April's Featured Rider: Lisa Myklak

Lisa Myklak's profile is going to be a bit different. She's so excited about sharing her love of dirt jumping with others that she's dedicated her Featured Rider Profile to convincing you to try it--and explaining how to get started! Lisa is highly skilled at downhill and gated racing, and her dirt jump skills translate into a smooth, fast riding style. Still, she's happiest sessioning jumps with friends. She recently moved to Santa Cruz, CA from Boulder, CO to take advantage of the year-round riding season. --FF

Name: Lisa Myklak
Home: Felton, CA
Age: 30
Favorite type of riding: Toss up between dirt jump and downhill.
Why you ride: I feel most alive when I'm on my bike; it makes my
heart happy
Sponsors: Fox Racing Shox, Black Market Inc., Industry 9, Crankbrothers, Magura, Profile Racing, Jett MTB, e.13, Lake shoes, Hoven Visio
Website: BlackMarketBikes.com

To all ladies who want to dirt jump — do it. You’ll learn SO MUCH about how to handle a bike. The only thing you really need is a desire to learn – bravery will come. Just start by going out to your local dirt jumps or BMX track and rolling around.

There is so much I would love to share about dirt jumping, but here are a few things that I think are key.

Before You Start, Learn This:
Learn how to bunny hop. No jump involved – just learn how to bunny hop on flat ground (not clipped in). You have to pump with your arms and legs and this is truly jumping your bike. My friend Joanna Petterson and I would stack up inner-tube boxes and see how high we could get before knocking them over. If you know how to bunny hop, then you know the fundamentals to jumping. Every jump at every speed can be broken down by how to pump it.

Practice At Your Own Pace:
Guys are notorious for jumping one thing and then stepping right up to another jump. Only you know the balance between pushing yourself and backing off. Part of the fun is learning to jump something smoothly. Good technique takes time and repetition. You know you’ve found the balance when you’re still having fun but scaring yourself a little too.

Really Concentrate On This:
There is a lot of technique to jumping, but it’s also 100% mental. We’ve all seen that rider who just boldly hucks their meat off anything and most of the time they ride away fine. Why? Because they approach it with confidence and commitment. That’s not all of it though. The real trick is to learn to ride with confidence and commitment and at the same time stay relaxed. If you mess up and you’re relaxed, chances are you’re going to walk away alright. I’m not saying just go up to anything and ride it with confidence. But when you do decide to hit something, take this mentality into it.

Something To Keep In Mind:
Dirt jumping is both extremely rewarding and terribly frustrating. One day you’ll get through an entire line of jumps and the next day you won’t be able to jump the second one. Your skills in dirt jumping are very flippant at first. The best cure for this is to go ride something else — don’t let yourself get too frustrated.

One great thing about learning how to jump is that you start seeing everything in terms of lips and landings. This really helps with trail riding. It translates right over. Happy jumping!

2009 USA Cycling Gravity Calendar

Well, here we go. USA Cycling posted their 2009 Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar (MBNC) a few weeks ago. This season's calendar has some major changes from seasons past. There are a few things to consider when you look at this calendar.

First, this calendar represents the select few races that USAC has decided to call theirs. The full Mountain States Cup schedule hasn't been released yet. I've contacted Sho-Air, who is promoting a new version of what was previously the National Mountain Bike Series, about whether or not they'll be including gravity events in their calendar. Their series makes up a good portion of the MBNC-Cross Country, but we have yet to see which, if any, venues will also host gravity events.

The National Championships have been relocated to Sol Vista, CO. This change should be awesome. No one was going to Vermont for the Championships there, so we should see a larger crowd and higher level of competition at Sol Vista. Second, although it's in CO, where half of the MBNC is located, it should be pretty easy for riders from all over the country to get there. And the riding at Sol Vista is so rad, that riders from across the country should want to get there.

You'll also notice that there are no UCI points races currently on the calendar. I wouldn't count UCI options out, though. I've contacted Keith at RPM, to find out whether or not they're still finalizing the UCI races, or if there really won't be any options for gravity racers in 2009 (Snowmass, CO and Angel Fire, NM would be the two possible UCI venues).

Other major changes for 2009 include a super-early first race in Boulder City, NV in February; a 4X race at Crested Butte, CO, which usually does not offer a gated racing event; a 4X race at the National Championships, which usually offers dual slalom at the venue; a downhill race at Nathrop, CO, which has traditionally only offered gated racing; and no overlapping dates, which should allow rabid points chasers to make it to each race on the schedule.

I'm not trying to get all nit-picky on a calendar that I know took a lot of time and effort to put together, but I think it's important to take a good look at the schedule in order to make smart decisions about how we'll all spend our time and money next season. USAC's series points are less important than picking the races that we want to attend and can afford to attend. I'll post updates about the Sho-Air schedule, UCI points, and local series calendars as they emerge.

For now, though, here's your 2009 USAC Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar:

Feb. 14-15 All Mountain Cyclery Mob 'N Mojave Boulder City, NV DH
May 2-3 MSC Chalk Creek Stampede Nathrop, CO DH, 4X, SD
May 9 Massanutten Yee-Ha! McGaheysville, VA DH
May 23-25 MSC Chile Challenge Angel Fire, NM DH, 4X, SD
June 13-14 MSC Wildflower Rush Crested Butte, CO DH, 4X, SD
June 27-28 MSC Blast the Mass Snowmass, CO DH, 4X, SD
July 16-19 USAC National Championships Sol Vista, CO DH, 4X, SD
Aug. 30 4th Annual Whiteface 5K Downhill Lake Placid, NY DH

Build Your Dream Store

Girls, I need your help. Interbike is coming up. It's the annual cycling tradeshow where retailers get to check out all of the rad new stuff for next season. And we get to claim our share of the goods while we're there, so you have the best selection of products available to you.

Last season, we missed out on Interbike because the Freeride Foundation concept hadn't been born yet. Though we've been able to bring in a lot of rad clothes, we missed out on a lot of sizes and colors that you'd probably be pretty stoked on.

What would you like to see on Freeride Foundation? We've seen requests for body armor, especially women's specific body armor, a higher quantity of smaller sizes in shorts (like small and extra small), and gloves. If you have suggestions, let's hear them! Let me know what sizes you're looking for, what colors you can never find, and what products you'd like to add to your one-stop shopping experience. You can leave comments on this post, join our Freeride Foundation Forum discussion, or email them to info@freeridefoundation.com.

Thanks in advance for your input. We're doing this all for you!

European Downhill Championships

The European Downhill Championships were held at Caspoggio in Valmalenco, Italy, this weekend. Sabrina Jonnier won the title of European Downhill Champion, and Anaïs Pajot took the junior women's win.

Elite Women
1. Sabrina Jonnier (France)
2. Petra Bernhard (Austria)
3. Floriane Pugin (France)
4. Emmeline Ragot (France)
5. Miriam Ruchti (Switzerland)
6. Katy Curd (Great Britain)
7. Anita Molcik (Austria)
8. Céline Gros (France)
9. Victoria Hernández Molinas (Spain)
10. Harriet Rucknagel (Germany)
11. Helene Fruhwith (Austria)
12. Elisa Canepa (Italy)
13. Katarina Tothova (Czech Republic)
14. Sandra Rubesam (Germany)

Junior Women
1. Anaïs Pajot (France)
2. Myriam Nicole (France)

We found our results on cyclingnews.com.

Downieville All-Mountain World Championships

Rachel Lloyd dominated the 2008 Downieville Classic. Deemed the "All-Mountain World Championships," the race held in Downieville, CA saw an all-star cast of pro cross country and downhill riders vie for the title. Rachel won the cross country race on Saturday and the downhill race on Sunday for the overall win, maintaining her All-Mountain title from 2007. She bested Sue Haywood, her closest competitor, by two minutes each day.

Pro Women All-Mountain
Overall
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Haywood
3. Sarah Maile
4. Jamie Stamps
5. Maureen Kunz
6. Tiffany Allmandinger
7. Abby Hippely
8. Jackie Baker
9. Niki Gudex
10. Corina Bigham
11. Katrina Strand
12. Erin Moeschler

Cross Country
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Haywood
3. Sarah Maile
4. Jamie Stamps
5. Maureen Kunz
6. Tiffany Allmandinger
7. Jackie Baker
8. Abby Hippely
9. Niki Gudex
10. Corina Bigham
11. Katrina Strand
12. Erin Moeschler

Downhill
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Haywood
3. Abby Hippely
4. Tiffany Allmandinger
5. Jamie Stamps
6. Maureen Kunz
7. Sarah Maile
8. Jackie Baker
9. Corina Bigham
10. Niki Gudex
11. Katrina Strand
12. Erin Moeschler

Expert Women All-Mountain
Overall
1. Sharon Hill
2. Laura Home
3. Cassandra Stamm
4. Trista Schulze

Cross Country
1. Sharon Hill
2. Laura Home
3. Lindsey Voreis
4. Cassandra Stamm
5. Trista Schulze

Downhill
1. Sharon Hill
2. Trista Schulze
3. Laura Home
4. Cassandra Stamm

Downhill
Expert Women
1. Zea Walton
2. Sarah Miller
3. Nica Lorber
4. Naomi Murray
5. Margarete Jadamec
6. Sasha Evans

Sport Women
1. Maureen Gaffney
2. Angela Delponte
3. Michelle Stoddard
4. Rachel DeLateur
5. Lauren McQuinn
6. Roxanne Canent

Petition to Reverse the UCI Women's Downhill Qualifying Rule

Sign the petition, pass it on: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldcupwomensdhqualification/?e

The UCI recently enacted a ruling that only the women who place in the top 20 in their downhill Qualifying run at a World Cup race can advance to the Final race run. Previously the top 30 women were allowed to compete for a World Cup downhill result. According to World Cup professional downhill riders Joanna Petterson and Jaymie Mart, the reason for the UCI’s rule change was due to faster male riders complaining of slower female riders on the track during practice sessions.

This is a quote from a letter sent by Jaymie to the UCI: “It appears this complaint was originally put forwards to a rider’s forum at meeting in Slovenia in September 2007 and stems from a concern of slower female riders impeding practice of the faster males…”

Reducing the number of women who move from the Qualifying run to the Final run essentially has no effect on the reduction of the number of women on course during practice because there is normally no practice between to the two events on race day.

Another point that Joanna and Jaymie make is that the riders ranked within the last season’s top-10 standings are protected from being disqualified during Qualifying. That means that a top-10 rider can place 23^rd in her Qualifying run and still compete in the final. However, the women with quicker Qualifying times, who place 21^st and 22^nd, are unable to compete in the final.

Now, this top-10 qualifying rule has its drawbacks and merits, but it is not what is being debated. What is disturbing is that, in general, out of all of the women in the world, only 10 additional women outside of the 2007 top 10 are able to compete in a World Cup final.

Jaymie writes, “Percentage wise, in the women’s category, 50% of the riders inside the top 20 are protected riders where as 25% of the men (20 out of a possible 80) are protected. …Minimizing the available positions in a World Cup final evidently does not have the required effect on course and will sadly result in a diminished women’s field at a time when admittedly, numbers of female racers are continuing to dwindle. This category of riders requires support, not restriction.”

In case you’re thinking that there are dangerously slow women attending World Cup races, let’s consider a few points. First, World Cup downhill tracks are tough, and most riders in the world—male or female—would have difficulty riding these courses adeptly. If a rider truly struggles, being the professional rider that he or she is, that rider should recognize that he or she is in over his or her head and should choose not to continue to practice, and certainly not to attempt to race.

Second, if there are real issues with men and women riding at such varying speeds as prove dangerous during practice, why doesn’t the UCI split practice times? Guys can charge, girls can rip, and lift lines remain reasonable. If reducing the number of women who qualify for the Final race has no practical effect on the practice situation, this option seems like a smarter alternative.

Third, anyone attending a World Cup event must first qualify to ride the venue at all in one of two ways: 1. Accrue 20 UCI points in your designated discipline (Downhill races only count toward downhill points, 4x only counts toward 4x, etc). 2. Be a member of a UCI trade team.

There are very few women in the world who have accumulated the necessary amount of UCI points to race a World Cup. Few events provide those points, and the events that do supply points, like National Championships and UCI-rated races only allot a few points per place. The number of women who don’t have their 20 points and are part of a UCI trade team are even fewer. UCI trade teams normally only pull women who have proven themselves at the World Cup level already. Jaymie points out in her letter that the trade team option often allows for inexperienced men to cause an even greater threat on course than the women who have accrued their UCI points.

It’s obvious that the new rule is illogical. Luckily, we can get the UCI pointed back in the right direction by urging them to repeal the new 20-woman Qualifying limit and reinstate the 30-woman standard. Click here and sign the petition, and pass the link on to your friends. Not only will more women get the experience of racing for a World Cup result, but also the pool of talented female downhill racers will continue to grow and thrive.

Click here to read Neven Steinmetz’s blog post about this issue.

Sign the petition, pass it on: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldcupwomensdhqualification/?e

Free Lift Tickets at Whiteface This Weekend!

Wooohoo! I just stopped by DeclineMagazine.com and was stoked to see an article about Ladies Day at Whiteface Mountain Bike Park this weekend. Whiteface is located in Lake Placid, NY. On Saturday, July 5, all women get a free lift ticket that's good for gondola and bus rides all day. There will be three more Ladies Days throughout the summer on the first Saturday of each month. Get your girls together and go ride for free!

Going Downhill Fast: Gas Prices and Riding Big Bikes

As downhillers and freeriders, we're met with a problem that many other cyclists don't have to face. In general, we need to drive to ride. Unless we live at the base of Whistler, or happen to have some freeride trails in our backyards, it's inevitable that the big bike has to go on (or in) the car in order to ride downhill. With gas prices reaching an national average of $4.10 this week, it's becoming tougher to justify the drive. Or at least, it is for me.

Don't get me wrong, I still want to ride my downhill bike, but I'm reconsidering my priorities. At the beginning of the season, I had big plans to travel all summer and race as much as possible. After driving on fumes to get back to NorCal from Angel Fire, NM, I had to re-evaluate my plan.

At that point, gas was just below $4.00 per gallon nationally, but closer to $4.39 around California. (Now it's hard to find anything under $4.57.) Using a gas calculator on MapQuest, I estimated the cash I'd need for gas if I paid that $4.00 average for the 1,530-mile round-trip drive from Marin to Park City for the Deer Valley, UT NMBS races later this week. My Subaru Outback Sport gets about 25mpg with the bike inside and a full load. The cost would be about $245.00. That may not sound so bad, especially if I were able to find a road trip partner, but in reality, the gas cost would be closer to $300.00 due to the increased prices and the fact that most of the drive goes through the middle-of-nowhere-Nevada, where it's definitely going to be really expensive to fill up.

So, I made the executive decision that I simply couldn't spend the cash to make the trip (especially because I'd like to buy some more sweet clothes for Freeride Foundation). Since I still have to drive to ride the bike I love, I'm more focused on riding more locally and I'm paying a bit more attention to how I drive. I've been thinking about ways to reduce the amount of gas I buy on a weekly basis so I can afford some more road trips later in the summer.

Here are a list of things I've been working on personally. Do you have some ideas too? Definitely feel free to comment!

-Put the bike in the car.
It's kind of a PITA to take the front and rear wheels off my downhill bike, but I know I get far better gas mileage when the bike is IN the car as opposed to ON the car. Of course, I have a small car, so if yours is bigger, you might not have to spend the time with the wrench. I'm sure using a rear rack must be more efficient than a roof rack too.

-Ride to rides.
This option doesn't apply to most downhill outings, but when I'm on my cross country bike, I'm refusing to drive to rides that are less than 10 miles away. This weekend in Downieville, I parked in town and road up to Sierra City to ride the cross country course. It was actually pretty tough, but I saved 24 miles of driving (round-trip), which is essentially a gallon of gas, which is about $4.60 up there. And, I hopefully got a little fitter too.

-Save speed for the trails.
I have a lead foot. Every year I get a fat ticket for hauling across a highway in the desert. Every year it's a different highway. We get better gas mileage when we drive more slowly. In the past, I've just cared about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible so I can ride. Now, I'm trying to keep things under control. I'm trying not to drive faster than 75 ever, and not more than 70 in a 65 zone. I'm sure that's not very exciting for most of you, but it's actually really hard for me. I have noticed that I do get more miles per gallon this way, and surprisingly, I'm not totally stressed out when I roll into the parking lot.

-Choose your battles.
Make it worthwhile to drive to your rides. If you're going to the mountains, camp and get two days of riding out of it. Or, ride all day to make the trip worthwhile. When I was skiing all the time, I'd drive a total of 80 minutes to ski for 2-3 hours. That's nearly as much driving as playing. Now, if I'm going to drive 80 minutes, I'd better get at least 5 hours of quality fun out of it.

-Carpool
I'm sure this seems like a no-brainer for most people. Like with the ski thing, though, I'm a bit of a brat. I like to ride when I want to ride, where I want to ride, and leave when I choose. I'm trying to get better at carpooling, and ultimately, it makes takes care of the "Choose your battles" option. Carpooling reduces everyone's cost and it's way more fun to drive and ride with your friends. Duh.

Canadian World Championships Team Announced

The Claire Buchar heads the Canadian World Championships Team, which was announced June 5, 2008. Canada is sending just downhillers, and no mountaincross contenders. The World Championships take place in Val di Sole, Italy on June 17-22, 2008.

Downhill
Claire Buchar
Micayla Gatto
Danice Uyesugi
Kim Huard
Marie-Eve Marcotte

Junior Women Downhill
Miranda Miller

USA Cycling Annouces Nominees for the 2008 World Championships

While our server issues are being resolved, I've had a lot of time to surf the web and find intriguing things to Blog. Here's a good one. Today USA Cycling announced the nominees for the World Championships that will take place next month in Val di Sole, Italy. There are only two women downhillers on the list, which is a bit surprising. Hopefully, this is just the list of riders who were nominated and not the final list of athletes who will be attending. It's a bit confusing because in the instructions for applying for the Worlds team on USAC's website, it says that today's date is the "Confirmation to Participate" and that the "Announcement of the Team" happens June 9, 2008. The write-up on USA Cycling's site doesn't imply that more riders will be named, though. As the top US rider in both mountaincross and downhill, Melissa Buhl will represent in both disciplines. Kathy Pruitt, who has been committed to the World Cup circuit this year will be the second downhiller, while mountaincross extraordinaire Neven Steinmetz will join Melissa in that discipline.

I understand that results and petitions rule the selection process, and the ability to pay one's own way determines whether or not a petition is submitted in the first place, but can we really only send two girls to Worlds? And that's two girls per discipline, which totals just three people. I hope that consideration was given to riders like Darian Harvey, Lisa Myklak, Abby Hippely, and Jackie Harmony, and that on June 9, we'll see a few more names on the list.

Elite Women’s Downhill
Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.)
Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.)

Elite Women’s 4-Cross
Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.)
Neven Steinmetz (Boulder. Colo.)
Jessica Vogt (Boulder, Colo.)*
*Declined her nomination

To read the whole USAC article, click here.

US Open of Mountain Biking Results

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Diablo Freeride Park hosted the 2008 US Open of Mountain Biking. A tough course with high-speed sections and gnarly rock gardens saw some rain before the race, and conditions had dried a bit for the riders' final runs. Kathy Pruitt had the fastest qualifying time, but Fionn Griffiths bested her by 3 seconds in the final for the pro women's win. Fionn also won the pro women's dual slalom win over Pruitt.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Fionn Griffiths
2. Kathy Pruitt
3. Joanna Petterson
4. Marie-Eve Marcotte
5. Dawn Bourque
6. Katrina Strand
7. Alexis Wruble
8. Katie Holden

Amateur Women
1. Stephanie Gubernat
2. Isabel Georgian
3. Vicki Koch
4. Heather Brennan
5. Rosy Metcalfe
6. Kristine Koch
7. Annmarie Wheeler
8. Trish Bears
9. Jessica Hoeverman
10. Amanda Pilling
11. Meredith Mansfield

Now That's a Long Drive

I just got back to Marin, CA from New Mexico. Ouch. That's a long one. And monotonous. What was not monotonous was the weather at the Angel Fire Chile Challenge this weekend. With dry-ish conditions on Thursday, sloppy muck on Friday, frozen mud on Saturday, nearly dry conditions on Sunday, and a dry and balmy Monday, the mountain kept us on our toes. The relentlessly rocky course only had a few high speed sections, and those were nearly as tough to hang on through as the bumpy stuff at the top of the course.

Melissa Buhl walked away with the Pro Women's downhill win. And she won the UCI mountaincross race on Saturday, as well as the National Championship mountaincross jersey on Sunday. Except for the National Championship race, the Chile Challenge races counted toward the National Mountain Bike Series, the USA Cycling Gravity Calendar, and the Mountain States Cup series. Jessica Vogt now leads the MSC series, Melissa will maintain her lead in the NMBS.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Lisa Myklak
3. Abigail Hippely
4. Jacqueline Harmony
5. Darian Harvey
6. Rachel Bauer
7. Addie Stewart
8. Wendy Reynolds
9. Stephanie Hatalsky
10. Mariska Chuse
11. Sondra Williamson
12. Michelle Rivera
13. Allegra Burch
14. Lisa Reinhard
15. Connie Misket
16. Kimber Gabryszak
17. Jackie Baker
18. Jessica Vogt

Expert Women
1. Jennifer Wolf
2. Erika Joehnck
3. Amy Scherm
4. Christen Boyer
5. Sage Wilderman
6. Lainey Aldridge
7. Nancy Harris
8. Soraya Khalje

Beginner/Jr. Women
1. Danielle Shewmake
2. Katy Monger

UCI Mountaincross
Pro/Expert Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Jessica Vogt
3. Neven Steinmetz
4. Stephanie Hatalsky
5. Rachel Bauer
6. Darian Harvey
7. Nadia Steinbrecher
8. Lainey Aldridge
9. Soraya Khalje
10. Christen Boyer

Sport/Beginner Women
1. Janna Renfro
2. Jennifer Johnson

USA Cycling Mountaincross National Championship
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Neven Steinmetz
3. Jessica Vogt
4. Sondra Williamson
5. Jackie Baker

We Have Gift Certificates!

What downhill diva wouldn't want to see a Freeride Foundation Gift Certificate show up in her Hotmail account? I can't think of any. We now have $25, $50, $75, and $100 gift certificates available for purchase online. The purchaser emails the gift certificate and a personalized message to the lucky recipient, and all she has to do is log on, pick out some sweet product, and enter the included code at checkout. Whoohoo!

Santa Ynez NMBS Results

Melissa Buhl continued her reign of the National Mountain Bike Series gravity events at Santa Ynez, CA this weekend. She won the dual slalom and the downhill, and maintains her lead in both events in the series. Melissa bested gravity legend Leigh Donovan for the slalom win! The next NMBS gravity race takes place at Angel Fire next weekend (it counts for UCI pro points, the NMBS, the MSC, and the USA Cycling National Gravity Calendar). Don't forget about Freeride Foundation Girls' Night at Angel Fire on Friday!

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Michelle Rivera
3. Sondra Williamson
4. Mariska Chuse
5. Darian Harvey
6. Christine Hirst

Jr. Expert Women
1. Erika Joehnck

Expert Women 19-25
1. Jennifer Wolf
2. Tara Johnson
3. Nova Hairston
4. Kelly Moore

Expert Women 30+
1. Joy Martin
2. Mairin Rooney

Sport Women 19-29
1. Rachel Throop
2. Allison Mann

Sport Women 30-39
1. Erika Oel
2. Kerry Howe

Beginner Women 19-29
1. Keri Albrecht

Beginner Women 30-39
1. Jana Wilcox

Beginner Women 40-49
1. Erica Phillips
2. Leah Jensen

Dual Slalom
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Leigh Donovan
3. Sondra Williamson
4. Darian Harvey

Open Women
1. Kayla Meadows
2. Joy Martin
3. Nancy Harris
4. Kelly Moore
5. Brittany Jackson
6. Nova Hairston

We found our results on http://www.bluewolfevents.com/.

Bromont Canada Cup Results

The first Canada Cup downhill of the season took place at Bromont, QC this weekend. Micayla Gatto eeked out a win over Danice Uyesugi in a competitive women's field. The next Canada Cup race takes place next weekend at Mount Tremblant.

Pro Women
1. Micayla Gatto
2. Danice Uyesugi
3. Kim Huard
4. Sheila Morris
5. Claudia Paquin
6. Genevieve Gagnon
7. Sophie Poirier
8. Emilie Audet

Gravity East Series Race #1 Results

The Yee-Ha downhill at Massanutten Resort, VA kicked off the 2008 Gravity East Series. Cross country legend Sue Haywood used her fitness and local knowleged to slay the competition. She took the win by nearly 30 seconds over Ellen Adams. The next race at Massanutten is the Super D on May 31, 2008.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Susan Haywood
2. Ellen Adams
3. Stephanie Gubernat
4. Amanda Pilling
5. Vicki Koch
6. Kathi Krause
7. Tamara Peloquin
8. Anne Vig
9. Alicia Hamilton

Sport/Beginner Women
1. Lauen Daney
2. Kristin Koch
3. Kristin Cousin
4. Amy Coleman
5. Dreama Davis
6. Tammy Allison

Women Under 14
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison

We found our results on http://www.massresort.com/.

Fluidride Cup #2 Results

Katie Holden slayed the pro women's field by 19 seconds at the second Fluidride Cup downhill race of the season last weekend. Once again, the Cup was able to attract impressive numbers in the Expert and Sport categories. Leana Gerrard took the win over Katie in the Dual Slalom, proving that Leana is indeed the Northwest's queen of gated racing.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Katie Holden
2. Leana Gerrard
3. Joy Mutoli

Expert Women
1. Dawn Lambert
2. Chelsey Stevens
3. Jaime Rees
4. Caryn Cantu
5. Brooke Shore
6. Kat Sweet
7. Carolyn Mayer Hope

Sport Women
1. Cassandra Stamm
2. Monica Bergmann
3. Cindy Bartles
4. Summer Northern
5. Kathy Malvern
6. Jessica Serdowich
7. Julie Reilly
8. Jen Schenk
9. Ashley Smeltzer
10. Sandy Densmore
11. Asta Sestrap
12. Leslie Simpson
13. Cherry Thomas

Sport Women 18 & Under
1. Shelby Reilly

Beginner Women
1. Carolyn Prentice
2. Ruth Klein

Beginner Women 18 & Under
1. Cheyenne Smith

Dual Slalom
Pro/Expert Women
1. Leana Gerrard
2. Katie Holden
3. Chelsey Stevens
4. Leslie Simpson

Junior Women
1. Cheyenne Smith

We found our results on http://www.fluidride.com/.

Plattekill Mountain Downhill #1 Results

In addition to being a junior guys' World Championships qualifier, the Plattekill Mountain downhill race on May 4, 2008 was also the first in a series of races at the Roxbury, NY resort. East Coast ripper Vicki Koch was the lone Pro/Expert woman to race, and there was a solid Sport women's showing. The next race at Plattekill will be a dual slalom on June 14.

Pro/Expert Women
1. Vicki Koch

Sport Women
1. Amanda Doughty
2. Tammy Allison
3. Gaelle Hudson
4. Stephanie Eannetta

Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison

Updated NMBC Gravity Standings

After two USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Calendar Gravity events, the Keyesville Classic and the Chalk Creek Stampede, Joanna Petterson leads the points race. The next chance to gain Gravity points will be at the Angel Fire, NM Chile Challenge May 23-26, 2008.

1.Joanna Petterson
2. Allegra Burch
3. Neven Steinmetz
4. Jessica Vogt
5. Bobbi Watt
6. Jackie Baker
7. Lisa Myklak
8. Rachel Bauer
9. Tiffany Allmandinger
10. Sarah Elworthy
11. Monique Hein
12. Stephanie Hatalsky

We found our results on USACyling.org.

Pinkbike.com's Marin Co. Sea Otter Warm-up

On their way from Chilliwack, BC to Monterey, CA, Pinkbike.com stopped by the WTB headquarters in Marin County, CA. Dain and I took the crew up to Mt. Tam for some real Marin riding. Two of Pinkbike's downhill team members, Fiona Taylor and Danice Uyesugi were stoked to ride some dry California trails. These girls are rippers! I can't wait to ride with them again when Dain and I head north later this summer. Click here to check out Pinkbike.com's pre- and post-Sea Otter adventures.