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Whistler

Just spent a solid few days up in Whistler getting all primed up for the next world cup in Andorra in 2 weekends. Whistler is awesome if you don't already know that. There are so many people from Washington up there riding as well as all the canadian homies. Well tons of Aussies and other people too I suppose. I am just finally getting to know the trails and did top of the world for the first time ever which was pretty fun, few awkward spots of single track:) but one hell of a view. Thx Whistler for some focused fun:)

Sugar showdown #2

Duthie Hill Park-ISSAQUAH, WA Kat Sweet of Sweetlines.com hosted another ladies instructional/competition weekend called the Sugar Showdown at Duthie hill . She basically gathers some of the best female coaches/riders to have fun, revisit fundamentals, and work on jumping. Grand finally is to put it all together for a little weekend jump comp. Kat is such a rad lady and does a lot for helping others. I was home, and had a nice little saturday helping out. I have made an appearance at 3 of her events now, last year at duthie, Sant Cruz bike festival (sort of), and duthie this year. She must have good timing with my schedule:)

It's an easy format for me to just be a floater amongst groups and help dial in people's bike set ups , suspension and basic technique and form. I'd say biomechanics and set up are my specialty when coaching, which is good, cause that's the starting point. I am not a hoot and holla' type of chick, but I really appreciate the concept of these events and can make a difference to my fellow lady rider friends:) happy to do so.

Three cheers for Kat. Check out pinkbike for more of a recap. I was only there for saturday instruction, but got a little interview on there.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Sugar-Showdown-Seattle-2013-Presented-By-Diamondback.html

Stevens Pass- Gravity Skills Classes for women

Stevens Pass has Washington's only chairlift access bike park. There are a few trails of different ability open now, but as someone who loves to see my community grow, and also to have a killer spot to bust out as many dh training runs, stevens is awesome.

I scheduled these ladies camps with Stevens around my season since there was a gap in the race schedule and an obvious need for it. Kat Sweet was my helper, so we had a good time breaking everything down teaching the ladies some fundamentals, biomechanics and advanced skills like reading terrain and a little bit of race craft. I personally think I have an eye for this kind of teaching as not many people have studied form or bike set up as much as I have, so it's always good to make a difference for someone with a few tips. There were a couple junior girls who are some of the best I have seen too, so that's exciting to get to em early to make good habits. Of course we keep it fun with some laughs, a few jokes, etc. Kat and I have a really good balance of fun and different ways of looking at things:) Pink hair keeps it lively too:)

Anyway, go check out stevens pass bike park, then get onboard with a class. It was pretty easy for me as the resort handled accommodation, registration, transport, food, etc. So it's a killer deal.

http://stevensbikepark.com/jill-kintner-womens-clinic/

Big thanks to all my sponsors, and especially to Sombrio who makes the finest ladies riding gear and Camelbak for the giveaways, everyone was stoked!!!

Ashland mountain challenge

ASHLAND, OREGON Really fun couple of days here in Ashland! Unexpected too as I drove down just to be a part of the e.13 media camp, but was a little early and ended up racing the oregon enduro last minute with zero practice on these trails. Winged it to the max, but ended up riding pretty well and pedaling my ass of for 2nd. My carbon 650b Norco Sight was perfect here!! love that little rig:).

These stages were broken into 4 parts. They did have some shuttles to get to points as half the stages were on one mountain and the others on the other side of town, but still there were some 40 minute climbs and other transfer climbs to get point to pont. The timed sections had so much pedaling, holy crap. The grade is only slightly down, nothing steep or overly technical, but constantly turning the pedals over and pushing hard. There were a lot of high speed sections and some nice flowy bermed stuff once into meat of the stages. Would have been better to know what was ahead just to know how to strategize, but it was fun racing.

Stage 3 had a section of fire road that went on forever, probably 5 minutes on a fire road at maxed out gearing, then another 8 minutes of other stuff and a few pinches. Stage 2 was my favorite by far cause it had lots of natural gaps and water bars, plus was pretty ripping. Stage 4 had like a slalom course right at the end that was jumpy, berms, and blown out, but it took awhile to get into that part. The winner was Rosara who is damn fit + skills, so congrats to her! and the other ladies.

In the men's local hero Nathan Riddle took the victory with awesome riding and the wildest of tire choices. The trails here are dry and loose and super high speed, so he played it local knowledge and rolling speed with the Nano raptor WTB 29er tires (which have barely any tread) at 40 psi. Impressive, no chance I would ever run that set up.

Pic: Riddle's rig

This is the 3rd enduro I have done in oregon. Each event gets better and better with signage and timing. Wish the raffles and prizes would run faster, but overall nice work to the organizers and people who support the series. Enduro is not an easy spectator sport , but is really good for participating and the socializing after. So yeah, good times.

Now onto the e.13 media camp. Shuttles, sweet new products to learn about, media folks, and even more good times. :) c ya

New e.13 Carbon Lg1r guide.

Pro Women Enduro Podium

1. Rosara Joseph 2. Jill Kintner 3. Carolynn Romaine 4.  Abby Hippely 5. JJ

Pro Men Enduro Podium

1. Nathan Riddle 2. matthew Slaven 3. Curtis Keene 4. Marco Osbourne 5. Tom Doran

Val Di sole- finals

Well, I don't have much to say about my race run. Lost some time up top through the rocks and that was it, Happy to ride this course decently all week though. I felt pretty rad at times:) Val di sole changes your perspective a bit, makes normal tracks seem pretty easy:)  There are a  few positives to take away, so I learned a bunch , just disappointed to finish 12th . Will funnel that energy and keep improving, I have lots to be thankful for I suppose.

Tons of people got hurt over the 4 days, which is never fun to see. I wanted to push super hard and ride it fast, but missed a few lines and was a bit too conservative to do well. This course rewards the loose sketchy off the brakes moments, but it's a roll of the dice, dunno if that's really my style but it needs to be somewhere in the middle there.

Bryn had a big crash on the second day, and ultimately couldn't race. Hit his head on a tree, concussed and flipped into rocks into his back. Directly from my race run, we went to hospital and spent the night in hospital for him to find out he has a fracture on the transverse process of his L2 lumbar vertebrae. That's the best case in the spine really, its the little flange off the vertebrae and heals on its own no real problems hopefully.

Check out the soil.... Each run was a new line pretty much.

Val Di Sole

VAL DI SOLE, ITALYBeen in Italy a few days now. The course here in Italy is super unique, nothing really compares. It's steep, straight down the hill, very few real turns, rocks and roots at every point, no jumps. It's a very raw course that has been ridden hard for a few years. Even the new sections are beat after 2 days.

You take away a new par as to what is difficult after this. The dirt is so powdery as well and roots just seem to appear. Keeps you on your a game , that's for sure.

I'm enjoying riding it and rather proud of the fact that I can.  8th in seeding today. Will keep it moving forward for the final race. Qualifying had a bit of pressure just to get in smooth. They changed the ranking rules to some irrelevant world rank , so protected positions went to some people who raced in South America early in the year or OZ or the hundreds of races in Europe that have points. There is only one in america and that's in summer. I actually went backwards after placing in the top 10 last week at the first world cup, but working my way up is kinda exciting I suppose. Adds the element of passing sometimes .

Sort of a rough day in the office for some. Bryn hit his head pretty hard on a tree and slammed his back, so he wasn't up for racing today.

practice tomorrow am at 830 am. Race sunday.

TEAM NORCO INTL. - World Cup DH #1- Ft.William, Scotland Ft.William, Scotland - June 7-9, 2013 - The first round of the UCI World Cup Downhill was held this weekend in the Scottish Highlands under sunny skies.

Known as one of the roughest most physically demanding courses on tour, Ft.William terrain tests riders and equipment alike. Bryn and Jill were up for the challenge in an action packed 3 days of riding and racing. Supporters were out in the thousands as well, lining the 1.75miles of man-made trail all the way to the grandstands and Jumbo-tron TV at the bottom.  The men's average speed was about 23mph proving that this was a pinned event right out of the start. Qualifying on Saturday was exciting, with jill coming in 6th after being stuck behind the rider and having to pass, and Bryn 40th with a small bobble. For race day, both riders were ready and upped their times, but ultimately finished in 8th and 36th. With a little more sleep, and back in the rythem of racing, the team looks to keep attacking for podiums.

Jill had this to say,,, "I really enjoy this place. Looking at the track vs. riding it were 2 completely different experiences; the bike just handled business and the speed blurred out the rocks. I felt really good, just found myself braking a bit too much in the final trying to hold on. Race runs at World Cup pace take some getting used to, so I'm gonna let it go a little more at the next one. " Bryn on the last jump section before the finish.. New to the program this season, Reg Brench, a veteran mechanic from the UK, proved to be an asset at the first round keeping bikes and pits looking ace. Big thanks to REG!!!!! DOWNHILL RESULTS: PRO WOMEN 1. Rachel Atherton - GBR 2. Manon Carpenter- GBR 3. Emmeline Ragot- FRA 4. Myriam Nicole - FRA 5. Morgane Charre- FRA 6. Floraine Pugin - FRA 7. Emilie Siegenthaler- SUI 8. Jill Kintner- USA 9. Tracy Hannah- AUS 10. Zarja Cernilogar - SLO

PRO MEN 1. ATHERTON Gee - GBR 2. MACDONALD Brook - NZL 3.SMITH Steve - CAN 4. BLENKINSOP Samuel- NZL 5. HANNAH Michael- AUS 6. HILL Sam- AUS 7. HART Danny- GBR 8. MINNAAR Greg- RSA 9. BRYCELAND Josh- GBR 10. Williamson Greg - GBR ... 36. BRYN ATKINSON .. 79. Rhys Atkinson (Bryn's Brother) The team now heads to Val Di Sole, Italy for round #2 of the UCI World Cup……

Team Norco International is supported by: Norco Bicycles, Red Bull, Crankbrothers, Fox Shox, Shimano, Renthal, Bell Helmets, Sombrio, Maxxis, Stevens Pass Bike Park, 5.10, e.13, Oakley, Jet Black trainers, PotentrX health and performance, Susan @ High Performance Nutrition, Motorex, Cane Creek, Fi’zi:k, Camelbak, Alpinestars protection, and Park Tools.

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Travel Prep

Couple days left till we visit the Scottish highlands to kick off the world cup season!! We added a logistics manager and a new English mechanic with a sprinter set up to our program this year. Little less stressful , which is quite a luxury,,, so thanks to E-Dub (eric Wallace) and Reg for helping out, as well as our sponsors who make it all possible. Should be good. Got just a few things to pack- 4-5 bike boxes worth. C ya on the flip side.

NW cup #3

PORT ANGELES, WAAnother weekend in PA and another victory! Racing in Port Angeles is like second nature to us now. We had 5 days out there, 2 of which were for bike set up, but yeah, good times. Bryn did testing, proving that his knee is ready for ft.bill, but sat out for the race.

Here is the race recap from pinkbike. http://www.pinkbike.com/news/NW-Cup-Round--3-Race-Day.html

Fox Shox testing

Suspension testing is awesome. Such a useful resource to get that fine detail of comfort on the bike. Fox is always pushing the limit, and over the years our bikes and suspension changes, so it's real nice to have a closed environment with timers to get all set up. Big thanks to Justin and Darren at Fox for coming up!! Got the lil rippa all ready to go for ft. bill:)

Stevens Pass Bike Park AD

STEVEN PASS BIKE PARKPretty sweet little ad from the Stevens Pass Bike Park and Photographer Chase Jarvis. This was a vertical rock roll that was a little intimidating coming in, but no big deal for my trusty Aurum:) Look to hear more about the bike park, and our instructional camps up there soon. Pro Team:)

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UNDERWORLD CUP

PORT ANGELES, WA

This is probably the biggest race other than Sea Otter to hit US soil this season for DH. Underworld cup/ NW cup #2/ US grand Prix , a race with many names taking over for the Pro grt series- which is coming up short this year.  World cup talent pool in attendance with Most all the big teams making the trip north from Sea Otter.

Bit of a mixed bag for us this weekend, as Bryn went down in practice, tweaked his knee a bit, and decided to sit this weekend's race out. I managed to win quali and finals, winning on 3 different bikes in 2 weekends. Woo. Go Norco's .

Crazy heckling out there today though. Hard to concentrate with all the noise and paraphernalia scattered across the track. Bet the foreigners appreciate a big fat American flag to the face. Gets slightly outta control, but you gotta love the enthusiasm, and custom chanting:)

Pro Men's Results 1. Steve Smith 2:22.44 2. Josh Bryceland 2:24.69 3. Connor Fearon 2:25.15 4. Aaron Gwin 2:25.17 5. Brook MacDonald 2:26.32 6. Andrew Neethling 2:26.49 7. Cam Cole 2:26.83 8. Nick Beer 2:27.00 9. Neko Mullaly 2:27.06 10. Luke Strobel 2:27.09

Pro Women's Results 1. Jill Kintner 2. Miranda Miller 3. Casey Brown

Sea OTTER double victories!!

MONTEREY, CAI am pretty stoked to announce a clean sweep at the season opening event of 2013 at the Sea Otter Classic in slalom and DH!.

Sea Otter  is a unique race, as it's a huge expo/ media extravaganza with the whole bike industry on display for the first time for 2013. It's action packed as well with almost every type of event going on; Slalom, DH, xc, speed and style, cyclecross, road races, grand fondos, etc. Plenty of top class competitors in both the men's and women's fields as well, so it was fun to see everyone again after a long cold winter and get back into racing.

Slalom is the best event in my opinion. I look forward to it so much every year. Love the intensity, and getting to ride a slalom bike. The course is really fun, and gets slippery and windy as races progress. Boggles my mind how they build the course so similar every year after tearing it down, wish the jumps were a little bigger or more tech, but the speed is awesome. It moves through elimination rounds quick, and spectators love seeing the best riders in the world battle it out to the finish.

photo Matt Delorme

DS results

DH is fairly basic with most everyone choosing a trail bike of some kind for the fast rolling hard packed ground with loose sand on top. Baked in ruts in a couple places, but overally pretty flat with one off cambered tricky dh section, etc. This year was notable with so many different types of bikes and wheel sizes, 26" , 27.5", 29" ,,, slalom bikes, trail bikes, dh bikes, etc. The massive pedaling efforts dictated bike choice. This race is a really good fitness check to be on the podium. 2+ minute sprint, few uphill sections, jumps, 7 turns, etc. Pin it to win it:). I felt awesome this year, didn't even get the usual jerkey lungs, Big Thx to our trainers at Potentrx in Seattle:)

Here is the first look at my Norco carbon prototype 650b sight I raced. It's my trail bike 90% of the time and a dh bike just for here:)

photo Paris Gore

Bryn was riding strong all weekend as well.. He is unbelievably talented in slalom and DH, just bike riding in general. I am a big fan!! nice style, powerful.  It was so impressive to watch him rip those berms apart. He took down Prokop in the first round, then 7th seed Cous Couse from france, just moving through the rounds, till the round of 8, which is the quarterfinals. He matched up against  Jared Graves (eventual winner)and gave him a super tight battle, but got knocked out.  Finishing 8th, so good job to him!!!.

In DH the next day, Bryn was only a couple seconds back, finishing up in 13th. Times were sooo close year, top 20 was within 4 seconds. Gwin was the winner on a 29er by a hundreth. Kinda sucks he won on a 29er, but he played it tactical with the rolling speed. We rode Norco's new 650B trail bikes- sights, and I think comfort wise, they made the couse feel smoother than in years past while still being maneuverable.

BRYN:

photo Paris Gore

Small overview: there was a lot of sun, sunburn, and wind, most of the top contenders were here, tons of sprinting, some rowdy american fans waving their flags (KT):) , new products on display, fresh bikes and kits, all kinds of wheel sizes, lot of "enduro" talk getting thrown around, expo madness, thousands of spectators, and bike riding. That kinda sums it up. Slalom was the best part.

Happy to get some solid coverage for our sponsors on our new norco 650b bikes, with all black Crankbros wheels, etc.

Marketing, and finding ways to stand out are part of the beauty of sea otter. Bell had a mechanical bull to test out helmets:) Renthal had autographed bar give aways and a super stealthy new prototype dh stem for us, Shimano was on tech service and doing a lot of media stuff with the new XTR gear, wheels, etc.. Fox Shox were gold and black float 34 is rad- the best squish in the bidness, 5.10 had the whole pro team working with the designers giving feedback and wearing the new freeriders, e.13 has some new carbon guides, seemed like everyone had something going on, which was cool.

Guess one of the only other things that made the highlight reel was Lars and his mustache looking exactly like the Sea Otter mascot. Uncanny resemblance:)

DH RESULTS:

Big thanks to all of our sponsors:

Norco Bicycles, Red Bull, Crankbrothers, Fox Shox, Shimano, Renthal, Bell Helmets, Sombrio, Maxxis, Stevens Pass Bike Park, 5.10, e.13, Oakley, Jet Black trainers, PotentrX health and performance, Motorex, Cane Creek, Fi'zi:k, camelbak, alpinestars protection, and Park Tools.

Sea Otter Classic 13

MONTEREY, CA We are a few days into the Sea otter Classic, but the fun part has finally come!! Sea Otter Slalom day is tomorrow!!!. It's kinda like waiting for christmas, I love slalom so much. Course looks good, little tighter this year, but the same classic style that everyone is accustomed to . The course builder said it took him a week and a half to build a new berm into it, wow. Don't think there has been much moisture, so probably took awhile to pack it in, soak it, repeat.  Cat 1 guys raced today. Looked pretty tight, so should be fun.

In the mean time, we have had a couple days of dh practice. Tons of the world cup guys and gals:). Course is the same mostly. Seems a little easier, but that's maybe cause the ol 650 carbon Norco Sight loves it. Feeling good, DH on sunday.

Bryn and I came to nor cal a little early to get our pre-sunburn going, ride some trails, put in some suspension tuning with Fox, etc. Easing into it. Feels really nice to have sun after a long cold winter. wish us luck.

Regnor the pottery Wizard

Pottery has been a part of our family for a long time, as one of my mom's best pals is seattle potter legend- Regnor. The only dishes we have at our house are made by him, so it seemed like a good idea to see some of the wizardry,  and make wedding pottery cup favors. It's been a fun project seeing all the stages and little tricks he has. Obviously Regnor has years and years of experience with the right clay, glazes, firing temperatures, systems, etc, so it's really all his doing, but we helped. think we have like 80 done out of 150 cups. Bryn and I recruited our friends at different stages, but production pottery is a lot of work. Put in some 4 hr blocks in between training, making 1 lb perfectly round clay balls. We do gruntwork, and regnor centers and throws a cup in like 10 minutes. Anyway, nice little side project, but I have a much grater appreciation for eating off our dishes, knowing the skill involved in making these little beauties:) Hope our pals will enjoy a little handmade love:)

Santa Cruz

Ahh, such nice weather here. Fun trails too. We are here for a few days gearing up for Sea Otter which is coming up this weekend!! Can't wait!!!

New Gear!!!

Pretty exciting,,, building up fresh bikes and designing kits. Got kashima gold accents on our new Norco Aurum frames to match the FOX and Shimano Saint gear, so it should look pretty sweet.  Sombrio also helped us design a fresh race kit to go with our scheme and match into their production lines. Got a couple color schemes for weather variety:). Sea Otter will be the debut of that stuff, I want to put the drawing up, but then it would ruin the surprise. I like it a lot though. This will be the 5th or 6th jersey I have designed . Putting logos on in a clean way is very tricky business. C ya .

POD - Picture of the Day

Pod on Pinkbike.com !!! Our Team Photographer Paris Gore snapped a pic of me from one of our many pre season wet NW rides... THere should be a feature story from this ladies adventure in Freehub magazine next month. We were out looking for Leprechauns and frostbite, can you see them? Paris also has some treasures yet to be seen.... Parisgore.com http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/