ROC D'AZUR, FROM 1 TO...SEVERAL THOUSANDS!

Roc d'Azur, held in Frejus, Southern France, is the traditional season's closing event, and for a good reason: race courses and an expo village right by the Mediterranean Sea, four solid days of riding and racing, 60.000 visitors and over 16.000 racers. Oh yeah, not to forget, the weather is usually great, right in time when in the rest of Europe winter is on the doorstep.

Julien Absalon never misses a Roc d'Azur, and even if this year he didn't take part in Sunday's race he was always happy to sign autographs and posters at the SRAM truck!

 

The world's top PROs come and go at the SRAM truck. Thank yous for a great season mix in with exciting plans for 2012, which is an Olympic year! Team Swisspower, with Nino Schurter and team manager and MTB legend Frischi, love the relaxed atmosphere of Roc!

 

At Roc the number plates go well into the thousands: the SRAM crew supports everyone, from number 1 to...well over 3.000!

 

"Son, one day you will make great MTB wheels at SRAM" - "Dad, one day you will race Roc on them". SRAM Wheels Product Manager Bastien Donze whishes good luck to his dad, ready to race!

 

Milatz, Fontana, Sauser, Fumic, Gujan, Schurter and many more...is this a World Cup? Almost, except you could line up right behind these guys.

 

"Right behind" we said? Sure...but be ready for a LOT of dust. And we mean A LOT!

 

Back at the truck, wheel engineer Jesse Jakomait talks Rise wheels over breakfast.

 

Do good and win swag? Of course, with the SRAM Rise Wheel of Fortune. First a donation to World Bicycle Relief...

 

And then spin the wheel (under Pierre Edourad Ferry's watchful eye!) to win cool SRAM swag. Thanks to everyone who donated, you just bought two bikes for Africa!

 

 

SRAM's new home at Europe's biggest events: big, red and beautiful.

 

Having the biggest and most comfortable setup of any event doesn't mean no hard work: taking down the truck is an easy task (everything is custom made to fit perfectly inside!) but it takes a great crew to do it...and we got that!

 

 

 

A PERFECT CIRCLE: RIDING THE NEW SRAM WHEELS IN FRANCE

At SRAM we love bikes, and bike components in equal measure. We love making them, as well as using them. So it is always exciting for us when we get to show the world for the first time something new, especially if, such as in this case, it something that we have been working on for well over two years. To celebrate the launch of the new SRAM Rise MTB wheels we flew a selected bunch of media people and SRAMmies to southern France, and after a few rounds of Pastis (the local aperitif) we set off to pedal on the hills along the ocean to reach Frejus, home of Roc d'Azur, one of the world's biggest MTB events. Here is what happened, as captured by the lens of Adrian Marcoux.

After a long drive or a long flight, it's always good to catch up on the latest news and gossip, while preparing for an epic two days on the bike.

 

As dusk approached, we gathered our guests to show them what RISE is all about...looks peaceful, but in that patio 2 hard years of work were culminating in front of the world!

 

The morning before the ride, everyone was busy setting up bikes before our adventure...and admiring the sleek look of SRAM Rise 60 carbon wheels.

 

Food, water, gels and bars aplenty!

 

Leaving the hotel, feels a bit like SoCal? No, it was SoFra: Southern France!

 

Our ride guide Vincent had to work hard to figure out a trail route to keep us out of wild board hunting zones...and these friendly signs courteously reminded to keep out of certain areas!

 

The lush, unique vegetation was a welcome break from the sun. With 32 degrees during the day, and sunshine all over, many were glad to have escaped the first cold weather back at home.

 

After a meal fit for a king, ride guide Philippe and Scott's Lionel figure out the route that would take us straight to dinner!

 

A two day ride is not only taxing for those on the bike: the tech crew worked well into the night, under floodlights, to make sure all the bikes were fresh and ready for the following day.

 

Morning of the second day, happy and ready!

 

It was not all fun and games. Getting from A to B on a bike requires a lot of work. Let's say we all appreciated how light and smoothly our Rise 60 wheels rolled...

 

Lunch stop on the beach: not far from our final destination. Can we stay a few minutes more? It's almost snowing back home!

 

And this is it! 140km and two days deserve a dip in the Mediterranean Sea to celebrate!

 

The new SRAM European race truck was our home during Roc d'Azur: when you are at an event with 60.000 other people, it is prime to have a nice, secure space to work on bikes, prepare for races or simply bask in the glorious sun on the upper deck. Priceless.

 

Sunday is race day: the Roc d'Azur is a classic, point to point XC race, a 56km course with 1600m of climbing. All the top XC pros are at the start, and behind them thousands of riders. Here is the race debut of SRAM Rise 60 wheels.

 

And it was a successful one! All SRAMmies and editors completed the race in under four hours, good job!

 

Race head on?