2012 Team BGB/MK Windham GES Report

Why would Team BGB-Mountain Khakis drive 15 hours to the state of New York? Let’s see.... Thursday/Friday ride your bike in the woods, Saturday race on a closed course,  Sunday a free day to watch the best Downhill Racers in the world. Sold yet? No sales pitch required here..... WE ARE THERE! 

But what would we see after that long haul? The town of Windham had a rough closing to 2011 with Tropical Storm Irene leaving the town in total devastation. With challenge comes strength, the UCI World Cup and sister Gravity East Series race were back for yet another year. We all have to thank the race organizers and towns people for their efforts, bouncing back to make it all happen in 2012. Pulling into town, really the only visible reminisce of what took place in late August was the creek bed is now 3X wider than it used to be. Most importantly, at least to the team (quick shout out), “The Country Store” still stands!..... the best darn breakfast in all of New York State. A MUST stop if you ever decide to make the trip yourself! Trust us! 

Hotel still there – Check! Unload – Check! Some badly needed sleep – Check! Time to head up to the resort for the start of the 4 day event and first the course walk. Expecting to see some major water damage to the trail, but to no avail, for the most part there wasn’t much of any significance. Yeh, there were a few spots were you could tell that a Kayak would be in order on a wet and rainy day, but the flood really only resulted in a few course changes from the previous year. Props to the trail crew! 

With the weather/temps on our side and having to mix in with the UCI schedule, race day was late Saturday evening with the last rider heading down the course at almost 7:00 p.m. With the light diminishing fast and forcing some riders to question, “Should I have brought my night riding gear?” Team BGB-MK Pro Max Morgan was able come across the line with a time that put him into 13th spot. Considering that 80% of the riders that finishing just in front of him were World Cup Riders that failed to make one of the 80 spots in the WC field, you can’t argue with that result! Congrats Max! All other Team BGB-MK results are listed below. Congrats All Around Guys! 

Overall, as it was in 2011, GREAT TIME! Congrats to Aaron Gwin (USA) for his win in the UCI World Cup at Windham. Independence Day came early for the good ole US of A! We are glad to see the town as had such a great comeback and can’t wait to see you all again next year! Thanks to Daniel McDonald and the whole crew at the GES Series for a great event. 

Next up on the Team’s schedule.... we just love July! Just two weeks and it’s the second biggest event of the year, 

the 2012 US Gravity National Championships at Beech Mountain Resort.  

Team BGB-MK Results: 

Men’s Pro:   

13th – Max Morgan 

Men’s Cat 2 30 -39:   

16th – Nick Frantz (Flat Rear Tire) 

Men’s Cat 2 18 and Under:   

9th – Nich Ifkovits 6:33.66 

Thanks to all our sponsors: Mountain Khakis, Billy Goat Bikes, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Loaded Precision 

Components, Black Market Bikes, Feedback Sports, Smith Optics, Zerode Bicycles, POC Sports, Suspension Experts. 

Aaron Gwin WIns WIndham WC 5 While Leov Announces Retirement

In front of the partial home crowd and a large contingent from the Gwin family, Trek World Racing's Aaron Gwin took his 4th World Cup win of the season, and a career 9th, when he bested the rest of the world class field here in Windham, New York. Drowned out by chants of U-S-A, U-S-A, Aaron battled to find the words to describe the feeling of winning in front of his American fans.

Aaron said: "Whether I won or lost today I knew the fans would have my back and be supportive of my racing, but there's no doubt that the win here feels very special. You can hear the fans all the way down and i t pushes you on. I actually took the chairlift quite late today and it allowed me to see what times the top guys were posting and I knew I'd have to be on it to win. I made a mistake early on where I hit 3 course marking poles and I know I lost time in the first sector but I was trying to stay cool and keep the pace right to the line. Walking out onto the podium here with the US flag here means a great deal to me."

Meanwhile it was a bittersweet weekend for Justin Leov. For a number of months now he has been preparing to announce that this season will be his last on the World Cup DH circuit. It's his 10th season and his career includes many highlights such as 3 World Cup podiums, winning some US national events, Crankworx Garbanzo, and importantly having a major impact on the careers of Aaron Gwin and has compatriots Sam Blenkinsop, Cam Cole and Brook MacDonald.

Justin said: "I've given this a lot of thought and for me there's no question that this is the time t o announce my retirement. The sport has given me a great 10 years, and these last 4 with Trek World Racing have been the real highlight. There are other things for me to do and both me and my wife Tory are looking forward to the future. I'll be giving it my all for the next races and aiming for the best results possible, I'll always be a super competitive and committed person but for now it’s time to turn these traits to another life."

In his last practice run before the final Justin smashed a tree with his left hand and raced the final with a suspected broken finger. The damage was evident but x-rays later confirmed he escaped serious injury and is off to Highland Park, NH, next week to race.

Team Director Martin Whiteley said: "While I've known for some time that this will be Justin's last year on the circuit, the public confirmation of it doesn't come any easier. Justin is an integral member of the team, a hugely talented rider, and an amazing mate and team m ate. We will savour every week we have with him for the remainder of this year and then wish him well in his new chapter in lifer. We are truly indebted to Justin and all he has given us, the team and this sport."

Neko Mulally made a solid return to racing after his nasty crash last weekend in Canada and scored a 36th place which he was happy with and gives him the confidence that he's getting back on track after the recent setbacks.

2012 UCI Windham World Cup 5 Final Results

2012 Windham WC 5 Men's Final Results

2012 Windham WC 5 Women's Final Results

2012 US/Canadian Open Registration Starts July 1st

Registration for the US/Canadian Open at Whiteface will Open on Sunday July 1, 2012. Filed limit of 500 racers!

• 200 pros,
• 100 Category 1
• 100 Category 2 
• 100 Category 3

Aaron Gwin Wins 2012 Mont Sainte Anne World Cup

For the second year in a row, Aaron Gwin has won the World Cup at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, the track where he made his dramatic debut in 2008. Team mate Justin Leov scored his first top 10 of the year after qualifying 5th, and Neko Mulally walks away from a horrific crash that had his family and the team looking on with great concern.

Certainly a day of action and drama for the team, but there is little that can be taken away from Aaron Gwin in yet another display or pure talent and determination on one of the world's toughest courses. Last year both he and main rival Greg Minnaar crashed in their final runs, but Aaron's was less costly in time. This year a couple of small errors saw his opening leading of 2.9secs whittled down to 1.3secs at the finish line, but enough to take his 3rd win of the season, and extend his World Cup lead over Greg Minnaar to 135 points.

Interestingly in the last 11 World Cups (7 in 2011 and 4 so far this year) there have only been two winners, Aaron with 8 and Greg with 3. Historically, Aaron now holds the record for the best percentage winning streak having won 8 of 11 consecutive races (previous best was Nicolas Vouilloz with 7 from 10 consecutive).

Aaron said: "It's always special to win a World Cup but this venue holds a special place in my heart. The pressure was on today as I knew Greg would step it up and he's had his fair share of success over the years here. The course has some sections which feel almost designed for me, I love them, and I know if I hadn’t made those two small errors in the lower half of the course I would have sc ored a better time, but hey, I'll take it!"

For Justin it was great to have the speed here this week and after qualifying 5th he was sure he could score his best result of the 2012 World Cup season, ideally a podium. His race run was for the most part going really well, especially the first half, but then in a couple of sections Justin lost a little time by riding conservatively.

Justin said: "Moving on up, which is always a good feeling, my rank is now 11th overall so that's good. I just felt in a couple of sections that I was just doing enough to get through them rather than pinning it, but what I've learned this week I'll take to Windham ."

Neko Mulally, after qualifying in a solid 17th place was on target to have another top 20 result when he had a terrible crash caught live on the broadcast. Fortunately we can report that after on site treatment by the medical staff, Neko has walked away without broken bones, and is suffering a mild concussion. He will be under observation for the next 48hrs but is expected to make a speedy recovery.