Archive for the ‘Norco World Team’ Category

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.

For full DH qualification results check out canadiancyclist.com

Photos by Jonathan Duncan

Thursday at Crankworx up in Whistler entailed two main events. Slopestyle Qualification/Best Trick and the Pumptrack challenge. First off was Norco Factory Team Rider Sam Dueck at the Slopestyle. On Sam’s second run he pulled a massive backflip off the whale-Tale then a Superflip on the next booter. Making his way down the course, he then Tail-Whipped off the final step-down and caught a gust of wind bringing him down. Sam was okay, a little swore but pleased with the run besides the small tumble. Plus, the run was enough to bring him through to Saturday’s Semi-Final. 16 riders move on to Saturday where the field will again be reduced down to a total of 8 riders for the final. Way to go Sam!

After the slopestyle qualification, The Pumptrack Challenge kicked off. Pumptrack is a bit of a newer competition but it is a lot of fun to watch. The corners are tight, the speeds high and the energy is awesome. For the event Bernard, Fionn, Nick and Angie were all representing Norco on the course. The field of riders was about 50 deep and Norco’s top finisher was Fionn Griffiths in 4th for the women.

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.