2012 Team BGB/Mountain Khakis Snowshoe GES Report

Though the Gravity East Series is based out of the Northeast states of this land of the US of A, we can count on one round coming far enough South for Team BGB-MK to show those Northeasters what the Southeasters are made of….. Snowshoe. Have I mentioned it just so happens to be our fav place to shred (OK, maybe I have, once…. or maybe twice). This weekend would be Team BGB-MK Pro Max Morgan’s return to the SE race scene after spending the summer up in the NE. It would also be a special weekend to remember for one Team BGB-MK rider!!!

As usual, you can’t use the word “Snowshoe” in a sentence without the word “rain”. Quite simply, it’s like peas and carrots, steak and potatoes, peanut butter and jelly, you just can’t have one without the other. The local forecasters were predicting a cold front moving in just about noon time on Saturday. Well, two hours earlier that predicted, that front turned the race course into streams. All of Saturday was a wash, no pun intended. Well, not entirely... .now for the special part of the weekend. You see, race day which just so happened to coincide with Team BGB-MK Lady Rider Heither Schultz’s 40th birthday. SURPRISE! And a surprise it was….. for almost seven months of shear secrecy the team worked to give Heither a surprise with an unexpected family visit, an event/racer surprise party and to top it off a special team jersey. Total success, as she didn’t expect a thing! Happy Birthday Heither!

On to Sunday…… with the showers all day previous, Sunday morning was a slip and slide fest. The grass covered slopes were virtual ice until riders were able to rut the corners working in conjunction with the sun to start to dry things out. As the hour clicked to noon, you really couldn’t ask for better race conditions.

The Men’s Pro class would be a battle between two guys that know each other all too well, Ethan Quehl of Chainsmoke/Judge Racing and Team BGB-MK’s own Max Morgan. These two guys have a connect ion of sorts, growing up an hour from one another in Northern Georgia, riding and racing together for years as Juniors, and most importantly developing a mutual respect of one another’s ability. Ethan got his chance before Max and posted a time of 4:24.47. Six more riders and it was Max’s turn. Max pinned a time just 1.85 seconds off the pace set by Ethan. This day belonged to Ethan… close close racing though, as Max posted the third fastest time of the day, behind Leland O’Connor in second, for the bronze prize (0.39 sec off the second position). GREAT RACING!

Up next….. seems we are in the mist of repeat of the month of July…..3 weeks, 3 races. Off to the final race at Beech Mountain this coming weekend (Sept 16), then back to WV for the final race of the Snowshoe Series (Sept 23). The season’s almost over…. already? Where does the time go?

Team BGB-MK Results:

Max Morgan – 3rd Pro Men
Nick Frantz – 4th Men Cat 2 30-39
Jay Guidry – 4th Men Cat 2 19-29
Heither Schultz – 3rd Women’s Cat 2/3 All Ages

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.

2012 UCI MTB World Champs By MS Mondraker

The UCI MTB world championships 2012 of Leogang/ Austria are over and even we missed the win of the rainbow stripes we end up with a 2nd place in the women’s race and pretty good team result. But lets start at the beginning…

After a couple of days with a lot of rain and temperature drop close to 0° we were lucky for race day. The weather turned back to good and so the conditions on the track changed quiet a lot from deep and slippery to a really fast and rough piste.

After a descent timed training on Saturday where Emmeline set the fastest time for women’s and all male riders end up in the top 15 we were prepared for the race.

Emmeline came down as second last rider with some little mistakes here and there. When she came to the finish she knew that it hasn’t been a winning run and so it was when she checked on the timing board . Emmeline came in in 2nd place and there was Rachel Atherton still to come. Rachel was handicapped by a back injury and so she was not able to put a winning run together as well. The winner of the day was the 19 year-old Chaare Morgane from France- maybe the unexpected racer of this weekend even she showed up already and the one or other worldcup podium.

The boys showed a strong performance in seeding already and the boys knew what’s possible. Starting by the current UCI ranking Markus Pekoll was the first to come down of the MS boys. He is Austrian and so he was in the position of being the local hero, which puts some pressure on him. Markus had a solid run on and managed it to hop into the 2nd position of the hot seat. He sat there for a while and a few top riders haven’t been able to beat his time and in the end this brought him into 9th position.
Second last of MS-RACING to come down was Damien. He has a good but not perfect run, but in the end he finished in 6th position. Brook was the last man of MS to come down and he was on his limits, but not without mistakes, which cost too much time in the end for being on the podium- Brook ended up in 8th position.
Even we haven’t been able to win the infamous rainbow stripes we are happy with what we have reached in co-operation with our partners. One rider on the podium and 3 others in the top 10 is an awesome result and makes us one of the best teams on the circuit.

Thanks to all our sponsors and partners, who helped us during this week with special products, service and hospitality.

Justin Leov Races His Last Worlds, Aaron Gwin Suffers Mechanical Failure

Race favourite Aaron Gwin (USA) saw his hopes of taking a 'bonus' title this year come to an end around 1min 20secs into his final race run, when inexplicably both his front and rear brakes failed, resulting in a crash. Shortly after the crash Aaron pumped the brakes to try and get some pressure going but it was insufficient to complete the course safely at speed, and he cruised to the line disappointed he was unable to throw down a run on the three and half minute course.

Justin Leov (NZL) was the best placed finisher of the three Trek World Racing riders, ending a decade of racing for his country at the World Championships with a 21st place. After suffering a repetitive strain injury 2 weeks ago, Justin had recovered completely for the event and was looking forward to the run, but in the end was a little disappointed.

At the World Championships there is no qualifying round or seeding run, but a timed practice session where riders can check their general race speed against official timing. Aaron was happy with his 4th in timed practice and as race day drew nearer, and the sun came out drying the track dramatically, all was set for a classic Aaron Gwin run. Unfortunately the brake failure, something he has never experienced before and in fact is his first mechanical in a race run since joining the team, really took him by surprise.

Aaron said at the finish line – "I really don't understand what happened. I warmed up as usual, tested the brakes as usual at the top, walked down the course to have a look at how the track was running, went into my run, brakes working fine for the first minute or so, and then bang, nothing. I crashed and got up as soon as I could, pumped to see what was there, but it wasn't enough, and knew my day was run".

The brakes have been taken back to Japan for further analysis as there was nothing immediately evident from the post-race inspection, and nothing new was done to these brakes that Aaron and the team has run for most of the season.

Justin said – "For sure I was chasing a top 10 here. The course had dried up really well and I was looking forward to running at speed and getting a great result. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and I'll have to settle for 21st, but it has been an amazing run from Kaprun (AUT) in 2002, to these World Champs in Austria 10 years later."

Neko Mulally who suffered a torn shoulder ligament in Whistler 2 weeks ago was happy to be competitive here and finished 27th. He's not yet 100% but expects to be so for Norway.

The downhill riders re main here in Austria this week to support their team mates in this weekend's World Championship Cross Country events in Saalfelden, then fly Monday to Norway for the World Cup finals where the team has something very special planned for Saturday, race day, to celebrate the victory that was sewn up at Round 6.

Greg Minnaar And Morgane Charre Are The 2012 Downhill World Champions

The first weekend of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Leogang, Austria, concluded on Sunday with the crowd favourite Downhill. Morgane Charre (France) took her first world title in the Elite women's race, while Greg Minnaar (South Africa) returned to the top step of the Elite men's podium after a nine year absence. Holly Feniak (Canada) and Loic Bruni (France) won the Junior women's and men's titles, respectively.

The women's race was expected to be between defending champion Emmeline Ragot (France) and Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), the two riders who have been battling it out all season in the UCI World Cup. However, Atherton was not a factor in the race, suffering from an undisclosed injury and finishing fifth. After Canadians Micayla Gatto and Casey Brown came close to breaking the four minute barrier, Charre obliterated it, taking the lead time down to 3:50.654 with six riders remaining.

Countrywoman Floriane Pugin came within 1.617 seconds, with last year's Junior world champion Manon Carpenter then getting a tenth of a second closer. Ragot was next, but she could only get within 1.2 seconds, leaving Atherton the only rider who could deny Charre the championship. Atherton was within two-hundredths of a second after the first intermediate time check, but faded badly in the second half of the race, allowing the 22 year old Charre to step into the rainbow jersey.

"I did not expect this," admitted a visibly shocked Charre. "I thought that Emmeline [Ragot] would beat me for sure, or Atherton. I had a very good run and pedalled a lot, with only little mistakes, but I have never had a result like this before."

In the men's race, there were a dozen strong contenders, and Minnaar's victory came down to the wire. Australia's Bryn Atkinson set the first sub-3:30 time, with nearly 50 riders to go. Sam Dale (Great Britain) quickly took off three-tenths of a second and held the Hot Seat for 20 riders before he was replaced by Florent Payet (France), with a drop of two seconds in the lead time.

Australian Mick Hannah took the leading time below 3:24 with ten riders to go, but was immediately replaced by Canada's Steve Smith, who was bumped by Gee Atherton (Great Britain) with two riders left to finish. Minnaar came in next, half a second ahead of Atherton, but everyone knew that the final rider, American Aaron Gwin, could quite easily upset the standings. Gwin has won an incredible nine World Cups in 13 races over the past two seasons, so everyone was waiting to see what he could do.

However, it became apparent early in his run that Gwin was suffering mechanical problems, eventually finishing a distant 83rd. Minnaar jumped to his feet from the Hot Seat as he was mobbed by well wishers, ecstatic to win his second world title.

"It’s been nine years and this run it was tough," commented Minnaar. "I had a lot of pressure today, I was super nervous. To be honest, I tried to nail the top section, just after the bridge I lost a lot of speed, I had to pedal hard. But I held it together, in a way same as in the Pietermaritzburg World Cup earlier this season. I couldn't believe I crossed the line in first."

"I am a bit bummed for Gwinny, he seems to have a mechanical, I am not sure what happened. It is not exactly the best way for me to win, or how I'd like to win, but we are all out there trying our best. We all have mechanicals from time to time, that's part of racing."

2012 Leogang World Champs Downhill Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Mens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Womens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Junior Mens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Junior Womens Final Results