Today marked the beginning of production of our 2012 ATLAS cranks.  We’ve re-jigged and re-tooled and now the hum can be heard throughout our building as chunks of aluminium are being reshaped into our latest commitment to a performance product.

Superwing Leigh made the final mods to our fixtures and began the process of sculpting aluminium into our latest refinement of cranks.

These are the first new alloy crank we have produced since emerging from last year’s turmoil and we are all very excited to see this project take shape and become a reality.  Tabs are thicker, edges are rounder and the interface has been retooled to EXI making it easier to install.

It all translates into a lighter more refined, big hit, race ready, power transferring component. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do creating them.

Click the link below to look at sicklines.com first impressions of the Turbine 2×10 cranks. A full review will be coming up in the future. The entire Turbine group of parts is awesome with the cranks being the real gem of the line.

2012-race-face-turbine-crankset-2×10-and-more

Hey,

Enjoy!!

Misty days

Thanks

Forrest Riesco

forrestriesco.blogspot.com

Happy New Year!

No post since the last weeks of November, but I have some lame…I mean good excuses.  Finished my Senior Thesis the first two weeks of December.

Then we got ready for and did Christmas with 5 different families including our nuclear one, all while sponsor hunting and getting ready for…

New Baby!

On Monday December 26th 2011 we welcomed our 4th child and 2nd son into the world!

Micah Joseph Guerra

New Vlog!

To start off the New Year I have begun a Vlog on YouTube along with some live streaming of my training.  It is all a little rough right now as it was a spur of the moment decision, but I plan on getting all the bells and whistles to make it crisp, clean, and entertaining.  It should be updated close to daily and can be found on the upper left panel of my blog (reading on remote sites click this link) or here at my YouTube channel.  SUBSCCRIBE AND SHARE!

Here is the New Years Eve ride from my webcam on Facebook that inspired the whole idea…

New Coach!

With big goals for 2012 and BEYOND, I have decided to take on a coach.  It was a year in making the decision.  After combing through and searching for the best possible ways to get faster on the bike I found that my new coach Danny Kaukola with FueltheBurn.com was the best fit for what I am trying to accomplish.  You can find his website now linked on my blogs right panel and he will probably be doing some guest appearances via Skype on my Vlog and even here on the blog.

New Training!

With a new coach, new vlog, and new season fast approaching the training is in full-swing already.  The plan is changing quite a bit with Danny’s help in modifying the areas I was lacking on my own.  Looking forward to a big year, with big results.  Lots of returning sponsors and new sponsors to back it all up.  Stay tuned for race schedule, sponsor announcements, and product reveals! HERE WE GO 2012! 

Thanks for reading and watching,

Nathan

At Eurobike 2011 Race Face presented our exciting 2012 line-up of new products. In the video below, Marcel outlines 3 of the biggest new releases for Race Face in 2012. Its going to be a great year!

A video from Lorien from Sooke Mountain Cycle here in BC, chopping his way to his bike, and shredding it in the morning with his Race Face and old school Roach gear! A nice way to kick off the new year. Thanks Lorien!

Here on the North Shore we usually can ride all year long – but with the understanding that trail conditions will not be ideal. The conditions right now though are so amazing – the dirt is perfect! Here is a GoPro video of myself and Jon from Banshee riding some ‘Shore AM trails last Sunday. The Banshee Spitfire is such a fun bike on these types of flowy trails….Happy Holidays!!

North Shore XC from Jon Hadfield on Vimeo.

Love my Kelly jacket

The last two races were back to back, Mt. Washington followed by BC cup finals at Hemlock, and both were unbelievable courses.

I was lucky enough to get hooked up with transportation by CCN (Cycle Component Network) and Jay from Lambert. We rolled into Mt. Washington in style in the CCN truck, full of prizes and tools for race support.

Saturday morning was practice day, and the energy on the hill was buzzing. The race had been re-routed from the original route that included Monster Mile from the top, due to record levels of snow still slowly melting. The course started with some tight switchbacks, which we hadn’t seen on the circuit yet- so there was lots of sessioning going on with the ladies I was training with. We worked on cornering, traction, line selection. It was tough learning how to come into and out of such a tight switchback carrying speed.

The next section of the course had a nice steep pitch to it, and some fun loose spots, lots of cheater lines popped up, got re flagged, disappeared, reappeared, etc. eventually some final flagging decisions were made, and the cheater lines were mostly removed.

The steep section flowed into a loose steep shot, crossed a road and ended up in the only wet rooty section of the course. This was where all the action was. I would bet money that everyone took at least one bail here. Jeff Bryson and Adriano Digiacinto had some solid high lines picked out, watching them during practice was inspiring. A lot of the Elite men’s category picked the highest root line, choosing the dry chunky off camber roots over the slippery wet ones below. I had one major bail, OTB and a full front flip in this section during practice, but managed to find a line I really liked before race run.

Seconds before hitting the tree, after negotiating the slippery roots.

The final section of the course was fast! It was all about pedalling into the jumps (seven of them overall I think). The jumps were long, and interesting, and the course ended with a nice floater in front of a tent that Tippie was commentating from.

After practice Jay from Lambert hosted a heck of a get together at his pad, it was one of the great nights on the BC cup in 2011.

Race day was a bit colder than practice day had been. Everyone was able to get tons of runs in, due to the super-efficient chair, lack of line-ups, and short course.

I was the second person down the trail, it was raining at the top when I dropped in, and sunny and warm before I got to the bottom, but my Race Face Kelly jacket made for some nice bright pictures, and kept me toasty in the blustery wind at the top. I hit a tree right after the gnarly wet roots, which was a bit disappointing given that I made it through the hardest part of the race with no issue, only to end-up off the trail and in the trees.  One of the junior men (can’t remember but I think it was the elite category) hit the same tree as me in his race run. His name was Sam, and he didn’t come out as well on the other side. (Probably because he was going ten times faster than me.) This was a week after having Kelsey held in c-spine, and there I was on the trail holding Sam’s head as well. He has a neck brace on, and I think it definitely helped him. If anyone knows Sam, send him my best as I never heard how his recovery went.

Last jump of the Hemlock course, race run

Finals was one of the best courses of the year. This year we were racing at Hemlock ski resort, on a trail that was built of by the Dunbar team. The course was loose and steep, and since it had been so dry leading up to it, it was dusty!

The weekend was amazing; we camped in the parking lot, swam and bathed in the river, and watched the 3 Minute Gaps premiere. The first day of practice was tough, it took me a good three runs to get used to that kind of loose terrain. There were a few drops to flat, some fun jumps, and loose corners to learn. The only issue was the slow chair, long lift line and heat. That combo made practice difficult, and it was a course I needed to learn.

Lots of falls, lots of dust and one of the most enjoyable trails of the year made for a solid weekend. In the end I came in second to Jerusha of the Dunbar team. I got caught behind a racer and had to slow down a lot to pass, due to the dust. Unfortunately it was in a corner that I hadn’t been braking on in practice, and had to drag the brakes to make the pass, so I lost some time there. Considering I missed 1^st by 2 seconds, I felt it was a strong finish to a great season.

Congrats Jerusha!

Congratulations to all the racers this year! It was so amazing getting to know everyone, meet new and talented people, and make some great friendships.

This winter is going to be all about riding the Shore, training for next year, and keeping in shape!

Hey,

Though it’s the off season now, I have actually been very busy with riding, training, school and planning for next season. I just recently got a Banshee Spitfire, which has been my “do it all” bike, it climbs with ease and descends like a big bike. A lot of my riding throughout the week has been with my Spitfire, as well as hitting the local dirt jumps on my Banshee Amp. I’m not one to go for the big tricks, but this past week I have learned tuck-no-handers, which I’m pretty stoked on.

I attended the first Cycling BC DH team testing camp a few weeks ago. We did a MAP test and a sprint test, which I was happy to see my work pay off and improve on both. There were also some sessions with a nutritionist, a mental trainer, a strength coach and even a yoga session.

Photo by Clayton Racicot. At the Western Open at Kicking Horse Resort.

My newest training tool I’ve discovered is a Freelap timing system. Freelap was interested in helping me with my training and got me set up with one of their TX junior systems. I tried it out on one of my local tracks and it was really cool to test different riding styles, bike setups and just sorting out the mental aspect of racing the clock.

I also found this article in Decline Magazine of the Western Open, which had a big one page spread photo of me. I was very stoked on the great photo by Clayton Racicot. It was a great race, and one of the most well organized events I’ve attended.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of gym training, and a lot of riding!! My goal is to get a bit stronger and spend a lot of time on my bikes. Doesn’t really matter if it’s XC, DJ or DH, I think all of it benefits me in a way, and most of all doesn’t make training a task.

I was just out today with the C4 team, which was a lot of fun. Their a fast bunch of riders and I was happy to show them some trails over here on the Coast.

Forrest

forrestriesco.blogspot.com