About Dean Racing Development:
Dean Racing Development (DRD) is a professional mountain bike team established to support & develop top-level gravity mountain bike athletes in regional, national, and international settings. The team is comprised of talented, personable, highly popular & recognizable athletes that are dedicated to their sport. Our organization aspires to provide athletes with all the tools necessary throughout the rigorous, year-log calendar both on American and international soil. Supported by the best brands within & outside the mountain bike industry, DRD is already seen as one of the top national teams on the circuit! For additional information about DRD Tomac, please visit www.dylan-dean.com/drd.htm.

The other big news on the tyre side of things is WTB’s new Tubeless Compatible System or TCS. While most other tyre companies have been discouraging the running of aftermarket tubeless systems (in some case not warranting tyres that have been used with Stans’etc) WTB are heading the other way and are in fact recommending it. The new TCS bead in fact is designed to work with Stans and other similar conversion kits and combined with WTB’s nylon strengthened side walls (Inner Peace) radically reduces sidewall flex while not adding a whole lot of weight. These will also be getting the full review for issue 37 but we’ll keep you updated on the web as well.

I just got in from a radical weekend at the 2010 Farm Jam. If you weren’t there you missed out on one of the best weekends of BMX /FMX/MTB flowin’, trickin’, sendin’ and straight huckin’ that ever went down in New Zealand!

Kelly McGarry, tuck no hander. Photos Sam Minnell

The Frew farm is situated just out of Winton in Southland and the weather couldn’t have been better for the big weekend of two wheeled shenanigans.
Unit Clothing came to the party big time at the Farm Jam, throwing down some coin for prize money as well as copious amounts of awesome product and even bringing a chopper to capture the antics as they happened from some high angles.

Gravity Components also threw down some $$$ and great product for the MTB contest which was siiiick! And Red Bull made sure every one was pumped and not thirsty for the weekend. Cheers Guys!

I showed up on Thursday to have a ride and help the team set up some wooden structures, and the riders started flowing in from Aussie and all over New Zealand which was pretty awesome
The Frew Farm has progressed over the last few years into one the best places you could ever take your bike or moto with a fully sick moto/FMX dirt/ramp park on top of the hill and a mad set of dirt jumps, a dirt pipe and 10ft dirt quarter at the bottom of the hill for bicycle shrederizing.

The first event to kick off was the FMX and the field was stacked with top level riders. The man on top was Unit/Red Bull sponsored Kiwi weapon Levi Sherwood who was ridin loose and hangin’ it out with some burly trick combos like flip shaolin barhop flip and cordova flips. The dude is made of rubber! The whole FMX event was so good to watch, those boys go LARGE.
Three pm rolled around and it was time for the MTB/BMX throwdown showdown! It was an all in, MTB, BMX, rider-judged, 45-minute, ride-any-line-you-want-as-many-times-as-you-want EXPRESSION SESSION!
Everyone was loving the format and things were getting out of hand. A few highlights for me included watching Unit rider Dane Searls absolutely destroy the entire dirt course with steez, burly tricks and gapping the entire dirt pipe deck which was about 30ft long! Paul Langlands was also on fire, throwing down on the big line with cannonballs, supermans, flowy 3s and flips and whips both ways.
The MTB crew were rippin’ too. Conner Macfarlane 3′ed the first drop which was sick and also got loose on the big line with a flip one foot X-up and I think he 3′ed the last jump which I have only seen Brett Frew do before. It was good to watch Elmo Cotter and Phil M shred the course with tricks and steez. Karl B flipped every jump in the big line in a row and boosted the shiz out of everything.

The gnarliest thing that I saw all day had to be Brian Anzelotti “The Bastard” FRONT FLIP off the Gravity Drop second try without even just riding off the drop first! Sicko!
After the BMX/MTB finished up we went back to the moto course for the moto /style race which was basically a chilled race with extra points for rippin’ it sideways. Local racer Scotty Columb was down with the format and hauled ass around the course throwin’ some nasty whips and took the win .

All in all it was an amazing weekend of two wheeled action. I was stoked to get 3rd in the MTB and win some CASH; I will be be going back next year for sure and so should YOU!

Love and kisses

Kelly “McMassive” McGarry

For more posts check Seb’s Blog here
The Southern Freeriders Blog here
and Kelly’s personal site Here

Here’s just a brief list of the riders in the major comps, we will have some pics up soon of the riding and more deets but for now this is the lists of comp winners.

Protec BMX

1st Paul Langlands
2nd Dane Searls
3rd Kane Ohagan

Gravity MTB

1st Connor McFarlane
2nd Karl Bensemman
3rd Kelly McGarry

Unit FMX

1st Levi Sherwood
2nd Jake Bowen
3rd Rhys Hillier

Unit MX Race

1st Scotty Columb
2nd Paul Gow
3rd Brent Scammell

Slide Best Style

Dane Searls

Jim Beam Best Trick

Brian Anzelotti

I’ve recently competed in a few very fun races and I’ll give you the lowdown on them in a short while because they’re stories worth telling, but this is all about Karapoti.

Saturday was one of those beautiful days where nothing seemed insurmountable. I led from very early on, happy to control the pace through the gorge and avoid the shower of muddy spray that you expose yourself to when following another.

The Warmup climb was a bit of a revelation. Instead of being pushed back by a steady stream of guys coming past, as I expected, I was able to maintain the aggression and shell a few more riders so that at the top it was me, Brendon Sharratt and Stu Houltham. I haven’t done so well on the climbs in recent years and so this was the first hint that I might be in good shape to place well today.

Deadwood followed the Warmup climb and it was here that I had a sweet wee moment, passing Stu while climbing. That certainly doesn’t happen often and so I quietly savoured that act. I was working bloody hard for it though, with my heart rate at 180bpm since the start.

It was along the rolling ridge at the top of Deadwood that I dropped Stu and Brendon. I’m not sure precisely where it was but it wasn’t so surprising. I really like that type of terrain, where you maintain the momentum of the previous downhill to drive up the following climb. It was an area of strength for me, but there were a few more areas of weaknesses ahead—Rock Garden and Dopers—and so I still expected to have company at some stage.

It wasn’t to be. I rode the Rock Garden the best I ever have, thankful to be on my Santa Cruz as I went down it. Hiskey had shown me how quick you can ride it a month or so earlier, and while I don’t think I even approached his speed, it was hugely useful in resetting my expectations.

I was looking forward to Devil’s Staircase where I felt I would have an advantage over all but Cabin, who is also training for Xterra. I didn’t quite bound up this hike-a-climb but I moved pretty fast, and crucially didn’t have to contend with screaming legs unaccustomed to walking, as it was when I was a cyclist.

Big Ring Boulevard was a blur with a few pockets of spectators at crucial junctions yelling encouragement. Then things got a bit desperate. With one climb remaining my legs were beginning to feel the effects of my earlier effort. My bike hadn’t quite emerged unscathed through the muddy bogs / rock gardens / bush either and I’d lost my two easiest rear gears. There was nothing for it but to climb as best I could and adopt an air of fatalism accepting that I might be caught.

Dopers seemed to go on for an interminable length of time as I hurried to stay hidden in the bush. I was having to stand a great deal though thankfully my Maxxis Aspens were hooking up well, as they had done all day, and I didn’t have to devote too much energy to maintaining traction.

Finally I crested, and with only downhill remaining I could begin contemplating the prospect of a win. I was riding raggedly though and took a tumble part way down when I fluffed a line through one of the clay bogs. It wasn’t major, though I did knock my head, but it was disruptive to my flow.

Once I was back on the flat and I just drove it as hard as I could to the finish. I was still convinced that someone would catch me and so it was with a huge sense of relief that I dropped into the final river crossing, 100m from the finish knowing that no one was immediately behind.

It was a great feeling to cross the line victorious, and a huge privilege to be wearing the Roadworks shirt as I did so. Oli Brooke-White has been one of my best supporters for a long time now and I knew that he’d be thrilled to add a Karapoti title to his already extensive riders’ results.

I completed the course in 2hr 21min 09 sec, some 2 minutes ahead of Brendon Sharratt in second place. From my rough reckoning this is the 6th fastest time ever recorded, with guys like Kashi Leuchs and Clinton Avery bettering my effort. I was hoping to go sub 2.30 so was pretty chuffed by this.

The Karapoti Classic was also doubling as the NZ MTB Marathon Championships so I’ve taken that title too. Attached is a pic of me in the national shirt with Oli—we’re pretty happy.

It turns out that my very comfortable Lazer helmet did the job it was designed to do and sacrificed itself when I crashed. It must have been a much stronger impact than I thought.

I would like to thank my sponsors who have all been with me for so long, and who all provide the gear that allows me to perform like this. Cheers Santa Cruz, Pearl Izumi, Maxxis, Roadworks; you guys are the best at what you do.

It’s a win in both pro men and pro women at the Karapoti for Santa Cruz today, as Tim Wilding piloted his Carbon Blur XC to a convincing win over Brendon Sharratt and Mark Leishman, and then Annika Smail cruised her Carbon Blur LT to a similar win over Nic Leary and Samara Sheppard.   Full results here; more pics now.

Anika Smail, 1st Pro Women, 2:52:13

Brendon Sharratt, 2nd place pro mens, 2:24:10

Cabin, 3rd Pro Mens, 2:24:19

Nic Leary, 2nd Pro Womens, 3:00:15

Samara Sheppard, 3rd Pro Womens, 3:19:24

Enter the Skyline Screamer and you too could find yourself drifting a fire road corner like Justin Leov.

Despite rumours to the contrary there are still plenty of spots open in this Sunday’s Skyline Screamer downhill race off Wainui Hill.  It’s an old school three-up eliminator race from the summit of Wainui Hill to Te Whiti Park. This is an event not to be missed, with huge prize money on offer. Up for grabs is the following: Men – $1000 1st; $500 2nd; $250 3rd; $150 4th; $100 5th Women – $500 1st; $250 2nd; $100 3rd.
More information can be found here.
Enter online here.

We also need volunteers to help with the running of this event. Drivers, marshalls and general helpers will all be required. Email wellymtbc@gmail.com if you can give us a hand.
Mike will be up the course on Saturday doing some marking out—if anyone can give him a hand, send us an email at the above address.