Kona Clump Team Update

- From The U.S To Europe And Australia, Clump Team Riders Threw Down Last Month -

KONAWORLD (July 30, 2008) – Over the last month, members of Kona’s freeride Clump Team hit the dirt and air hard on U.S soil and across the Atlantic and Pacific.

Taking it to the competitive European scene, John “JC” Cowan made a guest appearance at the Nissan Outdoor Games in Interlaken, Switzerland before heading over to the Mega Avalanche event in Alp de Heuz, France – an 1,800 rider mass start enduro DH race. Taking his dirt jump background to the DH scene on a Coilair Supreme, Cowan rallied in the final to finish 142nd with a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes.

“That was way hardier than I ever imagined,” says Cowan. “Man I should have trained. I’m just glad to have finished further up than I started.”

Back in the states, Paul “Bass” Basagoitia was riding and filming for NWD 9 in the Badlands of South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming for a few weeks before heading home to sculpt new dirt jumps in his backyard. Then, it was onto Australia to continuing filming at the famous Red Bull Dirt Pipe. Sneaking in sessions between rain storms, Bass suffered a broken collar bone after hitting a jump and smashing into a wall. He will be out for 6-8 weeks.

As for the Spanish brothers Luis and Andreu Lacondeguy, they’ve been filming for the upcoming NWD 9 film on the jumps they built in their parents backyard in Barcelona.

Upcoming events for the Kona Clump include both Crankworx events in Winter Park, Colorado and Whistler, British Columbia, as well as the Adidas Slopestyle in Salbach, Austria where Grant “Chopper” Fielder will be competing.

About the Kona Bicycle Company:
The Kona Bicycle Company designs, manufacturers and distributes more than 60 models of purpose-built, high-performance mountain, road and urban bicycles. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Ferndale, Washington, USA, Kona bicycles are distributed worldwide in more than 60 countries through independent specialty bicycle dealers. Kona funds several professional road, mountain and cyclo-cross racing teams that include World Cup Champions, World Champions and National Champions. For more information check www.konaworld.com or contact Keith Cozzens at Base Camp Communications, kcozzens@basecampcomm.com