Gary Fisher and 29er Crew to Roll in for Festival

Fayetteville, Tennessee - April 16, 2008 - On the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, two sensational racing events will put their personality in motion and make an impact on the sport of mountain biking. The Dirt, Sweat and Gears 12 Hr. mountain bike race presented by Swiftwick and the SSUSA Single Speed Shindig both thrive on the idea that each year, they have to raise the bar and set new standards for the experience of each racer and festival attendee. This year, DSG will not only offer racers a shot at a $10,500 purse, but race organizers are raising funds for two important causes: the American Cancer Society and a new partnership for trail maintenance with SORBA/IMBA.

In a huge show of support for the American Cancer Society, both Vassago Cycles and Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles have come up big for this event. Ellsworth will be donating an Ellsworth “Project Pink” Epiphany frame and Vassago will bring a custom pink Jabberwocky to the event. These frames will be awarded to lucky winners who make a contribution to the American Cancer Society.

Maverick Bikes is giving away a complete Maverick Matic at DSG, demonstrating their commitment to both the sport and Maverick’s leadership in trail advocacy work with IMBA & SORBA. The organization’s members generously dedicate their time and money to trail advocacy. Maverick will reward IMBA & SORBA members who enter the race at DSG because they are uniquely eligible to win an awesome Maverick Matic.

As an added bonus, participants can plan on a personal visit with one of the pioneers of mountain
biking, Gary Fisher. On Friday May 2nd, Gary will not only race his single speed at SSUSA with other 29er Crew members but will lead a “Ride with the Fish” group ride on the challenging DSG course at The Cotton Mill Preserve. Swiftwick is the title sponsor for the DSG race this year (www.swiftwick.com) and the company is excited to sponsor the event with such outstanding industry participants and leaders.

Dirt, Sweat and Gears - Dirt Sweat & Gears is a USAC Ultra Endurance Series 12 hr. Mountain Bike Race and Festival that takes place on the weekend of May 2nd – May 3rd 2008. Last year DSG hosted racers from 31 states competing for a $10,000 purse and walking away with over $15,000 of schwag including complete bikes, frames, and most importantly, great memories. An addition to the DSG weekend, SSUSA, will take place on May 2nd and will feature a three round single speed race with all the requisite single speed shenanigans. For more information visit: www.dirtsweatandgears.com

IMBA - The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) creates, enhances and preserves trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. Since 1988, IMBA has been bringing out the best in mountain biking by encouraging low-impact riding, volunteer trailwork participation, cooperation among different trail user groups, and innovative trail management solutions. IMBA’s worldwide network includes 32,000 individual members, more than 500 bicycle clubs, and 400 corporate partners and dealer members. For more information visit: www.imba.com

American Cancer Society - The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

source: Grant Castle

Cannondale Factory Racing in UFO Plast gear for 08 Season

Cannondales latest addition to the racing scene, “Cannondale Factory Racing” signed a deal with UFO plast for Protection Gear and Race Gear.

2 times American Downhill Champion Duncan Riffle, Junior hope Sam Dale (UK) and Dutch 4Cross Star Joost Wichman will be seen at all major Downhill and 4 Cross Events wearing their kits.

Cannondale Factory Racing is more than happy to have UFO plast as such a strong partner, giving support to reach the teams goals.

source: Wesley Parker
www.ufoplast.it

Today, Oakley announced the prizes the company will award to winners in their Oakley Rider Search (www.oakleyridersearch.com) video contest. Prizes range from trips and lift passes, to actual lessons and rides with Oakley team athletes. April 30 deadline.

source: Shannon Kelly

Ryan Leech ‘Plays it Cool’ With David Suzuki

First carbon-neutral pro-mountain biker

April 18th, 2008 ~

Ryan Leech has taken his role as an environmental advocate one step further this month by signing on the first professional mountain biker in the Suzuki Foundation’s ‘Play it Cool’ program.

Play It Cool’ is an innovative environmental program that teams high profile summer and winter athletes concerned about global warming with the David Suzuki Foundation. These athletes are committed to making changes in their lives to reduce their climate impact, and to inspiring others to do the same.

“I am working with the David Suzuki Foundation to distribute information at events, primarily encouraging people to take The Nature Challenge,” wrote Ryan on his newly updated website (ryanleech.com), “I distribute David Suzuki Foundation info to all the schools I visit for my Trials of Life presentation, and make reference to Global Warming in my speech.”

What does Carbon Neutral mean for athletes such as Ryan?

Flying, driving, and heating buildings all produce polluting carbon emissions. These emissions create a heat trapping blanket in the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.

Carbon neutral means having no net impact on the climate. The most important solution to global warming is for all of us to reduce the size of our carbon footprint - by driving less, flying less, and switching to renewable energy sources.

To learn more about Ryan’s involvement in environmental advocacy check out: ryanleech.com

Get the latest Factory Team News & Updates at:

NORCO.com

About Norco Products Ltd.
Whether you’re sportin’ spandex and cleats, or torn jeans and a bandana, if riding a bike is the highlight of your day, the one bright moment in your week, or that old faithful friend patiently hanging in your garage - then you understand what Norco is all about. We make great bikes, because we want to ride great bikes, it’s as simple as that. Check out NORCO.com to view our entire line of 2008 bicycles.

source: Trisha Petrella

source: Uhlman, Shawn

Working her way to the 12 hours of Dirt Sweat & Gears in Fayetteville, Tennessee, Pua Sawicki set a course record of 7:44:00…a full 50 minutes better than the old record and 58 minutes in front of her nearest competitor.

This past weekends’ Cohutta 100 race in Tennessee was also the first stage of the NUE series (National Ultra Endurance Series). Over 250 racers showed up for the 100 mile race and another 200+ riders showed up for the shorter 65 & 35 mile races. The weather turned bad the night before with ran almost all night long and through the first 2 hours of the race, soaking the course and helping to cause many crashes on various wooden bridges over stream crossings.

Pua Started the race by jumping up front on the 3 mile paved hill start and making her way into the single track already well out of sight of the chasing women. Pua worked her way into the top 15 men and less than an hour into the race she noticed her rear tire was losing air. She decided to race on it to the first check point, this slowed her down and she dropped back to around 30th position but still in the female lead. Ellsworth-powered Team Mata switched out the wheel and within the next hour she made her way back to the top 15 men. By 45 miles into the race she already had around an hour lead over the second place female. Pua was able to slow the pace for the second half and still set a new course record by 50 minutes with a time of 7:44:00.

source: Rich Carr, CRME

Los Angeles, CA — Lifestyle clothing brand Evomo will debut new 2008
apparel designs and give away an iPod Shuffle at the Sea Otter Classic
in Monterey, California April 17-20.

A few of the new Evomo clothing designs include the Venom T-shirt,
E-800 3D shirt and the Invader zip up hoody which is multimedia
composite of traditional screen printing, embroidery and stitched
fabrics which, when combined, create a very unique and one of a kind
look. This sherpa lined hoody is available in charcoal, MSRP $65. The
“E-800″ t-shirt is a true 3d stereoscopic image of a robot transformer
created from various bike parts, shocks and frames. Its printed in
red/blue inks so that when viewed with the supplied 3d glasses the
robot appears to float off of the shirt. Definitely a one of a kind
Evomo shirt that is sure to get some attention, MSRP $20.

Evomo will be holding a drawing for a 1GB iPod Shuffle during the Sea
Otter Classic. Be sure to stop by the Evomo booth during the 4 day
event to see the new clothing designs and enter your name to win. No
purchase is necessary. One winner will be selected. For contest rules
visit www.evomo.com/contest/.

On Saturday the Evomo Girls will hanging out with the team at the
Evomo booth. Stop by and meet them and be sure to grab some free
posters and stickers.

For those of you who will not be attending the Otter you can read the
Evomo blog for daily posts with extensive photos at
http://evomo.com/blog.

Be sure to check out the brand new Evomo website and sign up for our
e-newsletter to receive special offers and announcements.

See you at the Otter!
Evomo Clothing/Team Sea Otter Booth 512

About Evomo:
Evomo is surf and skate inspired lifestyle brand apparel for the
freeride, bmx, downhill mountain biker and action sports star.

For more information please contact:
Evomo Clothing
Toll free: (888) 346-4421
www.evomo.com

source: Bryant Hombs

source: Trisha Petrella, Norco

Sea Otter’s Environmental Stewardship seeks to preserve Laguna Seca and Fort Ord

MONTEREY, Calif. (April 14, 2008) Quietly over the years, the Sea Otter Classic has managed to make great strides as a “green” event by reducing its carbon footprint. Now Sea Otter has become the model against which other events in the Monterey Bay area get measured. Partnerships with companies that have existing “green” initiatives already in place, like Toyota, Clif Bar, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Pedro’s, become part of the process to achieving a more sustainable, more environmentally responsible event. New this year, Sierra Nevada has signed on as the “Official Recycling Sponsor” and who better to lead Sea Otter’s recycling efforts than a company that managed to divert 98.2 percent of total solid waste from landfill through recycling and reuse efforts during 2007.

“Recycling is something that we do naturally here at our plant,” said Cheri Chastain, sustainability coordinator for Sierra Nevada. “So going to and participating at events, we wanted to improve the recycle-ability of products, now it’s at the point where we can start expanding and doing these things at the events we’re attending.”

While recycling may be a small step, it is an important one. Sierra Nevada’s expressed goal for the Sea Otter Classic is to make recycling easy. Next to every trashcan there will be a recycling bin so, an impulsive action to chuck recyclables in the trashcan should be easy enough to divert to the recycling bin right next to it. Now how easy is that?

Accessorize with Clif Bar

Clif Bar will take all energy bar wrappers (that’s right, ALL of them) at their booth, number 227 to later be converted into useful objects like tote bags and purses. The environmentally conscious Clif Bar & Co., in partnership with Terracycle, will be unveiling its new energy bar wrapper-recycling program, called the Wrapper Brigade at Sea Otter. For a look at the final product or just to learn more about the Wrapper Brigade, go here.

Sea Otter will also be the first stop on the 2008 tour of the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge, which challenges people to fight global warming by walking or riding bikes for trips that are two miles or less. Clif Bar unveiled its 2 Mile Challenge project at Interbike last year and the response so far has been positive.

“People everywhere really seem to be getting behind the concept of using a bike to make those quick trips of under two miles from where they live,” said Ryan Mayo, mobile marketing manager for Clif Bar & Co. “It’s not hard to see that it’s going to take some proactivity on our collective part if we want to make a difference on the climate change front. To that end, no one said that fighting climate change has to be boring - and what’s more fun than emission-free travel on two wheels?! Here at Clif Bar, we enjoy our time on the bike for sure, so this was a natural evolution for us to help along the car-to-bike mode shift movement.”

A portion of staff members will be pedaling to Laguna Seca from Clif HQ in Berkeley (120 miles) and every Clif employee who attends Sea Otter will commute to Laguna Seca from their hotel.

Pedro’s Bike Wash cleans without harming the environment

A Cleaner “Clean” at the Pedro’s Bike Wash

Pedro’s brand bicycle care will further reduce environmental impact to the Laguna Seca Recreation Area and Fort Ord trails by providing Pedro’s Green Fizz Bike Wash Station, where dirty bikes will get their own kind of environmentally friendly spa treatment. Green Fizz, a biodegradable foaming bike wash, ProJ, a biodegradable, professional-strength citrus degreaser, and Go!, Pedro’s newest biodegradable and sustainable chain lube, will be on hand for cyclists who care about both their bikes and the environment to scrub, degrease, and lube their rides.

“We’re excited to offer the bike wash at Sea Otter. The event’s commitment to the planet is tremendous and we think that should be supported at every level. We want all riders to be able to wash their bikes and kill the dirt without killing the fish” said Jason Elhardt, Pedro’s marketing and communications manager.

Preferential treatment for hybrids, courtesy of Toyota

For the second year, anyone arriving at Sea Otter in a hybrid vehicle, like a Toyota Prius or Highlander, will be directed to premier reserved parking. Pedal-powered vehicles and carpools of four or more people per vehicle will also gain access. The reserved parking area is hosted by Toyota.

With some of the nation’s most environmentally proactive companies distinguishing Sea Otter just by their presence, Sea Otter must evolve as a responsible Environmental Steward to keep pace with its esteemed partners. Recycling, reducing, and solving the challenges of climate change have become a global responsibility. This year’s programs offered by the Sea Otter Classic, its partners and its participants take a giant leap in minimizing the event’s carbon footprint.

About Sea Otter Classic, Inc.
The 18th Annual Sea Otter Classic will be held April 17-20, 2008 at the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, California, USA. The four-day “Celebration of Sport” is considered the world’s largest cycling festival, hosting nearly 10,000 professional and amateur athletes and 50,000 fans. The Sea Otter Classic benefits the Davis Phinney Foundation, which supports Parkinson’s disease research and wellness, and IMBA California, which organizes advocacy and trailbuilding efforts statewide and strengthens California mountain bike clubs. More information can be found at www.seaotterclassic.com or by calling 800-218-8411.

source: Sea Otter Classic News Service

SAN PEDRO, CA - APRIL 10, 2008 - Division Clothing Co. LLC is proud to announce the launch of its Division 26 Brand. Division 26 features high quality street and music influenced apparel and accessories aimed at the Mountain Bike lifestyle. The current line consists of stylish t-shirts, hoodies, beanies, and hats. Technical gear will be released in the coming months.

Founder Dale Rowley and Co-Founders, Bob Burns and Eric Carter, set out to create a line of clothing that does justice to the mountain bike culture and its converging influences. “We realize that the mountain bike culture and lifestyle is always evolving and we strive to be a part of that ongoing evolution. We live by the motto ‘Future Forward Honor the Past’ Eric’s passion and accomplishments in the bike world will undoubtedly help us to not lose sight of the past, present and future of mountain biking,” said Division 26’s Founder Dale Rowley.

Division 26 clothing is currently available at select dealers and direct online at http://www.division26clothing.com/. Be sure to check out the line at the upcoming Sea Otter Classic — booth number 360 next to the food court and ATMs

About the owners:

Dale Rowley, an avid MTB enthusiast originally from Salt Lake City, is devoted to the design, image and growth of Division 26. He grew up riding BMX, skateboarding and snowboarding and also spent over a decade playing bass professionally. As lead designer of the Division 26 brand, his influences shine through.

Bob Burns is an expert level MTB rider from Southern California. Like many Southern California youth, Bob rode BMX, skated, snowboarded, and surfed all of his life. Bob’s love of BMX led him to the sport of mountain biking and Division 26. Bob’s goal for Division 26 is to blend the lifestyle clothing of surf/skate with his passion for mountain bikes.

Eric Carter is a professional mountain biker for Mongoose and is a prominent figure in the mountain bike culture. He has devoted his life to cycling and has earned multiple national and World Championship titles. EC focuses on riding his mountain bike for Mongoose, building bike parks and marketing Division 26 to be a future industry leader.

source: Dale Rowley