“Riders ready…. Watch the gate….” – the pro women’s heat blasts off.

As soon as I stepped out of my front door this morning, I knew it was going to be bad. I live about a hundred kilometres away from Whistler, but the drive up the coast was unflinchingly accompanied by steady rain. No amount of positive mental attitude could change the fact that today was going to be cold, wet and muddy. And guess what? It was.

Home, sweet home for the next nine days. iMac, several tons of photo gear and a case of beer to lubricate the caption-writing process.

This year’s Boneyard is bigger than ever, and is promising some big things for later in the week.

I arrived in Whistler, set up my home/office (aka an iMac perched precariously on a motel room “coffee table”) for the next nine days and headed out on the hill for the first event of the Crankworx festival – Biker X. The village itself was buzzing in the usual Saturday style, but the course itself was eerily quiet – last minute practice had obviously been eschewed in favour of a warm shower and the comfort of indoors. This being my first day, my keen-ness had gotten the better of me and I now had time to kill; laziness trumping all other instincts, I chose to stick out the bad weather and hope my aging waterproof jacket wouldn’t get too waterlogged before I’d even had the opportunity to photograph a rider.

The start of the competition was delayed when a sharp rock discovered was sticking out of the landing of one set of the jumps. This guy drew the short straw and had to dig it out.

Sure enough, eventually the pros, semi-pros and fresh-faced hopefuls emerged from their various resting places, queuing at the start gate for their respective heats. A slight delay for a quick spot of jump landscaping, and it was on. The race itself was over in a refreshingly short amount of time – the torrential rain put paid to any potential procrastination – and by the time the dust (sorry, did I say ‘dust’? I meant sloppy, sticky mud) had settled, the finals were over and we had winners. Ever-favourite Cedric Gracia took the honours in the men’s race, and Jill Kitner edged out Brit Fionn Griffiths to stand on the top spot of the women’s podium.

Cheques handed out and victors congratulated, the assembled crowd dispersed quickly in a rush for the showers, praying for better conditions tomorrow. It’d better be nicer tomorrow, because even with the room heater on full blast there’s not much hope my clothes are going to be dry by then.

Water, water, everywhere.

One rule for them, another rule for us. I say “us”, when in actual fact I’d not have a chance in hell of riding even the “non-pro” line down the Biker X course.

Riders huddled underneath any shelter they could find to avoid the vicious weather. Photographers had to stand out in the rain. Life’s not fair.

Drag racing, Crankworx style.

The bike wash was working overtime – it was so wet, one wash per run down the hill was pretty much the average.

Brian Lopes looked fast and smooth in practice, but lost the holeshot and fell in his heat.

This guy was seemingly caught unprepared for the weather, despite it being a mud-pit on the hill for the last few days.

$1,200 for a few minutes work? Jill Kitner’s happy…

Cedric, how many girls are you sharing your room with tonight?