New Bike Platforms Quickly Pay 0ff for Host of New Marin Athletes

NOVATO, Calif.-April 22, 2008. Marin Bikes, manufacturer of performance bicycles, added seasoned professional racers as well as a new amateur team to its squad for 2008. With less than one season and in some cases less than one month on Marin’s improved Quad-Link 2.0 suspensions and proven race hardtails, racers had exceptional podium placements at this last weekend’s Sea Otter Classic event in Monterey, California.

Leading the wave of gravity riders was former World Cup Champion and new Marin athlete, German born Jurgen Beneke. After coming back last year from a seven-year hiatus Beneke again confirmed his World Cup abilities by riding a Quad XC to 2nd place in the Pro Super D field and 8th in the Downhill aboard the Quake XLT. Beneke represents an important class of riders on the racing scene, an athlete who’s life is not spent training 40 hours a week, but working to support his family. Riding a stock 120mm travel Quad XC Mount Vision, Beneke’s Super D finish is an endorsement of the well balanced and race proven design. In 2007, the previous iteration of the Mount Vision garnered Mountain Biking Magazine’s All Mountain Bike of the Year.

Also racing Downhill, current two-time Masters Downhill World Champion, Shaums March finished 22nd in the event riding the Quad XLT series Quake 7.3. Shaums took the time to race when he wasn’t busy coaching the members his Mad March Racing team. Representing the MMR/Marin Bikes development team, neo pro Miranda Miller made a strong showing with 14th in the Women’s Pro Downhill field. The high school senior was the 2006 Canadian Junior Downhill National Champion and 2007 Canadian Junior Downhill silver medalist as well a member of the 2007 Canadian National Team in Fort William, Scotland. Both riders choose to eschew longer travel downhill bikes for the Quake 7.3, with 170mm of travel (7 inches) and offering greater pedaling efficiency and maneuverability on the fast Sea Otter course.

In the XC fields, newly partnered Team Lost Coast Brewery and Marin factory endurance racer Yuri Hauswald had an exceptional showing across the professional and amateur ranks riding Marin’s Hydro-Light Hardtails and the American built Team Titanium models. Lost Coast riders Brian Astell, Tsering Alleyne, Emma Worldpeace and Maureen Kunz, finishing 15th in the Women’s Professional XC race, used the races as tune ups for the upcoming of National Mountain Bike Series(NSMB) series while Hauswald utilized both the XC and the Road Race as preparation for his upcoming Dirt Sweat & Gears 12 Hour endurance race in Tennessee.

“The addition to Marin’s racing support program is unique in that it was developed to support riders who are real world athletes.” stated Marin Bikes Marketing Manager, Mark Vanek. “All the athletes that competed are either employed full time or are full time students. It’s important that their bikes are efficient, lightweight, and ready to race when they are. We’re proud of our new riders and their finishes this weekend.”

Marin Bikes, a designer and manufacturer of performance bicycles and bicycle accessories, is located in Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking. Marin, founded in 1986 by Robert Buckley, who remains it principal owner, and the company’s employee/owners are as committed to high quality service and customer support as they are to the lifestyle of cycling. Distributed in approximately 40 countries with international offices in Canada, Taiwan and Switzerland, Marin continues to pursue its original mission of providing quality performance and product innovation.

source: Mark Vanek

Well, it didn't rain. But it was colder than most people expected during the 2008 Sea Otter Classic. On Friday, early attendees were in shorts and T-shirts. But Saturday was overcast in the morning with some serious wind. The average temperature for this time of year in Monterey is mid-fifties (Farenheit). But temperatures in the low fifties and winds gusting up to 30 MPH, made it a lot colder than most people were prepared for. in other words - it was freezing. Especially for dual slalom finals spectators who weren't moving around much and hadn't dressed for the wind. By the end of the dual slalom finals, only hardiest fans remained. Lesson: be prepared for any weather if you go to Sea Otter. For 2009, I'm hoping for snow. Photos were shot with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi / 450D and the Canon EOS 40D. This article was brought to you by PhotographyREVIEW.com. Learn more about digital cameras and photography on Mtbr's sister site, PhotographyREVIEW.com!

A lot of big names were missing from the 2008 pro men cross-country race, due to the World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium. The race started under sunny skies with Kona’s Ryan Trebon taking an early lead. Late in the first lap, a pack of seven racers, including number one plate Sam Schultz, Ryan Trebon, Chris Sheppard, Carl Decker, Ken Onodera, and Miguel Martinez, swapped spots on the long rolling fire road climb back to the Laguna Seca race track. At the beginning of the second lap, Miguel Martinez broke away and stretched out a huge lead, eventually winning the race by almost three and a half minutes. Sam Schultz ended up taking second, followed fourteen seconds later by Sid Taberlay. Fourth place finisher, Mitchel Peterson, crossed the line a minute and a half later and Federico Ramirez Mendez took fifth a little over 6 minutes after Miguel Martinez crossed the finish line.

(more…)

Theo whips up another great video for the final day of Sea Otter 2008. Sunday was warm in the morning with some wind in the expo area later in the day, but 150% better day than Saturday.

Sunday was beautiful in Monterey, with clear sunny skies. It looked like a great day for cross-country racing. However, some of Saturday’s wind stuck around and left pro racers fighting strong winds and spectators suffering from some serious wind chill. Most people were just happy it wasn’t raining, though. Rain is sort of a Sea Otter tradition – regardless of the weather forecast.

(more…)

April 20, 2008
Monterey, California

Santa Cruz Syndicate (SRAM) racer Greg Minnaar headlines the downhill and dual slalom winning both gravity events at the Sea Otter Classic this weekend. Sharing the love with Greg on the downhill podium were teammates Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie placing 4th and 5th respectively, with Chris Kovarik 2nd and Justin Leov 3rd. Minnaar was on the top blocks in the dual slalom with Steve Peat 2nd, Andrew Neethling 3rd and Kirt Voreis 4th. Minnaar’s double wins this weekend show that he has made a seamless transition to the Syndicate squad and seems to be getting on quite well on his new Santa Cruz bikes.

DUAL SLALOM:

Minnaar surprised himself with his double victories. In the dual slalom he and Peat worked their way through the rounds to meet up in the final guaranteeing 1st and 2nd for the Syndicate. Voreis also was absolutely flying and on form and made it to the small final. It is with good reason that he teaches dual slalom clinics for Bikeskills, and the Syndicate boys lent him a hand with his clinic on Thursday. It would seem that he might have shown Minnaar and Peat a thing or two as they aced the race. Kirt says, “It’s good to be out of the Allride van and on the race course. It felt awesome to be on the podium especially next to my teammates! Racing lives alive and well in my heart always and forever.”

Minnaar said, “It was great to be in the final with Steve. I was very relaxed having a friend next to me. From that aspect it was pretty cool. I wasn’t concerned with crashing or anything knowing the Syndicate had the top two positions regardless of which of us won. I was very happy to win the event. I haven’t raced here since 2002, so I’m stoked to be back.” Peat said, “I was happy to make it to the finals. It was a great day for the Syndicate to have two in the final. My Blur 4X was hooking up good. I had tough rounds with EC, Houseman, Voreis, Lopes and then Greg. I had to dig in deep on every round. By finals time my legs were absolutely spent, I had nothing, Greg got lucky!”

DOWNHILL:

The Syndicate racers impressed even themselves on Sunday in the downhill. With Greg picking up another win he had this to say, “At first I never expected to double up. You always race to win, but I didn’t expect it, especially in the downhill. I manage to nail all my lines in the final, which I was pretty happy about. Thanks to all the staff and mechanics, and it being the first race of the season it was hectic with new bikes being built and all, and the mechanics did a great job.”

Rennie says of his 5th place run, “My run was pretty good but with such a short course any mistakes can put you back a bit. I had a solid run, but just a few small mistakes put me into 5th. I’m happy on the first race to have the Syndicate take three out of five of the podium spots.” Peat says, “I had a decent run, but I had a little slide out on a corner up top before a pedaling section, so I lost some time there. The track here is fun for about 100 yards, and then it’s not fun anymore. I choose to ride my V-10 and it definitely was the right choice. I’m stoked to make two podiums this weekend. It was a hellava great weekend for the Syndicate and great job to the boy’s!”

Jamie Goldman placed 3rd in the Dual Stunt competition, which pitted racers head to head racing over manmade obstacles. Kyle Strait took the win. Goldman was also busy this week being a guide to blind racer Bobby McMullen helping him to a 30th place downhill result, beating 14 people in his class. Goldman says, “We pinned it in the race run going faster than anything we had done in practice. Bobby nearly crashed in a section but was able to get back on course. He had a great race.”

Prior to arriving at Sea Otter the squad was attending Syndicate training camp doing photo shoots, bike testing and training rides. Between photos shoots, the riders got to ride at the local skatepark, the Aptos Post Office jumps and hit up Alex Reveles backyard jumps and mulch pit. Minnaar got into his backflips, Jamie Goldman and Kirt Voreis were going off and Josh Bryceland was stoked to join in the fun.

Next up for the Syndicate the downhill crew goes to Europe for the World Championship test event, first World Cup and Lisbon Downtown. Goldman goes to the Qashqai events, while Voreis takes his Allride tour on the road.

DOWNHILL TOP TEN:

GREG MINNAAR: 2:11.2
CHRIS KOVARIK: 2:12.0
JUSTIN LEOV: 2:12.0
STEVE PEAT: 2:13.0
NATHAN RENNIE: 2:13.4
JARED RANDO: 2:13.7
DAN ATHERTON: 2:13.9
JURGEN BENEKE: 2:14.1
ANDREW NEETHLING: 2:14.3
AARON GWIN: 2:14.4
Thanks to the Syndicate Sponsors:

Santa Cruz Bicycles
SRAM
RockShox
Truvativ
Avid
Maxxis
DT Swiss
WTB
Crankbrothers
Lizard Skins
Clif Bar
Troy Lee Designs
Chris King
Five Ten

source: Kathy Sessler

Unlike Saturday, which was cold with strong gusty winds, Sunday dawned sunny and cool - perfect conditions for the 2008 Sea Otter pro XC race. Here are a few photos from the semi-pros in the morning.

(more…)

Coverage of the Dual Slalom event from day 3. The weather today was a bit colder than the previous days, and the wind and dust was a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

Made by Theo, All Out Productions

After qualifying first in men's pro dual slalom, Brian Lopes went down hard at the top in the round of eight, paving the way for a final showdown between Steve Peat and Gregg Minnaar. Minnaar took the win leaving Peaty in second place, Andrew Neethling in third, and Kirt Vories in fourth. Santa Cruz has to be psyched having three of their pro men in the dual slalom finals. Former World Cup champ Jurgen Beneke also made an appearance, qualifying twenty-first. Sabrina Jonnier beat Melissa Buhl to win the pro women’s dual slalom finals. And in the women’s consolation race, Norco’s Fionn Griffiths beat Rachel Atherton to take third. Marla Streb also qualified in the pro women’s dual slalom and made it to the round of sixteen. Photos were shot with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi / 450D and the Canon EOS 40D. This article was brought to you by PhotographyREVIEW.com. Learn more about digital cameras and photography on Mtbr's sister site, PhotographyREVIEW.com!

Saturday morning was cold and overcast for dual slalom pro and semi-pro qualifying. Brian Lopes qualified first on his Ibis bike, followed by Jared Rando in second, Lars Sternberg in third, Sam Blenkisop in fourth, and Mikey Haderer in fifth place. For pro women, Sabrina Jonnier qualified first, with Rachel Atherton second, Melissa Buhl in third, Fion Giffiths in fourth, and Kathy Pruit qualifying fifth. By the end of qualifying the clouds had burned off and left semi-cloudy blue skies with no signs of the usual Sea Otter rain.