Team Promotional Video- by Matt Berenz

I had the pleasure of shooting with Harold , Alistair and Tom mid summer at the 5th round of the Provincial Series. Check out the promotional video for the team.

Riders featured:
-Alistair Pimlott
-Tom Kakamousias
-Harold Woolnough
-Matt Berenz

Filmed and Edited by Matt Berenz
Viewed in standard definition due to size restrictions.
Please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7oxjqUWqMA for high quality.

Silent Devinci- Summer in Bromont, QC

Tom K. spent the summer in Bromont, QC, representing Silent Devinci very well out on the trails. Tom provided the team, as well as many other Ontarians with a place to crash at the world famous DH destination.

Check out Tom on the BMX track:

Tom riding "Soleil" before the lifts open:

Tom is now spending the winter training in Vancouver with teammates Harold and Alistair. With his drive and passion for racing, he will be a force to watch out for on the Provincial and National circuit in 2010.

Ontario/ Quebec Challenge

It was the weekend everyone was waiting for, 2 races, 2 provinces and 2 killer fast tracks! The results from the Quebec finals and Ontario Championships would be combined to crown the winner of the first challenge. It was an exciting weekend for Silent Devinci- Ontario, as we were racing along side the boys from the Devinci Factory and their Quebec racers.

Harold rocking out in practice

In Saturdays Quebec race, Alistair finished 5th (2nd in Ontario) in Junior Expert and finished his Quebec season 4th in that provinces overall. The other boys from the team opted out of this one to focus on Sundays Ontario Provincial Championship.

Sunday was the big race we were focused on. Harold was feeling great all weekend and was focused hard on a big result. Unfortunately his race run was less then stellar and at the end of the day, he was disappointed with his finish. (13th, 6th in Ontario) Tom was right behind him finishing 16th (8th in Ontario) and he finishes his season 7th in the provincial overall.

Alistair made it happen when it counted and ended
the day 2009 Junior Provincial Champion, Capping
off this Ontario season 2nd in the overall.

Our development team performed well and capped the season off with a few more podiums. Nick K finished 3rd in the cadet 15-16 overall. Adam F. and Matt B. finished 2nd and 3rd in the Senior Expert provincial overall.

Adam and Matt flying the colours on the Senior Expert podium

The team looks forward to another successful Provincial campaign in 2010!

Ontario Cup #6- Sir Sams

August 16th

After a long break away from the provincial series, the team was excited to be back at home with familiar faces on our home circuit. With new team members in the Senior Expert class and injuries getting resolved, the team was very noticeable out on the track.

Harold taking no risks riding with his wrist brace

It was a big weekend in the Junior Expert points race, as Alistair was trying to make ground on current overall leader Brad Zdriluk (Adrenaline Racer/ Giant). Unfortunately they both crashed, and Alistair remains in second. Matt Berenz, made his Silent Devinci debut by finishing 2nd in Senior Expert after flatting in his Hardtail race run.

In the Pro Men, Rob Fraser, fresh off his successful World Cup campaign, went over the bars in the steeps leaving it wide open for anyone to win. It would be Sydney Stolegraaf with his first win shocking the field. Harold managed to finish in 5th in his first race back followed by teamate Tom in 6th.

Pro Men: (left to right) Harold (Silent Devinci), Josh Decloet (Commmencal), Sydney Stolegraaf, Zach Tatem (Trek Store Racing), Taylor Rowlands (Commencal)

The team is off to Lake Placid, NY for the 5th round of the American PRO Gravity Tour.

See you on the trails!

4X Provincials and Quebec Cup

August 5th, Milton, Ontario
4x Provincial Champs

The 4x series returned to the infamous Track 2000 BMX track for the last race of the season. Nick has been spending a lot of his summer building jumps at the local dirt jump track . All the time on the hard tail paid off as he easily won the Cadet 4x Provincial Championship.

Nick with yet another victory!

New team member Matt Berenz was also battling on the track in the senior expert class. Matt had an unlucky main event as he was cut off in the first berm and would have to settle for 3rd place.

August 6th, Camp Fortune
Quebec Provincial Championship

In preparation for this September's Ontario/ Quebec challenge, Alistair and Tom opted to go back to Camp Fortune to mix it up with the french. The FQSC chose the same track the boys had raced earlier on this season, but this was nonetheless a good opportunity to see how we measured up against the top french riders.

Tom and Alistair riding the lift up

Tom was not pleased with his run, but managed to finish 12th in a field of about 30 pros. Alistair hit the top 5 finishing 4th in a stacked field of 26, just behind 2 National team members.

The boys are feeling confident for September and are eager to get back to racing in Ontario next weekend.

See you at Sir Sams!

Canadian National Championships- Le Massif

For the second year in a row, the National Champs were held on the east coast, but at an unfamiliar venue to most Canadians. Le Massif did not disappoint with fast and challenging terrain that kept racers on their toes.

After a disappointing crash at the last Canada Cup, Alistair was hungry for a result. With a solid run, Alistair managed to rank as the top Ontario junior, just behind 9 of Canada's fastest junior racers.

Unfortunately, Tom suffered a mechanical and finished 33rd, unable to workout his Canada Cup bugs.

There is some time off in the schedule for riders to re-focus for the end of the season.

2 Late Season Additions!

The team is excited to announce 2 additions to their development program. With injuries to 4 of our racers this season, the team looks to add a few podiums to advance in the provincial overall.

Adam Finlayson, 1st place O-Cup #5 (7th in Pro)

Adam Finlayson and Matt Berenz are sitting 1st and 3rd in the Senior Expert provincial overall. They have each won a race and are no strangers to the podium. They are poised to make the step into the Pro/ Elite ranks for 2010.

Matt Berenz flying his Devinci Frantik to victory

The team looks forward to having a full roster for Provincial Championships in September. Our 3 injured athletes are working hard to get back to race form!

See you at the races!

OCup #5- Blue Mountain Resort

The provincial series returned to the popular Blue Mountain resort for the Super D Provincial Championships and round 5 of DH series. The venue has a great atmosphere, a busy village made for big crowds and a resort made for a great race track.

The race course was over 3 minutes long; tight wooded sections mixed in with a fair bit of pedalling would prove to be a physically demanding task for racers.

Tom K, race run.

Tom chose to participate in 3 events this weekend putting his fitness up to the test in preparation for Nationals next weekend. Tom placed 3rd in the long and grueling Provincial Championship Super D race on Saturday. He went onto place 2nd in the hardtail category in Sundays DH race. Looking to step onto all 3 podiums, Tom had no energy left in his legs for the main event. Tom finished 6th in the Pro DH and slipped back into 4th in the Provincial overall ranking after a physically demanding showing from him this weekend.

Alistair has been on his game after training in Bromont for 2 weeks mid season. He crashed hard and fast in his race run but managed to get back on the bike to finish in 3rd. Incredibly he was 2 seconds behind the winner. Alistair remains in 2nd in the junior provincial ranking, but has closed the gap with his biggest competitor, now only 3 points ahead. A spot on the provincial team and a mid winter trip to the US is looking more like a reality for Alistair.

Alistair on yet another podium

These 2 athletes are off to the National Championships in Northern Quebec this weekend to put themselves up against the best in the country.

Bromont Canada Cup

Bromont Canada Cup DH #2/ 4x National Champs

The infamous Bromont Cycling Center played host to Canada’s second National DH round and the 4x National Championship this past weekend in Québec. Last years WC tracks were used allowing the trail crew to re-enforce them with cement and wood wherever necessary. Unfortunately the torrential rain resulted in massive holes and made it tough for the best to make it down without a crash.

The team training together from the top

With the World Cup just weeks away, a couple WC regulars were in town to preview the track. To no ones surprise it was Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) who took the win with a blistering time of 2:41.666, followed by fellow Aussie Mitchell Delfs (Kenda- Morewood) 2:50.452, American Neko Mullaly (Specialized/ Team America) 2.55.452, Quebec’s own Yann Gauvin (Eprezo/ Impact Design) 2:59.965 and Ontarian Rob Fraser (Primary-Trek) 3:01.086. The track conditions claimed many riders as roughly 1-in-3 managed to get down without a crash. Canadian National Champion Andrew Mitchell (Sombrio-Devinci) sent himself to the hospital with a broken foot.

It was 50/50 for Silent Devinci Racing. Kyle dislocated his shoulder having to roll down the rest of the hill and Alistair sent himself over the bars managing to get back up for 17th /38 in Junior Expert (61st/120 with the Elites). Tom managed to hold on for 38th and Nick Kesik squeezed into 9th /38 for a top 10 in Cadet.

The boys are back at it again next weekend for the 5th round of the provincial circuit at Blue Mountain Resort.

Camp Fortune- Ontario Cup #4

The much anticipated Camp Fortune venue did not disappoint. The track was fast and rough with some big lines making for some excellent racing. The elite field was 30 riders deep as many Quebec riders chose to participate in anticipation of September's Ontario/ Quebec challenge.



In another Primary-Trek 1-2, veteran Pete Mclean edged out youngun Dean Tennant for the win. They were followed by fan favourite Justin Brown (Cycle Solutions). Silent Devinci's Tom finished in 10th moving him into the 2nd spot in the overall for now. Kyle finished a respectable 13th with a crash right near the finish line.



Alistair continues his spectacular season with another 2nd place finish behind a speedy frenchmen. Alistair closes the gap with series leader Brad Zdriluk who crashed in his run.


Nick Kesik finished in 6th and maintains second place in the provincial overall.

The team currently holds the 2nd position in the provincial overall in Cadet, Junior Expert and Elite!

The boys go directly to Bromont, QC for the 2nd National round next weekend.

Ontario Cup #3- Kelso

The boys where back at it for the 3rd provincial round on the same race course used last season. Kyle won on this track last year and was due for a good result.The team had its best weekend ever with 4 out of 5 racers hitting the podium.

Kyle in 4th, Tom in 5th battling in Pro all season long

Nick Kesik continues to prove that he is a force to reckon with finishing 2nd in Cadet. Nick now sits 2nd in the provincial overall. Alistair finished 2nd in Junior Expert and also sits in 2nd in the provincial overall. Our Elite men stepped it up as we saw Tom and Kyle hit the podium, catapulting Tom into 3rd in the provincial overall.



The boys are getting prepared for a busy racing month with multiple trips to La Belle Provence. The Bromont Canada Cup, National Championships and the 4th and 5th provincial round are on the horizon.

Ontario Cup #2- Horseshoe

Tom styling it over the rocks

Photo: Dan Martin

The boys were back at it again at the second stop of provincial circuit. Everyone was stoked on the new additions to the track that included some high speed, off camber corners across the ski hill. Practice was wet and many racers opted to run mud spikes. Luckily the sun stayed out on race day and the track dried noticeably, except for the 200 foot mud bog at the end of the track that claimed many racers.

Alistair getting loose through the mud

The team was stoked on the new jerseys and gloves courtesy of Dakine and everyone was looking fast all weekend. Nick once again put up a great time in cadet (15-16) finishing 4th, not even a full second off 2nd place. Nick is currently top 3 in the cadet provincial overall. Our pro men struggled come race run, as the mud bog shot Kyle wildly of the back of his bike and Tom making some crucial mistakes right out of the gate. Both managed to place top 10 for some points. Alistair, racing junior expert, faired well on the longer track placing 2nd in junior expert. He is now also sitting in the top 3 in the junior provincial overall.

Alistair stepping onto the Junior Expert podium with his new Dakine gear

At the end of the day, it would be Dean Tennant (Primary- Trek) from British-Columbia making his second appearance on the O-Cup circuit taking home another win. He was followed by young guns Matt Zdriluk and teammate Rob Fraser.

Check out the video from the race: http://www.vimeo.com/4738361


The team is packing to travel to the first Canada Cup in Mt. Tremblant next weekend to enjoy a fast, technical and physical track. I am recovering from wrist surgery last week and sadly the team suffered another casualty on the weekend. Kevin will likely miss the rest of the season, keep your head up buddy!

Harold

Ontario Cup #1

After a long winter of putting together a new team, it was time to start enjoying the benefits of good race support from Devinci and a solid group of mates to ride with. Kelso has been the season opener since I've been racing and so it was a comfortable venue for the team debut. Everyone was stoked on the new bikes, to catch up with racing buddies and to get back into the swing of racing.

Photo credit: Dan Martin

No surprises with the track, as the favourite rock garden to drop was back in action along with the rest of last years flowy and fast track. A few minor tweaks made the track faster then ever, putting a smile on most peoples faces. (In my case a look of pain and agony, as a missed line led to a broken and dislocated wrist) The team was further weakened when Kyle showed up in street wear with a bad case of the flu. The rest of the boys were looking good and we were excited to see our youngest racer Nick come down with a wicked time to finish 2nd in Cadet. Nick's time was good enough for a third in Junior Expert and 10th in elite.


At the end of the day, it would be young star Rob Fraser taking the win in his first race in the pro men class beating out his Team Ontario Coach and series veteran Justin Brown by almost 2 seconds.

1 * Rob Fraser Primary-Trek 1:19.745 2 Justin Brown Cycle Solutions/Angry Johnny`s Racing 1:21.278 3 Zachary Tatem Trek Store Race Team 1:23.255 4 Sidney Slotegraaf 1:23.325 5 * Tom Kakamousias Silent Devinci 1:25.453

Fluidride Cup #1

The first big race of the season was Fluidride Cup #1 held in Port Angelees, Washinghton. I travelled down with Dean (Primary- Trek) and we met up with many other Canadians. The track was awesome and definetely suited my style; High speeds, big gaps, fast corners and tight single track.

Canada was well represented with podium sweeps in junior men and pro women. Top Canadians were juniors Kyle Marshall (Pinkbike Devinci) and Remi Gauvin, 1st and 2nd in juniors with times to put them in the top 10 in pro!

Harold managed to nab a 12th place finish amongst a deep and competitive pro field.


Pro Men- 40 racers

1 Curtis Keene Specialized/Sram 2.50.06 2.47.29
2 Lars Sternberg Transition Bikes/Fox Racing Shox 2.50.89 2.47.29
3 Casey Northern Ezlon 2.54.36 2.51.50
4 Joey Schusler Yeti / Fox Shox Nationl Team 2.57.56 2.52.09
5 Chris Boice Yeti / Fox Shox Nationl Team 2.56.47 2.52.90
6 Kyle Thomas Dincus/Wheelsport East 3.00.28 2.52.95
7 Bart McDaniel Fluidride/Evil 2.53.33 2.54.02
8 Phillip Wiering Fluidride/Evil 2.57.71 2.54.29
9 Dean Tennant Primary/Trek 2.55.83 2.54.62
10 David Camp 2.58.11 2.55.33
11 Kevin Bartkowski Cove Team 2.59.25 2.56.16
12 Harold Woolnough Devinci- Ontario 3.00.09 2.57.10

Vancouver Island DH

Looking to escape the cold and muddy Vancouver winter riding, I made many trips to Vancouver Island to train with top Canadian Dean Tennant (Primary-Trek). The trail I was shown has years of racing history attached to it, as it was explained to me. Its location was passed down from the older racing generations to the new school island superstars. As you can imagine the trail is incredible and is the training grounds for National Champ Drew Mitchell (Sombrio Devinci) and his young prodigé Kyle Marshall (Pinkbike Devinci). Steep at times, wide open fast, big gaps and a whole lot of corners makes this trail a racers dream.

Harold

2009 Devinci Wilson: An Impressive Gravity Weapon

We were fortunate to get our hands on a pair of next years Wilson 3’s to test ride at Crankworx. Whistler provided a variety of terrain for us to abuse these gravity weapons, and we wasted no time taking the bikes right to the top. As we left the Devinci headquarters, the Frenchmen warned us ‘low bottom bracket, watch your pedals!’ Which translated into ‘this things rails, have fun.’

The 2009 Wilson frames have not changed geometry, though they have upgraded to more durable needle bearings and wicked build kits.

Spending time adjusting my cockpit allowed me to notice the impressive build on the Wilson 3. Fox DHX 5 coil and a Boxxer team gave me the peace of mind that I would feel right at home out on the trails. The Wilson 3 is also equipped with Code 5 brakes, Sram X.O rear derailleur, DT Swiss rear hub laced on Mavic rims, e13 LG1, Daredevil components, and the very popular Maxxis Hi-Roller tires. Weighing about 41 pounds out of the box and sporting quality accessories makes the Wilson 3 a very capable race bike. This left me to wonder how the Wilson 4 could possibly be better.
Boxxer World Cup, Fox DHX5 Air or Coil, Avid Codes, Gravity Light Cranks, DT Wheelset, Sram XO and Crankbrother pedals make the Wilson 4 a top end build!

The Wilson’s geometry is adjustable to suite you personal needs. Adjustments are found at the front shock mount and at the dropout leaving you with the option to adjust your B.B. height, wheelbase length and headtube angle. We opted for the DH setting; a low B.B., slack head angle, and longer wheelbase.

Having just raced the world famous Garbanzo DH, we felt we should bring these bikes up to speed and we dropped into the rock strewn Original Sin. After about 100 meters of the worlds’ finest trails and non-stop giggles, a crank arm to rock propelled me over the bars. We had a long way to go, but refused to tone it down the rest of the way as the Frenchmen’s words rang in my head “watch your pedals!”


Ontario’s former junior team member and elite racer, Kyle Lockyer

Continuing down the technical Garbanzo trails allowed us to get a good feel for the bikes handling. The four bar design allowed the rear wheel to stick to the ground under various loads descending down Garbanzo, allowing for more traction, controlled braking and ultimately more speed. The light build felt very maneuverable in the tight spots. Dropping into the brand new “Ninja Cougar” would put the Wilson’s cornering ability to the test, as the trail resembled a tight dual slalom track in the woods. Even on the longer wheelbase setting, the tight corners were sharp and quick! The low B.B. and short chainstay allowed the Wilson to corner like a dream. A few more drops, jumps and cool features unique to Whistler, and we had made it down.



After making some quick adjustments to the suspension and swapping in low profile pedals, it was time to truly test the speeds of the Wilson on the World Cup style Canadian Open Track: Fast, Gnarly and Rough. Feeling a little bit more at home, I hammered on the pedals wherever necessary. The combination of the 4-bar design, the DHX 5, frame weight and design made the Wilson a very efficient pedaling bike. The course opened up and the Wilson was put to work. The suspension ramped up nicely on the high-speed compressions and the bike felt balanced. When the bike broke loose, it was predictable and controlled. The Code 5’s were a treat as speed was controlled on command keeping the pilot safe.


The Wilson 3 rode very well and we were very impressed with the build kit. Devinci has made a statement of quality by complementing the whole line of Wilsons with very nice part build kits. Complete options are available for the seasoned racer, weekend warrior, freerider and beginner. Talk to Silent Sports in Thornhill for a great deal on your Devinci bikes!

Island Cup #1- Cumberland, BC

March 2009

Vancouver Island has a spring series every year, a great way to warm up and fine tune all the bugs before the season starts. This first race was held in Cumberland just down the hill from Mt Washington Alpine Resort. I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Vancouver Island to put a few laps in on the new bike and work on the setup.

The track was awesome! A pedally and flowy upper half dropped into a super fast and rough mid section that spat you into some beautiful turns to the finish line.

Racing on the west coast is done nothing like out east. Wicked tracks and fast riders, but the organization does not exist. Shuttles are only available race day, and expect 1 warm-up at most. Manual timing led to permanent errors in the intermediate class with some unhappy racers never finding out there times, and about a weeks wait for all the results. With little/no course marshalls, racers are on there own if they get hurt. Hopefully there is a fan standing nearby trained to save you if you go down hard.

It was a rather short course that forced riders to be pinned top to bottom. Vancouver Island has produced Canada's top racers for some years now making the competition quite tough. I just squeezed into the top 10, realizing that a bit more aggression was needed against the locals.

1	121	Brent Anderson	31	02:08.11
2	119	Dean Tennant	20	02:10.48
3	276	Jamie Biluk	23	02:11.45
4	116	Simon Garstin	18	02:11.86
5	479	Conner Macleod	23	02:11.86
6	105	Kyle Marshall	17	02:11.99
7	117	Mitch Forbes	25	02:13.89
8	115	Kyle Walstrom	16	02:14.79
9	118	Harold Woolnough	21	02:15.04
10	110	Remi Gauvin	16	02:17.39