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Mountain Biking News - June 2010
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Wednesday, 30 June 2010Squamish BC - The Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish BC is legendary not only for its world class singletrack and beautiful scenery, but also because it is really, really difficult. The race boasts a 67km course, 35km of which is root infested singletrack, and 4000 feet of climbing. Despite the grueling challenge, the 1000 participant race sells out in a matter of minutes every year. Fo r most, just finishing the race is an achievement.
Often, the Test of Metal falls on the same weekend as a European World Cup, but this year, there was no conflict. For team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain’s Geoff Kabush, a BC native, there was no question he would be there to contest the legendary event. “If you’re from BC, the Test is a big deal. It’s a true test of endurance and technical skills and winning it certainly entitles you to some bragging rights”, commented Kabush, who won the event in 1998.
Despite his 6th overall world ranking, the race would not be a cakewalk for Kabush. The field for the 2010 event was the deepest ever and featured the winners of every past edition since 1996, including 2009 winner Max Plaxton who set the course record that year. Also in the field was Rocky Mountain’s Marty Lazarski, Stefan Widmer, Kevin Calhoun, Colin Kerr and Team Kona’s Kris Sneddon and Corey Wallace.
From the gun, it was Kabush, Plaxton, and Lazarski stringing out the huge field with Sneddon and Wallace close behind. Kabush’s strategy was to keep the pace high at the beginning to break up the field to eliminate chase groups. “I punched it about ten minutes in and Marty and Kris followed. It looked like Plaxton was in some discomfort and that was the last I saw of him”, said Kabush. It turned out that Plaxton had a fall earlier in the week and sore ribs hampered his breathing ability.
Coming through the first feed zone one hour into the race, Kabush stormed up the hill in his big ring, barely slowing for his bottle. Over two minutes passed before Lazarski and Sneddon came by together with Widmer and Wallace close behind. An hour after that, on their second time through, It was Kabush still two minutes ahead, but Sneddon had gapped Lazarski by a minute. Cory Wallace came through in fourth with Kevin Calhoun behind him in fifth. Stefan Widmer fell victim to a double flat in the Powerhouse Plunge section and fell significantly behind.
With a comfortable lead, Kabush rode conservatively to avoid mechanical problems, but hard enough to ensure he beat the course record of 2:30:10. He came through the finish with a time of 2:29:25, 45 seconds faster than Plaxton’s time in 2009. Kris Sneddon came in 1:40 later and Lazarski, having ridden a flat rear tire for 3km, managed to maintain 3rd place.
“I’m really happy to win here today”, commented Kabush. “The crowd was phenomenal and the race course was super fun. My bike worked perfectly… it was the perfect day, really.”
For more information, please visit www.bikes.com and www.maxxis.com
Source: reviews.mtbr.com
Tuesday, 29 June 2010Bailey, Colorado, USA - The Bailey HUNDO is quickly becoming the premier 100-mile mountain bike race of Colorado. As a new event in 2010, the Bailey HUNDO helps promote mountain biking by supporting Trips For and the newly founded Colorado High School Cycling League. At 6 AM on June 19th, 200 racers toed the line for this backcountry epic. Three members of Topeak-Ergon USA took on the 100 mile ch allenge.
Sonya Looney would take the top spot for the team by taking the overall win in the Pro Women’s race. “I had a solid and controlled start. This helped me to have strong legs for the entire 100 miles. The course was very difficult and I was excited how I performed. This is another positive step in qualifying for the USA Marathon Team, which will compete at Marathon World Championships in Germany in August.”
Dave Wiens would ride to 2nd overall in the 100 mile race. “The first half of the Bailey HUNDO was one of the finest experiences I’ve ever had in a bike race. It certainly was a tale of two courses: the first as described above and the latter nothing more than a “let’s see how tough you are” kind of a torture fest. I loved it! It’s what bike racing is all about.”
Yuki Saito rode to another solid result. “I started at slower pace this time to see how my body reacts since I was sick for a while. I felt fine until mile 80, but my energy went down last 20 miles and I barely finished the race. I think my fitness is finally getting back to normal and should be ready the USA Marathon National Championships on July 4.”
RESULTS
Sonya Looney, Pro Women, 1st
Dave Wiens, Pro Men, 2nd
Yuki Saito, Pro Men, 17th
Source: reviews.mtbr.com
Monday, 28 June 2010Leogang, Austria – The UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup Leogang was dominated by Greg Minnaar and Sabrina Jonnier. The men’s top 3 was completed by Gee Atherton (2nd place) and Aaron Gwin (3rd place). The fastest women were all from France: Jonnier first, Emmeline Ragot second and Floriane Pugin third. The challenging forest sections of the track weren’t easy to handle, but the riders showed a great performance. Over 8,000 spectators made their way to Leogang’s first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event. Especially during the downhill finals the fans were cheering for the athletes as much as possible.
The pros had only two days of training on Bikepark Leogang’s Speedster track that is 2,600 metres long and features a height difference of 836 meters. Not an easy job for the riders to get used to a track that has not been part of the World Cup circus before. But at least all the 276 pro riders from 31 countries had the same training conditions for the qualification round on Saturday. Samuel Blenkinsop was the fastest one to cross the finish line in the seeding runs. Followed by Greg Minnaar and Aaron Gwin. Rachel Atherton was the fastest girl in front of Emmeline Ragot and Tracy Moseley.
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Leogang downhill finals started with the women: Jonnier set a great a time with 4:52.70 minutes. Moseley started their run quite well, but lost a few seconds in the beginning of the last forest section and ended with 5:02.39 minutes. Ragot lost time already in the first third of the track and seemed to get weaker in the last section, but finished with a gap of 3.54 seconds to Jonnier, which meant second place for her. Then, all eyes were on Rachel Atherton who was the last woman to go, but unfortunately she crashed in the last section and was not able to finish the race.
The final Top 10 results: After the women, the men’s finals were on and everybody was waiting full of excitement for the world’s fastest riders to come down the mountain. Steve Peat, who had qualified only 34th due to a crash, set the benchmark to beat with xxxxx minutes. He was meant to sit in the hot seat for a long time. But it was Cameron Cole from New Zealand to beat Peaty’s time by only 0.05 seconds. A preview for the hot action to be expected in the following runs: Brendan Fairclough rode slightly faster than Peaty and Cole in the third split, but lost time at the very and finished on third position at this stage. The expectations were high when Gee shot out of the start gate, riding as smooth as it could be. Gee was in the first split already 2.5 seconds faster, then over 5 seconds in the second split, and could keep that gap until the finish line. Matti Lehikoinen couldn’t change anything on the actual ranking, finishing with 4:13.25 minutes. But the Top 3 of the qualifying were still up to come: Aaron Gwin, Greg Minnaar and Samuel Blenkinsop.
Gwin could carry good speed through the whole course hitting the finish line after 4:10.09 minutes, placing directly behind Gee. But Minnaar proved to be an amazing mud rider finishing in 4:05.65 minutes, beating Gee with 0.74 seconds and sitting down on the hot seat. There was only one more competitor to beat his time, the Kiwi Samuel Blenkinsop. But Sam slipped his pedal twice in the middle section and ended up with 4:11.17 minutes on fourth place at the end.
The official UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Leogang website www.mtb-worldcup.at features all the information related to the event and the side program. The websites of the official UCI World Cup partners can be found on:
Saalfelden Leogang: www.leogang-saalfelden.at
Bikepark Leogang: www.bikepark-leogang.com
SalzburgerLand: www.salzburgerland.com
Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang: www.skicircus.at
Raiffeisen Bank Salzburg: www.salzburg.raiffeisen.at
Kona Bikes: www.konaworld.com
Zipfer: www.zipfer.at
Source: reviews.mtbr.com
Friday, 25 June 2010BERKELEY, CA – Trek Bicycles has become the latest in a series of major industry players joining the effort to bring high school mountain biking to students nationwide, by signing a sponsorship deal with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).
Dean Gore, Trek’s Director of Marketing, said, "We have been observing the growth of high school cycling and now is definitely the right time to become a significant force in the push to get this properly established as a nationwide movement. Matt Fritzinger and his team have shown that their formula of fun, family-oriented events works, and we look forward to helping them spread this across the nation."
Trek Bicycle, through the Gary Fisher brand, has long been a sponsor of the orignal high school mountain bike League in Northern California. NICA has grown out from the NorCal League. Gary Fisher himself, a mountain biking pioneer and luminary, has recognized the potential for high school mountain biking as a national sport at the outset of the NorCal League has been one of the League's strongest advocates. "NICA is the second coming of Mountain Biking," he quipped. Trek is joining other major brands in the collective effort to bring mountain biking to student athletes coast to coast by 2020.
NICA founder/director, Matt Fritzinger, said "Trek's strong support is very important not only because we tie our name to one of the most respected bicycling brands in the world, but also because of the possibilities for promoting the high school mountain bike concept through their extensive dealer network. Their support will enhance the experience for our student-athletes, coaches and their families, and ensure the long term sustainability of the organization.”
NICA is the National Governing Body for grades 9-12 interscholastic mountain biking. NICA was established 2009 with generous funding from the national founding sponsor, Specialized Bicycle Components, as well as establishing partners, Easton Foundations, SRAM and Trek Bicycles. Other fine sponsors include Clif Bar & Company, Creation Engine, GU Sports, IMBA, Primal Wear, Shimano, Mellow Johnny's, CamelBak, Dirt Rag, Feedback Sports, Fort Lewis College, and Mountain Bike Action. The aim of NICA is to foster the development of high quality competitive cross-country mountain biking programming for High School aged athletes. NICA provides leadership, governance and program support to promote the development of interscholastic Mountain Biking Leagues throughout the United States. For more information on NICA visit www.nationalmtb.org or call (510) 524-5464.
Thursday, 24 June 2010New York, NY-- Be Cycle & Fashion: By transforming these twelve bikes into true pieces of art, artists expressed their vision of an ethical fashion, in line with the times, in order to sensitize the public to experience the daily life and sustainable development in a friendly and creative way.
The Be Cycle & Fashion 2010 Designers mother of the operation
Since 2001, the non-profit ACT Responsible association collects international advertising campaigns that promote social and environmental causes. By exhibiting these campaigns to the world, the association seeks to show how the creativity of advertising can be used to help & promote sustainable development issues.
This bikes customisation concept has been created by the Press agency Idenium and co-produced by One Heart Channel a TV channel dedicated to solidarity and environmental causes. One Heart Channel dedicated a site to Be Cycle & Fashion with daily interviews, reports and videos from the making of avaliable on www.oneheartchannel.fr/becycle.
For more information contact anna@oneheartchannel.com or check www.oneheartchannel.com
source: www.pr.com
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