Category Archives: Racing

Connor Fearon trains on a Honzo

Connor has been off to a solid start this season, and is cranking out the training miles on his new Honzo. Connor Approved!

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4 Races, 4 Wins for the Kona Factory Team

It was a busy weekend for the Kona Factory Team, with Riders competing all over the globe. Locally, Matt Slaven won the Dog River Enduro, on Mt Hood aboard his team Process race machine. Barry Wicks and Spencer Paxson battled it out to the bitter end at the Cascade Chain Breaker in Bend Oregon, with Paxson taking a narrow edge in the sprint finish. Cory Wallace raced the Salty Dog Enduro six hour MTB event, and not only did he win, he beat his old course record by a few minutes, and Wendy Simms won the Stottlmeyer MTB race in Washington. Good work Team!

Posted in DirtJump, Enduro, Freeride, Grassroots, Racing, The Team, Videos, XC | Leave a comment

Super Grassroots Racer Andy Olsson – Newport Coast Hills Classic XC

Last week I picked up my new Hei Hei Supreme and was eager to test it out. My wife and I headed out to the coast for the Newport Coast Hills Classic XC for our first race of the year. I had no expectations going into the race other than not being DFL. There were some turbo looking guys there so I sort of assumed my position towards the end of the pack. Steadily I started to pick guys off and going into the second lap the race director said I was 30 seconds back. What? I thought there were another ten guys ahead. Pulled up to the next guy in front and asked how many more. Only one. Spent the rest of the lap trying to pull him in but was unsuccessful. The bike was fast and furious, certainly exceeded my expectations, ended up in second place. Not a bad start to the season. After finishing the winner asked, “Aren’t you riding enduro mostly?” I guess people are starting to notice my riding. Alice Pennington took the win in pro women also on board a new Hei Hei Supreme.

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Karim Amour in Enduro | a Bike Movie 3 – Episode #5

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Matt Slaven’s New Dakine Ad from Bike Magazine

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Rad Racing’s Big Weekend

Rad Racing’s Jim Brown reports: It was a big weekend for Rad Racing NW. We took home the gold both on the road and the dirt. The following riders won races this weekend.

Westside MTB Series:
Andrew Waddell-Beginner Category BuDu MTB
Brayden Buchanan- Sport Category BuDu MTB
Scott Funston- Expert Category BuDu MTB

Tour De Bloom Omnium:
Wyatt Mason- Wenatchee TT
Criox Cameron-Wenatchee Crit
Alex Walentynowicz- Wenatchee RR(State Champion)
Wyatt Mason-Wenatchee Omnium

Evergreen Student League:
Nolan Brady- HS MTB Varsity
Erik Pitkanen-HS MTB Intermediate

That’s 9 total wins for the weekend, Awesome Work!!!! Read More

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Video: US Grand Prix Mountain Biking Port Angeles

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Spencer Paxson: A grasshopper, an otter, and some whiskey

After a month hiatus from travel since the Louisiana trip, the Kona band got back together in Headlsburg, CA for the start of a great three-week race campaign from northern California to Prescott, Arizona. The story of the trip is below, in five parts.

Prelude: Bend transplant
Sarah and I made a temporary move to Bend, OR this April-June for her physical therapy rotation. It’s been great for training, working remotely, replenishing vitamin D, and spring ski touring. Read more

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Kona Super Grassroots – Gardner Racing California Enduro Report

This past weekend was the second installment of the California Enduro Series at the Dirt Club in Los Olivos CA. The format consisted of 8, 2-3 minute downhill runs with plenty of pedaling in between. The first four runs were faster and more downhill oriented and the last four were longer and less steep, putting each rider’s fitness to the test.

Enduro racing is gaining traction here in California and the growing list of competitors reflected that. Over 150 people showed up to get dusty in California’s version of the Serengeti Plaines. Gardner Racing was equally excited about the event. After packing up the van, they made the short trip away from the coast to the Santa Barbara County wine country. Read More

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cyclingdirt.org checks out the new kona carbon bikes at sea otter

Kona came to Sea Otter with their 2014 Major Jake, a carbon ‘cross bike equipped with all the latest including discs and internal cable routing. The new Jake with be available complete as the Major Jake and higher spec’d Super Jake, as well as a frameset.

The new carbon Jake features a tapered headtube and a WIDE fork crown that has eyelets for running fenders. Internally routed shift cables keep things looking tight while the rear brake cable is run externally. Read the complete report here

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Cowboys and Bikers: cory checks in from whiskey 50

The final stop on our America road trip was in the cowboy town of Prescott Arizona. This town of 40 000 country folk was the capital of Arizona from 1864 to 1889, but more importantly is now host of the annual Whisky 50 mountain bike race. The race attracts most of the top pros in North America, as well as nearly 1800 amateurs for a weekend of high altitude (5500ft-7500) racing. There are saloons all over the old western town with nightly shootouts and cowboys strutin their stuff. There’s also an obsession with elk hunting as elk statues, elk head mounts and elk fajitas are found everywhere. The only elk that couldn’t be found around the area was a smiling live one. Read more over at Cory’s Blog.

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Karim Amour at Avalanche Cup de Lyon

Karim reports: This weekend took place the 19th edition of Avalanche Cup in Lyon (France).

During this two days of MTB, I participated in three events and ended on the following places :
- DH : 8th place
- 4X : 5th place
- Short track enduro : 1st place

See results here

Next step, the Open Enduro of Métabief in France from the 9th to the 12th of May 2013.

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