In early 2009, the City of Colorado Springs granted Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, Inc. the approval to build a new trail at the far west end of Bear Creek Park. This new trail will provide users with a great way to connect a number of other trail systems in the area with little or no use of surface roads. It also eliminates the need for users to be on one of the narrowest parts of Gold Camp Road while transitioning between trails. Plus, the new trail has incredible views and some very interesting sandstone rock features.

Yesterday the SRAM Development center here in Colorado Springs rallied and 11 of us rolled out in to the bush for a five hour session. Its always amazing seeing what progress can be made in such a short time.

Sol Vista Test

We spent the last two days at Sol Vista Bike Park testing some equipment and a couple of frames with Shuan Palmer.

Thanks to Matt, Steve, Moga, Anthony and everyone else at Sol Vista for all of there help.

Subaru Cup - The Midwest's Finest

Pro Class Call-up

Pro Women lead group
Mild sweeper near the end of the descent
XX product manager walking the walk

This past Saturday we headed up to Nordic Mountain in Central Wisconsin for the Subaru Cup XC race. All the local heroes were out on this muggy 85+ degree day. The 5 mile lap included exposed lift line climbs, singletrack descents, rock gardens, & flat, grassy speed sections. Tristan Schouten took the win in the Pro field, followed closely by Jesse Lalonde & TJ Woodruff. The field stayed tight through most of the race. Schouten was able to gap Lalonde on the last of 5 laps to stay in front for the win. A sizable crowd turned out to keep the racers rolling.

The lifts were running throughout the day for the DH riders. The DH race took place on Sunday on about a 60 second track. We didn't see any 2010 Boxxers but after talking to a handful of people in the parking lot there was definitely a positive buzz.

XX product manager Chris Hilton showed up to race, ride, and test out the new lightweight group. He was able to keep it in the 42t big ring for most of the race while using the full range of gears on the 11-36 XX 10 speed cassette. All shifting, braking, & suspension held up and peformed well under the discerning vet.

All in all a great event and racing atmosphere. We plan to come back next year.

PMAC

Rad Ross Schnell - "the update"

Well, it's been almost 4 weeks since I fractured my hip racing in France. The recovery has gone well so far considering I haven't had to check myself into the looney bin... It's hard going from the top of your game to soft and out of shape right smack in the middle of the season.
The good news is that I'm back on my bike to some capacity. I've been going out soft-pedaling around the neighborhood and on the local bike path. It's definitely too early to MTN bike and risk another fall, but riding on the road seems reasonable. I'm hoping to eek out 6hrs of "training" this week and then double that the next. All-in-all I'm in really good spirits. After all, if I'd been healthy and traveling all summer maybe I'd be burnt and ready for a break anyway? Not to mention the fact that my girlfriend is loving that I don't have to leave every weekend!
So where does this injury leave me for the rest of the summer? Who knows, only time will tell what the Downieville fitness will look like in 3 wks... It's going to be rough getting up the initial 3,000ft vertical climb during the XC on day 1. I imagine by August I'll be back to normal, charging descents and feeling comfortable on the bike again. I'm a firm believer in the fact that things happen for a reason. And at the end of the day, I'm sure I'll come out of this minor setback a much stronger person. Thanks for all your support!

Ross

Avid Hydraulic Brake Set-Up Guide

Avid Brakes has just released an in-depth hydraulic brake set-up guide. Just because we want you to get it dialed and have a great time riding. You can download the PDF when you click on the set-up guide banners on: SRAM.com or AvidBike.com. Enjoy!

Western US Finals

On Saturday June 13th Colorado Springs hosted the Western US finals of the Kenda Cup Pro XC Tour at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park. XC racing ranged from pro to beginner…it was a full day of racing! A small group of COS Srammies attended the event to support racers, as well as to talk SRAM product and World Bicycle Relief.

The storms luckily held out for the entire day and we had a steady flow of event goers at the SRAM tent. The event was a great success overall. Of particular interest was the new XX group. The first question commonly heard was, ‘Do you have XX here!?’. In addition to a few SRAM athletes racing on XX, on display for folks to check out was a SID XX with XLoc and the XX brake system. Needless to say, feedback was positive!


For complete race results click the link below:
http://www.sandcreeksports.com/

Thanks to all who helped and participated to make this a successful event.

2009 Ashland Super D is in the books

2009 Ashland Super D is complete and it was a helluva good time. Some super fast times were set by riders in all categories and Willow Koerber scorched the women's field to take the win. 

Check out a few images from race day.

A big thanks to Tita for making the 2009 edition a huge success. We're already looking forward to see what next year brings.

Keep your eyes peeled for a 7' orange Avid balloon signaling the next edition of the Avid Chainless Challenge, too. It could be sooner and closer than you think.....

More Avid Chainless Challenge photos.

Still waiting for official results of Chainless Challenge in Ashland and Super D is still underway. In the meantime you can check out an additional set of photos from the Avid Chainless event from Saturday.
View images.

Avid Chainless Challenge

Avid Chainless Challenge #1 is in the history books. Awesome grassroots event that left a lot of smiles on faces. SRAM athletes and staffers killed it by laying down some fast times.

Check out a few pics from the day....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirttales/3622810937/in/set-72157619616585073

Tomorrow's the big day for the Super D. JD just shuttled a group of SRAMmie athletes and staffers to the top of Mt. Ashland to get one last practice run in.

Ashland Super D pre-ride

Rode the Super D course yesterday with Pettit. Pretty much the flowiest, raddest singletrack ever. If you ever have the chance to ride southern Oregon....do it. Tomorrow's race should be one for the books. Rumor has it that Myles Rockwell and Willow Koerber are riding so fast that they are scorching the earth beneath their tires on practice runs. New course record tomorrow?

Rise and Shine....

5:30am wake up call this morning. Up and out the door early to prepare for today's Avid Chainless Challenge. The SRAM crew previewed the course yesterday (including Pettit and Evan running down it in the pouring rain) and everyone came away happy. Stoked to see how today unfolds. 

PinkBike in the house.

Our buddy Tyler from PinkBike is kickin the weekend with the SRAM camp.
Check out some of his coverage. PinkBike, Chainless Challenge , Super D

Ashland arrival - Day 1

Check out some photos from yesterday's action in Ashland....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirttales/3619789450/

Stay tuned,

Benny

AVID Chainless Challenge #1

Gang, We are heading to the Ashland, Oregon to The Ashland Super D event this weekend. On Saturday we are hosting the AVID Chainless Challenge. It will be all about the Deep Stroke Modulation... Check out the Facebook event: Chainless Event