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MTB News & racing round-up for January 19, 2006Edited 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 Oli Beckingsale Signs for Giant RT
One of Britain's top cross country mountain bike riders, and a key member of the England team for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Oli Beckingsale, has signed for the Giant Racing Team after one of his most successful seasons ever in 2005, according to British Cycling. The Giant team on their website say that the signing of a legend in British Mountain Biking will add yet another dimension to the already strong Giant squad. Oli has twice ridden the Olympics, (2000 and 2004), finished sixth in the European Championships and was a highly impressive ninth in the World Championships. If that isn't enough, he was also crowned both National Cross Country and National Cross Country series champion. Oli however isn't resting on his laurels though and both he and Giant are hoping for even greater achievements in the future. Oli had this to say about signing for Giant: "I am very happy to be joining Giant for 2006 and beyond. I have some big goals over the next few years and Giant can give me the support and equipment to help me succeed at the highest level. Giant have a great reputation as a winning team and I hope that I can pilot the Anthem and XtC to the top of the podium." Although his focus is on the future, Oli also wanted to thank the team he will be moving on from "to make this move I have to leave a team that I have had a great time with. I would like to thank Ian Hughes and everyone else at Scott UK for the support and memories over the last ten years." Jamie Popham calls it a dayIrish MTB racing suffered a blow this week when one of its most promising young riders, downhiller Jamie Popham, announced his retirement. In a press release, Popham listed a number of reasons for the shock decision. Monetary conditions are a big factor, these including the controversial decision by the Irish Sports Council to exclude non-Olympic athletes from the International Carding scheme in 2006, plus the reduced funding for international teams. The lack of a private sponsorship deal has also made things very difficult. Popham stated that the lingering effects of a broken ankle suffered in 2004 has also played a part. The Bray rider highlighted his talent when he finished an excellent fifth in the 2003 European junior championships. He also became the first non-British rider to win a NPS series in the UK when he took the junior series. In 2004 he started the season as highest ranked junior in the world and repeated his fifth place in the European championships for that category. However, hopes of a strong ride in the world championships was dashed due to the ankle injury he suffered in the run-up to the race. He was 23rd there. Popham was overlooked for a grant last year by the Irish Sports Council. He appealed the decision and was just one of nine Irish sports people to succeed in being re-awarded funding. However, while he secured €4,600, this was far less than the amount he needed to ride a full international programme last season. ‘I am disappointed with the result of the appeal as I had applied for an international grant of €11,500, which has been refused,’ he said at the time. ‘While the grant of €4,600 will help, the cost of my race season including the eight races of the World Cup Series in 2005 is approximately €20,000. This figure excludes all equipment. Some of the races are in Canada, Brazil and the USA and so, without some private sponsorship, my full race programme for 2005 is now in doubt.’ Popham received some welcome assistance from the Irish telecommunications company Eircom towards the end of the season and this enabled him to do more races than would otherwise have been possible. He had finished second to Ben Reid in the Irish national downhill championships in Mallow, Co. Cork, and was 36th and 40th against far older riders in the World Cup events in Canada and the US. He went to the world championships hoping for a good ride but crashed heavily on the morning of the race. It was thought he would have to pull out of the championships but he insisted on competing, finishing a brave 62nd. Popham’s junior results had showed him to be a real prospect for the future and indeed he and Ben Reid were described by former World Cup winner Steve Peat as strong talents. However it seems now, unfortunately, that his career has come to a close. 135 mile MTB race announced - in winterThe Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions starting at 7am--Monday, February 6 through Wednesday night, 7pm--Feb. 8th, 2006. Completing the course is no small feat as winter temperatures in this area of Minnesota have been known to reach a record -60F degrees. No wonder the locals have dubbed their town the "Icebox of the Nation" and "Frostbite Falls". There will be one race check point serving hot soup and water at a cabin about the midway point by Myrtle Lake near the town of Orr. Otherwise, racers are fully self-supported with a cutoff time of 60 hours. Each racer is required to carry mandatory food, water and gear as outlined on the rules page to cover the 3 days and 2 nights outdoors. The race will have a few costs for permits, insurance, awards and other incidentals which we will pass on to the racers. There is no purse; however, every finisher receives a unique Arrowhead trophy. Every participant receives an Arrowhead t-shirt. Extra t-shirts can be ordered at the pre-race meeting. There will be three entry categories- bike, run or ski- that the racer may choose at the start of the race depending upon the trail and weather conditions. In addition, we will track times for fun and posterity in Overall, Men's and Women's categories, as well as the coveted Myrtle the Turtle award. For more info on the series, visit www.AdventureCORPS.com. West Virginia MTB Association releases 2006 series scheduleThe WV Mountain Bike Association met January 6th to finalize its slate of races for the 2006 season. WVMBA will hold a 13 race point series; a racer must complete 5 races to qualify for the Point Series, and scoring will be based upon the racer's best 6 results, plus their score at the final, Championship race. $100,000+ total cash and prizes for all events - $10,000 cash and prizes for Point Series Champions. 2006 West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA) Sanctioned Events: (Point Series Races (denoted with #) - Best 6 plus Championship Race determine series winners.) April 23, #1 Challenge at Mountwood, Waverly For more information see www.wvmba.com. U.S. 'cross champ to host Off Road to Athens screening in CAThe NorCal High School Mountain Bike League announced this week that it is hosting a showing of the feature-length documentary, Off Road to Athens in Berkeley to raise funds to support its upcoming season. Olympian Todd Wells, who recently won the 2005 National Cyclocross Championships, will be flying in from Durango, Colorado to host the screening. "Mountain biking wasn't an Olympic sport when I was in high school, so I never dreamed I would compete in the Olympics" stated Todd Wells. "I started racing mountain bikes my senior year of high school. We didn't have any support from the school. Where I went to school in Kingston, New York the only sports were baseball and football. It's great to see how the sport has grown." Todd Wells, who stars in the movie, explained "When these guys showed up at the Pan Am Champs in Ecuador talking about this movie they were making, I didn't think much of it. But they put together a movie that surpasses everything I expected. This movie transcends the cycling community and anyone who has experienced the ups and downs of chasing a dream can relate to it." The screening, held Saturday, January 14th at 7:00pm at the Berkeley Community Theater, will include a raffle with prizes from Clif Bar, Voler, WTB, Tecnu, CamelBak, and Mountain Hardwear. The Nor Cal High School Mountain Bike League presented by Clif Bar is a non-profit organization open to students from both public and private schools. The league provides coaching and camaraderie to help students achieve both competitive and non-competitive cross-country mountain biking goals in a safe and enjoyable manner. The next season of events begins with beginner riding camps in February, and over 20 teams will compete in the six-race series commencing in March. For more information visit www.norcalmtb.org. Gold Man Group starts Nomads video production in Vegas
Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Jamie Goldman is the feature athlete for Nomads, a one-hour HDTV show which started production Jan.10th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nomads, produced for Rush HD is part action/adrenaline sports and part travel documentary. Nomads feature athletes from various sports and puts them on the road to an exotic location. Each one-hour episode is dedicated to a specific sport; skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, mountain biking, surfing, BASE, moto, and more. Air dates will be released when determined. Joining Goldman in the feature are hometown buddies Cameron McCaul and Greg Watts. (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006) |
