As of July 1, 2013, crankbrothers will be headquartered at 580 Broadway, Laguna Beach, less than one-quarter mile from their current location. “Crankbrothers was founded in Laguna Beach and has always been located here,” explained Amanda Schaper, crankbrothers marketing manager, “and this area is an integral part of our brand DNA and company culture. When searching for a new office space, we considered many options, but ultimately knew we had to stay in Laguna Beach and remain true to everything that has inspired the brand since it was founded in 1997. We are very lucky that we found the perfect location so close by, especially since it allows us to have expanded office spaces and a larger warehouse. We are all eager to stretch out a bit and move into our new design studio this June.”

First up was the 6-hour enduro Super D race that Rosara Joseph & I teamed up to race together in the super competitive women’s category of teams of two. We were team Trail Fund NZ (www.trailfund.org.nz), and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  Not wanting to let down my Olympian XC teamie, I was getting a bit nervous, and even more so after our first lap when it was revealed to me that this was going to be way more of a xc race than anything else and not at all the track we thought it was going to be held on (which was nice and downhilly). Anyway, not having much of a choice, I gave it everything I could and we managed to clock 13 laps over the 6 hours of racing. I was knackered, but it felt great and we took the win! (Hats off to Rosara who almost died the day before after her carbon bars decided to snap while descending at mach speed).

The rest of the week was spent exploring old and new trails, shuttle runs, xc rides, coffee shopping, eating & free full moon yoga in the park with gluten free cupcakes & wine après savasana – thank you Lululemon! (No wonder their sports bra’s cost what they do).

Next up was the Enduro race, which consisted of 4 super fun tracks, two of them were super pedally and 2 of them were proper, fast, flowy enduro tracks which made for a great combination of racing. There were also two pretty long liaison stages in-between and made for an all round super social, fun day of racing. The racing was super tight and that made it very exciting, especially when I ended up with a mechanical during my 3rd stage. A quick MacGyver fix managed to hold up so I could race the last stage, but in the end, I finished in second place only a few seconds behind the winner. Harriet & I ended up getting the exact same time down the last stage – Zoot’s, with a time of 1:55, which was really close to the top men’s times, so I was very pleased with that. Cheers to Harriet for taking the win & to Rosara for third place. We rocked it.

Of course a week of riding bikes will cause a few casualties – Boyd hit a tree, really, really fast and is nursing a fractured pelvis, Simon has another gimp shoulder for a few weeks after not agreeing with a gap jump, Sven tore his shoulder ligaments and wrote off his new helmet. Healing vibes coming your way!

Exhausted after a pretty jam packed week, it was time to pack up and head back home to Nelson to hopefully catch a few more sunny days up there on the bike before the Winter sets in.

Cheers to Queenstown!

Heli biking is still and will always remain quite the novelty to me, especially when you have to contact DOC to make your booking through them. That is so freaking cool. We quickly got a big Nelson crew together to venture over the mountains for a day of riding in some new unexplored territory. At the Lyell campground, the vibe was buzzing, literally, with 3 helicopters shuttling all the wide eyed, chattering mountain bikers (and hikers) to the top of the world – it seemed. Watching the guys load the bikes to the helicopter, you knew we were out on the West Coast, where you just figure stuff out and make a plan. No problem. Sweet as. They’re good as gold mate, was the reply we got when asked if they’ve ever loaded bikes this way before. It looked like a giant Christmas tree decoration with 22 bikes dangling down from the helicopter. We were dropped off on the top of Mount Montgomery 1300m above the Lyell trailhead, which sits at 150m, with 26 km of virgin purpose built single track to descend.

We were literally dropped off on the trail after a pretty long heli flight into the backcountry. It was gorgeous up there; the views of the surrounding forests, the flowering Rata & the mountains were spectacular. We took our time to soak up all this beauty, enjoying the morning with freshly brewed coffee & snacks before setting off & sharing this new trail with some of the trail builders, who were like giddy kids the night before Christmas, excited to show off their work of art.

The amount of work that they have put into this project was unbelievable, and we enjoyed every kilometer of it. From open tussock mountaintops to beech & Dracophyllym clad native forests. We were really blown away once we reached the new huts that they built. What a spot. Two smaller private cabins and then the mother ship of overnight huts – they were even kitted out with double bed bunks. I can’t think of a better spot to ride in to and spend an evening with some mates & beers of course, and the prospect of flowing single track to the bottom of the valley in the morning.

Although mostly machine built and still pretty fresh in places, the trail follows the natural contours and has a fun flowy feel to it with natural rollers and rises. Its width makes it accessible to all as a grade three trail but expert thrill seekers will not be disappointed either. We can’t wait for the final few sections to be connected, joining the Upper Buller Gorge to the mighty Mokihinui river mouth 80KMs away. This will fast become one of NZ’s flagship Epic rides rivaling the nearby Heaphy and open all year round to mountain bikers.

Check out http://www.oldghostroad.org.nz for more info.

LTP Sports has been distributing crankbrothers products for nearly a decade to specialty bike retailers. Known for their performance driven parts (pedals, wheels, posts, stems and bar) and trail-friendly accessories, crankbrothers have been an iconic staple in the market for the pro-elite rider to the general weekend enthusiasts. With two locations (Port Coquitlam, BC and Woodbridge, ON), LTP Sports has a team of educated customer service and technical staff positioned to help support dealers with their crankbrothers needs.

“The ultimate goal is to drive added confidence in crankbrothers products in the market, for both consumers and retailers,” said Paul Nielson, LTP Sports National Sales Manager. “We love to service what we sell and keep people riding.”

“We are very happy to be working with Live to Play Sports, and we are especially proud of the crankbrothers service centers they recently established,” said Amanda Schaper, crankbrothers marketing manager. “With two locations in Canada, Live to Play Sports will be able to provide timely service to all dealers. Our tech and warranty manager, Tim Young, has personally worked with the mechanics at the new crankbrothers service centers, and he is extremely confident in their abilities. With Live to Play Sports, we know that Canadian dealers will be receiving the highest level of crankbrothers support and service.”

Should any challenges arise on the trail or should riders simply require general maintenance and care, LTP Sports staff are confident that their local service centre capabilities will minimize down-time and optimize the overall crankbrothers ride experience.

The 2013 team is comprised of just two riders – Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, AZ), and Judy Freeman (Boulder, CO). “We’ve been very happy with our two riders,” said Team Director / crankbrothers Art Director, Tim VanGilder. “They both represent our brand perfectly and work together very well. They’re extremely dedicated to racing, yet are wonderful people to chat with on the trail – if you’re able to catch up with them. All of us at crankbrothers are very proud of our little team, and we couldn’t ask for two better individuals to represent us.”

While the riders remain the same, there are plenty of changes in the team’s supporting line-up. Scott USA joins as the official bike sponsor, providing a range of bikes to cover the team for a variety of course conditions. “I’m very excited to partner with the crankbrothers Race Club,” said Adrian Montgomery, Marketing/PR Director for SCOTT Sports Bike Division USA. “My philosophy in sponsorship is to support well rounded athletes who can perform year-round and in multiple cycling disciplines. These two can race XC at the top level as well as cyclocross, which is a focus for SCOTT currently. This partnership fills a niche in our national marketing initiatives that will unfold throughout the season, so stay tuned.”

Also new to the program for this year is Magura, who will be the team’s official brake and suspension sponsor. Kenda will provide tires, and Clif Bar joins as the team’s official nutrition sponsor. Lazer Sport has created a custom light blue Nirvana XC helmet specifically for the Race Club, which is available at crankbrothers online store. Fi’zi:k returns as the official saddle supplier. WD-40 Bike also joins as the team’s bike care provider, while athlete skin care is provided by Soigneur Embrocation – a new brand out of Grand Rapids, MI. Oakley joins as official eyewear provider.

“We’ve also selected a few interesting new sponsors, too. To address the increasingly difficult handling skills that riders need at World Cup events, Chloe and Judy will be working with Lee McCormack of LeeLikesBikes.com to improve their technical skills,” added VanGilder about the program’s expanded list of sponsors.

The team will be outfitted by Pactimo. “Pactimo has fantastic technical gear and their ability to do custom pieces is above the rest. They compliment the vision the crankbrothers brand. It’s a great match,” added Tim.

The two riders have an aggressive season ahead and will be racing at Pro XCT events before heading off to Germany for the first of the World Cups.

Luckily, a call to Crankbrothers and another to Arizona Cyclist had the bike outfitted in equipment in no time.  In fact, all the color options that Crankbrothers has to offer meant I could dress the bike up to not only be a fantastic ride but to look good as well. The bike needed to be light since it’s a 15in frame and would find smaller people pedaling it around. But carbon wasn’t going to cut it for Tucson’s rugged terrain. So we opted for aluminum parts for longevity.  When it came to the drivetrain, with the help of Arizona Cyclist, we ordered a SRAM X9 build kit and dressed it up with some Avid Elixir brakes and Formula 2-piece rotors (more garage finds). The bike weighs in at 23.5 lbs with not a hint of carbon.

The build couldn’t have happened without the generous contributions of Crankbrothers, X-Fusion, Fizik, and Formula. We also couldn’t have made it happen without the help of Arizona Cyclist. Or my husband, Travis, who put everything together. The frame also came from my days racing for Luna, so I’d also like to thank my old team.  This frame traveled to Chile and Australia in one year and carried me to my third (and final) collegiate mountain bike title. Now I just hope it gets around Tucson a bit more and helps some kids fall hopelessly into the thralls of mountain biking. Okay, that’s enough sappy for now.

In case you’re wondering, the complete bike is going to El Grupo Youth Cycling which is a cycling club in Tucson, AZ that empowers youth through cycling. They have a clubhouse in downtown Tucson and participate in many local events. Check out their website for more info.

We just received an update from Revel Rad CX Team director Jim Brown, and we thought this was a story worth sharing. In the words of Jim himself:

Do you want to know what is cool about bike racing? When a 16 year old aspiring junior can line up on the start line with TDF Stage winner and race head to head.

Sunday at Ft Steilacoom, Washington native Tyler Farrar showed up to race some cyclocross as part of his off season training. Many of the juniors on Rad were star struck by the local rider who has won stages in all 3 grand tours.

David O’Brien and Nolan Brady got the privilege of racing with him. David and Tyler lined up next to each other at the start line and they stayed tight for most of the race. David would lead through most of the technical sections and Tyler would come to the front on the more open power sections. After battling for 45 minutes, Tyler succumbed to a flat tire and David rolled away to win the battle. Quite a thrill for Mr. O’Brien. Tyler proved himself to be a true man of class, as after the race he came to the Rad camp to congratulate David, sign autographs, and pose for photos with rabid young cycling fans.

The last round of the 12 Hours of Temecula Series was held on Saturday, November 10, at Vail Lake in Temecula, CA. With winter upon us and evenings now dark at 5:00pm, we showed up with the goal of keeping racers warm and well fed. Having raced 24 and 12 hour races ourselves, we know that those moments waiting for your teammate to emerge from the darkness can be cold and lonely, and we wanted to do something about it. Crankbrothers setup a warming tent and offered a pasta feast to anybody who wanted to escape the cold for a bit. Our tent was located right at the transfer location, which provided a great location for racers and spectators alike.

As the evening got chilly, the tent heated up to a toasty temperature. Some racers scorched their Lycra on the heaters, while others came in from an exhausting lap and ate plate after plate of fresh cooked pasta. It was a ton of fun getting to know the racers, teams, and families as we joined in the cheering and watched some close battles unfold!

We’re already planning for the next event in January, and we think adding some garlic bread and hot cider sounds pretty good.

Learn more about the SoCal Endurances races: socalendurance.com

This past week has been an endless project of trying to pack up all our bikes & stuff that we have had here in Europe for the past 5 months. Not only do I have to pack up the 5 bikes that we have with us, but I’ve had to scrub & wash each and every one of them, including all the tires, shoes & gear so that they are squeaky clean for the Nazi New Zealand customs inspectors. Trying to get 5 months worth of European Summer mud off of everything is no easy feat, and I am pretty darn over cleaning shit right now. The only good thing about this, is that the bikes & kit will be ready & raring to get riding as soon as we get home. Yes please.

Right then, back to the crazy adventure that is called the Trans Provence.

Well, I didn’t think that this year would be able to top last year, but it did, in epic proportions. It wasn’t harder, in fact, it was easier, as some of the stages were made a bit shorter, but due to some massive storms, bad weather, near death cliff flinging experiences, helicopter rescues, general crashes due to us pushing too hard, navigation issues, bad water & some emotional stuff that we were trying to get to terms with, it made for a pretty amazing 7 days. From the start we naturally split off into smaller groups and that seemed to stick for the duration of the race. We never tried to get home last everyday, or have something crazy & pretty scary happen to us every day, but somehow it did, and our group just kept growing tighter & tighter, to the point where we were sticking together like glue. We ate together, rode together; pee’d together, high fived together, quit jobs together, laughed & cried together. After a series of events that started happening, we named ourselves Team Dark Cloud, as it seemed like wherever we went or whatever we did, shit would hit the fan! Most of the Team Dark Cloud members were friends before the TP, but we became really great friends last week, and it is a crew that I cannot wait to share many more adventures with.

Tired of me ranting on about the crew, it is hard for me not to. Yes it was a race, but it is hard to explain this race to anyone who hasn’t experienced it before. It is hard, really, really hard & it is mentally & physically very challenging. You start off wanting to win, wanting to push as hard as possible, but as you figure it out, you realize that there is so much more to it that just racing & the results. Of course we are all there, because we like to race & we want to do well, but this week just proved to me again, how important it is to have great friends, and how incredibly lucky we are to meet such great, likeminded people on our bikes.

I am really happy about my 2nd place finish behind Anne Caroline Chausson, and even happier that I was actually able to win the overall on one day. Rosara and I were close all week too, she would put minutes into me on the longer climbing stages and it would take me days before I could make up the time with some of the shorter downhill stages, but in the end I managed to take 2nd place with Rosara in third, Aimee Dix in 4th & Hannah Thorne in 5th (Not bad to have 3 Kiwi girls in the top 5). Apart from the results, it was great to get to know Anne better. We’ve been to so many races & raced together for so many years, but we’ve never actually hung out. We did at the TP. We drank red wine, chatted about babies & boyfriends & became friends. I’ll never forget my first encounter with ACC. It was my very first Pro race at Sea Otter classic in 2001 & she started behind me #FML! I take my hat off to each and every girl that finished the TP week – it was hard & they should all be super proud of themselves.

The race between the AM class men was the most exciting, with Sven, Chris Ball, Seb Kemp, Tobias and many others racing against each other as if they were back on the World Cups circuit! It was great to see these friends rotating results every day, and drinking & bantering over the results each night. In the end it was Toby who took the win, with Seb in second place & Joe in third.

Of course the Pro Men’s race was very exciting as usual. With Nicolas Lau taking the win, Nicolas Vouilloz in second & Jerome Clementz in third (not bad for being part of Team Dark Cloud).

What happened to Team Dark Cloud on a daily basis was more exciting than most people experience in a lifetime. Looking back on the week now, puts a huge grin on my face & I cannot help but giggle to myself. Not funny at the time, but we will be sharing these stories for many more years to come, and that is what life is all about to me. We are rich with memories & friends.

Below are just a few of the happenings that occurred during the week:

Jon Cancellier started off the first stage by carcassing down the steepest part of the track, then I was attacked by a stick that almost poked my eye out, but instead just poked a hole in my forehead causing blood to gush out like a drinking fountain. Hannah Barnes was attacked by that same stick, and the two of us looked like we got into a cat fight.

We got caught on the top of a really exposed mountain, during a really, really big, scary thunder, lightning & hailstorm, where we just wanted to get off the mountain. We didn’t even bother with kneepads; it was too cold to feel your hands. At one point I didn’t even know if I was braking or not, I was so frozen. There was no thought of racing, it was absolute survival, and I was hoping & praying during my race run that someone wouldn’t die. During this stage, we got stuck crossing muddy, waist deep flash flooding rivers, which were mere ride able creek crossings for the earlier groups. Jerome crashed & lost his pants during the thunderstorm & put a hole in his penis. Well not his penis, but close! He managed to finish that stage in his extra holey, fishnet Mavic stockings, I mean lycra. What a legend. Jey also managed to recruit an entire Cannondale team after handing out dry t-shirts to all of us for the remainder of the day. Go team Dark Cloud Cannondale – and this was only day 2.

We all got lost, a lot, especially Chris Ball – that man needs a compass, o, and Hannah & Seb also joined in – or were they just the search & rescue team looking for Chris?
Devastated about his navigational error & time loss, Chris decided to take flight off a cliff the next day, into the abyss, in front of us all, on his 10-year anniversary day. I thought he was a gonner & still have visions of his yellow 29er cart wheeling down to the valley floor & for a moment there I had visions of having to call Kate & e-mail her the photo he took for her just minutes earlier.

A wasp nest decided to attack some of our crewmembers & of course they were allergic. Bad water the previous day, caused us to almost loose Seb & Jon. Thank goodness I had charcoal tablets & rehydration powder to get them through the day. Jon managed to vomit all day long, including during his timed stage races. As if this was not enough, Jon also slipped & fell down a massive cliff, thank goodness we had Paul Smail the fireman to hoist him back out & then to top it all off he hit a tree going full speed 20 meters before we finished for the day. Not a day Jon would like to repeat.

Sven managed to flat, then double flat again along with Seb & Chris also flatting. Smail knocked himself silly one morning & jacked up his shoulder pretty badly.
I can go on and on, but there were too many things to list. I must say the funniest one was when JC was lying in a ditch and all I could see was a talking head when I came down shouting at me not to take this line!

As the week progressed we tried to stick together incase something really bad had to happen, and of course it did. All we had to do was make it to the beach on a relatively short day, but Sven had other plans. Day 7, stage 1 was slippery & wet and he went down hard, or hit a tree hard I should say. A few of the Team Dark Cloud members were still at the top, so we were able to get to him quickly. He was pretty out of hit, hit his face & head pretty hard, and his arm was looking a bit wrong. As Sven would later say after some morphine, “God, who was I riding with, the fucking Village People?” We had Hannah Barnes, a nurse in real life, who just took charge, she was amazing, and then we had Bjorn the doc who supplied all the morphine & Smail the “handle bar mustached fireman, we had Toby & Sam, the logistics brothers & organizers & Jerome the translator. Chris, Jon, Joe & Matti were the moral support & keep the humor going crew. The whole team was amazing. Team Dark Cloud pulled together. Thank you to everyone that helped. We got Sven stabilized & he got heli lifted out of the forest & off to Nice – beating us all to the beach after all.

Sven’s whole incident in that forest last week was very emotional. It ended up being a badly broken arm & concussion, but it brought back so many memories of when he broke his neck & it freaked me out. I couldn’t stop thinking about my good friend Gabby, who had just lost her soul mate a few weeks earlier & seeing Sven lying there, wrapped up in space blankets, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Gabby must have felt & how amazingly brave she must have been. We had also been riding with the presence of Jaymie Mart, a good friend of ours that left us all too soon – she was laughing at us & all our antics from the back of Chris Balls number plate all week. Matti also broke down when he saw Sven with flashes of all his past injuries coming back to him and just being too overwhelming to deal with. It brought out so many emotions between all of us, things that we have been trying to deal with and get to terms with over the past few weeks, and I personally want to thank each and every one of you for being there with me. I truly feel we have all made progress with whatever demons we’ve been chasing or have been chasing us.

What was supposed to be a relatively short day with a swim in a sunny, hot Mediterranean sea, turned out to be quite a bit different for Team Dark Cloud. After Sven took off for Nice, we all had to carry on racing. Not ideal. I still had 4 races to do, or to hold it together and get to the bloody beach in one piece. Of course due to our delay – thanks babes- we got caught in another massive storm while everyone else had completed the Trans Provence & were drinking beers & high fiving all around. Team Dark Cloud was back! Jerome took Sven’s timing chip & clocked him in for every stage race. That was so rad. Thanks Jerome. Sven even managed to get a 2nd place in the Pro class during the one stage! We raced the last two stages in pouring rain, on slippery ass rocks, and we just wanted to be done. Of course it would all be too simple if we actually just finished up. Two stages, big deal. Hannah managed to flat, I managed to have a massive crash, Toby ripped off his rear mech, we were all starving & out of water, then to top it all off, Chris Ball had a massive crash, wrapping his neck around a tree and that had Seb & Jon pile right into him, leaving them all in a big pile up 200meters from the finish of the race. Chris & Seb managed to get up and clock out, but Jon had done his ankle in pretty badly. Paul Smail, the fireman had yet another rescue to tend to, as he had to carry Jon out of there and get him off to the hospital. OMG, we had all sort of all finished the bloody Trans Provence.

We promised to jump into the ocean for Sven, so we had a mission. Come hell or high water, we were going for a swim. We survived; we bonded (especially with Paul’s leopard print speedo). We became great friends. Hopefully nothing else would happen with our crew before the end of the day, as it turns out Toby couldn’t swim – so we all got a bit nervous, and got the hell out of the water! It wasn’t complete with our missing compatriots, but it was a great feeling of accomplishment. So there you have it, another Trans Provence done & dusted. It was time to drink beer & share stories with all the other brave soldiers. Will I be back next year, hell yes, I’ll be back!

Peace out
Anka x