Hotdogs and Handlebars Recap
Saturday October 1st marked the 2nd Annual Hotdogs and Handlebars held at Horseshoe Resort. The day is a celebration of being the newest bike park in the region and bringing Norco Bikes on board to support the parks endeavors. Find out what the day was like inside; from children to hard core racers there was something for everyone.
Imagine going to a BBQ with hundreds of your closest friends, getting to ride next years bikes and the chance to win $3000 in prizes all while taking in the beautiful weather and friendly atmosphere; That’s what attending Hotdogs and Handlebars is like. Riders from all over the region converged to Horseshoe Resort to partake in the festivities and get some end-of-season laps in before the snow starts to fly.
The plan simple; To celebrate. The 2011 season was the first full season of the Horseshoe Bike Park and it’s first with new partner Norco Bikes and what better way to say thanks then to throw a party. Smooth jams blasted over the meeting area where riders could pick from a number of 2012 Norco Bikes including the magnificent Aurum and free-ride Truax as well as the trail destroyer Sight and even some of the new roadie and cross bikes were on display.
If you were looking for riding partners to spend the day with, Norco brought out some favorites; Slopestyle King Brett Rheeder (check out his interview here) XC Wizard Andrew Watson (look for his feature soon), O-Cup DH Elite Overall Winner Mike Hermanovsky (check out his interview here) and Silent/Norco DH Team riders Jeff Faulds and Rob Carmichael were all available to turn laps with the riders.
Horseshoe celebrated by offering a special weekend only 2012 bike park pass for $99 and if you owned a Norco bike or currently held a seasons pass the registration fee was waived and if you had a buddy that wasn’t as fortunate, it was only $10 for them to shred. This kind of community outreach and atmosphere is unheard of in Ontario Cycling, especially at a bike park. The business can only be as strong as its clientele and Horseshoe wanted the community to know they care about the riders, who they are and what they want to see in an Ontario bike park. Apparently, free food, next years bikes and pro riders are just some of the things the locals like.
The day was split with prize giveaways; each rider got a raffle ticket and were entered into a draw to pick up swag from T-Shirts, Cooler Bags, Beer Steins, 2012 Seasons Passes, Day Passes, XT Gruppos, Gravity Bar/Stem combo, Code 5 brakes, a 2011 Norco Rampage Frame and a set of Marzocchi 888 Triple-Clamp forks (congrats to the couple who won not only a sun ringle MTX wheel-set but the 888s as well!)
Action Sports Manager, Matt Baird had said about the weekend “As the newest Dh park in Ontario we wanted to thank our riders and sponsor Norco for supporting us in our first year and half of operation. Without the strong riding community in Ontario we wouldnt exist and its days like today that will fuel future trail expansions, lift upgrades and added amenities for our riders. The rider community can look forward to this event and much more in the seasons to come.”
Since the season is winding down, with only about a week left for the lift access bike parks, everyone starts to prepare for the long winter ahead and how to best utilize the time off their bikes and fill the time hitting the slopes or the snowmobile trails and grinding out semesters at school; the leaves are falling and the nights cold as we close the chapter of the 2011 season on a high-note. Trailburn would like to thank the resort for their hospitality and support of our own first season.
Photos by Steve Hayes, Matt Baird, Sam Bushbeck of the GC-Crew who will be supplying an edit of the celebration soon!
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