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weshipyourride · 10 months

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2023 Crusher in the Tushar Recap

The Crusher in the Tushar bike race is widely renowned as one of the most challenging gravel events due to the amount of climbing it takes to ascend the 10,000-plus foot mountain top finish. Taking place in Beaver, Utah, this annual race attracts top riders from around the globe. It is also stop number three of the Life Time Grand Prix series. Bikeflights Partnerships Director, Michael Potter, was on-site to connect with riders at the expo and then ride the course the next day.

Nearly 850 riders, and their friends and families, traveled to this small mountain town to endure the elements of the event’s grueling route across the Tushar Mountains. Long, steep gravel road climbs and intense exposure makes the ride especially challenging. Weather reports for the weekend were as good as they could be for Utah in July with ninety-degree days and full sun were made bearable by the lack of humidity.

The weekend festivities kicked off with a shakeout ride from the event’s title sponsor’s location, The Creamery. Over 100 riders showed and were treated to some fine Beaver gravel backroads.

Following the shakeout ride was the expo and packet pickup. Many of the event’s top sponsors were set up to show off their latest product, discuss nutrition, or in Michael’s case, share how someone could ship their bike with Bikeflights Bike Boxes and service.

The race course is not for the faint of heart. Starting in downtown Beaver riders make their way up a nearly 5,000 foot climb that starts within the first 10 miles of riding. Up and over the mountains riders descend into Junction and then circle back up the mountain for the finish at Utah’s newest ski resort Eagle Point.

The men’s and women’s races played out in a similar fashion and were won by the current Grand Prix series leaders, Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafane respectively. Both riders broke away from their competitors early and rode to the finish line solo, each setting course record times in the process. Pete Stetina and Matthew Beers would go on to round out the podium in the men’s race. In the women’s race Lauren De Crescenzo would finish second and Falvia Oliveira Parks placed third.

With many racers opting to skip this event, the Grand Prix Series shakes up in the deeper placings but the top three remain steady. The women’s category is led by Sofia Gomez Villafane, Sarah Sturm and Haley Smith. The men’s category is led by Keegan Swenson, Russell Finsterwald and Lachlan Morton.

#bikeflights #weshipyouride #shipthebestway #crusherinthetushar #lifetimegrandprix #bikeshipping #bicycleshipping

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trixies-allstar-crown · 1 year

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Russell Finsterwald and Heather Jackson win at Belgian Waffle Ride California

BWR California retires number 12 to honour 2022 winner Moriah Wilson from CyclingNews RSS Feed https://ift.tt/6ljUtFC

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ecoamerica · 24 days

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Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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landscape-lunacy · 5 years

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El Chaltén, Fitz Roy, Argentina - by Russell Finsterwald

#argentina #el chaltén #fitz roy #mountains #snow #nature #scenery #landscape

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pubcapscott · 5 years

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USA Cycling names 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships team

USA Cycling announced today the athletes that will represent the United States in both cross country and downhill at the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships taking place August 28- September 1, 2019 in Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada.

Looking to defend her title is 2018 World Champion, Kate Courtney (San Francisco; Scott-SRAM) who is also currently ranked first in World Cup standings. 2018 Silver…

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apisonadora60 · 5 years

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TOGS · @finsty 👍🏻👍🏻 📷: @notubesmaster #control#comfort #climb #blackfriday — con Russell Finsterwald, CLIF Bar y ODI Grips.

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pbcreativeonline · 7 years

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Up and Over by Phil Beckman Via Flickr: Russell Finsterwald tackles the tree at the Tech Dev Pro XCT at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Galleries: www.pbcreativephoto.com Strobist: Profoto B1 with zoom reflector camera right, triggered with Profoto Air Remote.

#cross counrty #midway #mountain bike #mountain bike racing #pro xct #soldier hollow #utah #bicycle racing #cycling #canon #profoto

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fightingcycling-blog · 7 years

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Grand Junction Off-Road: Grotts and Nash claim 40 Grand wins Record time victory for US champion Grotts

On a perfect day with nearly cloudless skies, USA Cross-Country champion Howard Grotts (Specialized) put the hurt on the chasers every time the 43-mile course turned uphill. Despite the course being three miles longer this year, he smashed the course record by three minutes to take the victory and the $5,000 first prize. Geoff Kabush (Scott Maxxis) and Russel Finsterwald (SRAM) chased hard, made…

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weshipyourride · 2 years

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Big Sugar Gravel Recap

The Life Time Grand Prix finished up its inaugural off-road race series in Bentonville, Arkansas at the Big Sugar Gravel this past weekend, and BikeFlights was onsite to ring in the historic event. BikeFlights’ Vice President Sue George and Partnerships Director Michael Potter were not only there to work at the expo, but also to ride.

Big Sugar Gravel kicked off on Friday with an all-day expo. Life Time and the rapidly growing, pro-bike town of Bentonville hosted the event in the heart of the town’s city square. With over 30 businesses on display, as well as another cycling event Outerbike happening simultaneously nearby, Bentonville was busy with riders and friends walking through the closed-street festival to connect with brands. BikeFlights had a great location in front of the original Walton’s 5-10, which would later become a museum for Walmart.

As a relatively new gravel event happening for only the second time, the Big Sugar Gravel course was relatively unknown to most riders. Two routes started and finished in downtown Bentonville and traveled generally north in a clockwise direction over 52 and 104 miles respectively. The longer loop even crossed over into southern Missouri, and the fall foliage across both states gave riders nice views along quiet backcountry roads. Riders started just as the sun was coming up early on Saturday morning.

“The course was harder than I expected,” said Michael. “During the first half of the race, there were regularly riders on the sides of the road fixing a flat tire or a mechanical to keep riding.”

Road conditions consisted of a variety of gravel that was often chunky and loose and with sometimes unpredictable terrain. Combining that with over 7,000 feet of elevation gain over punchy, rolling hills made the course more challenging.

Bike and gear choices were major considerations in preparing for a successful ride. Overwhelmingly, a gravel bike with gears and larger than 40c tires proved to be the preferred option for riders hoping to race fast and confidently although Michael challenged himself by racing Big Sugar on a single speed gravel bike, and Sue rode it on a mountain bike.

”It’s been awhile since I pedaled my mountain bike on a 100-mile ride,” said Sue, who had also been enjoying riding the local Northwest Arkansas trails in the lead up to Big Sugar, “but it sure was fun to bomb the loose, gravelly descents on it. For me, the toughest part of the ride was battling the 30-35 mph headwinds and crosswinds throughout the second half of the course. It was a big day out there!”

In the final miles, Russell Finsterwald would attack the group and solo away from Keegan Swenson and Adam Roberge to win the elite men’s race. Similarly, Paige Onweller would ride in alone to take the elite women’s race win by over six minutes ahead of Emily Newsom and Alexis Skarda.

Congratulations go to Keegan Swenson and Haley Smith for their overall victories in the six-race Life Time Grand Prix series. Both got to stand atop the podium and show off their big, first-place prize checks.

BikeFlights was proud to sponsor all six races in the 2022 Life Time Grand Prix series, and we can’t wait until next year!

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weshipyourride · 2 years

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Crusher in the Tushar Recap

Known as the “toughest 69.9 miles on the planet,” the Crusher in the Tushar race takes place high up in the Tushar Mountains and ascends over 10,000 feet to finish at Utah’s newest ski resort, Eagle Point. BikeFlights Staff and Ambassadors were among those who traveled to and shipped their bikes to the third stop in the Life Time Grand Prix series.

About the Event

Crusher in the Tushar is the smallest event in the Life Time Grand Prix series with the maximum number of riders capped at 850, and it boasts this fact to preserve the “Crusher vibe” – a small-town local race with national-level coverage and exceptional support. This combination provides riders with confidence and a level of fun that makes the exceedingly difficult course enjoyable from start to finish. Clear course markings, enthusiastic volunteers and fully-stocked aid stations are just some of the many amenities enjoyed by participants.

How It Went

The race consists of a 60/40 split of gravel dirt roads and pavement and features two massive climbs that each surpass 10,000 feet above sea level. Each category is provided with their own start times which allows the riders to know exactly where they stand relative to their competition at all times throughout the day. These staggered start times created tactical, exciting races in each category but especially in the women’s and men’s open fields.

The women’s race was decided on the second climb, the Col ‘d Crush, where Haley Smith of Maxxis Factory Racing made the winning move. About nine minutes later, Emma Grant and Sarah Sturm crossed the finish line to round out the top three.

The first climb of the day decided the men’s race. That’s when Keegan Swenson broke away from his competition and soloed to victory. Cole Patton out-sprinted Griffin Easter for second and third places.

The Life Time Grand Prix series is now halfway complete. Sofia Gomez Villafane, Haley Smith and Sarah Sturm top the women’s standings while Keegan Swenson, Russell Finsterwald and Alexey Vermeulen lead the men’s standings. With three more races to go in the series, it’s still anyone’s game at this point.

BikeFlights Riders

BikeFlights Ambassadors and employees were among those who attended. Congratulations to Ambassadors Rose Grant, Alexey Vermeulen and Ashton Lambie for crushing their races and and continuing to vie for the overall in the Life Time Grand Prix series. Special shout outs also go to BikeFlights staffers Angela Peterson and Michael Potter for competing and to Ali Goulet for holding down the mic and announcing.

It was great to see everyone out there. We can’t wait until next year!

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weshipyourride · 4 years

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Behind the Scenes at the Bear National Team Camp

Their strong will to compete at the highest levels in sport, their professionalism and respect for the process of earning success are among just a few reasons why BikeFlights.com is a proud supporter of the Bear National Mountain Bike Team. To kick off the 2020 season, BikeFlights.com joined Bear’s Under 23 team recently in Phoenix, Arizona for some warm winter miles during the first of two team training camps.

Located within the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix basks in sunshine more days of the year than any other metropolitan area in the U.S. that makes it an ideal location for racers from all parts of the country to converge and sharpen those tan lines. Led by coach Jason Jablonski, team members were put through the paces to establish baselines for training on day one of camp.

Day two of camp started with a walk, and breakfast, followed by a quick shuttle to Black Canyon to begin the day’s ride. Wearing the colors of their new Castelli cycling kits, the team was eager to hit the trails. The rolling terrain, rocky descents and cactus corners provided the perfect ride to test out the team issued Trek Supercaliper machines. Needless to say, these redesigned soft tail race bikes proved tough and fast.

Day three of camp provided room to stretch out the legs on a four-hour endurance ride to, in and from McDowell Mountain Regional Park. Additionally, current Elite Men’s Cross Country National Champion and BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Keegan Swenson of the Stan’s-Pivot Team, as well Sofia Gomez Villafane and Russell Finsterwald of Team Clif Bar joined the Bear riders to help keep pace over the 60 miles of road and trail.

We are incredibly excited to watch the Bear National Team compete this season. With this talented roster, you're likely to see them at or near the front of many mountain bike races all season long.

Thank you to Bear National Team for allowing us the time to bond and hang with your riders.

#bikeflights #packshipride #shipyourwhip #shipitandripit #bewarethebear

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