Horner Back and Phinney Dominating

Maybe the unluckiest man in cycling this year, Chris Horner of the Astana Cycling Team, is back on the bike and back at the front of the field. Horner has fractured bones on 4 occaisions this year, starting with the Tour of California in February, then the Vuelta a País Vasco, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

Chris returned to racing last weekend at the Giro dell'Emilia in Bologna, Italy, which included five climbs up San Luca. Read about his feelings on the season and the return over at CyclingNews.com

Photo Courtesy CyclingNews.com

Also in racing news, Taylor Phinney has a new blog post up on CyclingNews.com as well. Phinney recently had a fantastic meeting at the US National Track Championships where he won three titles including the Individual Pursuit for the third consecutive time. Read about his thoughts on the champs, his rebounding season and the possibility of less track events at the Olympics.

Photo Courtesy CyclingNews.com

Til next time, keep the rubber side down!

National Ride To Work Day

Edit: Well it appears that Melbourne didn't have the best weather for riding to work but over 5000 people still attended the breakfast in Federation Square. Check the video story here. And it appears that the Tweeters have been busy, making Ride To Work the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter today.

Well I hope you all had a great commute to work this morning for National Ride to Work Day. I saw lots of people as I was riding in, including a few groups of first timers being led by someone more experienced. Great to see. Reports are coming in that the attendance at the breakfasts around the country were up, so that is a positive sign.

Be sure to check out the photos from around the country in the next few days on the official website.

Speaking of commuting, the Trek Soho was recently reviewed by RideOn magazine and was a hit!

Across the other side of the globe, and BikeRadar.com agree!

This bike has got a lot of people talking and is perfect for commuting. Featuring a maintenance free belt drive system, an internally geared rear hub, and coloured matched fenders it makes sure your commute is as worry free as possible. Check it out at a dealer near you!

ANU Getting on Their Bike

The Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra takes it's environmental responsibility seriously and have got a number of initiatives ti help with this.

One of these is the "Go Green, Get Lean" program which includes the Cycle-to-Campus Challenge - a cycle-commuting fitness program for ANU staff and graduate students.

Photo Courtesy Go Green, Get Lean

The challenge, run by ANUgreen and the Sport and Recreation Association, is designed to help participants make the move from driving to work and inactivity to cycling to campus and exercising regularly.

During the 10 week program, participants receive free health appraisals, weekly fitness sessions with a qualified instructor, nutrition and bike maintenance seminars, as well as a bicycle kit comprised of a mountain bike, helmet, lock and pannier bags.

Trek Bicycles Australia (TBA) has partnered with Ride Shop, one of our dealers in Canberra, to supply the bikes for the next installment of the program. Ride Shop recently built up the approximately 40 Trek 3900's before they were delivered to the Uni, as well as installing the racks and lights which were part of the package.

Photo Courtesy Ride Shop

TBA is proud to be involved in initiatives like this to get more people riding bikes and realising what fun they are as well as the benefits to health and the global environment.

You can meet some of the participants and track their progress through the official site.

Levi Leipheimer hosts his first Gran Fondo

"Having ridden a bike in great locations the world over, I came to realize a few years ago how good we have it in Sonoma County. There seemed nothing else for it but to invite you to one of my favorite training rides. The King Ridge GranFondo is the perfect way to show everyone what myself and many of the best cycling teams in the world know: Sonoma County is a cycling heaven. There's nothing I'd enjoy more than to show off my training grounds to other cycling enthusiasts like you, and share our passion for the bike."

- Levi Leipheimer

That says it all really. So Levi invited the world to come and ride with him on his favourite roads. 3,500 riders turned up for the event, with everyone leaving with very positive reports.

Read more about it at BikeRadar.com and VeloNews.com or check out the official site. Want to know what a 'Gran Fondo' is? This site may help.

 

Photo Courtesy Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge GranFondo

Schladming Interbike Enduro

No, it's not a new enduro race, but a collection of stories from around the world.

First up, check out the video from the Trek World Racing team from the DH World Cup final in Schladming.

A great race for Tracey Mosely, who won and secured 2nd overall in the series, and Justin Leov who finished in 6th and took 6th overall. Andrew Neethling was still recovering from his broken hand and managed to complete his run to get enough points to secure 15th overall.

It has been a great first season for the team with regular podium appearances in both XC and DH. Look out for the team again next year as they aim for even better results.

Secondly, to Interbike, and amoungst all the new products, shiny parts, show girls and bike Demos, VeloNews.com found the following Madone's very eye catching.

Painted up by the Project One team at Trek to be used as Campagnolo Demo Bikes for their new gruppos at Interbike. Unfortunately you can't get the Campag logo on your own Madone, but you can get the flames or Argyle pattern on a 5 or 6 Series Madone through Project One. A couple more photos are over at VeloNews.

Lastly, the latest copy of Enduro mag has an interview with Clarence Street Cyclery and Trek rider Matt Flemming.

Flemmo has been a contender on the enduro MTB scene in Australia for years now, and has probably stood on every podium there is! Check out the latest issue for the full interview, and keep an eye out for him at a race near you.

Vital MTB Impressed with the Session

MTB website VitalMTB.com (formerly Litter Mag) recently posted a review of the 2009 Trek Session 88 FR. Yes this is a 2009 model bike, but it is still available in Australia, and the frame of the 2010 models is actually the same.

The review has some great photos, and video of the suspension in motion so you can see exactly what is going on as you're runching the rocks when you ride one.

Check it out here.

BikeRadar.com also had a short story on the new Trek Scratch model. They featured the Scratch 9, with a coil shock, but in Australia we will have the Scratch Air 8 and Air 6 available later this year. This model is made for those who love to rip the downhills and hit the drops and gaps, but who need to pedal to the top, or to the more remote descent's. A great combination of Session skin and Remedy soul.

More Catching Up

So what else has happened in the world of Trek in the last few weeks?

Well, there's been a bit of racing going on over in the US, with Trek athletes taking a few top spots.

From left: Jeff Schalk, Chris Eatough, Ross Schnell.

The American National Ultra Endurance series is an 8 race series with race distances of around 100 miles. This is a seriously long way to race on a MTB and it's surprising how many people are up for the challenge over there. Trek Racing co-op riders Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough have been at the top of this series for the last few years, and for 2009 Jeff Schalk has again taken out the overall title. Racing his Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL, Schalk won 3 races and finished 2nd at a 4th. The series counts a riders best 4 results for the overall result. Chris Eatough, who won the 2007 series, took out 3rd overall thanks to three third places and a fourth.

Well done to these two amazing riders for their results. See CyclingNews.com for more info.

Following his amazing career of endurance MTB racing, Chris Eatough has announced that he will be retiring after the US National 24 Hour Solo Championships. A professional mountain bike racer since 1998, Chris Eatough’s endurance racing accomplishments are unrivaled: six-time 24-hour Solo World Champion; five-time 24-hour Solo National Champion; 2007 “24 Hours of Moab” Champion; 2007 National Ultra Endurance Champion; 2007 “BC Bike Race” Champion; and ten victories in 100-mile mountain bike races.

Eatough dominated 24-hour mountain bike racing for over half a decade, revolutionizing the sport by combining cross country race speed with meticulously choreographed pit stop strategies—a combination that resulted in nearly 24 hours of non-stop racing. Noted for his monastic dedication to seven-days-a-week, year-round training, all of Chris Eatough’s professional races and wins were aboard Trek bikes.

Chris will continue to be involved with the sport through product testing for Trek and coaching other riders. We wish Chris the best of luck in the future.

The other major race that occurred in the US recently was the Singlespeed World Champsionship. A non-UCI sanctioned event, the SSWC is know as much for it's off bike activities as it's racing. Competitors often race in fancy dress and the winner receives a tattoo, rather than a rainbow jersey.

This year the mens winner was none other than 'Rad' Ross Schnell, ex-Trek-VW rider and now a member of the Trek Racing Co-Op. Ross has been focusing this year on Super-D and Enduro DH events, racing on a Remedy or a Session. For the SSWC he built up a Trek Top Fuel with a derailleur acting as a chain tensioner and used it to smash the opposition. Nice one Ross!

Read more at Dirt Rag, VeloNews, Singletrack or CyclingNews.

That's it for today. More tomorrow!

Normal Transmission Will Now Resume

Well Hello again! Sorry for the delay. A lot has been happening in the last month, so I'm going to catch up over the next few days.

Today we'll look at the World MTB Champs and the finals of the World Cup.

The World Mountain Bike Championships descended on Australia a few weeks ago and we had the privilege of being down there with our expo stand showing the latest and greatest Trek bikes for 2010.

Photo courtesy Chris Benny

We were also running test bikes and had a lot of people come back very impressed with the ride of the Trek Fuel EX and Remedy.

Wednesday night was the non-UCI sanctioned Pump Track World Championships, in a backyard pump track. With most of the Worlds top riders there for a bit of relaxed fun riding, it was nonetheless exciting racing with Mick Hannah taking the win in the end, followed closely by Brendon Fairclough.

Photo courtesy James' Phone

Of course the Trek World Racing team were also in town with hopes for a few medals to take home. They had their pit set up next to our display, and the riders could be seen coming and going and warming up/cooling down in between practice sessions. 

Photo courtesy King of the Mountain

Unfortunately it wasn't the greatest week for Trek racer's. Andrew Neethling crashed in practice on the Wednesday, breaking a bone in his hand in three places, so he wasn't able to race. Mathias Fluckiger had a broken derailleur spring in the U23 Mens race, when he was one of the favourites. Older brother Lukas Fluckiger suffered from a stomach bug during the week and was left a bit weak for the Elite Mens race. Justin Leov had a good week and race run, and ended up in 8th, a solid result. Tracey Mosely was the bright spot for the team. After a season long battle with Sabrina Jonnier of France, Tracey showed that her focus and training for the Champs had paid off with a strong final run that got her the silver medal. While disappointed not to have won, Tracey was philosophical, saying that she had a perfect run, but was fairly beaten on the day. From outside TWR, Emily Batty, a favourite for the U23 Womens Gold Medal, had issues with her rear derailleur and finished in 11th.

The team bikes were a definite attention grabber though!

See all the coverage and results on CyclingNews.com and on the TWR site.

Moving on from the World Champs, the following weekend was the penultimate round of the XC World Cup in Champery, Switzerland. Eager to make up for the disappointment of the World Champs Lukas and Mathias Fluckiger showed what they are capable of and finished in 4th and 5th respectively, writing history as the first brothers to stand on a World Cup podium together.

The following weekend was the final round of the World Cup circus in Schladming, Austria, with the trifecta of 4X, XC and DH racing. Mathias showed again what a strong rider he is, finishing in 3rd, for his highest ever place in a World Cup race, and 1st in the U23 class. Lukas had a couple of mechanicals and finished in 13th, leaving him in 7th overall for the year.

In the DH, Tracey had a fantastic finish to the year with a strong win against stiff competition. This moved her up to 2nd in the overall standings for the year. A great result following her 2nd at the World Champs, and showing her consistency throughout the year. In the mens, Andrew Neethling competed, despite still not being fully recovered from his broken hand. His aim was to gain enough points to secure his 15th overall position, and he managed this with a 58th place finish on the very physically demanding Schladming track. Justin Leov had a great run to finish in 6th place, also securing his 6th place overall, his best overall finish in the World Cup.

Martin Whitely said after the racing, "What an awesome finish to the year. Tracy's win and 2nd overall; Mathias getting 3rd, Justin and Lukas in the top 10 overall; and now our confirmed team rankings as 2nd in Downhill and 5th in XC. In total 12 elite World Cup podiums. A huge thanks of course to our title sponsor Trek for the amazing equipment and support beyond measure. Major sponsors JBL, Fox Racing Shox, Bontrager and Shimano for their commitment and support throughout the year."

Check King of the Mountain for some photo galleries and we look froward to more great results from the Trek World Racing team next year!

The Trek Session 88 was released in Australia almost 12 months ago, but it was in development for a long time before that. Trek knew that the world of DH had progressed and went about producing the best DH bike on the planet. With the new technologies they had developed in the Fuel EX they went to work on the new DH platform, resulting in the ground breaking Session 88.

You've probably already heard the glowing magazine reviews and endorsements from world famous riders like Andrew Shandro and Justin Leov, but what about a regular riders perspective? Well, that is just what I have for you here.

Michael Fautley recently purchased a Session 88 DH from Croydon Cycleworks in Victoria, and sent us this email to tell us all about it:

Trek Session 88 - Rider Review
 
For the past six months I have been working my tail off in the effort to purchase a new downhill mountain bike. After me annoying and taking up hours of employee’s time on phone calls and regular visits, it finally came time to throw my earnings on the table.   
 
The Trek Session 88 DH was my bike of choice, and after working crazy hours for minimum wage, it all had become worth it from the day it was delivered to the store. This bike is a DH winning, attention grabbing, one of a kind ride. From its slick shape and colour scheme, to it’s jaw dropping stock weight, this bike gets you out of bed in the morning and brings you home late at night (it’s like cheating but you can tell the misses your riding her).
 
Positives:
·      Light weight
·      One of a kind colour scheme
·      Incredible components
·      Super stable through fast open sections
·      Low and nimble to power through the tightest of wood sections
 
Negatives:
·      Addictive; getting off the bike is almost impossible for  as soon as you finish your run, before you realize you will be running up setting up for the next 
·      Up hills 
·      Attention seeker; it takes you half an hour of weaving through fellow riders admiring your wheels to mount the thing 
·      Finding excuses for your mates to why you wont let them ride it
 
Massive thanks to all the staff at Croydon Cycleworks for all there help and support. Hope this bad boy will be blitzing the 09/10 DH series competition.
 
Michael Fautley

So there you have it, a review from someone who had to work hard to pay for one for themselves and who obviously loves the bike and appreciates what an amazing bike it is. Hope you have a great season of racing Michael!

Cam McCaul Doing What He Does Best

I know I just posted about Cam and Brandon the other day, but I saw this video this morning and thought it was pretty rad.

Yes it's an ad for Fox and a preview for a new video, but hey, it still looks sick and gets me psyched for riding! Go Cam!