Double Firsts at Moelfre as Gee and Rachel Atherton smash the British National Champs
Both delighted with wins on their home track

Gee and Rachel Atherton triumphed in the Men’s and Women’s Elite races at Moelfre yesterday in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
An exultant Gee said “What a great day, sunshine, fantastic crowd – I’m really stoked to take the win here, just 8 minutes from our home.”
The Moelfre track is a super fast, rolling track with many high speed corners, off camber sections and fast straights. It falls from 545m to 238 m over a 2.3 km run.

Weather conditions were dusty despite recent downpours and strong winds up top meant that most competitors kept jumps to a minimum.
Gee seeded first in the Elite Men’s section less than half a second ahead of Josh Bryceland but in the final Gee extended the gap to 2.2 seconds clocking a final time of 2.25.94
Bryceland took second place with 2.28.14 and Steve Peat third with 2.28.59.

In the Women’s Elite seeding run Rachel led by 2 seconds at the first split but lost time on the bottom section to come in second to Manon Carpenter by 0.5 secs. In the final though Rachel really turned it up to beat Carpenter by 7.4 seconds with a time of 2.39.01 to Carpenter’s 2.46.42.

Rachel said “We love racing here, up at Jac’s place, with all our friends and family here. I’ve had a brilliant time.”
“Farmer Jac” who owns the Moelfre track presented the prizes and paid tribute to organizer Si Paton and to the Atherton family who had started the Moelfre track. Congratulating Gee and Rachel on their win he also announced that elder brother Dan had taken third in the Megavalanche event in France – a vintage weekend for the Atherton family!

Would you like a free weekend of riding at Whistler Bike Park? Need a sweet place to stay? Want a hot meal after a long day at the park? Maybe a hot tub to cap it all off? Then this is contest for you!

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Bear Back Biking Website

Gravity Components headed down from Seattle to attend the fourth round of the North West Cup at Ski Bowl, Mt. Hood. Gravity Pro Racer’s Kyle Thomas and Charlie Sponsel were both in attendance along with Gravity’s Mike Estes, Scott Kemp, Mike Lawless, The Ministry of Descent, and newest Gravity Homeboy Adam “Smokey” Wright. The Gravity Crew was grillin’, chillin’ and down hillin’ the whole weekend. If you made it out there was a good chance you got a free burger off the Gravity Grill, listened to Mike Estes’ antics on the microphone, and even got to check out Gravity’s new Ice Grey Colorway!

Charlie’s roots are laid down in Oregon

Scott Kemp flows through one of the scarier sections of Ski Bowl’s woods with ease.

Kyle Thomas ripped his shoulder out of socket during Pro Seeding and popped it back in mid run to qualify in 3rd place. Kyle is probably both tougher and faster than you. Here he shows his ability to shred through the pain on his way straight to the podium.

Gravity / Diamondback Pro’s Charlie Sponsel and Kyle Thomas.

Gravity Marketing Man Mike Lawless and Shipping and Receiving Guru Scott Kemp rip around one of Ski Bowl’s many berms, while Mt. Hood enjoys some sunlight in the background.

Scott Tucker, Casey Northern, and Petr Kakes are the men responsible for such a great series of events in Port Angeles and Ski Bowl. If you see these guys tell them thanks for an awesome job! These dudes are always welcome to a brat n’ beer from the Gravity tent. Scott Tucker: more cheers, more beers!

Charlie Sponsel says “Check out www.ridegravity.com, and Team Robot for updates on the best products for all your MTB needs!

Friend Gravity Components this month on Pink Bike for you chance to win an Ice Grey Cockpit with your choice of Slim Gravity Light Lock-On Grips.

In front of a huge home crowd siblings Gee and Rachel Atherton narrowly miss a double victory as they both podium at the British round of the UCI World Cup.

Qualifying in style with nearly 10 seconds advantage over the rest of the field Rachel was looking good for taking her first World Cup win on home soil, however she hadn’t bet on the Scottish weather taking a turn for the worse. Waking up to heavy rain on Sunday morning meant the course ridden on previous days was now looking and riding considerably different. The conditions caught Rach out as she rode her final practice run of the day, slipping off one of the many man made obstacles she fell heavily injuring her neck, receiving some quick treatment from the teams physio Rachel was left sore but still confident going into her race run.

World Champion and current World Cup leader Emmeline Ragot set a blistering time as the finals kicked off, her time of 5.25:027 was nearly 15 seconds slower than Rachels qualifying run the day before but with the weather making such a change to the track it proved to be very strong as rider after rider failed to topple the Frenchwoman, it was looking like a tall task for Atherton to challenge. But challenge she did as she went through the first interval time 1.7 seconds faster, losing time through the middle sector Rachel trailed 2.4 seconds at interval two, a strong lower section meant Rachel dived for the line missing the win by just 1.3 seconds.

“I was just too cautious all the way down, I really didn’t want to throw it away, Emmeline is riding well at the moment and I can’t afford to hold anything back if I’m going to win” commented a deflated Rachel. Trailing Ragot in the overall series by 120 points Rachel moved up to second in the series overtaking 3rd place finisher on the day Myriam Nicole.

In the men’s event it was another wet affair as the rain continued to hammer down throughout the 80 finalists runs, qualifying in second spot behind team mate Marc Beaumont Gee was chasing a repeat of his 2010 result where he claimed the win on his way to winning the World Cup title. It was the current World cup leader Aaron Gwin however that set the early pace, he suffered two crashes in Saturdays qualifying and started further back in the field. His time of 4.48:210 was the time for Gee to beat, Gee didn’t hold back as he went quicker at interval one, an offline stall in the woods meant that advantage was lost coming into Interval two, 4.1 seconds down Gee pushed hard and clawed nearly two seconds back but it wasn’t enough to topple Gwin or second placed rider Danny Hart slotting Gee in third, this left fastest qualifier Beaumont the only one who could stop Gwin.  Marc who’s been on great form of late had his dream whipped from beneath him as he slipped on the first wooden board walk crashing had on to the rocks off the side, nursing his bike down after the crash he could do no better than 66th leaving Gwin with his second win and Gee his third podium place of the season.

Gee closed the gap to 60 points on second place Greg Minnaar in the overall but he still sits in third spot while Beaumonts crash moved him back to seventh, for the second event running the team took the team prize and continue to lead the standings as the series now moves over the Atlantic and into round four which takes place in Mt St Anne, Canada.

All Photos: Sven martin

Last fall, Justin Olsen, Eric Porter, Kelly McGarry, Haruki “Harookz” Noguchi, and Stephen D’arrigo spent 8 days floating down the Green River in South Eastern Utah with Mountain Bike racks attached to their rafts, searching for unique and unridden terrain to ride.

Bike magazine is running a full feature article covering the trip in the July issue, which is hitting the shelves now. To coincide with the print article this video “Down River” video was just released showcasing their adventure, shot and edited by Gravity Homie Justin Olsen. It is an all encompassing video illustrating what happened on this trip.

“Down River” – Shot and Edited by Justin Olsen, Featuring Gravity Riders Eric Porter and Kelly McGarry, Still Photography by Harookz, River Support by Stephen D’arrigo.

McGazza rides Gravity Light A.T. Signatures, Gravity Light Pedals, Chainguide, Cranks, and Headsets.

Porter rides Gravity Light handlebars, seatposts, crankset, headset, and chainguide.

Paddle Bruv!

Wash it down and wash it off…

All photography shot by Harookz
www.harookz.com