One of our favorite Aussie magazines, [R]evolution, has just published a digital version of their mag to match the print one. Pretty neat-o!! http://www.zinio.com
[R]evolution
Since 2004, [R]evolution has been showcasing the new face of Australian MTB in it's pages. In a nutshell, the new generation of riding from the riders perspective. 100% rider owned, operated and proudly produced entirely in Australia, [R]evolution is dedicated to documenting this changing face of MTB.
We've been using Lezyne pumps for a couple years now. If your into sleek, well designed equipment, check these guys out. I keep the mini pump and a multi tool in my pack for everyday riding.
Probably the best new bit of hardware is the slip chuck for floor pumps,, Just presses on and seals with an o ring.
Was just checking the latest news from the first round of the 4x World cup. Obviously I'm not there, but congrats to Jared Graves, who Is clearly taking his domination from last year into this year, and to Jana who, I think, capitalized on a crash from anneke. Pretty bold statement that not a single American raced this event. I have no regrets not being there, but who will pick up the slack? Slalom would be quite sweet to have back at the world cups? No?
Anywho,, euros love bike racing, and Belgium has delicious waffles. Both good things:)
SAN JOSE, CAI'm down in nor cal with the Dirt Series guest instructing a 2 day mountain bike camp for women. Check out www.dirtseries.com
PORT ANGELES, WAAny DH riding before 9am is just a little too early, but that's what was on the schedule this morning. Nice day, sun was out, conditions were primo. Practice finished @ 10am. Cat 1, 2, and 3 riders had their race runs first, pros after that. Hundreds of riders rode these tracks over the weekend, got pretty tore up, but nothing unexpected in the finals.
Anyway, I can't tell you how rad it was in the Pro Women's class to have Top World Cup riders; Rachel Atherton, Tracy Mosley, Mellissa Buhl, ect., in attendance. 16 Women in all, which is a really good turnout. I couldn't see any of the other girls' run,,, but my run was pretty good, couple stalls, but decent. Can't expect perfection in Downhill. I had so much fun riding the track it didn't matter. Anyway, Tracy is riding strong on a rough track like this and took the big W with a 2:50, Rachel had a 2:53 with a bruised up hand, and I was pretty close with a 2:56. Not bad...I was really excited to get to race these girls, I respect them a lot. Good to know I'm somewhat in the mix for DH:).
Fans were doing their part. Could hear cowbells and cheers, but really had no idea that many people were watching and cheering till Strand and I walked back up to the big step down section for the men's races.
To make things even better, Bryn took the Pro men's victory, by over a second!!! Perfect weekend, qualfier and Final!!!. Nice to be close to home (Seattle-3hrs) and have so much local support, even if he is an import. Transition Bikes are working really well for us:) so happy. No surprise really that Fox riders were 1-6 on the men's podium. The testing was really effective for getting the bikes tuned. 1-3 in the ladies podium too.
In what appeared to be a one line-ish track, set up for certain sections and maintaining momentum were key. I thought there was a bunch of pedaling, but Stevie Smith snapped a chain coming into the first turn and was still on a 2:41, 9 sec off pace. Suppose if you know you have to keep your speed without pealling, you would be a little more careful as to how you brake and what you do. Knowing the flow of the course and being comfortable with the terrain were pretty important as well. Bryn said he had a pretty flowy smooth run, and when he came into the section I saw, he defiantly had a nice smooth set up with fast exit speed. I have some sweet footage of the top 7 or 8 guys. Fans had different chants for everyone, it was good energy in the woods.
As for the other riders, Dunno if the syndicate guys were feeling it so much. They liked the track, but Josh took a bit of a digger on the first day and had a nasty cut right on his knee cap, no where to do sweet whips either:), and Minnaar looked smooth and effortless, but was just off the pace a bit. The story of his accident this past offseason, and the scar on his leg were insane. He is lucky to be riding. He is the best racer head in the biz, shouldn't slow him down too much. Yeti boys looked fast in practice, didn't talk to any of em, but heard Joey clipped his crank/ chainring on the last jump and flipped onto the landing. Trek team all had stellar results. Luke Strobel is riding really well, has raced here a bunch, and got the bronze- local hero.
Nice work to Casey and Scott of N-Dub productions for running one of the best national rounds I have ever been to!! Next round is in NY...
Thx to Lars, n Scotty, TR, Red Bull, Oakley, Fox, Crankbrothers, Shimano, Maxxis, Dakine, Kore, Jaguire, The, ODI, e.13, 5.1o, freelap, cane creek, cadence works, park tool, e soles.
WWW.NWCUP.COMBit of rain this morning, but everything was clear skies for qualifying. I am really pleased to announce that Bryn took top seed amongst a stacked field by a couple seconds. Nice work!!! I got a top 3 with a little crash, not bad. So tomorrow A.M. will be the final. Track is pretty sweet! extra rough, little wet, fast, wish us luck:)
PRO MEN- Unofficially 1. Bryn 2. Dan Atherton 3. Luke Strobel
PRO WOMEN 1. Tracy Mosley 2. Rachel Atherton 3. Jill
First round of the US National series is underway here in P.A. Huge turnout, several top riders in attendance, 5 former World champions (Minnaar, Bryceland, Rachel, Buhly, and myself), top world cuppers (Bryn, Luke Strobel, Stevie Smith, Gwin, Leov, Neethling, Ben Reid, Minnaar, Bryceland, Tracy Mosley, Rachel Atherton, Dan Atherton, Rando, Ruffles, Danny Hart, etc), USA's finest, and a grip of regional riders enjoying Washington's lovely terrain. Suppose this track here has a lot of similar qualities to Maribor as far as being high speed, rough , rooty, a bit wet, so Fox SHOX testing here before the first World Cup is quite beneficial. Also handy that Volcano kept everyone around too:) Pits here on Dry hill have never looked so factory, yet everyone is just hanging out, relaxing all cool. Catered burritos, Thai food, and campfire will do that. Awesome boost for the local scene and to prove to the Forest Service the value of these trails here. Quite a few media guys covering the event as well which will make this series grow all that much more; Sven for Vital, Pinkbike, JDD Designs, Ian Hylands, 'n more. This is the closest to home I have ever got to race mountain bikes, 3hrs:). N-Dub is super sweet, glad people are loving the trails. Rained this afternoon, so all the bumps are gonna get bumpier with one more day of practice and quali, race on sunday...
Nothing better than custom!!!. Odi got an engraving/ etching machine and carved me up some custom end caps for my ruffian grips. Thanks Colby!! Odigrips.com 
Suspension is one of the trickiest parts of mountain biking. Getting things set up perfect requires a lot of attention to the detail. I have never done proper suspension testing, but learned so much today about the difference in compression settings, damping, etc. The engineers from Fox are here with clipboards, measuring tools, and advanced knowledge to make our bikes perform to their best ability for each rider. Big crew of World Cup riders, Trek, Yeti, Transition, Evil, etc. There should be public workshops for suspension tuning, maybe they are, but it helps a lot! I would have loved to know this stuff starting out, beyond the basics of sag and spring rates. Anyway, I was really impressed and changed what I thought was pretty good, quite a bit. Hi speed and low speed changes how the bike sits, how it absorbs hits, how it handles technical sections, high speed rough sections. etc. I'm no expert, but feel fortunate to have this opportunity to learn. Thank you FOX Racing SHOX!!
FRESNO, CA Made a quick little stop over at Sportsmobile after Sea Otter. The place is a super friendly family owned business that can build pretty much whatever you want as far as van conversions:) I got a Sprinter last year, and it has been the best thing I have ever owned or used!!!. Particularly nice on muddy days, you can hose off the bike, throw it in the back, change clothes inside, cook some food, and roll out. I have a little arrangement with Transition to use my rig for the US season here. Once you have one of these sprinters, it pretty hard to go anywhere with out it. Fresh wrap, but same glorious machine. All that I changed was taking the microwave out for more storage, some different pockets for shoes in the back, and rigged it up so you can watch movies on the front head unit as well as in the back- ultimate road tripper. Check out the new look. I worked on the design for our jerseys and the rig.
http://www.transitionbikes.com/Blog.cfm
