Well the World Cup season is finished!
This past 2009 season, it seems like we have been on the road for ever!
It has been a great year of racing all over the globe from Europe, the
UK, both the east and west of Canada, South Africa and Australia -
amazing how much traveling we have done this year to race our bikes
against the best riders in the World.
The World Cup finals took place in Austria and were both successful and disappointing for us to finish on.
Well what a day - waking up and finding out that Steve Peat had finally become World Champion was amazing. With that in mind I headed of for the last round of the Pearce Cycles Summer Series where I was really looking forward to racing myself. With many of the big names away this weekend at the World Champs, I decided to get some last minute training in against the clock before heading off to Schladming for the last round of the World Cup.
After the Canadian World Cup rounds we traveled from the east coast to the west where we would compete in the world famous Crankworx.
Based in whats considered the worlds premier riding resort, its far from a normal race. Crankworx is massive, its a week long festival with events every day. It attracts all the top athletes and teams with massive prize money and a range of disciplines to suit every type of rider.
Whilst the rest of the team have been out in Whistler after the Canadian world cup rounds, Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Intense's Matt Simmonds has been home training and representing the team back home in the UK on the domestic race scene. After some great resent results for Matt - 3rd at the National Championships and a 21st and 22nd at the 2 Canadian World Cups - Matt took his first National win last at the weekend at Caersws
Here are some words from Matt and some photos from the race. Nice one Matt - well done.
Its been an amazing Crankworx for the team with another 2 podiums for us. Crankworx is huge...there are so many people here so it is great exposure for the team.
Chris came second in the Air downhill event which is a tough race down the famous A-line trail. The course runs the length of A-Line, finishing at the base of the Bike Park with the legendary show-off zone, the GLC Drops. Widely recognized as the most celebrated DH course in mountain biking, with nearly 100 jumps. It is probably the most used trail here in Whistler. The track is so much fun to ride, as you are in the air as much as you are on the ground. It is a great track to build your confidence up with jumping.
