When I went to the Osiris website yesterday to try to find a picture of the Nyquist shoes, I noticed that Mike Montgomery’s name was missing from the roster. I mean when Osiris first announced the team he was the headline rider. Well it’s all out today; Specialized has just announced that the competition slaying machine that is Mike Montgomery has switched from Banshee bikes to the Big S. Montgomery, together with the Claw and Martin Soderstrom, should garner Specialized a few more FMB points in 2012 and maybe put a stop to the Trek domination of Semenuk and McCaul.

MS MONDRAKER TEAM is the name of Mondraker’s new ¨UCI Elite Mountain Bike Team¨.

This new structure is the result of an agreement between Mondraker and the Austrian Race Team MS Racing owned by RedBull athlete Markus Stöckl and will mean for Mondraker a new stage and step ahead in DH Racing after former DH team ¨Mondraker Factory Team¨ and Fabien Barel announced their retirement.

The team will be composed by the following top riders:

Brook MacDonald
3 podium positions at World Cup UCI in 2011

Damien Spagnolo
Silver Medal World Championship 2011 Champery/SUI

Emmeline Ragot
World Champion 2011 Champery/SUI

Markus Pekoll
European Champion IXS Cup 2011

The goal of the team is to be one of the top DH teams of 2012 and to continue the great job of the Mondraker Factory Team of the last seasons.

All riders of the MS MONDRAKER TEAM will be riding the Summum Pro team which has proven to be a very promising and medal winning bike ever since its launch in 2009, with various victories from Fabien Barel in the last few years and Damien Spagnolo’s great performance in Champery September 2011.

The MS MONDRAKER TEAM will have an impressive infrastructure and a very professional support team available for the riders, as well a professional photographer and movie maker who will be following the team during all the important races starting from the first World Cup race in Pietermartizburg between the 17th and 18th of March.

MS-Racing Owner Markus Stöckl says:

We are very proud to represent the new Mondraker Factory Team, already at my first visit at the Mondraker office we found a good base for our program. The Team is very sad that we had to let some of our riders go but also happy about the new riders Damien and Emmeline and about Brook and Markus to still be with us, each of them is a great Rider and has a cool personality, so we are looking forward to some successful and fun race weekends. It is quite a busy time for us because of the change of our main partner there will be some more changes down the road, but we are stoked about the new opportunities which are coming.

Watch it NOW!

The contrast with last weekend’s series opener in Queenstown couldn’t have been any more different. Rain hit Dunedin for the first time in six weeks on Thursday night, creating a very slippery course for the start of practice Friday morning. And constant rain started to fall mid morning, not letting up until the small hours of Saturday morning. Practice was incredibly tough, the technically challenging, often off-chamber Signal Hill course creating an unwanted yardstick for survival. Race day this morning arrived with bluebird skies and an extended practice session helped to bed the track in and scrub the tenacious mud layer from race lines. By race run at 2:30pm the course was in great condition and riding fast, however threatening skies would come into play with race tactics and starting order as the afternoon progressed.

Age group categories raced the dry track while rain started to make its presence felt again, becoming quite heavy just as the Elite fields were preparing to take the start line. The Elite Women were the first group to really feel the slippery conditions, and again this week it was Sarah Atkin (Wellington) who showed fantastic adaptation to deal with the conditions and race to a time that would win her the race, and demolish the competition at the same time.

The Elite Men’s ranks were boosted this week with the addition of World Cup top ten regular Justin Leov (Dunedin) and former World Four Cross Champion Jared Graves (Australia) joining an already star-studded field. 2007 Junior World Championship bronze medalist Matt Scoles (Alexandra) was the quickest seed in the earlier seeding run, and was last starter, with surprise package and second seed Bryn Dickerson (Wellington) away one before him. But the field had to be content with playing bridesmaid to Brook MacDonald (Napier), the 2009 Junior World Champion, who put down a solid and what turned out to be unbeatable time from ninth seed. MacDonald was rightly very satisfied to win this one; “It’s just great to be back winning again”, was all the comment needed to sum up his two days on Signal Hill. Putting down a clean run on the course was incredibly difficult considering the conditions, and a very vocal crowd was treated to some sublime riding from the top ten seeds in the Elite Men’s field, in their chase after MacDonald’s time. Scoles would settle for second, with Kieran Bennett (Nelson) making a return to top three, and Dickerson unable to repeat his stellar seeding run, slipping to 11th. Leov raced well to make the top ten in his first race start this season, with his former World Cup teammate Graves not able to finish after a heavy crash at the top of the course. France’s Jerome Clementz was rewarded for an enjoyable month in New Zealand in his last race before returning to Europe, with a 7th.

In the age group categories Dunedin’s local riders fared very well, showing the benefits of some home track advantage. The McCombie brothers Josh and Dan claimed the U17 and U19 wins respectively, while Karitane’s Leighton Kirk shook off a disastrous seeding run to take the Senior Men’s win in a time that was second fastest of the day. Kirk’s early race run from the front of the senior field held right through to the podium. The 30-39 Masters again showed blazing pace this weekend, with Nelson’s Derek Winwood turning the tables on teammate Jamie Nicoll for the win, in a top ten overall time.

The Downhill segment of the NZ MTB Cup continues next Friday and Saturday Jan 20/21st at Mt. Hutt with the third round, while the first round of the Cross-Country part of the series takes place tomorrow at Signal Hill in Dunedin. Weather will prove to be a major factor in the UCI Category One event for the Olympic format multi-lap racers, with a very tough climb and descent on Signal Hill extremely difficult to race fast in these conditions. But with valuable world ranking points up for gabs in the Elite Men’s and Women’s races, competiton will be fierce regardless of any further variables Dunedin throws their way.

Full Results Dunedin Downhill

Issued for MTBNZ Events
Further Information Chris Mildon

How old are you?

32

Where do you live?

Lovely Oranga, Auckland

What do you like best about living where you do?

VERY close to work and about the middle of town so going north or south for a ride is easy.

What do you dislike about living where you do?

My neighbours drink more than I do which keeps me up at night.

How did you get involved in the mountain bike scene to begin with, and how long ago was that?

I lived in Palmerston North for a year when I was 14ish and it was just the thing you did as a grommet down there.

We also have some very good family friends, the Bangs, in Levin. They were into it big time so there was definitely a lot of encouragement from them.

What’s your ‘day’ job? What does it involve?

Customer service / workshop at WH Worrall & Co. I do a lot varied work for Worralls, from answering the phones, servicing and repairing most of the products we supply to running the SRAM neutral race support over the summer.  

26” or 29” and why?

No question 26”, because I’m not over six foot.

What are five benefits of working with bikes all day every day?

-  I’m never bored

-  I get to work with some great people

-  I love trick new stuff and I’m surrounded by it every day 

-  the workshop keeps my brain engaged

-  I’m not flipping burgers, or worse, digging holes

How would you describe your riding style?

Too far over the nose.

Favourite trail?

Dirt Merchant into A-Line.

What’s one thing you’ve learned in the last 10 years?

Every day you ride the better you get, and listen to my mother.

What’s wrong with mountain biking?

No chairlift in Auckland.

 What are three things right with mountain biking?

-          SRAM!

-          Keeping me to some level of fitness

-          It brings many people together; 90% of my friends ride bikes

Top two mountain bike developments in the last 10 years (bike park, part or whatever)?

- Definitely bike parks, a great example being Woodhill in Auckland. A lot of people would never have gotten into the sport if it wasn’t there.

- The uppy downy post. 

All time favourite rider?

Steve Peat  X10

 Top five favourite bits of mountain bike kit?

-          RockShox Pike

-          RockShox Reverb

-          Avid Elixir 9

-          GT Fury

-          Blackmarket Killswitch

Who do you look up to?

Graham and Terry Lewis

Mark Harrowfield 

What are your vices?

Beer and bikes

Finish this sentence: “On a Saturday I like to get up and….”

Drink coffee then out on the bike

Kai Crow is one half of NZRide, one half of the Kai and Byron Scott show (relationship) and half the size of me. Doesn’t matter what the conditions are, Kai strictly runs slicks on his bike, perhaps that’s why he’s featured in the Earthed 3 crash section. With a season racing Euro World Cups under his belt, you can guarantee that Kai will be on the trail in front of you.

How old are you?

Not as old as my hairline would suggest

Where do you live?

Auckland

What do you like best about living where you do?

The work opportunities I’ve had living here, the people I’ve met and the fact that there’s always something to do.

What do you dislike about living where you do?

Having to sit for hours in traffic to go for a ride after work, or alternatively, don Lycra and brave crowded streets and angry drivers just for the sake of doing some riding.

How did you get involved in the mountain bike scene to begin with, and how long ago was that?

I bought my first mountain bike when I was about 11 years old I think it was, which would have been ’92. I saved up for what seemed like 10 years and bought a 10 speed Raleigh mountain bike for the princely sum of $320. And it was rad because it had cantilever brakes, they were the height of technology.

 What’s your ‘day’ job? What does it involve?

I think most people imagine I run nzride.com all day but what I actually do is run the marketing department for Sonar6, a software company founded in New Zealand that sells online HR software around the world.
What are five benefits of working with bikes all day every day?

-   Being able to hook your mates up with cheap deals

-   Being able to hook yourself up with cheap deals

-   Doing cool stuff like flying hundreds of miles to ride a new trail and claiming it as a business expense

-   The fact that nobody from IRD rides bikes so they’re not going to see that last point

-   Being able to hook yourself up with cheap deals

How would you describe your riding style?

Hmmmm I’d say something like Bubba Stewart meets Tinkerbell

 Favourite trail?

Schladming, Austria

What’s one thing you’ve learned in the last 10 years?

Mountain biking is a really expensive hobby. REALLY.

What’s wrong with mountain biking?

-   The association with Lycra

-   Lack of TV coverage (see point 1)

-   It’s not as cool to tell people you do mountain biking as it is to tell people you do Moto-X (see point 1)

Three things right with mountain biking?

-          It’s way cooler to tell people you do mountain biking than roller skating

-          It’s given me a chance to meet some of the coolest people I’ve met in my life, made a lot of life-long friends and been to some pretty cool places around the world.

-          Number one for me: I think of any high(ish) speed vehicle assisted sport; in mountain biking you can hold it closer to the limit of control than any other because the penalities for failure are just that bit lower than motor sports etc. It means you can push it that much closer to the edge of your abilities when it comes to a race or just a good run in the weekend.

Top two mountain bike developments in the last 10 years (bike park, part or whatever)?

-          Freecaster TV

-          In New Zealand, I’d have to say the Queenstown Gondola Bike Park – that facility is going to change the face of riding nationally and New Zealand’s reputation as a mountain bike destination internationally.

 All time favourite rider?

Got to be Cedric Gracia – the sport needs those larger than life characters. He’s got that psuedo rockstar image but at the same time, he’s the most friendly approachable guy on the scene.

 Top five favourite bits of mountain bike kit?

-          My flat pedals and some Five Tens

-          A Troy Lee D2 – I don’t know if anyone should be able to wear any other full-face helmet – they just don’t look right.

-          My Pro-Rider full face from 1999 – because I still have it somewhere and oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-I-ever-wore-that!

-          My nzride.com race top – because I still think it’s cool!

-          A neck brace – I don’t actually own one because I’m not hardcore enough anymore but it’s such a good piece of equipment I don’t think anyone racing downhill should be without one!

Who do you look up to?

I admire anyone who makes it at the top level in the sport and particularly those who make it really big and don’t let it go to their head (which I have to say is just about everyone who has made it big in the sport).

What are your vices?

Spending stupid amounts of money on toys.

I just love Lycra

Finish this sentence: “On a Saturday I like to get up and….”

10 years ago: Do skids on my neighbour’s veggie garden then tear off and go out for a ride

Now: Water my veggie garden then putt off in my Fiat Uno to go out for a ride.

This pump track is in Riverhead forest off Old north road in the West Coast Riders Club Compound.

Okay, so many of you below the equator are probably happy to have the winter behind you for now but this is timeless quality programming whatever your flavour and whatever you like to do. Jordan Manley, the genius behind many of the best mountain bike photographs ever to be clicked, has released series two of A Skier’s Journey. We all gotta love kick arse back wheel kick outs and thumping three minutes of the same corner or jump played over and over again from various angles but sometimes it is nice to sit and learn something about somewhere or someone else. Thank you Jordan Manley and Arc’teryx for supporting this.

I love this video and I really didn’t expect to because it was described to me as, “A couple of Germans go hike-a-biking up a big mountain and then ride down again”. From previous experience of German videos they are generally pretty shitty. Mountain bike ones that is. Usually it is some contrived story line where some uber rad dudes make their way up a hill like two guys dancing to Lady Gaga and then ride down in the most awkward manner possible. They are always an attempt at making all mountain seem kind of cool but they always make it look really geeky and weird. Which is a shame, because all mountain isn’t but the people that call all mountain, all mountain are. Oh wait…

Anyway, this video kicks in something that is long overdue: genuine adventure and story telling in a web video. It is so rad that I can completely ignore the fact that they probably did far more bike carrying than riding and they still do too many gay rear wheel kick outs (you saw the French video, right?).

Actually, whilst on the subject, can we not see the difference between a rear wheel kick out and a proper God loving, boner inducting skid?

Back to the video, mountain biking needs more videos that tell tales, craft stories for genuine experience (and I don’t mean Go-Pro footage should be regarded as genuine experience) and step beyond formulaic guff.

Hungry for some Dirt Park action? I am after watching this nicely pieced together video by Jon Bokrantz for Queenstown Bike Taxis.

From the QBT website, “Queenstown Bike Taxis offers a transport only service to help you and your bike get to the trails around Queenstown. QBT can pick you up from the airport, get you started for a cross country mission, drive the shuttles for a downhill run or take you on a 3 day trip to some of the best riding in the South Island.”

As most people will already know there is plenty of good gravity riding around the Queenstown area. Again, from the website, “Wynyard Express is pretty much in the middle of Queenstown, Zoot Track is only a 15 minute drive, Dirt Park is an hour away and Clyde/Linger & Die is only just over an hours drive. QBT do transport for all these tracks and also tours further afield to Christchurch, Mt Hutt and Dunedin.”

If you are planning on visiting the Queenstown area and you want to look beyond the Queenstown Bike Park then QBP are going to help you find the goods and get you there. A must for anyone wanting to follow in the footsteps of the pros who have shralped trails in the area over the years or just want to blast through some amazing Kiwi scenery.

Is this Dan McMullan of NZ Freeride Guides? Did I also see the very rapid and always spacey Cam Bro?

Vito Sport and BikeRidersUnited ‘How To’: Drops – More Mountain Bike Videos

I’m going to probably make some enemies here, but this needs saying. Pro riders with no coaching experience, qualification, training or indeed knack for it, need to stop putting out stuff like this.

In this video we have the legend that is Martyn Ashton explaining how to do rollover drops and something he refers to as “flying drops”. Whilst his riding technique is excellent, he, however, goes about explaining how you or I should go about doing it in a manner that is not only contrary to what he is actually doing in the video, but is not at all helpful. It also lurks into the Danger Zone in places.

This is just another way for professional riders to tout their wares (in this case the wares in question is primarily a van), but in doing so they provide a disservice to riders and the people who call themselves a mountain bike coach. There is a big difference between a coach who has learnt the correct teaching techniques and spent time learning how to communicate the correct ways of teaching and a well meaning professional rider who may be a great rider but couldn’t explain how he makes his magic for toffee.

Smiling Ken

This is Ken Doraty. He is a really good coach. He coaches in Whistler every summer and as well as being able to break down the fundamentals in a concise and understandable way, he infects those around him with the stoke factor. Do yourself a favor and stop scrolling through the Chain Reaction website and start looking for a good coach. It is the only thing that will actually make you a better rider. Stop consuming bike bling, start consuming knowledge.

It’s Movember, and Trek and Ross Schnell bring you the all-important moustache tips. I learned something. Oh it’s worth mentioning that Ross has been working on this for a while. In fact when I stayed with him in June it looked like this…

I have come to admire how these FastFokus guys have put together a series of videos shot all over the world (including a Kelly McGarry in NZ episode), but this episode is the most exceptional example of the rear wheel sweeper. I couldn’t count how many times that all three riders sweep their rear wheel out in a light footed hip shimmy way for the camera. It’s not a good thing. It’s a bit soft, a bit useless and it’s not rad for trails. Please stop it Fast Fokus.

Photo credit: Fast Fokus. Oh wait, there's a water mark.