Canberra, Australia (January 28, 2009) - In just his first race as a Nema factory rider, Jared Graves captured the 2009 Australian National 4X title! After a 4-year drought, Graves was overjoyed to have recaptured this title.
“I haven’t won one [in 4X] since 2005,” said Graves. “I was a touch late on the gate, but I got the gas down and just really tried to rider smooth with elbows wide!”
Graves’ win strengthens his chances at claiming the World Championship 4X title later this summer on this very course!
Graves followed up his stellar performance in 4X by claiming Silver in the downhill event. Graves narrowly missed the DH title, by three-tenths of a second, to Mick Hannah.
For more information on Nema, please visit www.nemamtb.com. For additional information on Jared Graves, visit his personal website at www.jaredgraves.net.

4X Results
1. Jared Graves [NEMA]
2. Sam Willoughby
3. Ryan Henderson
4. Luke Madill
DH Results
1. Mick Hannah
2. Jared Graves [NEMA]
3. Amiel Cavalier (tie)
3. Ben Cory (tie)
5. Rick Boyer

Photo: Damian Breach

source: Dylan Dean || Nema International

Nema’s riders had yet ANOTHER outstanding weekend across the nation! Nema’s factory sponsored team, Yeti / Fox Shox, CLEANED UP in Snowmass, Colorado, for the “Blast the Mass” Mountain States Cup. Meanwhile, Nema factory riders THREW DOWN out in Windham, New York for the latest round of the National Mountain Bike Series!

SNOWMASS MSC

Nema’s Ross Milan (Yeti / Fox Shox) dominated the Snowmass MTX course, taking the win in every heat into the finals. In the finals, Ross met up with several fast riders – Petr Hanak, Jon Watt, & Erik Nelson. Each rider could easily spoil the day for other, but Ross would have nothing of it. Ross, charged hard out the gate & never looked back!

MTX – Pro Men
1. Ross Milan [NEMA]
2. Petr Hanak
3. Jonathan Watt
4. Erik Nelson

6. Chris Boice [NEMA]
8. Rudy Unrau [NEMA]

In the downhill, this day would mark a decisive victory for Nema riders as our factory team (Yeti / Fox Shox) swept the top 3 spots of the podium! Young gun, Aaron Gwin, demonstrated that he’s a true threat to any race he enters. Aaron narrowly defeated his teammate Justin Leov by just over 1-tenths of a second! Fellow teammate Sam Blenkinsop would round out the three in 3rd spot.

Downhill – Pro Men
1. Aaron Gwin 4.05.47 [NEMA]
2. Justin Leov 4.05.61 [NEMA]
3. Sam Blenkinsop 4.09.49 [NEMA]

21. Ross Milan [NEMA]
24. TJ Sharp [NEMA]
31. Chris Boice [NEMA]

MTX – Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Neven Steinmetz [NEMA]
3. Christen Boyer
4. Darian Harvey

WINDHAM NMBS

A new venue on the National circuit, Windam Ski Resort proved to be highly challenging and extremely fun for the riders! With much of the natural terrain incorporated into the course, riders were refreshed and excited to race what is being touted as one of the best racetracks on the NMBS circuit this year!

In the downhill qualifying, constantly changing weather conditions proved to be problematic for racers. Despite early morning showers, Nema’s Kieran Bennett managed to keep himself calm and not let the wet conditions slow him down. Even being a bit cautious of the wet & grassy traverses and poor conditions, Kieran qualified 3-seconds ahead of the field, giving him a good amount of confidence going into the finals.

In the finals, Kieran Bennett followed up his stellar qualifying performance with his second NMBS win of the season by nearly 2 and a half seconds! Joining him on the podium were fellow Nema factory riders Brad Benedict & Ryan Condrashoff in 4th & 5th respectively. Windham marked the 2nd international victory of Kieran’s career.

Notable: Nema’s Brad Benedict’s extends his points lead with a 4th place finish on the day. Meanwhile Nema’s Ryan Condrashoff moves into 3rd and the day’s winner Kieran Bennett moves into 4th (despite missing the first two rounds of the NMBS) With one more round to go in Brian Head, Utah, this should prove to be a very fruitful & exciting conclusion to the season for Nema riders!

Downhill
1. Kieran Bennett [NEMA]
2. Geritt Beytagh
3. Cameron Cole
4. Brad Benedict [NEMA]
5. Ryan Condrashoff [NEMA]

10. Mike Haderer [NEMA]
18. Joey Schusler [NEMA]
24. John Hauer [NEMA]

Nema’s Mike Haderer took the first NMBS victory of his career over a small, but very talented field of riders. On a fast & flowy track, Haderer sped through the rounds to defeat New Zealand’s Cameron Cole (who won the previous round in Deer Valley).

Dual Slalom

1. Mike Haderer [NEMA]
2. Cameron Cole
3. Eric Carter
4. Ryan Condrashoff [NEMA]

6. Joey Schusler [NEMA]
10. John Hauer [NEMA]

American riders now head to Mt. Snow, Vermont for the US Championships. Best of luck to all riders attending!

http://www.nemabrand.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dylandeandesigns

source: J. Dylan Dean

photo courtesy of Dylan-Dean.com & Genius Imports (World Cup podium)

What a time it has been in the Nema camp! Just a couple of weeks ago, factory rider Brad Benedict took his first National downhill victory at the Santa Ynez NMBS, while Kieran Bennett grabbed his first International win a week ago in Angel Fire at the Chilie Challenge MSC / NMBS event. Then to top things off, this past weekend, Nema riders had phenominal runs resulting in several podiums at the 2nd round of the UCI World Cup series in Vallnord, Andorra!

SANTA YNEZ NMBS

Just a few short weeks ago, the 2nd gravity round of the National Mountain Bike Series took place in Santa Ynez, California. Even with 110+ degree temperatures, strong winds, and a lackluster DH track, Nema’s Brad Benedict still went all out for the win. Brad bested current hot-seat leader Eric Carter, and top qualifier Waylon Smith to take the victory! With Brad’s stellar result, he lands into 2nd overall in the National Series standings.

Pro Men DH
1. Brad Benedict 2.00.5 (NEMA)
2. Eric Carter…Mongoose +0.00.9
3. Waylon Smith (GBr) +0.01.1
4. Julius Syvanen +0.02.1 (NEMA)
5. Logan Binggeli +0.03.5

For more information on these events, check out PINNEDmtb.com
Santa Ynez NMBS - http://www.pinnedmtb.com/santaynez_nmbs08.htm

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ANGELFIRE - MSC CHILE CHALLENGE / US MTX National Champs

One week ago, Nema’s Kieran Bennett flew into the states from his home country of New Zealand just to compete at the MSC Chile Challenge, as it’s one of the tracks he excels on. Having missed out on a win last year, Kieran was on a mission to dominate the track this season.

After qualifying 2nd, right behind fellow Nema rider Aaron Gwin (Yeti/Fox Shox), Kieran knew he had it in him to compete for the win. On race day, Kieran stepped it up and squeaked past Kain Leonard by 2/100ths of a second to take the day’s victory!

Pro Men DH
1. Kieran Bennett 5.19.71 (NEMA)
2. Kain Leonard 5.19.73
3. Eli Krahenbuhl 5.23.42
4. Lars Sternberg 5.24.31
5. Brad Benedict 5.25.22 (NEMA)

Pro Men MTX – US National Champ
1. Rich Houseman
2. Blake Carney
3. Chris Boice (NEMA)
4. Joey Backus
5. Rudy Unrau (NEMA

Pro Women MTX (MSC)
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Neven Steinmetz (NEMA)
3. Jess Vogt
4. Sondar Williamson

For more information on these events, check out PINNEDmtb.com
Angel Fire NMBS - http://www.pinnedmtb.com/angelfire_msc08.htm

Yeti Video Clip – Nema Sponsored Team - http://www.yeticycles.com/#/videovault/
Click on the “MSC Race” on the right hand column

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UCI WORLD CUP #2 – VALLNORD, ANDORRA

Just this past weekend, Nema riders had outstanding performances by several riders. Nema’s Rastislav Pirman (4 Elements/Yeti/Hotec/RSP) took 4th spot on the podium in the Men’s 4X, while his teammate Anita Molcik (4 Elements/Yeti/Hotec/RSP) matched his performance by placing 4th in the Women’s 4X.

Meanwhile, Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti / Fox Shox) took his firs step onto the World Cup Podium by placing 5th in the Men’s Downhill. Sam’s stellar result brings him into 9th overall in the World Cup standings.

Pro Men 4X
1. Dan Atherton
2. Brian Lopes
3. Guido Tschugg
4. Rastislav Pirman (NEMA)

Pro Women 4X
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Mio Suemasa
3. Fionn Griffiths
4. Anita Molcik (NEMA)

Pro Men DH
1. Gee Atherton
2. Sam Hill
3. Greg Minnaar
4. Steve Peat
5. Sam Blenkinsop (NEMA)

For more information on these events, check out PINNEDmtb.com
UCI World Cup – Vallnord, Andorra - (VIDEO) http://www.pinnedmtb.com/andorra_wc08.htm

Yeti Video Clip – Nema Sponsored Team - http://www.yeticycles.com/#/videovault/

Riders are now in the town of Ft William, Scotland for the next round of the UCI World Cup series, then head to the UCI World Championships in Val-di-Sole, Italy.

Best of luck to all Nema riders!

source: J. Dylan Dean

San Marcos, California (April 6, 2008) Riders from around the globe descended to the metropolitan suburb of Fontana, California for the first round of the 2008 National Mountain Bike Series! Even with an early calendar date, Nema International could not have had asked for a more exciting kickoff to the official mountain bike season!

Nema presented the newest members of our factory team, Team Yeti / Fox Shox, with custom edition white & black ‘Podium’ shorts… with turquoise Nema patches to match. It couldn’t have been better timing, as the ‘Podium’ shorts lived up to their name! Factory Nema rider Ross Milan, took a decisive victory as he battled round after action packed round in the Pro Men’s MountainCross race.

Ross Milan said…

“I felt super strong. I got out & got through all the heats with pretty much ease… & really put the hammer down when I needed to! In the finals, it was pretty stacked heat. I just really had a perfect gate…. Rallied all the way around the first berm & the line opened up… & ran away with it after that. It’s great to have the first win, first race. Get the old confidence going before stepping into the world arena! We brought the ‘Podium’ [short] to the ‘Podium!’”

In the Pro Men’s Downhill, factory Nema riders had an incredible showing against a stacked field of world caliber riders. On a surprisingly difficult track, Justin Leov (Yeti / Fox Shox) proved that he’s had a great off-season training regimen, as he placed 3rd in the finals. Meanwhile, after qualifying 2nd, Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti / Fox Shox) followed up his incredible seeding run by placing 4th amongst the elite men!

Nema, along with their factory team & riders will be attending the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California in less than 2 weeks!
Nema Notes…

- Factory riders Ryan Condrashoff & Brad Benedict are representing in a RED special edition color of the Podium Jersey!
- Numerous Yeti / Fox Shox team riders attested that the Podium shorts were “mint” and the Breather gloves were some of the best fitting gloves they’ve ever used!
- Nema Jr X riders had a great start to the season as gravity phenom Kevin Aiello (Yeti So Cal) won in the downhill and placed 2nd in the MTX. Another rising star, Joey Schusler (Fox Shox / Yeti), had yet another great outing as he placed 3rd in the downhill and 5th in MTX.

For a more in-depth report & photos, visit http://www.pinnedmtb.com/fontana_nmbs08.htm

Photo credit: Dylan-Dean.com

MTX – Pro Men
1. Ross Milan [NEMA]
2. Erik Nelson
3. Dale Holmes
4. Peter Hanak
5. Eric Carter
9. Chris Boice [NEMA]
11. Mike Haderer [NEMA]
12. Ryan Condrashoff [NEMA]
18. John Hauer [NEMA]
25. Rudy Unrau [NEMA]
27. Evelio Suarez [NEMA]
DH – Pro Men
1. Chris Kovarik
2. Nathan Rennie
3. Justin Leov [NEMA]
4. Sam Blenkinsop [NEMA]
5. Cameron Cole

11. Ryan Condrashoff [NEMA]
12. Brad Benedict [NEMA]
13. Aaron Gwin [NEMA]
15. Mike Haderer [NEMA]
33. Chris Boice [NEMA]
38. John Hauer [NEMA]
53. Evelio Suarez [NEMA]

source: Dylan || Nema International