This is an actual model available from Sportsmobile that bears Brian’s name, like a Saleen Mustang or something.  How cool is that?  I have been thinking for a while about some kind of an RV, so this came up on the radar.  Worth a look if you are serious about adventure and bikes.

Motor Trend has a test that you can read here: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0906_sportsmobile_dodge_sprinter_lopes_55/

Check back!

In the Works:

The Chain Guide Guide- which chain guide type should you run and why?

How to Choose between 1X or 2X?

Suspension set up: Making changes as you progress and develop a better understanding of what suspension does and what the adjustments actually change.

29er Trail Bikes

650B Trail Bikes

Strength in Numbers is a rally call to connect all mountain bikers, regardless of location or language or discipline. The film captures a true way of life, from the world’s best pros to those who are just learning to love the sport. Shot over two years in some of mountain biking’s most iconic locations, Anthill’s signature style combines compelling stories with core action to create a shared experience that unites all riders. Come join us!
http://anthillfilms.com/strengthinnumbers

Here’s the song info:
“Soul of a Man”
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
http://ramblinjack.com

“Fire in Your Eyes”
Chase & Status
http://chaseandstatus.co.uk

Featuring: Graham Agassiz, Gee Atherton, Adam Billinghurst, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Anthony Messere, Brandon Semenuk, Andrew Shandro, Wade Simmons, Rene Wildhaber and Thomas Vanderham. With appearances from: Rachel Atherton, Steve Smith, Aaron Gwin, Ryan Howard, Tracy Moseley, Tyler McCaul, Steve Peat, Greg Watts and Alex Reveles.

Communities: Aptos California, Whistler BC, Fort William Scotland, Green River Utah, Nepal, Kamloops BC, Verbier Switzerland, Vancouver BC.

Strength in Numbers is produced, written, directed and edited by Anthill Films in co-production with Red Bull Media House. Presented by Shimano and Trek in association with Contour HD, Clif Bar, Pinkbike.com and PRO Components. Additional support for the film is provided by the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, Kona, Toyota Trucks, Scion, Oakley, Easton, Evoc, Big Mountain Adventures, Verbier St. Bernard and Ride Nepal.

http://redbullusa.com

This is a totally non-sexy reference guide.  I am going to assume you have a bike, and that it is a mountain bike, since we are talking about mountain biking here.  After that, what else do you need?  If you are already awesome, and you know what you need, then you can refer your totally un-awesome friends to the list.

Here is the list:

#1. HELMET

Full-Face and Half Shell helmets offer more or less protection. You will know when you are ready for the Full Face

Get a helmet that fits right and wear it.  Mountain Bike specific helmets tend to have more protection in the front and better coverage in the rear.  That is a good idea.

#2. HYDRATION PACK

Some packs can carry a lot plus an extra Full Face for the descent, some carry a little. They both carry 3L of water. I recommend getting the biggest one that makes sense for you.

Since riding off-road can get bumpy and eject water bottles from their cages, it is a good idea to carry water on your back so you can carry enough and not lose it by getting the bottle shot out of the cages over bumps.  Get one that can carry basic tools and stuff a jacket.

#3. GLOVES

Any of these gloves get the basic job done. All of these gloves are better than no gloves.

Cover your hands.  Most times they are the first things to hit the ground when you crash and hand scrapes are pretty annoying.  Especially if you have to go to work and not bleed all over everything on Monday.  When you start crashing enough to figure out all the different ways you can screw yourself up your idea of what a good glove is will change, but for now any glove is better than no gloves.

#4. EYE PROTECTION

Goggles are great, as are cycling specific glasses. They keep crap out of your eyes and cut glare.

Sunglasses, goggles, whatever.  Stuff will get in your eyes like dirt and bugs and it will annoy the heck out of you, or make you crash.

#5. PUMP, TUBE, TIRE LEVERS

Every ride should include these three things.

What are you gonna do if you flat? You’re screwed, but not if you have a pump, tube and tire levers.  If you have room in your hydration pack carry two tubes, or more.  Even if you are a smarty pants and you have tubeless tires with sealant, carry these three things.  Some people like CO2 cartridges, but they are stupid and lazy.

#6. TOOLS

This guy has got you covered

Take all the tools your bike needs.  Normally this means a screw driver, and a size run of allen wrenches.  Ask your local bike shop what tools your bike needs.  You may need to your adjust bars, stem, headset or something.  You may also need to tighten a bolt on a seat post, or suspension linkage.  Out in the woods, it will be nice to be able to fix your bike.

#7. TECHNICAL BASE LAYER

This is a simple thing that can make a ride very enjoyable on a hot day, or a cold one too.

Invest a few bucks in an undershirt made of technical fabric that wicks the moisture away from your body and keeps you dry.  It will do wonders to help your body’s natural temperature regulation system work effectively.  You will be more comfortable, and you enjoy yourself more because you won’t be all hot and gross, or cold and clammy.

 #8. ELBOWS & KNEES

Knees, Shins, Knee/Shins, Elbows, Forearms, Elbow/Forearms... there are a lot of pads, cover up.

If you are planning to push yourself a little and improve your skills then you will fall.  Having your elbows and knees covered can be the difference between getting up with a better idea of what to try next time and having your day ruined, insomnia, bloody sheets, slow healing bruises and all the annoyances that come with it.  Most of all you could end your ride early and kill the fun.  If you don’t want to spend a bunch of money just wear long sleeves and pants, anything is way better than nothing when you need it.

Either it's all you are comfortable in or you think they make you look like a stupid yahoo.

If you are planning to push yourself a little and improve your skills then you will fall- really.  Baggy shorts tend to slide better, reducing the friction on your skin that would rip it if you were wearing lycra shorts.  If you are used to wearing lycra and can’t ride without it, then do yourself a favor by doubling up with a pair of baggy shorts.  The two layers will slide against each other in a crash and in so doing will help you glide over the ground and actually offer a lot more protection than baggies alone.

 #10 CELL PHONE

This little guy is your buddy!

If you are on your local trails, chances are you have reception. BRING YOUR CELL PHONE. If you are afraid you will crash and break it, get an OtterBox for it or put it in you pack, or get an OtterBox for it and put it in your pack.  Already you have crashing in your head so that’s the reason to bring it with you- not the reason to leave it behind.  Not only can you call to get help for yourself, you can call to get help for others.  If you are going to be riding where there is not cell reception, DO NOT GO ALONE!.

This is Barry Wicks

The thing with Barry Wicks is that he has been a pro bike rider for a long time and he can ride a bike really really good.  We chatted for almost an hour and covered his win at the Over Mountain Enduro last year, how his skills cross over from Cross Country and Cyclocross, and the rise of the Enduro format.

ENDURO LOVE: Barry, so real quick, what’s your gig?  Are you just racing still?

BARRY WICKS: I am racing full time and also I am the manager for the Kona World race team, so I take care of all of the Kona riders.

EL: How are you able to still focus on your own training if you have to manage the Kona team world-wide?

BW: I can do it, I just make the time for my training.

EL: Your focus had been Cross Country but this past year you have been doing some Super D and Enduro.

BW: Yeah, traditionally mountain bike racing has been Cross Country or DH but I think as cycling matures people are wanting to try different shit and do racing that is more fun.  I think Enduro racing goes hand in hand with that.  It also fits more with the bikes that companies are making now.  You can buy a trail bike off the rack with 6 inches of travel that weighs 25 lbs.  That’s the bike that people wanna ride.  They are super fun.  You can still climb on one and they’re a rip to go down hill on.  I think Enduro racing is a reflection of that.  That’s what people want to do.  People don’t wanna fly to some cheap ski resort on the east coast to ride 15 minute laps for an hour and then fly home.  That’s what Cross Country has turned into.

The appeal of Enduro is that you can go to cool places that you probably haven’t ridden before and ride all the sick trails with your friends.  You ride to the top and race to the bottom.  That’s how people ride their mountain bikes right?  Having fun in the woods and having fun with your friends and that’s what Enduro racing is and I think that’s why there is this big surge in that format.

We are getting more involved.  Being with Kona, we’re all about having fun and Enduro racing is good place for that.  We are super stoked on that and I am super stoked on it.

Barry Wicks and Kona are taking Super D and Enduro racing seriously

EL: You’ve been doing Enduro and it seems like Kona has been out front on a lot things, like being out at the resorts as good way to get involved in the bike community before the bigger companies realized that that was a good thing to do.  Kona has had a full line of longer travel trail type bikes for a while before other companies realized that that was a bike that people wanted.  Kona has been doing the right kinds of bikes for a long time.  They don’t have the power in the market of some other brands, but they have understood the culture of mountain biking much better than others who have stuck with the traditional Cross Country model to inform their product development for a few years longer than they should have.  Some companies are just now getting on the fact that people want a 150mm bike.

BW: Yeah, at Kona we have always supported different types of riding and racing.  We still have a factory Cross Country team, but that’s not the only thing we do. We’re in all facets.  We have Enduro racers all over the word; we’ve got Matt Slave, Karim Amour, Alex Stock…

You know, we recognize that mountain biking is for everyone, it’s not just Cross Country racing or freeriding or whatever, we want people to be on bikes period and racing is an extension of that.  It’s a good way to enjoy your bike.

EL: Last year, you did that Cannondale over Mountain Enduro at Highland, so what got you motivated to try that and what was your experience like?

BW: I had just heard of it though the grapevine, so it popped up on my radar on a weekend where I didn’t have anything better to do.  I had heard a lot about Enduro and wanted to try it.  I had done a few Super D’s, but never the Enduro format.  Mark Weir is a friend of mine and rival from the norcal days and we were talking shit back and forth and I was talking about how I was gonna come out there to kick his ass and take all his money.

EL: Which you ended up doing.

BW: (laughs) Yeah… well that’s the thing, there’s this image about Enduro that it has to be so hard core but it’s just bike riding, it’s just mountain biking. It’s not like you have to have all the latest and greatest stuff or be so “Enduro” or whatever.  It’s a new format, a new experience, and people just need to go out and try it.  It’s super fun.  Every one was super cool and so relaxed.  It was a good environment and a good atmosphere.

Enduro racing now is what mountain bike racing was 10 years ago right?  It’s about the experience and fun rather than being so serious.  You don’t have to be so pro to go do an Enduro race, you just go do it.

EL: No doubt. So compared to your experience in Cross Country and Cyclocross, when you go do an Enduro at a place like Highland which has some pretty advanced terrain, do all your skills and experience transfer?  Is it all new ground for you, or is it just more of the same?

BW: That’s the thing with Enduro, there’s multiple stages right?  Every stage is different.  Some stages are way more downhilly than I would feel comfortable riding at high speed.  I am not used to mobbing through some rock garden at 1000mph.  I come from Cross Country and I am used to the short travel Cross Country bike where I have to pick my way through that stuff and then go fast where it is smoother.

In highlands the first stage was more of the downhiller stage- it actually went down their DH run.  It was pretty gnarly you know, like big holes and rocks and surprisingly I was able to get down it cleanly and fast and I ended up winning that stage and I think a lot of that just has to do with racing craft you know.  A lot of guys hang it out and make mistakes and it costs them a lot of time whereas I just back it off 5% and make it down in one piece. If I make a mistake it costs me a second, whereas then 20 if you hang it out and rag doll it down the hill.  I think that having that experience and understanding of how racing works is beneficial, but at the same time, a lot of those guys can school me in a lot of things.

EL: That’s one thing I like about the Super D style of racing.  Where I am in Santa Barbara the trails are rocky hiking trails and there are few berms and no sections designed help you maintain or build speed.  So if you want to go fast you end up banging down the trail. There is an amazing balance between really going hard and getting cross eyed to build speed on the bike and then you can’t handle the bike physically pinned, you can’t go into zone 5 and think you are going to make it through some technical rock garden…

BW: Totally, that’s the cool thing about it.  Some stages you can’t pre ride and you come into it blind and you have to figure the quickest and safest way down the course as you are riding.  There are a lot challenges specific to Enduro racing that make it interesting and keep it fun.  Sometimes you ride something the first time whereas you might not on the second to tenth times because you remember “oh shit, this gnarly rock garden is there and I’m scared of it,” but if you don’t know the trail, you just do it and you push yourself and in the end you up your level.

EL: You said a bit before about the image of Enduro and that style of riding- that it has to be so hard and so gnarly.  I think that scares some people who are interested in it, but you proved the point in the downhill stage, that in the end of the day, you can either ride your bike or you can’t.

BW: Right yeah, it’s just racing.

EL: When you’re a bike racer you can race.  You have a lifetime of Cross Country riding, you go up, you go down- that’s mountain biking.  It’s not because you don’t race downhill that you can’t go down hill.  I think it is important to make the point that you don’t have to be a downhill racer to get a lot out of Super D and Enduro.

Barry is still keyed into the epic and adventuresome spirit of mountain biking.

BW: That’s the appeal of it right now, that you don’t have “the look” or be a certain thing to go do it, or ride a certain bike. I hope it can stay like that.  I hope everyone can just go do it.  I can show up and wear my spandex and be right next to the guy in his flannel shirt and it’s still cool. I hope it doesn’t become an image thing.

EL: You run that risk when the industry gets onto something and the promotion kicks in.  People are so brand conscious.  These days, you have to look at the imagery of something and in a split second decide of it’s for you.  That’s how they present everything.  I hope it can stay slow and easy. I started in juniors in Cross Country and I liked the vibe of it, and I am interested again because the events have come back to that.

BW: It goes in cycles.  I am sure on day Enduro will get so serious that people will be like no, that’s not the spirit of the event, that’s not what it’s supposed to be about.  It should be about having fun on your bike.  So, you know, I am trying to keep that in mind and I hope that other people are too.  At Kona, we always have that in the back of our mind, we want to be serious and we want to do good, and we want to be professional about it, but at the same time it’s all just for fun right?

EL: Well yeah, it’s fun to challenge yourself and its fun to do your best, and it’s fun to have an adventure, and when you think about how great the good result is going to feel it’s fun to take things seriously, but beyond that…

BW: Yeah, don’t take it so seriously that if you don’t get the result… you just still gotta have fun.  Even if you’re fucked, you could be on your worst day ever and you’re still out in the woods riding your bike with your friends and you can’t get too upset about it.

Wicks is a guy that trains to win, but keeps it fun.

EL: One thing in the lead up to the Highland race, they had the idea that they didn’t want to have any climbing, or that they didn’t want to have some Cross Country rider win the whole thing, so they made a bonus climbing stage that was optional for like $500 or something.  It was after a downhill stage, and you kept going and did the climb too.  So you pinned the stage then kept going and won the climb too.  That was so funny to me because the pro bike riders and the advanced guys are guys that love to ride the bike.  It’s not because you can get down the hill fast doesn’t mean that you can’t go up the hill.  Again, there is this perception that Enduro is a gravity race and those guys can’t pedal a bike, or don’t want to pedal a bike.

BW: Right, I think there are definitely growing pains and figuring out what it means to have an Enduro race.  It’s based on the European format, but we have to make it our own in North America.  Highland was an early event there hadn’t been a lot before that so they were trying to figure out the best thing.  How do we keep it appealing and how to we keep it interesting to everyone?  That’s what it’s about, being all inclusive and having something for everybody and I think they did a good job with that.

EL: The events that get me most interested are the events that have some stages with different flavors, have some way to have an endurance component built in to it but the real event is all about riding your bike fast- like a race car rally.  Just the sheer amount of the special stages you do, or the length of the liaisons can be where the endurance comes from. You know, its one thing to pin it down a ten minute descent with fresh legs, but it’s not the same thing to do it when you have been on the bike for an hour.

BW: That’s the cool thing about it – it is an all day event right. That weeds out some of the people that would just ride the DH bike.  You still have to pedal that bike a long ways between stages.  I am going to the Enduro in Demo Forest, and the first transfer is HUGE!  It’s a 13 mile climb.  I have done that climb.  It’s a big bike ride just to get up the climb, there are only 3 downhill stages and they are only like a couple minutes each but there is gonna be  a lot of bike riding and it’s gonna be hard.

EL: So as the team manager, how do you see the sport progressing?  How will you make decisions for the Enduro scene?  How will you pick the races and what do you want to get out f it for Kona and your team?

BW: We just want to go to the events people are excited about and create buzz.  Events like Downieville have this aura about it.  Everyone wants to go do Downievlle. “Oh that’s the sickest race ever,” and the guys that come out if it, like Ross Schnell and Carl Decker, and win it, those guys make a name for themselves out of one event.  Especially Ross, he used to race Cross Country all the time and was a pretty good Cross Country rider and then he won Downieville and people were all of a sudden like “Ross Schnell is the shit!  He won Downieville!”  It blows you up.  Events that have that aura about them and create riders essentially, that’s totally rad and that’s the stuff that I hope gets bigger and bigger and we want people to put on events like that.  That’s what we focus on; the stuff that people think is cool.  We want to be a part of that.

EL: On a personal level do you see yourself focusing in on Enduro and Super D racing this year or will you do more of what you usually do?

BW: I am dong everything man, I think that’s the beauty of being a biker racer. Why limit yourself to one specific discipline?  I think it’s possible to be successful in lots of different events so I think everybody should do lots of different stuff.  I think everyone should go do a downhill race, everybody should go do a 100 mile mountain bike race, everyone should do an Enduro, do a ‘cross race.  Expose yourself to different ideas and try cool shit.  I don’t understand why people say, “oh, I only do DH or I only do Cross Country.”  Why?  Go do some other stuff, you’re not gonna regret it and you’re gonna have fun.

EL: You strike me as a guy who is just generally stoked on bikes.  I was trippin’ out on pictures of your from the Single Speed ‘Cross World Championships. There was some picture of you and Sheila M0on and some other people in some nutty outfits.  You were riding half naked and won.

Any World Champion who I have ever respected has worn a golden speedo, no shirt, and kicked a lot of ass.

BW: That’s what bike racing is about.  I keep that in mind at all times.

EL: How about a Speedo Enduro? A Kona Speedo Enduro, Speedo Super D?

BW: We could probably pull that off.   They used to have in ‘cross where you got double points if you wore a Speedo. It’s like a bonus.

EL: I remember in the early days of mountain biking, night time naked races.  Like night time naked short track.  When I was a junior we used to want to go to a race that had that so bad but we never made it.  That whole vibe is coming back though.

EL: So, in the future, there is some noise about the UCI developing Enduro as a mountain bike discipline in 2013 at the world level.  As Barry Wicks and as the Kona team manager, how do you see that?  Do you care at all?

BW: I think there’s good and bad about the UCI getting interested in Enduro racing. I think they do some things well- promoting the sport making athletes stars and things like that, then there are some things they don’t do a good job with. Using Cross Countryas an example when it became an Olympic sport, rather than keeping mountain biking what it is and adapting to that they changed it into what they could sell to somebody. In my mind it pretty much destroyed traditional Cross Country racing. So you have 1 hour 15 minutes races and that’s not Cross Country that’s Cyclocross on TV with moutainbikes… they didn’t adapt TV to the mountain bike they changed the entire sport to fit their format… to me, that’s too bad, Cross Country was rad!! It was about going out into the woods and seeing who comes back in one piece you know. There’s stuff that’s worrisome to me that they are taking an interest, and I hope they don’t totally fuck it up… Enduro racing is pretty cool and it can stay that way, but it could also be ruined.

EL: I think what’s great about the European Enduros and the US Enduros, related like we said before back to the old days of Cross Country, there is a strong adventure element to the racing.  I really loved Cross Country, you’re exactly right, because it truly was an adventure. the bikes didn’t have suspension, and I grew up in Virginia, so we would do the races at Massanutten, and its rocky out there and Canaan WV- ride that on a rigid bike and tell me that’s not insane… it wasn’t about who was going fast and who was racing, it was more like if your bike didn’t break, and you didn’t fall off, and you could survive the arm pump for 2 hours, you probably could make the podium…

BW: Yeah, totally.

EL: And it was awesome. I feel like in Super D and Enduro that same adventure element is there, it would be great to develop it, but you’re right you gotta develop that adventure element and not make it into something that the UCI can sell into china or whatever they’re on about… so guess for you guys, you don’t really care about that…

BW: Yeah, I mean, whatever, if the UCI gets involved I just hope they don’t mess it up… I don’t care it’s not like “Oh, I think they gotta do it, or they can’t do it.” I don’t care, but if they do get involved I just hope they don’t fuck it up…

EL: Would it mean anything for the grass roots level if there is an Enduro world champion?

BW: I don’t know, it’s always good because it makes more media more interest,  more press and everything else. If there is a legitimate world champion maybe people will get more excited about it.

In the general grassroots level in the local series, like the Oregon Enduro Series they do such a good job of promotion and getting people stoked about it, that’s what it’s about… take an event like the Cross Crusade in Portland, that’s not sanctioned by the UCI, that’s not run by USA Cycling, that’s just Brad Ross and the homies doing an awesome series that’s about the people and for the people you know.  So the UCI is asking how are you so successful?  Well they just care about the riders, they don’t care about the bottom line, and it’s not about making money it’s about the event and giving people a good time.  You know, that’s the recipe for success and I think that the Enduro racing recognizes that.  They’re essentially creating events that are rider driven, and that’s what it takes.

EL: I can say from my time in pro road racing that the UCI does not give a shit about the riders.

BW: No, they don’t.  With these guys it always comes down to the bottom dollar and I believe that that’s not the way to do it you know.  You make sure that they guy that spends his money and goes out there and like… he spends the money, he buys a bike, he goes out there and does all this stuff and he races, he should have the fucking best time. You know.

EL: Value for the money in racing is super important, it’s a lot of the reason that I don’t go do more events, and my friends don’t go do more events.  People don’t mind to pay a big entry fee as long as they get a great value for it.  They want to have a fun time. My wife went to see Katy Perry and it was an expensive show, but she had an awesome time, and said it was one of the best things she’s seen in 20 years and she’s seen a lot of great shows. So if you think about it like that, then Enduro is providing the bang for the buck that people want.

BW: Exactly.

EL: So, is there anything else you wanna say, anything you’ve been dying to talk about?

BW: Naw man I’m cool, I’m excited, I mean, just keep people stoked.  Racing in general is rad and Enduro racing is a super fun way to go have an awesome time on your mountain bike.  So, I am just stoked that you are putting this website together and I hope people are stalked on it and I hope people use it and get out and have fun on their bikes right?

Barry Wicks, Racer of All Bikes, National and World Champion, is sponsored by Kona, and these guys too:

JOHN HAMBLEN- is widely know in the road and cyclocross scene as one of the most talented riders of his generation.  Jon decided early on in his pro career on the road (the infamous early 2000′s) that winning races and being a skinny bike geek was overrated, so he went about carving himself a niche that was all about style and attitude on the bike and quality of life and adventures with good friends rather than race wins.  Although he is pretty slow these days because of the time spent being a dad to two boys,  he still makes his living as a pro bike racer on the UCI Continental registered team Team MK / Smart Stop.

He was renowned as an incredible bike driver and eventually found his way into pro mountain biking (for a moment) and cyclocross.  Jon has a thing for speed- moto (he’s had a few fast bikes), auto (he’s had a few fast cars and toyed in rally driving), and fast video games (he plays a lot of PS3).  So, sounds like he is cut out for Super D and Enduro right?… well, i think Jon Hamblen, should he try, could surprise a lot of people, but he would have to actually practice, and then show up at a race.

I talked to Jon about it.

Enduro Love: You dont do any enduro but you would be the best at in the whole world.  You play a lot of PS3 rally games and you are a good BIKE DRIVER.   Your stint in XC didn’t work out, so why not SUPER D and ENDURO?

Jon Hamblen: I only did XC because Cannondale gave me a bike… if somebody gave me a bike i would be all over it!

EL: Sounds easy, so why won’t anybody give you a bike?

JH: nobody knows who the hell I am… nobody is gonna give me a bike… I just lucked into the other stuff through friends.  With XC, I didn’t fulfil my end of the deal, I was supposed to do 10 races and I only did 5 or 6… so that was it.

EL: You won 5 or 6 too…

Falling off of your bike is a part of going fast. Accept it and move on.

JH: Well, 3 or 4 maybe… I had a learning curve,  it was the same as ‘cross.  I used to be a really bad bike driver in cyclocross when I first started, I was really strong, but I was always running off into the tape and sliding out and I would eat shit.  Now,  I am totally weak but I am a really good bike driver, so that’s the only thing that saves me… I am banking on that now, cuz you know, training is overrated…

EL: Sounds perfect for Super D.  You’re like a  gravity racer and you don’t even know it.  You’ve got enough fitness and after that its all bike driving.

JH: Well, you find me a bike…

EL: We need to find you some races… I am thinking I am gonna do a team based on 5 or 6 guys just having fun falling off their bikes.

JH: You need to get Alex Ryan- that kid can ride a bike…

EL: I know, he is pretty fast in the Super D. He did some good results a while back in the Triple Crown Super D at Massanutten.

Alex Ryan- that kid can ride a bike (here racing CX with the old Land Rover Cannondale MTB team)

EL: So, are you following the racing these days?

JH: I dont follow any racing anymore since I was a real pro 10 years ago.  I follow my own team (Team Mountain Khakis / Smart Stop), but other than that it just looks like  a bunch of skinny guys out exercising to me.

EL: They don’t rip on the road, well they do, but it’s just different.  You are a ripper.  I am waiting for the big crowd of ‘cross riders to take Enduro Racing seriously and make it more competitive.  There is this perception that certain types of riders can’t get down the hill, but look at who is getting good results in all these big Super D’s…

JH: Yeah.. look at Tomac.. That guy does everything well.

EL: When you talk about going really fast and really hard you can either ride your bike, or you can’t… that’s the bottom line, no matter what bike you are on.  That is what I love the most about the spirit of Enduro and Super D events.

"I couldn't find the right balance, pushing the right amount or pushing too hard." Eventually he got the hang of it and won a few UCI ranked Cyclocross races.

JH: Like Carl Decker.

EL: Yeah him and Craig… you’re as good as those guys…

JH: nah…

EL: a little practice…

JH: I would give it a whirl…

EL: Still got the moto?

JH: Nah.. 2 kids.  All I did was crash that thing anyway.  I couldn’t  find the right balance, pushing the right amount or pushing too hard.  On a bike there isn’t that much travel and you can really feel everything the bike is doing, on the moto it just felt numb so you’re hauling ass in some turn and the next thing you know you’re on your ass… dammit!

EL: its kind of like when you start training for Enduro.  I highly recommend a full face and a neck brace and some knee pads… and you’ll end up pushing up a lot of hills to ride the same 200 meter section 10 times ’till you get it right.. sound good?

JH: I will have to move back to Santa Barbara for that… I would do like Darren Stockton used to do, ride my road bike up Gibraltar and ride the DH bike down Tunnel… that would be fun..

EL: What did he do?

JH: He parked his truck at the top, rode down, rode home, switched bikes and rode back up to get his truck on his road bike…

EL: That’s a good way to get the cardio in.  I am inspired.  Actually that is a good example of a guy who can pilot a bike fast no matter what.  He was a top road racer then just switched straight into DH and got third in the Kamikaze in his second year.  So when I show up to your house with a bike and gear..

JH: and some money…

This photo of Mr. Milne exemplifies the spirit of pro road racing... GET OUT NOW!

EL: Ok, I will see what I can do.. but seriously,  how many more crits do you need to go to?.. what more challenge is there?  how many more of those do you really need to do?

JH: I love ‘em though…

EL: Yeah, they’re pretty good for the speed and handling… but on a wide open course you can’t power the bike enough to get into trouble.  You hit terminal velocity and you can’t go faster and you don’t even have to brake in the turns.  Super D is like a good mix where you can’t pin it so hard you can’t see because you still have to drive the bike.  You have to find that balance between making a lot of power, getting near red-line,  and then backing off some to pilot the bike.  The best guys can go hard into the red and still drive the bike…

JH: Its like rally driving on the bike?

EL: Yeah…

JH: Thats why Decker is so good at it…

EL: He probably started on playstation just like you…

JH: Well, count me in…

EL: It would be cool to have guys cross over and do my race… I want to have our race be UCI sanctioned when they figure out their sanction for 2013.  It could be like ‘cross, they decided to have UCI points in local events.  Then some guys got points and could race in europe easier.  Now there are a lot of Americans who are competitive at the world level, pretty much because guys at the grass-roots level decided to get serious and the industry and the federation supported it.  I think a similar thing can happen with Enduro.

JH: Points work.  It’s good to know where you are in the world, to look and ask how good am I? Well Travis showed up and we are running little trucks.

EL: RC?

JH: Yeah,  on my track in my back yard…

EL: ?!… You can do RC and bikes on the same track, so you’re set.. its your training track!

JH: I need more dirt, if Jason Williams would ever show up- unreliable…

EL: Well, get your track straight… you can make your pump track, get your bike skills, work on your hand-eye with the RC trucks…

JH: Yeah, I’ll give it a whirl…

EL: Talk to your boys at Cannondale.  I know you know the higher-ups.  They do an Enduro at Highland Bike Park.  Barry Wicks won it last year… you can totally beat that guy.

JH: Yeah.. he’s so big he’d be easy to beat.  Enormous…

Enduro (June 23and 24 at the Dirt CLub in Los Olivos, CA) registration
is open. This Week’s Prize is a $100 NEMA Gift Card good for any clothing and gear in their webstore.

Reg now, the drawing is on April 6th to win.

www.vp-usa.com/enduro

Every week until the week of the race, we will give away an awesome
prize to one of our lucky pre-registered riders. Congratulations to
PHIL BERTRAND who won last week’s prize, ADIDAS ID2 PRO GOGGLES

VP COMPONENTS: Dirt Club Enduro [June 23/24 2012] – More Mountain Bike Videos

The VP Components Dirt Club Enduro will be an awesome and exciting test of speed, skill and endurance for mountain bike enthusiasts of all levels. This two day event promises to be an exhilarating and rewarding adventure for all. The VP Components Dirt Club Enduro format will be based loosely on WRC Auto Rally and European MTB Enduros.

Our event will feature predominantly downhill timed special stages linked together by non-timed liaison stages. Each rider will complete the courses on the same bike without shuttles or lifts, riding along through check-points to the start of each timed special stage. This is an event that is all about having fun and riding your bike fast. The top athlete in each category will be the fastest and most skillful bike handler for sure.

There will be a mix of pure Downhill type tracks, Super D tracks, and XC descents. And because the riders will have to ride the liaison to the start of each timed stage, there will also be a strong fitness element to this race. There will be cash payout in the Open/Expert Men and Women categories and high value prizes at least 10 deep in every category.

The DIRT CLUB near Los Olivos, CA is a private location for mountain biking enthusiasts to enjoy their sport in a safe location completely removed from other trail users, this is a 100% conflict free riding area. With downhill trails, super d trails, a dual slalom course, a 12 mile cross country course, an ever expanding pump track, a new DJ line, and miles of dirt double track ranching roads, countless opportunities are provided for riders of all abilities to explore and have fun.This venue has hosted various MTB races the past 12 years, including the Santa Ynez Valley Classic leg of the US TRIPLE CROWN SERIES.

The Stages:

SESSION 1 features two laps of a 10 mile loop with 4 special stages per lap for a total of 20 miles and 8 timed special stages. The special stages will all be short in duration, ranging from high-speed less technical trails, to short downhill and super d tracks with berms, jumps, and drops. We expect this to be a 2-2.5 hour day.

SESSION 2 (Night racing) will require each competitor to have a light and will cover a 6 mile loop with 2 timed special stages. The special stages will be held on tight and fast descending cross-country single track that we expect to run around 3 minutes in duration each.

SESSION 3 will be the big day that likely decides the winners over a 10 mile course with two timed special stages. This will be essentially a two run Super D on the Dirt Club’s new Super D Flow Trail. The Super D Flow Trail features two short climbs, berms, pump features, jumps, drops, and even a big sender for 15-20 minutes per run.

*All courses can be ridden by riders of all ability levels and there are slower beginner options for challenging features.

For additional information on the event, see the event website; vp-usa.com/enduro

The VP Components DIRT CLUB Enduro is supported by: VP Components, The DIRT CLUB, Body Armor, KHS Bicycles, TRP Brakes, X Fusion, THE Industries, Lights-N-Motion, Kenda, Cane Creek, Mountain Khakis, DECLINE, Nema, KORE, Gamut USA, WTB, Adidas Eyewear, Clean Bottle, Osprey Packs, SR Suntour, Time, MRP, SB Chicken Ranch.

The VP Components DIRT CLUB Enduro will be documented by: ProjektRoam.com