As you all know we have been mad at work on Awesome Land: Women Of Dirt. But the DVD is almost to the market and we have content we need to share with you.
Video: Alan Mazuti and his crew over in Port Orchard, WA. puts on indoor BMX and 4x racing. Check out the video and see you at the next races: February 6th, 20th and March 6th.
This video brought to you with support from Cycle Component Network.com
Sunday Update: Pro DH - Mick Hannah continues his come back at the Sea Otter Classic beating Greg Minnaar, Andrew Neethling, Justin Leov, and Brian Lopes to top the Pro Men’s Podium. The track had not received any real moisture in over a week. The weather was well into the 80s. After a weekend of practices by well over a thousand contestants, the course was blown out in so many spots. However, it remained very fast if not on the edge. While many mock the difficulty of the Sea Otter DH course, the speed and conditions of this years course made it tricky. Many riders blew off the course. Tracy Moseley won the Pro Women’s DH followed by Melissa Buhl, Kathy Pruit, and Claire Buchar.
Sunday also saw the Pro Dual Stunt finals. Brandon Semenuk beat Kyle Strait in the final. Brandon seemed to be training hard to fit into his tight pants. This training really benefited Brandon, as with Dual Slalom, the better one does the longer they compete. Brandon was as strong in his final against Kyle Strait as he was in the first round. Check out Miles’ Dual Stunt video below.
Dual Stunt Video by Miles “Shovelpick” Sullivan
Saturday’s Pro Dual Slalom
Sam Hill broke the qualifying curse and beat Cody Warren, and Jarred Rando then Gee Atherton to take top spot in Pro Men’s DS. Melissa Buhl carried on her winning ways and beat Olympian Jill Kintner and Kathy Pruit to take the top spot in Pro Women’s DH. Many riders crashed do to the dusty dry conditions and the deteriorating course. Ducan Riffle, Eric Carter, Kathy Pruit, Jill Kintner, Mikey Haderer, Nathan Rennie, last year’s winner Greg Minnaar and many more.
The competition was stiff. Jared Rando and Gee Atherton actually tied after posting two head-to-head runs. They gave the tie breaker to Jared due to his winning of the last run. The sun was hot, over 80 and no clouds. This added to the break down of the course as the mornings moisture was wicked away. It also added to the fatigue of the riders. Before his final’s match with Sam Hill, Cody Warren told me he was falling apart. Cody stayed close to Sam in the first run, but then crashed in the second losing any opportunity to make up the differential with Sam. Melissa Buhl was tough all day. Check out the photos from the competition. Our video on the Dual Slalom is going to be a full on documentary with over 30 interviews to work with. We expect to release that as a Feature Video with in a week to 2 weeks.
Note: For those of you from the PNW. Darrell Jameson and Clinton Fowler each took 2nd in their respective Cat 1 Dual Slalom competitions.
Friday’s DH Practice.
Friday Update: Wind is gone and the sun is out baby! Tomorrow is the Pro-Dual Slalom. It’s going to be sick. Tonight’s video work covers Pro DH practice.
In general Sea Otter is chaotic, frantic, windy, dusty, crowed, but it’s like the first day of high school. With everyone looking for their old friends, taking runs with people they only see while racing, hanging out at the pump track and looking at all the NEW GEAR.
This morning JD of SRAM set me up with a new cartridge for my Boxxer Team. I never let go of the bike. I rolled up, he pulled the old cartridge, adjusted the oil, put the new one in and test the fork. Then I was gone. Thanks SRAM.
Team Mechanics Talk Bike Setup for Sea Otter - riding examples
Thursday Update: When we arrived it was windy to the point of making riding difficult. Now the wind is gone, but it is cold. Seattle cold. Can’t complain though, because we all have the opportunity to be on our bikes. Or, with bikes.
Gravity Event Course Builder Interviews - Course Previews
The Maxxis Cup starts this March 15th in Gouveia (Portugal).
This is one of the earliest races in the International Downhill calendar. Last year Gee Atherton started a strong run at the number one spot in the UCI rankings by winning this first race of the Maxxis Cup. The following video shows the family Athertons tearing up this fast and technical course with a crowd pleaser at the finish. Shot by the Athertons and Dan Brown and edited by Richard Cunynghame. Dan got 2nd and Rachel took the top women’s spot.
for video Continue reading ‘Maxxis Cup’
”Let’s Ride!” Says the Cycling Community
Times may be tough, but industry optimism is strong
Monterey, CA (March 3, 2009) – In spite of a challenging economy, cyclists remain in the saddle. Early registrations for the 2009 Sea Otter Classic are strong. And other cycling events, organizations, and businesses are reporting good showings for the 2009 season. Continue reading ‘Sea Otter 09 is coming!’
Racing action from the third race of the 2009 Shimano Southridge Winter Series. Footage includes rain soaked action from Sunday’s Downhill as well as XC and 4X racing. Continue reading ‘Southridge 3′
The ‘Oly International’ was the second of two friendly DH races put on by the GHY Bike Shop. This is probably the last such event held at South Seatac’s Flowpark. It seems evident that this quasi legal ride area will disappear to development on a jail and a road bypass. When you watch this video think of the ton of time spent by happy riders at this flowpark.
Go Here for Full Size Player Continue reading ‘Oly International by GHY’
The season is over. We have come to the end. The master clock has stopped ticking… blah, blah
I don’t know about you, but I can’t get racing out of my head. The competition was getting better. The courses were dialed. The fun was not done! Alas, the final Fluidride Cup race had been run. The series’s final rankings were known. The best riders had won.
Bart McDaniel set a standard for us all. He won again and broke the virtual tie he had with Lars Sternberg in the overall placement. Lars took third in this sixth race. Luke Strobel off the World Cup circuit took third. Eric Loney and Charlie Sponsel laid down some sick times to take fourth and fifth overall. I look forward to seeing these two as Pros next year.
Series Final Results
Series Overall Results
Series Dual Slalom Final
for video and more story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup 2008: Final Results’
Nathan Riddle won the Open Men at Sunday’s Super D in the Capitol Forest outside Olympia, Washington. He also won the season overall for the Super Ds held there by the Friends Of Capitol Forest. This was my first Super D and it came with a ton of lessons. First of which is the respect I have for the XC riders who can climb hard and still rail the downhill portions of the track. I was humbled by how I need to be more fit. This brings me back to Nathan Riddle. This year he has placed in the top ten in Pro Downhill, top four in a Pro DS, third at Downieville, and now the overall at the FOCF. He’s truly All Mountain. For pictures and more story Continue reading ‘Capitol Forest Super D’
What were your major considerations when designing this year’s course?
Well, there are lots of things to consider when designing a course such as how technical, how big, how well do you want the lines to flow together, way too many things to think about, glad that part’s over.
Sterling and I were chatting about how the course was not only rider-friendly, but really great from a photographer’s perspective, in terms of easy access to multiple sick shots. Did this factor into your course design for this year or was it just an added benefit to a course designed for the best rider experience?
This was one of the biggest factors because I love building great looking stunts that shoot well for my personal segments, so why not build a contest that shoots well too? Continue reading ‘Claw Talks about the Bearclaw Invitational’
Jamie Goldman was stoked to offer some thoughts about this year’s comp on Vancouver Island:
What were the best things about this years’ course?
I really like how the course is all gravity fed and that there is not much braking or pedaling. The course starts out small and tech and moves gradually into the bigger faster lines. I love how it has everything.
How did you like it better — or worse — than last year’s Bearclaw Invitational course?
Last year was a similar course but it had 2 lines. I liked it equally but this year had a bit of mud. Continue reading ‘Bearclaw Invitational Winner: Jamie Goldman’
After a slow, sticky start on Friday morning, the course for the third Bearclaw Invitational became a bit more pedalable and the decision was made to bump up the event start to that evening, to beat an incoming storm that was rushing to the island about a day earlier than anyone expected. For Photos and More Story Continue reading ‘Goldman Grabs ClawWorx Comp’
Sunday’s lesson came in the form of a rain storm. Everything we had practiced seemed doomed to be irrelevant. Saturday was dry and fast, Sunday threatened to be fast and slick. Even if you stuck your line, it seemed that you’d quickly go down. However, the riders who won, ran the same race in the wet as they had practiced in the dry. The word is that Bart McDaniel’s time from the qualifying when it had just begun to rain, was the same for the finals when the course was drenched. So, the lesson is, “Ride the rain just like you ride the dry.” For Video, Photos, and More Story Continue reading ‘Fluidride Cup #4: Port Angeles’
Zeus Would’ve Been Proud
At this years Crankworx there was yet another new event on the mountain for folks to enjoy. It was a marriage between the huge, fast action of last years 4x, and the tight, flowy party of dual slalom. Giant Bikes stepped up to the alter and produce the two races the Giant Slalom. For Video and Story Continue reading ‘The GIANT Giant Slalom’
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