July 13th, Padden Mtn Pedal :: Bellingham, WA While the Gravity Team headed south, the Endurance Team headed north towards the Canadian border for the fifth round of the Indie Series. Tina Sarin continues to shine, placing 3rd in beginner women all ages. Paul Midgen took home 12th place in sport 19-34 and now sits 9th overall for the series. Raman Sarin and Don Elkins took home 7th and 9th, respectively, in beginner men 35-44.
July 12-13th, Fluidride Cup #3 :: Mt. Hood, OR The full P529 Gravity Team was out in force for the 3rd round of the Fluidride Cup. Unfortunately, Saturday practice took one victim as J Allard went down and hammered his shoulder and went off to the hospital in Portland. The rest of the team powered on with great conditions, maybe a bit dusty, and had solid runs on Sunday. Top honors go to Andrew Royal who took 1st place in beginner men 30-39 and Eric Loney who took home 2nd place semi-pro men.
June 23rd, Mt. Hood #2 :: Mt. Hood, OR While this weekend was more Super D than DH, it was an absolute blast. J, Nate, Clinton, Ty, and our newest team member Eric were all in attendance. The Bridle Trail is a super flowy course that's best ridden on a smallish bike (think Nomad or Blur 4X) and it's important to keep the momentum. J was the only member that podium'd with a 3rd place in Sport 30-39. That said, Eric and Clinton came close with 4th and 5th, respectively, in Semi-pro. Thanks to Sam for cooking on Saturday evening!
June 22nd, Indie Series #4 :: Winthrop, WA Craig, Paul, and Don made the trek east to Winthrop for the Methow Cycle Challenge this past weekend. The full report isn't in yet, but we do know that Craig finished 7th in Expert 35-44, Paul finished up 8th in Sport 19-34, and Don railed an 8th in Beginner 35-44. Halfway thru the season, both Craig and Don are chasing Top 5 series overall in their respective classes.
June 12th, New P529 Family Members :: Longview, WA We're stoked to announce the addition of Eric and Sam Loney to the Project 529 family. Eric's results have been killer the past couple of years, but more importantly, he's dedicated to the sport, constantly out riding and building trails, and generally speaking, he and Sam are the first to arrive at the race on Friday evening and the last to leave on Sunday. If you talk to Eric, ask him if he's nervous about the team initiation!! ;)
June 7th, Indie Series #3 :: Leavenworth, WA The cross country team, Craig, Chris, Raman, Tina, Don, and J, headed to the sunny side this past weekend. With J joining the XC crew and towing his Airstream on it's maiden voyage, this was sure to be an adventure. Surprisingly, there were no major camping catastrophes!! Tina stole the show this weekend placing 3rd in beginner women and topping all the beginner men on the team. Game on boys!
May 18th, Indie Series #2 :: Langley, WA The cross country team headed over to Whidbey Island for the Whidbey Island Mudder. Raman and Tina were out for the first time this season having missed the first round on vacation. Tina made up for lost time with a strong finish for 7th in the beginner women while Raman took 11th and Don 16th in their respective classes.
May 10th, Fluidride Cup #2 :: Port Angeles, WA Long live dual slalom! The Project 529 gravity crew is out at the FR Cup #2 and just finished a great day of downhill practice and dual slalom racing. Clinton qualified 14th, making the field of 16 in the combined Pro/Semi-pro racing. After crashing in his first run, he recovered to advance to the Round of 8 before Ben Storrar ousted him. More importantly, folks were having a blast watching dual slalom! For instance, Eric Loney was heard saying he wasn't going to race dual anymore, it was more fun spectating. We'll drop a note tomorrow with a DH update - while the course was amazing today, the rains came in this evening...
April 20th, Sea Otter Classic :: Monterrey, CA The final day of Sea Otter brings downhill racing. A couple runs of practice and one shot on the pedally downhill (Super D?) course. The day went off without any issues and nothing particularly interesting to write home about. The one last trip thru the festival to chat with sponsors was the highlight. With that in mind, thanks to JD at SRAM, Chris at SDG, Rosy and Pat at Ritchey/Syncros, Jason, Andy, John, and Co. at Crank Bros. and Juli at Santa Cruz! Till next year...
April 19th, Sea Otter Classic :: Monterrey, CA A great day of racing was had today. The XC boys, Paul and Chris, had a great early morning race. Both commented it was hilly and sandy. J got and eye infection and was unable to race. Nate and Clinton spent the day racing Dual Slalom. Nate was ousted in the round of 32 and Clinton in the round of 8. Final results... 8th for Clinton and 25th for Nate. Overall, a great day of fun and racing, even though it was a bit cold.
April 18th, Sea Otter Classic :: Monterrey, CA Racing starts tomorrow, but the action has been pretty amazing regardless. The photogs were out in massive droves for pro/semi-pro downhill practice. Riders indulged. Check out the photos for a sampling of the goodness. Chris, Paul, J, Nate, Clinton, and Ben all have races tomorrow. Stay tuned for more coverage!
April 17th, Sea Otter Classic :: Monterrey, CA For the 3rd year in a row, we've made the trek to Sea Otter. J, Nate, Kelly, Alexandra, Clinton, and Ben Storrar are here. Midgen and Brannen from the XC team get here tomorrow. Weather is perfect (maybe a bit too sunny!?) and course conditions are good though a bit dry. Downhill practice went off today without any issues. The initial table top section has been converted into two big doubles.
April 6th, Indie Series #1 :: Seatac, WA This weekend was the 'official' kick-off of the Project 529 XC race season. We had a great showing of riders and support crew, started a new tradition, and enjoyed some great racing. Congrats to our XC Captain, Craig, on taking 4th place in Expert Men's 35-44. Be sure to check out the picture album, especially Don practicing the our new tradition. ;)
March 23rd, '08 Paint Session :: Seattle, WA Each season, when we receive our new batch of Santa Cruz frames, we begin the process of prepping them to be painted the official team color of PPG Lemon Chrome. We received our first batch of frames a few weeks back and then learned the unfortunate news that the paint had been discontinued. With a few phone calls, we got a couple gallons, thanks to Clinton's dad, Michael! This weekend, with the paint in-hand, we got down to business and sprayed six frames. Here's a couple pics of the almost end product, enjoy.
February 24th, Chilly Hilly :: Bainbridge Island, WA Many of our team members shed their treads this past weekend and hopped on their road bikes and went for a 33 mile ride known as the Clif Bar Chilly Hilly. Chilly cause it's February. Hilly cause there's 2,675 of climbing. All told, there was a group of about 10-12 riders that completed the ride, including Nate, Rebecca, J, John, Raman, and Paul. Rumor has it that the downhill team members broke some speed barriers on the downhill portions of the ride. Imagine that!
February 10th, 1st Race of the Season :: Seattle, WA Chris Brannen kicked off the '08 season with a pre-season warm-up race at the South Seatac race. Amazingly, the weather held for a good day for riders and spectators alike. Having moved up to the sport class for 2008, Chris placed a respectable 5th place. Get out and ride your bike folks, it's finally that time of the year!
January 17th, Maxxis :: Seattle, WA The good news continues to roll and the latest is that we'll be outfitting our bikes with Maxxis tires for the 3rd season in a row. To say the least, our gravity team loves the Minion DHF/DHR and High Rollers and the endurance team loves the ADvantage and CrossMark. We're stoked!
January 11th, SDG :: Seattle, WA You guessed it, we'll be running SDG saddles in 2008! The I-Beam set-up is lightweight, comfortable, and easy to adjust, a pretty solid combination. A good portion of the team has been running the SDG I-Beam seat posts and saddles for the past few seasons so it's no surprise we're excited to make it official.
January 4th, SRAM/Rock Shox/Avid/Truvativ :: Seattle, WA Words can't describe just how excited we are to announce that Project 529 will be running the full SRAM product line for the 3rd straight year. Our cross country team is looking forward to running the brand new Sid fork, not too mention the Juicy Ultimates. The gravity boys will yet again run the Boxxer upfront and you'll see the Vivid in the back. Thanks to JD and Brian P. for the support!
December 24th, Teaser #2 - NWDC III Endub Empire :: Seattle, WA. Greg of Grubworks Media Productions has just released the 2nd teaser for the 3rd installment of Northwest Dirt Culture (NWDC). G-man is a local videog bringing the pacific northwest scene to the masses. We see him hanging out at the local races and riding hot spots. Check out what he sees at those spots... view the teaser now!
December 9th, Seattle Cyclocross Finals :: Kelly Creek, WA Craig Fowler took his third win in a row! Like in his previous two wins Craigery took the lead from the start and walked away from the field, to win alone. With this third win, he'll be racing as a Cat. 2 next cross season. On the way to his win, Craig finished in true 529 fashion by stopping at the final run-up to do a shot of vodka and was able to still won by 40 seconds!
November 25th, Seattle Cyclocross #8 :: Seatac, WA. Craig Fowler, 529's Cylocross Captain and XC team member, took his second win in as many weeks. Fowler took the lead from the start and opened a 30 second gap by the mid point of the race and cruised to the win.
November 18th, Washington State Cyclocross Championships :: Bremerton, WA. Craig Fowler, member of the P529 cross-country team and team captain of the cyclocross team took the Cat3 Washington State Championship today. The man got back from hiking the PCT about 2 months ago and has only been back on the bike for just over a month. Pretty darn good, pretty darn good!
November 17th, Ritchey/Syncros :: Seattle, WA We're excited to announce a new sponsor for the 2008 season, Ritchey and Syncros. Our endurance riders will be riding with some killer
Ritchey Carbon and WCS products while our gravity riders will be riding with some killer
Syncros products. We're also excited to have Ritchey onboard as we continue to expand Project 529 into new bike disciplines.
November 14th, Spy Optics :: Seattle, WA Project 529 is going into it's 3rd year and we're excited to announce that Spy Optics will be our sunglass, goggle, and casual threads supplier for the 3rd straight year.
November 1st, SixSixOne/Royal/Sunline :: Seattle, WA. We're stoked to announce that Project 529 will be teaming up with SixSixOne for the 2008 season! Our gravity team has run the 661 protective gear for many seasons and can't say enough about the quality and reliability.
October 20th, NWDC III Endub Empire :: Seattle, WA. G-man, the Snore King, from Grubworks Media Productions has just released a teaser for the 3rd installment of Northwest Dirt Culture (NWDC). G-man is a local videog bringing the pacific northwest scene to the masses. If you haven't picked up a copy of NWDC I or NWDC II, what are you waiting for!? In the meantime, you can check-out the teaser here. Note the presence of a couple of yellow Project 529 Santa Cruz frames. ;)
October 18th, Fluidride Cup Announced :: Seattle, WA. It's been a couple of years since there was a gravity race series in Washington state. Not only will we have a races in Washington state, we're going to have both downhill and dual slalom and it's going to be a series that includes both Washington and Oregon. Simon Lawton over at Fluidride is the mastermind behind the effort and he's partnering with Petr Kakes who has run the Mt. Hood series for many, many years. Riders rejoice, this is great news!
September 22-23rd, Hood Series Finale :: Mt. Hood, OR. What a great weekend! We had 8 racers and 10 members in attendance this past weekend! There wasn't one person we ran into that didn't ask us 'how many people do you guys have on the team, can't miss those yellow Santa Cruz bikes'. Saturday practice was smooth and uneventful. Saturday evening was a bit more fun as Jordan, Meghan, Chris, J, and Ty hit the local hangs. More importantly, Sunday was solid. There were some crashes, a seperated shoulder (Clinton) and some broken ribs (Carl), but Chris, Andrew, and Alexandra stood atop a podium.
September 7, 23 Degrees Announces Luke Strobel Signing :: Ft. Williams. While this isn't the sort of news that we've covered in the past, we thought it was super cool Pacific Northwest news that shouldn't go un-noticed. Local boy, Luke Strobel, signed with 23 Degrees Sports Management at the Worlds this year. Complete details are available here. Luke's been shredding the pacific northwest scene for quite some time. This past year he got his first big break, signing with the Maxxis team for the 2007 season and competing at 3 World Cup events. His results speak for themselves and clearly folks have taken note. Could Luke be the next G-Cross Honda team member with Matti Lehikoinen moving on?!
September 1-2nd, Scotty Graham Memorial :: Mt. Hood, OR. The 4th round of the Mt. Hood series was this past weekend and we had 3 riders in attendance, Nate, Clinton, and our newest member of the team, Alexandra. Alex has been honing her skills at Whistler for the past few months and this was her 1st race. While Saturday left her with some gnarly bruises, she took 1st place on Sunday. Super cool! Clinton and Nate, both running the full Hood course for the first time this year, took 5th and 6th place, respectively, in Semi-pro. Check out the blogs for more details...
2007 Season, P529 Endurance Team & the Indie Series :: Pacific Northwest. The Indie Series and the P529 Endurance Team's season has come to a close. For our first season of cross-country, it was pretty darn good. Chris Brannen finished 2nd overall with Paul 4th, Don 5th, and Raman in 6th in Men's 30-39 Beginner. We also had Tina Sarin finish 3rd overall in Women's 30-39 Beginner. While we anxiously await the start of the 2008 season, Wednesday night rides continue. Drop us a line if you're interested in joining the fun!
Photos Uploaded! August 11-12th, 2007 Willamette Pass #3 :: Oakridge, OR. Our newest member to the Project 529 Gravity team, Carl Ledbetter, is now the Oregon State Champ and Willamette Pass Series Champ. Give the man some props! Carl, Nate, and Clinton made the trek down and had great weekend of riding and racing. Carl took home some medals, Clinton a check for Top 5 overall fastest, and Nate a Top 5 in semi-pro. Super fun weekend; keep an eye on the rider blogs for more particulars. For those Washington riders not making the trip down there, you're missing out!
Photos from saturday practice...
July 21-July 29th, 2007 Crankworx :: Whistler, BC. Another year has past and P529 had a successful week. As always, the event was a class act, giving a mulligan for the timing issues on a few of the events. The weather was perfect 6 out of the 9 days and the other 3 days of wet weather made for some challenging races that tested the skills of everyone. The Biker X, Garbanzo DH, and Air DH courses are one-of-a-kind. Each requires a unique skill set and watching the various riders, from pro to the amateurs race each is great.
For P529, we had a successful week, both riding and racing. On the race side, Clinton topped the Biker X Masters class, took 2nd in the Air DH, and was Top 5 in Garbanzo DH and Dual Slalom. Nate brought home a Top 10 in Garbanzo DH. On the riding front, we introduced two more newbies to downhill, Ed and Andrea. It was great to see smiles on their faces! All and all, our crew had 50+ days of riding on the hill.
Last but not least, a special thanks to J.D., Brian, and the crew at SRAM for their support this week. Good stuff!
July 27th, 2007 Dual Slalom Practice and qualifying are done. Clinton qualified first, besting 2nd place by about 1.5 seconds total. The race has been delayed till tomorrow morning though. The timing and organization was a colossal screw up. It was supposed to start at 5:30, they attempted to start at 7:00. They got thru about 40-50 competitors and then called it due to timing issues. More to come tomorrow...
A couple photos from dual slalom practice...
July 27th, 2007 Dual Slalom Pt. 2 The racing finally went down. Great weather, course was beautiful, and racing solid. Clinton got ousted in the round of 8 by Cory Leclerq. Greg Minaar took the Pro Men's victory, Fionn Griffiths took the Pro Women's victory.
More dual slalom photos...
July 25th, 2007 Air DH Another beautiful day in Whistler. Conditions were absolutely perfect - they did some course maintenance last night to smooth out the braking bumps and the wet weather from the weekend has left the ground nice and tacky. Clinton was the sole P529 racer today and took home 2nd place. 2 out of 3 podiums on the week now. Dual slalom is up next...
Some Air DH photos...
July 22nd, 2007 Garbanzo DH This course is the longest DH run of it's kind. It's insanity and the weather the past few days has only added to the excitement. The run is somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes depending on your skill level and it has just about every type of terrain, fast and open, tight and rooty, tight and rocky, jumps and banked turns, and technical singletrack. Number one problem has been visibility, thankfully Nate and Clinton had their Spy goggles hooked up with tear-offs. Pros are still to run, but we've got the P529 results... Clinton finished 5th and Nate 8th. Not too bad folks, not too bad.
A couple of Garbanzo DH photos...
July 21st, 2007 Biker X It was a wet and muddy day on the hill. That said, the course held up to the rain and the racing delivered. It was a particularly great day for Clinton. After qualifying 1st, he went on to win his semi-final. In the final, he fought from 3rd to 1st to take the victory! To say the least, he's a happy camper!!
Check out some photos of the day here...
June 30-July 1st, 2007 Willamette Pass :: Oakridge, OR. Clinton, Nate, John, and Carl made the trek down south for a great weekend of racing. While we weren't looking fwd to the long drive, it turned out to be a bit shorter than planned. When we arrived, we were treated to a beautiful view, perfect weather, and awesome race courses. We didn't stick around for the 2nd run times to be posted so don't know the results quite yet. Check back early week for details on the rider blogs...
June 14-17, 2007 Deer Valley NMBS :: Deer Valley, UT. Clinton and Alex made the trek down to Deer Valley for the 4th round of the National Mountain Bike Series. While the series isn't what it used ot be with the changes to National Gravity Calendar, the courses at Deer Valley are still pretty darn good. An eventful weekend was had, check out Clinton's blog for more details...
June 9-10, 2007 Shiloh Cyclery Challenge :: Mt. Hood, OR. The team was out in full force this weekend, Nate, Clinton, John, J, Ty, and Carl. Once again, Petr ran a great race. Streamlined registration, well prepared course, posted the times fast, and was paying out to the top ten fastest riders of the day. While the weather didn't want to cooperate the entire weekend, it wasn't enough to damper the fun or the results. Ty took home the top finish with a 2nd in Sport 19-29. Good stuff!
June 3, 2007 Bavarian Bike and Brew :: Leavenworth, WA. While the gravity team fled to the cooler climes of Whistler the XC team decided to take on the hotter climb in Leavenworth. The Bavarian Bike and Brew course was tough, 4.1 miles of climbing 1800 feet, followed by 4.1 miles of descending on some fun single track, more info in the blogs..
May 20, 2007 Beacon Blastoff DH :: Spokane, WA. While the XC contingent was on Whidbey Island, the DH riders, Nate and Clinton, made the trek over to Spokane to compete in the Washington State Champs. It'd been 3 years since either Nate or Clinton had ridden at Beacon Hill and both were quickly reminded just how fun the courses were and are today. It's got turns, jumps, doubles, and some gnar rock sections at the bottom. While Clinton finished 4th and Nate 6th, not what either thought they were capable of, it wasn't too bad for being the 3rd day either of them had ridden their downhill bikes since last October.
May 20, 2007 Indie Series Rd. #4 :: Whidbey Island, WA. The XC team was in full force for the 4th round of the Indie Series. While Paul was back for his first race since separating his shoulder back in early April, Don was now sidelined after dislocating his pinky on the P529 Wednesday Night Ride. The team faired nicely, Tina finishing 5th, and the boys, Chris, Paul, J, and Ramin, finishing 4th, 6th, 7th, and 10th. Most importantly, our newest member, Audrey Sarin, competed in the Under 10 yrs old category and finised a top the podium. Be sure to check out the pic of Audrey pre-race on Raman's rider blog.
May 5, 2007 Shiloh Cyclery Spring Fling :: Mt. Hood, OR. This was round one of the Mt. Hood series. The race was held on a local trail in the Mt. Hood Government Camp area, not Skibowl due to snow levels and the course was more Super D than DH. While our Project 529 contingent didn't expect to fair well, Nate nursing a cold, J healing from a deep contusion that extends from hip to knee, and Clinton still fighting bronchitis, all landed on a podium. J landed in 3rd in Beginner 19-39 year old and Clinton and Nate finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in Semi-pro. The team is looking fwd to racing the full series.
April 22, 2007 Indie Series Rd #3 :: Seatac, WA. While a good portion of the team was out nursing injuries, we still had 5 riders competing. Chris continued his winning ways with 1st Place in the Beginner Men's 30-39 and is leading the series championship. More importantly, we got another member out for their first race ever, Tina Sarin. Tina placed 3rd and had an absolute blast. Check out the individual rider blogs for more details...
April 12-15, 2007 Sea Otter Classic :: Monterey, CA. It's time to kick-off the 2007 season. While our XC season started back in late February, we all know the 'official' start of the year is Sea Otter.
April 15, 2007 :: Sea Otter is complete! With the exception of Saturday's whacked-out weather, the weekend was a huge success. The bikes worked great, the courses were in prime condition, and the event a blast. It's too bad there's not more events like this in the good ol' US of A. Nate and Clinton raced downhill today. There was over 80 semi-pros and 100 pros - a huge field! Both had uneventful runs, finishing 34th and 46th respectively. Last but not least, props to John Dawson at SRAM for the huge box o' swag!
:: Downhill race photos, click here
April 14, 2007 :: Day three is complete. Weather was absolutely insane today. It started off nice and sunny. By 11 a.m., the winds had picked up and clouds had moved in. For the next two hours, it poured. Nate and Clinton were waiting to qualify when the worst hit, paying the price with hail and rain soaking them both. They delayed the races for two hours, thankfully. J raced downhill and was stoked with his run. We've got no results at this point - everyone was too focused on getting showering and warming up after a day of whacky weather. More details later, dinner time now.
:: Dual slalom photos, click here
April 13, 2007 :: Day two is complete. Practice was relatively uneventful for the team. Met up with Jon Wilson for most of our runs on the downhill course. Nate and Clinton got in 4 or 5 top to bottom runs. Ask Fowler about tagging the course marker! J got in a total of one run during practice due to the line (see photos) but got to session a bunch of the course.
:: More downhill practice photos, click here
April 12, 2007 :: Note much to report quite yet, we've only been here one day. We do have some initial photos here and Clinton will be updating his rider blog nightly.
:: Downhill practice photos, click here.
April 1, 2007 Indie Series Rd. #2 :: Olympia, WA. 6 weeks later, Rd. #2 goes off at Capitol Forest. Capital Forest has some great trails, XC, Super D, and DH. We had a full team out for the race, Paul came down and photog'd while nursing his broken wing while Don, Raman, and Chris took to the beginner course and Nate and Clinton the sport course. While the weather wasn't quite like Rd. #1, it was 35 degrees at the start of the sport race at 9:30 a.m. That didn't make much difference though as the course started with a 100 yd sprint and then 5 miles of climbing.
March 24, 2007 One Up, One Down :: WA. Some good, some not so good. First the good... following Rd. #1, we added another member to the team, Chris Brennan. He hails from Chicago and now lives in Vancouver, WA and will be competing in the full Indie Series. We're stoked to have him on board. On the other side of the coin, we lost a rider for a few weeks. Our XC Captain, Paul Midgen, clipped a tree with his shoulder and will be down and out for ~6 weeks with a separated shoulder.
February 24, 2007 Indie Series Rd. #1 :: Belfair, WA. Wow! We're working on the full story, but lets just say that for the P529 Endurance Team kick-off race of the year, this one was tough. We arrived to the Valentine's Challenge to see 3" of snow and 35 degree temperatures. Combine this with the constant rain all week and the course was tough; puddles hub deep and 20 feet long and mud 4 or 5" deep. The team trudged thru it though. We had 7 total riders out there today and 5 riders were racing cross country for the 1st time. Growing the sport one at a time.
February 17, 2007 P529 Team Meeting :: Seattle, WA. Each year, we like to kick-off the season with a pretty simple gathering. We all got together over Fowler's place for some pump track fun, a few drinks, and planning. Given the team has doubled in size this year, we had a good showing and some good laughs.
January 31, 2007 P529 Endurance Team :: Seattle, WA. We're pumped to announce the formation of the Project 529 Endurance Team. We've got athletes participating in triathlons, cyclocross, and cross-country. Rebecca's running, swimming, and biking her way towards a half ironman triathlon. Paul, Raman, and Craig are preparing for the Indie Series here in Washington. Stay tuned for more info...
January 20, 2007 2007 Sponsors :: Seattle, WA. This time of the year rocks. Training for the new season is underway, planning a race schedule, and best of all, new bikes and gear. On the bikes and gear front, we're pumped to yet again be riding with Santa Cruz, SRAM, Avid, Truvativ, Maxxis, and Spy Optic. We're even more stoked on the new additions of Rock Shox and Crank Brothers. Stay tuned for more announcements over the next few weeks...