Team BGB/MK Short Film Announced

Get your tickets early and grab your bag of popcorn, Team BGB-Mountain Khakis has joined forces with local N.C. based film makers, Dirt Passion (www.dirtpassion.com), to bring a short film featuring the team and each of its sponsors to the Summer Box Office near you. Well maybe the Box Office is a stretch, but going viral will work just fine.

Sam Anderson, Chris Annesi, and Jacob Teer (pictured below) are three very talented college students that all attend in the University of North Carolina Charlotte and whom call N.C. / Appalachian Mountains “my backyard.” Not only do they share the same passion each of us do, shreddin in the sticks, but also have made a name for themselves as film makers with the imminent release of “Finding Flow.” Finding Flow made its theatrical debut on February 26 locally at the UNCC Campus with a second local premiere to be held in Asheville, N.C. on Thursday March 29. The full 27 minute feature will be released the first week of April free online at Pinkbike. Catch a sneak peak glimpse of the full edit, the film trailer can be seen on Vimeo. We promise you will not be disappointed.

Chris Annesi, “2011 was a great year for us with filming Finding Flow, and now with that behind us we are really excited for the 2012 season. Starting out the year with the new crew (aka Dirt Passion), new projects have been in the works for a while and are something that we are extremely stoked about! We believe that with all professionalism should come fun and good times, which is something that Dirt Passion will be striving for in our edits. What better way of kicking it off with Team BGB-MK. We have been in contact with the Public Relations Director for the team, Jay Schultz, for quite some time planning this edit. Being able to work with a group whom are just as stoked to be in the mountains and around bikes as us is really all we could ask for.”

“We are so stoked to be able to work with the guys from Dirt Passion keeping it local and showing there is quality riding, not to mention talented film making, in North and South Carolina. This will be a great opportunity to get our sponsors, team, and riders some well-deserved exposure” said Jay Schultz, Marketing and Public Relations Director, Team BGB-Mountain Khakis. “They are a good group of characters that LOVE to just have a good time and most importantly, RIDE!”

Shooting of the Team BGB-MK short film will take place in April at a location that will not be named to protect to the guilty. The final 4 to 5 min edit of the Team BGB-MK edit is planned for May 2012, with the intent of making the rounds on the internet, Youtube, Vimeo, PinkBike, VitalMTB, etc. We’ll let everybody know when it’s “LIVE!”

Joining us in this MEGABLOCKBUSTER short film will be all of our 2012 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, Dirt Passion.

Evil Undead Images

2012 UCI WC Round 1 Monster Energy Specialized Recap

The Monster Energy Specialized, Australian dynamic duo of Sam Hill and Troy Brosnan returned to World Cup racing this week after domination the Australian national series over the winter. Brosnan finished in 8th place on a track that catered to his pedalling strength, just over 5 seconds back. Hill crossed the line in 11th place, .8 seconds behind his teammate.

Cloudy skies met racers on race day here in Pietermariztburg, South Africa for the first round of the 2012 UCI MTB World Cup. The track dried up from the previous night's deluge and was rock hard and as fast as it had been all week by the time the top 30 men dropped in. Both Monster Energy Specialized riders rode their Specialized Demos with dropper posts to allow for brief relief during the infamous 40 second pedal here in SA.

Troy had this to say about his first official World Cup as an Elite racer; " My week went pretty good. Practice was a little bit wild but my race run went good. I pinned through top section as hard as I could and felt real fast and then pedalled harder than I thought I could at the mid section. I was feeling pretty strong at the bottom and pinned it as hard as I could. I had a mishap at the bottom and lost a bit of time, but still finished up in 8th. I got pretty good points so I just have to keep this confidence going into Val Di Sole. It'll be great to go to Europe fresh and strong and try and get my first World Cup win!"

Hill wasn't as excited about his result, but happy to be back racing and in one piece.  "My race went alright. I didn't get the result that I came here for but I got 11^th, so still not too bad. Hopefully the rest of the tracks this season will play to my strengths a bit more than this track. I feel like my fitness and my health is pretty good and I had a few moments up on top of the track, I think I almost hit a photographer somewhere in there. It was fun, just a really tough track to race on.  I'm not going to beat myself up over it, I saw stars at the end of the pedal! I'm ready to get to the tracks where I can hang it out a bit more and ride on the edge."

The team now gets a quick break at home, and then travels to America for the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.

Steve Smith Takes 5th At Round 1 In Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa—Devinci Global Racing’s Steve Smith rocketed to 5th place in the UCI World Cup opener, returning to the podium after clinching a string of hot results last season. Teammate Nick Beer finished 12th in his first ride under the DGR banner. 

“This is solid start to the year," said DGR Team Manager, Gabe Fox. "The team dynamic is proving tight, and I expect the momentum to build as the season progresses." 

The Pietermaritzburg course is known for grueling pedaling sections and this proved to be a challenge across the field. After Saturday qualifying, Smith sat in 3rd place—0.87 seconds behind eventual race winner and hometown hero, Greg Minnaar. Beer qualified 13th and George Brannigan in 32nd. 

Saturday night brought heavy rainfall, resulting in havoc on the track. But by mid-day Sunday the sun was out in force, returning the lightning-fast course to ideal conditions. The final saw Andrew Neething of South Africa set the first podium-worthy time, but as top qualifiers arrived times began to drop. After the dust settled Smith finished 5th, Beer 13th, and Brannigan 40th. 

"It wasn’t exactly the result I was looking for, but in a race where the times were so close I'm happy to finish on the podium and start the season with a banger,” Smith said. 

“My goal was to finish in the top 10. I had a great run, but left a bit on the course. The new team and bike is a great fit for me and I look forward to the season" added Beer. 

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

Cycles Devinci is a Canadian bicycle manufacturer based in Chicoutimi, Canada. It has led the industry by way of manufacturing expertise and product development since its inception in 1987. Cycles Devinci continues to forge ahead with suspension guru Dave Weagle’s patented Split Pivot suspension platform. Combined with the company’s Axis Technologies, Devinci is set on a path for domination. For more details on Devinci and DGR, visit devinci.com

2012 UCI WC Round 1 In Pietermaritzburg Is In The Books

The opening round of the RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano concluded on Sunday with the Downhill, a crowd favourite in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.  And why not?  The home town son, Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), came from behind to win the men's title, while Tracey Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride) marked her return to international competition with a win in the women's competition.

Heavy rain on the previous evening had led to concerns that the track would become muddy and treacherous, but the morning sun quickly started to dry things up, and many riders said that the rain actually made the track better than ever by race time.

The women's field lost two top contenders even before racing started, with Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) crashing the day before and injuring her shoulder, and Sabrina Jonnier (Labyrinth Shimano) crashing on racing day morning and suffering a leg injury.  However, there was never any doubt who the fastest rider was; Hannah qualified first by an impressive three and a half second margin, and took the win by nearly a second over the 2011 Junior World Cup champion, Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen).  World champion Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker) was a distant third, nearly three seconds in arrears.

Hannah, who has been away from the World Cup circuit for four years and is a former Junior World Champion, explained:  "It has always been my intention to come back, it just took a few years.  This was more of a test race for me, to see where I was, and I didn't know what to expect.  I'm in pain, but it is good pain.  I am so exhausted.  I'm happy, and extremely satisfied.  I just can't believe it, it is so amazing."

The men's race was expected to be close, after Minnaar, the 2009 winner in Pietermaritzburg beat Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing), the 2011 Pietermaritzburg champion, by an infinitesimal eight one-thousandths of a second in qualifying.  After Gwin set the fastest time and Minnaar was over two seconds behind at the first time check, it looked like the race was over.  However, the 'Greg Minnaar Nation' was cheering their hero on, and the Pietermaritzburg rider made up the time deficit in the lower half of the course to win by over six-tenths of a second.

"I knew at the top I was behind," admitted Minnaar.  "I made two stupid mistakes at the beginning, so I knew had to make up as much as I could down at the bottom. As much pain as it was to pedal, I just had to put my head down and go."

"Oh man, it was electric, hearing the crowd at the bottom, it was so wild.  I could have done with some more support further up on the pedaling bit when I wanted to sit down, bu there was no one there, they were all down at the bottom.  But when I jumped into the finishing area the crowd was just amazing."