2012 Ancient Peaks Race 1 6/1-2

April 20, 2012 – San Luis Obispo - The privately owned, 14,000 Santa Margarita Ranch is set to open its gates yet again to eager downhill and cross country riders this June and July. Featuring improved cross country and downhill courses and a new dual slalom track, the course has been built specifically for this event by local volunteers and MTB activists. Riders do not have access to the trail systems outside event dates. 

Ranching is an expensive proposition, and this ranch is huge: 14,000 acres – the size of Manhattan and populated mostly by cows and vineyards. Its owners were looking for ways to bring additional income from the land without a lot of impact so when Yishai and Kristin Horowitz, owners of All Out Events, proposed a mountain bike course, they jumped at the idea. All Out Events and the ranch worked together to ensure minimal impact on the environment and the ranch is excited to see these trails on their property. But rather than just trails, the idea is to make this a premier racing event.

The first weekend, June 2-3 features downhill, cross country, dual slalom, and short track races along with an awesome festival. July 21-22 is the Ancient Peaks Gravity weekend, offering only the gravity events – “Demand was so high for another weekend of racing,” say Yishai Horowitz, owner of All Out Events, “We’re adding a dual slalom and short track event to the gravity days – and we’re making two weekends of gravity so fans can get their shuttles up to the top and dominate our insane course.”

Last year’s cross country course was done in less than four months,” says Kristin Horowitz, “there were some awkward things we did that we’re redesigning this year based on feedback and our own feelings about the course. It should be a lot more fun and flowy this year.”

New this year will be the dual slalom course, designed by the same master mind as the downhill: Nate Lewis. Nestled into the hillside overlooking the festival venue, this is sure to be a crowd favorite. None of this would have been possible without the support of area riders and activists coming out all year long to produce these trails – whether it’s working with a McLeod and a shovel or it’s simply riding the course to pack it down, this event couldn’t be possible without San Luis Obispo county residents chipping in.

“We designed these trails to be some of the best cross-country and gravity racing on the west, “ says Horowitz. “If you ride a fat-tired bike, you need to be here.” The event benefits Team Duke – part of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation – encouraging athletes to make their endeavors bigger than themselves by fundraising to stop cancer.

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Don't Square It Up... - More Mountain Bike Videos

The first mountain bike race weekend from All Out Events. This is a practice run for the DH course. Great race, great course and great organizers.

DRD Intense's Lauren Daney Takes 1st At Mountain Creek Pro GRT

Vernon, New Jersey (May 21, 2012) – DRD Intense’s Lauren Daney captured her professional win of the season this past weekend at the Eastern States Cup ‘Spring Classic’ at Mountain Creek Bike Park in Vernon, New Jersey.   The newly designed racecourse provided racers with long, fast & challenging terrain to test any competitor.  Lauren’s victory would be hard earned, as she took things to the limit, and just a bit beyond!

“It was a rough, but great weekend for me,” said a battered, but ecstatic Lauren Daney.  “I was still getting accustomed to my bike, and getting it set up for my riding style, then I took a big spill in practice.  I was a pretty sore, so I wanted to save myself for race day.”

A beaten Lauren Daney managed to start her seeding run in order to make finals on Sunday.

“All I wanted to do was make it down the hill,” said Lauren.  “I kept things smooth, but fast & didn’t take too many risks.  This seemed to be the winning ticket to take today’s win!  I’m pumped!”

With her victory, Lauren takes over the 2012 Pro GRT series points lead.  Lauren now heads to Plattekill Bike Park in Plattekill, NY for the 2^nd round of the Eastern States Cup on May 27.

Follow Lauren & the rest of the ‘DRD Intense’ professional mountain bike team at http://www.facebook.com/DRDIntense

Lauren Daney & DRD Intense is proudly supported by the following sponsors…

• Dean Racing Development
• Intense Cycles
• ARMA Energy
• ONE Industries
• Shimano
• ODI Grips
• Sun-Ringle
• Marzocchi Suspension
• MRP
• SDG Components
• Maxmia Racing Oils
• SOL REPUBLIC
• GEAX Tires
• Bike Vault Bike Shop

Trek World Racing Make It a 1-2 At The 2012 Mountain Creek Pro GRT

Last weekend and this coming weekend sees back to back rounds of the Pro GRT on the East Coast of the USA, which all three DH riders from Trek World Racing are supporting. Yesterday saw the riders at Mountain Creek, at Vernon, New Jersey, home of the former US Open, and now the new Mountain Creek Bike Park which Aaron Gwin had the honor of officially opening on Saturday.

The event still carries a great prize purse and the fans are always vocal and big in number. Aaron qualified fastest on Saturday with a 2m 13secs, but Neko Mulally was a non-starter after injuring his ankle in a training incident. Perhaps best characterized as a serious sprain, the injury means that Neko was best to opt out of racing until he can put his weight back on the foot, most likely next week. Here's what he said:

"I stuffed my foot into the ground and twisted my ankle pretty bad. My foot slipped off the front of my pedal and planted onto the ground and then my pedal hit the back of my calf and caused my ankle to hyper-extend. I plan to keep the weight off it and the doctor says it should feel better in a few days. The goal is to be 100% ready for Val di Sole (Italy, World Cup #2), and I'm going to be as smart as I can to make sure that happens. It sucks, I didn't even crash, I just slipped a pedal following Justin. I didn't even lose speed but I just couldn't put weight on it when I got it back on the pedal."

The remaining two riders took to the final and in the super-hot conditions, staying well hydrated was key to getting a great run in. Aaron bettered his qualifier by 3 seconds to tak e the win in 2m 10secs, and now leads the series. Justin Leov took second with a 2m 14secs, making it a great 1-2 for the team.

Aaron said: "It was a fun weekend here in Vernon. I rode well today and I felt good. It's all building towards Italy and each time I race I feel better and better."

Justin said: "My run was good, after having a 'near season ender' in seeding yesterday, today was all about just having a solid top to bottom run and I achieved that. I will continue to build next week and should be on key for Italy."

The downhillers go to Plattekill, New York for the next round this weekend. Neko will decide on Friday whether or not he needs to race on the weekend.

More info on the Pro GRT series available here:

http://www.usacycling.org/progrt

Nukeproof Launches Proto DJ Frame

Less than a month after the release of our Rook slopestyle bike we’re excited to bring you news of our prototype dirt jump frame which will be unveiled at this week’s iXS Dirt Masters Festival in Winterberg, Germany.

An ongoing development project with newly signed Nukeproof rider Jack Fogelquist, the frame uses custom triple-butted steel tubing with a 44mm headtube, gold anodised alloy chain tension adjusters, an integrated gold alloy seat clamp and removable cable guides.

The frame, available in regular and long, is designed around a 100mm travel fork and uses geometry based on Jack’s personal setup. Priced at around the £350 mark we’ll be unveiling the full production model at this year’s Eurobike show.

You can get a sneak peak of the prototype version of the frame at this week’s iXS Dirt Masters Festival in Winterberg, Germany. For more information head to the

Dirt Masters website.

Ian Morrison And Steve Smith

World Cup racing takes DGR ripper Stevie Smith far afield. He’s sampled Pisco in Chile, kangaroo in Australia, explored game reserves in South Africa, seen the fjords of New Zealand, and crisscrossed Europe from boot to mullet. While abroad, Stevie constantly hears about all the amazing riding at home, in British Columbia. Early in the 2012 season during Devinci Global Racing team discussions, he mentioned B.C.’s epic terrain and trying to sneak in some sample time. 

Because there is no time like the present to re-experience B.C.—and with a one-month break in the World Cup schedule—it was on. Springtime in Pemberton is the time. Tacky hero dirt is out and ready to be hit before it expires and desert-like conditions sink their teeth in for summer. 

With Whistler Bike Park opening on the Canadian May long weekend, local shredder and Devinci ambassador, Ian Morrison, was looking to sharpen his skills—preparing to wreck dreams in the upcoming Wednesday beer league races. Ian is known as the “scrub master.” He finished 6th in the 2011 Crankworx A-line event, solidifying his reputation as a force. At home he’s a style-driven rider focused on beer league race scene domination… and holding his own at one of Gold's famous GLC after parties. When Ian was asked to do some early-season riding with Stevie, it was time to detonate the bomb. 

Some words from Mikey Goldstein at Goldstein Productions: 

I met Ian Morrison close to 10 years ago working at a golf course together in Whistler. There was never a dull day. Ian found countless ways to turn tedious tasks into fun. He hasn’t changed since. Shooting with Ian and Stevie was hands down the best time I’ve had shooting yet. Stevie may be one of the top racers in the world, but stick him with Ian and just like any young guys in their early 20s, they can't pass up the chance to roll a big rock down a hill. We all knew that Devinci’s Gabe Fox always wants to see the footage as soon as possible… of course we had to mess with him a bit. While shooting, we decided to make our own joke version of a rough cut for Gabe to preview, and got him good.