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I know it isn’t biking, but it is the season and this is a bit special…

This must have been terrifying for the poor guy (Callum Petit and the crew)!

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Got snowed in yesterday so had a mess around with the ContourHD and GoProHD on the Mini Bike…

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Source: British Cycling

Back at the UCI World Championships in Canberra, Australia. The XC whippets have all been in action. Italy have taken the first Gold medal of the event with a win in the Cross Country Team Relay. Canada took the Silver and France coming in for Bronze.

The good old brits came in at a respectable 9th

Cross Country Team Relay

So the big question was – how’d the race go?
“Not too bad – we’re happy with the result, we were consistent throughout, it is a big improvement on last year and we are moving up the scoresheet and becoming more competitive all the time. Ninth could have been sixth, we were 25 seconds behind the Dutch and lost out in a sprint to the line with the Czech Republic. Both Kenta Gallagher and Annie Last put in good laps and racing on that course was a good insight.”

So what information was gained?
“Everything will be decided on the climb, the course starts in the open and from there it is a technical climb that is all singletrack. Once you are into it there will be no overtaking so a good position here is critical. Of course every other rider will have the same plan, because nobody wants to end their race on the first up hill. From there the second half of the course opens out and it gets very windy – you won’t want to be riding alone in these sections.”

And for tomorrow?
“Tomorrow is a very busy day. First is the Junior and Under-23 race. We have both Lily Matthews and Annie Last in the Under-23s, Annie is on good form at the moment and we’d be delighted with a top ten, especially as it is her first year out of Juniors.

Then there is also the downhill and fourcross practice, everyone is looking forward to that. Dan Atherton has his trainer out here and is doing great, the whole team is working well together.”

Thanks to Helen for her update and we’ll have more from the team tomorrow morning, following the women’s under-23 XC race.

Results:

TEAM RELAY RESULTS
1 Italy (Marco Aurelio Fontana/Gerhard Kerschbaumer/Eva Lechner/Cristian Cominelli) 1:14:02
2 Canada (Raphael Gagne/Geoff Kabush/Evan Guthrie/Catharine Pendrel) 0:00:06
3 France (Alexis Vuillermoz/Cédric Ravanel/Hugo Drechou/Cécile Rode Ravanel) 0:00:08
4 Sweden (Emil Lindgren/Tobias Ludvigsson/Alexandra Engen/Mattias Wengelin) 0:00:54
5 Switzerland (Florian Vogel/Matthias Stirnemann/Nathalie Schneitter/Fabian Giger) 0:01:00
6 Netherlands (Irjan Luttenberg/Michiel Van Der Heijden/Laura Turpijn/Jelmer Pietersma) 0:03:00
7 Germany (Moritz Milatz/Martin Gluth/Markus Bauer/Sabine Spitz) 0:03:04
8 Czech Republic (Jaroslav Kulhavy/Jan Nesvadba/Pavla Havlikova/Lukas Sablik) 0:03:24
9 Great Britain (Liam Killeen/Kenta Gallagher/Annie Last/David Fletcher) 0:03:25
10 Belgium (Sven Nys/Tom Meeusen/Ruben Scheire/Sanne Cant) 0:03:29

Full results can be found here

From: Pinkbike.com

It saddens me to share with you the loss of a giant in the bike community. On Tuesday, August 25th, my best friend and riding partner of the past 10 years passed away at the ripe old age of 15.

Over the past years, Harley had quietly amassed a body of work that rivals that of the great riding stars of our time. Her resume includes more appearances in bike media than I can possibly remember, but some of her more memorable appearances include multiple appearances in North Shore Extreme, Kranked, New World Disorder, the Pist-n-Broke movies, as well as the Ride Guide and Drop In. She also found her way into many print publications in Canada, the US, the UK, and even Japan and Germany.

If you met Harley, she made an impression. Actually, on many of you she made scars. Not that she was mean spirited, but she did have a problem differentiating fingers from sticks. The list of people that she bit over the years reads like the cast from a bike video. Harley not only shredded lines like skinny logs and gnarly rock faces, she also rode bikes and loved helicopters.

There are dogs and there are dogs, but Harley was a true one of a kind. Deaf from birth, and full of excess amounts of energy, she was more work to have around than any other dog I’ve had, but it was all worth it. She always was good for another lap, sang for you when she was happy, and never forgot someone that she had a good ride with. Oh, and she tortured Richie Schley endlessly by herding him into corners.

I’ve said for years that if you live a good life, you get to come back as our dog. All dogs go to heaven, but Harley made it here on earth.

More pics are over in Harley’s Gallery.

It’ll allow you to charge all your gadgets when you don’t have a power point to hand – great for camping, touring etc.

Armstrong confirmed on Tuesday that he will ride the Tour in 2010 and announced that he found a new American sponsor to back his team next season. He said he will provide details today and there is a strong possibility that Armstrong and his old friend Johan Bruyneel – currently Astana manager – will stay together to launch a new team. Contador is expected to join another squad.

Source: MTBcut.tv

Brendan Faircloughs Megacam.
Demonstrating what the POV.1.5 can do at altitude and a sneek peek at the chaos of the Mega Avalanche.

Source: Intense Cycles / Pinkbike.com

Legendary rider, Shaun Palmer makes his return to mountain biking the same way he made his debut: on an Intense Cycles downhill bike. Palmer and Intense first made history together in 1995 when the rookie rider rode the flagship Intense M1 to a series of surprise victories, launching both Palmer and Intense into the forefront of the sport.

Nearly fifteen years later, both Palmer and Intense remain household names in mountain biking. And with Palmer’s return to downhilling, Intense Cycles President, designer and founder, Jeff Steber looks forward to collaborating with the rider who helped refine the M1 and redefine the sport.

“Something that not many people know about Shaun is that he is really technically savvy,” says Steber. “He understands what works and can give specific feedback on how to improve the bike’s performance. He is a great R&D guy and I’m really excited about working w/ him again.”

A great R&D guy and not a bad racer, either. After a decades absence from the sport, Palm finished 2nd last weekend at the California Golden State Championships in Fontana. He is planning to use mountain bike racing as training for his attempt later this year at a spot on the US Olympic bordercross team.

“I have always done better in my sports when I stayed involved in two or three at a time. The worst thing for me is for my bad brains to sit around idle. I have to stay busy and the panic of racing downhill will keep me sharp and help me to achieve my Olympic dreams”, says Palmer. ” Of course, I miss being at the races and I miss the fans but mostly I miss hanging out with my friends, especially Peaty.”

Palmer could have had any bike but he says he chose Intense because of his relationship with the brand and Steber’s ability to build anything Palmer wants in a bike, anytime. “Plus, I’m 40 now and I want to be involved with a brand that will allow me to use my design abilities now and in the long run.” Palmer says.

If you think that sounds like a hint that there will be future collaborations between Palmer and Intense in the years to come, you might be right. But for now, as Palmer simply puts it “let’s just haul ass this season w/o me smashing my nuts. See ya’ll at the races!”

“We make what we race”