The Whakatane rider dropped out on the second of six laps in a race that claimed a significant number in the field with only half the field finishing on the same lap as the winner as 20,000 fans thronged to La Bresse in the Alsace region today.

Hanlen was chasing Olympic qualification in the final race to earn points for London, after rival Rosara Joseph crashed and broke her wrist during practice.

After starting from 14th the national champion dropped back to 58th by the end of the first lap and was in some difficulties before being unable to continue.

It is a serious blow for both Hanlen and Joseph who were chasing a high placing to support their Olympic bids. Hanlen started the world cup campaign with an eighth placing to Joseph’s 11th in South Africa and 18th against 38th in Belgium before a 26th in the Czech Republic where the Beijing Olympian finished 22nd.

New Zealand is expected to earn a single elite women’s spot for London when quotas are finalised by the UCI.

Experience and patience proved the key at La Bresse with legendary Norwegian Rita-Gunn Dahle claimed her first World Cup victory in four years.

It proved a double success for mountain bike legends with double Olympic gold medallist Julien Absalon, who lives nearby, winning the men’s honours.

Dahle, the 39 year old Athens Olympic gold medallist and four time world champion, has had a break from the sport after becoming a mother. She was back in fourth until leader Katherine Pendrell (CAN) crashed on the demanding downhill with series leader Julie Bresset (FRA) falling while trying to avoid her.

Katerina Nash (CZE) took control from Dahle before she fell twice on the final descent to allow the Norwegian through for the victory.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Dahle.”I am first of all a mum. So I can’t believe it. I was focussing on not going over my limit. I thought she might be over her limit and she was. I did a very good race on this course which was tough up and tough down.”

The shining light for New Zealand at La Bresse was another outstanding ride by Samara Sheppard who was third in the under-23 race on Saturday following her fourth placing in the last round as she moved to eighth on the overall classification after four rounds.

The crosscountry battle moves to North American for rounds in Canada and USA in late June, while the downhillers are back in action with the world cup at Val de Sole in Italy in two weeks.

Result, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Crosscountry:

Elite women: Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR) 1:39.57, 1; Katerina Nash (CZE) at 16 sec, 2; Julie Bresset (FRA) at 55s, 3; Catharine Pendrel (CAN) at 1:12, 4. Also: Karen Hanlen (NZL) dnf.

Elite men: Julien Absalon (FRA) 1:37.33, 1; Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE)at 7 sec, 2, Ralph Naef (SUI) at 40s, 3.

Samara in Action at Champery Photo Gary Perkin

New Zealand mountain biker Samara Sheppard produced a remarkable charge on the final lap to earn a podium finish in the fourth round of the UJCI World Cup in France on Saturday (NZ time).

The 22 year old was still in fifth place half way through the final lap of four of the women’s under-23 race at La Bresse before producing a withering burst to pip South Africa’s Candice Neethling on the line for third.

It is the first World Cup under-23 podium placing for Sheppard, who is racing for the Swiss-based Wheelers IXS team this year. It follows her outstanding fourth placing in last week’s world cup round in the Czech Republic.

Sheppard, the Rotorua-based Wellington rider, made a fast start in today’s race, to be second after the starting loop on a challenging course at La Bresse, a town in the Alsace region near the German border.

She slipped back to fourth on lap one and by lap two was fifth, nearly five minutes behind the leader, Swiss teammate Jolanda Neff who won the last round.

The New Zealander was still fifth and 44 seconds behind South Africa’s Candice Neethling in fourth at the start of the final lap but by the halfway point she had reduced the gap to 18 seconds.

Neff struck difficulties on the final lap and failed to finish which presented Ukraine’s Yana Belomoyna with the victory and elevated Sheppard to fourth. The kiwi flew down the final descent to pip Neethling in the dash to the line to claim third place.

Sheppard now has a break for a month until her next race, with her performances over the last two weeks cementing her qualification for September’s world championships.

Meanwhile the Rotorua pair of Dirk Peters and Sam Shaw will contest the men’s under-23 race later in the day while Whakatane’s Karen Hanlen is the only kiwi racing in the elite women’s race on Monday (NZ time) after Rosara Joseph broke her wrist in practice.

Results, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, La Bresse, France:

Under-23 women:
Yana Belomayna (UKR) 1:23.33, 1; Rebecca Henderson (AUS) at 1:37, 2; Samara Sheppard (NZL) at 2:21, 3; Candice Neethling (ZAF) at 2:22, 4.

Now, I’m not saying the new Saint groupset isn’t good… but this video is kinda funny. Shimano wanted to capture the first impressions of its SPONSORED teams at Sea Otter. No-one got preferential treatment, Shimano delivered boxes of goodness to Yeti, Santa Cruz and Trek and filmed their reactions, but really when the guy from Shimano is standing there with a video camera you’re not going to say it sucks are you?

If the world of mountain bike websites were like the world of Thomas the Tank Engine, Pink Bike would be Gordon (scroll down to the persona bit) but it seems of late NSMB has taken the title of Thomas, the little website that could. If you don’t visit NSMB daily then you need to start; they are hands down creating some of the best original content on the web at the moment. Matt Dennison and Dan Barham’s videos are top knotch and Seb, Cam and Morgan’s editorials again are fresh and creative. On top of all that it’s not a bad site to look at. So after you’ve checked out Spoke in the morning I suggest you mosey over to NSMB. Why you could even bookmark it.

Damian Stones and Reon Boe spent a week in sunny Rarangi (the first left turn out of Picton) not long ago and banged out this damn sweet looking pump track. I can’t think of a better place than Rarangi to build a pump track; after three hours on the ferry the this little gem will be a welcome respite, and if you know what’s up you’ll know that the Whites Bay loop starts just over the hill! Banging!

We have a secondary school student doing work experience for us at the moment. Yesterday I had a bit of a brainwave when trying to think of things for him to do and came up with the idea of finally putting all the past Spoke reviews on the web. As of a few minutes ago he’s done it. Everything we’ve reviewed from before issue 30 to issue 45 is now in the review section of the site. To view them all you’ll have to head back a few pages, but from now on as soon as the mags come off the shelves the reviews will be going online.

All our reviews and new product features can be found here.

When Emma (Spoke founder and its founding designer) and I went to the Queenstown Bike Festival a few weeks back we opted not to take a bike for her as the Foes distributor had mentioned having a medium bike available. He didn’t say what it would be but when he showed up with it I didn’t even realise it existed. Obviously I do now. Emma’s initial rides were positive; it’s a bit more bike than she’s used to but was definitely fun to pedal. She only spent a couple of days with the bike, but now it’s back for a bit more of a going over by regular reviewer Mark Dangerfield.

I have to start by saying that we think it has to be the best looking Foes ever. The nice hydroformed down tube and the monocoque top tube work well together and thankfully there are no embossed flames.

So the major difference from most other Foes bikes is this thing is actually designed around a Fox RP23 and not a Curnutt. Foes have still managed to design the 5.25″/5.75″ travel bike around a 2.3:1 ratio providing a nice easily-tuneable ride. Like a bunch of trail bikes coming out at the moment the Shaver features adjustable travel, which is changed by a simple movement of the lower shock mount and the whole platform is designed around a simple link actuated single pivot. According to the boys at Blue Shark (the New Zealand distributor) it has much better small bump compliance than its big brother the FXR.

Here’s a look at the non-drive side of the business end of the Shaver.

It wouldn’t be a trail bike without a 12mm rear axle would it? The Shaver employs the Shimano 12mm axle if you were wondering.

Sun Ringle’s 1555gram SRD wheel set looks pretty burly and it’s one of the more affordable carbon options out there, so we’ll be bringing you a separate review of these guys as well as the new dual compound Intense 2.35 Invader tyres.

It couldn’t really get any better could it, Steve Peat killing it on a Tallboy with Isle of Man legend Guy Martin in tow.

If you don’t catch him on the airwaves, you’ll no doubt find him riding singletrack or dining out in Northland, the pizza capital of Wellington.

Who is Simon Morton?

Immigrant resident of Wellington, funded by the tax payer to be curious and ask questions as host of This Way Up. Love my bikes and my family, and have far too many tyres and gloves in my shed.

When did you get into mountain biking?

It all started long, long ago in Queenstown 1988 with a dirty Sovereign Mountain Supreme. I couldn’t afford a Healing Wildcat or the very exotic and flashy Kona Lava Dome.

What would you rather be doing, riding or tv/radio?
I would always rather be on a bike. Although riding to work in a wet southerly can be a pain in the ass, the face and the knees.

What is the strangest or most interesting thing you’ve done in your career?

I went to Mumbai and had a go at getting into the Bollywood film scene working as an actor. I recorded the whole thing and made a documentary about the experience. After dance lessons and a few pool parties, ultimately it ended up being a story about failure!  I’m a pretty good dancer mind!

What are your latest media projects?

This Way Up is a 2 hour radio show which keeps me busy week to week. I’m currently working on a book with Te Papa based on the TVNZ7 Tales from Te Papa series, and I’m planning a really big bike ride for early 2014.

I hear you just sold your Stumpy FSR and are back on a hardtail… how’s that working out?

Great for the bank account, as I have a holiday to pay for. The biggest impact though has been feeling the inside of my thighs – they’ve taken a pounding from my seat (the FSR was armed with a seat-dropper as well). My new ride has bigger wheels and I’m running tubeless so the tyres are way softer, so I’m not missing the travel, or the weight! There will definitely be quite a few new bikes in the future so the chances are pretty damn good of getting fully shocked up again. 29 on the front and 650B on the back just to be a real twat. I might get some body armour too… But seriously, big wheels for me, I’m a big boy.

Favourite trail/riding spot?

Close to home: My Welly commute home up Transient and then across Highbury Fling is a great way to end the day (with the optional Car Parts/Barking Emu/Wrights Hill/Northland loop), but I love to nip up the back of the Karori cemetery onto the tops and then up Zac’s and into the Makara playground… so many options.

Over the water: Craigieburn Forest Park and for those  luxury ‘fear and loathing’ trips then the Queen Charlotte’s hard to beat.

Far, Far Away: La Saulire (2738m) at the top of Merbel to the valley floor, Bride les Bains (590m) in the Savoie, France.

What’s wrong with mountain biking?

There’s a danger that some tracks are being overworked and sanitised. I feel sorry for bike shops trying to compete with online, while local brand importers try and maintain margins, making stuff here in NZ really expensive. White lycra is so wrong…

What’s right with mountain biking?

Niner, Revolution Bicycles and Wellington tracks. The number of tracks opening up around the country is very cool, and Queenstown’s downhill course is a world class development. It’s great to see we’re building infrastructure to attract cyclists to New Zealand, that’s cool. The other really neat thing happening is that people want to build tracks, volunteers from all walks of life, legends.

Is hype/marketing driving the sport more than technology/innovation?

Shit yes, but there’s some cool stuff out there, you just have to do your research and be able to afford to try the gear. About every 5 years there’s a major step change in technology, but year to year I think not.

How do you see the future for NZ mountain biking?

Pretty damn good as more tracks open up, ‘joint use’ is no longer a dirty phrase, and councils (government) are realising that making their towns and cities more cycle friendly is a no-brainer when it comes to return on investment and quality of life.

And for you?

Faster, fitter, harder, healthier, happier and more Tuatara beers.

Web: http://www.radionz.co.nz/thiswayup
Twitter: http://twitter.com/upthisway
Podcast:  http://www.radionz.co.nz/podcasts/thiswayup.rss

I’ve been waiting for this video for a while now. It’s the video of the Easton trip that Spoke guided and it’s pretty fricken choice (the Coastal Crew put it together!). You’ll be able to read about it in issue 47 of Spoke due mid June. Vital also have a slide show up here (with me sounding extra lame).

Nico somewhere in Craigieburn forest. So damn fast!

]]> http://spokemagazine.com/2012/05/16/easton-vs-new-zealand-the-video/feed/ 2 http://spokemagazine.com/2012/05/15/let-them-eat-reverb-stealths/ http://spokemagazine.com/2012/05/15/let-them-eat-reverb-stealths/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 02:30:49 +0000 Caleb Smith http://firstfloor.co.nz/spoke/?p=18301

I can quietly hear some boys at a local distributor freaking out right now, thinking I may have given up their little secret. But as of a couple of days ago it appears that the infamous Reverb Stealth (we told you about it here) is finally available for owners of non-Trek and Scott bikes. Whether you want to drill a hole in your frame is another story, but I’m guessing more manufacturers might be drilling them out for you. What’s new is the fact that the new Reverb Stealth will be offered in 6″ drop too! No word on availability just as yet, but RockShox tend to move pretty quick on these things.

As promised here is the Wellington premiere date for Anthill’s new film Strength In Numbers. I may have just watched it and may be pretty damn awesome. Some of you may recall that Life Cycles sold out, so it may pay to get in quick to secure your ticket. If you haven’t watched the trailer yet it’s below again.

Tickets are available here…

Date: Thursday 17th May

Time: 7pm

Location:
Penthouse Cinemas
205 Ohiro Rd
Brooklyn
Wellington

And I’m just confirming prices but we will have actual DVD pre-orders up today as well.

We’re on the hunt for more Facebook likes. Manual, our big brother, is sitting on over 5000 and we’re way back at not even 2,500. So we thought we’d offer a little incentive to get you guys liking if you’re not already. We have a few of these sweet snap-back embroidered AVID caps to give away. Simply head over to Spoke‘s Facebook page here, hit the like button (maybe leave a comment) and you’re in to win. If you already like Spoke just tell us why we should give that hat to you (on the facebook page).