Yes! There Is a Pro Gravity Tour!

When the US MTB Cup was announced last fall, gravity riders across the country groaned at the fact that the MTB Cup is a cross-country-only tour. After much lobbying and organizing by gravity activists like Jeremiah Dylan Dean, USA Cycling has announced a Pro Gravity MTB Tour for 2009. The Pro GRT features 5 stops, three of which are in August, and two of which are in New York. Hey, it's a start!

2009 USA Cycling Pro Gravity MTB Tour:
May 1-3: Fluidride Cup, Port Angeles, WA (DH)
May 23-25: Chile Challenge, Angel Fire, NM (DH and MTX, UCI category 2)
August 8-9: Blast the Mass, Snowmass, CO (DH and MTX, UCI category 2)
August 15-16: Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, Windham, NY (DH and MTX, UCI category 1)
August 29: Whiteface 5K, Wilmington, NY (DH)

Southridge USA Winter Series #4 Results

The fourth race of the Southridge USA Winter Series was held February 21-22 in Fontana, CA. Maxine Irving took the downhill win for the Pro Women. Ashley Verhagen took the Pro win in 4X. Joy Martin now leads the downhill series, and Kayla Meadows holds the lead in 4X. The next race will be held March 7-8.

Downhill Pro Women
1. Maxine Irving
2. Joy Martin
3. Gretchen Sylvestre

Open Women
1. Margaret Gregory
2. Erica Phillips
3. Kelly Moore
4. Nancy Harris

Beginner Women 34 & Under
1. Rochelle Spranger

Beginner Women 35+
1. Kim Finch
2. Traci Adams
3. Lala Mijares

4X Pro Women
1. Ashley Verhagen
2. Kayla Meadows
3. Brittany Jackson

Open Women
1, Julia Zavala
2. Robin Vold
3. Lala Mijares

Back from Ray's and Catching Up

What a great weekend! After riding more than 20 hours at Ray's in 4 days, I was able to let my tired hands and sore shoulders rest while hanging out with my family and friends outside of Cleveland on Monday and Tuesday. It was really interesting to experience such a great weekend of riding in the middle of winter, in Northeast Ohio. There were so many girls riding all weekend, and it was easy to see everyone improving and pushing themselves--it was also easy to walk around with a big old grin all day. I'm excited to have such a unique reason to go home and see the fam again next year. I encourage you to plan for the third-annual Women's Weekend at this time in 2010!

Now, back to work. Here are some results from the past few weekends. Sorry for slacking!

South Island Cup Downhill Series Results
Final Standings
Elite Women
1. Harriet Harper
2. Harriet Ruecknagel
3. Rita Langley
4. Katrina Strand
5. Gabrielle Molloy
6. Olivia Johnston
7. Dawn Daley-Coers
8. Amy Laird
9. Sabrina Jonnier

Open Women
1. Madeline Taylor
2. Amanda Pearce
3. Sophy Tyas
4. Veronique Sandler
5. Sarah Atkin

South Island Cup Downhill #3 (Final Round)
Blenheim, NZ
Feb. 21-22, 2009
Elite Women
1. Sabrina Jonnier
2. Harriet Harper
3. Harriet Ruecknagel
4. Amy Laird
5. Gabrielle Molloy
6. Katrina Strand
7. Olivia Johnston
8. Dawn Daley-Coers
9. Rita Langley

Open Women
1. Madeline Taylor
2. Veronique Sandler
3. Sophie Tyas
4. Amanda Pearce
5. Sarah Atkin

South Island Cup Downhill #2
Coronet Peak, NZ
Feb. 13-14, 2009
Elite Women
1. Harriet Ruecknagel
2. Harriet Harper
3. Katrina Strand
4. Olivia Johnston
5. Gabrielle Molloy
6. Dawn Daley-Coers
7. Rita Langley

Open Women
1. Emma Akerlind
2. Georgia Wight
3. Naomi Wilson
4. Dominique Doyan
5. Sophie Tyas
6. Madeline Taylor
7. Veronique Sandler
8. Amanda Pearce
9. Nancy Rehrer
10. Baylee Jackson
11. Phoebe Coers

Hooray for Ray's!

The DirtRag Women's Weekend kicked off today. Nearly 100 girls came out to Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland, OH to session the jumps, cross country course, skinnies, the foam pit, and stunts at the park with professional coaches. Nadia Steinbrecher, Gale Dahlager, Tammy Donahugh, Stacey Mulligan, Tamara Peloquin, Nina Buitrago, and Darcy Turenne coached girls of all ability levels in a fun and friendly atmosphere. It was super fun to see so many girls riding bikes and having a blast! I'll post more action shots tomorrow, but here are a few teasers. For more information about Ray's, visit RaysMTB.com.















Gale and Tamara, Mad March Racing coaches













Terry Seeberg of Superco with Liz












Darcy with Ray, the man with the plan!











The whole crew!

We're Now Using PayPal Checkout!

We've just switched our payment processor to PayPal. Now you'll have more choices for how you pay for your Freeride Foundation order. You'll be able to use your PayPal account, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express cards, as well as bank transfers.

You can still pick your shipping method and use your discount codes or gift certificates. We switched to PayPal to give our customers more payment options. Please contact us with any questions or concerns you may have: info@freeridefoundation.com.

Mob in Mojave Results

Here are the real results from the first major US gravity race of 2009. The Mob in Mojave was held Feb 14-15 at Bootleg Canyon, NV. Jackie Harmony took the win over Lisa Myklak in the downhill race. Since it was a gravity-fest, we've included Super D results, and Linden Lane won for the pro women. Lisa won the dual slalom over Rachel Bauer.

USA Cycling renamed the racing categories for the season, so we've included the former names of the categories until everyone gets used to the number system.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Jackie Harmony
2. Lisa Myklak
3. Miranda Miller
4. Darian Harvey
5. Joy Martin
6. Christine Hirst
7. Laura Noonan
8. Tasa Herndon
9. Linden Lane
10. Jessica Vogt
11. Rachel Bauer

Cat 1 (Expert) Women
1. Francine Johnson
2. Rosie Bernhard
3. Nancy Morlock
4. Ana Rodriquez
5. Kelly Moore
6. Nancy Harris
7. Annamarie Hennes

Cat 2 (Sport) Women
1. Jessica Kirkpatrick
2. Cierra Smith
3. Amber Price
4. Lana Lawson

Dual Slalom
Pro Women
1. Lisa Myklak
2. Rachel Bauer
3. Jackie Harmony
4. Christine Hirst

Cat 1 Women
1. Joy Martin

Cat 3 (Beginner) Women
1. April Malvino

Super D
Pro Women
1. Linden Lane
2. Jackie Harmony

Cat 1 Women
1. Nancy Morlock

Cat 2 Women
1. Christin McCurdy
2. Amber Price
3. Sara Landis

Cat 3 Women
1. Steffani Packard
2. April Malvino

Results are available at DownhillMike.com.

Southridge Winter Series Race #3

Melissa Buhl returned to the Southridge podium at the third race of the Winter Series this weekend. She bested Laura Noonan for the downhill win. Laura and Joy Martin are currently vying for the downhill series points lead. Kayla Meadows continues to rule 4X, with her second win in a row. Joy is also very close to Kayla for the series points in 4X.

The next Winter Series race will be February 21 and 22. Check out SoutridgeUSA.com for more info.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Laura Noonan
3. Joy Martin
4. Christine Hirst

Open Women
1. Margaret Gregory
2. Erica Phillips

Beginner Women 35+
1. Kim Finch
2. Lala Mijares
3. Traci Adams

4X
Pro Women
1. Kayla Meadows
2. Joy Martin

Open Women
1. Brittany Jackson
2. Nancy Harris
3. Julia Zavala

The Karvers Are Here!

A box of the 5.10 Women's Karvers magically showed up at my door today. This shipment has sizes 6.5-9.5, so the rest of the sizes will ship later this month. If you're a 6.5-9.5, though, I'll ship your shoes ASAP!

5.10 Karver Women's Freeride Shoes Available for Pre-Order!

We have some exciting news! 5.10's first women's freeride shoe, the Women's Karver, is now available for pre-order. We will ship all orders on February 25. We only have one shoe in each size arriving in this first order, so snag a pair while you can! The next order will arrive in May.

The Karvers feature Stealth S1 sticky rubber outsoles, and are designed for use with flat pedals. The Karvers have a narrower last and toe box than the men's versions, and they come in women's-specific sizes down to size 5. Plus, they have the Asym upper design, which protects your ankles from your cranks. Hooray!

Here's the link to these awesome shoes: FiveTen Karvers!

Week-Long Women's DH Camp in BC!

Sacred Rides has put a week-long women's-only downhill camp together. The camp will be held July 31-August 7, 2009 in Fernie, BC. For $1295CDN, you get a week of lodging, shuttles, instruction, lift tickets, breakfasts, lunches, and more! If you're looking to improve your skills and take a super-fun vacation, click here to learn more about the camp and Sacred Rides.

Mob in Mojave Info

Bootleg Canyon, Nev-
Downhill Mike with All Mountain Cyclery presents the 4th Annual Mob in Mojave Mountain Bike Race Festival Weekend at Bootleg Canyon, Nevada on Presidents Day Weekend, February 13-15, 2009. The Festival will offer three days of winter mountain bike racing action in the desert featuring three different disciplines of USA Cycling sanctioned gravity racing, live music, race clinics and free on-site camping. The festival will offer spectators and racers Dual Slalom, Super D and Downhill racing action. We will even have professional BBQ supplied by Events Unlimited. Events Unlimited will offer a breakfast and lunch menu, beer, wine and a daily happy hour all 3 days.

The Mob in Mojave will be the first race of 2009 on the USAC National Gravity Calendar and promises to feature racers from both coasts chasing points for the prestigious National Gravity Calendar Championship. In addition two provincial Canadian teams that are training at Bootleg Canyon and several UCI World Cup stars will compete trying to prove their superiority. The Mob in Mojave will allow racers a chance to get a head start on the National Gravity Calendar Series and see how they stack up for the season not to mention escaping the cold winter weather for those in the East and the Pacific Northwest. Pro Downhill Racers will be vying for a $2000.00 Cash Purse. The first 200 race entrants will receive event T-shirts courtesy of Go Ride.com and the top three in each class will be awarded Custom Medals and prizes.

Friday will offer inspection of the courses with a reasonable $20.00 fee for racers to use the shuttle for Downhill & Super D training.

Saturday is when the racing action starts with the Dual Slalom Race in the morning. The Dual Slalom will feature a "Y" course where racers will start in separate tracks, which will merge for some exciting elbow-to-elbow racing. The Super D Race will be held Saturday afternoon. The Super D course will be a challenging 2 + mile event with very little climbing. While all this racing action is going on, three shuttle vehicles will bring racers to the top of the Downhill & Super D courses for a full day of practice. Saturday will wrap up with the Dual Slalom and Super D awards ceremony.

Sunday will be time for the main event The Mob in Mojave Downhill Race offering a $2000.00 cash purse for pro men and women. The 1.5 mile downhill track will be used by all classes and will feature classic Bootleg Canyon Terrain, the faster you go the harder and more technical it will get. The downhill race will finish at Mob in Mojave Race Village featuring the BBQ, live music, vendors, team pits and the restrooms.

Following the success of Downhill Mike's Whiteface, N.Y. 5K DH race, the last race of the weekend will be the Downhill Chainless Open Race which will offer a fun, light hearted way to close out the festival weekend for only $10.00 extra. This Chainless Downhill race will use the exact same course as the main dh course. The Awards Ceremony and raffles will start after this race Sunday afternoon.

The Mob in Mojave is proudly sponsored by the following; All Mountain Cyclery, High Peaks Cyclery SixSixOne, KHS Bicycles, Black Rock Bicycles, Division 26 Clothing, Intense Cycles, E-Thirteen Components, Nema International, Chumba Racing, Gravity Logic, Go-Ride.Com Teko Socks, and Tifosi Optics

Bootleg Canyon is conveniently located 25 miles from Las Vegas, making for easy connections from anywhere and offers world class by entertainment options nearby as well.

SCHEDULE:
Dual Slalom starts at 10:00 am on Saturday
Super D starts at 2:00 pm on Saturday
Downhill starts at 11:00 am on Sunday
(Open practice will be available on all courses until 1/2 hour prior to the start of each discipline.)

The above listed races are permitted and sanctioned by USA CYCLING.

Categories are as follows for Downhill & Super D:
Open pro men & open pro women
Category 1, 2 & 3 in age groups 10-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49 & 50 +
A 10-14 age group has been added to the Men's and Women's category 3 (beginner)

Categories are as follows for Dual Slalom
Open pro men & women
Open category 1 men & women
Open category 2 men & women
Open category 3 men & women

A $2,000.00 pro cash purse will be awarded as follows for pro racers in the downhill competition.

Pro Men's 1st place $500.00 Pro Women's 1st place $450.00
Pro Men's 2nd place $300.00 Pro Women's 2nd place $200.00
Pro Men's 3rd place $200.00 Pro Women's 3rd place $100.00
Pro Men's 4th place $150.00 & Pro Men's 5th place $100.00

The top 3 places in all amateur categories for the downhill will win custom event medals and prizes from our sponsors.

The top 3 places in all categories for Dual Slalom and Super D will also win custom event medals & prizes from our sponsors.

Registration can be found on Active.com
Pre - registration is open and will close February 12th at 6:00 pm PST.

Downhill or Super D will be $75.00 each.
$120.00 for Downhill & Super D
All registration fees include Saturday & Sunday shuttles.
Dual Slalom will be $50.00

On-site race registration on Friday, 2-13-09 at 8:00 am.
Registration for Dual Slalom & Super D closes on Friday 2-13-09 at 4:00 pm
Registration for Downhill & Chainless DH closes at 9:30 am on Sunday 2-15-09.

Free on-site camping. For help with lodging and Race n Stay packages please email.

Web Site: www.downhillmike.com
Email: info@downhillmike.com

BetterRide Women's Camp Is Coming Up!

There are still a few spots available in the BetterRide Women's Downhill Clinic at Bootleg Canyon, NV on February 27-March 1! We've already rounded up a super fun crew, and would love to have a few more ladies on board. Gene Hamilton is a talented coach and we're really excited to learn some new skills and improve our old ones! Come ride with us!
Click here for more details and to sign up.

Tonight: Party with Us at the Sidecar!

More Results from Australia and New Zealand

It's the middle of the racing season in Australia and New Zealand. Here are some results from the past few weeks.

Australian National Series #4
Mt. Buller, AUS
February 1

Downhill
Elite Women
1. Leigh Douglas
2. Claire Whiteman
3. Emma Lewis
4. Cara Smith
5. Leonie Picton
6. Sarah Booth

Women Under 19
1. Holly Baarspul
2. Em Hockey
3. Bec Kirss
4. Jasmin Rosa

Women Under 17
1. Katelyn Humphris
2. Christie Batt

Sport Women
1. Jacqui Lovett
2. Kerrie Sercombe


South Island Cup #1
Dunedin, NZ
January 30-31

Downhill
Elite Women
1. Emmeline Ragot
2. Harriet Harper
3. Harriet Ruecknagel
4. Rita Langley

Open Women
1. Madeline Taylor
2. Dominique Doyan
3. Amanda Pearce


North Island Cup #3
Levin, NZ
January 24-25, 2008

Downhill
Elite Women
1. Harriet Harper

Open Women
1. Madeline Taylor
2. Sophie Tyas
3. SophieMarie Bethell
4. Veronique Sandler
5. Kaytee Campbell
6. Sarah Atkin
7. Baylee Jackson