Recently on Cyclingnews.com

MTB News & racing round-up for November 18, 2005

Edited by Steve Medcroft

Welcome to our regular round-up of what's happening in the dirt. Feel free to send feedback, news and gossip to mtb@cyclingnews.com

From skate park to singletrack

Singlespeeder, stamp-collector, king-fu movie fan
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft

Dejay Birtch is not your typical polished and clean-cut cross-country mountain bike racer, but then the world of singlespeed mountain bike racing is a bit more welcoming to a former skate rat who travels races in an RV that's been clapped out from new. Steve Medcroft meets one of the MTB world's great characters.

Dejay Birtch says he grew up in a rural New York town so small there wasn't much to do as a teenager. To satisfy his creative tendencies and the boundless energy of male youth, he took up skateboarding with friends. It was a pastime that let him to skirmishes with local law enforcement (who he says made skateboarding illegal just to keep busy since there was no other crime), adventures into New York city on middle-of-the-night urban jungle skating rampages and, ultimately, to Tucson, Arizona.

In Tucson, he took a job in a local bike shop while trying to piece together enough sponsorship to pursue skateboarding full time. He was introduced to mountain biking by his co-workers but considered his mountain bike something “to get me to the skate spot then home again.”

Fate decided Birtch wasn't going to be a skateboarder though. When Birtch and friends ‘liberated' a fully-rigid Raleigh mountain bike a roommate had left chained to a tree in their backyard by turning into a Singlespeed, Birtch's life took a completely different path than what he imagined for himself as a teenager.

Click here for the full interview.

NORBA and IMBA offer trail grants

The National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) announced today the application process for their Trail Tune-Up Grant program.

Four $500 NORBA/IMBA Trail Tune-Up Grants are available to mountain biking groups seeking to jump-start trail improvement projects. Projects that create or improve trails used for mountain bike racing will receive the highest consideration, but funding can also be used to improve trails for training and recreational riding. Applicants must be current members of IMBA as well as either NORBA members or promoters.

Trail Tune-Up Grants are completely funded by NORBA members through an optional checkbox on NORBA license applications and renewal forms. The program is administered through a partnership between IMBA and NORBA. Applications are due by Friday, December 9, 2005.

Visit the IMBA website for more information:www.imba.com

New date for 2006 Cougar Mountain Classic

Infineon Raceway officials have announced that the 2006 Infineon Technologies Cougar Mountain Classic will return for a third consecutive year on July 14-16, with the new mid-summer date expected to attract high-level pro and amateur competitors to the event.

The 2005 event benefited from the debut of a world-class downhill course, enhanced cross country and mountain cross circuits and a one-hour broadcast on Fox Sports Net Bay Area in 2005, and according to Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway, "Opening up our entire property to upgrade the mountain bike courses made a real difference in the quality of the competition and we've had terrific feedback from both mountain and road cyclists about this year's event. We hope to build a race weekend that is second to none and the new date for 2006 should be another positive step in that direction."

According to organisers, the signature of Infineon Raceway has quickly become the world-class downhill course. It begins nearly 400 feet above the raceway on Cougar Mountain, and features rolling terrain, open, fast sections and challenging man-made jumps, plus a spectacular view of the San Francisco skyline. "This is incredible because you can see the whole course; that is unprecedented," said Marla Streb, two-time national downhill champion. "On top of that, it's pretty difficult; it has a lot of potential to be a world-class course."

The race weekend will also feature endurance road riding, mountain biking and mountain cross, and according to Subway pro team riders Ryan McKenzie and Cameron Hughes, the eight-hour road enduro may become another of the event's features, saying, "I could easily see this developing into a great form of racing, like the 24-hour mountain bike events." Off the track, there will be a vast vendor midway, swap meet, vintage bicycle concours, wine tasting and activities for children, including safety seminars, bounce houses and more.

Check www.cmclassic.com for more information on next year's Cougar Mountain Classic.

Greg Watts Joins Gary Fisher Team

Greg Watts has joined Gary Fisher Bicycles as their marquee men's freeride athlete. The eighteen year old Aptos, California native will compete in dirt jump and slopestyle competitions on Gary Fisher bikes. And he will appear in advertising and promotional materials for the brand. He will also work closely with the company to keep the Gary Fisher product and brand image on the cutting edge.

“I'm really excited to work with Gary Fisher, they are going to give me the chance to travel a lot next year for competitions and video shoots. I've been able to do pretty well so far, even though I just finished school this year. I'm excited to have this opportunity because I know that with more time to ride and compete I can do really well.”

Greg had some standout performances in the last year, including his fourth place finish at the Sea Otter Classic Dirt Jump Contest . “That is where we first became aware of Greg,” says Gary Fisher's Ryan Atkinson. “His energy was impossible to miss. He made way more runs during practice then any of the other pros, and was at the jumps literally all day. Then of course he rocked the contest, he was hard to miss.”

Greg had a major win at the Vancouver Denny's Big Air Jam Session & Invitational, a premier indoor dirt jump contest. At the end of the season Greg won Best Trick at John Cowan's Jump Jam where he landed a Backflip-Tailwhip, the first mountain biker to land this trick in competition.

“Greg was recommended to me by several people that I trust, not the least of who were Andrew Shandro and Hannah Steffens. I was immediately impressed when I first talked to Greg about his plans for next year,” says Atkinson. “I couldn't believe that he was eighteen, he was confident and well spoken, very professional.”

“We got the contract signed a couple of weeks ago and I was able to spend time with him last weekend at Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park during their Grand Opening. Greg was a total pro off the bike, and was really fun to watch on the bike. He is really progressive with his tricks and I'm sure that he is going to be one of the sports biggest stars. I was lucky enough to be there while he learned how to do a Barrel Roll, he is amazing.”

Greg has been on his new Gary Fisher GED for just over a week. “I've already done all of my tricks on it. It fits me perfect and is really light.”

Sawicki picks up full-time sponsor for '06

By Steve Medcroft

2004 and 2005 women's NORBA Marathon Series Champion Monique Sawicki, has signed a sponsorship deal with California-based Sho-Air International, a speciality shipping service company. The arrangement will allow Sawicki to focus completely on training and racing in 2006 as well as afford her the freedom to pursue a select marathon World Cup schedule.

Waddell and Hendershot re-up with Santa Cruz Syndicate

Santa Cruz Syndicate rider John Waddell has re-signed to the Syndicate for 2006. Waddell, who has had a miraculous recovery from the severe head trauma suffered in a crash in 2003, has been racing and training in Australia ever since his rehab from the injury. He has focused his racing program on endurance racing and has had success in 12 hour and 24 hour races, racing solo.

Having Waddell remain on the Syndicate is a great honor to Santa Cruz Bicycles and to Waddell. He has shown extreme dedication and commitment to himself and his sponsors, and Santa Cruz Bicycles is pleased to continue the relationship. Waddell has been riding Santa Cruz bikes for many years and his loyalty to the brand is immense.

Waddell is stoked to be on the team and has this to say, “It's near the end of 2005 and what an interesting year it's been with loads of ups and downs. Being able to sign up with the Santa Cruz Syndicate once again has been so super, knowing I have a team like the Syndicate behind me, as well as the rest of my crew that gives me their support. I'm glad my long hard days in the saddle haven't gone unnoticed. Keep a look out for my unusually wild comps throughout 2006 in my journey to test what I am really capable of. Peace out.”

“John's amazing recovery has astounded the world and those of us at Santa Cruz Bicycles are proud of his achievements both on and off the racetrack. He has won the toughest race of his life, and we will continue to support him in his cycling endeavours,” says Rob Roskopp, owner of Santa Cruz Bicycles.

Waddell has been racing expert XC in the Australian National Series and recently completed the Mont 24 hour race in Canberra, Australia. He had this to say about his solo performance, “Well, 7 months of preparation has finally paid off. I finished 12th place out of 176 solo riders and I'm pretty sure I was the first ever Western Australian to complete the Mont 24hr race solo. I was happy. I was tough enough mentally and physically to complete the comp fairly strong, even though I was pretty shattered by the end after 25 1/2 hours pedaling. I also was super stoked on my support crew and I had a lot of support from fans and spectators.”

Waddell's goals are to continue racing solo endurance races and his dream goal is to compete in Australia's Crocodile Trophy race. This is one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world, which takes place through the Northern Territory's real outback and rainforest. The 13-stage race travels as far north as Cairns and includes 1655 kilometers of heat, sand, mud, bush and mountains. With his determination he can accomplish anything, and Santa Cruz Bicycles will stand by him in his pursuits.

Mark Hendershot ack on board:

Santa Cruz Syndicate's endurance racer, Mark Hendershot, is back on the Syndicate for 2006. Hailing from Michigan, this incredible athlete will continue to compete in 8, 12 and 24 hour races solo, and will be the American counterpart to Aussie John Waddell, racing in North America for the Syndicate.

Hendershot plans to race in select endurance races, including the 8 and 12 hours of Pando which he has won 5 times, the Norba National 24 hour Solo Championships, and the World Solo 24 hours of Adrenalin Championships, where he placed 5 th in 2005.

Santa Cruz Bicycles is pleased to have these two talented, committed athletes represent the brand on two continents in the endurance racing world.

National Champs Seek Games Selection

Current Australian Cross Country Champion, Emma Colson (Melbourne) is looking to take the lead in the second round of the National Mountain Bike Series this weekend. Round Two will be held in Nannup, Western Australia this Saturday. Colson retuned from a recent knee injury to take second place in the opening round in Tasmania last month. By securing the Series lead Colson will ensure a pole position for the upcoming Commonwealth Games selection race to be held in Victoria in December. "I decided to get more race practice and to get a good ranking for the selection races,” Colson said.

Current National Champion, Chris Jongewaard is also vying for the Series lead and like Colson wants to be in pole position for the selection race. The South Australian rider narrowly missed selection for the Athens Olympics and is keen to impress selectors for the upcoming Commonwealth Games as well as looking towards the Beijing Olympics in 2008. “I'm just after another solid mountain bike race,” explained Jongewaard.

Current Series Leader and Olympian, Sid Taberlay will be racing in South Africa this weekend but will return to race in Victoria to cement his place in the Australian Commonwealth Games Team.

Former elite road cyclist, Naomi Williams from Launceston is also looking to catch the attention of selectors again after placing third in Tasmania . Her recent change of sport could work to her advantage as the Commonwealth Games selection race course will suit her road cycling background.

This weekend's course will be run over a hilly and challenging course. The figure eight 10km circuit consists of mostly single track with the inclusion of loose gravel and steep climbs that will test riders' skills and tyres. Cross Country racing starts at 11.30am on Saturday with the elite men and elite women starting at 3.45pm .

Racing continues on Sunday at 10.30am with Round Two of the National Downhill Series.

Previous News    Next News

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005)