- Kona Riders Stomp Competition In NZ; Make Plans For Pan-Am Games -

KONAWORLD (March 25, 2008) - Veteran Kona Factory Team riders Barry Wicks and Tracy Moseley took no prisoners en route to nailing down some first-place finishes in Nelson, New Zealand at the Oceania Championships held March 14-17.

With both riders coming off wins at the recent Kona Colville Connection, Wicks competed in two events at the championships finishing fourth in the XC event and securing the win in the Short Track race. Riding an unforgiving six-lap XC course that was littered with sections of hike-a-bike and sloppy, loose terrain, Wicks managed to climb back into contention but was hampered when he got a flat tire on the final downhill to the finish. Wicks rolled the Short Track course, taking first amid a heavy contingency of Aussie and Kiwi racers.

“All the Kiwi riders were cheering for the Kiwis, the Aussies for the Aussies and everyone for me to beat either the Aussie or Kiwi who was ahead of me,” says Wicks. “I obliged them all.

Competing in three races, Moseley took second in the 15-second Dual Slalom, first in the fierce 4X and another win in the loose and rocky DH event – which she won by a mere four seconds. From Nelson, Moseley cruised over to Victoria, Australia for the Victoria State Championships at the Kona BikePark at Mount Buller. Racing at the venue for the first time, Moseley stomped the DH course winning with a time of 4 minutes, 7 seconds – 19 seconds behind the winning time of the elite men’s time!

In other news, Neal Kindree will be representing Canada at the 2008 Pan-Am Mountain Bike Championship in San Juan de Los Morros, Venezuela the first week of April.

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.

source: Keith Cozzens | Base Camp Communications | www.basecampcomm.com