DH seeding runs are now complete. The stage has been set for racing this weekend and the order that things will unfold. Starting off with the Junior Men, Nick Geddes set the bar VERY high. He came down the extremely dry, dusty course in a staggering 4:52.72 placing him in 6th place. This time would also hold up through the day as the fastest Canadian DH run for the day. Once the Junior Men finished, the Elite Women to the course on where Fionn Griffiths put down a solid run seeding her 13th for the finals. The Last Norco to come down was Dirt Norco Race Team’s Ben Reid racing for Ireland. Ben had a super solid run with a time of 4:44.58. This run qualified Ben for 18th spot in the finals.
With a Hurricane rolling in, the course is going to get wet. Don’t be surprised to see some moving around in the standings for the weekend. Those that can deal with the wet will be bound to take advantage of the situation
4X racing is coming up and XC is just around the corner. Check back soon for updates. In the meantime, here are a few photos from today’s racing.
***** UPDATE*****
Fionn Griffiths has qualified 2nd for the Dual Slalom. The Finals happen tonight.
Members of the Norco Factory Team, Norco World Team and Dirt Norco Race team have all shifted east following Crankworx and are now in Windham NY. This is home to the final World Cup race of the season. Norco Factory XC riders Catherine Vipond and Andrew Watson have been ripping up the Cross Country course while Fionn Griffiths, Bernard Kerr and Ben Reid have been practicing the DH and are now through Qualification. Going into the Finals, Fionn has qualified in 10th for the women, Bernard 55th for the men and Ben is up in 34th for the men. Good luck to everyone over the next couple days of racing.
If there is one place in the world to find the top mountain bike mechanics in the world it is at a World Cup Race. Well, Dirt Norco Race Team mechanic Alastair Beckett was nice enough to go through rear derailleur adjustment for us at the Leogang World Cup. So, if you have ever wanted a little bit of help fixing up your Sram drivetrain, watch through this easy, step-by-step video tutorial.
With a bit of time on the road before the 2nd round of the world cup series in Fort William, the Dirt Norco boys stopped off at Glencoe to see what it had to offer.
The past few weeks have been a little on the busy side for members of the Norco Team. From racing to demos, teaching to event hosting there has been a little bit of everything from the team’s diverse members.
The Canadian race crew has been showing what they are made on the national circuit where two weeks back in Mt Tremblant at, Catherine Vipond took the win for the Elite Women while Andrew Watson was 2nd for the Men. Coming out of XC#3 in Hardwood Ontario, both Catherine and Andrew are wearing the leader’s jerseys for the both Pro XC categories. On the gravity side of the race circuit, junior Norco rider Nick Geddes had a near flawless race in Tremblant finishing second for the junior men with an overall top ten finish for the day. Heading back to Whistler for the First Fluidride Cup, Nick took home the Junior win with the second fastest time of the day.
Trials sensation Ryan Leech is well into his Cross-Canada Trials of Life Tour. having passed through nearly every province it is now nearly time to head up north to Whitehorse for some riding, yoga and well deserved relaxation. If you want to spend some time relaxing with Ryan and riding with Boreal Mountain Biking check out borealmountainnbiking.com
Jay Hoots, or should I say Dr. Hoots has finished up teaching the Mountain Bike Operations Certificate program with Capilano University and is now back building bike parts across Canada. Dylan Korba, our resident economist has found time before heading back for his Master’s Degree to meet up with some friends at Decline Magazine, and get out riding his all new 2010 bikes. Darcy is busy preparing for her event this summer at Silverstar resort called “See Jane Jump” and Mislav has been busy winning competitions in Europe such as the recent “Bike Days” in Switzerland.
On the road side of things Team H&R Block competed in the BC Championships this past weekend in Victoria BC. Norco was out to support the team for Sunday’s Bastion Square Grand Prix where riders Justin Kerr and Jacob Schwingboth took second and third place after a grueling 75 lap race. Check out some photos of the race at flickr.com
The Dirt Norco Race Team has been touring around at the First World Cup in Maribor Slovenia where Ben Reid through the intense slop to finish a respectable 26th place. The Norco Dirt Team is currently sitting in 18th place on the World Cup Circuit. Check out a video from the race here. With Fort William coming up on this weekend The race will be as tight as ever. We should see Ben doing his best to climb the ranks while teammate Dan Stanbridge should be recovered from injury and back to racing. Check the blog next week for an update on the Dirt Team’s weekend of racing.
The Norco World Team was back in North America racing the US Open in New York this weekend where Fionn Griffiths again fought through the elements to finish with a time quick enough for 6th place. Along side the Norco Dirt Team, Fionn and Bernard will be heading over to Scotland for this coming weekend’s World Cup in Fort William. Results from the weekend will be posted as soon as they come available.
The Team is off to quite the season, for updates as they happen on the whole team check out the Norco Blog at http://norco.com/blog
***** UPDATE*****
