ROUND 2 of the Diablo Gravity Series Continues July 11th and 12th

Diablo Freeride Park, New Jersey (June 29, 2009) - On July 11th and 12th, competitors from up-and-down the eastern seaboard will convene at Diablo Freeride Park to compete in the 2nd round of the 2009 Diablo Gravity Series. Racers will tackle challenging mountain bike terrain as they do battle for valuable Diablo Gravity Series points and a chance to win a share of over $7,500 in guaranteed cash and prizes.

The Diablo Gravity Series is a hotbed for up-and-coming racers looking to further progress their skill while competing in a challenging and rewarding environment.
“As the sport of mountain bike racing continues its resurgence in the USA, it’s events such as the Diablo Gravity Series that continue to help build America’s future racing stars”, said Shawn Orecchio, Diablo Freeride Park GM.
“With the help of our sponsors we are well equipped to provide the gravity racing community with top-tier race courses, diverse terrain, and a competitive race series offering over $50,000 in guaranteed cash and prizes. With the unfortunate instability of many of the sanctioned U.S. events, non-sanctioned events have played an important role to keep U.S. racing in the spotlight and moving forward.”

ROUND 2 of the Diablo Gravity Series kicks-off on Saturday, July 11th featuring a Giant Slalom discipline taking place on Diablo Freeride Park’s famed IndyCross course. While being an inaugural discipline of the Diablo Gravity Series, the Giant Slalom discipline was first unveiled at the 2009 U.S. Open of Mountain biking where top competitors from around the world praised the course and the unique racing format.

“The Giant Slalom discipline was really cool,” stated Jill Kintner – Olympic Bronze Medalist and 2009 U.S. Open GS Champion. “There’s no contact, just all-out, against the clock racing through tons of really fun berms.”

Rounding-out the weekend racing action will be the downhill discipline taking place on Sunday July 12th. The Diablo ‘Main Peak’ will play host as racers attack a challenging course consisting of existing trails such as ‘Stalker’, among other Diablo favorites. In addition, an entirely new upper-mountain trail section called ‘Epitaph’ will be unveiled and will link the Main Peak start gate to the popular Stalker trail. Located near the existing U.S. Open course, Epitaph will showcase Diablo’s technical terrain while providing one-more trail option off of the main-peak of the park.

Whether you are a seasoned race veteran or interested in racing for the very first time, the Diablo Gravity Series offers a competitive and fun racing experience for all ability levels.
2009 Diablo Gravity Series Schedule

• July 11, 2009 Giant Slalom
• July 12, 2009 Downhill
• August 22, 2009 Giant Slalom
August 23, 2009 Downhill
• September 12, 2009 Giant Slalom
• September 13, 2009 Downhill
• October 17, 2009 Giant Slalom Finals (Double Points)
• October 18 Downhill Finals (Double Points)

For more information, or to register online, please visit http://www.ridediablo.com/

The 2009 Diablo Gravity Series is made possible in part by sponsorship from these leading action sports partners and companies: Jamis Bicycles, SHIMANO, Kenda USA, Freelap Timing Systems, BOS Suspension USA, FOX Riders Co., ethirteen components, JBL Audio, pinkbike.com, VholdR Wearable Cameras, Atomlab, SKULL CANDY, Dakine, WTB Saddles, FiveTen Footwear, Scott Optics, Lizard Skins and ParkTool company.

Astana team announces Tour de France lineup

Astana announced its lineup for the Tour de France on Thursday, with the team built around 2007 winner Alberto Contador and seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong will lead the team in the Tour de France. Hopefully without the issues that arose with Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault in the 1986 Tour.

In a glitzy presentation on its Web site, the Kazakh team said the two stars will be backed by past Tour podium finishers including Andreas Kloeden of Germany and American Levi Leipheimer.

The selection has been widely awaited by many cycling fans because it suggests who team manager Johan Bruyneel believes Astana should build its team around for this year's Tour. Bruyneel coached both Armstrong and Contador during their Tour wins.
Six riders were already almost certain to be selected, including Russian Yaroslav Popovych and Spain's Haimar Zubeldia.
Astana also selected Kazakh rider Dmitriy Muravyev, Portuguese rider Sergio Paulinho — a strong Contador ally — and Gregory Rast of Switzerland.

I would like some singletrack and a Margarita with Salt

Last week I picked up a Fastpack of Clif Shot Bloks. I went for the Margarita flavor partially because it was something different and partially because I love Margaritas (Which BTW is a post-ride recovery drink)
The Shot Bloks have a 3rd of the calories of gel but they are semi-solid so the release of simple sugars is slower and it can feel more substantial in your stomach. The Margarita flavor has 3x the sodium of other shot blok flavors through the addition of sea salt to the list of ingredients.

I shared by clif shots with two other riders all of us gave this flavor the thumbs up.

The Margarita clif blok will have you saying increíble. It is a great mix of salt and sweet with a lime kick - hold the tequila and the hangover.

For more information about clif Shot Bloks goto http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks

The Ride to Montauk

Looking to complete your first century or go even further then the ride to Montauk may be just for you.

This ride is (in the promoters words) flat, Flat, FLAT!
There is excellent support and food and no fundraising required.

Ride options are: 30 miles • 66 miles • 100 miles • 145 miles and leave from NYC or Long Island.

All routes end in Montauk where hot showers, free food, drinks and ice cream await you.



The Ride is August 29th and starts at 7:00 AM - Register at Active.com
Registration fees are between $60-$250 depending on options you choose.



For More information Checkout
http://www.ridetomontauk.com/Home_Page.html

What Cycling Stereotype are you?

In this comic strip of common cycling archetypes, cartoonist/columnist for Kenny B nails some rider stereotypes and comes up with some product branding that are now on my list of must haves (checkout archetype #6) and #5 is dead-on for most of the runcible spoon crowd

From some of the comments on the site I don't think the people of boulder get the joke, but from my perch in NJ it is Damn funny. It's hard not to look at some of these charecterizations and see your riding buddies.

Enjoy - Kenny Be's guide to summer's terrifying two-wheeled creatures

Missy Giove, ex-biking champ, arrested over 400lbs of pot

Former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove was ordered held on $250,000 bail Thursday after federal authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.
Giove, 37, and Eric Canori, 30, of Wilton were charged Tuesday with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.
Nearly 400 pounds of pot were seized from the truck and from Canori's home outside Saratoga Springs, 25 miles north of Albany, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Canori was ordered held on $500,000 bail at the detention hearing Thursday. Giove and Canori were also ordered to surrender their passports, attend all court appearances and notify authorities of any changes in phone number or address should they post bail. Judge David Homer also imposed travel restrictions on both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Belliss had asked for no bail, saying Giove and Canori are flight risks, but Homer cited the pair's lack of criminal history and family and business ties to their communities.
Authorities learned of Giove and Canori's plans last weekend when Illinois State Police pulled over a woman driving a truck and trailer loaded with about 220 pounds of marijuana, DEA spokeswoman Erin Mulvey said. Authorities completed the delivery to the Albany area, where Mulvey said Giove picked up the vehicle and trailer.
Giove is accused of then driving north and following Canori to his home, where some of the trailer's contents were unloaded.
Giove was later arrested at nearby Saratoga Lake, authorities said. A search of Canori's home turned up more than 150 pounds of pot and more than $1 million in cash stashed in a closet and the basement, the DEA said.
In court Thursday, public defender Tim Austin said the drugs and money were planted in Giove's truck, possibly by police.
Giove, nicknamed "The Missile," was the downhill world champion in 1994 and won World Cup season titles in '97 and '98, then captured national titles from 1999-2001. One of the sport's first mainstream female stars, she retired from downhill racing in 2003.

The 2009 US open of Mountain Biking - Mens Downhill Event

The Amateur downhill contest was stopped when the storm that had loomed on the horizon finally hit the mountain late in the afternoon bringing thunder, lightning, and rain.
The storm shutdown lift service and delayed the racing action for about an hour.

The amateur race was continued after the storm had passed leaving those left to complete their runs at a disadvantage.
Earlier racers were riding a course that was dry and had relatively good traction.
The remaining racers were faced with a muddy wet course quite different from what they had previously practiced and qualified on.

The Pro racers had the time and resources to change their tires.
Monster Energy Teammates Sam Hill and Brenden Fairclough switched to spiked tires giving them the traction they needed for their 1st and 3rd place finishes respectively.

Afterwards I had an opportunity to speak with Sam and Brenden and ask a few questions.

RYB: How did you feel about your final run?
Hill: It was okay, enough for a win but I think the change in condition had the times about 5 seconds slower than they would have been.
Fairclough: It was an average run; even with spikes the traction was a bit sketchy.

RYB: You have raced all over the world what did you think of the course at mountain creek?
Hill: I enjoy riding on the East Coast.
Fairclough: I think Mountain Creek is a great example of rocky New England riding.

2009 is Sam Hill's third victory at Mountain Creek he also stood at the top of the podium in 2004 and 2005

Video:



Additional Links:
Official Results
Pro Top 10

Cykel: A Plug-in Electric Bike Sharing Concept

Cykel is a plug-in electric bike sharing system designed for a wide range of users and topographies. The concept was inspired by the popular bike share programs found throughout Europe. It functions on either pedal-power or fully as an electric bike, which opens up transportation to wide range of users.
Read the Full Atricle at: Treehugger.com

Steve Larsen Dead at 39

Mountain Biker, Road Cyclist, and Tri-athlete Steve Larsen collapsed and died last month on May 19th during a training run.
Larsen who was 39 he leaves behind his wife of 16 years, Carrie, and their five children: Amalia, 13, Massimo, 11; Gunnar, 4; and twins Marco and Matteo, 2. Survivors also include his mother, Connie Larsen, of Bend, his father Tom Larsen of Davis, Calif., and two older brothers, Michael Larsen, of Bend, and Tom Larsen Jr., of Salt Lake City.

Please contribute photos, text and financial donations to this website. We hope http://www.rememberstevelarsen.com/ will become a lasting and positive refuge for Steve's family and friends.

Have you been on an Epic Ride

What is an Epic Ride?
When you hear someone refer to their ride as Epic does it conjure images of twisty single singletrack through a cedar grove, an endless expanse of slick rock in a painted desert, or a rocky ridgeline that climbs into the clouds as the town below disappears under its opaque blanket.
Whatever terrain the phrase brings to mind the term epic is synonymous with a ride that is grander and more adventurous than your ordinary Sunday group ride.

So back to my original question what elements make a ride epic?
Time: Does a ride that is four or more hours make it epic? Not necessarily I have done many group rides that have been at or above the four hour mark and while they were enjoyable and even memorable I don't think I would put them in the category of Epic.

Mileage: What about mileage does a ride that is twenty or more miles make it epic? Maybe but you could rack up 20 miles doing a 5 mile loop repeatedly. 20 miles on a Rail trail does not really feel “Epic” especially when towing a toddler in a trailer.

While I think Epic Rides generally are longer in duration and mileage than a ride that would be considered ordinary, what makes a ride truly epic is its’ ability to challenge the rider and enthrall the spirit.
An epic ride is dynamic and comprised of layers of tension and release that build upon one another to create a unique experience. It is like a gourmet meal that delights the taste buds of the diner; each course exceeding your expectations and eclipsing the previous one.

On an epic ride you are challenged even punished as you make your way up a winding and seemingly endless rock strewn climb only to be delighted with an amazing expansive view that takes what little breath you have away. As you descend into the picturesque postcard scene that lies below you become aware of a strange sensation only to realize that it is from your muscles pulling at the corners of your mouth to form the ear-to-ear grin that has spread across your face.
An epic ride should test you and require you to reach deep down into you bag of biking skills. The trail will throw varying and unfamiliar terrain at you. Throughout the ride you start to become more relaxed and comfortable. You are tackling off-camber sections, rock gardens, and tight switch backs with deft skill and agility. You see a gnarly section and immediately visualize a great line through it. You are flowing like a Jedi master.

After the ride you feel transformed somehow and although your muscles and mind are fatigued you want to celebrate with a much deserved drink and something to eat.
You kick back and recount the day with your riding partners. Hell you want to tell anyone who will listen; the waitress, other patrons, the guy who refills your water glass and nods politely as you recall how you carved up some S turns going 25 mph. (this speed will increase over time). That night as you drift off and are somewhere between the head bob nod and comatose, images of the days ride flip through your head like a slide show. Your body reacts as though you are still on the bike not wanting to let go of the feeling just yet. Today you had a ride that was adventurous, sometimes torturous and completely exhilarating in a word it was……..EPIC

Clicke Here to Find an Epic Ride in your Area