TEAM NORCO INTL. – World CUP #5- Windham. NY
Windham, New York – July 1st, 2012 – Round #5 of the World Cup was held in the Catskill mountain range a few hrs north of NYC. This, being the 3rd year in a row for Windham resort , showed the growing popularity of mountain bike racing in America. Patriotic fans were out in the masses making as much noise as possible down the course for their favourite riders in both the XC and DH events. Hot days above 95f made the already dusty blown out track even tougher with drifty turns, speckled light, and loose shale. As the shortest course on tour, Windham mountain still packed plenty of excitement into the steep shoots, big jump features, and rock gardens.
For Team Norco International, Jill started out the weekend strong- qualifying in 4th. She was also one of the few ladies to hit all all the big jumps, including the 60 footer into the finish arena! For the final, things were right on track as she took off two more seconds from seeding at the first split, but that was as far as she would get. In the next high speed section, Jill lost her front end and went down hard, breaking her right arm and instantly ending her race. She was taken to Albany Medical Center via ambulance and since then has had surgery to repair the damage with a plate and 7 screws in her radius.
She had this to say after surgery this morning "Finding the edge and going really fast sometimes costs blood, sweat, and tears. Arms heal, so I was lucky to be able to walk away from that one with a simple surgery and a few bruises, but it still sucks to get hurt. Especially since my speed was good enough for a podium. I am proud of the way I was riding here in Windham, so all I can do is heal and come back stronger."
Bryn finished 37th and had this to say, "Having to head up for final's not knowing what had happened to Jill was pretty rough. When I got to the top, I warmed up like normal, but was obviously a little worried. I raced as well as I could in that situation, with a clean run, but was tense."
The Team now head's back to Seattle for 3 weeks (Jill for a little longer ;) for a short break in the World Cup schedule before heading to Val Di'sere, France for round 6.
Thanks again to all our sponsors, and our mechanic Alain for doing an awesome job!!!!
Red Bull, NORCO Bicycles, Crank Brothers, Fox Racing Shox, Shimano, Renthal, Maxxis, 5.10, e*13, Dakine, Oakley, Fi:z’ik, Cane Creek, Motorex, Stan's Tubeless, Alpinestars, Tld, Park Tool, Cti, and eSoles.
FB- facebook.com/teamnorcointernational
FULL RACE RESULTS
1. Gwin 2. Stevie Smith 3.Gee Atherton 4. Danny Hart 5. Loic Bruni
WOMEN:
1.Rachel 2. Tracy Hannah 3. Ragot 4.Emile Siegenthaner 5. Pom Pom