Brett Rheeder’s Insane Crankworx Run

Whistler Crankworx is an absolutely insane event. Running over two weeks, the Canadian leg of the Crankworx festival is a veritable smorgasbord of mountain biking, with numerous races, competitions and product releases keeping some 30,000 spectators entertained 24/7.

Wrapping up Crankworx is the highlight of the fortnight; the Red Bull Joyride. We don’t normally post such ‘rad’ videos on Singletrack, but the winning run from Brett Rheeder really does have to be seen to be believed – it is unbelievably good!

WHISTLER, BC – The largest slopestyle mountain biking competition in the world, Red Bull Joyride, closed out the final day of the weeklong Crankworx Whistler festival today at Whistler Blackcomb Mountain.  Dubbed ‘Slopestyle Sunday’, fifteen of the world’s best slopestyle athletes went head-to-head in a gravity-defying showdown in front of 30,000 spectators packed into the Whistler Plaza for the season defining contest and a main event of the Red Bull Signature Series.

If there was one athlete with a bullseye on his back at this year’s Red Bull Joyride, it was Brandon Semenuk.  Comparably the Usain Bolt of slopestyle mountain biking, Semenuk has held court over the Whistler event for the past three years consecutively, with a total of four first place finishes to his name as the most winning athlete in the history of the contest.  But this year, it was Canada’s Brett Rheeder (Mount Albert, ON) who put an end to ‘The King’s’ reign after pursuing him for nearly two years.

“It’s such a surreal feeling. I’ve been struggling since 2012 and after facing so much pressure last year and having two crashes, this has been a long time coming.” explains Rheeder, “I was still very nervous going into today. The conditions weren’t ideal but as soon as I dropped in, everything just goes away and it’s just you and the bike.”