Because there are now
bushels of smokin’ young riders who can yank one out the contest fills up
fast with unknown 20-year old riders, none of whom anyone recognizes from any
of the movies they have seen or mags they have read. The group is homogenous and
indistinguishable; dare I say bland. Does bland sell anything? Can bland pay its
way in life? You answer that.
Bearclaw - a has-been in waiting? Photo ~ Peter Mozola
So, why are contests like Crankworx a raging success despite
the snivelling of a few whiners? It’s because by their very nature an
invitational contest ensures diversity. They include the hotshots from both
print and movies, a few of the relatively unknown guys who have sent-it big-time
at recent contests and will “wow” the crowd because they have nothing
to lose, and a few of the industry icons that can still hang it out and will
always draw a crowd because of their familiar faces and names. It is this mix
that keeps things exciting, fun and most importantly from the industry perspective,
profitable. The apparent “has-beens” have provided the public interest
and public dollars that keep free-riding alive. If you do not like it, there
are plenty of truly free contests on the Shore every weekend of the year; wherever
a group of friends gets together to see who has it on that day and who does
not. Even there the freeriding is not really free - given that each of our bikes
and gear could easily be exchanged for a reliable automobile. Without industry
icons driving the freeride bus and motivating new development, we might as well
be pushing our wheelbarrows.
Mark Steinebach
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