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KONA LES GETS TEAM RIDER TRACY MOSELEY WINS FORT WILLIAM DH - SCOTLAND & BARRY WICKS 5TH, ERIK TONKIN 6TH AT PARK CITY NMBS XC

PARK CITY NMBS:

With no disrespect to Tracy, the highlight of the weekend of racing for the Kona Les Gets Factory Team was the career ride and 6th place finish for longtime Kona rider Erik Tonkin. Tonkin has been the workingman’s hero for so many over the years and he routinely pulls 50 hours working in his shop, Sellwood Cycle Repair, and takes red eye flights to get to races. This weekend was no different except for the very impressive result.

On a day of high temperatures and at altitude Tonkin found himself riding with his “boy” Barry Wicks, who Tonkin helped secure a spot on the Kona Factory Squad five years ago. “I kept looking back and seeing Tonkin mowing through the field after a third row start and I was thinking, man he is killing it today,” said Wicks. Indeed Tonkin was on great form and both found motivation from riding with each other.

In the second half of the race Wicks and Tonkin turned the screws to the group they were with and Wicks launched attack to shed himself of the other riders. Wicks was very happy with 5th place since altitude has more than once been his demise. “It was refreshing to finally have a good ride at altitude,” he remarked.

Once Wicks was comfortably clear Tonkin powered off the front of the group and through a number of other riders to notch his best career finish at 6th place. “Suffice it say, I rode quite a bit with Barry, and my presence seemed to motivate him to greater success. That's what friends and teammates are for. He rode for pride, not wanting to let me get him, and then he smelled the podium and went for it,” said Tonkin.

Ryan Trebon had been fighting the effects of a lingering head cold. He was riding well but struggling to keep the legs turning when he flatted. At that point he knew the race was over for him and rather that “push all the way into the red zone and get more sick, I pulled the plug,” said Trebon.

Kris Sneddon had a decent outing but not what he would have liked to see. After a pretty good outing at the world cups in Europe his legs were a bit flat from the travels. He finished 16th.

Wendy Simms was getting back on her game. After a very rough go in Europe at the World Cups that consisted of tough start positions and the 3rd lingering respiratory illness of the season the legs and health started to come around in Park City. She rode strong with many of the podium contenders until fading late in the race to finish 7th.

The short track was relatively routine for the Kona Lest Gets riders but the results weren’t as good as hoped for. Wicks made a good attack at the beginning of the event and was able to ride off the front of the chase group but could not quite bridge to a waiting Geoff Kabush. The effort proved a bit too much and he faded back to finish one spot off the podium in 6th place and one ahead of teammate Ryan Trebon. Trebon had a slight bobble at the very beginning of the event and missed the initial selection and finished 7th. Kris Sneddon finished 13th.

Simms rode strong for most of the short track. She was with the lead chase group and riding well but again the legs faded in the latter part of the race and she fell just off the podium to finish in 6th place. She is looking forward to getting back to her homeland and toward the World Cup in Monte Sainte Anne, Quebec.

The Kona Les Gets Cross Country Riders compete on the Team Issue Kona Kula Supreme and Kona Hei Hei Supreme depending on the course.

TEST OF METAL-SQUAMISH, BC:

Neal Kindree successfully defending his Test of Metal title in Squamish BC. This race is an epic and cornerstone event in BC. The 67-kilometre NSCU Squamish Test of Metal cross-country mountain bike race is the centerpiece of the Squamish Mountain Bike Festival. This is a very demanding course with over 1,200 meters of climbing and 35 kilometers of singletrack. Kindree completed the course in 2:40:04 a solid five minutes ahead of the nearest competitor.

GRAVITY RIDERS:

Scottish Downhill Association-Fort William Scotland.

It was wet during the training but dry for the race, so Tracy and Fabien got to test the track in both conditions. Testing was the main goal for the weekend and we have now got a good idea of the new track conditions and the race times. We also have a good starting point for the bike setup and should have an advantage over the others when it comes time for the worlds.

Unfortunately for Fabien there was a pre-race mechanical that could not be overcome and we decided it was not safe for him to ride.But some good training runs were had and a good look at the World Championship course is always a good thing.

For Tracy, the training went well and she was ready to test herself against the men. There was no real competition in the women’s field so she wanted to target a time of less than 10sec per minute behind the men.
Her first run went well and she rode with confidence. She pushed hard from the start and found that the new top section had pushed her limits physically so she was struggling to catch her breath for the rest of the run. She finished with 5:44 and was pleased to be 44 sec behind the men.

For the second run she decided to change her attack a little to see the difference in her times, this paid off and she was 5 sec quicker, even though she did not ride technically as well as the first run. Time 5:39

So, Tracy took the win and managed to be just 40 sec behind Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie who shared a time of 4:59.

The Kona Les Gets Gravity Riders compete on the Kona Stab Supremes and Howlers for 4X.

Next up for the Kona team riders- Tracy Moseley, Fabien Barel, Kamil Tatarkovic, Kris Sneddon, Neal Kindree and Wendy Simms will compete at the upcoming World Cup in Monte Sainte Anne, Quebec.

Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon are staying stateside training and resting in preparation for the approaching US National Championships.

Till Next time,
Marko

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