In the Outdoor world, this week is one of the biggest….especially from an industry and retail level. Going on in Salt Lake City is the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Show. This is were all of your favorite outdoor brands gather under one roof to show off their new goods for the 2010 season. As in years past, Ergon Outdoor is in attendance. Below is a few images from the show so far.
Stage 5: St. Christina to Sarthein
6th position, and a look back over the 5 stages
The Team Topeak Ergon TransAlp duo lie in 7th place overall after a 6th place finish yesterday. “The stage was awesome. To climb 1600m in one climb is colossal. Once we reached the top, then we were faced with lots of technical trials down towards Sarthein. At one point we were in fifth position, but this is a long race and didn’t want to risk everything,” Lakata said following the day in the saddle, riding the 82km long stage.
It isn’t only the team on the bike though. The support team is also happy. Mechanic Lars Hartwich described his thoughts “The performance of the bikes and parts is obviously my worry and responsibility, but there have been no problems. Under these conditions, that is a huge recommendation. To see everything coming together is great”.
Wiens added his experience “I have been riding professionally for over 20 years. As you can imagine, in this period there have been many races. TransAlp though is something special. It is already on my top ten race list. The landscape is wonderful, but what stands out is the demanding nature of the stages both in terms of the endurance that you have to have and the technical riding skills required. The course today took in 3665 m of height difference that we had to climb. The longest climb was 2.5 times longer than the longest one in Colorado that I regularly ride.”
Obviously the motivation and the excitement at taking part is difficult to hide. Roll on the next stage.
Click to find out all the details. Congrats Sonya!
Mike Vigers flexing for the camera would climb onto the second step at USA XC Nationals at the end of the day.
Stage 4: Brixen to St. Christina
St. Christina / Italy: Today’s stage from Brixen to St. Christina was the longest stage of the event, at 84km with 3600m of climbing. The start was hectic with a number of crashes on a narrow downhill section, which was followed by a climb taking in 1200m of altitude. In total there were four climbs with summits over the 1,000m above sea level mark today. Combined with sunshine and temperatures of over 30 degrees, it was set to be a testing day for everyone.
Following the start, former US national XC Champion Wiens, and reigning Austrian National Marathon Champion Lakata found there rhythm and were riding well. They were being careful not to overcook things though, Alban explains “The stages are so long and difficult in places, and there are more ahead of us.” Having been in third place, they dropped back to fourth to let another team do the pulling.
The stage was a success for the Topeak Ergon team. The fifth place on the day makes for a seventh place in the overall classification. “We are getting better day by day, and we are learning what the strengths and the weaknesses are of the riders around us.” Lakata summarised.
Tomorrow’s stage from St.Christina to Sarnthein is another chance to move up the rankings.
Andy from Team Kenda-Tomac-Hayes fills us in on the teams efforts at the USA National Championships. The team races exclusively on the GX1 and GA1.
This past weekend brought the Kenda-Tomac-Hayes riders to Sol Vista, CO for one of their most important races of the year, Mountain Bike National Championships. The past two years, National Championships have been held in Mount Snow, VT and East Coast riders who excelled at the muddy, rooty, riding also excelled at the race. Being that all of the Kenda-Tomac-Hayes riders live at altitude in the Rocky Mountains I think that we were all happy to have Nationals return to the dusty, long-climb, high-elevation West.
The first race of the weekend was the Under-23 (U23) National Championship race. It was Colin’s last year as a U23 rider and he was racing near where he competed in his first ever mountain bike race so I think he was looking to put his stamp on the race. And he certainly did that. Colin took the lead early in the race and never looked back. I’ll let him tell it:
“Having been 2nd and three times 3rd place at Mountain Bike National Championships, I was anxious to get a win. This year, preparation and good fortune were on my side, and I held a small gap over Rob Squire to win the U23 National Championship. As a Colorado native, I love long aerobic climbs and was able to stretch my gap each lap on the course’s long lone climb. Rob would reel me in a little each descent, which kept the race exciting and stressful right until the finish. I remember reaching the top of the final downhill with a comfortable gap and vowing to ride a safe and smooth descent. Seconds later, I washed out my front wheel in a corner and went sailing over the bars. Fortunately my bike was unharmed, and I jumped back on with so much adrenaline that I didn’t notice my skewed handlebars or the rock lodged in the front of my helmet. I can say with confidence that the final switchbacks and finishing straightaway of the course were some of the most fun bits of bike riding I have ever done. On the one hand, riding well was so much fun that I immediately get motivated future races. On the other hand, winning nationals makes me think back on all the support that has gotten me to this point. Great family, coaches and friends, and exceptional support from USA Cycling and great companies like Kenda, Tomac, and Hayes, and Hammer have made it possible to pursue this dream. “
So Kenda-Tomac-Hayes has a National Champion on their team. I’ve attached a couple of photos of Colin. I think red, white, and blue are his colors.
Saturday was the elite men’s and women’s cross country race. It was a tough course with a long, sustained climb and a rough and dusty descent. Zephanie was the best finisher for our women with an 11th place finish. In the men’s race I battled for 4th and 5th all day but in the end the race was one lap too long for me and I had to settle for 6th.
Sunday we all woke up with sore legs and bodies from digging deep and/or crashing yesterday but we all saddled back up and competed in the short track race. It was a very atypical short track course. Generally in a short track you never have to leave your big ring and there might be a really short, steep climb to contend with. We faced a course that went straight up a ski hill run and came straight back down. It was by far the longest climb I had ever seen in a short track. Again, Zeph was the best finisher for the women with a solid 10th place. In the men’s race I finished 8th and Colin was 10th.
I have compiled some links to some media coverage. To read about Colin’s U23 victory you can check out VeloNews and Cyclingnews. You can see photos here and here and watch videos here and here. Here’s a good picture of Heather in the XC race. There is a mention of the battle I was having with my brother in the XC race here and an interesting article in VeloNews that points out that almost all of the top ten racer’s in the men’s race were on bikes other than the traditional 26-in hardtail. There is also a photo here and a video here. There are some good photos of the STXC here, here, here, here, and here.
I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch more coverage and there will be more coverage in print, so keep your eyes peeled.
All in all, it was a great weekend. All the team riders would like to thank Chris Magerl and Nate Carey for their tireless work to make sure we had clean and perfectly working bikes and were well fed during our races. Also, a big thanks goes out to all of our sponsors who provide us with some of the best equipment on the market. We couldn’t do it without you.
Thanks for reading,
Andy
