Posted by Wendy on 03/09/10 |
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Posted by Matt on 03/08/10 |
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Posted by Jim on 03/08/10 |
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Posted by Dan on 03/06/10 |
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Posted by Jim on 03/05/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 03/05/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 03/04/10 |
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PIVOT LAUNCHES BLOG
Debut Post Reveals Humbler Side to Racing
(TEMPE, Ariz.) Pivot Cycles "walked the talk" in mid February by entering a team of Pivot staffers plus one mountain bike magazine editor into the annual 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. At first they downplayed the event, calling it a "whim" and acting casually about the anticipated outcome. Then, in their own words "once the race started, those old competitive juices started flowing."
The weekend's results equaled a respectable tenth place at the wildly-competitive 24-hour event and an inspired narrative to launch Pivot's new blog. What you'll find in this premier blog article is a report absent of marketing copy but motivating. For everyone who holds down a fulltime job and squeezes riding into the margins of the workday, racing is quite secondary to a career. Racing is fun though, since it allows you to probe deep within and expose your strengths and weaknesses in a way that's privately confronting. You'll learn a bit about that from Pivot's blog and, if all you've ever read about racing is skin suits, power output, speed, cadence, and quirky nutrition habits, you may be missing out. Check out Pivot's blog here.
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Posted by Wendy on 03/01/10 |
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MAN DOWN: ADAM CRAIG
Adam Craig, one of the most prolific racers in professional mountain biking sent out an email this afternoon that started like this:
"Well, do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is that they didn’t have to amputate..."
After presumably slipping and falling in an icy parking lot in his hometown of Bend, Ore., Craig suffered a blowout to his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). Surgery was inevitable and - based on Craig's dispatch - successful, but as painful as it was, the fact that Craig has avoided such debilitating injuries in far riskier situations, was a harsher blow.
"Now that I’m two weeks out from surgery it’s all starting to sink in. This is a veritable shitticane. A really hard one to accept and understand. You see, I’ve just started to walk around the house on my own two feet without the aid of my lovely Lofstrand (think Forrest Gump) crutches and can spin complete (albeit slow) circles on the stationary bike. Yet, with all of this progress and a knee that appears, other than a bit of swelling and some incisions, to be healthy, I’m looking at not being able to ride a mountain bike in any remotely risky environment for four months from the date of surgery, February 9th."
Ouch.
As a pro racer, last week Craig was scheduled to debut with his new
European-based Giant Bicycles/Rabobank MTB team. Fox Racing Shox needs him to test new XC fork technology this winter and Shimano had him on the docket for a product launch at Sea Otter. Lest we forget the realities of a professional athlete, Craig spelled it out for us, "This is a full time job for me and it requires use of my lower extremities."
To read the full email, click here.
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Posted by Wendy on 03/01/10 |
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UNLEASH YOUR INNER RACER
(we know he/she's in there somewhere)
By WENDY BOOHER
Know your limits...but never stop trying to exceed them. -Anonymous
photo courtesy of the Sea Otter Classic
Here we are at the start of the North American race season and, if you've never tried racing, here's a small narrative intended to inspire you to give it a spin. It's true, you are your own worst enemy and if you've always told yourself that you're not fit/fast enough to race, who cares?! Go out and try it anyway, you might just be better than you think.
I started racing in earnest last year, at age 39. I've raced a little in the past and I've reported on seemingly hundreds of races but my dirty little secret was always that I could write about racing in theory but rarely in practice. My excuse for starting to race more last year was that I wanted to be better at my job as a routine race correspondent but truthfully, it was a friend who sampled racing in the beginner class who quite frankly, wouldn't shut up about how much fun it was. She was right. There's little else more satisfying than finishing a race utterly spent but a bit high on the sense of accomplishment. My results weren't bad either - never worse than third in women's expert - but I usually raced my own race and if I managed to pass someone or be passed, so be it.
The greatest obstacle to racing a bike is not trying for fear of failure (which - by the way - is a subjective term) or, in some cases, it is a lack of understanding. Somewhere along the line, racing (and training) evolved into a goliath convoluted by training metrics, highly-specialized equipment, and food created in chem labs. The racing process is simple: ride your bike at a sustainable pace for a prescribed period of time or distance. Consult a friend who races about things to know about racing (when to accelerate, when to ease up on the pedals, what/when to eat etc.) Heed the advice above to know your limits, as they will help you manage risks to your physical wellbeing, but also know them in order push safely past them, otherwise how ever will you know what greatness lies within?
So get out there and step right up to the start line, we've selected these upcoming events with you in mind:
April 15-18 - Monterey, Calif. - 20th Annual Sea Otter Classic, the unofficial kickoff to the North American cycling season, Sea Otter started out as a solid local race in '91 and has now grown into an international event with a little sumthin' for everyone
May 8 - Fort Mill, SC - 6 Hour Grind on the "Greenway," a six-hour singletrack mountain bike race, with 805 ft of elevation per lap, and benefiting the Humane Society of York County, Team Up for Type 1 and Girl Scouts Troop 648.
May 21-23 - Hesston, Pa. - DirtFest 2010, presented by Dirt Rag Magazine. A mountain bike advocacy weekend with a little something for everyone. Group rides, night rides, rallies, and creative competition underscore a weekend aimed at promoting exposure for as many facets of the mountain bike community as possible.
May 22 - Weaverville, Calif. - 6/12 Hours of Weaverville, 11.6 miles/1722' of climbing, which starts with three miles of fire road climbing, 1.5 miles of rollers, then 7 miles of downhill singletrack but get this: no one will ever know your place during the race since everyone from the fastest to the slowest will be riding the same course.
July 18 - Ellicotteville, NY - 6 Hours of Power. Solo riders and two-person tag teams compete for the most laps on a 10-mile course on some of western New York's best trails. A pumping transition area, clearly marked course, two water stations and post-race pasta party highlight this annual event.
Read more on the culture of racing in Speedgoat's next Monthly Newsletter, due out this week. Sign up in the top right corner of this page.
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Posted by Chris on 02/24/10 |
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EVIL VS. INCOMPETENCE
I just received an email from FedEx (interestingly, they now have a gmail account) letting me know I had to jump through some hoops to receive a package they're trying to send to me that has $800,000.00 USD in it. Sadly, I won't be receiving the package. I own a few nice bikes, so money means nothing to me, and I have a few really strict policies against spam--even great news spam like this. Besides, somebody's bound to send me another $800K again tomorrow. At the risk of offering advice to n'er do wells out there, I just want to clarify:
Rule 1: On my planet, nobody signs off an email with "Mr." or "Mrs." before his or her name. If you really want to act like a genuine corporation, never give out an actual name. And you know what? When you do, never make it "Joe Smith" or "Alexander Graham Bell" like you do. The only employees at an American company with names like that don't know how to send emails.
Rule 2: If even you clearly lose the thread of the jacked up story you're concocting, just give it up. Don't try to ride it out, thinking if you can't scam a million bucks out of some moron, you might at least accidentally write a Dan Brown novel. So my friend in "CANADA" (logic: Canada is a nation of trustworthy people such that just writing the name in full caps will let me know this is all legit) died in the desert, but his daughter made a fortune with a diamond mine, and he was trying to get this pile of money to me so that I could rescue her from Dante's Inferno and blah, blah. I'm an American. We have icons of types of food on our cash registers. You lost me at "Hello!".
Rule 3: Nobody in America types form crap into emails. This isn't because we don't trust you; it's because none of us can remember passwords or any other relevant information. All that crap is auto-filled on web sites for us by Microsoft or Google. We can't remember which one.
Rule 4: No corporation capable of handling large amounts of money ever "kindly" asks us to do anything.
In a related note, when attempting to commit credit card fraud on the telephone, correcting yourself regarding the spelling of your first name, is widely regarded as suspect.
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Posted by Matt on 02/22/10 |
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INTRODUCING MATT THOMAS
A bore is a man who spends so much time talking about himself that you can't talk about yourself.
- Melville Landon
Let me introduce myself. I am a native of southwestern Pennsylvania, who just relocated back East from a thirteen-year stint in California. I am also pleased and tickled to be the latest addition to the brilliant staff at Speedgoat Bicycles.
My obsession regarding bicycles began with struggling to learn to ride on two wheels. My frustration peaked during the summer of 1976, at age six, as I watched children a year or two younger than me trade in their training wheels for two-wheeled freedom. Later as an adult, I looked upon my son with envy as he shed his trainers - with great ease - just after his fourth birthday. Earlier in the spring of ‘76, my mother had devised an astounding drill. She had me shuttle my bike (sans training wheels) to the top of a grassy slope where she waited for me, chirping with the neighbor lady about Donahue and such. After planting me on my bike, gripping my shoulders, she gave me a firm shove and watched me swerve and wobble to a fiery crash on our back lawn. This was repeated again and again for what seemed like weeks until I too shed those racket-makers from my bike’s rear axle. All of a sudden I was cruising along the streets - silent as a jungle cat but only a month later, I was struck by a car for the first time, a gold Corvette. My father, who witnessed the whole calamity, dusted me off and sent the driver on her way without repercussion. As I remember, she was a tall blonde wearing tight, black satin slacks.
By 1978, I was hooked. I pushed my Schwinn Orange Crate to the top of a huge rocky slope and committed myself to my first downhill run.
Once the 80’s arrived, I was fully caught up in BMX fervor, which developed my interest in bike tech. I was the best garage mechanic around (among the juvenile, dirt jumping riff-raff). I had a mock shop set up in my garage with tools neatly lined up and hanging from the wall with a spray can of WD-40. I also became a young shop rat who scrubbed bike parts after school in a toxic scrub tank in exchange for meager discounts on my heavy parts habit. I was proud of my extensive record of mangled forks.
In 1984 I was given my first road bike. It was a used Schwinn Paramount 7-Eleven replica (lame sticker set) with Shimano 600; I think my father had traded an air conditioner and some railroad ties for it. This was soon destroyed by my second car collision. This car was also gold: a Mercedes Benz sedan and I was descending a left turn when the Mercedes driver made an awfully wide right. I hit this car head on, flew entirely over it, then rolled down the embankment on the other side of the road. I crawled back to the top of the slope, the autumn-browned leaves crackling under my hands and knees, only in time to see the driver speed off down the road. My bike was folded in half – literally - and I had to carry it home under my arm. When she saw me and my crumpled bike, my mother practically went into shock but my father was mad as hell at me and I was banned from the road. The police were never called. I often call this the premature end to my professional road racing career.
Then came the dark years. In my late ‘teens, bicycles faded into the background as punk rock and other trappings of my high school years took over. It wasn’t until I was laid off from my first real photography gig in New York City that bicycles would reenter my life. The cost of living was astronomical in the big city and I needed a job fast. One of my roommates was a bike mechanic and suggested that I try my hand at being a messenger. I thought, “yeah, that’s a great idea!” I would have the chance to learn the city like the back of my hand.” So I lied, I went into the messenger company and lied. I told them, “Oh yeah, I’ve done this before,” so they gave me a job. At the end of my first day I made the mistake of taking a rest on a park bench in lower Manhattan. It was at least an hour until my legs unlocked enough to even begin turning the cranks back toward my brownstone in Stuyvesant Town. During my run as a messenger I had three bikes stolen and was knocked down only once, by a Metro bus. I emerged from that time tough as nails.
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Posted by Matt on 02/22/10 |
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INTRODUCING MATT THOMAS (2 OF 2)
(part 2)
After being thoroughly chewed up and spit out by New York, I spent some time continuing my education at the University of Pittsburgh, where I was firmly introduced to mountain biking. We rode the trails so much I am surprised there is any dirt left in Frick Park. All of this trail moshing required a high degree of mechanical assistance but I soon learned that I no longer had the tools or the know-how to execute this on my own. A BMX or track bike was far simpler and I realized that I would need to glean some new skills from someone. But, the miserable and underpaid Pittsburgh mechanics I knew offered little help. So off to California I went.
I started my edification in Berkeley – where it was “all mountain biking, all the time.” For the most part, when I wasn’t wrenching in the cavernous bike shop on Gilman Street (across from infamous 924 Gilman, the punk rock venue), I was on the trails of the Oakland Hills. We rode day and night. The repair work was endless and most of the bikes were tragic. Mending the wrecks of Berkeley is how I cut my teeth. Now I believe that those types of two-wheeled disasters are truly what make a mechanic great.
Eventually I was recruited by a bicycle company in San Francisco called City Cycle located in the posh setting of Cow Hollow at the base of Knob Hill. There I was introduced to the world of top-shelf machines and my favorite bicycle mentors taught me the axioms of high-end bicycle fitting, sales and service. City Cycle even afforded me the opportunity to attend fitting school at Serotta in New York. After many years at City Cycle I moved on to one of my favorite organizations, Cycle Sports of Oakland. There I was exposed to the racing aspect of road cycling and working on the bikes of pro roadies was a real honor. I was flattered to learn that I was becoming a star-mechanic - Bruce Lee with a wrench was one moniker tossed my way. At Cycle Sports I had the fortune to learn from one of the great bike Magi of the Bay Area, who was the general manager at the time. He had the ability to utter just a few words that would rain down on me like an epiphany. Afterward I could see more clearly and my focus was laser-like.
In 2006 family matters moved me to Southern California. I did not want to go; I was enjoying my experience at Cycle Sports. I liked the people and I liked my boss and I didn’t want to give up another favorite gig as wheel builder for Rohloff USA, which had become a job I enjoyed as side-work for more than seven years.
Southern California was completely different and cycling was no longer the number one sport in the region – surfing was king. I truly missed the trails of NorCal. From the Oakland hills with their lush redwood groves, to the sheer technical difficulties of the forests in Santa Cruz, to the epic, deep woods adventures of the Lost Coast – I loved these places. There was consolation however, I found myself to be the only master mechanic in the region. The volume of ultra high-end road bikes came in droves; it was a dream come true! There were few bikes that were outfitted with anything less than Campagnolo Record and being able to hone my skills on such “bejeweled” machines was a gift.
Hence, family matters moved me once again, this time back to the East, to one of my old stomping grounds in the Laurel Highlands. Here is where you will find me, at Speedgoat Bicycles. This is a sharp operation held in high esteem, even by those in far-away California – my West Coast friends shop here. I am happy, I like it, and I intend to stay.
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Posted by Wendy on 02/18/10 |
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WAZUPWIDIS?: FORCED UNDERGROUND
By RICH DILLEN
From time to time I come across stories that resonate with the times and have the power to engage the reader with useful and/or intriguing information or themes. Most of these stories usually appear in qualified media outlets, such as in this instance. The current issue of Dirt Rag Magazine complements Dillen's story with a couple others, one in the regular Access column and another by none other than Charlie Kelly. Get a copy or subscribe and ask to receive the current issue. -W
(published with permission from Dirt Rag Magazine)
We all know the economy sucks, and we're all feeling the negative effects one way or another. The only people I know of that have benefited from the economic downturn, other than repo men, would be the cyclists that were already unemployed before it all came crashing down, as it's now a lot easier for them to find someone to ride with on the weekdays. Being a bike messenger in the second largest banking city in the U.S. of A., I rely heavily on the continual turning of the money wheels, so I too have been impacted by this recession, depression, crisis, or whatever the pundits are calling it today. There was a time when I had disposable income, and I usually disposed of it by entering expensive endurance races and buying expensive bike parts to replace the expensive bike parts I destroyed at all the expensive endurance races. It's hard to believe that two years ago I was in Costa Rica racing at La Ruta de los Conquistadores and hanging out in hotel lobbies drinking Imperial Cervezas, and now I'm facing the real possibility of a very truncated 2010 racing "season." With a cup that no longer runneth over, I've been looking for another means with which I can satiate my desire to inflict pain on myself in a competitive manner without resorting to street fighting or something even worse...bike polo. Read on...
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Posted by Jim on 02/17/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 02/15/10 |
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Posted by Dave on 02/14/10 |
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THERE'S A FINE LINE BETWEEN AWESOME AND AWFUL
If you live pretty much anywhere near the East Coast of the United States, you've experienced the ugly end of the weather stick. Here in Pennsylvania, rumor has it that there is a certain groundhog named Phil whose approval ratings have plummeted as of late.
Four days after the little rodent's grim prediction I became ill with Cabin Fever. I'm not sure if it was coincidence or not that I had to shovel for 2 1/2 hours that day but, since then my condition has worsened. It all came to a head last Thursday. After yet another day of having my outdoor riding hopes dashed against the rocks (and my shoveling skills honed once again) I finally declared "Enough!" In hindsight I actually may have used another more colorful and less-likely-to-be-used-around-a group-of-grandmothers phrase but either way, I hit the breaking point. It was time to ride, all I needed was a good reason to dupe any surviving logic center in my brain into thinking it was an acceptable idea.
The epiphany: The automobile that spends an inordinate amount of its time sitting motionless out in front of my house needs to pass inspection by the end of the month. Without intervention we stand more chance of seeing green grass tomorrow than finding a February 2011 expiration date proudly displayed on its adult windshield (yes, it is old enough to vote).
Time to pull the resident Surly Cross x Check off the hook and put on the meanest 'cross tires from the parts pile - even if they don't match and the front tire has red sidewalls. (Up until this point I really had been fancying the Conundrum, but recent research had confirmed that unicycles and slush don't mix.) After airing up the tires and installing a set of pedals I cleared 2 feet of snow from the roof rack, loaded the bike on, and headed for the mechanic's shop. The plan was simple: drop the car and ride home. This appears like a simple and rational plan. What it didn't account for was 1. the mechanic's shop is about 13 miles away, and 2. there was no way the ride was only going to be 13 miles long.
I dropped the car off, headed into the wind, and took the long way home. The ride ended up lasting somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 miles. Yes, it was cold and yes, my fingers got REALLY cold, but I had a "We should do this again sometime" feeling.
Yesterday was part II. This time the roads were clear enough and the temperature cold enough that the 36in wheeled unicycle was the logical riding choice. Some logic, eh? It was snowing, it was cold, it was a great day to be riding. After about 25 miles of fun the ride was over, but the (Cabin) Fever was starting to break.
Today, part III. I came to the conclusion that I may not - in fact - be sane. Same ride as yesterday, different conditions. The temperature was freezing and I'm not sure what the precipitation was. I didn't realize it was possible to do a loop that had a constant headwind.
The upside?
There's a fine line between awesome and awful. From time to time it's good to cross that line.
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Posted by Jim on 02/13/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 02/11/10 |
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BH BIKES: HISTORY OF INNOVATION
Spain's participation in World War I was good for business for Domingo, Juan, and Cosme Beistegui until 1923, when the brothers had to diversify their gun-making business in order to remain profitable during hard economic times. Domingo's skill at managing capital, Juan's ability to track and capture market trends, and Cosme's technical prowess forged the foundation of their fledgling endeavor to craft bicycles that could ascend the jagged, staccato peaks of Spain's daunting Pyrenees. BH (Beistegui Hermanos or, Beistegui brothers) Bikes emerged as exquisite examples of bicycle craftsmanship and have steered a course marked by innovation ever since.
It all started with Spain's well-known cycling heritage and the challenging riding in the surrounding Basque region, which was home to BH Bikes at the time. It is often pointed out that the climbs of the Vuelta de España are steeper and more frequent than those of the Tour de France. This climbing heritage helped push BH to develop some of the lightest, best climbing bikes in the world. One of BH's earliest successes was victory in the first-ever Vuelta in 1935 and BH has sustained a presence in the pro peloton at the Vuelta, Tour de France and Giro d'Italia since then.
One of the more ambitious product development projects in recent cycling history involved the sponsorship of the UCI ProTour team: Liberty Seguros. BH developed a whole new platform for the team by pushing carbon technology to a new level and exceeding the top professional rider’s expectations.
This development project resulted in the very first monocoque carbon frame under 900 grams with an integrated (extended) seat tube which not only delivered a new level of handling and efficiency but was also among the lightest and arguably best-performing bikes in the world. Extended seat tubes and sub-kilo frame weights have become “the latest rage” among bike manufactures and in the ProTour but, according to BH's website, their technology was first developed by BH for Liberty Seguros several years ago.
At the start of the 1990's, BH Bikes acquired Cycleurope, which owned the Peugeot, Bianchi, and Gitane brands, but later sold it to focus more intensely on Spanish and Portuguese markets. Five years later BH Bikes threw open its doors to the entire European market and even started manufacturing automobile parts for various brands. While widely known in Europe, BH Bikes entered the North American market only three years ago but has had plenty of successes to celebrate due to strong showings by the teams it sponsors in US domestic racing.
BH models have been garnering awards and recognition from the international cycling press for the last several years. The most recent and prestigious of these awards are:
• 2005 – Le Cycle (France) – Bike of the Year
• 2006 – Ciclismo a Fondo (Spain) – Road frame of the year
• 2006 – Cycling Plus (UK) – Bike of the Year
In 2010, BH will sponsor Xacobeo Galicia ("chacobeo galithia") Continental Team, managed by the famed former cyclist Álvaro Pino. The international bicycle firm will provide the Galician team with the highly acclaimed G5 and Aero models, which were so successful last season.
To try a BH bike, visit the "Demo" pages of BH Bikes North American website: http://www.bhbikes-us.com/demo.php. Or, if you already know what you want, find it here.
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Posted by Jim on 02/10/10 |
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Posted by Chris on 02/09/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 02/07/10 |
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Posted by Chris on 02/05/10 |
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Posted by Wendy on 02/05/10 |
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WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF RESPONDS TO HAITI
public letter from WBR founder FK Day
"The recent disaster in Haiti touches all of our senses of humanity and community. Many of you have contacted us to inquire about our response and to encourage us to respond. Thank you for your communication. I have reached out to several leading relief organizations operating in Haiti to probe their needs and to make them aware that if called upon, we will support them to the best of our ability.
As we experienced in post-tsunami Sri Lanka, there are several phases in which Governments, and Relief Organizations operate.
The first phase is often referred to as the Emergency Phase, and it can last for several months. During this time priority is given to saving those in immediate danger, burying the dead, containing disease, providing for victims’ basic needs and stabilizing government and transportation.
The second phase is Recovery Phase, and it can last from 6 to 24 months. During this period priority is given to establishing non-emergency health care, moving victims to longer term shelter, re-connecting children with schools, restarting the economy and developing a longer term plan to rebuild the economy and lives of the victims.
The final phase involves the long-term rebuilding of the physical plant, economy and country.
The following are some of my thoughts about how World Bicycle Relief can contribute to the recovery of Haiti:
1. Woven into disaster planning, a large scale bicycle program in each phase would have immediate impact. With that said, the highest impact comes when a program is carefully synchronized with the objectives and activities of Government or Relief Organizations on the ground. Most large scale Phase 1 relief efforts have been carefully coordinated and in some cases practiced in anticipation of disasters. It is unlikely (but not out of the question) that bicycles would be requested from the field at this current stage of Phase 1 Post Earthquake Haiti Relief.
2. Word from the field is that there may be an important role for bicycles in Phases 2 and 3. We are learning more about this now and evaluating how we would execute a program if called upon to do so. We are gathering information on costs, timing and logistics and will keep you informed of activities.
3. World Bicycle Relief is fully committed to executing our current programs in Africa, specifically Bicycles for Education Empowerment Program (BEEP) which involves 49,000 bikes and 750 Field Mechanics. We are also building the Micro Finance model. New funding sources would need to be secured to finance a large scale program in Haiti in a timely manner.
Thank you for your continued support and communication. The impact you are causing is deep and immediate.
You are welcome to call or email with thoughts or questions.
With great commitment,
FK"
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Posted by Wendy on 02/05/10 |
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A BIKE IS THE ANSWER TO DESPERATE DESIRE TO REACH 12TH GRADE
CHILIKWELA VILLAGE, Zambia - Before she received a bike as part of World Bicycle Relief's Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program, Tendai would walk five miles each way, twice each day, to her primary school with the dream of completing her studies in order to advance to teachers college. The long journey left her energy depleted, and it sapped her will to study due to exhaustion. This left her hopeless and desperate to fulfill her ambition to reach the twelfth grade.
Considered luxury items by some, education - along with health - are no doubt squandered by many in some of the more developed nations in the world. World Bicycle Relief programs addresses the lack of access to health care, education and economic development opportunities by providing access to independence and livelihood through The Power of Bicycles. Bicycles are simple, sustainable and appropriate technology to support people in developing nations and disaster recovery.
Launched in June 2009 in partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Education, World Vision and several prominent NGOs, BEEP aims to empower students, school volunteers and administrators in the poorest districts in Zambia.
If you're out shopping today, visit our Blue Sale page and consider donating part of the money you save in order to grant someone else the privilege of owning something as simple as a bike.
A donation of just $134 provides a bicycle to a student like Tendai.
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Posted by Wendy on 02/05/10 |
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COMMENCAL STAYS 'IN THE FAMILY' FOR 2010
photo: Sven Martin
Dan, Gee, and Rachel Atherton, gravity racing's first family, will continue their pursuit of world dominance in 2010 atop Commencal bikes.
Former world champions, Gee and Rachel, who spent last season recovering from a debilitating crash that knocked her out of competition in 2009, will chase after the rainbow stripes while Dan, whose marked success in 4-cross throughout 2009, will balance the efforts of his siblings with his own ambitions to regain world gravity titles for the House of Atherton.
If they get their wish, the image above may best represent all that their rivals will see of the Athertons this coming season.
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