Dirtsurfer May No Longer Be Available But Riders Still Enjoy the Sport

It has been well over a year since I last posted on this sports blog because I am no longer involved in the company and no longer have access to important insider info.

However, I still love my Dirtsurfer Flexi Pro Downhill and go riding whenever I can. In fact, I was out riding over the weekend. The weather was perfect.

I asked how the guys at Wingsurfer (over in the U.K.) were doing with the sport. Tim and Simon both responded with enthusiasm. Seems the sport is still very much alive for the hard-core riders. Simon says there’s a new riding spot being built with the Dirtsurfer in mind and will be opening soon near his home.

I know the guys still organize their Out To Grass event each year with plenty of good times for all.

Last I heard about Jeremy (the Canadian Dirtsurfer dealer)… he has moved on to selling his art. Seems he’s quite good at drawing and has a little studio for doing portraits. Good luck to Jeremy and the whole Dirtsurfer team in Canada.

Rob Turman, aka Papa Surf, has opened a very successful fitness center in Rocky Mount, Virginia with his beautiful wife, Pam.

Chase Turman, aka Crash, has joined the Air Force and will be reporting for duty in December. Best wishes to Chase.

I’ll see if I can catch up with Tom Whalen up north at Whalen Gravity Sports to see what he’s up to. The last time I saw Tom, he had just won the Bronze at Top Challenge in Montreal.

I’m pretty sure Nihat is still pushing Dirtsurfer in Germany and Bob and the guys are still riding over in Russia.

As for me… I’m doing internet consulting work and web video production. Business is booming and life is good.

Keep the faith and ride.

It’s a passion.
Cheers,
Brian Duvall

IGSA Rock & Roll Gravity Race Registration Now Open

Registration for Rock & Roll 2008 in Thalgau, Austria (near Salzburg) is now open. The event will be held July 23-26 on the fastest course of the IGSA World Cup Series circuit. Go to www.gravitysportsaustria.org/rnr08/index.php to sign up. Entry is being limited to the first 175 riders who register. After that you will be placed on a waiting list.

Once you have signed up you will need to send your registration fee of 160 EUR via Bank transfer within two weeks to guarantee your place. Additional classes are 20 EUR each with three classes max.

Don’t delay, because the event is expected to sell out. Go to www.gravitysportsaustria.org/rnr08/index.php

Much Has Happened

The last time I posted to this blog was nearly a year ago.

In that time since my last post the Dirtsurfer company… including U.S. distribution rights… was sold to Jeremy Bresciani and his business investors in Canada.

To help him get off to a good start I sent him all of my contact lists and turned over this once popular blog. Since checking back on the condition of the blog, I noticed that nothing had been done with it. No new posts. No new race reports. Nothing.

So, I have just decided to turn the blog over to my fellow Dirtsurfer riders in the U.K… Tim Mellor, Simon Watmore and the crew from Wingsurfer.co.uk. They are an active bunch who really foster the fellowship and joy of riding Inline Boards. They are also pretty handy with the top two complimentary enhancements to Dirtsurfer… the KiteWing and the Power Kite.

I know Jeremy is busy promoting the sport here on this side of the Atlantic and that he has his hands full running an international business. So, I doubt that he’ll mind if other fans of the sport take over reporting the latest news to rest of the world.

The new 2007 Dirtsurfers were released. The new models are steel and are less expensive. There is even a 16 inch version of the GP for beginners. The hope is to drive new riders to the sport and get younger riders interested in trying it out.

Dirtsurfer inventor Graeme Attey has been hard at work designing other more useful things like a small roof-top mounted wind turbine device for home power generation. Good for the environment. He even won a large grant to develop his idea. Best wishes to Graeme in these exciting new directions.

Nihat and the crew from Germany won Top Challenge again.

The sport continues to grow. Jeremy and the guys from Canada made a great showing at the U.S. Open Mountainboard Championships in Aspen, Colorado last summer as part of the western U.S. tour. Be sure to check out the cool vids on the www.Dirtsurfer.com website. Jeremy has also added a few new retailers here in the U.S. You can see the complete list on the website.

It’s my understanding that he has discontinued offering the Dirtsurfer through online only retailers like www.mtbz.com and a few others.

In case you’re wondering what I have been up to since Dirtsurfer USA… well, I have joined the staff of the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank ( www.swvafoodbank.org ) as their Major Gifts and Planned Giving Director. That means that I have to raise $14 million over the next four years to help secure the main distribution center in Salem, Virginia; acquire a new distribution center in Abingdon, Virginia; cover operating expenses for 4 years and cover fleet and food acquisition costs.

It’s a big job and we have a great team in place to make it happen. Wish me luck. Better yet, go to the website and donate online to help end hunger in this part of Virginia.

I hope to be back with more soon. Until then…
Cheers,

Brian Duvall

Nihat Uysal of Germany Wins Dirtsurfer Event at Top Challenge

Top Twelve Finishers in the Dirtsurfer event are:
1st Place – Number 85: Uysal, Nihat
2nd Place – Number 81: Legault, Dave
3rd Place – Number 82: Raza, Jonathan
4th Place – Number 83: Sicotte, Jean-Martin
5th Place – Number 6: Chartrand, Étienne
6th Place – Number 80: Gobeil, Piere-Olivier
7th Place – Number 9: Leduc, Michel
8th Place – Number 78: Enevoldsen, Aaron
9th Place – Number 86: Whalen, Tom
10th Place – Number 76: Allard, Tim
11th Place – Number 77: Brenchiani, Jeremy
12th Place – Number 79: Fecht, Joel

The 2007 Dirtsurffer Champion is Nihat Uysal of Germany. He is also the Dirtsurfer distributor for Germany and Austria so he gets plenty of opportunity to practice his racing skills on the Autobahn where he reaches speeds of over 63 miles per hour.

The only U.S. competitor to place was Tom Whalen of Brownfield, Maine who took 3rd place last year at the 2006 Top Challenge.

Jean-Martin Sicotte placed 4th this year. You might recall the horrible crash (at 3:20 into video) at last years event where he hit the barrier during practice and was knocked unconscious. We’re glad to see that he’s back and competing well. Congratulations.

Citizens in the western states had the opportunity to meet Jean-Martin, Jeremy Bresciani, Chris Middleton and Aaron Enevoldsen during the month of July while they did demonstrations at various locations, including the U.S. Open Mountainboard Championships in Snowmass, Colorado.

Jonathan Raza placed third at Top Challenge and last year placed 2nd at the Munnsville Gravity Fest event in New York where he was narrowly edged out by U.S. champion Rob “Papa Surf” Turman. Unfortunately, the Turman family race team was unable to make it to the Montreal race this year. We definitely need to field more racers if the U.S. ever expects to bring home the Gold in this international competition.

You can see more details… in French… at this blog.

Dirtsurfer Releases New U.S. Video on Youtube

Jeremy and some of the guys from Canada recently spent a few weeks doing a demo tour in the western U.S.

They even had a chance to do a demo event at the U.S. Open Mountainboard Championships in Snowmass, Colorado as part of the tour. You can see the video on Youtube or just watch it here. (Length: 8 minutes)

Dirt surfers want their place in the sun

Featured in: The Brighton Standard Blade

By Staff Writer
08/07/2007

Brandon Meyers

MetroWest Sports Correspondent

DENVER – While most people have heard of mountain biking and snowboarding, very few have seen the relatively new sport that daringly combines the most exciting parts of both.

Dirtsurfing traces its beginnings back nine years to Australia. To get an idea of the sport, one only needs to picture a snowboard balancing on two in-line tires, one at either end. Strapped into the center of the board, stands the rider who races downhill on virtually any terrain.

In Denver, as in the rest of the country, inline boarders are pioneering the path to popularity for future riders. In fact, one of the sport’s original founders, Quin Lee Ng, recently relocated to Denver, no doubt to take advantage of the endless mountain terrain that makes for excellent dirtsurfing.

Many will attest to the appeal of the Rocky Mountains to cross-terrain riders, as was seen over the weekend, when the U.S. Open Mountainboarding Championships were hosted in Snowmass Village. Although the biggest national mountain boarding contest boasted 100 entrants, all but four racers were on four-wheeled boards. The two-wheeled dirtsurfers raced for exhibition, but are shooting to have their own category in the competition next year.

By touring across the United States, they are hoping to expand the sport and the field of future competitors.

“Even though we’re going to be riding on the same terrain, we’re known to be much faster than the four-wheeled boarders,” says Canadian dirtsurfer Jeremy Bresciani.

Some of the other terrains that the sporting pioneers are working their way into, besides the mountains are downhill cement half-pipes, wind-powered desert riding in Las Vegas, Nev., and pretty much anywhere else that looks like fun.

Those with interest in learning more about where and when future dirtsurfing events are happening, or are looking to buy a dirtsurfer board can visit the official Web site at dirtsurfer.com.

Adventure Unlimited Camp Gets a Dirtsurfer Freestyle

I just spent the past two weeks… from July 7th through the 21st… at a camp called Adventure Unlimited where I taught nearly 30 kids how to ride the Dirtsurfer.

The camp is located in Buena Vista, Colorado at 9,000 feet above sea level near the base of Five Fingers Mountain. We flew into Denver on the 7th where the camp staff met us. Then they helped us get loaded onto a bus with the other new arrivals and drove us the two and half hours southwest to Buena Vista.

The camp is a former ranch that was converted into an adventure camp back in the 1950’s by Cap Andrews. They now offer an extensive horsemanship program, mountaineering, backpacking, climbing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, canoing, mountain biking, ropes courses, and loads more fun activities for those seeking a challenge. On several of the days the campers get a free choice activity where they can take classes not offered as a standard part of the programs… like Movie Making or Fly Fishing, to name two.

I had my Freestyle and full set of pads shipped out to the camp so it was there waiting for me when I arrived. As soon as I had it assembled and took it for a spin around the ranch kids were begging me to teach them how to ride. The camp director liked the idea and asked me to if I’d be willing to do a couple of free choice sessions. Of course I agreed. I love this sport and I love sharing it with others.

The first day of class was packed with nearly 24 riders ranging in ages from 6 to about 12 years old. I was amazed at how easily these kids picked it up and were flying down the road with confidence.

The next classes were held at the older kids section of the camp called Round Up Ranch. These kids were mostly 8th and 9th graders who were also very anxious to give it a try. I was also pleased to see that there were as many girls riding the Dirtsurfer as there were guys. Interestingly, many of the girls were better at it than the guys. They claimed that dance lessons helped them improve their balance. Whatever… it worked.

Since the camp did so well with the Dirtsurfer lessons, I donated the Freestyle and all of the pads to the camp so that they could continue offering it as a free choice after I left. This meant that I had to round up a few camp staff to train on how to teach the class. So, it wasn’t long before I had five or six camp staff… mostly college students… cruising around camp, too.

Now if I could just convince them to buy the 3 more Dirtsurfers and sets of protective pads then they could have a real Dirtsurfer program to be proud of.

As it turns out the camp is only about an hour from Snowmass where the U.S. Open Mountainboard Championships are being held this weekend. I told the camp about it and I know some of the staff were planning on going. I also know that Jeremy and the crew from Canada are scheduled to be there to demo the sport. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll have enough riders to have a real Dirtsurfer event.

Cheers,
Brian

Dirtsurfer Featured in ATV Insider Magazine

WoooHooo!

We did it again. This time we got into ATV Insider Magazine in their May issue. Check out page 27 in the section called ATV Outsider… Random Things of Interest Outside the ATV World. The Dirtsurfer Flexi Pro Downhill is featured at the top of the page in full color.

The magazine publisher, David Schloss contacted me back in the winter about possibly including the Dirtsurfer in one of their upcoming issues. We talked about the sport, the company and some hi-res images he might like to use. He must have liked it because there it is in print.

ATV Insider is a 95 page large format full color magazine focusing on the sport of All Terrain Vehicles with pro racer interviews, product reviews, pro race series reports and tons of great photos from all of the hot ATV action. It’s very cool magazine… well done with plenty of sponsor support.

Keep checking their “Back Issues” section on the website to see the Dirtsurfer article. Thanks to David and the ATV Insider team for the promo. We really appreciate it. You can subscribe online at www.atv-insider.com/subscribe.htm

Cheers,
Brian Duvall

Product Review: Voz Wet Pack For Protective Gear

Have you ever had to pack up your helmet, pads and other protective gear soaked with sweat, rain or ocean spray after a great day of riding? Ever notice that your stuff stays damp and starts to smell bad if you don’t unpack to let it dry out between rides?

I hate putting on wet gear. It feels gross.

Wouldn’t it be great if somebody designed such a pack for your gear? A pack that lets stuff dry out, is easy to pack, looks cool and keeps everything together.

Well now they have. Voz Sports in California has come up with a complete system originally designed for the surf and kite board industry. Their system includes a specially designed helmet, eye protection, communications, and back pack all made for wet environments.

I love their designs. Very cool looking. The helmet originally caught my eye but it’s not rated for land based sports. So, I went for the eye protection and back pack as possible Dirtsurfer / mountain board accessories. Here is my review of the Voz Wet Pack.

I first saw this product prototype at Surf Expo in Orlando back in September 2006. It was going through pre-order and the company ran into a little logo problem so all of their gear had to be re-tooled with the new logo. My pack arrived last week and WOW! It looks great.

My test was made using Dirtsurfer brand protective gear, Triple Eight Wrist guards and a Protec Skate Helmet. First into the pack was the helmet. The main compartment has a built-in helmet sling to cradle your lid in the center of the pack. I then stuffed one large knee pad in the very bottom of the compartment and one in the top. They fit nicely around the helmet. Next into the pack were the elbow / forearm guards… one on either side of the helmet. Also a nice fit. Finally, the wrist guards in at the top of the pack. Everything fit perfectly.

So what’s different about this pack? It’s fully ventilated. Besides looking totally cool and stealthy, the pack has mesh panels for plenty of air flow. The pouch pockets on the sides of the pack are handy for tools, spare parts and accessories. These also have small metal circular vents for air flow and drainage. The top pouch is perfect for your personal items that you want to keep dry. I stash the wallet, car keys and watch in here.

The inner lining of the main compartment has a waterproof back panel to keep your back dry and a rugged bottom material for greater durability.

The shoulder straps even have a chest strap and belt for max comfort and support. I even slip my small bike pump in behind the logo on the shoulder strap. The logo is not designed for this use but it works for me. The buckles are all heavy duty. The pinch buckles can be a little tough to unclip because they are so strong but this is also a positive. You wont have to worry about it breaking.

I love the Voz Wet Pack and highly recommend it. Check them out at Voz Sports.

Cheers,
Brian Duvall

UK Riders Can Now Buy from Wingsurfer.co.uk

Yes that’s right, Riders SWAT and Froggy have added an online store to the website http://shop.wingsurfer.co.uk
So, UK riders can now get their gear, including spares and accessories, direct from the website run by riders for riders…

As well as Dirtsurfers, Wingsurfer.co.uk are also selling Kitewings, and Kitewing/Dirtsurfer combo’s – some great deals, great support and great UK community on the Forum.

http://shop.wingsurfer.co.uk

Posted by Mike Wood