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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

Today was the first day of the 2010 Sea Otter Classic. This year is a little different for us at Norco just because of who is here for the event. With the Norco World Team and the Dirt Norco Race Team we have a total of 4 racers on the Pro DH and Pro DS courses. In addition, we also have Ryan Leech doing trials Demos while Darcy Turenne and Sam Dueck have made an appearance as well. Meanwhile, the Norco crew has been hanging out in the tents in true Canadian style.

Having Sam Dueck out for Sea Otter was a bit of a suprise as he did not think he would be able to make it out. With this pleasant suprise, we managed to get out to the dirt jumps for a few minutes and snap some shots.

Over the duration of Sea Otter, Ryan Leech will be making 10 appearances with his world famous Trials Demo. Attracting crowds in the hundreds for each show, today’s two shows set a precedent for the three days to come.

Now, this is a little bit different. Although it is not Norco specifically, within Canada Crankbrothers products are distributed by Norco. Today, Crankbrothers took the opportunity to launch a new line of products including Bars, Stems, Seatposts and revamped pedals. The products are sleek, light and colour coordinated. Next time you are looking to build up a bike or get a few new parts, look to Crankbrothers.

Check back tomorrow for an update on the Norco World Team and the Dirt Norco Race Team along with the other events of the day.

Dustan

photo by Taylor Leigh

Today was a typical day in the mountain bike world on Vancouver Island, and a testament to what makes our sport so great. My friend (and amazing filmmaker) Aaron LaRoque and I decided to go shred and film at Mt.Prevost in Duncan and, like usual, we had no idea how we were going to get to the top of the mountain. Riding the road up would take us a few hours or more with the camera gear and hitching a lift with the local gun-toting rednecks was the only other feasible option we could think of to get to the top. We were ok with that, but of course, not overly thrilled.
On our way into Duncan we stopped by “Experience Cycling” to buy a tube and one of the employees heard us brainstorming about how we would get to the top of the hill. He immediately chimed in that it was his lunch break and that he’d drive us to the top. We couldn’t believe it, but of course, we didn’t refuse.
This is what I love about mountain biking. Like most sports, it’s a thread that ties strangers together but unlike some sports, riders always want to help each other out and spread the love of the sport.
As most of my friends know, one of my favourite things to do is surf, but you would never be able to go into a surf shop and have an employee volunteer to drive you to their secret spot! It just wouldn’t happen. That person would be chastised by his or her peers and probably not allowed back at the break. Ok, maybe that’s a little extreme, but I’ve heard of much worse things happening at my local break.
In mountain biking however, it seems like everybody is there to help everybody else have the best time possible. There is little territorialism, and even where there is (like at the dirt jumps), it’s minimal.
So thanks to Matt from “Experience Cycling” for being such a great example of what mountain biking is all about. Your Toyota Tacoma was much more pleasant than sitting in the back of a Bronco with a gun rack.

Darcy

This years trip to Interbike has been a little bit different. The show still had all the swore backs, aching feet and empty bottles but afterwards has been a little bit different. Instead of making the 22hr drive back to Vancouver, we headed Northeast towards Moab Utah. If for some odd reason you don’t know what Moab is, it is an area made of sandstone shaped by the Colorado river north of the Grand Canyon. The area has fabulous riding filled with natural wall rides, drops, incredible traction and 36o degree views. If you haven’t been, plan a trip!

Coming out for the Trip is Pete, Jonathan and myself from Norco, Factory Team rider Darcy Turenne, Pinkbike’s guru Tyler and Dave a friend to share the riding with. Our first adventure took us to the Poison Spider area where we rode up a long steady ascent to a plateau where we found natural bowls, a massive arch and some fabulous riding. The total ride took approximately 5hrs and was worth every second. I don’t think any of us stopped smiling the entire ride.

Day two, because we weren’t tired yet lasted about 5hrs again. This time though was in the Cliffhanger/Amasa Back trails. This was a lollypop loop starting off again with a steady climb through the sandstone. The ride seemed very similar to yesterday only totally different. Today was a totally new riding experience. The ‘trail’ was really nothing more than a series of markers on the open rock. The number of lines possible was only limited by your imagination. The options ran about 50ft on either side of the trail and ranged from step-ups to roll downs, hips to faces. Whatever your style there is something there for you. Again, come on out to the moab and bring a bike. You will not regret it.

Want to see more photos? check out the album on Facebook

Dustan

Crankworx Whistler is now well under way with the Air DH, Garbanzo DH, Dual and several other events already complete. Saturday is the main event with the slopestyle competition. Down in the village, the largest consumer show is also taking place and that is where you can find the Norco Crew.

At the Norco tents, you can come out and see some of the new 2010 bikes and collect a few autographed posters while you are at it. Norco Factory Team members Darcy Turenne, Ben Boyko, Jay Hoots, Dylan Korba, Nick Geddies, Fionn Griffiths and Ryan Leech are out for the week manning the tent and taking part in the festivities. Ryan is also doing trials demonstrations through the day for all the lucky spectators.

Check back soon for a recap of the week of Crankworx.

Dustan