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
Another Weekend, Another stream of results coming in from the many disciplines that the Norco Team chooses to indulge in.
On the paved side of riding, this weekend was the BC Provincial Championships in Victoria. Team H&R Block came out for the Bastion Square Criterion on Sunday and battled it out with Team Total Restoration and Trek Red Truck for 75 laps. With the clouds threatening to pour all afternoon, the course was just damp enough to cause a commotion in the corners. With Several riders down, some were out and others able to jump back into the field. After nearly 90 minutes of racing, Team H&R Block riders Justin Kerr and Jacob Schwingboth finished in second and third spot just behind adversary Tyler Trace.
In Canada Cup XC #3 Both Andrew Watson and Catherine Vipond were out representing the Factory team in Hardwood Ontario finishing in 3rd and 6th respectively. This also places both Andrew and Catherine as the Points leaders for the Canada Cup circuit. Elsewhere, Junior DH racer Nick Geddes placed 1st Junior, 2nd overall at the first Fluidride Cup in Whistler BC
At the international level, Norco World Team Rider Fionn Griffiths placed 3rd at the Swampy US Open in what turned out to be one of the wettest, slickest and most miserable races so far this season. Oh well right, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. On the other side of the pond, Dirt Norco Race Team rider Ben Reid finished in 8th place at the IXS European Cup in Innerleithen Scotland.
Warp Speed Individual Time Trial, British Columbia – Team H&R Block Garret MacLeod takes the WIN!
Campbell Heights Road Race, British Columbia – The team road fantastic to bring home another WIN coming from Justin Kerr out of a 4 man break. One rider got away from the field for 5th, but the Team worked well together to get Garrett to the front for a field sprint win putting him in 6th place. The team finished this race with three riders on the top 10 – 1st, 6th and 10th!
News:
Team H&R Block has a new van – a huge thanks to Scotia Bank for their support in making this happen. We will share pictures of our new team van with you shortly (we are in the process of getting a full team wrap to promote the team and our sponsors.
BC Champs – Team H&R Block and Norco will be pulling out all the stops to have the best and most professional team tent set up at the BC Championships – our team pit is going to be fantastic. If you can make it to the races please make sure to stop by and say hi to the team. http://www.canadiancyclist.com/dailynews.php?id=18652
Congratulations to Justin Kerr he has just returned from New Zealand where he and his partner competed in the New Zealand National Para-cycling Championships– they have qualified for World Championships that will be held later this summer in Quebec.
This Weekend:
Race: Enumclaw, Washington
Date: May 22nd-23rd
Attending: Aaron, Jacob, Shawn, Justin, Sebastian, and Garrett.
Race: Bikes on Broadway, Saskatchewan
Date: May 22nd-23rd
Attending: Chris, Dustin, Pete, and Robin.
Upcoming Races:
BC Championships, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Mt Hood, Oregon
Westside Classic, British Columbia
Thank you to ALL OUR PARTNERS for your amazing support we look forward to providing regular updates as the season gets underway.
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Spring the season for shaking out the cobwebs, fine tuning your ride and of course, questioning the weather. Well, over the Winter past, Team H&R block has been working hard and has recently come together to give us a taste of the season to come. The whole team assembled in Vancouver for the 2010 Spring Training Camp. An intense regiment of training rides, team building, and tech over the course of a week was the perfect fit for getting the race season started.
It is hard to have a training camp without bikes, so the first day of camp involved the team coming into Norco and getting the bikes rolling. The team kicked it off with a tech seminar then moved onto getting their bikes assembled. Through a technology briefing, the team learned about the technology that has gone into their new Norco frames. Norco’s Road Division Product Manager, gave an overview of aspects of the CRR such as EPS, HTR, Thermoplastic Mesh, BB30 and the Integrated Seatpost. An understanding of the technology is key in making the most of the frames during the season.
After learning about their new rides, the team set off to get the bikes built and out on the road. The custom Norco CRR SL frames were be built up with a kit of parts featuring Mavic,FSA, Fi’zi:k, Panaracer and Axiom products. After a few hours of careful building and precise tuning, the pile of parts slowly came together into what resembled a bike. The end product was a light, fast and gorgeous piece of art.
Day 2 of the camp was a training day, also the first real test for H&R on their new bikes. Starting from the Norco Head offices in Port Coquitlam, the team headed out to Maple Ridge for a 4+ hour ride. This was a chance to really test out the frames. Through the paces of sprinting, cornering, climbing and descending the new bikes were a hit. As the Norco CRR is the first frame that the team has used featuring BB30 and an integrated seatpost, the bike is stiffer and more responsive than they have ever ridden.
Over the course of the week long camp, the team rode for countless hours, learned a ton of info about their bikes, and built on the comradery aspect that is all so important. Participating in semi-ridiculous training exercises are what can really make the difference between a bunch of riders and a unified team. Good on them for completing this last one. Now that the camp is over though, it is on to the spring racing circuit. The team has had a great start and even came away with a victory this past weekend at the Devo Spring Classic Stage Race. Watch for the Green Square on a Norco bike racing near you. They are looking good and we are all looking forward to a great 2010 season.
Congratulations on a great camp and start to the 2010 season. Check out teamhrblock.ca for more details on the team and their upcoming race schedule. Also, see more photos of the team in action at flickr.com
The Team H&R Block training camp took place a couple of weeks ago. This was a chance for the team to build their bikes, learn about some of the technology, go for some rides and most importantly build some team spirit. Well, This is one way of accomplishing that…
