Posts Tagged ‘New York’

Round eight of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano held at Val di Sole in Italy saw close battles continue in every category contested.  The first triple of the year brought together the downhill, 4-Cross and cross-country athletes for the first time this season.

In warm and dry conditions the riders skill and stamina were tested on what some were saying were not the most technically challenging of courses.

Cross country

The video from ucichannel shows the ladies and mens finals – after five rounds the ladies saw a fifth winner  with Maja Wloszczowska (CCC Polkowice) outsprinting Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Luna) to win only the second World Cup of her career

Pendrel regained the lead in the overall standings after losing it a week earlier in Champéry, Switzerland.

On the men’s side, it came down to World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) against World Cup leader Julien Absalon (Orbea) in a sprint. Schurter  won the race and took over the World Cup lead. This makes it three times now that Schurter has beaten Absalon in a sprint, in the past 12 months.

Pendrel now leads the women’s World Cup with 794 points, followed by Lechner at 740 and Willow Koerber with 735.

In the men’s competition Schurter now has 936 points to Absalon’s 910, with European champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Rubena-Birrel-Specialized) third at 790.

4 cross

The video from ucichannel shows some agressive riding from the Dutch girl Anneke Beerten (Suspension Centre) to make it 2 wins on the trot while Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) locked up the men’s overall title despite finishing fourth behind Swiss champion Roger Rinderknecht.

Beerten was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the women’s field. Unlike the rest of the riders, she was clearing the same big jumps as the men on the lower half of the course, and easily took the final. Austrian Anita Molcik, her rival for the overall title, did not have the same ability on the more technical aspects of the course, but used her very fast start to win her semifinal and then take second to Beerten in the final. Beerten now leads Molcik by 45 points in the standings, with one race remaining, so this competition is not over.

In the men’s event, Rinderknecht had the rare distinction of beating Graves for the number one seed in qualifying. Both riders advanced steadily to the final by winning all of their heats, and were joined by Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross) and Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) in the men’s final.

In the final, Graves took the lead, but tangled with Rinderknecht in the second corner, falling back to fourth. With Slavik – Graves’ only potential rival for the overall title – finishing second, Graves now has 535 points to Slavik’s 400 and, with 125 points for a win, it means that the Australian has won the men’s title with one race remaining.

Downhill

This video from ucichannel shows some action from the downhill events – it was perhaps particularly the downhill course which left the riders somewhat technically challenged.

The lovely Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Center) took her second successive World Cup victory in two weekends in the women’s competition, with World Cup leader Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) finishing second. Ragot’s victory denied Jonnier the opportunity to lock up the women’s World Cup title, and the duo will have to battle it out at the final in Windham, New York later in the month.

On the men’s side, Gee Atherton (Commencal) and Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) continue to battle for the World Cup lead. Marc Beaumont (GT) took the victory, with only the second World Cup win of his career, but behind him Minnaar took second and Atherton third. After points from qualifying runs were factored in, Atherton took the leader’s jersey from Minnaar by a mere seven points, setting the stage for a huge battle in Windham.

So with the UCI Shimano sponsored world series moving across the pond to Windham in New York for the next round of competition there is all to ride for – Windham will also host downhill, 4 X and cross country. There is a lot to ride for – we know for sure that it is only Jared Graves who can be sleeping with a smile on his face as he contemplates the westward journey.

The event at Windham, New York is being held on the 28th and 29th of August. For further details visit the UCI website, the link for which follows http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUyMjU&LangId=1

The 2010 Red Bull Air Racing World Championship had an inauspicious start this year when in the second race of the series in Perth, Australia the first ever crash in the events 7 year history was recorded.

Adilson Kindlemann of Brazil lost control of his aircraft after rounding a pylon during practice. Kindlemann managed a near wings level impact, but as the aircraft’s fixed landing gear dug into the water, the aircraft flipped, leaving Kindlemann and the aircraft floating upside down in Perth’s Swan River. As you can see, Red Bull rescue crews arrived quickly to the inverted MXS-R aerobatic race plane and Kindlemann was pulled out alive. Amazingly his injuries were minor – but he was unable to fly when his home country hosted a race last weekend.

The crash is recorded here by AVweb –

As can be seen in the picture below the weather was not looking good for the race which was held off Rio de Janiero’s Flamengo Beach in front of huge crowds. Unfortunately the Top 12 round on Sunday had to be cancelled due to the poor weather and the race placings and points were determined by the pilots times in qualification.

Hannes Arch of Austria was declared the winner and Britain’s Nigel Lamb was awarded second place while championship leader Paul Bonhomme was forced to settle with a disappointing third place in the third race of the 2010 season.

This leaves the 2010 World Championship scoreboard after 3 events with Bonhomme narrowly clinging to his lead – see below.

POS	PILOT	NAT	ABU DHABI	PERTH	RIO	PTS
1	Paul Bonhomme	GBR	12	9+1	9	31
2	Nigel Lamb	GBR	10	8	10	28
3	Hannes Arch	AUT	1+1	12	12+1	27
4	Matt Hall	AUS	4	10	8	22
5	Pete McLeod	CAN	7	7	5	19

Fortunately the Brazilian babes were not deterred and on the Saturday it was not only the planes that drew the photographers attention.

The video below shows action from Rio – both the video and pictures come from Redbullairrace

The remaining race schedule is as follows:

• June 5/6 – Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• June 19/20 – New York, NY, USA
• August 7/8 – EuroSpeedway, Lausitz, Germany
• August 19/20 – Budapest, Hungary
• September 4/5 – Lisbon, Portugal

Tickets and information for any of these events can be obtained from the following link:

http://www.redbullairrace.com/cs/Satellite/en_air/Generic/Tickets-and-Hospitality-021242756456959?CategoryName=Red+Bull+Air+Race&p=1238611393596

The mountain biking UCI world cup kicks off this weekend at Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire, England. The competition will include six rounds for each of the three disciplines (cross country, downhill and four-cross) and will take place at nine venues in eight countries.

Dalby Forest is a new venue for the world series and hosts a cross country round on April 24-25. The UK will therefore host two world cup rounds, including the Fort William event on June 5-6.

Check out some of the downhill and freeride conditions in this video from POPPYCAT2495 which was made in 2008.

After a five year absence, the world cup will also return to the US in 2010. A ski resort in Windham, New York, which has hosted a round of the US national series, will host a triple event, featuring cross country, downhill and four cross. The event will take place on August 28-29, a few days before the World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada

Other stops will include Houffalize, Belgium; Offenburg, Germany; Fort William, UK; Schladming, Austria; Champéry, Switzerland; and Val di Sole, Italy. The latter is new to the World Cup calendar, but hosted the World Championships in 2008.

2010 World Mountain Bike Calendar

• April 24-25: World Cup XCO #1, Dalby Forest, Great Britain
• May 1-2: World Cup XCO #2 & 4X #1, Houffalize, Belgium
• May 15-16: World Cup DHI #1 & 4X #2, Maribor, Slovenia
• May 22-23: World Cup XCO #3, Offenburg, Germany
• June 5-6: World Cup DHI #2 & 4X #3, Fort William Great Britain
• June 19-20: World Cup DHI #3 & 4X #4, Schladming, Austria
• June 7-10: European Continental Championships, Haifa, Israel
• July 17-18: National Championships Weekend
• July 24-25: World Cup XCO #4 and DHI #4, Champéry, Switzerland
• July 31 – August 1: World Cup XCO #5, DHI #5 and 4X #5, Val di Sole, Italy
• August 8: World Marathon Championships, St. Wendel, Germany
• August 28-29: World Cup XCO #5, DHI #6, and 4X #6, Windham, New York, USA
• August 31 – September 5: World XCO, DHI & 4X Championships, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada

There are over 100 teams competing in this years championships representing 17 different countries. The competition is going to be very tough with the likes of Sam Hill, Steve Peat, Greg Minnaar, Christoph Sauser, Julien Absalon and Gee Atherton all likely to compete.

 The video below from onedarklord shows some of the action from the 2009 World Cup downhill which was held at Canberra in Australia and won by Steve Peat.

When you get a line up that includes Terje, Travis Rice, Daniel Ek, Scotty Lago and Torstein Horgmo and throw in the extreme sports ever present sponsors in the shape of Red Bull you are likely to have some thrilling action. And that is what you can see in this thrilling video from extremityTV which shows all the thrills and spills of snowboarding.

These extreme snowscrapers were in action at the beginning of 2009 when Red Bull set up a snowboard park in central New York with a backdrop of high rise buildings – perhaps not the usual environment for snowboarding but it certainly allows many more people to witness the skills of these great athletes and so hopefully it might inspire others to follow in their footsteps….enjoy

We wrote last week about the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and headlined that blog as extreme art. We also mentioned that our favourite in the equestrian world was flat racing and of course this weekend saw the running of the 2009 Kentucky Derby – one leg of the American Triple Crown.

The world of extreme horse racing is somewhat complicated and will take us some time to provide a thorough explanation. You have different age groups, you have the boys – colts – and girls – fillies – you have the different class of races, the different weights to be carried, the different distances to be raced and the different surfaces to be run on – dirt or turf.

And beyond all that you have the characters involved, not just the horses but their owners, their trainers their jockeys and their adoring fans. A day at the races is in our humble opinion great entertainment.

At the extreme end of the sport, the very best of the best, as an owner or trainer you are hoping your colt will win the Triple Crown.

In the United States this consists of the Kentucky Derby run over 1.25 miles on dirt at Churchill Downs, Kentucky; the Preakness Stakes run over 1.187 miles on dirt at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland and the Belmont Stakes run over 1.5 miles on dirt at Belmont Park in New York.

In the United Kingdom the Triple Crown for Colts consists of the 2,000 Guineas run over 1 mile on turf at Newmarket, Suffolk; the Derby run over 1.5 miles on turf at Epsom Downs, Surrey; and the St. Leger run over 1.75 miles on turf at Doncaster Town Moor Race Course, Yorkshire.

Both in the United States and United Kingdom these races are for 3 year olds and if achieved your horse joins a very select group of past winners.

In the US it has only happened 11 times the last time being 1978 when Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, won all three races and it has not happened in the UK since 1970 when Nijinsky, ridden by Lestor Piggott achieved the accolade. There have been 15 winners of the Triple Crown in the UK.

It could be argued today that winning the Triple Crown in the UK will never be achieved again as it is believed the ’stud’ value of a colt who has won at distances of between 1 mile and 1.75 miles will be reduced – somewhat ironical but owners are concentrating on reproducing speed and not stamina.

So there you have an introduction to the world of extreme flat racing and on Saturday we saw the second biggest upset in the history of the Kentucky Derby when Mine That Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel, stormed home up the rails at a rain sodden Churchill Downs to win by a convincing margin. At odds of 50-1 it was indeed a surprise and it will be interesting to see how he runs in the next leg – the Preakness.

See the action below from kentuckyderby of how he managed to do it.

We were talking with friends last night about the tsunami which struck south east Asia on December 26th 2004 killing an estimated 150,000 people – the worst natural disaster in modern history. ‘That will be nothing’ chirped up our friend, ‘it will be the collapse of Cumbre Vieja that will leave in its wake a death toll of more than a million people’.

OMG – what is that we thought and having been given a rudimentary explanation by our friend we decided to do some further research when we got home and what follows is a brief synopsis of why it is western Europe which poses the most extreme threat to human life on the east coast of the United States.

Researchers at Benfield Hazard Research Center have identified a potential Atlantic Ocean tsunami threat from large-scale landslides at the Canary Islands. Surface and submarine investigations show a long-term history of mega-landslides at multiple locations in the Canary Island chain.

Recently, scientists have realised that the next Mega Tsunami is likely to begin on one of the Canary Islands, off the coast of North Africa, where a wall of water will one day race across the entire Atlantic Ocean at the speed of a jet airliner to devastate the east coast of the United States, the Caribbean and Brazil.

Dr Simon Day, who works at the Benfield Greig Hazards Research Centre, University College London, says that one flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, is unstable and could plunge into the ocean during the volcano’s next eruption.

Dr. Day says: “If the volcano collapsed in one block of almost 20 cubic kilometres of rock, weighing 500 billion tonnes, it would fall into water almost 4 miles deep and create an undersea wave 2000 feet tall. Within five minutes of the landslide, a dome of water about a mile high would form and then collapse, before the Mega Tsunami fanned out in every direction, traveling at speeds of up to 500 mph. A 330ft wave would strike the western Sahara in less than an hour.”

After six hours it would reach Britain, where waves up to 40 ft high would hit southwest England at 500 miles per hour, travel a mile inland and obliterate almost everything in its path.

However, the destruction in the United Kingdom will be as nothing compared to the devastation reeked on the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Dr. Day claims that the Mega Tsunami will generate a wave that will be inconceivably catastrophic.

He says: “It will surge across the Atlantic at 500 miles per hour in less than seven hours, engulfing the whole US east coast with a wave almost two hundred feet high, sweeping away everything in its path up to 20 miles inland.

Boston would be hit first, followed by New York, then all the way down the coast to Miami, the Caribbean and Brazil.” Millions would be killed, and as Dr. Day explains: “It’s not a question of “if” Cumbre Vieja collapses, it’s simply a question of “when”.

Of course you will all want to know the answer to that question – when – we know no more than the boffins but we think you might like to think twice before closing on that beach front property in the Hamptons.

By definition natural disasters are not predictable – reference the terrible loss of lives in the earthquake in Italy this week but as you will see in the video below from the thomgoddard the devastation will have no precedent.