It’s fair to say that XC riders aren’t known for their jumping skills. If you want to see carnage, situate yourself near a jump on an XC course (even at the world cup level) and you’re guaranteed to see some bails. XC geometry doesn’t help, but once they’re in the air XC riders often look like a baby horse taking its first steps.
So when Trek Future Racing’s Ian Ackert showed up on his carbon XC bike with white socks, no visor and clipless pedals at the Horseshoe Valley Bike Fest whip off, there were some skeptics on the roll-in.
“I was like, who is this guy?” said Jayden Chipman.
When the hour long jam began, Ackert managed to turn some heads. Blasting off the eight-foot lip, he threw one suicide no-hander after another, completely baffling the crowd and the judges. He threw in a couple nice tabletops too, but mostly it was the no-handers that were so impressive.
“That dude was ripping,” said Chipman. “He was manualing down to the first jump too, it was sick!”
Chipman, another guy that didn’t understand the assignment was throwing backflip barspins and tailwhips.
Ackert, who placed 43rd in the XCO U23 class World Championships in Andorra at the end of August, was in Europe most of the summer. He was actually towing other riders to the top of the hill; they’d grab his seat, and he’d drag them back to the top.
In the end, it was Jack Royal who took the win. He did have the best whip. Although in my mind, Ackert won.
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