WENTWORTH FALLS, NSW
I haven't been back to our little hometown here in OZ since January, but its really nice to get a piece of it, even if only for 2.5 days. The weather is a lot colder and windier than we would like, but it is winter and at least the sun is out. Hit up our favorite hike(National Pass) along the canyons. It was so windy the waterfalls blew upwards! Crazy. Trail begins, or ends depending on where you start at the the conservation hut:) which also happens to be the best little breakfast spot. 2 hrs walking time, there are about a billion stairs to climb, but the most beautiful waterfalls and cliffs imaginable. best off road running trail for fitness. We do this run in the offseason like once a week, and I think Bryn's record door to door is 40 min:)

Continue reading "BLUE MOUNTAINS of OZ" »

Posted by Jill at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CANBERRA, AUS
This is kind of an underground event, but a couple days before the UCI World Championships in Canberra, Australia, a pump track world championships will also be held at an undisclosed location near by. For those of you who know a thing or two about weak prize purses for Pro racing, ie $80 for my USA national Championship win, hehemm. These local guys have raised $2,500.00 for the winner plus a bunch of prizes. I know Brenden Fairclough has been training for this event for weeks, maybe years:) Anyway, underground racing has no official rule book, all I can tell you is that no animals will be harmed, unless maybe a Kangaroo happens to hop into the ring by accident. More on this as it unfolds...

Posted by Jill at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PORT ANGELES, WA
For those of you who don't know your U.S. geography very well, Port Angeles is almost as far Northwest as you can go . We decided to make the 2.5 hr drive from seattle to support the series, but also for bryn to get some quality runs in and dial in his DH bike for worlds.

Fluidride Cups are gaining momentum, with decent sponsor support, and a nice prize purse , it's worthwhile for any US pro to show up.

Lars, Simon Lawton, Peter, plus the sponsors and several other hard working individuals are keeping US racing alive, and doing so with NW Flair. These races are hosted mostly in PA on Dry Hill and Mount Hood at Ski Bowl. They route through different tracks, so it's not completely favored to the locals. Beginner and amateur tracks are also all taped out and merge with the pro track at the bottom...

PRO MEN DH RESULTS
1. Bryn Atkinson
2. Lars Sternburg
3. Brad Oien
4. Kieran Bennett
5. JD Suangen

Continue reading "Fluidride cup #5" »

Posted by Jill at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our little helper Dennis "Air" Beare has flown back to Sweeden, but he had a theory that if you add "zilla" to anything it makes it that much bigger and burlier, ie, a person with a big neck- neckzilla:). So with that being said, we are train-zilla-ing for Worlds. One week to go... Nothing I can show you, top secret:) Australia is gonna see some snap-zillas outta the gate and some pull-zilla down the first straight, plus a little shred-zilla everywhere else!!!

Posted by Jill at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just wanted to bring a company called OBTANIUM to your attention. Titanium springs for DH bikes are kind of hard to find, and this small Northwest company is the place to get them. Bryn, Sam Hill, and a lot of other top World Cup racers use OBTANIUM Ti springs because of the weight difference, almost a pound lighter for our 951 bikes.

Jim Harvey, the man behind OBTANIUM will be at the Fluidride cup in Port Angeles this weekend, but you can also find more info on their website. obtainiumperformanceproducts.com

Posted by Jill at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHISTLER, BC
Pretty much prime conditions last night for slalom. The course got a more fun as the night progressed, dried out, knew each lane a little faster.

Top qualifiers ended up in the final, Lopes Vs. Rando, and Me vs Ragot. In the end lopes and I took the victories:) There was nothing super technical on this course to separate people, mostly good cornering and sprinting, but the top guys were all pretty close and had some tight battles. In the men's final, The first run was tight, but the second and final run rando unclipped out of the start and cased the first step up, which left a pretty easy win for Lopes. Good crowds though. It's rad how many different events there are here. I have done 3, but I suppose could have done 6 or 7 if I was keen for it.

Continue reading "Giant slalom finals" »

Posted by Jill at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHISTLER,BC
Time trials are done, Rando and I had the fastest times. Morning practice was cut a little short, so people who rocked up thismorning without practicing yesterday only got a couple runs in. Sun is out though and the dirt is dryin out a little, should get faster. about a minute long, full of pedaling:). Finals tonight at 6pm.
MEN'S TT
1.Rando
2.Lopes
3. ?
4. Kyle strait
5.Palmer

WOMEN"S TT
1. Jill
2. Ragot
3. Fee
4. Leigh D.

Posted by Jill at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saw this little beauty on the back of a fellow traveller out there on the road. How rad. Thought you might like it- I did.

WHISTLER, BC
It has been raining all day, not much to do now but rest. I practiced the Giant Slalom this morning for a couple hrs, but it was really boggy, and it's a long steep wet hike to the top. Not too many people out there, maybe a dozen, everyone's scared of the rain. It's a long course, not very tech, basic, lots of pedaling again. Red course is better than the other one, but whatever. Dry weather should make everything better+ faster tomorrow. yerr .

Posted by Jill at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

check out what's happening at www.dirttales.com. SRAM adventures and happenings... I was at the Whiffle Golf/Pig roast last night, and it was super duper fun:)

Posted by Jill at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHISTLER, BC
Air Downhill races A-Line trail. It's like 4.5-5 minutes of jumps, turns, and lots of pedaling. not really your standard downhill race because there isn't a lot of natural terrain or technical sections, but it's difficult fitness wise. The jumps have really steep lips on em too so quite a few of em have to be scrubbed or speed checked to not flatland. I rode my new Intense 951 and had a lot of fun. Felt so easy to turn and smooth, jumps well, took me all of about 1 run to get used to it. Love Intense bikes.

Continue reading "Crankworx AIR DH" »

Posted by Jill at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a spy shot of the new first jump on the supercross track in Chula Vista. Arielle, my ol roomie, pioneered it for the ladies. 39 feet. Foreigners be ready. Maybe they should get a motoX ramp and test how far is actually possible from the start, think boys could do bigger yet??

Posted by Jill at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHISTLER, BC

Bit soggy yesterday. Still went out there and tested the ol dh bike. Super fun, bike feels good, but I am not about to test the limits before worlds. keeping it on A-line. Made my little hardtail feel so cute and snappy afterwards.

Rival competition for the sprinter??

Posted by Jill at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHISTLER, BC
garbonzo dh is a bit of a Whistler special, really long endurance dh race. Chairlift takes about 40 min and from Top to bottom the fastest world cup racers can punish this course in about 15 minutes. There are a few points of pain, a big uphill climb a minute in, then another section of flat 30 second sprint. Lots of people were saying that holding on was an issue, and that the physical excersion was close to the hardest ever. Fun fun.

As a spectator it was kind of hard to follow, no split times, few cameras showing the bottom bits on the jumbotron, but the crowd was still full as usual. Bryn said he saw Justin leov training full runs earlier in the week, an he is really fit, so it's no surprise really that he took the win here . Kovarik 2nd, sam hill 3rd, 4th Marc Beaumont, 5th Keene, 6 Neethling 7th Stevie smith, 8 bryn
. Unofficially. So many fast guys here, top world cup contenders, lots of euros as well.

For the ladies, Miranda miller, the local favorite took a victory, followed by ragot, then pruitt.

Our friend polcster had a pretty bad crash, and was out in an ambulance, fingers crossed it's nothing major. Nothing broken apparently, just smashed his head and neck pretty hard.....

More riding this week...

Posted by Jill at 07:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Slalom Video
WHISTLER, BC
Slalom finals were yesterday night. Pretty Long day, practice at 9:30-11, then time trials for seeding at 12:30, finals at 6:30. Several hours break to watch a movie, have a nap, eat some food, then prepare for shredding. I must say that slalom is pretty refreshing, this course was a lot of fun an I enjoyed it so much. Every run is challenging and about your own ability.

Continue reading "Slalom @ crankworx" »

Posted by Jill at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whistler is full of goodness. So much to do outside that the hardest part is keeping your enthusiasm tamed the first day so u can last the whole week. All of our homies are here riding, having fun. It's really a laid back enviroment, but with some awesome prize money too. There are a bunch of races going on over the next weeks to keep things structured.

Yesterday was slalom practice, and most of the best guys are here. I am so inspired by good turning, and it is really quite a sight to see lopes, or sam hill, brenden, Cody Warren, van dine, bryn, etc. hit turns with the greatest of ease. So rad. The track here is pretty tight, but super fun. Not much pedalling at all, jumps landing into tight turns, a water drop feature, some whoops, sweet rhythm section, pump track style where your speed I gained by not loosing it.

Posted by Jill at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEATTLE, WA
Driving from Quebec to Seattle is soooo far, takes 3 days or so. It's no picnic even with plenty of Red Bull keeping the eye balls wide open. We stopped and rode a few places along the way,,, a spot in Chicago where they want to host the olympics, also Bozeman Montana but were a little too haggered for the Epic's in Big Sky. Kept it mellow. Big couple weeks ahead for training.

Some of the 2-3 am shifts test your sanity, we though flaming do-rags and fox pelts were funny for a second, but we all know a do-rags are gay, as are 3 wheeled motorcycles. They should ride a couch, or better yet- a car, jeeze. Montana, Idaho, Wa had some beautiful country, good to take it all in, swim in a river, and keep it real out on the road.

French Canada is defiantly it's own world, nice to be back, even if only for a couple days. Repack, refocus, and get ready to shred once again.

We are continuing up to Whistler for the next couple weeks to race and ride one of the best places in the World. This is my closest race to home, come check it out, rent a bike. Crankworx.com

P.S.- Dennis shall now be referred to as Timmy Beare Horton for his undying love of Tim Horton's restaurant.

Posted by Jill at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BROMONT, QUEBEC
Learning mistakes the hard way feels like a punch to the face, but that's the only way I seem to get the point. In hindsight I should've just rode my own race, like I know to do, but got caught up trying to block even though I had it. My goal was to ride smooth, boost the pro doubles like I did all week, stay clipped in, and ride how I can, but not today. Lessons learned. Congrats to fionn, and anneke, who got around. Makes the world cup a little harder to win now, but still possible. All this bullshit that I have caused myself is ok, it happens. My riding feels good, I need race skills and here they are. It's on for Worlds.

Men's racing was crazy. Top guys, like Jared and Saladini all had early crashes. Joost and Prokop made it to the final, as well as Dan Atherton, and Mitch Ropalato who was in last every round and still made a bunch of wild passes. Final all but Joost had a massive stack in turn 1. Dan and prokop both got injured, possibly badly.

Posted by Jill at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)