T-Mac Whip-Off World Champ, Video: McCaul & Strait at Crankworx

Sep 11, 2012

 

Follow Tyler McCaul (@Tyler McCaul) and Kyle Strait (@Kyle Strait) through Crankworx, Whistler -- or as some call it, the "Superbowl of Mountain Biking" -- a 10 day riding festival pushing the boundaries of riding, from the world-renowned Red Bull Joyride Slopestyle contest, to the Unofficial Whipoff World Championships, to the new, crowd pleasing, head-to-head discipline of Speed N' Style to name a few.
 
Kyle Strait, no stranger to Crankworx, came with high expectations and set the bar high in the opening weekend as he brought home the bronze at a newly developed event, Speed N' Style, where athletes are placed head-to-head with jumps and a slalom course. Riders can have time deducted from the run by out tricking their opponent. Strait's strong background in slalom and slope style allowed him to edge past a stacked field of riders from around the world to make it to the podium. 
 
A back injury later in the week while training for dual slalom sidelined him from the main slope style event, Red Bull Joyride. 
 
T-Mac, a seasoned veteran at Crankworx, brought home the gold in the Unofficial Whip-Off World Champs. While an unofficial event in the past year, it was brought to life this year by the event organizers, while keeping the grassroots name. This event took place on Crab Apple Hits, considered to be Whistler Bike Park's biggest jump trail, with jumps in the range of 60 feet. The sole purpose of the contest was to showcase how side-ways a rider could get his/her bike. Despite the stiff competition from the world's best riders -- free riders and racers alike -- T-Mac wooed the crowd that lined the entire length of the trail and the rider judging panel that crowned him as the World Whip-Off Champion. 
 
T-Mac's luck ran out quickly in the Red Bull Joyride qualifiers, as a small mistake kept him from completing his second qualifying run, leaving him two places out of the qualifying bubble for the main show on Saturday night -- the biggest event in slopestyle that over 40,000 spectators and a record breaking web audience in the 7 figures would tune into watch. 
 
On Saturday night the pressure was on, with little hope for T-Mac to make the show as a 2nd-in-line stand-by rider (incase of injuries or a rider forfeiting his qualified spot). But his luck improved when he received word that he would receive a spot in the finals a mere hours before the main event. T-Mac finished a strong 7th place overall. 
 
Follow Tyler McCaul on Twitter (@TylerMcCaul)
Follow Kyle Strait on Twitter (@KyleStrait) 
#EarnYourWings