Team WTB riders giving a final pre-race inspection. Photo by Jen Burt.

It was anyone’s guess what the winning rubber would be for the 3^rd Annual Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival that included super enduro, short track, pump track and dirt jump events held in Aptos, CA last weekend.  After a week of heavy rains left the three enduro courses a rutted, muddy disaster, suddenly the playing field was leveled to a degree that in addition to solid handling skills, riders would need the right equipment to get the job done. With one of the best fields of enduro racers ever assembled in the US, the race proved to be a battle that was won or lost based on the rider’s ability to stay upright through the corners.

Ben Cruz hauling the mail towards the finish. Photo by Jen Burt.

WTB rider, Ben Cruz, was one of the few who took to the mud like a fish to water. “I love riding in the mud and when it started to dump rain a week before the race, I got excited!!” said Cruz, who knew the rain would be a huge game changer that would be reflected in the results. “Anyone can ride a trail they know fast in the dry but in the mud it’s a different story. It turns into having the ability to adapt to all conditions. The mud made it a real enduro game,” he added.

Weir starts the 12-mile climb to the top of the enduro course. Photo by Jen Burt.

Come race day, WTB riders agreed that the Moto Tubeless Compatible System (TCS) tire, in one combination or another, was the right tool for the job. The podium proved them right with Santa Cruz/WTB/Fox riders Aaron Bradford  in first place on Moto 2.3 TCS front/Bronson 2.1 TCS rear and Ryan Condrashoff in second on Moto 2.3 TCS front and Moto 2.1 TCS rear. Cannondale/WTB/Shimano/Fox riders Ben Cruz and Mark Weir came in fourth and fifth respectively, riding WTB Vigilante AM TCS prototype front/Moto 2.1 AM TCS rear.

Not far behind was Santa Cruz/WTB/ Fox rider Nathan Riddle on Moto 2.3 AM TCS front/Wolverine 2.2 TCS rear finishing in 11^th  with Cannondale/WTB/Shimano/Fox rider Jason Moeschler  in 12th on Moto 2.3 AM TCS front/ Moto 2.1 AM TCS rear, and WTB/Ibis rider Kenny Burt in 17th also on Moto 2.3 AM TCS front/Moto 2.1 AM TCS rear. The Moto proved to be the tire that helped the riders find their flow and hold onto it.

Team WTB rider Jason Moeschler explained, “The conditions were so bad that I was pretty much thinking that there was no traction to be had at all,” adding that he was surprised  to have controlled, two-wheel drifts through the corners. “Made it pretty fun,” he said.

Santa Cruz/WTB/Fox rider Aaron Bradford rode TCS Bronson tires to a second-place finish in the Short Track event. Photo by Forrest Arakawa.

High fives all around to the riders who finished the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival events with mud between their teeth and some well deserved bragging rights!

Cheers to Scott Chapin for winning the WTB All Mountain Challenge with Aaron Bradford in second and Barry Wicks (not pictured) in third. Photo by Forrest Arakawa.

Thank you to the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival staff, volunteers and supporters for a great time! Speaking of great times… check out WTB rider Jeff Herbertson winning the Dirt Jump competition…

Enduro Practice = Fun - photo: Brian Raphael

Thank Goodness for Enduro Racing. NSMB.com just posted this great article featuring WTB’s very own Mark Weir and Ben Cruz. Read this excerpt from Mark and definitely check out the full article here.

Enduro is about enjoying yourself, it’s racing the best parts of trails with gas still in the tank to ride the trail at maximum speed in technical situations. Not about relying only on fitness and coasting down the hill. The perfect Enduro is one that leaves you with the feeling of power left over but the trail was so technical it made it hard to lay down that power. If you are too hard on equipment and lack finesse Enduro makes you pay. Either a weight penalty, which in turn is a time penalty. By a running a heavy set-up to make up for straight line mashing you just lost a minute on the climb. Enduro racing is calculation and knowing the way you ride and building the bike to get the most you can from your strengths. You can’t hide your weaknesses but you can disguise.

Join Mark Weir, the Nor-Cal Cycling League and the Marin Bike Coalition for the Dirt Roll III!

SIGN UP NOW to ride the Dirt Bowl III at a pace that lets you talk to the pros, and where nobody gets dropped. This annual fundraiser benefits MCBC and the NorCal High School Cycling League. This year we’ll be starting from Fair-Anselm Plaza in Fairfax, and we’ll have a post-ride BBQ in the courtyard below the MCBC office.
The base fee for the ride and lunch is just $50, all of which goes to supporting important cycling programs. Those who wish to raise additional funds to support MCBC and NorCal can do so. Those who fundraise will be entered in a drawing for super prizes, including a shock and wheel set.

Register for the Dirt Roll Here

Team WTB/Fox Racing Shox/Cannondale/Shimano

Jason Moeschler, 32, began racing bikes at age 16 and over the course of his racing career has become a three-time Mountain Bike World Championship Competitor, 1997 US Junior National Champion, as well as a three-time Downieville All Mountain Pro Champion. Today, Moeschler races the clock for daylight to do more than just ride his bike. It’s a constant battle to balance the demands of his full-time job with racing, training, and as of last September—being a dad.

As WTB’s OEM Sales Manager, Jason endures a hefty travel schedule that could keep him in the air for multiple and lengthy flights to Asia each year. In 2011 alone, Jason spent more than two-and-a half months in Taiwan. Trade show travel and the chunk of time he spends at the computer each day are additional necessities that often conflict with his training. However, Jason still manages to get on his bike even if it means bringing it with him to Taiwan for morning “dawn patrol” rides or an occasional race.

Jason sprints to a fifth-place finish at the 2011 Merida Cup in Taiwan.

After talking with Jason, one might think that riding and racing bikes is all he’s ever aspired to do. But with the divorce of his parents and pure exhaustion from his relentless travel, training, and racing schedule, Jason stepped away from the national racing scene at age 19 in 1999. Working full time, he was able to help his mom make the mortgage payment and complete his AA degree from Sierra Community College. In a few years, Jason left his job at the local bike shop to try his hand at carpentry. He worked construction for close to three years, building custom homes for a local contractor in the Nevada County area.

When Moeschler started racing again locally, a chance conversation with Mark Weir on the podium in Downieville about why he wasn’t wearing his sponsors’ gear (because he wasn’t sponsored at the time) led to Weir adding Moeschler to his WTB/Fox/Santa Cruz team in 2004. After his third consecutive win as the All Mountain Pro Champion in the Downieville Classic, Jason was approached by WTB to represent the company as the Western Regional Technical Sales Manager. He gladly accepted and was once again back in the bike industry where his role has since evolved to include more responsibility in the area of sales and product development. Most recently, he worked with Mark Weir and product developers to create the company’s new TCS line of tubeless compatible tires, rims and wheels.

Moeschler prefers epic rides with friends to racing, but manages to remain a threat on the XC and enduro downhill race courses as part of the Cannondale Over Mountain crew. Either way, any excuse to be on a bike is a good one, and Moeschler uses the technical sections to make up for the time he might lose in pedaling—his main defense against dopers, as he explained in an interview with Decline magazine, noting that “he didn’t think they’d developed a drug that could make you descend faster yet.”

Jason Moeschler featured in 2011 at The Ranch along with the rest of the Cannondale Over Mountain Crew.

Even though work and personal commitments (becoming a new dad) didn’t permit him to do as much racing as he would have liked in 2011, he still managed to make it to the podium, finishing second at the Oakridge Super D and second in the XC at the Tara Llanes Classic at Northstar.

Jason takes two-week-old Jace up to his first podium at the 2011 Tara Llanes Classic.

He also placed in the top 10 in the duo category with teammate Mark Weir in the BC Bike Race, and took 5th places in the Overmountain Enduro at Highland Park in New Hampshire as well as the Merida Cup in Taiwan.

Photo courtesy of Cannondale at the Overmountain Enduro.

In short, Jason is a busy guy but racing mountain bikes remains a passion he continues to indulge. Among other things, he says it keeps him motivated to stay fit and live healthy. For Jason, staying fit and living healthy also meant moving back to his hometown of Nevada City, California, where he works from home and can do any number of epic rides in the Sierra foothills right from his front door.

WTB OEM Sales Manager in training.

WTB racers Jerome Clementz (WTB/Cannondale/Fox), Fabien Barel (Mondraker) and Mark Weir (WTB/Cannondale/Fox) finished first, third and fourth in the third annual Trans-Provence Enduro Stage Race last week using WTB products. The race featured twenty-six primarily downhill single-track stages over a seven-day period, starting near the town of Gap in the South of France, and winding its way nearly 200 miles farther south to Monaco, with over 3100 feet of climbing, and 5000 feet of descent.

Clementz and Weir utilized WTB’s new All-Mountain Casing Tubeless Compatible System (TCS) Bronson 2.3 and Wolverine 2.2 tires and Stryker TCS Wheelsets to stay at the front of the pack throughout the week. TCS wheels, rims and tires provide the only UST-Certified Sealant-based System on the planet.

“This race was an awesome once-in-a-lifetime experience,” states Weir, “we all ran our new TCS tires with ‘InnerPeace’ sidewalls. They feature a butyl liner that is lighter than UST tire sidewalls, andprovides excellent puncture protection and stability when we are hitting it hard! It was so fun to ride from stage to stage with your competitors and then put the gas down all the way to Monaco.”

All three racers use WTB’s extensive range of saddles as well. Former World Downhill Champion Fabien Barel uses a classic Silverado, while Clementz and Weir are riding on the new-for-2012 Volt SLT.

Photo courtesy of Jen Burt.

Hometown: Novato, California, USA
Age: 21
Team: WTB/Cannondale/Shimano/Fox Racing Shox
Discipline: Downhill, Endurance DH, Super D, XC

Ben Cruz is the most recent addition to Team WTB – Wilderness Trail Bike’s factory squad, joining Mark Weir and Jason Moeschler on the WTB//Fox Racing Shox/Cannondale/Shimano Team in 2010 and the Cannondale Over Mountain crew in 2011.

Over the course of a year, Cruz has competed in the 2010 and 2011 Trans-Sylvania Epic seven-day mountain bike stage races, the Whiskey Offroad 50 miler in Prescott, Arizona—choosing to face the stacked field of stiff, XC competition on his Cannondale Jekyll all-mountain machine instead of the more popular 29er option.

Ben shredding the downhill at the Ashland Spring Thaw. Photo courtesy of Jen Burt.

Later that spring, Cruz joined Weir on the podium in Ashland, Oregon for the Ashland Spring Thaw and put in a solid effort in the Ashland Mountain Challenge event. He also just completed the Downieville Classic, placing fifth in the downhill and top 20 in the XC, a significant accomplishment given the complexity of the course. Thanks to substantial snow levels, race organizers were forced to redirect the course while elevated snow melt made the infamous waterfall section both treacherous and fun for those who could charge it without hesitation, something Cruz had no problem doing!

According to the July 2011 Decline Magazine profile on Cruz, it was Cruz’s lethal combination of endurance and being wicked fast on a trail bike that caught his neighbor, Mark Weir’s, eye. Living just a few blocks from Cruz in Novato, California, they would often ride the same local trails, where it became evident that his friend’s fitness and skills would be ideal for enduro events.

To train for the enduro season, Ben puts in at least 10 to 15 hours of trail riding a week with some additional time spent on the road bike to build fitness. “A big part of my core workout is digging,” Cruz explains. “I dig lots of trail and not only is it a good (physical) workout it’s a mental one too!” With a goal to climb a million feet of elevation this year, Cruz will make every race and workout count. “It’s really hard and I’m off the back right now but I’m gonna keep goin’ for it,” adding that he is just stoked to be riding every day. “When I graduated from high school, I told myself I didn’t want to do anything not bike related so every day that I ride is another goal achieved.”

Photo courtesy of Milliman/Cannondale.

The summer race season will provide ample opportunity for Cruz to continue on his quest to climb a million feet and to meet his goals on the bike as he puts his rigorous training to the test, joining Weir in the High Race in Valloire, France for the closing event in the French Enduro Series. After which, he and Weir will join fellow Cannondale Over Mountain teammate, Chris Van Dine, to represent the USA as a three-man team in the Enduro de Nation in Sauze d’Oulx, Italy. And in October, Cruz and Weir will compete as a duo team in the Trans-Provence seven-day stage race.

2011 is shaping up to be an exciting race season for this young, NorCal talent! Season race results below.

• Sea Otter Classic Downhill Competition- 41st Place
• Whiskey Offroad XC – 45th Place
• Napa Valley Dirt Classic – 15th Place
• Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic, 7-day stage race – 15th Place
• Ashland Spring Thaw Pro Downhill – 4th Place
• Ashland Spring Thaw Cat 1 XC – 1st Place
• Downieville Classic Pro Downhill – 5th Place
• Downieville Classic Pro XC – 17th Place

Congrats to Jérôme Clementz, WTB-sponsored rider and top finisher of last weekend’s Tribe 10000—the third event in the 2011 French Enduro Series. Read more about this talented rider in the latest issue of “Bike Magazine” as guest editor Mark Weir tries to get to the bottom of what makes this guy so fast. Is it his yellow shoes or perhaps his custom WTB Volt saddle seen here? It’s hard to say, but if the yellow shoe fits…

All kidding aside, Jérôme Clementz is a force to be reckoned with on the enduro course (if winning the last Megavalanche is any indication). In case we neglected to mention, Jérôme rode Mutano 2.4 AM TCS tires to this particular victory that entailed two shots at three runs averaging 10 minutes each on Saturday (six runs in all) for a total of 6,000 m of vertical descent on single track. Sunday’s format demanded more pedaling giving those who could find their legs a chance to use their fitness to compete against the leaders, who were averaging incredible 17-minute runs.

Up next in the French Enduro Series are the events in Les Arcs and Valloire at the end of July, where Team WTB’s Mark Weir and Ben Cruz will have their work cut out for them against Clementz and the top enduro riders who continue to make us work hard to make the stuff they can use to win!

Ben Cruz takes a break

“We’re almost to the top and it’s going to be uphill all the way down”, Mark Weir said, referring to the nonstop pedaling downhills, as he crested the final climb of the 2011 Trans-Sylvania Epic (TSE) stage race. The seven-day epic took WTB riders Mark Weir, Ben Cruz, and Nate Byrom on a journey through 234 miles of rocky single track and lonely gravel roads of central Pennsylvania, passing horse-drawn carriages on the way. With stages lasting up to four hours, the 90-degree humid heat beat down any weak souls as the attrition rate climbed near 50 percent.

The trails, lined with momentum-robbing rocks, made the racers earn each mile as wheels fell between gaps making it a struggle to gain any type of speed. The downhills gave no rest due to the pedaling required to stay upright between rocky obstacles. Long gravel road stretches meant the Team needed tires with low rolling resistance but strong enough to withstand the rocks. Our favorite combo was the Nano TCS 2.1 on the rear with a Mutano TCS 2.2 up front seated to Stryker XC TCS wheels. The Nano allowed for fast rolling while the Mutano gave extra volume and traction for the rocks, all with the TCS reliability.

Between the throbbing heat and never-ending pedaling, finishing the race felt like an overwhelming accomplishment, let alone the countless battles for positioning that gave the Team more than a run for their money. Weir grabbed a 10th in the prologue with a time of 56:04 on the 10-mile course. On Stage 2 Byrom led the WTB crew over the 42-mile course with a time of 3:42 and a 9th place finish. In Stage 3, Weir again grabbed a 10th on the 47-mile course with a 3:16 finishing time. Stage 5 gave Cruz his best result for the week, as he finished in 11th for the day that featured four mini-XC races.

With overall top-15 finishes, Team WTB can rest assured that they have done all they can to prepare for the upcoming summer classics that will divide the Team with Cruz, Byrom and Kenny Burt racing in the Ashland Mountain Challenge (formerly known as the 12 mile Super D) and the Downieville Classic, while Weir and teammate Jason Moeschler take on the BC Bike Race. You could say the TS Epic is WTB’s style of the ultimate training camp.

Cheers to Mike Kuhn and Ray Adams and their amazing team of volunteers for making the second year of the Trans-Sylvania Epic even more challenging than the first and a reason to keep coming back for more!

One athlete. 30 sports. 30 days. 30 cites. Watch day 26 as Mark Weir, Ben Cruz, and Jason Moeschler coach Sam (from the EAS Unstoppable Tour) on how to shred the Ranch. This video illustrates what great coaches, perfect terrain, proper nutrition, and excellent equipment can do. This was filmed at The Ranch, the testing ground for all things WTB. Kick back and enjoy the video!

We have a winner! No, its not Mark Weir nor Jason Moeschler. No, it is not in the Super D or XC race category. I’m talking about commuting. That’s right, the ride to work. WTB’s Sales and Marketing Director Gary Gleason won the QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) 2010 Espresso Fund Commuter of the Year Award (Vendor)!

We’re not sure if this is allowed in the rulebook of commuting or not, but Lucy wins too! Lucy, originally from Guatemala, is a German Shepherd/Daschund mix who gets free rides via the dog trailer. The two commute 12 miles each way from Fairfax to Mill Valley, rain or shine.

Viva la Commute!