English
NORCO TEAM
NEWS JULY 2008
NEWS JULY 2008
Another Double Podium For The Norco World Team.
MONT STE ANNE World Cup has always held a certain magic for Fionn - her first World Cup DH was won here in 2003 – and this weekend was no different! Fionn battled the constantly changing weather and schedule confusions to come out once again with a double World Cup Podium – this time 5th in the DH and 3rd in the 4X.
All weekend the DH track was a sloppy mess. It has been raining heavily in Quebec since we arrived and showed no sign of slowing until race morning. Fionn loves this track and she enjoyed playing in the mud and working out the fastest lines in the wet conditions. Qualification was solid – keeping the rubber side down and working her way safely to the bottom, placing herself 9th going into the afternoon event. Come race time the game face was on and straight out of the start gate Fionn attacked the course. She was strong all the way through the top, until going offline in the mud and hitting a tree in the track stopping her dead. Fionn quickly recovered and got her head back in the game, burning through the bottom section and throwing down a fast enough time to keep her on that podium!
4X was a mess this weekend. After all of the rain all week the track was deemed too wet to ride Thursday. Friday evening riders showed up again disappointed in the condition of the track. UCI officials and track designers worked hard to battle the mud, but a poor choice in materials used on course resulted in injured riders and Fridays practice and qualification runs ultimately cancelled again. Saturday turned out to be worth the wait however. The rain held long enough to dry the track and it was on! Only 1 hour practice followed immediately by qualification (Fionn qualied in 4th) and then straight back up the hill for racing! Women’s racing was intense! Semi-finals saw Fionn up against Anneke Beerten and Anita Molchik, two riders leading Fionn in the series overall, but Fionn was hungry for a medal and finished with a flat sprint that won her the heat and put her into the finals. She put her new Norco Hardtail to the test again in the finals against Melissa Buhl, Anneke Beerten, and Mio Suemasa and rode a solid heat to finish 3rd behind Melissa and Mio.
It was a great weekend all around! Fionn and Jill would like to thank Kevin Haviland and all the East Coast Norco Crew for their help this weekend. The bikes were dialed and the pits were super calm and professional! Thanks for all your help guys!
Source:
griffithsracing.net
MONT STE ANNE World Cup has always held a certain magic for Fionn - her first World Cup DH was won here in 2003 – and this weekend was no different! Fionn battled the constantly changing weather and schedule confusions to come out once again with a double World Cup Podium – this time 5th in the DH and 3rd in the 4X.
All weekend the DH track was a sloppy mess. It has been raining heavily in Quebec since we arrived and showed no sign of slowing until race morning. Fionn loves this track and she enjoyed playing in the mud and working out the fastest lines in the wet conditions. Qualification was solid – keeping the rubber side down and working her way safely to the bottom, placing herself 9th going into the afternoon event. Come race time the game face was on and straight out of the start gate Fionn attacked the course. She was strong all the way through the top, until going offline in the mud and hitting a tree in the track stopping her dead. Fionn quickly recovered and got her head back in the game, burning through the bottom section and throwing down a fast enough time to keep her on that podium!
4X was a mess this weekend. After all of the rain all week the track was deemed too wet to ride Thursday. Friday evening riders showed up again disappointed in the condition of the track. UCI officials and track designers worked hard to battle the mud, but a poor choice in materials used on course resulted in injured riders and Fridays practice and qualification runs ultimately cancelled again. Saturday turned out to be worth the wait however. The rain held long enough to dry the track and it was on! Only 1 hour practice followed immediately by qualification (Fionn qualied in 4th) and then straight back up the hill for racing! Women’s racing was intense! Semi-finals saw Fionn up against Anneke Beerten and Anita Molchik, two riders leading Fionn in the series overall, but Fionn was hungry for a medal and finished with a flat sprint that won her the heat and put her into the finals. She put her new Norco Hardtail to the test again in the finals against Melissa Buhl, Anneke Beerten, and Mio Suemasa and rode a solid heat to finish 3rd behind Melissa and Mio.
It was a great weekend all around! Fionn and Jill would like to thank Kevin Haviland and all the East Coast Norco Crew for their help this weekend. The bikes were dialed and the pits were super calm and professional! Thanks for all your help guys!
Source:
griffithsracing.net
A bit of news from our favourite Euro...
Hi guys….just a quick update.
Well there was another competition that I was invited to a few weeks ago, the Red Bull Bike Night in Trieste, Italy.
I went there with my super cool friend, BMX guy, Jurica Barac who was also competing.
The course was amazing – a huge skatepark built in the main square in Trieste. Qualifications went well and I qualified 6th which put me directly into the quarterfinals.
The idea behind this competition was a bit different than usual. We each rode in teams of two – one mountain biker and one BMXer – competing head-to-head against other pairs.
The battle was epic but sadly, we lost that night to Adam Hauck with his BMX team went on to the finals.
Overall though, it was an amazing night and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it!
Cheers
- Mislav
Hi guys….just a quick update.
Well there was another competition that I was invited to a few weeks ago, the Red Bull Bike Night in Trieste, Italy.
I went there with my super cool friend, BMX guy, Jurica Barac who was also competing.
The course was amazing – a huge skatepark built in the main square in Trieste. Qualifications went well and I qualified 6th which put me directly into the quarterfinals.
The idea behind this competition was a bit different than usual. We each rode in teams of two – one mountain biker and one BMXer – competing head-to-head against other pairs.
The battle was epic but sadly, we lost that night to Adam Hauck with his BMX team went on to the finals.
Overall though, it was an amazing night and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it!
Cheers
- Mislav
I always wanted to be one of those kids who got to go to camp. My parent's idea of camp was pitching a tent in the middle of the woods, giving us a bag of marshmallows to roast, and leaving us with our bikes so we could ride through the trails or play on the beach.
Being sent to a mountain bike camp with other kids to ride and play with (as opposed to the wild animals I was used to) and being coached by pro riders was nothing more of a silly far-fetched dream I'd have as a young rider.
It might have come a little late, but finally that wish came true. I went to mountain bike camp this week! Better late than never right?
Camp of Champions and Oakley teamed up to bring myself and my teammates Brain Lopes and Niki Gudex to camp this year and I couldn't have been more excited when I heard that we'd get to ride in the camp for a whole week.
Originally we were invited as guest coaches, but by the fun we had I'd wager to say that I felt more like a camper than a coach.
We'd wake up to a beautiful breakfast, go rip around Whistler bike park for a few runs, go in for a beautiful lunch, rip around the bike park some more, then cap it off with either a trip to the foam pit, shooting golf balls at the driving range, shredding the C.O.C. mini ramp, or shooting hoops and yes, I'm going to put this out there - I am a better basketball player than Brian Lopes! It's ok Brian, you're a REALLY good bike rider.
We lucked out with the weather and I don't know about anyone else, but I was stoked to ride in the sweltering heat everyday after such a cold winter. Trail conditions were dusty and fast and we didn't have to deal with muddy gear for the whole week which was an added bonus. I think we rode every kind of trail style you could think of other than muddy everyday. Fast, flowy, jumpy, rooty, droppy, rough, smooth, steep, flat, left, right, up, down - we rode it and we loved it. No campers pampers needed - these kids were tough and stoked on it all!
The riding was great, the other coaches ruled, but the thing that I couldn't get over was the amount of swag that these kids got when it was all over with! Not that it's all about the swag...but when you get loaded up with enough gear to fill an extra duffle bag you've gotta be stoked. I'm pretty sure these kids left with full body armor, a new full face helmet, a hoodie, t-shirts, Oakley gear, and thankfully, a Dakine backpack to cart it all away in. One camper even left with a new dirtjump frame! Now their kit is as steezy as their newly developed skills.
I'd have to say, even though I'm 24 years old and already a pro rider, my first trip to camp was better than I could have ever imagined. The wildlife was still there (as we discovered one day when we found ourselves watching two bears having a little lovemaking session under the chairlift...who would have expected that sex-ed was part of the Camp of Champs?) but instead of a bag of marshmallows we ate gourmet food, and instead getting lost in the woods with fully rigid bikes covered in rust we got to ride in the best bike park in the world on a fleet of top-of-the-line fully functional Norco bikes!
Thanks to all the kids and coaches for showing me the pro-rider camp newbie such a great time. I'm coming back next year for sure (if my mom lets me).
-Darcy
Being sent to a mountain bike camp with other kids to ride and play with (as opposed to the wild animals I was used to) and being coached by pro riders was nothing more of a silly far-fetched dream I'd have as a young rider.
It might have come a little late, but finally that wish came true. I went to mountain bike camp this week! Better late than never right?
Camp of Champions and Oakley teamed up to bring myself and my teammates Brain Lopes and Niki Gudex to camp this year and I couldn't have been more excited when I heard that we'd get to ride in the camp for a whole week.
Originally we were invited as guest coaches, but by the fun we had I'd wager to say that I felt more like a camper than a coach.
We'd wake up to a beautiful breakfast, go rip around Whistler bike park for a few runs, go in for a beautiful lunch, rip around the bike park some more, then cap it off with either a trip to the foam pit, shooting golf balls at the driving range, shredding the C.O.C. mini ramp, or shooting hoops and yes, I'm going to put this out there - I am a better basketball player than Brian Lopes! It's ok Brian, you're a REALLY good bike rider.
We lucked out with the weather and I don't know about anyone else, but I was stoked to ride in the sweltering heat everyday after such a cold winter. Trail conditions were dusty and fast and we didn't have to deal with muddy gear for the whole week which was an added bonus. I think we rode every kind of trail style you could think of other than muddy everyday. Fast, flowy, jumpy, rooty, droppy, rough, smooth, steep, flat, left, right, up, down - we rode it and we loved it. No campers pampers needed - these kids were tough and stoked on it all!
The riding was great, the other coaches ruled, but the thing that I couldn't get over was the amount of swag that these kids got when it was all over with! Not that it's all about the swag...but when you get loaded up with enough gear to fill an extra duffle bag you've gotta be stoked. I'm pretty sure these kids left with full body armor, a new full face helmet, a hoodie, t-shirts, Oakley gear, and thankfully, a Dakine backpack to cart it all away in. One camper even left with a new dirtjump frame! Now their kit is as steezy as their newly developed skills.
I'd have to say, even though I'm 24 years old and already a pro rider, my first trip to camp was better than I could have ever imagined. The wildlife was still there (as we discovered one day when we found ourselves watching two bears having a little lovemaking session under the chairlift...who would have expected that sex-ed was part of the Camp of Champs?) but instead of a bag of marshmallows we ate gourmet food, and instead getting lost in the woods with fully rigid bikes covered in rust we got to ride in the best bike park in the world on a fleet of top-of-the-line fully functional Norco bikes!
Thanks to all the kids and coaches for showing me the pro-rider camp newbie such a great time. I'm coming back next year for sure (if my mom lets me).
-Darcy
Just Announced! This weekend 2x World Cup Championship Silver Medalist & Norco World Team DH racer, Fionn Griffiths will be attending the Blue Mountain Resort VPS-Fest.
Come out and learn a few tips and tricks from a top racer, or just take a lap and try to keep up (good luck with that!)
And, don't forget, Jay Hoots and Dylan Korba will also be on hand to teach, guide, and mostly ride with YOU!
BE THERE! (VPSFEST.com
VPS-Fest is Norco's one-of-a-kind Rider Appreciation Day. It's our chance to say 'Thanks!' to our riders by providing anyone who rides a Norco bike with discounted lift-accessed riding, FREE tech support, the chance to win a few grand in prizes, and much more...
Come out and learn a few tips and tricks from a top racer, or just take a lap and try to keep up (good luck with that!)
And, don't forget, Jay Hoots and Dylan Korba will also be on hand to teach, guide, and mostly ride with YOU!
BE THERE! (VPSFEST.com
VPS-Fest is Norco's one-of-a-kind Rider Appreciation Day. It's our chance to say 'Thanks!' to our riders by providing anyone who rides a Norco bike with discounted lift-accessed riding, FREE tech support, the chance to win a few grand in prizes, and much more...