Mountain Bike Trail & Event News

GT Bikes have just signed multiple Swiss 4X and BMX National Champion Roger Rinderknecht for 2006.

The young Swiss, who won his first 4cross worldcup race in 2005 and is likely to start at the Olympic BMX race in Beijing 2008, will be competing on GT Bicycles for 2006.

Rinderknecht recently raced at Sea Otter as a privateer, coming second behind GT rider Brian Lopes, which must have helped him to catch the eyes of potential sponsors. Now his sponsoring status is secured and Oakley as his second main sponsor delivering shades and sportswear, the young Swiss is going to be able to focus in both the 4cross and BMX worldcup races throughout the year.

www.gtbicycles.com

Back for 2006, Scotlands largest Mountain Bikes demo day at Laggan Wolftrax on 29th and 30th April, between 10 am till 5pm.

Bikes to try out include:

Giant, Specialized, Cube, Scott, Turner, Orange, GT, Titus, Santa Cruz, Rocky Mountain, Marin, Fuji, Kona, Narco, Whyte, Cove.

Laggan Wolftrax is the latest purpose built mountain bike centre in Scotland, designed and built by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. Wolftrax is the latest dedicated mountain bike facility to be developed by Forestry Commission Scotland in partnership with the Laggan Forest Trust. The trail network offers some of the best mountain biking in Scotland, encompassing challenging and unique features for all abilities. From the fun blue to the highly technical black, you won't be disappointed. There is a mixture of mature forest and open country riding allowing you to make the most of the big mountain views.

BaseCamp is run by individuals with a passion for the outdoors and mountain biking, who draw inspiration from living and working in the mountains of Scotland and having the opportunity to share it with others on a daily basis. They run a friendly mountain bike shop and cafe located within Laggan Wolftrax Mountain Bike Park. You will guaranteed a friendly welcome, be it just to seek some trail advice, hire a bike for the day or order an extra banana in your smoothie! They will be glad to help.

www.basecampmtb.com

Bedgebury Forest in the High Weald of Kent has used funding from Sport England and The Forestry Commission to create a cyclist’s paradise amongst the trees.

The forest now has a ten-kilometre family cycling route and twelve kilometres of mountain bike trails. These include a long singletrack cross-country loop combining existing and new paths and a North Shore-style freeride area, incorporating built structures and obstacles designed to challenge a rider's ability and technical skills as well as their nerve.

Furthermore, the new Visitor Centre will feature a cycle franchise for bike hire, purchase and repair (including cycles for disabled people), plus showers for bikes and their riders. Few if any places in the South East can offer cyclists and mountain bikers the range of off-road riding experiences that Bedgebury now provides.

www.forestry.gov.uk

It’s spreading. At an ever increasing pace, the Kona Bike Park program is equipping mountain resorts all over the world with the tools and the know how to operate world class bike parks, giving freeriders, new and old alike, a place to call their own.

The latest inductees, in no particular order, are: Verbier, Switzerland; Killington, VT, USA; Canada Olympic Park, Calgary; and Levi, Finland. Check them out at the improved www.konabikeparks.com

As with all Kona bike parks, Verbier, Killington, Canada Olympic and Levi will be supplied with a fleet of durable and high-performance freeride and downhill mountain bikes for guides and clients alike. Kona will also lend assistance to the parks with event development and promotion, design of trails and park features and coordinate marketing of the resorts to assure summertime success for their bike park partners.

“Verbier, Killington, Canada Olympic and Levi are just the kind of resorts we want Kona to be associated with,” said Kelly Steelman, Kona’s North American Bike Park Guy. “These parks share the energy and attitude Kona wants to infuse into the sport, and they’ll be great places for mountain bikers to hone their freeride skills, or simply give the sport a try for the very first time.”

The four new parks join Kona Bike Park All-Stars; Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb and Panorama, the U.S.’s Winter Park and Snowshoe, Austria’s Leogang, Germany’s Todtnau, Italy’s Livigno, France’s Les Gets, Bolivia’s Gravity Bolivia and Australia’s Mount Buller.

www.konabikeparks.com

2005 saw the Animal Braun Cruzer Bike Tour take mountain biking display riding to an all new level and positioning Animal as the undisputed 'king of the rig'. That was last year though!

2006 looks set to be even bigger, with both Martyn Aston and Grant Fielder returning up for another years mayhem on tour. They've got new bikes, a bigger rig and some killer new tricks in the bag resulting in a gravity defying, awe-inspiring and ground breaking demo.

Animal are currently firming up all the tour dates at the moment with a plan to undertake a major 50 date tour of the UK, including all Animal Store towns, the best action sport weekends and carefully selected high profile international events.

While they are finalising the schedule check out their 2005 video downloads and gallery for a taster of 2006.

www.animal.co.uk