Greg Callaghan:

“For me it’s 6 races in 6 weeks throughout April and May to start the season, with the new team, bikes and everything else I have been pretty eager to get racing. With it being the first year I have fully committed to Enduro I was coming into it relatively blind as to where I would fit into the results, just have to give it the beans and hope we’d come out in a good position.

I got the Range Killer B built up the week before these races and got out on it a few times to get the hang of it. It’s a 650B bike which I feel is definitely the way to go for enduro. It just carries speed so well yet it doesn’t feel any bigger or harder to move around. It’s a no brainer really that these bikes will be all over the enduro scene in no time. It’s the best of both worlds between big noodle 29ers and oldskool 26ers.

It started with the first Irish Gravity Enduro in Carrick where I had a pretty good day with some mistakes to put me in 2^nd, a solid start to the year. The craic was had and the trails and organisation were awesome, it’s pretty cool to have one of the most respected enduro race series in Europe being run so close to home, pretty much all the races are within an hour of Dublin, where I live which is pretty handy.

So after a week of panic and stress to get everything ready, it was onto the first stop for the Transit, the UK Gravity Enduro in Innerleithen. I arrived on Friday evening to snow and hail… great, it was going to be another one of those wet and muddy weekends, as you’d expect to see in May… sure it’s only meant to be summer!

I got a practice lap in on the Saturday followed by seeding late Saturday afternoon on stage 5.I got pretty smoked on this one which put me in a bad starting place for Sunday. Thankfully the guys seeded ahead of me were really good at letting me by whenever I did manage to catch them on a stage, so fair play to them for that. A few of my stage times from the day turned out to be good ones, with a couple of them cracking well into the top 5 I was happy. The seeding stage was repeated on the Sunday again, with a crash and not a great run it didn’t help my result. I finished up in 8^th overall for the weekend but was really happy with my stage times which showed I had the speed to run with the top boys.

After a spin around the Golf Course trails in Innerleithen on Monday with Scotty Laugh-land and a lap of Glentress on Tuesday it was time to start trucking South to the Alps. I picked up Jimmy Mac (2007 British pitbike champ, yeah, kind of a big deal) in Milan and off we went to Riva Del Garda for a round of the German Specialised/Sram series, where we met a load of other Irish riders.

What a place Garda is, unbelievable views, gnarly as hell trails and brutal climbs. The transitions for this race were huge with over an hour of pushing hard in first gear to the first stage and 1600m of vertical climb in 31km, although it was worth it for the reward of the fast and rough stages. The bike was loving the rough stuff and the moderately big wheels were just bounced through the rock gardens. It’s always good to come to a race like this and know that you have the right bike for the job, that was definitely the case here and there were plenty of other Norcos around the place too.

The event itself was pretty relaxed, with no start times for the stages it meant that there was plenty of time for hanging out with friends and enjoying the views.

Having arrived at the race a bit late, I only got to ride 5 of the 6 stages once. Stage 4 was the stage that I raced blind, and funnily enough it was my best stage of the day. Stage 5 was probably the wildest run I have ever had on a bike. Not knowing it too well meant that by the time I had realised I needed to slow down for a section, it was too late and all I could do was hang on for dear life! This caused me to have a crash and lose some time, but with the tracks being as rough as they were, a few mistakes were inevitable. Nearly 6 hours in the saddle meant that we were well spent by the end of it all, it was easy to spot the Irish lads at the finish, we were the gang with our tops off looking pasty white with a beer to celebrate the days craic.

There were only a handful of riders missing this weekend from those will be at the first round of the Enduro World Series in a couple of weeks, so the results were a good indication of how people are shaping up for that one.

Once everyone finished we got the results and I had finished in 13^th place, only 1:30 off the win which was taken by Fabien Barel. That was pretty much as good as I could have hoped for with the lack of practice I had compared to others who had been shuttling the stages for a few days prior to the race. I know now where I lost out and what to work on for Punta Ala.

The race was on a Saturday which meant we had the rest of the weekend to chill out and recover which was pretty sweet. Although we did get some rain which wasn’t ideal, the sun came out at times so we could enjoy the scenery.

After a quick stop in Chamonix for some instagraming, wifi and a bike ride, it’s onto Metabief in France for the Kali open enduro, with Punta Ala the following week and Hamsterly UK Gravity Enduro on the way home for a few weeks break.

Hopefully the sun shows up as it’s currently bucketing it down and I’ve got a tan to work on!

Check back in a couple of weeks to see how the other races go for me and keep your eyes out for the Dirt Norco pits at the races, don’t be afraid to come over for a cuppa tea, you might even get one!

In the meantime, keep up to date with me on Instagram and Tweetbook @MTBGC or @DirtNorco for the team updates. Also, give Dirt Norco Race Team a like on the old Facey B.”

George Gannicott By Ian Linton

Dan Stanbridge (Dirt Norco Race Team):

We are all very excited to announce this news.

The team will be racing in full O’Neal race kit, casual wear, protective clothing and shoes. Personally I have looked up to O’Neal as a company for many years, impressed by their support of athletes and their wide range of products from some of my favourite sports (Cycling and Motocross) so to get the chance for the team to work with O’Neal this year is very exciting.

On the bikes, the team will be running Manitou Suspension front and rear from Hayes Components. The team has been working with the Hayes Components group for the past 3years, racing on SunRingle wheels (one of Hayes Components other brands) and so is very pleased to expand the partnership to include Manitou as well as SunRingle.

Greg Callaghan By Dermott Sweeney

Personally I ride and race mountain bikes because, quite simply, I really enjoy it! But at races in particular, an important part of that enjoyment comes form knowing you have a competitive bike that is fun to ride. For this reason as a team I think we are very picky about product to use and changing suspension was not a decision taken lightly. We have been testing the forks and rear shocks sent from Manitou in recent weeks (in fact Ben is in the South of Spain continuing this at the moment), after the results we have seen so far, we are very excited for the year ahead.

The team has already announced expansion plans to include 3 new racers this year (Casey Brown and George Gannicott joining myself and Ben at DH events plus Greg Callaghan flying the flag at the Enduro races this year). The support form O’Neal and Manitou play a big part in making this possible, so on behalf of myself, Ben and the Dirt Norco Race team we would like to extend out thanks to these companies for their valued support. We are looking forward to a great years racing and 2013 is defiantly set to be the most exciting year yet for the team.

Ben Reid

 Ben Reid (Dirt Norco Race):

“It has always been mine and Dan’s plan to expand the team so we could offer support to other riders. We had some big plans to put in place for this year and we talked with a few companies in the off season who were keen to get on board. After much discussion and testing we felt that both O’Neal and Manitou were the best fit for our team and had the same passion for racing as we do. I am very choosy when it comes to suspension and after my first ride on the newly designed Manitou Dorado fork I was pleasantly surprised and knew this was a ‘goer’ for our team.

I grew up watching my dad race motocross back in the early 90s in his O’Neal MX kit and it was refreshing to see O’Neal make a big push into the Mountain bike world when they signed Greg Minnaar last year. O’Neal along with Greg’s input have done a great job developing this years range of mountain bike gear and I think its fair to say our whole team is delighted to be racing in O’Neal kit for 2013″

Ben Reid

Iris Kuckelberg (ONeal Europe):

“We are excited to develop a successful partnership with the Dirt Norco Team. Partnering up as official global clothing and protection sponsor of the DIRT NORCO World Cup Team underlines our deliberate step in strengthening our position in becoming one of the most recognised and respected brands for MTB clothing and protection.

For over 40 years O’Neal has been providing innovation and technology with our non-stop product development. Serving our athletes and building products with passion is more than our company profile, to us it’s a life mission statement. We feel the partnership between the Dirt Norco Team and O’Neal is more than just a business deal, it’s one more step in fullfilling our athlete’s expectations and the increasing demand for the best apparel and protection in the industry.”

Greg Callaghan By Dermott Sweeney

Scott Struve, Global Director of Marketing for Hayes

“We’re truly excited to have Manitou added to the Dirt Norco quiver for  2013. While we’re confident that the team will realize improved performance, we have also enjoyed their product feedback. As with all of our top level riders they will play a key role in our development cycle. Additionally, the Dirt Norco team does an amazing job of telling the story of our sport to our audience. We look forward to working with them as the 2013 season unfolds.”

Dirt Norco Race Team 2013 Riders:

Ben Reid

Dan Stanbridge

Dan Stanbridge: Dirt Norco Race Team DH Racer and Manager.

Casey Brown

Casey Brown: Dirt Norco Race Team DH Racer.

George Gannicott By Ian Linton

George Gannicott – Dirt Norco Race Team Junior DH Racer

Greg Callaghan By Ramsey Cardy

 Greg Callaghan – Dirt Norco Enduro Racer.

See the full feature Dirt soon (issue #131) but in the mean time sit back and watch this cracking edit form Gee Milner.

Ben Reid – French Alps – Gee Milner Films a Mountain Biking video by gee-milner

Dirt Norco: MSA & Windham World Cup’s a Mountain Biking video by gee-milner

Dan Stanbridge (Dirt Norco Race team) describes the Sight as ”the bike that is closest to the door whenever I am at home. It handles in a similar way to my DH bike but slimmed down and with shorter travel so perfect for the sort of xc/ all mountain riding I am lucky enough to get to ride close by in Wales.”

Check out Evans cycles for more details in the UK because they are the new UK distributer for Norco.

After riding a downhill bike for the first time in Ireland just this winter with Ben Reid while Ben was training for the 2012 race season, Jordan Scott found he was getting a taste for it and had more than a bit of a natural talent on the bike. Jordan’s comfort on two wheels was not surprising given he has stood on the podium at the under 23 motorbike Enduro world championships just a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, the huge challenge has been set to see if with only a few months of training this summer, coming from being a relative novice on a DH bike, Jordan could be ready to sit on the start line of a world cup.

This edit is intended as the first part of a short story following Jordan Scott as he travels with Ben through europe this month riding bikes at various resorts on the way in an attempt to get up to speed and stand a chance of qualifying to compete in Norway, (the 2012 DHI word cup final at the end of this year). Unfortunately this trip does not go entirely to plan but hey it looks like they have a lot of fun on the way.

A big thanks to Dirt, Norco, Sram, Thomson, Schwalbe, Gamut, Kore handlebars and SunRingle for an awesome bike which we are really looking forward to racing this year. Here are some first shots as Ben’s bike gets built up.

“We are excited to welcome Tom and Tyler from EyesDown Films on board for 2012. As you can see from the short edit below we have been hanging out together these past couple of months as Tom and Tyler get ready for the seasons filming. Ben and I are both really excited to be working with EyesDown this year so please watch this space!

Alastair Beckett has been doing a great job of producing the team video edits for the past few years and has opened up some big shoes to fill. He is not going to be with the team for 2012, so we would like to say a massive thanks to Ali and wish him all the best in his next venture. With much excitement we would however like to welcome the EyesDown team of Tom and Tyler, who will be bringing their take to the team videos through 2012.

We would also like to say a big thanks to everyone who has supported the team in 2011, cheers to 2012 and we are looking forward to next year’s racing”
Stanny.

Long hours at the gym, in the office and for some, a well deserved rest to revitalise the passion for racing bikes! 2011 was a long year, but thats not to say we don’t have a little fun along the way. This video lets us take a look at some riding and also some of the days in between when we remember that were not only a team, but an extended family who are still eager to enjoy life and the journey that our bikes take us on!

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This year the team have been working hard with the engineers at Norco on the development of this years DH platform called the Aurum. This as well as key models from Norco’s 2012 range will now to be distributed by Evans cycles in the UK see this link for details.

http://dirt.mpora.com/dirt-norco-race-team/exclusive-norco-distributed-evans-cycles-uk.html

July 2011 – Evans Cycles is proud to announce the addition of Canadian
bicycle manufacturer, Norco Bicycles, to its brand portfolio. Canadas
largest cycling manufacturer will add a robust product offering to
Evans already impressive operations. Skip Swain, VP of Sales and
Marketing at Norco said, We are very excited to announce this new
partnership with Evans Cycles. Skip added Evans is a well known and
trusted source for cycling product and a natural step in strengthening
our presence in the UK market.
As an initial offering Evans will carry key models from the Norco line
including: cyclo-cross, aluminium-framed mens and womens road bikes,
mountain bikes (including downhill, 29er, hardtail and trail) and urban
/ flat-bar road bikes, with plans to expand and progress the range even
further over time.
2012 product is set to arrive in the UK early in the New Year and will
be available through Evans Cycles extensive network of stores and
online mail-order service. Evans will also be distributing Norco
Bicycles to UK dealers. Norco continues its trend of creating
innovative and exciting bicycles, said Joel N, of
Evans Cycles, the 2012 line up showcases the significant forward
momentum of the brand, and we are excited to present this line to the
UK.
With 46 years of history, the Norco bikes are a direct representation of
the environment and riders that develop the product. The local terrain,
staff and sponsored riders play a crucial role in the companys product
design and development. The line up of 160 bicycle models spans
everything from competition Road Racing bikes to World Cup Downhill,
dirt jump and childrens bikes alike.

Some videos from the Dirt Norco team who worked very closely with the engineers at Norco to help develop their new DH bike, the Aurum.

More Mountain Biking Videos >>

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