At 16, Kyle Ritchie is taking on and beating some of the best mountain bike downhill riders in the world.
The Squamish resident turned heads last year and is consistently doing the same again this year despite the fact that he's riding in a new, more competitive category.
The Howe Sound Secondary grade 11 student rode in his first Canada Cup event of the season at Mont Tremblant May 29 and 30 and came home with the top prize in his category.
"I actually won on a flat tire," Kyle told The Chief. "I only won by one second but I won on a flat tire so it was pretty cool."
He estimates that he rode the last 30 seconds of a course that took him about five minutes to complete with no air in the tire.
"I would have done a lot better," he said thinking back to his wild descent. "I think I could have done better. Without that flat tire I probably could have got top five."
The win put him in sixth place in the national junior expert downhill standings. He didn't attend the first Canada Cup event because it was on the same date as a B.C. Cup event. All the riders in the standings ahead of Kyle attended both the Canada Cup events.
Kyle intends to participate in the next Canada Cup event, which is in Alberta. He also plans to participate in the final two Canada Cup events, which are both being held in B.C.
Kyle is no stranger to travel. His recent trips included stops in California and Las Vegas. In October he was in California to visit what he called "Disneyland for biking," where he learned how to do back flips and other tricks. He also took part in the Red Bull Rampage where he competed against some of the best free riders in the world.
Last season, he competed across the country and around the province and finished the season by being named the Canadian National champion for under-17 expert downhill riders and he won the downhill B.C. Cup.
His next event is this weekend (June 12 and 13) at Bear Mountain in Mission, the second B.C. Cup event of the season.
Last year, Kyle said he won at Mission by 14 seconds.
"My big goal this year is to go to the junior worlds," said Kyle. "That is in France in September."
To get there, he said he has to finish top three at the Canadian National Championships.
"You have to have good results all year and good national finishes and you can make the Canadian National team," he said.
"The rest of the season looks good as long as I have no injuries. I have a big season ahead of me with lots of racing, filming, photo shooting and stuff. I just got on the Oakley team and I'm trying to get as many photo shoots as possible. Kona is my bike sponsor and they give me bikes."
He has four bikes.
"Tantalus [his bike shop], they help me a lot with putting my bike together and with repairs," said Kyle.
The tall and wide mountain bike downhill racer with long curly hair rides on the trail system in and around Squamish regularly to prepare for the events he attends.
He is scheduled to take part in the annual Rock Star Invitational, one of the events that makes up the Squamish Mountain Bike Festival. Kyle will be competing with Squamish riders Erin Kempf, Shaums March and Darrel Leduke along with other top freeride competitors.
