To pick up from where I left off, in Chamonix in France, we then drove a few hours North to our next race in Metabief where it was cold and rainy and nothing like what we were hoping for, after all we did come here to race in the sun!

Driving in Europe is slightly less boring than at home when these views are around.

The format for this one was in true French fashion and pretty different to most. There were 4 stages on Saturday, two of which you could practice, but they would then have sections changed for the race and then two blind stages. The weekend would then end with a pursuit stage on the Sunday where the leader goes first and gets chased by the pack with everyone starting in their current position in the rankings.
Of the two stages we could practice, one was pretty much a steep DH run with endless tight switchbacks and the other was fast and flowy with a fair bit of pedalling, a good mix of everything between the two.

After the Sunday stage in Metabief… she was a wet one.

Practice was in the mud, rain and cold which dampened the spirits of team Transit, but we soldiered on and got the job done. I nearly didn’t even bring a jacket on this trip, turns out it’s been the most used item of clothing I have with me. I’ll need to bring a higher grade adventure jacket for the next trip though, just in case the adventures get pretty intense. Scott Laughland has a good one.
Racing went fairly well for me, I had no major disasters and managed to get a 3rd place on stage 3, the DH one, just a few seconds back on Jerome Clementz in 2nd. I finished the day in 9th place in a stacked field so was delighted. For the Sunday the plan changed a bit due to snow at the top of the hill they cancelled the pursuit and just ran a repeat of stage 4, conditions were less than pleasant on the day and I held on to my 9th place to finish the weekend. To get in the top 10 amongst these boys, especially the French guys who have been racing blind for nearly 10 years was a big achievement for me so I was pretty happy with that.

Couldn’t resist a play on the sweet Metabief electric bikes!

A nice place to be coming into the first Enduro World Series next week. We hung around Metabief for a bit to get everything cleaned after the muddy weekend and trucked on down to Punta Ala to get practice going for the race next weekend. We set up in the campsite with the Brits on tour and entertainment for the week was provided by Sam Flanagan with his wonderful impressions of various people from the mountain bike world.

This was a nice view to arrive to in Punta Ala.

The stages here were fairly fast and technical with plenty of climbing to make your lungs want to fall out your back door. Stage 3 was a beauty with some flat out rough sections down rocky gullies where the big wheeled monster really came into its element.
The lap was due to be a huge one at 65km but they cancelled stage 2 due to weather conditions which made the day a lot more manageable for most with this one being the biggest of the transitions. I had also yet to practice stage 2 so it suited me nicely.
Saturday evening was the prologue where we raced through the streets of a local town in front of the crowds with the backdrop of the Mediterranean ocean. There was a cool vibe around for this and it was pretty sweet to get to race in front of a town full of people, on a pretty cool course too. 42nd for me in this was good enough as the main thing was not to have any mechanicals or crashes that will hold you back on Sunday in the main race.

The town was pretty packed for the prologue on Saturday night

After a long week of practicing it was pretty hard to get the race head on for Sunday which was a weird one. With these races being so relaxed it’s actually pretty easy to forget what you came for and to just enjoy the day rather than focus on the racing. I guess there’s a fine line between enjoying the weekend and actually getting the job done.

Skids and wheelies keep the women coming back.

We got the show started early on Sunday morning and had a 90 minute transition to stage 1. Once there, Sam Flanners and I had a wander down into the start of Stage 1 to check it out where we saw Josh Bryceland have the funniest start to a race I’ve ever seen. After some swearing, putting his shoe back on and straightening his bars he was back on his way. Another high point of the day was Al Stock, the people’s champion, who rode most of stage 3 on his rim. Apparently he was the quickest out of anyone through the sketchy rock section and he managed to make 7 Italian spectators minds literally explode with how he came through the section with his tyre on his back.
Back to my race, I had a relatively good day. Stage 1 it took me a while to get into things and I didn’t quite pedal as hard as I could have up the big climb, once it got a bit rougher and technical I got my head into gear and got into the flow. Stage 3 went well and was great fun, hammering through those gullies at race pace is a pretty awesome feeling! On stage 4 I had a stupid over the bars moment that cost me a fair bit of time and gave me the red mist which made me pedal like I was late for mass! Stage 5 was steady with no issues really, just some small mistakes. Overall a pretty good day with no huge disasters compared to some. I’m just glad I’m not Gary Forrest who had an awful day of it, poor Gary! I managed to finish the day up in 37th which I was pretty stoked with considering this was pretty much the Olympics of mountain biking with the depth of riders in the field. Even in 37th there are still people around me who are World Champions or who can race for wins on their good days, so I was pretty happy to be up there.

Some down time on Saturday night before the race.

I definitely feel that for the next one I should be getting myself well into the top 20 so I’m looking forward to getting home and working towards that. The year is only getting going and so much has already happened. Exciting times ahead!
Next up is Hamsterly for a round of the UK Gravity Enduro series and then back home for a few weeks and an Irish Gravity Enduro in my local riding spot before hitting the road once again. Keep ‘er between the ditches folks and see you trackside!

Hitting the pasta party hard after Punta Ala with the baeys.

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 is definitely one to watch in the juniors this year. The lad is flying! 3rd at round two of the Saracen BDS at Fort William, behind Taylor Vernon and Noel Niederberger.

Keep an eye on this lad from Scotland.

Name: George Gannicott

Age: 17

What’s your favourite cheese? I like a nice bit of Cheddar.

Got any funny jokes? My girlfriend is always moaning at because I never take her anywhere expensive, so I took her to the petrol station.

What’s you secret talent? Volleyball!

Tea or coffee? Tea

When was the last time you scared yourself shitless? When I was half asleep strolling down the stairs and my brother Arran jumped out and started warbling at me like a turkey!

Tell me a funny story? Winter 2010/11, I was riding with my mates at the local trails in the snow and ice and one of them crashes, lands on their back and slides all the way down the next straight on his back with his legs and arms in the air. Five star turtle run!

Why do you race downhill? There is just such a thrill to it, getting into that mind-set where things just happen without even thinking about it, I’ve not done anything else like it yet.

So what motivates you? When training is really hard I just think of all the fun I’ll be able to have in the summer. And the thought of my brother Aaran coming home from work and giving me shit if I haven’t done my training, ha!

Aside from time, what holds you back? The Scottish weather!

Where is the best place you have ever been? Morzine/Les Gets, would love to be able to make it to Whistler though!

Why did you go to your first race? My Brother had been racing for a while and I always wanted to have go.

What are you most looking forward to this year? Being in the pits at races and riding with the team, I’m sure Ben Reid and Dan Stanbridge have a few tricks I don’t know about!

We caught Baltic Ben Reid packing the Dirt Norco race truck (Thundertruck MKII aka Vampire Deluxe) and spotted he was loading up one more bike than usual for this trip.

Among Norco’s many research and development projects (which the DIRT/NORCO lads are pretty stoked to be a part of) is this 650B DH bike.

Ben thought that if ever there was a DH course suited for big wheels (you now the type…high speed rock sections, big holes, flat out rough stuff) that Fort William is it. With that in mind Reidy will be putting this prototype bike through its paces in practice for BDS rd2 this weekend at the Fort.

Will this bike be available soon? Don’t hold your breath, after checking directly with Norco we have been told that it will not be in their 2014 lineup. Still pretty cool to see it in the early testing and evaluation stages though. We’ll bring you more info on Reidy’s larger wheeled bike next week.

Wonder if we’ll see a few more 650b bikes at the first round of the 2013 World Cup at the Fort in June?

Greg Callaghan. Photo: Dermott Sweeney

Name? Greg Callaghan.

Age? 21 years young.

Favourite cheese? Kilmeaden Cheddar.

Tell me a joke? The Irish economy.

What’s your secret talent? I can ride a bike with only one eye, although I don’t really have a choice in that as only one works. Sure the other one is only a spare anyway.

Tea or coffee? Coffee in the mornings and flat out on the tea for the rest of the day.

Ah, sunshine, I remember that! Photo: Gee Milner

When was the last time you scared yourself shitless? I had a pretty wild moment recently on the road bike travelling at a fair old click, overshot a fast corner and had to initiate the “steer with the rear” technique to slide to safety. Was nearly the end of me.

Why race enduro? For me enduro is just more enjoyable. I got a bit fed up of travelling half way around the world for a downhill race, messing up one turn or missing a pedal and going home disappointed after missing out on a good result by a tiny margin. With enduro no matter how bad the day can go, trust me, I’ve been there; it’s still a great day on your bike with your mates. I also love riding a smaller travel bike to the point where it just wants to throw you off.

What motivates you? Being the fastest person at whatever race I’m at…and haters, everyone wants to shut them up!

Aside from time and money, which we could all do with more of, what holds you back? My love for almond slices…they’re too delicious to say no. I’m cutting back though, some big sacrifices being made for 2013.

See, Greg can go fast even without the almond slices. Photo: Dermott Sweeney.

Why did you go to your first race?
It was a local track to me, and there was a hardtail category so I thought I’d get smoked a bit less in there and I actually did ok… kind of.

Tell me a funny story? Last year at the Enduro Des Nations in France, there were about five vans in our convoy, we were all parked nicely on a road beside the pits until the night before the race the organisers came over and told us to move. Unfortunately because it was the night before the race, the car park was full. So, we found a spot underneath the gondola and decided it’d be the perfect job. We moved all the vans in and then realised that my van was pretty damn close to the bottom of the gondola. Niall Davis and myself climbed into the gondola station and measured the length of the gondola, I then climbed onto the roof of the van, stood on a chair and tried to measure the length from the cable to the van roof, but the tape measure wouldn’t reach and kept falling down…we were very precise in our calculations and after about half an hour of laughing too hard to actually measure anything we figured it’d be fine and went to bed. I was awoken the next morning by the van shaking and the sound of Alex Stock laughing his head off! I went outside to find the gondola passing over the roof of the van with about a 2-inch gap.

The gondola driver man came out going mad at us and said they can’t start the race until I moved the van. I replied to him in a lovely French accent and thought “that’s grand, I won’t be late for the race then” and proceeded to eat my breakfast as the lift queue grew. The gondola man wasn’t happy but we moved it eventually and all was peaceful again.

Where is the best place you have ever been?
Yo mamma! and Sauze D’Oulx in Italy…really love that place!

What are you most looking forward to this year?
Getting going with the new bikes, team and whole set up. This time last year I was training for a downhill season so it’s really cool to be coming into a season with new goals and plans. Last year was a learning curve for me and it went pretty well, so I’m hoping this year will have some good times in store too.

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.

Ben Reid: (Rider/Team Organiser)

I think 2013 is going to be the most exciting year yet for team Dirt Norco, I feel we are working with some of the best companies in the industry (2013 sponsors soon to be released) and for me this makes riding my bike so much more enjoyable. I have made a great start to my training in preparation for the new season as well as working with Stanny on our new plans for the team.

In 2012 we had Duncan Riffle on board the team and we had a great season together and had lots of fun on the way, unfortunately we will not have the pleasure of D Riff on board the team in 2013 and we wish the big guy all the best for his future plans.

It has always been our goal to use the team as a platform to help out new talent and we are pleased to announce our new team mates for 2013. For DH we have young George Gannicott joining us who we are keen to help out going into his last year as a Junior, George was on a roll at the beginning of this season and proved himself a contender before breaking his collar bone weeks before the Worlds in Leogang, we also have Casey Brown who is set to have another great season in the Women’s Elite field, both these riders joining myself and Stanny on the DH circuit. As well as this we have Greg Callaghan who will be taking care of business on the new Enduro World Stage as well as in the UK and Ireland. I have been personally impressed by each of these riders by there skills and achievements on different occasions during the 2012 season and I am delighted we have been able to bring them on board.

Dan Stanbridge: (Rider/Team Organiser)

As Ben mentioned, it has alway been our goal with the Dirt Norco Race Team to support some young new talented riders. We are really excited to be able to do this in 2013 and even more pleased to have found some great riders to represent the team. Casey had an incredible debut world cup season in 2012 finishing on the podium at the finals in Norway, George already has some impressive wins to his name in the very competitive Junior class and Greg has shown his strength in the relatively new Enduro race series so 2013 is looking to be an exciting year for the team.

Casey Brown:

“Super stoked to be on a new team this year, Dirt Norco is well-established and has awesome riders who I’m sure I’ll learn a ton of good things from, right now I’m working hard and getting prepared for the next few months of training. I have some big plans for 2013 and am really excited to be on Norco!”

George Gannicott:

“I am really excited about joining Dirt Norco for 2013! It is a great opportunity to be part of the team and be with experienced riders. I’m keen to prove myself in 2013 and signing with the team will help me loads!”

Greg Callaghan:

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: Val D’isere World Cup a Mountain Biking video by gee-milner