Santa Cruzin' with Josh Maurer

Take a pre-Christmas ride in Santa Cruz with Josh Maurer...

Pinkbike Video Re-wind

Pinkbike Video Re-wind with Point One Racing athletes Alex Amaral, Allen Stoddard, Chris Lauber, Christian Wright, Nathan Podshadley and more. Enjoy!

CCCX Fall 2011 #2

Bright blue skies draped over the Monterey Bay for round #2 of the CCCX Super-D series.

Point One Racing athletes made it on to 5 different podiums! Congratulations to all!

Pro Men:
Kiran MacKinnon - 1st
Ian Massey - 5th

Cat 1 Men 19-34:
Alex Amaral - 3rd
Peter Lucas - 4th
Ben Vickery - 5th

Cat 1 Men 55+
Mike Amaral - 1st

Cat 3 Women:
Quincey Sigona - 3rd

Chainless:
James Amaral - 3rd
Josh Maurer - 4th



Full results

New Stumpy - Jordan Lopez

Hello All,

I am excited to say that my 2012 Race bike is done, it is a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon EVO. Pictures weight is 25.4lbs and this includes the pedals, Reverb post and non-UST tires.

I am excited beyond words to be on this bike and after its maiden voyage this morning I am twice as motivated for the upcoming season.

I would like to thank the following sponsors for helping me build this bike:
Victory Velo Racing - Access to an Amazing Bike
PO1NT Racing - 70mm Stem
GAMUT USA - P40 Chain Retention System, 38t Race ring and hardware
ODI - Ruffian Grips
Real World Cycling - Ceramic Bottom Bracket
CrankBrothers - Mallet Pedals
Formula Brakes - The One Brakes
HBC - Ti Hardware
Honey Stinger - Energy to build

CCCX Fall 2011 #1

Thanks to all those who came out and supported race #1 of the 2011/2012 CCCX Super-D series.

Alex and Jimmy Amaral shared the same second and scored 8th and 9th, respectively, in the Pro class. Ian Massey barely missed the box by almost a half second, scoring a solid 6th place.

Mike Amaral crushed 55+ expert by over 20 seconds, wow!

Newcomer Quincey "Flyin" Sigona put up a great effort for her first race. Smooth is fast. Be on the lookout for her moving to the top as points tighten up later in the series.



Full results here.

Mikey Sylvestri on Cove for 2012

Thanksgiving Ride

Thanksgiving Day ride with Epicenter Cycling in Aptos, CA.

Point One Racing athletes Josh Maurer and Ben Vickery.

Black Friday SALE

4 Day SALE (Thursday-Sunday)
15% off ANY 1 product
20% off ANY 2 products
25% off ANY 3 or more products

FREE domestic freight on $200+ order
FLAT $20 international freight

Please e-mail in your orders

3 more sets of pedals left...

Please e-mail if you are interested...thanks!

Santa Cruz V10 Carbon Time lapse

Great time lapse build featuring Podium Pedals!

2012 Race Season Announcement - Jordan Lopez

Hey Everybody,

I am very excited to announce that for the 2012 season I will be racing on the new 2012 SPECIALIZED Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon EVO and I could not be more excited to ride a bike that is at the forefront of bike development. The bike highlights are as follows: 142mm rear tru-axel, PF-BB30 Bottom Bracket, ISCG05 Chain Guide Mounts, Full FOX Suspension with the new RP23 AUTOSAG, and Carbon Fiber Main Triangle. There are several more “Little Things” I will be doing to this bike to make it race ready, but the stock options blow my mind. - Website

For 2012 I will be racing under the flag of the Victory Velo/SPECIALIZED Race Team. This team is located in my hometown of Auburn, CA and has a long pedigree of competing at the top level Road and Cross Country Racing. 2012 will be the first season that Victory Velo will have a dedicated and competitive All-Mountain/Super D race group. Under the direction of the shop owner and long time PRO Racer Dan Tebbs, I am extremely confident that this team will have all that it takes to be at the top. - Website

Thank you all again for your support and I am excited to see what the 2012 season has in store.

Jordan

Used Pedal Sale!

We have some sets of pedals that were used during Interbike's Outdoor Demo and Outerbike in Moab.

40% off
Raw only
Please e-mail if you are interested.

The Good Life - Max Houtzager

My season has been ‘over’ for a little while now after finishing off back home with a podium finish at the Howl Mountain Classic. After many weekends of nonstop travel and racing, two weeks off was a great chance to hit the reset button on my body...And then jam in my Subaru all the way up to Whistler!

I made the drive alone in two days stopping in Portland to stay with my idol photographer (legend in snowboarding, soon to be in mountain biking), Tim Zimmerman. I drove straight to a freshly redone dj park in Portland for a GT photo shoot with Eric Carter...




We feasted on sushi afterwards which was delicious, and amazing to sit next to another legend, EC. I learned a lot while devouring endless plates of sushi. Life in Whistler is obviously pretty rad, living a stone’s throw from the village/chairlift in a house with a bunch of chill Aussie’s.

Multiple dirt jump and pumptrack spots within a 5 minute pedal from my door. And trails galore. Don’t feel like riding the road or bike path? Just ride the ripping technical singletrack that’s right next to it nearly everywhere in the valley.

The ‘xc’ riding doesn’t exist by US standards, it’s all tech trail/all mountain stuff, and I could not get enough. I barely rode the same trail twice and your constantly either going steep up/down or over endless roots and rocks. Just how I like it, although coming home to fast buff trails was a nice change.



Another highlight was the Art of Flight Premiere, where I got to watch on the big screen and see all my favorite snowboard pros in person, including the all time Travis Rice.

I pretty much spend all my time riding, cooking, and eating. A lot of thinking about food and I am obsessed with some of things available (Farmer’s Market twice a week, Local Wild Salmon, Grass-Fed Buffalo, Pastured Eggs, Japanese ingredients, epic cookies).



Lots of Experimenting (Coconut Blueberry Muffins with pastured eggs and the best blueberries)

I did the last Wednesday night downhill race, Chainless on A Line with most everyone dressed up in costumes. Unfortunately I didn’t have any thing out of the ordinary to sport.



Overall actually getting to live in Whistler was quite epic, and a great beginning to my year off of training, traveling, cooking, and racing! It got a bit cold and wet towards the end and I’m stoked to be back in Cali, until it gets too wet here :)

I also got to hit up the Air Dome before leaving and stopped to shred and eat in Ashland on the way down.

BC2011 Teaser Trailer

BC 2011 Teaser video from our friends Joz & Moz Zimmermann

This was a tough one. A few days ago I decided to finally sit down and have a look at all the footage that my brother Jonathan and I captured during our amazing summer in Whistler. 'Having a look at the footage' quickly turned into dragging all the files into my editing software and working my way through it. Well... I'm nowhere close to being done but here's a first glimplse at what to expect from us in the following weeks... enjoy!

Trek Session 9.9 Build

If you thought the V10 was light, check out this sub 29lbs Trek Carbon Session 9.9, complete with Split-Second DM. Full ride report to follow courtesy of VitalMTB

Fanatik Santa Cruz Carbon V10

Check out this beautiful 32.8lbs Santa Cruz Carbon V10 build courtesy of Fanatik Bike in WA. Click here for a full report!

Pinkbike Product Pick

Pinkbike has been putting out regular product picks on what they are using and like right now. Our Podium Pedals made the cut, click on the photo to hear what they had to say.

Pinkbike Tech Tuesday

Santa Cruz bikes product manager Josh Kissner runs you through some tips on keeping your VPP bikes fresh. Don't forget your Podium Pedals.

Pumptopia

Writer (and rider) in the field Lee McCormack, has been putting in some pump laps on our pedals. Check out this latest video from a new pump track in Oak Creek, CO...

Recent athlete photos

Some recent shots from our athletes...

Ian Massey - Northstar Pro GRT (ouch)


Jordan Lopez - Sandy, OR Super D

2011 Devinci Wilson

Sicklines just posted a review of the 2011 Devinci Wilson. Choosing tier one components like our Split-Second DM and Podium Pedal, no expense was spared. Click on the Sicklines link to read the full story!

Sandy, Oregon Super D - Jordan Lopez

Hey Everybody, Like many of this season, I had another great weekend of racing and growing in Oregon for the 4th and final round of the Oregon Super D Series. This weekends race was held in the town of Sandy and I must say that this venue was one of the best of the season. The “Sandy Ridge Trail System” trails are fast, fun, challenging and a rush from top to bottom and they encompassed every part of Super D/All-Mountain Racing; rock gardens, drops, table-top jumps, dozens of berms, and miles of single-track.



The course this year was a bit longer than the previous years and at 6.25 miles it was definitely one of the best courses of the season. In my race run I finished in 21:55 and with this time I finished in 11th and less than a minute out of 4th place. With hindsight being 20/20, I now see a few places where I could have pushed harder and gone for broke in my race run. This is a frustrating feeling, but I know that self-realization and self-motivation are at the core of racing.

Overall I had a amazing weekend of racing and riding in Oregon with some of the best All-Mountain racers in the country. Oregon Super D Series showed once again that they have the process of Super D/All-Mountain Racing figured out and they ran a seamless race with no hiccups and to top it all off they gave each racer their race time as they crossed the finish line. It was also great to see my teammate Lizzy English take the overall Pro Womens Title and watch my other teammates Timmy Evans Battle for the Pro Men’s #1 Plate

With the completion of the series, I am very excited to say that my final ranking for the Oregon Super D Series is 7th of 35 in the Pro Men category. With this series being one of the premiere Super D/All-Mountain events in the country and with my goal for this series being top 10, I am very happy. Now I am looking forward to improving this rank by 2 places and getting into the top 5 for the 2012 season.

With all of this being said, this race capes my 2011 season. Thanks to all my sponsors!

Sea Otter edit with Ian Massey

A Backyard with a View

Our friend Ian Massey has been spending time shredding the local pump tracks. Check out this article featuring him.

Photos by Jason Van Horn

Mammoth Mountain - Twilight Zone

Our friend Nick Simpson spent last week up at Mammoth Mountain, CA. Check out this short video riding Twilight Zone.

Whistler video part 2

Josh Maurer and Jamie Perugini are still up in Whistler riding and testing products, check out their latest video...

Oakridge, Oregon Super D - Jordan Lopez

Good Morning All,

The 3rd round of the Oregon Super D Series - Oakridge is a wrap and one to look back and learn from. Going into this race I was not going to be able to race on my GIANT Trance, this was due to a mistake made at my local bike shop which caused my fork to need to be sent back to SRAM for a full rebuild. With this happening and still wanting to race, I was forced to ride and race on my Dad's Blur LTc. Mind you, this is a very nice bike, but it is a size to small and it is set up for more his style of light riding.
The race course (Alpine Trail) was one of the most aggressive and physically demanding trails of the series and of my season. With 750' of climbing and 4,000' feet of descending in just over 12.25 miles, it is a lot more up than the numbers let on. We were able to get in 1 rough practice run on Friday (I rode with car lag and was dehydrated) and 2 more on Saturday. With each practice run little issues that I knew going to affect my race run kept popping up. They were the lack of chain guide and the overall size of the bike. With each run, the chain dropped off the ring at least 3 times and at each occurrence, I had to slow down significantly and allow the chain to climb back on. The other issue was the overall size of the bike. Being almost 6'4", my normal bike size is a XL and with my Dads bike being a Large, the 90mm stem and the seat post were both to short. I was forced to compensate with my riding on the stem and put the seat up as high as it would go, which was still about an inch to short. I knew this lack in post height, would caused me to not be able to pedal efficiently up the 3 steep climbs losing valuable time in the race.



All my issues and fears came to a fruition in my race run, which started strong, but when pedaling out of a corner, I dropped the chain out and off and proceeded to go over the bars, off the bike and down a small hill. I got back up and had to pick up the bike and slowly crank chain back on. This exact situation happened again about 6 miles later in one of the flat rolling sections of the course, but in this crash I slammed my right leg, just above my knee cap into the bars and a golf ball sized welt immediately popped up on the muscle. After struggling up the last long hill, I reached he last bit of the course which is all down hill and was one of the best parts of the whole race; steep and straight. Just to make things worse about 3/4 of a mile from the finish line I got a rear flat tire (yes with stans too) in a mild rock section and because of the flat I spun out and came to a complete stop in a long sweeping corner soon after. I proceeded to limp the bike to the finish line in 14th place with a time of 49:14.



I was definitely disappointed with my race but I had yet another great weekend hanging out with friends and having the ability to race in Oregon. With every race, the Oregon Super D seems to improve and with over 116 people competing in a little town in Middle Oregon the sport of Mountain Biking and All Mountain Racing get propelled in the right direction

My next race will be the 4th and final round of the Oregon Super D Series which will be held in Sandy, Oregon September 3rd & 4th.

Summertime in Whistler

Our friend Moritz Zimmermann is also up in Whistler BC, read his account from week one.

Almost a year ago my brother Jonathan and I decided to save up as much money as possible, leave our homes in Germany behind and do something awesome for once: Spend our summer in what has to be the best place in the world if you're at least somewhat interested in the sport of Mountain Biking... fast forward and here we are in Whistler, first week into our summer vacation!



In fact we arrived in the Pacific North West around 2 weeks ago since we decided to spend a few days with some friends in the US. After a long 9-hour-drive we finally made it to Whistler exactly a week ago and have been riding the park every day since. Luckily the weather has been rather nice lately so all the trails are running very fast right now... except for Una Moss which is still covered in snow. Note to self: Don't ever ride again ride a fire road covered in snow. It's simply not worth it.



Apart from the, we've been having a blast so far. The bikes are working like a charm and we haven't had any mechanicals so far (knock on wood...). When we got over here, we received a pair of shiny Podium pedals which work amazing. In fact it took me a while to get used to the outstanding grip they offer - you know that feeling when you're wearing brand new Five Tens? Finally I don't have to worry about my feet blowing off the pedals anymore. Thanks to Jimmy and the rest of the crew!



A few days ago Jonathan and I decided to spend a day shooting some pictures up on the mountain instead of riding all day long. This proved to be a rather interesting experience. Every time I head out to snap photos I'm surprised by how many factors you have to keep in mind when shooting a rider going down the hill and for the rider, constantly switching between pushing up the hill and riding down in front of the camera can be as exhausting as riding all day long. We're fairly happy with the way most of them turned out though. Keep your eyes open for some more updates in the next weeks - after all, we'll stay here for another 5 weeks... good times to be had!

Cheers from Whistler, BC
-Moritz Zimmermann

Josh Maurer - A Line, Whistler BC

Josh is up in Whistler right now doing some serious product testing, it looks like he is having fun too...

Team USA

Big congratulations to team athletes Curtis Keene and Christian Wright for making the USA World's team. Best of luck to them next month in Champerey, Switzerland.

Click here to read the full press release.

Crankworx Enduro DH - Max Houtzager

Whistler B.C.
Junior 16-18
Result: 1st (30:26)
FOOD



Last year the Richie Rally during my pilgrimage to Whistler became my favorite race, and this year it would be replaced. The multi stage, untimed climbs/timed downhills format combined well with the amazing group of racers and unbelievable trails. This year Crankworx adopted the format utilizing Richie Schley and Brian Lopes to lay out five downhill/super d stages for the Crankworx Enduro DH.

I practiced the all the courses once, saying each stage is my favorite after each one! Some ripping fast berms and jumps and tech root sections in the bikepark, pedally flowing constantly weaving trail riding in the 'xc' labryinth of Lost Lake trails, and a fresh cut world cup dh-style trail down the Blackcomb mountain. You were begging for a downhill bike half the time and a trail bike the other half. Discovering each stage's radness with the top 10 fastest pro men (world cuppers and legends from the US, Canada, and France), I had my favorite race experience before the start!

The race started in the Whistler Bike Park, allowing use of the lifts and racing down a moderately technical (as far as bike park dh goes) pedally selection of trails 4 minutes long. I pedalled hard and felt strong, my bike felt super light, maneuverable, and quick pedaling compared to riding my big bike. I didn't hang it out too much on the tech sections but kept it clean and smooth. Stage 1 of 5 done I already had a blast doing a little dh race and then it was time to cruise to Lost Lake Park. In between you're relaxed because your not racing, stoked on the race you just did and looking forward to some more!

I loved the two stages in Lost Lake because they were technical yet trail bike appropriate and pedally, exactly what I love. For these 7 and 3 minute stages I again pedaled strong and kept it clean since any little mistakes could completely kill your flow or stop you completely. Some railing loam, rock roll ins, and flowing roots/rocks and then it was already time to hit the biggest climb to the start of stage 4 on Blackcomb. 3 races in my legs = definitely starting to tire!

This was actually my favorite stage for sure. A solid 20-30 minute grinding fireroad climb to the start of an 8 minute dh stage, with one little climby fireroad section thrown in at the last 30%. The trail seemed fresh cut nearly the whole way down, making some sweet rocky rooty loam that never let up. And only after a brief time of rock roll ins with flat weaving sections between at the top you were going straight down. With out interruption. Everyone said this was the most technical portion, and had the top pros scratching their heads for lines to ride on their all mountain race rigs. I was totally on it bombing down in control getting loose just enough. A bunch of the pro men I knew were posted on the gnarliest section cheering me on (waiting for their starts). Halfway down it became hard to keep it together as my whole body was super fatigued, but I kept on it, reminding myself to really focus. Then it was pedal as hard as possible for under a minute, and ride slalom corners through the woods and flat ski run turns for the last 25% to the finish. This was my fastest stage relative to everyone else for sure.

We found out what position our combined times put us in our respective fields before the final stage, which was the longest stage, in the bike park again, and web-casted live! I was leading, but unaware by how much. I knew my competition was stronger on the downhill bike stuff, so really wanted to make it down mechanical free (my bike was definitely too light for the more dh stages) but still fast enough to keep my lead. I gave it my all to still pedal my eyeballs out where I could and go fast yet keep it together through all the roots, rocks and corners. After only about 1/4 of the run my arms and hands were dying as I held on for dear life on the steep rock slabs and tight rooty switchbacks of the Lower Whistler Downhill trail.

I definitely wished for more pedaling to give me more of an advantage, especially since there was a lot of recovery time between stages with waiting for staging / each individual start time. It was such a cool experience and being on a live webcast is pretty sweet to! You really had to give it in every stage unaware of the times. I was stoked on how I rode, the fastest in my category in every stage but the first one, however my time did not stack up in the pro field so I definitely need to hang it out a lot more to get up there and know I can.

E.T. Crankworx Pump Track

Great shot of Evan Turpen competing on the Pump Track at Crankworx.

Split-Second 90

Available now in both black anodized and raw aluminum!

Team Camp: Downieville and Nationals - Max Houtzager

Downieville Classic XC
Downieville, CA
Jr Expert 13-18
Teammates: Dario Fredrick, Will Curtis, Will Patterson, Nick Newcomb, Lucas Newcomb, Eliel Antila, Jonathan Kauffman, Taylor Smith
FOOD

Result: 1st (1:44)
After an awesome race last year I was looking forward to this event quite a bit. I underestimated the climb after feeling good on our preride and doing well last year, and had high expectations coming in more prepared. The climb was sustained and hot. I started in the top 5 on the road which was sweet and then settled into a decent pace on the dirt dropping back just a bit but began to lose positions halfway up the climb-mostly to all of the guys on our team (Lucas, Taylor, Nick, Riley) doing just the xc! I knew I had to ride my own race and not think about them. The top of the climb was super gratifying and Julia helpfully told me Taylor had 1.5 minutes on me, leading from our team.

Finding out how far ahead Taylor was got me super stoked because I knew I had the entire 50 minute descent to catch him on my all mountain steed! This gave me extra motivation to really kill the dh. I definitely got the flow on Butcher and kept my speed through all the technical rock sections, and then killed the waterfall section! A bunch of spectators cheered and it was quite epic. I caught Lucas in the middle and Taylor at the end of 3rd Divide and was incredibly stoked to come across the line first junior in both the XC and All Mountain categories, with a time putting me top 15 in the all mountain pro category (I only did top 20 last year).

Downieville Classic DH
Jr Expert 13-18
Result: 2nd (41:51)



The awesome part of racing Downieville in the All Mountain Category is once your done with the climb in the xc, you get to look forward to the most fun nearly hour long descent. Twice! First in the xc mixing it up with lots of other riders and keeping a moderate race pace on all the pedaling sections given you already climbed 3000 feet and then again in the downhill race, absolutely killing yourself to pedal all out at every chance you get for 45 minutes. At the finish of my downhill run I can easily say it was just as hard as the grueling xc.

I did just that as this year although I led the junior all mountain category by 5 minutes in the xc, a new points system meant that I had to finish stronger in the dh than 2nd place in order to win. And that was the goal after getting the All Mountain World Champion title two years in a row and $2300 Easton Haven Carbon Wheels on the line as a prize. Unfortunately I didn't have the run of my life. Although I found my flow and cleaned the waterfall in the xc, I wasn't quite able to do so in the dh. My front wheel slipped in the waterfall section, and then I slipped again getting up. My chain wouldn't go back on for 30+ cranks or ~10 seconds of trail afterwards. Before and after that I just wasn't that fast on Butcher. I knew at this point my run was probably over if Mason Bond (Giant Northstar, 2nd in the xc) had a clean run, so all I could do was pedal my eyeballs out and hope he had errors or didn't go that fast. I did just that, but unfortunately he had the run of his life, which is a really good one considering he lives an hour away from the course. His time placed 7th in Pro, right behind endurance downhill phenom Nathan Riddle. I was still stoked on my time, which was the second fastest expert time, and would have placed in the top 15 in pro and (I only did top 30 last year). In the end I still went pretty fast, rode pretty well, and am stoked to be moving up in the pro field for next year! Definitely wish I could have won the all mountain again but Mason put in a solid downhill (pts tie goes to the downhiller) with a blazing fast time (just over a minute faster)!

Nationals XC
Sun Valley, Idaho
Cat 1 17-18
Teammates: Keegan Swenson, Taylor Smith, Eliel Antilla, Tony Smith, Bobby Zidek
Result: 4th, 1:17 (52)



Combining ~10 consecutive weekends of racing/travel and all my training (and acclimation camp) with worlds qualification on the line for this race, there was a lot of pressure. The course was somewhat of a let down, but had pros and cons for me. The 8 minute sustained and steep gravel fire road climb was great while the non technical descent was not. With Howard Grotts and Keegan Swenson racing, as long as they kept a pulse a 3rd place was my best bet. Between my competition from Norcal, the AZ Devo kids, Casey Williams (Big Bear, CA) and Ryan Standish (US Citizen from Australia), and some more rocky mountain states kids, this would not come easy.



I thought they'd call up at least the top 10 ranked riders, but they did top 5, which did not even include Keegan with 3 pro xct's wins. I luckily weaseled my way in from the back to 2nd or 3rd row. I was nervous, but thought about how much worse it was at the world cup in Germany or the Swiss Power Cup, and that helped a lot. I clipped in quick and pedaled well off the line. I saw an opening on the far right side and decided to go for it instead of sprinting in the pack to get into position for the climb. There was a reason that it was clear... I began to slip and made every effort to stay upright and not slip out and was able to do so,but during this effort I dropped back to mid pack, and then there was a ball up and the running began. I had to run (somewhere in the last 5 riders) for at least 50 feet due to the steep loose road making it tough to get back on. I killed myself to get up to the front, making it nearly into the top 15.

At this point I basically tapped out and chilled behind the two riders in front of me on the descent. I thought I had no chance of a decent result, just looking forward to super d practice and the race being over. I recovered on the flat planning to just hit the climb hard again. Julia told me Taylor was a minute ahead. I felt good on the climb and went all out from the bottom, picking off more and more riders, stoked to see a lot of my originally threatening competition end up behind me. I passed Taylor and Will Patterson just before the top of the climb with Casey in sight.

The third climb was definitely the hardest as I wanted to catch Casey more than ever. I could see the gap shrinking and that he slowed down a lot at the last steep up previously so I gave it everything I had. After standing out of the saddle for the entire middle portion of the climb before the hardest steep ending, I did everything I could to stay up right as I made it up to right next to him. He had to get off and walk due to his 1x10 and then was running next to me at my same pace! I absolutely could not go any faster and this was really frustrating as we were on the fringe of the descent but the time it took him to get back on gave me a 15 second gap hitting the downhill.

Unfortunately, I rode the descent like a total nancy and he caught me half way down, hot on my heels, eager but not able to pass. We raced together through the flats and I could tell I felt stronger. I wanted to get a comfortable gap so went all out but in control up the climb knowing if I blew up, slipped out, or had to walk the top section I'd be in trouble. I got a pretty solid gap as I looked down and threw down, and ended up seeing Cypress (AZ Devo) in third up ahead! He had ~30 seconds on me so there was no way I could make it to him, with only half the climb left. I hit the downhill slightly better but still not the fastest and just made sure to hold it together to the finish, stoked to have worked my way up to fourth (1 minute down from 3rd, 30 seconds ahead of 5th).

I'm super happy with how I rode given my weak ability on the downhill and mess up at the start, and even more so to have made the podium in cat 17-18 nationals! Although the course was sub par I definitely had fun jumping the wooden fly over and surprisingly also riding through the parking lot rock garden. Everyone on the team absolutely killed it yet again and I'm glad to have been a part of all the success.



Nationals Super D
Sun Valley, Idaho
Cat 1 17-18
Teammates: Taylor Smith?
Result: 7th, 21:41 (56)

USA Cycling finally got the super d format right. Individual time trial starts with 30 second intervals and a course longer than 5 minutes. Unfortunately for me the course consisted off balls out fast fireroad and singletrack after a 350 foot 5 minute climb. I decided to lighten up my all mountain bike to feel more comfortable on all the super high speed loose slippery singletrack and blown out corners, instead of racing my xc bike.

I started behind Mason Bond (beat me in Downieviile DH by a minute) and in front of Taylor. I was gaining on Mason fast on the climb expecting to pass but after I closed the gap from 30 to ~10 seconds I couldn't get him. Just before the single track Taylor caught me on his epic and dropped in before me. Since he was clearly more comfortable on the course in practice I figured this would be great to follow his lines/speeds. Not so much. It ended up super sketchy following race pace blindly in the dust and trying to pull passes on the same rider traffic, only second. It also wasn't conducive to a fast time trial run since he could go all out where he was strong making up time on me but I couldn't push it where I was more confident. So much for the all mountain rig! I was pretty much able to hold onto his wheel until the start of the xc downhill where he gradually opened up another 30 seconds on me to the finish. It was pretty sweet to race almost the entire time with my teammate, ripping down the mountain. Enough excuses though, the competition was strong and I need to learn how to ride fast trails faster! I'm still pleased with another top 10 at nationals in a competitive field and my time was still quick enough to win all the other expert categories! Everyone from Whole Athlete killed the super d, especially Bobby and Taylor, getting 2nd and 3rd respectively. Time to train on some more fast Novato trails!

BEFORE these races as part of the Tahoe portion of the camp we also did a race in Reno. Here it goes:

Peavine Challenge XC
Reno, NV
Cat 1 19-39
Teammates: Dario Fredrick, Will Curtis, Will Patterson, Bobby Zidek, Nick Newcomb
Result: 1st



Preriding the day before I was convinced I wasn't even going to race. The heat, elevation, fatigue from previous training, and long non-punchy course led me to think I would maybe do the minimum 1.5 lap junior race. Prepping for the race with the team and knowing I'd be ripping it up with them beforehand got me amped enough to sign up for the grueling 2 lap Cat 1/Pro race (didn't really want to start 4th w lap traffic).

'm stoked on my decision as the course ended up being pretty fun at race pace especially with everyone else out there giving it. It seemed like a total road race as I settled into a pace with Dario, Will Curtis, and Clint Claussen and made it my goal to stick with them up the gradual yet never ending climb. I dug super deep and the dry air/elevation really struck during this time but I was stoked to make it. They opened up a gap and then I pretty much rode on my own for the rest of the race, getting passed by Gregg Stone and Don Myrah.

Riding the fast flowy single track through the meadows at the bottom as light on my bike as a cat was awesome as was the last bermed out techy gully section. I felt strong the whole time and hit the climb the second time pretty hard, ending up passing Dario in the process since he was having a few issues. The race was solid training and confidence inspiring going into Downieville and nationals given i'll only be more acclimated by then. Everyone killed it out there in the long hard race!

A Season Kickstart with Christian Wright

Mikey Sylvestri - Northstar Summer 2011

Also, a 1st place finish at last weekend's Northstar race...

Downieville All-Mountain Race Recap - Jordan Lopez

Hey Everybody,
All I can say is - "WOW...I'm glad that's over".
"The Downieville All Mountain Classic" is a race unlike any other and it tests every rider differently, but tests you none the less.
In climbing over 3250' in 20 miles on day one, riding through several rivers, mud pits and descending through snow drifts and loose rocks and waterfall...Downieville has it all.

XC:
Up until this point and with my season being primarily up in Oregon for the Oregon Super D Series and other Southern Oregon events, my training has been focused primarily on intervals and keeping a high pace for 25-40min. With this being said and with the Downieville XC being 1hour & 50min long (first hour is climbing), this race worked me over. I was ill prepared for this climb and I know that my race run this and the following day suffered for it. I finished in 36th overall for the day, but I knew the following day would be my saving grace.

DH:
The downhill course for 2011 was significantly shortened, 17miles to 14miles, due to a high snow volume on Sunrise Trail, and the course was a bit slower than previous years. This lack of speed was due to the myriad of issues previously mentioned. In my race run my focus was to try and stay smooth and get over and through the rough sections that were ending other riders runs. I had one good "get off" in a shale section on "1st divide" where the bike came to a stop and I jumped over the bars and ran down the hill. I finished the race in 22nd place overall with a time of 42:33.7. There were section on the course where I could have gone faster and pushed harder, but my desire to finish the race in one piece superseded my desire to go faster.

All Mountain Finishes:
XC - 36th
DH - 22nd

I want to thank you all for your support and products that have gotten me to this mid-point in the season:
PO1NT Stem - 90mm stem was perfect for the long climbs and rolling flats
Honey Stinger - Gave me the nutrition and quick energy I needed pre, during and post race
GAMUT USA - Guided my Chain and Protected my Drive system from the millions of rocks that were out to kill it
Enduro Fork Seals - Kept my forks, pivots and shock working smooth and consistent through all the grime and mud
ODI Grips - Kept my hands on the grips through the jarring of the dissents
CrankBrothers - Easy access into and out of the pedals through the mud sections and my wheels never bent or slowed down
Monster Energy - Helped me get back up and feel some semblance or normal after the abuses of each days race
Formula Brakes - Helped me control my speed and never faded at any point of the race

I now have a few week off before my next race, Oregon Super D #3 - Oakridge, and during this time I will continue to put in the necessary work to keep me near the top of the finish board

Thank you all again

2012 Stumpjumper Carbon EVO

Check out Curtis Keene put some proper testing on our Podium Pedals as he rides the new Specialized Stumpjumper...

Bend, Oregon Super D - Jordan Lopez

What a great weekend in Bend Oregon for the second round of the Oregon Super D Series and North American Enduro Series

Pre Race: We arrived in Bend Oregon mid-day on Friday and we were able to work in and through 3 good practice runs and 3 more on Saturday. The 7.7 mile long course consisted of dozens of sandy loose berm’s, flat sweeping turns, rock drops, rock jumps, rollers, and 100 vertical feet or so of climbing. All in all the course was in short a “pedal fest”; where the rider was pedaling 95% of the race, both up and down the hills.

Race Day: I was the 7th racer off of the morning and my run went well, minus 3 severely blown corners in which I came to a complete stop and lost my all important momentum. I ended up finishing the race in 7th Place with time of 26:07. Just to show the level of competition present for this series of races, 2nd place through 10th place were all within a minute of each other and for races of this length, this is unheard of. Yet again I had an amazing time racing in the Oregon Super D Series and I now look forward to the Downieville Classic where I will be racing in the “PRO Men All Mountain”.

Into Summer: Ashland and Wisconsin - Max Houtzager

I love ashland. Like last year, it gives me the first real taste of summer. The nice weather + re familiarization of some of the raddest trails ever combo works perfectly. There's also a large portion of the industry gathered making it cool to see, meet, and ride with so many different faces (the most stoked pro field with top endurance downhillers, downhillers, marathon xc riders, world cup xc riders, and more). Add in some of my favorite places to eat and awesome prizes and you get a truly great time.

This event was new to me since they skipped it last year. I couldn't use my xc fitness to win. The course was fast turny drifty double track that rides like singletrack with some tech rocks/massive ruts near the end. There were a lot of shin to waist high water bars / rollers to manual, jump, or suck up to keep and generate more speed which were super fun. Since most of it wasn't too steep any errors would be detrimental. Dialing in your lines/position/speed was essential to hit the sweeping turns fast without drifting too much. It's a total mind game between not over-braking or blowing corners, ruining your run completely. Some sections feel super slow without pedaling, which is unstressful as far as racing goes yet annoying while you must keep your head in the game. I had a clean run, nothing super loose or amazing but it was enough for a pretty fast time! loved pumping like crazy, tucking, and just riding as smooth as possible. I ended up 6 seconds faster than second place!

Ashland Mountain Challenge
Ashland, OR
Junior Men Open 13-18 (25)
Result: 1st (37:42)

Mostly remembering the pedaly nature of the course made me completely forget about the awesome downhill sections. From railing the upper loam to sliding sandy banked switchbacks around trees and some doubles in between at the bottom, with pumping some high speed Third Divide type flow in between, it's impossible to not have a blast.

I mainly killed myself up the main 4 minute climb and rode smooth is fast on the downhills. I definitely made fewer mistakes than last year and ended up with a clean but fast run (just not really what will get me a competitive time in the pro field). I did start to get a bit excited/rowdy on the bottom corners, trying to really get my roost on. I drifted completely around one of the last sandy switchbacks, hearing tons of sand and rocks thrown off the trail a second later. Easily the highlight of my race as it was like making one of the best powder slashes in snowboarding or off the tops surfing. Thinking about it still makes me smile.

I finished ~1 minute up from second place. Almost backing out of the trip to let my back heal faster in preparation for the big races ahead, I'm super stoked I went ahead with it. I even got a Rockshox Lyrik fork for the Super D and Elixir 9 Brakes for the Chainless Race! I look forward to returning next year and working my way up in the pro field.

Subaru Mt Morris Pro XCT
Mt Morris Nordic Ski Area, WI
Cat 1 17-18 (17 and 130 Cat 1's)
Teammates: none
Result: 3rd
FOOD HERE



Even beyond the race my whole experience on this trip was nothing less than amazing, from staying with team specialized in a kick ass house on a lake to riding an epic course. After some gnarly unfortunate travels (not that bad when your with awesome super knowledgeable Specialized USA Marketing Manager Sean Estes) I was a bit burned going into it but once I got to the front after a bottlenecked massive cat 1 field (thought juniors would get first call up like last year so missed the front line) I began duking it out the entire race- totally rad.

I lost a lot of time in the first wooded single track section from the ball ups, but did successfully work my way up in the field pretty fast given (far from my first time with this). I also fortunately discovered the most technical section of the course followed by sweet fast and flowy singletrack during the race, which added a lot to the tight twisty tacky east coast singletrack course. The third junior I caught was Ryan Standish (Merida Flight Centre, USA World Cup Team member and 3 time Ozzy Champ) at the top of the climb on lap 1 and then Payson McElveen early in lap 2.

The course was pretty hard to give it with few real climbing sections and short flats you had to really focus at any chance to pedal and use all those efforts to add up to a fast time. I wasn't quite by myself with other cat 1's yet not quite up there with Casey Williams (2nd, Bear Valley Bikes) and Brendon (Ellsworth Jeep, African Continental Champ) either making this nature of the course even harder. It was still sick having guys on my heals at every second. That's fun bike racing!

I even got paid for 3rd place overall in cat 1! Congrats to Casey for an awesome ride and Brendon Davids as well because he is really cool.

I'm glad with my performance and another consistent result. Can't wait to train in Tahoe, shred Downieville, and kill it at nationals!

Sol Vista Triple DHip

Great shots of Mikey Sylvestri at last weekend's Sol Vista Triple DHip. He managed an impressive win on Friday's first round. Scoring a 4th place overall!

Ashland Mountain Challenge - Jordan Lopez

Yet again, The Ashland Mountain Challenge was a huge success for the All-Mountain racing and definitely pushed the movement in the right direction and towards a greater popularity. With almost 400 racers, both men and women racing in all categories on the 12.12 mile course, the weekend could only be seen as a success.
I was able to get up to Ashland on Thursday Morning and after 3 practice runs and 1 more on Friday I felt very comfortable and confident for my race on Saturday.
My start time was bright and early Saturday Morning and at 8:20am the top of Mt Ashland was a brisk 48 deg. My run went good with no major bobbles or blown corners. In looking back, I would have like to run a 40t ring (I was topped out on both of the fire roads), but I stupidly left it at home.



I am very excited to say that I finished my race run in 35:59 which placed me into 19th place out of 67 PRO Men and overall. To show how tight the competition is at this race; 7th through 19th place were all in the 35 minute mark. For a race of this length of time and distance, this grouping is incredible.

I would like to specifically say thank you to Real World Cycling for the amazing pivot bearings, enduro fork seals, and suspension linkage bearings they sent out to me. My bike felt amazing all weekend and it was more responsive than ever.
A huge thanks is definitely necessary to Wild Bill and his lovely wife Sue at Ashland Mountain Adventures for another amazing event and for all of your hard work, it really paid off – http://ashmtnadv.com/

Fast Yeti

Couple photos of Brian's beautiful Yeti, happy new customer.

Family Rides

We always like doing our group rides, it gives us a great time to not only continue to test our products, but also to enjoy being in the presence of family. Here are a few recent ones from Santa Cruz and Morro Bay.