2012 Leogang World Champs Downhill Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Pro Men Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Pro Women Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Junior Men Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Junior Women Timed Session Results

Steve Smith Pulls The Triple Crown At The 2012 Crankworx

Crankworx Festival | WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—Crankworx 2012 will go down as the hottest, driest, burliest DH shake-up in recent memory. It will also be etched as the year Devinci Global Racing’s Steve Smith edged all takers, becoming the first rider ever to win Whistler’s Triple Crown of gravity events.

Festivities launched with the Garbanzo DH, the longest DH race in the world. Devinci young gun Mark Wallace set the first podium worthy run; a time that would stand until the final 10 riders blasted into Whistler Village. Smith topped the Devinci charge, splintering the competition with a seismic 5.48-second rift. Jr. charger Mark Wallace captured 5th, Nick Beer 9th, and George Brannigan 13th.

Next was the world-renowned A-Line DH, where Smith backed his previous win—eclipsing the field by 3.75 seconds. Beer scorched into 8th, Whistler local Ian Morrison finished an impressive 10th, and Brannigan locked in 12th.

“I was stoked and surprised to take the win in the A-Line by so much over guys like Lopes and Mick,” Smith says. “I went for it and things worked out.”

The weekend’s Canadian Open finale saw rabid fans swarm Heckler’s Rock to see if Smith would repeat his 2011 win and seal a never-been-done-before Crankworx Triple Crown. Again Wallace set the early podium pace, where he sat until the last 10 riders. After the smoke settled, Wallace was bumped to 5th, Beer sat in 7th, while Smith decimated the entire field by 4.64 seconds—earning the King of Crankworx crown as the winningest rider of the festival.

“My favorite event at Crankworx is the Canadian Open,” Smith says. “The track was amazing, the new carbon Wilson was mind blowing in its first race, and it felt great to close out Crankworx with the win.”

DGR team manager Gabe Fox adds: “It was an amazing weekend for the whole crew. Stevie really stood above everyone—it’s hard as hell to win three events like this. I was very impressed with Wallace’s results at this level, and Nick and the rest of the squad were solid all weekend.

“With the launch of the Carbon Wilson for Sunday’s race, you really couldn’t have scripted a better weekend.”

Next up for Devinci Global Racing are the UCI World Championships in Leogang, Austria, followed by the World Cup Finals in Hafjell, Norway.

Devinci Global Racing is proudly supported by: Cycles Devinci, SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, Easton Wheels, Schwalbe, E-Thirteen, ODI, Selle Italia, Fox Head Clothing and My Package.

2012 POC Eastern States Cup 11 Plattekill

The POC Eastern States Cup #11 DH MTB Series Race at Plattekill Bike Park starts the final stretch in the series calendar. Ten races have been completed leaving four to go. The Series point standings are tightening up, making for a very competitive four last events. The POC Team Challenge is also heating up with 16 teams trying to capture part of the $1000 POC Team Challenge purse. While the Loeka $1000 Women’s Challenge standings are very close and the top positions are still up for grabs

What great way to celebrate Labor Day weekend than to race and ride at Plattekill Bike Park? Plattekill is one of the original birthplaces of DH mountain bike riding and racing in the USA. They have been working on a new never before raced tracks. You know if it’s at Plattekill it will be steep, loose and FAST ! No flat short, boring courses at this mountain or in this series!  An added incentive for this weekend, Plattekill is offering FREE lift passes for this Monday only to all registered racers.

Trails at Plattekill Bike Park are endless and offer something for riders of all abilities. The fall line trail sections are steep. The natural terrain offers loose shale with large rock drops. Plattekill Bike Park uses two lifts accessing two distinct peak areas. Lift attendants place your bikes on the chair for the ride up. The base lodge offers a cafeteria, bike shop and restrooms. On the deck great burgers and refreshments will be available.

The Eastern States Cup is The Eastern USA Cycling Regional Championship Series, a National Championship Qualifier and Features 5 State Championships within the series. This stop at Plattekill will be the Finals of the USA Cycling NYS Championship Series. The newest NYS Champions will be crowned after the race.

Come to Plattekill and join the rest of the POC ESC regulars for a fun weekend. The POC ESC strives to be a fun, family oriented race series. The people that run this series also race and understand what the racers want in value, courses and locations. 2012 has been a very successful year for the POC ESC and we want you to join us to see why. Thank you to those that already have supported the series.

2012 EASTERN STATES CUP SCHEDULE

• May 20    Mountain Creek, NJ  NJ State Championships
• 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
• Aug 5      Mount Snow, VT
• Aug 12    Plattekill, NY
• Aug 19    Killington, VT VT State Championship Finals
• Sept 2     Plattekill, NY  NY State Championship Finals
• Sept 16   Attitash, NH   NH State Championship Finals
• Sept 23   Jiminy Peak, MA  State Championships
• Oct 7      Plattekill, NY Regional Championship Finals

Race Entry

• Pro Men & Women $ 75.00
• Categories 1,2 & 3  $ 65.00
• Includes Lift Tickets for Both Saturday and Sunday.

Camping – Available on-site

KHS DH650B Proto

Keep an eye out for this prototype DH650B at the Red Bull Rampage, last years number 1 qualifier Logan Binggeli will pilot this machine down the cliffs of Virgin, Utah October 5th, 2012.

2012 Colorado State Champs - Telluride Team Geronimo

I packed up my bags, hitched the trailer up and got the wheels turning towards Telluride Mountain Resort for the 2012 Colorado State Championships. This small mountain town situated in the southwest corner of Colorado has played host to a World Cup and has been a mainstay on the Mountain States Cup circuit the past decade. The surrounding mountains tower above the historical mining town of Telluride, this place really is special and sometimes the views can even be distracting while trying to navigate down the course. The mountain has created a good system of trails in its developing bike park and the 2002 World Cup track still remains, but has seen quite a few facelifts throughout the years.

Two years have passed since I was last here and the track has since received some changes. The rocks in the landing of the road gap were to my delight removed and smooth rocks put in there place to provide an easy landing platform. Momentum Trail Concepts last year developed the bottom of the track with big berms, added track sections and time with steep chutes and tight turns. The weekend started out with some soaking rain that tacked up the riding surface creating hero dirt to end the day Friday. The rest of the weekend called for afternoon showers which could really shake things up if we were to race in the peanut butter.

There was once again a time trial Super D race that I chose to enter in for a bit of fun and practice towards the Big Mountain Enduro series later this year. There were a ton of dusty bermed turns and short sprints between to set the riders apart. It was a fun track to ride and I was excited to see if I could repeat my 1st place performance from last week. I had a great top section going and was riding well until I traversed across the open ski slope. I was looking ahead towards the entrance of the trees and then the off camber trail fell away beneath my wheels sending me sliding head first over the flesh searing rocks. After dusting myself off I hopped back on my bike with bars twisted 10 degrees to the left and rode hard the rest of the way to a 6th place finish only 4 seconds off the box and 10 from the win. As disappointing and painful as the race was I was stoked to see Teddy come across the line and finish 4th place overall less than a second off of 3rd.

Sunday morning rolled around and the aches from the previous evenings activities fallowed me up for my qualifying run. The rain had held off and the track was rough, fast and dry. I put together a clean qualifying run and ended up seeding in 2nd place .2 out of 1st. I knew I had to open it up throughout the turns and minimize mistakes for my final as I was tired from pedaling too hard out of every turn. Telluride local boy Jess rode very well in his first timed run since Angel Fire to seed 5th and Teddy who had been right on my tail seeded into 7th. With some good rides, we were looking at the possibility of 3 riders in the top 5, but first the Cat 1 15-18 junior riders were about to drop in. Both Roy and Tyler had crashed in their seeding runs and Roy was the first to cross the line and into the hot seat. He held the top position until Tyler crossed the line .05 ahead. Overall, Tyler would finish in 5th and Roy in 6th place. Congratulations to Roy who finished 2nd overall in the MSC Cat 1 15-18.

It was time to head back up the hill for my final run. In 2010 I had qualified 1st and was primed for a great finish and I ended up blowing my bead off the rim and awarded myself with an overnight stay in the Hospital. This thought had crossed my mind once or twice but I knew all I can do is ride and the rest will sort itself out. After congratulating the young junior rider who seeded 1st behind me, I set out of the gate far more focused and was riding exceptionally faster in the top section. I was riding loose, drifting past some of the spectators as I entered into the trees that took me down two years ago. I let out a little celebratory cheer as I smoothly rode past my old crash zone and blitzed into the rocks. I rode a slightly higher line than in practice and avoided many of the bigger rocks, but just as I thought I was in the clear, the all too familiar sound of the bead blowing off the tire rang true through the trees like a shotgun blast. At least this time I was still upright, body intact and ready to ride another day even though my day was done due to my rim losing the battle with a very sharp rock. Teddy had a safe run but left a little too much in the tank and finished 13th overall. Jess who had been gaining speed all weekend was looking for the podium but just fell short in 4th place overall, .8 off of the box.

It was another great weekend of riding and racing on some great tracks in arguably one of the most beautiful places in the country. There were some close calls and disappointment on my part with my DNF and fall in the Super D. The junior riders continued to impress and show their willingness to push themselves faster each weekend. Michael took this weekend off the rehab from a few bicycle get offs and to train for the upcoming Big Mountain Enduro Series races. Lear has been ripping it up in British Columbia, visiting Banshee headquarters and shredding hard in front of the camera. Thanks to all of our great sponsors for allowing us to perform at our highest potential and helping us reach our goals.

Ride On!

Brian