Norco-sponsored Brothers for ALS kicks off Trans-Canada Tour in Vancouver.

Bring a picnic lunch and come ready to run, walk, bike or roller blade around 5km of Stanley Park in support of the Mike, AJ & Adam Teeter as they begin their bike ride across Canada!

Come with a friend & a donation for the ALS Society.

For more info: brothersbike4als.com

Ok, so maybe we won't have to hire Norco-sponsored bodyguards, but Mislav is definitely making his mark.

Check out his latest triumph – a four page story AND mega-pull out poster! (mega-mega!)

Norco Signs On As Event Sponsor

If you have kids and you live in the Vancouver area, plan to come out to the Langara Family YMCA on Sat, May 31st.

See the Events Poster for more info!

All events, activities, food, and refreshements are FREE for everyone!

If you live on the Sunshine Coast you should be celebrating. Recently, our very own Jay Hoots teamed up with Sprockids to rebuild the Sprockids park outside Gibsons, BC. To make this all happen, Hoots harnessed the energy of the enthusiastic class from the Cap College Mountain Bike Operations Progam. Here's the result (straight from the man himself)...

It has been a few years now since I first helped build in the Sprockids park and I have been back every year to refurbish. I am stoked on the vision from the MBO students in the new park and I look forward to working with the Sprockids program at every opportunity.

The 2008 Sprockids Park build was awesome! It was great to be such an active part of the park refurbishment in my capacity as an instructor for Capilano College. It was also great to fire up the chainsaw and shape some sick jumps!!!

I have been involved with the yearly redevelopment of the park over the last 4 years in different roles and even though the park had fantastic riding opportunity, 2008 was the time for overhaul.

I am stoked on IMBA Mark’s vision and the efforts and creativity from the MBO students in the new park and as always I look forward to working with the Sprockids program at every opportunity.

After a really good start in the first semester of the trail building course it seems that the guys have a good grasp of basic sustainable trail building but I know everyone is just itching for advanced building techniques in semester 2 and their final project, the rebirth of the Sprockids Park.

Design submissions were presented by the students and myself who approached projects in group format. Each design was evaluated on progression, safety, creativity and of course ‘the plan’ by the lead instructor Mark Schmidt Canadian Director of IMBA Canada.

Once everything was set, the class set out to the park and in under 4 hours the entire existing Skills Park was leveled! All reusable timbers and materials were stored and all junk was piled waiting for removal.

As with most Skills Parks a limited budget was available so the class got straight to work with a local contractor setting base grades and sorting out all the major excavation needed for their projects. Each group got machine time and had to use it as effectively as possible in order for everyone to benefit.

Over the period of 5 weeks the students worked on the park with scheduled supervision from both Mark and myself. It was great to see the enthusiasm, the stress and the pride that these guys all went through… Through the build Mark and I helped with actual construction as well as advice and the new Sprockids Bike Park began taking shape...

One of the courses in the Mountain Bike Operations Course (events management) empowered and challenged the students to learn and prepare for running a volunteer day. With that course under their belts the students organized 3 full volunteer trail days, 2 serviced and maintained local trails in Roberts Creek and the third was a volunteer day held at the Sprockids Bike Park.

In true Sunshine Coast fashion over 80 people showed up for the student organized Volunteer day in the Bike Park and a ton of work got done putting all features within striking range of finished for their final evaluation scheduled 2 weeks later.

The event day ran smooth and lots of industry support stoked the locals! Naturally there was some riding, just to make sure that th bike park was on the right track.

With the blessing from Doug Detwiller and the meticulous eye of IMBA Mark everyone passed their projects and the new age Sprockids park is now ready for riding!

Year 2 of the Mountain Bike Operations Program held by Capilano College has produced a group of incredibly prepared individuals whom I would consider hiring on the spot.

The intensity of the students matched with their desire to learn and of course their passion for riding makes them extremely employable and I believe all but one person is now working in the bike industry. Bravo! Our sport takes yet another huge valuable step towards legitimization!

- Hoots!

For more info on how Hoots is transforming BC into skills park heaven check out: hoots.ca

So, spring is FINALLY getting here, at least in our area anyway. We can still find snow as soon as we head too far uphill, but at least it has been melting fast and with the weather improving, riders are dragging their bikes out and hitting the trails. I don't know about you but I sure enjoy mountain biking. I consider myself very lucky to be located in an area where there are cool trails 2 minute from my door, and big-bad world class "shore type" trails within 10. I've been riding most of these trails now for more than 15 years. New ones sprout up here and there when some keen trail builder puts in the hundreds and hundreds of relatively thankless hours and makes this priceless contribution so that all us riders who hear about it go ride it. But then the cycle begins... understandably the trail builder who probably just spent half his last season would rather go RIDE than shovel, but his new trail starts to get beat down with all the new traffic, and most of us just start complaining about how buff and pristine it used to be. You know -- how the first few times there wasn't any wheel sucking holes after the steep rolls, no mucky blown out sections, or washed/eroded away corners. Spring is the worst time for that. We remember how great the trails once were while at the same time roll down trails freshly opened after a winter that may have been quite tough on them. Finding blown down or fallen trees across the trails is common this time of year. Sometimes the trail is almost hidden from washouts, broken off branches, sticks or other debris. If you are going to get a branch stuck in your derailleur or tear your hanger off, mark my words, it will probably be in this next month. Oh... so this has already happened to you once or twice eh??? Ahhhhaaaaa. Maybe, JUST maybe this is karma telling you that you need to do your part. To give a little love back to your favorite trails. Can I suggest (without sounding like I'm preaching here) that on your next ride, and every ride this year to take a few minutes to give back. Rather than just bombing a trail from top to bottom, swing a leg off your ride and take a minute here or there to clear that fallen branch or log, to dig a trench to help drain that low spot that is collecting water. Heck... even find some good sized stones and do a little rock work to fill in the holes on the trail that want to make your front wheel disappear.

Maybe I go a little too far, but I have been carrying a small saw (Sandvik folding saw available at Revi or Home Depot for less than $20) on my rides. With one of these, it takes just a sec to clear the branches or downfall once and for all. You would be amazed at how quickly you can go through a pretty good sized downed tree, even big ones up to 6 or 8" in diameter. So, as you hop on your bike think about doing your part. If each one of us did even a little work to our favorite trails every ride, these trails would last and last. . . they may even begin to improve with age like a fine wine.

Better yet, get out for a local trail day. These are awesome! A great way to meet other riders and build up HUGE Karma points.

Happy trails,

If you live in Vancouver mark that date on your calendar!

On May 3rd, The 'Typically Canadian Tribute Tour' cycles into Vancouver to kick-off their tour, pay tribute to community members and raise money for the fight against cancer.

The Typically Canadian Group (TCG), which comprises of four dedicated young men and their supporters, will hold a public cycling event that will begin at the Sea Wall, will extend into Stanley Park and will be escorted by fire and police vehicles, decaled RVs, motorcycles, and spirited supporters.

The 2008 Tribute Tour, presented by Firefighters of Canada, will honour amazing Canadians from your community with an overall goal of raising more than $720 000 for Canadian Cancer Society initiatives.

For more information about the Tour, or to find out how you can support cancer research, check out: typicallycanadian.com

Lots of people took notice when Norco's Factory Team riders were seen rolling around the pits on their prototype Norco Five slopestyle bikes last weekend.

Here's what a couple of magazines had to say:

bikemag.com on Darcy Turenne's Five

Sea Otter Daily on Dylan Korba's Five

Now here's something you don't see every day - video footage of one rider interviewing another rider. Check out the video and blog Ryan wrote about Fionn:

While down at the Sea Otter Classic, I had a few moments to catch up with my team mate Fionn Griffiths.

She is a 25 year old pro DH and 4X racer, and after 7 years on the pro circuit, she’s at the top of her game. The 2nd place DH finish and 3rd place dual finish at the Sea Otter is a testimate to that.

If you’d like to hear more, have a look at the 10 minute interview below - though I appologize for the poor audio - it was hard to find a quiet spot, the helicopter half way through didn’t help either.

Ride On!
- Ryan

Fore more of Ryan's blogs, check out his new website: ryanleech.com

Double Podium, Silver and Bronze at the Sea Otter Classic!

Sea Otter Classic 2008 has been a huge success for Fionn and Griffiths Racing! Coming into the season opener Fionn felt fit and ready to prove it. The Sea Otter tracks are renowned for being pedally and putting your off-season training to the test.

So how did Fionn shape up? It was a double podium weekend for our British rider taking 3rd in the Dual Slalom and 2nd in the DH!

The weekend started with the weather finally cooperating for riders, showing some sun and keeping the temperatures to a reasonable level for all those hanging in the pits. DH practice was smooth and enjoyable Thursday and Friday with Fionn enjoying her new Norco Six, which would prove to be the perfect bike for the Sea Otter DH. In past years Fionn has struggled with bike choice between her 4X and her Team DH, but the Six eliminated those questions! She was ripping it up all week with a smile on her face.

Racing started Saturday with Dual Slalom. With Sabrina Jonnier, Anneke Beerten, Melissa Buhl, Mio Suemasa and Rachel Atherton all on course (just to name a few) Fionn had to set the pace straight away. She came out and qualified hard, putting herself 4th fastest. Racing was tough. Her draw was Leanna Gerrard and with some fast pedal action Fionn was able to advance. Kathy Pruitt was ready for Fee next round and pushed her hard to the line every time, but with long time friend Tara Llanes watching Fee at the bottom, she dug a little deeper and took Kathy on both courses. Next round was Sabrina Jonnier. The current World Champion has won the Sea Otter dual 4 years running and would prove to be too much for Fionn, narrowly knocking her out in both heats and sending Fionn into the small final where she would face UK rival Rachel Atherton. Rachel is a fast, powerful rider out of the UK and Fionn had her work cut out for her. First heat was a close call with Rachel just edging Fionn out for the lead. However the final heat was a mix-match of sprints and errors which left the girls battling for the lead right to the bottom. Fionn was able to edge Rach out just enough to make up the differential and take the bronze medal for the day.

Results:
Sabrina Jonnier – 1st
Melissa Buhl – 2nd
Fionn Griffiths – 3rd
Rachel Atherton – 4th

DH

DH was just as exciting with all the ladies pushing their legs and lungs to the limit. However it would prove to be Melissa Buhl’s legendary sprint that would set the bar for the Ladies DH. Melissa took the win by just over a second with Fionn busting a lung right behind her.

Results:
Melissa Buhl – 1st
Fionn Griffiths – 2nd
Sabrina Jonnier – 3rd
Racheal Atherton – 4th

All in all the weekend was a HUGE success. We are now on our way to the UK to prep for this next weekend’s UK National Series race. Thanks to all our sponsors for the help getting Fionn and myself ready for racing.

A special thanks to Kevin Haviland from Norco for all his help wrenching!

For more information about Fionn's season go to: griffithsracing.net

We were trying to review primarily new for '09 products, but a few of the '08 goodies we already knew about caught our eyes anyway.

We've already been testing the brand new for 2008 Fluid LT (long travel) 2.0 from Canadian bike company Norco. Look for a review in the September issue of Mountain Bike magazine. After our first few test rides and a visit at Day One of Sea Otter with Norco's Pat Mulrooney and Peter Stace-Smith, we had to give you some of the goods.

This bike rocks and there is a really good reason why. It is the creation of the 120 or so passionate riders/ employees that work at Norco. Their time in the saddle and experiments on the R and D floor resulted in the Fluid LT line for those who are left wanting from an all-mountain rig with less than 6-inches of travel.

Check out the full article at: bicycling.com

First Carbon-Neutral Pro-Mountain Biker

Ryan Leech has taken his role as an environmental advocate one step further this month by signing on the first professional mountain biker in the Suzuki Foundation's 'Play it Cool' program.

'Play It Cool' is an innovative environmental program that teams high profile summer and winter athletes concerned about global warming with the David Suzuki Foundation. These athletes are committed to making changes in their lives to reduce their climate impact, and to inspiring others to do the same.

"I am working with the David Suzuki Foundation to distribute information at events, primarily encouraging people to take The Nature Challenge," wrote Ryan on his newly updated website (ryanleech.com), "I distribute David Suzuki Foundation info to all the schools I visit for my Trials of Life presentation, and make reference to Global Warming in my speech."

What does Carbon Neutral mean for athletes such as Ryan?

Flying, driving, and heating buildings all produce polluting carbon emissions. These emissions create a heat trapping blanket in the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.

Carbon neutral means having no net impact on the climate. The most important solution to global warming is for all of us to reduce the size of our carbon footprint - by driving less, flying less, and switching to renewable energy sources.

To learn more about Ryan's involvement in environmental advocacy check out: ryanleech.com

Check out this short utube video Darcy just sent us from Woodward West. She told us she's gotten quite close a couple of times. If she lands it, she'll be the first women to ever pull off a 360. You go girl!!

Devin Leggett, one of Norco's key web and graphics design staff recently gained some recognition for his work on Norco's Dirt & Street series bicycles. Here's what 'Lost In E Minor' had to say:

"This illustration by Devin Leggett is one of several he did for a bike model for Norco Performance Bikes. ‘This particular model is inspired by the geography and wildlife of Alaska. There are some tiny 64s in the illustration, which combine to create the map of Alaska. The 64 also represents the year that Norco was established’."

For more go to: lostineminor.com

Be sure to check out Darcy in this month’s edition of Men’s Journal (Harrison Ford graces the cover).

"I am really excited to be featured in Men's Journal alongside some of the best female action sports athletes in the world. These are women I look up to on many levels, so it's a huge honour.

I also feel really lucky to be representing mountain biking alongside more mainstream sports such as surfing and snowboarding. I defintely got lucky on this shoot because it was shot on probably the one day of the year where I wasn't covered in bruises or torn to shreds. Good timing!"

Ryan's website, ryanleech.com has gotten a facelift. Here's what he had to say on the subject...

With this new site I’ll be making my official entrance in to the blogosphere, and I have to admit, I’m excited. I will strive to keep my posts about what I perceive to be things that matter in this world…all said with a certain cycling slant of course ;-)

I have back dated some of my old e-newsletter posts to get some content going, and will continue posting articles, travel stories, video blogs, and things I see around the web that are of interest. Of course everything I post will be through my own unique filter, which is different from blogger A, and blogger B; I think that is what makes this e-revolution so interesting, no single opinion or worldview is quite the same.

So I invite you to bookmark this blog, share it, and add comments; and I thank you for reading, otherwise I wouldn’t have an excuse to write, and I’d be stuck with this jumble of random thoughts in my head!

I also should acknowledge that the net can be addicting, so before you get sucked in to the monitor, make sure you’re good and tired from a good ride!

Big thanks to the web masters (Devin & Mark) at Norco bikes for making this site a reality, and designing it in such a user friendly way, for both myself and for the viewer.

Peace to you, and Ride On!!
- Ryan

The Full Report From Symmetrics Cycling

Cam Evans took a fantastic win for the S-Team this past weekend in San Dimas, California, beating Tour de France rider, Oscar Sevilla by just one second.

Symmetrics Cycling headed to San Dimas, California with a strong 7-man team hoping to try and beat some of the top International talent for stage wins and a high overall placing. Racing began with the tough 5km hillclimb time trial—won by Tour de France standout Oscar Sevilla, now riding with Rock Racing. Sevilla was barred from racing in European racing after doping allegations, and still rides under a cloud of suspicion with the Rock Racing Team. He is most known for Sevilla winning the young rider's jersey at the 2001 Tour de France at just 21 years old, and finishing second at the Tour of Spain. On the day of Sevilla's win, the op rider for the S-Team was Evans, who took 17th.

After the hillclimb, it was time for the road race, a 134km ride which featured a tough climb. The powerful Rock Racing team—which employs several top Tour de France riders—did its best to control the race by thwarting breakaway attempts, in order to retain Sevilla's lead. The S-Team did its best throughout the race to break away and spoil the parade, but to no avail. Evans did however, make an attack which was a definite sign of what was to come--the Canadian champion put in an escape which put the Rock Racing team to the test, and he was caught with just a km to go. The race ended in a bunch sprint which saw Andrew Pinfold start his 2008 season well, with a 7th place in a chaotic finish.

And so it came down to the criterium stage on Sunday—a 90 minute stage which would feature tonnes of aggressive, high-speed racing. The team knew well that it had a chance of pulling off an upset, after some solid attacks in the road race yesterday. Kevin Cunningham, team co-owner, explained that "We were confident going into the crit we had a good chance of winning, or catapulting Cam to the podium at least. We focused the time bonuse—and so did Rock Racing, but we managed to get Cam clear."

Once Evans got clear with two other riders, the rest of the team worked hard to make sure he stayed away. Evans, riding well with his breakaway partners, knew that he needed just over half a minute to spoil Rock Racing's day—all 12 riders---and dethrone Sevilla.

At the finish, Evans had 38 seconds on the pack, which was 37 more than he needed. Evans won the overall by one second and showed that after a tough winter, Symmetrics is hungry.

"It was a great day today," Evans said. "I knew the legs were good after the road race and to win by this close of a margin over such a top rider is great. I hope we can keep the energy going and keep on winning at Redlands."

Did you know that Cam is rode a Norco CRR SL to victory? Check out Norco's Symmetrics edition race bikes in CARBON and M6 ALUMINIUM

Source: Symmetrics Cycling

Norco Announces 2008 VPS-Fest Dates

If you haven't booked your vacation time or planned a roadtrip for this summer, NOW is the time! Norco Performance Bikes is proud to announce the return of its one-of-a-kind Rider Appreciation Days: VPS-Fest.

For the 6th year in a row, Norco will say, 'Thanks!' to our riders by providing FREE* lift-accessed riding, FREE tech support by World Cup Mechanics, FREE flat and wheel repair, and the chance to win over $5000 in prizes.

This year Norco will host an eastern event at BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT in Ontario on July 12th and a western event at SILVER STAR MOUNTAIN in BC on August 2nd.

On top of all this, rumour has it that many of our team sponsors are planning to be on hand to provide their expert advice, a peek at upcoming product, and MORE SWAG!

Keep checking back for updates on pre-registration, contests, special offers, tech seminars, Factory Team rider appearances, and much, much more.

Another Dreaded Adventure With Jay Hoots

February is usually a laid back month when I start to consider hitting the gym (once the resolution seekers drop out) and think about getting back in shape after my 2 month season break. So, when I got the call for yet another 'trip of a lifetime' to Jamaica, I was a bit worried that my skills would be off and my gut big and jubbly.

However, ready or not, I wasn't about to pass up a trip with my trusty steed (Norco Six) and Pro Mountain Bike rider Robbie Bourdon to check out the Jamaica Fat Tire Festival and film with Cory for another action-filled Ride Guide episode. With sponsors and Tourism Jamaica at the helm, our schedule was set. We had 10 days to get it all done, a tall order even if the weather held sunny and dry.

We experienced some tight security entering Jamaica with all of our gear but thanks to our versed Tourism official and our knowledgeable driver we made our way to Ocho Rios tired but smiling.

We hooked up with the folks from the Fat Tire Festival , got 'the goods' on the upcoming events and then planned our next few days (which included trail riding and the Bicycle Bash.) With a boat load of enthusiasm and some sun screen I got my bike built and gear prepped for some dready adventure!

Go to NSMB.com for the FULL STORY

Yesterday, Canadian champion Cameron Evans (Symmetrics/Norco) took the win by over Rock Racing's Oscar Sevilla by just one second.

Evans slipped off the front of the peloton in the criterium with eventual stage winner Luis Amaran (Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) to gain a total time of thirty-eight seconds, enough to knock Sevilla down to second overall. Third place in the overall was taken over by Ben Day (Toyota-Untied) who captured the first time bonus sprint for ten seconds.

The winning breakaway riders played a tactical game on the final lap to decide the stage victory, but after the close sprint Amaran emerged as the winner of the stage while Evans claimed the overall race victory. Emile Abraham (Team Type 1) won the field sprint for third place.

"It's certainly a good feeling to have won San Dimas especially because Sevilla is obviously a great bike rider," said Evans who acknowledged that this was his first career stage race win. "With half a lap to go I was thinking about the stage win and the overall. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much and I was a little bit stressed."

Evans admitted that his breakaway goals were centered around collecting time bonus sprints to move further ahead in GC, but he did not anticipate gaining so much time on the peloton, given that Rock Racing had controlled the previous day's race to protect Sevilla's lead.

"I was kind of going into today thinking that the best way to get time back was to go for some bonuses, which is why I started a break," said a delighted Evans. "Amaran ended up being very strong and we worked well together. With fifteen minutes to go, I knew we were going to stay away. Although I was thinking about the finish of the criterium, I was also thinking more about moving up on GC, but I didn't think about actually getting the overall win so it worked out alright."

Source: Kirsten Robbins / cyclingnews.com