Good Month / Bad Month: Team Announcements, New Products, Sponsor Struggles, & Slickrock Drilling - January 2020
Team Annoucements
All the rumors can finally be put to rest.
All the rumors can finally be put to rest.
December was full of team rumors and farewell posts, which meant that there was no shortage of “Welcome to the Team” announcements once 2020 arrived.
Notable signings include Andreu Lacondeguy on Commencal, Dylan Stark on YT, Fabio Wibmer and the Seagraves on Canyon, and Johannes 'The Denim Destroyer' von Klebelsberg on GT.
Specialized Gravity picked up Christopher Grice, a speedy junior from North Carolina, and Greg Callahan joined Unior Devinci Factory Racing.
Richie Rude announced that he'll be with Yeti for the next three seasons, and Jared Graves will be back in turquoise as well, competing in select races and serving as brand ambassador.
Notable signings include Andreu Lacondeguy on Commencal, Dylan Stark on YT, Fabio Wibmer and the Seagraves on Canyon, and Johannes 'The Denim Destroyer' von Klebelsberg on GT.
Specialized Gravity picked up Christopher Grice, a speedy junior from North Carolina, and Greg Callahan joined Unior Devinci Factory Racing.
Richie Rude announced that he'll be with Yeti for the next three seasons, and Jared Graves will be back in turquoise as well, competing in select races and serving as brand ambassador.
New Products
There's no off-season for new shiny things.
There's no off-season for new shiny things.
When it comes to product launches and trade shows there doesn't seem to be an off-season any more – all 12 months of the year are filled with new mountain bike models and fresh components. DT Swiss launched a new XC-oriented fork, dropper, and shock, items that will no doubt appear on the bikes of a number of Olympic hopefuls.
The Core Bike show and the Burgtec House Show also took place in January, and featured new flat pedals from Nukeproof and Burgtec, Hope's first 35mm carbon bar, and a glimpse at Formula's new coil shock.
The Core Bike show and the Burgtec House Show also took place in January, and featured new flat pedals from Nukeproof and Burgtec, Hope's first 35mm carbon bar, and a glimpse at Formula's new coil shock.
Videos
If you can't ride, you might as well watch other people ride.
If you can't ride, you might as well watch other people ride.
Short days and long nights can make it tough to find the motivation to get out for a ride, especially if it's dumping snow or pouring rain. The next best thing? Watching videos of other people riding, and January was full of opportunities to escape reality for a few minutes. Fabio Wibmer did Fabio Wibmer things in Israel, and Danny MacAskill released another mind-boggling video titled 'Gymnasium' that's chock full of trials bike wizardry. Speaking of wizards, Brandon Semenuk took his custom painted Session to Japan, where he put on another stylish display in front of Revel Co's cameras.
There may not be that much actual riding in it (that'll happen in episode two), but don't forget about the Grim Donut. Pinkbike Tech Editor Mike Levy decided to create a bike from the future, and the result is, well, interesting, to say the least.
Thomas Lapeyrie & Becky Cook
Still hunting for sponsors for 2020.
Still hunting for sponsors for 2020.
Becky Cook finished the 2019 EWS race season sitting in 7th place, and Thomas Lapeyrie finished 20th overall, but the former teammates will no longer be on the Orbea Enduro Team for 2020. That's a difficult position to be in – the privateer life's not an easy one, especially if you're competing in a race series with stops scattered around the world.
At the moment, it looks like Becky Cook will be helped out by Wight Mountain, her local shop, and will be funding her race season out of her own pocket. In an Instagram post she said, "Bringing it home with my new set up for the 2020 season. Stoked to share that I will be riding the Scott Contessa bikes in collaboration with my local bike shop Wight Mountain I cannot thank these guys enough for all there help and giving me the determination to not give up on my racing dreams...and that podium! My intention is to race the full Enduro World Series once again but it will be self-funded and it’s a pretty expensive dream. Nevertheless fun times will be had along the way for sure and I can’t wait to get started."
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Thomas Lapeyrie is trying a different tactic, and has set up a crowd-funding campaign in order to drum up enough support to compete this season. Numerous pros have stepped up to help him out, donating jerseys and their time to help attract more supporters to what Thomas' is calling “Project Rider. 404,” a reference to the error message that occurs when a web page isn't found.
Bernard Kerr
Supercross dreams fail to materialize.
Supercross dreams fail to materialize.
Bernard Kerr's off-season goal was to qualify for the Anaheim 1 Supercross race, but his dreams were dashed when the AMA refused to allow him to start due to an apparent licensing issue.
In an Instagram post, Bernard said, “Unfortunately I will not be rolling out into the stadium today to try and qualify at Anaheim 1. I’ve been told a bunch of different reasons why by the AMA and the FIM but all I really know is that even though I do have an FIM license they won’t let me. So THANK YOU so much for all the support it’s been unreal!”
We'll see if Bernard decides to try again next year... I'd love to see him qualify, if only to silence all the crotchety motor heads out there.
In an Instagram post, Bernard said, “Unfortunately I will not be rolling out into the stadium today to try and qualify at Anaheim 1. I’ve been told a bunch of different reasons why by the AMA and the FIM but all I really know is that even though I do have an FIM license they won’t let me. So THANK YOU so much for all the support it’s been unreal!”
We'll see if Bernard decides to try again next year... I'd love to see him qualify, if only to silence all the crotchety motor heads out there.
The Environment
BLM Proposes Oil and Gas Drilling Under Moab's Slickrock Trail
BLM Proposes Oil and Gas Drilling Under Moab's Slickrock Trail
Moab's Slickrock trail is instantly recognizable, an otherworldly sandstone playground that attracts thousands of visitors each year. Now, two parcels under the trail could be put up for lease for oil and gas extraction due to a request to the BLM from an anonymous company. The company will be revealed during the public comment period that begins on February 20th.
Oil wells and heavy machinery aren't going to show up on the trail any time soon - surface work wouldn't be allowed, and any extraction would need to occur from adjacent land, the bulk of which is wilderness, where that activity would be prohibited. Still, just the fact that the land could potentially be leased for extraction is concerning, and it's certainly a situation that's worth monitoring.
Oil wells and heavy machinery aren't going to show up on the trail any time soon - surface work wouldn't be allowed, and any extraction would need to occur from adjacent land, the bulk of which is wilderness, where that activity would be prohibited. Still, just the fact that the land could potentially be leased for extraction is concerning, and it's certainly a situation that's worth monitoring.
Photo: Gravity Candy
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It was a flat out joke. He didn't even bother to sign up for a tiny local or regional event to see if he could even ride side by side or pass someone, not get ridden over or landed on or cross rutted or out of a gate or even make the first turn without tank slapping or even hold onto a bike at race pace for multiple laps even?
I don't say this as an endorsement for the activity, just to speak truth. "BLM Proposes Oil and Gas Drilling Under Moab's Slickrock Trail" is erroneous.
I have a feeling this wouldn’t be happening if that bitch Trump and that freak from Montana didn’t loosen restrictions, so I just want to tell all Trump supporters to go f*ck themselves.
To say Trump supporters are just ill-informed victims is wrong. I know better.
Nearly half of the voting population went for Donny T. Do you really think you can find a solution by telling 50% of the people you come across to f*ck themselves? No. That's being part of the problem.
We're more alike than we are different. Something that would be clear if we were just willing to listen to each other.
m.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Bernard-Kerr-World-Cup-DH-racer-wants-to-race-SX,1369050?page=16
He didnt need to be on the track. Even if he was faster than other dudes, knowing how to ride safe takes years. Nevermind his own safety the other riders deserve it too.
Travis has always been on a f*cking motorcycle. He raced before he became the freestyle guy. I was actually watching all those years ago when he made his first and only main. That was when he was a freestyle guy and he promptly shut it down.
The Pastrana reference is legit because he was riding a motorcycle not much after he stop shiting his pants. If Bernard is a motorcycle guy I challenge anyone to try to find in the AMA, FIM or the f*cking Irish federation any evidence of Kerr racing motorcycles.
Just because the guy was trained by McGrath doesn't mean he can race his first race in supercross.
He is f*cking Eddie the eagle and he is the f*cking Jamaican bobsled team all put together.
No one asked your pedigree, and no one gives a shit about it. And for someone who thinks so highly of their background and opinion, you’re extremely uninformed.
For starters, I never argued in favor of Bernard Kerr racing sx - I simply stated that Travis Pastrana is a bad example to use in relation to the Bernard Kerr situation.
Travis Pastrana didn’t make 1 250 main event as you suggested (a freestyle guy) - he made many (17 to be exact), but only after he won a 125 supercross and a 125 National motocross title. So when you remember “him making a 250 main back in the day”, it doesn’t make any sense, and you can’t compare him making sx main events to anything related to Kerr. A better comparison would be when Shaun Palmer tried to qualify for a 125 supercross and 250 National.
The bigger social question here though, is why you feel the need to curse and get angry, just because you were wrong in using Pastrana as a comparative. Is your dick really small? Did you hit your head riding your one enduro mtb event? Are you so thin skinned that you can’t handle being calmly and respectfully criticized? Only you know that.
I for one, and many others, will miss Dirt Rag, and their closing up shop is sure as hell more newsworthy than Kerr's failure to race SX.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7XS8wEF_RI&t=1s
works great!
Ive snowboarded for nearly 20 years and had the opportunity to ride 5 times...
Out of purely selfish reasons, experience of driving a car? Full electric or hybrid any time of the day for me. The initial glide is blissfully electrifying
TLDR: many/most LI batteries currently in the market haven't reached end of life, thus cannot be recycled. People just throw them out when they start losing capacity, rather than using them to end of life and then properly disposing of them (or the electronics they're embedded in, ie: cellphones, bluetooth speakers, etc.). With the boom of the EV the bulk of LI batteries won't reach end of life until about 2030, there's a big push to bring more LI recycling facilities online in the very near future
Where power is hydro generated? No
Where power is majority renewable? Still no.
Where power is primarily fossil fuel generated? Oh shit! Still no!
Take your feelings elsewhere, snowflake. We’re using facts in 2020.
web.archive.org/web/20130423230912/hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/10001_well_to_wheels_gge_petroleum_use.pdf
I am not a fan of oil, but I use it every day to get around, to eat, to use this computer, almost every I do. And like Waki said above your Tesla or whatever electric car one drives to save the world, is powered by what type of electricity is generated nearby. Some are nuclear, some are coal, some are hydro. They even had one Tesla charging station hooked up to a diesel generator in a parking lot, so those were diesel powered Tesla's!
Um, not with me driving. "Sporting" style driving I can get as low as 2mpg (and I am in a low profile vehicle). Put some bikes on the roof rack I bet it goes down. I have seen one Tesla at the trailhead, the person who drives it (seriously, a dentist) has his wife bring his bike in the "other" car, a Lincoln SUV of some flavor.
As far as CO2 recycling...well, I am certain that you are not that ignorant. Simply, your not. I recycle my CO2 (the stuff I exhale) as well as the combustion gasses from my vehicle(s) in the most environmentally friendly way possible....https://trees.org/carboncalculator.
As soon as I am sitting at a Fudruckers and decide to not get a burger due to the environmental impact of beef - I hope I am taken out by a rogue asteroid. You do of course know that humans invented the modern cow (and pig and chicken) as we know them, right?
I'm with you regarding your other points, though.
Yes you are correct. Photosynthesis does help combat co2 emissions. Unfortunately in America it’s pretty small agreed not 0%but around 10% and steadily decreasing as we populate more, burn more things, global warming and take up more land. I guess I would compare that type of recycling like if for every 100 million cars we recycled we closed down a scrap yard. Eventually we won’t be recycling anything.
From your previous posts I can clearly see I won’t change your mind. You have the same mindset as someone who believes the earth is flat or someone who doesn’t believe in evolution or think carbon dating isnt real. So I’ll stop here.
Having said all that... I drove to dirt jumps today... felt a bit sick, a bit tired and weather was tricky... it happens rarely but it happens. Never when I didn’t own a car and needed to rent one...
Our civilisation works on energy, there is nothing that can match the energy surplus of oil. This surplus is the amount of energy left over once the cost of producing and delivering the energy is subtracted. Please go and save the world for us, come up with something better than oil, I am not smart enough to do this myself sorry.
I am NOT for the destruction of the earth (as a highspeed train creating in the US thus far has done nothing but destroy natural elements and budgets in CA - and will never go high speed it turns out). I also am not for telling folks how to live their own lives (presuming they are not pouring diesel fuel into the river).
The thing is, based on the age of the earth and knowing that the central US was once under a sheet of ice...and knowing we are one erruption from another global cooling (Mt. St Helens for instance). I am going to do the ONLY thing I can do and control in my life....HAVE A BLAST and not worry so much about thigns I can not control :-)
Of course the team will try to find a new sponsor. Veronica has had an amazing season so that should help. Though it is hard at this stage. Most companies already have their budgets sorted out and just starting negotiations when all other athletes already have it finished doesn't make it any easier. Especially in a time when you should be training, sorting out logistics etc instead of trying to find a sponsor. I absolutely hope to see them race the full WC DH series this year but I'm afraid it is going to be really tough.