Iron Horse News

Ok - I'm a little slow, looks like this isn't new news.. but it's good race team news!

Check out the story at Pink Bike -

DHRacers LLC. get new rides for 2006

Date: Wed Feb 8, 2006
Source: Doug Heiser

Irvine, CA. –February 6th 2006. DHRacers LLC. with the ongoing support of Honda North America, are proud to welcome new sponsor Iron Horse Bicycles and top USA pro downhiller Duncan Riffle to their program.

DHRacers LLC. are delighted to begin a relationship with a company who is as passionate and dedicated to racing as we are. Iron Horse are regulars on the podium internationally and we will ensure that this trend continues in North America with the signing of Duncan Riffle who will be competing in both the World Cup and Norba circuits as well as all the other major North American races.

Todd Seplavy, Iron Horse Bicycles brand manager says, "Iron Horse is stoked to have Duncan onboard the dw-link Sunday downhill race bike for the 06 race season. Duncan represents the future of American downhill racers and he is among the most committed athletes I have met. We look forward to great things working with Duncan and the rest of the Honda/Iron Horse Team for 2006." Duncan, the 2004 US National Champion, 2 time Worlds team Member and most recently 2005 Norba Final winner says, “I am extremely excited to be involved with such a great program. I have wanted to get involved with Iron Horse and new Sunday bikes for some time now. They are a great company with a great product that has been proven over and over again by international riders. They wanted a strong American Gravity racer and am happy and honored to be on the forefront of the world wide Iron Horse American Revolution."

Mountain Bike Festivals!

I love the resurgence of mountain bike events that have appeared lately. Crankworx, Fruita, Pedro's - the list goes on! It's the future and it's good, festivals that are good for the family is the way these things should be structured! NORBA has certainly put their faith in the wrong people when it comes to running their events. There are people out there doing it the right way, and we'd like to see NORBA get on the bandwagon. Nationals should be a weekend long festivity! Slopestyle and rider built courses should be embraced - non cycling activities should be welcomed and breweries should attend!

Ok - I am off the soap box. Check out the Fruita Mountain Bike Festival at http://www.fruitamountainbike.com/
Crankworx is at
http://www.crankworx.com/

If you are planning on going - drop me a line at phil@rscycle.com - I'll buy you a beer!

Hinapie's Problems

George can't catch a break... check out the latest....

Trek to examine Hincapie's fork

George Hincapie (Discovery)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Discovery team bike sponsor Trek is having the fork from George Hincapie's bike returned to its US headquarters for a "thorough evaluation."

Hincapie sustained a broken bone in his shoulder when the steerer tube of his bike broke 45km from the finish, causing him to crash. Trek and Discovery say they suspect the crash was caused by damage sustained in an earlier incident. "George was in a crash earlier in the day, but due to race conditions and his comments that everything seemed fine, we did not change to his back up bike," said Discovery's directeur sportif, Johan Bruyneel, in a statement.

Shortly before the second crash, Hincapie told team directors that he felt looseness in his steering and thought his headset may have come loose as a result of the earlier crash. The team was figuring out when and how to swap to his spare bike when Hincapie entered another cobbled section and crashed.

"I believe that the first crash set the stage for the big crash", said Bruyneel. "Section after section the vibrations just kept coming until the damaged steerer gave loose."

"The cobbles do not discriminate," said Julien De Vriese, the team's head mechanic.

Sea Otter Preview

Date: Fri Mar 31, 2006
Source: Crown Athlete Management Group
Monster Energy-Backed Iron Horse/Mad Catz Racing Ready To Rock @ Sea Otter Classic In Monterey, Calif. Sam Hill – one of the favorites to win this year’s UCI World Cup Downhill Championship – leads the Monster assault on popular NoCal event.


Fans of Monster Energy’s mountain bike program – the Monster Energy/Iron Horse/Mad Catz Racing Team – will get an opportunity to see the three-member team in action here in the United States next weekend before a couple of them head off to Vigo, Spain, for the start of the UCI World Cup season.

Beginning on Thursday, April 6th at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif., and running through Sunday the 9th, Monster’s Sam Hill, Justin Havukainen and Sabrina Jonnier will compete in the annual Sea Otter Classic’s Elite Gravity Omnium events. The three pro events consist of a Dual Slalom, the Downhill and a Mountain Cross race. The Omnium scoring awards one point for the win, two points for second, three points for third, etc. The racer with the lowest point total at the end of the event is crowned the Pro Gravity Omnium champion.

“The Sea Otter is an event that the Monster Energy/Iron Horse/Mad Catz Racing Team uses to launch the new competition season,” said Team Manager Sean Heimdal. “While we expect to put up great results here, our focus is the Nationals and World Cup events. The ‘Otter’ gives us a good chance to showcase our team for the media and fans for the first time here in the States.”

Australians Hill and Havukainen, along with France’s Jonnier all arrived here in the United States this week and are in the process of getting the bikes set up for next week’s event. After the Sea Otter Classic they’ll compete in the opening round of the NCS Nationals in Fontana (Calif.), then it’s off to Vigo, Spain, for Hill and Jonnier for the opening round of the UCI World Cup Championship Series.

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it mt. bike, motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” Sam Hill digs it – so will you. On the ‘Net at
www.monsterenergy.com.

Boulder MTB Ride

Got to love the spring time rides... nothing like the pain of early season to help you to realize that all those beers might not have been the best way to consume calories over the winter. Every year I think that same thing, and every year I ignore myown advice - got to love it!
A group of us at RSCC have been hitting all the Boulder County trails that we can find (it's all new to us) and have been loving every trail we have ridden so far. Our latest ride was at Heil Ranch, and has unanomously voted the best ride so far. If you head out to Boulder and are looking for a good technical ride (non of us made it up the 3 mile climb without dabbing feet) check this one out!
Also - we've all been playing with many of the various trail rescources out there, and have found that we like www.singltracks.com the best. Check it out! it's free and has a feature to save trails that you have ridden AND trails that you want to ride!

Rubber side down,

Phil