Some local boys earned themselves serious style points earlier this July at the fifth annual Goat Style bike jam in Creston, B.C.
The event took place on July 9 to 11 and featured an array of bike-related events, culminating in a slope style final where Kyle Quesnel and Connor MacDougall spun their way to a solid third and fifth place, respectively.
The Goat Style bike jam is an annual event that includes bike demos, mini ramps, pump track contests, and a beer garden.
Quesnel graduated in 2009, and MacDougall graduates next year, so the beer garden certainly wasn't a distraction from the competition for either of them. This was the first time at the event for both Quesnel and MacDougall, and it was an opportunity for each of them to ride a bigger course than what they're used to.
"It was a pretty big course, I'm not used to tricking stuff that big usually," said MacDougall.
He and Quesnel developed their friendship through biking, specifically while dirt jumping, which is how they first met.
"We jump down at Brackendale sometimes at the river jumps down there. Also Kyle has got some jumps in his grandma's backyard," says MacDougall.
Both he and Quesnel help to build and maintain the river jumps, as well as using them to better their skills.
The practice paid off when the two of them posted impressive results in their first ever visit to Goat Style. It wasn't all smooth riding, however. MacDougall had some technical difficulties during the final.
"I had some mechanical issues, my bike ended up breaking in my finals run when I was doing a trick. I was 360-ing off the first drop in," says MacDougall.
He borrowed Quesnel's bike to get down to the bottom.
"The bars are a lot skinnier and higher," he said. "I was a little bit nervous, but I just had so much fun the whole weekend. I didn't really care how it ended up, I just wanted to make it down the course and not get hurt."
MacDougall survived the incident without a scratch, and since he works at Tantalus Bike Shop in his free time, fixing the bike isn't overly difficult.
Quesnel finished with a score of 64.67 while MacDougall scored 30.67 despite technical difficulties and the borrowed bike.
"I was really stoked for Kyle's run and really happy for him," said MacDougall. "He put it all together when it mattered most."
MacDougall recently competed in NSMB.com's Airprentice contest at Silverstar and hopes to compete in some races at Crankworx in Whistler this August.
