Squamish, BC

Our friend and Royal Racing designer Tavish Capewell did some pedal testing up in Squamish, British Columbia. Check out the photos of trees, wooden ramps and loamy dirt.

Crankworx Canadian Open

Emmeline Ragot took a convincing win by over 5 seconds at the Canadian Open DH race! This was capstone event for the 2010 Whistler Crankworx and also one of the most difficult. Another successful Crankworx for the young French rider, congratulations!





Pro Men results
Pro Women results

Crankworx Air DH & Pumptrack - E.T.

The Air DH went off last Wednesday and I managed to pull off a 6th place result! Stoked!!!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Air DH, it is a race down Whistler's famous A-line trail. It consists of almost 100 jumps, berms, and drops over the course of its four and a half minute length. It favors riders with strong legs, berm-railing skills, and the ability to stay low and fast over jumps.

Since practicing with Brian Lopes the day before (the multiple time winner of this race) I knew how fast you had to go to win. REALLY FAST!

After being dropped by Lopes on his 32lb carbon bike with semi-slick tires, I changed to some faster rolling Schwalbe tires for the race.

The changes paid off and I came down into the hot seat with a time nearly a second faster than last year's winning time. I would sit through 40 or so more riders before anyone could best my time. In the end I would finish just 1.1 seconds off of the top 3 podium in 6th place! Yeah!

The next day (Thursday) was my last official event of the trip, the Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge.



A pumptrack is a flat course that loops around with rollers and berms to generate speed from. This particular course was made symmetrically with a start platform in the middle. After qualifying by time trial format, riders were arranged in head-to-head brackets just like dual slalom. They had us start on the platform facing opposite directions with your hands and feet off of the bike. Once the announcer started the race it was a mad dash to get on your bike and around the track as fast as possible. Whoever completed the one lap the fastest would advance to the next round. Simple as that.

I made it through the first round easily due to qualifying 11th place out of 32. Second round was much closer with me winning by only 0.2 of a second. In the round of 8 I was paired up with Brendan Fairclough and would lose by the amazingly small margin of 0.03 seconds! Brendan made it past one more round and eventually finished 2nd to young Mitch Ropelato in the finals. Overall it was a killer first time event and I am happy to pull a top 8 finish from it.

This trip has been an amazing experience thus far. I have had some big crashes, good races, awesome swims, great parties, and more fun than you can shake a stick at! Definitely glad I decided to make it happen, I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Now I just have to decide whether I want to go hang out at the lake...or ride my bike. Hmm...decisions, decisions! I think I'll do both!

Catch ya later!

Evan

Crankworx Air DH

Yesterday at Crankworx was the infamous Air DH race. Being smooth to carry your speed is definitely the key to winning this race. Brian Lopes does not disappoint again, taking his 6th win. Point One Racing's Evan Turpen took an impressive 6th place, just barely off the podium! Emmeline Ragot finished 2nd in the women's category.



Emmeline Ragot - 2nd


Evan Turpen - 6th


Full results

Crankworx Garbonzo Downhill

Crankworx is here and yesterday was the Garbanzo DH at Whistler Mountain. With the fastest times in the 13-14 minute range, this course is no walk in the park. With some of the most technical and steep terrain that Whistler has to offer, it is one of the hardest downhill races around. Our local boy Evan Turpen finished an impressive 10th place against some heavy world cup hitters. Awesome job!

Look for E.T., Emmeline and Cody to have some more strong finishes as the week goes on...



Cody Eichhorn - 34th


Emmeline Ragot - 4th


Full results

White Mountain

Allen Stoddard has been racing and training hard this season. Check out some photos from White Mountain in Pebble Beach, CA. Keep up with Stod through his website.











Photos by Tony Tarumoto

Team Geronimo - The Sol Vista Sessions

Catch up with Team Geronimo as they spend the day riding Sol Vista.

E.T. visits HQ

Evan Turpen was in town after his vacation and stopped by the shop to get some fresh goodies on his bike. E.T. is now on his way to Whistler for Crankworx. Keep your on eye on the results sheet, look towards the top.

Crankworx Colorado DH

Crankworx DH was a wet and wild mess. Team Geronimo had some good results with Brian Buell taking 5th place, Cody Eichhorn in 12th and Michael Buell in 18th. Awesome job guys!





Results

Val Di Sole World Cup

Congratulations to Emmeline Ragot on her 2nd World Cup win! Stay tuned for the finals at the end of the month from Windham, NY.