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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.

photo from dirt.mpora.com

It is that time of year again when each and every weekend the racing circuit hops from continent to continent and we try to track it all…

The big result from this past weekend was Norco World Team rider Fionn Griffiths in the World Cup #2 in Marobor Slovenia. Pushing through a pack of 16, Fionn took the win edging out Huntington, Beerten an Buchanan in the final heat. Congrats Fionn on a big win! Other results from the event include Fionn finishing 12th in the DH, Ben Reid 26th and Bernard Kerr 53rd after a bit of a spill in the mud. For full results have a look at the 4X and the DH.

Back in North America, the first Canada Cup XC was taking place in Baie-Saint-Paul QC. In this 6 lap course Andrew Watson took 2nd place after battling at the front to the bitter end with Max Plaxton. In the Women’s Race, Catherine Vipond raced to an impressive 6th place with teammate Caroline Villeneuve coming in just behind in 7th place. Have a look at the full results here.

Working the event schedule can get a little bit tiring. Long drives, Standing for hours and hours, little-to-no sleep etc. etc… BUT, it is still a lot of fun and there are some pretty awesome perks to the job as well. Yesterday was the last day of the 2010 Sea Otter Classic and time to start thinking about the drive north to our soggy home of Vancouver BC. This time though we decided to mix it up a bit. Rather than rushing into 24hrs of drive time, we took a rolling start with a morning of Surfing in Santa Cruz followed by checking out the Post Office Jumps in Aptos. This is where there was a jump jam happening with a few big names. Norco riders Sam Dueck and Bernard Kerr came out to hit the jumps and have some fun after a long week in Laguna Seca.

Check out a few photos from a great morning before heading back to the office. It is times like this that I think, Life is pretty good. A week  of the world’s best racing, hitting the surf then watching some of the worlds best dirt jumpers in action.

Dustan

Well, I will admit, I was a slacker… I didn’t get a post up yesterday. But, here we are and here it is.

The past two days have really kicked off the racing here at Sea Otter Norco riders in DH Training, Dual Slalom, an the pump track. The DH track has now been open for 2 days of practice and both the Dirt boys and the Norco World Team have been out scoping their lines. Tomorrow is the main event though where it is all up for grabs. Training starts at 8:30 and racing at 10. Check back tomorrow for an update on the day’s racing. Today was also the Dual Slalom where Fionn Griffiths qualified in 9th place then crashed in the quarterfinals. The other event that was on today was the the Pump Track where Bernard Kerr participated and finished just off the podium in an impressive 5th place. Way to go Bernard, all I really know after watching this event is that I really need to practice. There is absolutely no way that I could even come close to the lines, smoothness or style that any of these guys have.

With that brief description, I will try and let some photos tell the real story about the day’s events.

Dustan