Best of 2021 : Deniz's Perspective

Photographic Evidence

January

January didn't have a great start for me with a leg injury sidelining me for the first half of the month. 10 days of living with 9 stitches did little damage to my ego. With Cam's affirmation of youth ride around the corner, spirits were high for an excuse to get the big band back together. This was all fun and games but the real treat was my very first ride ever with Uncle Dave to shoot the Norco Shore. Intimidated you should be, riding with the Uncle, for he is an architect of language and possessor of opinion. I was delighted to find out he is also man of the earth and a great sport for pushing the big old Norco up the hill a few times for the photograph. The lack of snow made some great riding on the local bump while testing out new bikes in the middle of winter.

February

Generally a great month, that bitter February, it can make or break a man if he is not careful with his pastimes. It can easily fall into the grasp of the never ending winter, even though there are only 28 days to kill on this damned month. But I start with a celebration. A celebration of my own existence and it is spent with nice people. As cold as it is, there can be great riding in February. As we found out when Cam took the Honzo down some frozen dirt. Not long after that, I managed to find a way to dismantle the scaffolding of my right shoulder on a snowy ride crash. I tried to stay positive through this ordeal. The arm hung in a sling and my head in shame as I passed the days with plotting out my game plan. All the gym work was useful for something as it turns out. I was back on the bike in no more than 6 weeks.

The highlight of the Month was definitely riding with the Ride Like a Girl racers. There's nothing better than feeding off the explosive energy of young athletes going places. Ran by a team of volunteers, the Ride Like a Girl Program matches Professional Enduro, XC and Downhill Racers with a select bunch of young athletes. The idea is to provide speed and resilience through mentorship. I was excited to document couple of the bigger gatherings on the North Shore.

Ride Like a Girl

March

After a few weeks off the bike, it was refreshing to get back to the task at hand. A fun little trail bike, in the shape of a Rocky Mountain Instinct, showed up for testing. It was just the right amount of lightweight trail ninja to get back on the trails. I could do a long lung busting ride on the lightweight Instinct and make up for the lost time easily. It was fun to become a temporary member of the Rocky Mountain family. With a stacked field of ultra athletes and grandfathers of the freeride scene. it was an intimidating group to ride with and photograph. I savoured every moment of it as I knew it was going to be special.

April...

continued what March had started. Eager for the warmer weather to arrive at my doorstep, the itch to travel internationally was palpable. There were lots of local connections for me through this stay-cation we were forced into. An ALN-lead clinic by RideLikeaGirl was another highlight of this month. Meeting the likes of Konrad, and Mike G and doing bike checks on some really cool rides for Pistons and Pivots definitely kept the moral up.

Konrad Kaminski's BMW E39 M5 & Forbidden Dreadnought

Mike Grimwood's Forbidden Dreadnought

Duelling Evils of Vince L. and Trevor M.

May

May was looking busy as ever. As the industry ramped up the hype for the season rolling in. We tasted and shot lots of new gear and bikes. The highlight of course was watching Major ogle his Banshee Titan in the woods. I also shot the biggest bike in the world owned by Alex , His XXXXXXL Geometron was as wide as the railroad tracks and it was super fun.

June

It was an especially wet May and June for us on the shore. But we just had no idea what was about to happen. The month started with typical cold and misty shore conditions that make for excellent photography. Halfway through the month, the sun came out and decided to move back in the attic without notice. The temperatures quickly started climbing up the 20s to 30s. Life was good and the living was easy. We got vaxxed and started traveling in medium circles through the Province.

Bike companies decided that Hype-Pivot was the new thing and Norco released the new RANGE HSP. Ryan was the natural pilot for this beast and we had some fun taking photos.

July

OK it still hasn't rained since mid June. This is rare for this part of the world. The effects of Climate Change were really starting to show it's ugly face. The light was garbage for photography and the trails were a dust bowl but not washing up gear and grabbing a light jersey to go for an all day ride was sweet convenience at the expense of humans destroying the world.

August

Still no rain since the last drop of June 15, 2021. It has been a dry and trying summer in BC. Temperatures soaring to 49°C and lighting the province on fire. Lost quite a bit of motivation to go riding especially locally. Apart from a couple of outings, I needed to reset and relax. Explore a part of the province I'd never been before. Packed the glamping van and the bikes and headed to North Vancouver Island. A week of out of cell reception. Didn't even touch the bikes apart from a day in Cumberland because there is a great Taco place for a post ride bevvy. It was really what we needed as a family. On the return, the trip seemed short but not rushed. I can't wait to go back up there for some more time in the nature.

September

Finally some rain.

October

November

I'm out of here.... Covid seems to be over. I see planes in the air. Lets see if I can get this carcass to Europe to see my family I haven't seen in two years!

December

Well it hasn't stopped raining since it started raining in September and Covid seems to be back in action. So we'll see what the next few months bring.

The beauty of it all is that I installed a hot water line to the backyard and post-ride cleanup has been the most pleasant ever.

Looking forward to visually telling you guys the story on NSMB for 2022.

Happy New Year