May, 2008

Benno pondering the race to come on the long walk to the tech / feed zone (courtesy Gary Perkin) 

We were a greatly reduced team here in Andorra with Lene Byberg opting not to race, given a heavy race schedule to come, while Liam Killeen was stuck down with the flu in the latter stages of this week, thus forcing his withdrawal. With Kyle Strait in downhill action tomorrow, the only person left to fly the flag on today’s start line was Christoph Sauser, who certainly did not fail to impress.

The early stages and Susi is shaking things up (courtesy Gary Perkin)

The Epic was the perfect bike (courtesy Gary Perkin) 

The team are slowly but surely making their way to Andorra for this weekend's World Cup. Lene will not be present, but Christoph and Liam will be on the start line in the men's cross country, while Kyle Strait will be in action in both the men's downhill and 4 cross.

Trond in London

London, May 24th:  (report by Rasoulution)

The 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge is in the books with plenty of surprises at the grand final to shake up the overall standings.  The local boys stole the show in London, firing up the 50,000 spectators right in front of Tate Modern, one of the nation’s most popular art galleries. Colchester’s Sam Pilgrim took the win for the biggest result of his career, and Manchester’s Lance McDermott’s consistency scored him the overall title and the sport’s largest cash purse!

Dirt, Sweat and Gears Race Report by Rebecca

May, 8 2008

Conrad starts his season is style  (courtesy Rich Cruise)

By Conrad:

The people who keep count says it’s my 6th XTERRA West win in 7 years (the other year I was injured)

The European Championships took place in St Wendel, Germany with Lene, Liam and Christoph each riding and representing their respective countries of Norway, Great Britain and Switzerland.

Women’s Race:

Kyle Strait placed 24th and more impressively was 1st American in the opening Downhill World Cup of 2008 in Maribor, Slovenia. There were no surprises at the front with Sam Hill taking the crown.

Brian Lopes with Kyle in 4X Practice. Unfortunately, Kyle had a crash in practice, thus eliminating him from the main event. (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Kyle in downhill action (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Kyle on the smoother faster section near the finish (courtesy Gary Perkin)

The Specialized Truck in Maribor (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Results for Men's DH:

Qashqai Milan; May 11th, 2008: (report courtesy Rasoulution)

Martin Soederstrom wins a captivating final in Munich’s Olympiapark as the biggest crowd of the year was treated to a nail-biting final on the biggest Qashqai course of the year! 

Trond on a 360 (courtesy Carroux)

It was an amazing event across the board, and the final round at London’s famous Tate Modern Gallery is sure to provide a culminating final to the 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge.

After qualifying fastest yesterday for the brand new SRAM Dual Stunt event here at Sea Otter, Kyle Strait went on to dominate the event and take it all the way for the win.

The course featured various obstacles such as leg sapping stall walls, wall rides, boxes, steps and narrow north shore wooden ramps, and riders went head to head in a dual slalom format on a red then black course.

With racing starting at a round of 16, it meant riders had to recover from sprinting over the various obstacles like the 8 foot high stall walls, then backing it up to go at it again. Much like the speed trials seen at the TEVA Games in Vail, Colorado, it's all about being smooth and strong.

Our third dry race in a row is an impressive run of good luck given the time of year and the possibility of rain in Belgium and Germany especially. Here in Madrid though, we had temperatures in the mid 20’s, which provided very fast surfaces and plenty of dust! The venue itself is one that I really like. It’s located in the heart of Madrid, in a city park and given the close proximity of the city attracts a lot of spectators, which gives the event a really cool vibe and feel.

Men's start (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Women's Race: Consistency shines through for Lene

We the team were fortunute last night to be in the same city as one of the Qashqai events. This was my first Qashqai Event and I have to say I was instantly impressed, not only with the riders and what they can do (crazy stuff), but also with Tarek, Anne and the entire organisation. It surely was an impresseive setup.

It was also great to see Kyle in action and hang out with him. This will be Kyle's only Qashqai event of 2008. Next week his focus changes with the Maribor World Cup in Slovenia. 

Madrid - May 3rd, 2008: (Report courtesy Rasoulution)

 Andreu Lacondeguy wins Madrid!  It was an amazing day at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid.  Nissan’s course design team built the best Qashqai course yet and the riding was absolutely through the roof!

Milan, Italy - April 26, 2008:  (Report courtesy Rasoulution)

Trond Hansen, from Specialized wins first stop of the 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge! Mischa Breitenstein, Sam Pilgrim, Kurt Sorge, Damjan Siriski, and Trond Hansen qualify for the Challenge events in Munich and London.

Trond pulling off a front flip in Milan

The crowd in Parco Sempione was treated to an amazing final under sunny skies in downtown Milan today. The qualifier was extremely tight, and many new faces were making their presence known. Young American Tyler McCaul put together impressive runs, but was just shy of making the cut into the finals.  He will be one of the many riders making the trip down to the infamous Estadio Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain next week for another shot at qualifying for the final Nissan Qashqai Challenge Events.

We have arrived in sunny Madrid for Crosscountry World Cup # 3 here in Caso Del Campo. The weather is splendid and life with the team is good.

Ryan left Offenburg on Monday morning, while Benno and I (Bobby) were delayed by a day because the black bullet had to go for some surgery. A new steering pump and by 6pm Monday evening, we were on the road. Ryan coupled with the Teams Bulls, who travelled in convoy overnighted in Montpellier, while Benno and I went full gas (Lene's expression!!) for Barcelona! We arrived at 3am - not bad, found a nice hotel, which gave us a day to spend in the beautiful city. We only thought of it on the drive into Barcelona, but with a S Works Epic and S Works Tarmac SL sitting in the van, what cooler way to see Barcelona, but by bike. I will certainly be doing this again. Barcelona is awesome, the Olympic Stadium very impressive and the night life .... well lively is an understatement!

SPRING ESCAPE
April 25, 2008 by Rebecca

Reba on tire testing in South Africa (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Susi in Houffalize two weeks ago (courtesy Charles Delvaux)

You have been recently in South Africa for a tire testing session: do you like the new tire models? What about the new Sauserwind? We had the chance to test a new compound on fast track and sauserwind. this rubber is ultra fast, feels so smooth over bumps, better rolling and is lighter compare to all the old compounds we have raced.
the sauserwind i a awesome all around tire. it performes in any conditions! i race it when a course is demanding and just starting to dry up. i also ride it on my stumjumper and enduro bike.

If any of you would like to know what a sample of the diet of a Caveman coupled with being the current world XTerra champion is, well then please read on!!

The Caveman on a pint of the black stuff!

Caveman's New Potatoes with garlic and honey

Ingredients:
Dig up a few handfuls of New Potatoes from the vegetable patch.  (about one double handful per hungry cave-person)