2012 Northstar Pro GRT

The Pro GRT entered Tahoe this week on the slopes of Northstar. Trails there are somewhat rocky and have that fine dust in most corners that when pushed hard enough will give way to the harder ground below. This dust also hides sharp rocks and a number of riders crossed the line with flat tires.

Boondocks was the trail being raced on. It has it share of turns, rocks and smaller jumps as it winds down the moutainside. Fast times for the day were in the low 4 minute range and being at decent elevation around 7000 feet,  conditioning could make a difference.

Riders started out facing straight down the mountain and faded left over scattered rocks, drops and smaller jumps into the trees. The trail is slightly off-camber and wound it's way back and forth a few times before riders came to the first big feature. It is a rock about 5 feet tall that sends riders onto pavers that feed into a washed out right hander. People are given the option of a go around or just send the drop. SOme of the faster riders were going out about 15 feet off of it.

After the drop the trail continues left through over rocks and some turns. Once through the turn riders go between two boulders. The next feature of note is a large boulder that sends riders down a wooden ramp. There were two routes here and although the boulder was funner to ride it makes you enter the trail again at a harsh 90 degree angle. The faster way to go was the alternate route that turned right before the boulder and fed riders into an s-turn and allow a bunsh more exit speed.

 

Again riders are fed left along Boondocks over soft soil and rock. It fades right and opens up a bit sending you over a small rock section. Once through that the trail goes through some turns and across one that is built out of wood. The trail is wide here and offers many line choices. Here the trail heads right and opens to full fireroad width. I happened to grab an image of Mikey Haderer here as it turns out they would not allow him to race for points because he had only one practice run in.

Once riders left this section the return to the tress and hit a few jumps they are smaller and most riders stayed low over these. Here Boondocks crooses another trail and riders are sent between two trees with a paver take-off. Once you drop between the trees it is almost entirely turns and high speed pedalling to the finish. At the finish there were two wooden ramps the one on the left was about ten feet high and launched riders into the sky while the other kept you low and was about half as tall. You heard amny a bike rub the rear tire when hitting the large sender on the way up the ramp.

Overall the Northstar Pro GRT offered riders a very fun course. It was not the most technical but had a few sections to give riders pause while still allowing amateurs and pro riders alike the exact same course to race. Turnout was lower than expected but two other events were happening the same weekend. We will post results once they become available and with also proved a link to images shot at the event later this week.

2012 Val d'Isere UCI World Cup Round 6

Round six of the Downhill at the Rockyroads.net UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano in Val d'Isere, France, turned out to be a much more difficult course than anyone anticipated, with many top riders crashing and performing below expectations.  Rachel Atherton (GT Factory) took her fourth win of the season to extend her lead in the women's standings, while Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker) took his first ever World Cup win in the men's race.  Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing), despite finishing fifth, locked up the men's overall title with one round remaining.

The rocky, open, alpine run was very different from most that the racers face on the World Cup circuit, and more than a few riders crashed in both training and qualifying.

In the women's race, Petra Bernhard (Alpine Commencal Austria) was the first to record a sub-2:50 run, but Myriam Nicole (Commencal / Riding Addiction) immediately took nearly seven seconds off the leading time, good enough to eventually finish fourth.  Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) then knocked a further second off, but the final two riders were in a class of their own.

World champion Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker) was 1.6 seconds faster than Pugin, but Atherton, the fastest qualifier, once again showed that her return this season, after struggling with injury, is complete - finishing a second and a half ahead of Ragot and recording the only sub-2:40 time of the day.

"I am so happy," stated Atherton.  "I think this is the most nervous I have been all year. This track is very, very difficult.  One day it's dry and then it's really, really wet, so tire and suspension changes are so important, and you don't know how it's gonna be on your race run.   Everyone was just playing it like a guessing game.

"I almost crashed today [in training]; I landed on my seat.  My stomach was hurting really bad, but I thought, this is like Fort William:  I need to just switch off and then switch back on for the race.   I have learned that from racing and crashing."

Atherton now holds an 80 point lead over Ragot, with Nicole a distant third at 892 points.

The men's competition for the last two seasons has been completely dominated by World Cup leader Aaron Gwin and his usual rival, Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate).  Between the two of them, they have won every single World Cup in last season and this, until Val d'Isere.  Every rider struggled on the fast, rough and rocky terrain, which was completely unforgiving of mistakes.  Gwin crashed in qualifying, injuring his hand and finishing well back.

In the Final, Thibaut Ruffin (Commencal / Riding Addiction) set the early best time, which stood for 16 riders until Matt Simmonds (Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof) bumped him by an infinitesimal six-thousandths of a second.  Simmonds in turn was displaced by Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory), who barely finished before Mick Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride) took the lead.  Gwin took the lead next by half a second, but Minnaar surpassed his rival by that same amount.  Gee Atherton (GT Factory) then recorded the first sub-2:20 time, but it wasn't quite enough, as MacDonald knocked a final half second off the lead to record his first victory.

"I can't even explain how I feel," exclaimed MacDonald.  "I had a solid run, no mistakes , it was one of those runs I was just pumped for.  I am over the moon about this one.  My early season has been a big struggle.  I was at a point where I was hating riding. So I changed a few things on my bike, and it has all paid off."

"This track was hard.  With the altitude, and being only two and a half minutes, you are just pushing the whole way.  If you make a mistake you lose time and you can't really lose time on this kind of track.  I put together a good run and I'm happy."

Despite having his consecutive World Cup win streak stopped at four, Gwin wasn't too upset.  "I have no excuses, I had a pretty good run.  For how I felt I am happy.  To win the overall again, it is so amazing, especially after this weekend.  I came in feeling good, and kinda had a bonehead moment in Qualifying.  Hurt myself a little bit.  It [his hand] was better than I thought it was going to be in the Finals; it didn't hurt too bad. I just got a little tired at the bottom. So I had to back it down at the bottom  to make sure I stayed on and I kinda backed it down too much, but it worked out.  Everyone loses some and wins some.  I have lost many more in my career.  I am just stoked to be up here."

Gwin now has 1260 points with one race remaining, an insurmountable 260 point lead over Minnaar.  The fight for second overall is far from over, with Atherton only 19 points out of second.

2012 POC Eastern States Cup 6 On The Windham World Cup Course Race

The POC Eastern States Cup continues to deliver the best racing in the country on the best tracks anywhere. July 14-15, two weeks after Aaron Gwin won his fourth UCI World Cup of the season on the Windham Downhill Race Track, the POC ESC will hold the sixth race of the POC ESC season on the same great course. Racers will be contesting their own battles on the “big boy’s track”. The fast racers will be able to hit all the same features as the World Cup stars did, there will be a few go-arounds offered for those not ready for the big features.

The top chute drop, the road gap and Peaty’s Plunge will all be open to ride and race. The container drop will be reconfigured to a step down but the rest of the big jumps will be open for all classes.  The Citizen’s course will also be open to have some fun chill runs on. You guys asked for this and the POC ESC delivered, now we need everyone to continue to show Windham the great support that was delivered at UCI World Cup.

Windham Mountain offers their Adventure Park for summer thrills. Race your friends down dual zip lines that are 40 ft above the ground.. New York's first Big Air Bag will keep everyone entertained while jumping down 30 feet. The Adventure Park is open Saturdays & Sundays 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. from June 23, 2012 thru October 8, 2012.

The POC Team Challenge is heating up with 14 teams battling it out for the $1000 cash purse. It’s not too late to form a POC ESC team and register one for the POC Team Challenge cash. The ESC pro racers are competing for a maximum $1600 cash purse at this and every race. The ESC continues it’s tradition of bringing the Northeast Downhill racers an affordable, competitive and fun events.

Twenty-three women racers are in the running for the Loeka Women’s Challenge. The top 4 women will split $1000 at the finals in October. There are still a lot of races left to score points. Please check out al the details and standings at www.easternstatescup.com.

Race Entry

Pro Men & Women $ 75.00

Categories 1,2 & 3  $ 65.00

Includes Lift Tickets for Both Saturday and Sunday.

Location: From Exit 21 on I-87/New York State Thruway is just 23 miles on a state highway Route23 making it easy to get to.

Schedule July 14 and 15

Registration: Saturday 8am-2pm and Sunday 8am-10am Practice Saturday: 9am-3pm open.   3pm-4pm Pro and Cat 1 Only Practice Sunday 9am-11pm open.    11am-12pm Pro and Cat 1 OnlyRace Sunday 12:30 pm

2012 EASTERN STATES CUP SCHEDULE May 20 Mountain Creek, NJ.

• May 27 Plattekill, NY            
• June 3 Attitash, NH
• June 10 Pat’s Peak, NH
• June 24 Mount Snow, VT
• July 15 Windham, NY
• July 29, Killington, VT
• August 5 Mount Snow, VT
• August 12, Plattekill, NY
• August 19 Killington, VT 
• Sept 2 Plattekill, NY        
• Sept 16 Attitash, NH       
• Sept 23 Jiminy Peak MA
• Oct 7 Plattekill, NY 

2012 Ancient Peaks Race 1

The second ever race at the Ancient Peaks venue has come and gone. Riders last year had a hard time through the Rack garden that was built so they adjusted that some on the Pro and Expert line. The downhill course otherwise was pretty similiar. They also added a Dual Slalom course for this event and they had a number of entrants for it.

The downhill is loaded with a high-speed fireroad start that shoots riders left into the trees. Once into the trees riders hit berms and drops ranging from 3-4 feet. SOme of the corners are bermed while others are off camber. There was very little rain so the upper section was very loose and made it hard on some riders to carry speed through the off camber tunrs for sure.

Once you get through the turns you enter the high-speed berm section where riders can bury their suspension and be launched out towards the triple that gives riders the option of doubling if they cannot make the 35 or so foot leep.

After that riders are shot back into the woods and off a ladder drop and speed once again picks up with wide open corners then the tight s-turns come up to slow riders down. The trail gets progressivly steeper and has two sharp turns at two points here. Once through this you cross an open section and a wood bridge over a small stream.

The next section has two route the Pro/Expert line is through the Rock garden while Beginner/Sport go around. After exiting the rocks you have a G-Out into and uphill that fades right amny riders had problems here. Afte this is speeds up winding riders through the trees and across the finishline.

Dual Slalom riders had a cours that was filled with deep berms and flowy jumps. Turnout was lower than expected for this and some people entered with downhill bikes just to ride it. They spent a number of months building it and hope to have better turnout next time around for the Dual race.

Overall the course was pretty smooth there were a few sections with a little chop in them. Some riders that had two bikes to choose from went for the ones with suspension over the hardtails. MikeyHaderer ended up beating out Kyle Hogan in the final for the Slalom race.

Due to a lack of rain the race scheduled for July has been push back until winter. At this point no definate date has been loacked down but we will post it as soon as we hear something! The riders that came out thanks for your support and we hope you had a good time riding the trails Nate and his crew have spent so many hours working on.

2012 Ancient Peaks MTB Classic Images

2012 Ancient Peaks Results

   Plc   Bib Athlete                Age   Time        Plc/Tot-----Division-------  
 ===== ===== =====================  ===   =========== ===========
     1    29 Kyle Hogar             27    0:02:34.56  1/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
     2   108 Mike English           28    0:02:41.10  1/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
     3   123 Jeff Kendall-Weed      27    0:02:47.90  2/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
     4    13 Kevin Pabinquit        27    0:02:48.39  3/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
     5   125 Jeff Bowers            27    0:02:49.21  2/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
     6   167 Dean Abrams            37    0:02:49.29  4/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
     7   151 Owen Raybould          24    0:02:50.09  3/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
     8   162 David Digeronimo       32    0:02:50.94  5/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
     9   157 Kyle Blew              23    0:02:51.32  4/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    10    76 Mikey Haderer          26    0:02:53.86  6/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    11   140 Daniel Brisbon         27    0:02:57.02  7/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    12     8 Vance Bennett          20    0:03:00.15  5/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    13   107 Chris Cowan            33    0:03:01.17  6/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    14   105 Nate Furbee            19    0:03:01.77  8/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    15   154 Preston Moore          25    0:03:02.84  9/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    16   146 Ryan Cerf              24    0:03:03.02  7/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    17    40 Tyler Matejcek         27    0:03:03.36  1/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    18   155 Ryan Quinn             21    0:03:03.83 10/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    19   150 Josef Duller           24    0:03:04.41  8/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    20    39 Andrew Soto            23    0:03:06.16  2/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    21   144 Dan Troyan             23    0:03:08.05  9/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    22    51 Will King              29    0:03:09.69 10/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    23   160 Tyler Kaplan           21    0:03:10.15 11/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    24    98 Nik Nestoroff           0    0:03:11.06                                     
    25    21 Thomas  Phelan         13    0:03:11.08  1/3  BEGINNER_MEN_JUNIOR 13-18     
    26    28 Vahe Aivazian          44    0:03:13.62  1/2  EXPERT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44      
    27    16 Michael Hoeke          27    0:03:14.78 12/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    28   166 Ryan Bush              24    0:03:15.35  3/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    29    20 Gus Phelan             17    0:03:16.29  2/3  BEGINNER_MEN_JUNIOR 13-18     
    30    59 Jacob Federspiel       27    0:03:16.94 13/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    31    55 Brandon Kowalski       27    0:03:17.52  4/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    32   159 Bryan Humberg          24    0:03:18.58 14/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    33   138 Braedon Freeland       28    0:03:20.96 11/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    34   137 Scott Snider           28    0:03:21.11  1/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    35    66 Dan Miller             21    0:03:21.26  5/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    36    30 Jeff Nicol             20    0:03:23.01  6/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    37   888 Paul Wintermute        39    0:03:24.38  1/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    38    52 Kyle Kinne             16    0:03:24.61  1/4  SQUIRTS 18/UNDER              
    39   153 Dan Haeger             26    0:03:25.14 12/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    40    42 David Miller           22    0:03:26.10 15/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    41   104 Cory Maxwell           27    0:03:26.65  7/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    42   165 Matthew Guise          25    0:03:27.01 16/16 EXPERT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34       
    43   114 Brian Nestoroff        45    0:03:28.72  1/1  EXPERT_MEN_MASTER 45+         
    44   134 Ryan Durazo            16    0:03:33.90  2/4  SQUIRTS 18/UNDER              
    45   133 Matt Gomez             16    0:03:37.50  3/4  SQUIRTS 18/UNDER              
    46   158 Aaron Murano           25    0:03:39.06  2/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    47    62 Scott Burns            40    0:03:40.06  2/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    48   148 Ryan Cleek             36    0:03:40.07  2/2  EXPERT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44      
    49   102 Lyle Bergerson         36    0:03:41.42  1/5  BEGINNER_MEN_VETERAN 35-44    
    50   142 Brad Cristea           44    0:03:41.79  3/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    51    11 Jake Mallory           27    0:03:42.93  8/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    52   111 Eli Coplen             40    0:03:43.91  4/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    53   152 Bryan Worth            24    0:03:44.33 13/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    54   132 Jeremy Donk            15    0:03:44.51  4/4  SQUIRTS 18/UNDER              
    55   110 Tony Elkin             50    0:03:48.64  1/3  SPORT_MEN_MASTER 45+          
    56     2 Kevin Kaizuka          45    0:03:50.91  2/3  SPORT_MEN_MASTER 45+          
    57     1 Josh Machado           40    0:03:54.02  2/5  BEGINNER_MEN_VETERAN 35-44    
    58   143 Heather McFadden       26    0:03:54.39 14/14 PRO_MEN 13+                   
    59   141 Spencer Kibbe          16    0:03:57.58  3/3  BEGINNER_MEN_JUNIOR 13-18     
    60   161 Jim Aaron              56    0:04:00.70  3/3  SPORT_MEN_MASTER 45+          
    61   126 Jeff Owen              32    0:04:07.17  3/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    62   156 Connor O'Dowd          21    0:04:09.92  9/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    63     5 Brandon Kato           39    0:04:10.81  3/5  BEGINNER_MEN_VETERAN 35-44    
    64     4 David Hamilton         40    0:04:13.41  5/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    65    54 Kimberly Engelhart     28F   0:04:20.23  1/3  SPORT_WOMEN_SENIOR 19-34      
    66   109 Stephen Greene         22    0:04:21.27 10/10 SPORT_MEN_SENIOR 19-34        
    67    23 Adam Coleman           27    0:04:21.86  4/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    68   163 Matt Mahoney           23    0:04:33.56  5/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    69   147 Erik MacPherson        38    0:04:43.52  6/6  SPORT_MEN_VETERAN 35-44       
    70    53 Jon Kinne              41    0:04:53.19  4/5  BEGINNER_MEN_VETERAN 35-44    
    71     6 Rachel Carscaden       30F   0:04:54.08  2/3  SPORT_WOMEN_SENIOR 19-34      
    72   116 Christina Lee          27F   0:05:43.12  3/3  SPORT_WOMEN_SENIOR 19-34      
    73    41 Aaron Aquino           40    0:06:06.33  5/5  BEGINNER_MEN_VETERAN 35-44    
    74    12 George Van Worth       27    0:09:50.83  6/6  BEGINNER_MEN_SENIOR 19-34     
    75   100 Participant Unkown     55   12:50:47.81  1/1  BEGINNER_MEN_MASTER 45+       

Banshee Legend MKII Review

Banshee has been making bikes for about nine years now. They started off building hardtail and heavy steep angled North Shore skinny bikes. They began to develop a bigger range in bike throughout the years and began branching more into the cross country and all mountain segments.

In about 2005-2006 Banshee hooked up with Keith Scott who was working on his Master's Thesis. What he outlined for that paper would come to be know as The Banshee Legend. This bike was put into testing for about 4 years. Over 70 frames were handed out around the world and the bikes where ridden hard and put away wet.

After gathering all the riders input and fine tuning the design and making alterations it was ready for production. The Banshee Legend MKII was released to the public in 2009. It was low, slack, light and ate up rough terrain just what the general downhill population had been asking for.

Going over the various suspension designs that could be used to build Banshee's first World Cup level race frame they decided to go with a slightly altered VPP design. This would give the benefits of less pedal bob from chain stretch along with still having a fairly active suspension system. Check out Keith's Thesis at the bottom of the page to learn more about The Banshee Legend MKII design process.

2010 Banshee Legend MKII Build

• Frame Banshee Legend MK II Large
• Fork Manitou Dorado Pro
• Rear Der. Shimano M810 GS Saint
• Shifters Shimano SLX
• Crankset Shimano Saint 165mm 36 Tooth
• BB Shimano
• Chainguide E Thirteen LG-1
• Cassette SRAM PG 970 11-26
• Chain SRAM PC 951 9sp
• Brakes Formula K24 ORO
• Brake Levers Formula
• Bars Easton Havoc Low 31.8
• Stem Twenty 6 F1 Stem
• Cane Creek Angleset
• Pedals Twenty Six Prerunners
• Seatpost Thomson Elite
• Saddle WTB Devo carbon Team
• Wheels WTB Laserdisc DH 20mm F and 12mm by 150mm rear.
• Tires WTB Dissent DH F/R Kenda DH tubes

Complete Banshee Legend MK II Test Here