Mexico Dirtsurfer Riders Needed

Mexico is hot for Dirtsurfer.

There is another company doing a promotional event related to the ChocoMilk commercial shot back in July. They are recruiting riders, especially if you live in Mexico and can ride a Dirtsurfer.

They want riders who can do demonstrations for two to five weeks at malls and stores all over Mexico as part of the promotional campaign. So, there were two Freestyles left in Mexico City from the commercial shoot. If the people who bought them would please contact me at brian@dirtsurfer.com then I can put you in touch with the company who needs your help.

Imagine… getting paid to ride Dirtsurfers all day. That’s what I call a dream job. If we don’t hear from you soon then we’ll have to send in riders from other countries.

Cheers,
Brian

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GSI Gravity Champions in Top Challenge

It’s confirmed.

GSI 2006 Dirtsurfer Champion, Rob “Papa Surf” Turman will represent the U.S. at Top Challenge in Montreal, Canada on September 2nd and 3rd.

Also representing the U.S. are 16 year old Chase Turman who was GSI’s 2005 Dirtsurfer Champion and Tom Whalen, GSI Champion Gravity Biker and Butt Boarder. Tom raced in the Dirtsurfer class for the first time last year at Top Challenge and placed 4th overall.

Entering for the first time in a major international race in the Women’s Division is 14 year old Hope Turman. Hope placed 7th in her first race at the Madison County Gravity Fest V last month. Top Challenge will be her second race. (Hope and Chase pictured at left)

The U.S. team is going up against some very tough competition. The Canada team is being represented by the largest Dirtsurfer class ever. Many make Montreal their home and Top Challenge provides them with a home course advantage.

Also joining the competition this year is IGSA 2005 Dirtsurfer World Champion Nihat Uysal of Germany. Nihat is known for his agressive riding style and blistering speeds. His home practice course is the Autobahn through the Black Forest where he and his racing pals frequently reach speeds as high as 117 kilometers per hour. Nihat recently competed in races at Kill Hill in Germany; Are, Sweden and Chill on a Swiss Hill in Switzerland. He’s had lots of practice going into Top Challenge.

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16" Flexi – "First Time Out" Video

We got our new 16″ Flexi out on the beach for a play with a Kitewing last weekend. This was it’s first outing, and I have to say it rides really nicely. The turning circle is much tighter, so much so that it can catch you out. But you soon get used to it and …. what a ride! Doing jumps with the board is really effortless as there is so much pop, and it feels really “sure footed” on rough terrain.
Anyway, we did a bit of video, and here are the results. It was a bit of a rush job, but I hope you enjoy.

16″ Flexi – First Time Out

SWAT and Froggy

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Inline Boarder Blog Article Standards

Now that we’re getting articles submitted by our readers, I thought it would be useful to publish some basic guidelines to help maintain some consistency in the look and feel of the blog.

First, try to include photos, videos and websites in your articles. Everybody likes to see the sport in action. Pix are good but video is even better. Including web links adds depth to the article.

Tip 1: When uploading pictures, use small or medium picture size in the blogger tools. Large pictures are too big for the layout of the blog. Also be sure to use left justification only. Center and right justified pictures throw off the text portion of your article.

Tip 2: When adding a web link, include it as part of the article by highlighting the keyword and clicking the link tool in the toolbar then pasting the correct web url. This is better than writing the words CLICK HERE and making them the web link. See Tip 3 for an example below.

Tip 3: When adding video clips, I like to embed the video code directly into the blog. Most video hosting sites like Google Video, You Tube and Vimeo offer embedding code for sites like Blogger and MySpace. It should look something like this blog page example when it’s properly embedded.

When possible, identify the people in your pictures and videos. Be sure that your pictures and videos relate to the article. Try to position them next to the text that describes what’s happening. Photo credits are always a good idea. We need to give props to whomever deserves it. No copyrighted material is allowed without written permission from the copyright owner.

We ask that each team member submit at least one article per month on anything related to the sport of Inline Boarding. No profanity, spam or porn… not that it has ever been an issue.

As the editor, I retain the right to make minor editorial corrections to spelling, grammar, or content. Blogs are informal so don’t worry about this too much. I prefer to get articles from you as you would talk to a friend… not like you were writing a stuffy academic essay. Feel free to use local slang and expressions. Since we’re an international magazine / blog you might need to tell us what you mean but hey, that’s part of the fun. Example: In Australia, they call paved roads bitumen… in the U.S., we call it asphalt or pavement.

If you are interested in joining the Inline Boarder Blog Team, just e-mail at brian@dirtsurfer.com.

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New Dirtsurfers seen in the UK!

Yes its true!, after what seems an eternity, the new Dirtsurfers are in the UK! I know I’ve seen them at the Munkey, and collected one last night!

Those lucky chaps who have 16 or 20″ Flexi’s on order, should now be able to sort out final payment with Munkey Distribution. So get on with it!

There’s a few
initial pix here:.

…and some hints about fitting duluxe footstraps here.

We’ll do a full review as soon as its assembled and we get out this weekend!

Cheers
Froggy

Editor’s Note: Remember, you can see short instructional videos on how to assemble your new Dirtsurfer, adjust the disk brakes and install your deluxe foot straps on the official Dirtsurfer blog.

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Dirtsurfer at Chill On A Swiss Hill

by: Steven Carter
Photo by: Trix Muller of Dirtsurfer-team.ch

Monday morning at 8:00 am you hear this loud truck come rolling in to the camping area. After the truck parks and shuts off its engines you hear “Good morning, Vietnam!…The truck leaves at 9 am” blaring from the loudspeaker that is set up outside the main building.

By the time everyone has some food in there stomachs and their equipment is ready it is closer to 10 am. The truck starts heading up the hill to take racers to the starting line. This truck is something that they would use for hauling cattle and I guess some people could not resist mooing while going up the hill.

Once at the top, people only get 2 or 3 runs in the morning session which ends at noon for a lunch break. Course workers also take this time to repair parts of the barrier that had broken from some crashes. During the lunch break you see people buying food and fixing up their boards so that they are running better for the afternoon session which runs from 1:30. to 5:00 pm.

The worst part about the afternoon session is the heat. Temperatures reach between 30 to 35 degrees Celcius. There is almost no shade at the top or the bottom of the race course. For you Fahrenheit folks, that’s about 85 to 100 degrees. You can see the whole photo gallery by Trix Muller.

With the afternoon session completed you can go eat dinner that you have to order the night before. The cost is only eight franks. After that is all over you can go for the Night Free Ride from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. This is a better time to ride because the truck is not so crammed with people and it’s a bit cooler.

When you finally have your fill of riding there are nightly activities. Monday features the opening ceremonies which are alot of fun. Tuesday and Thursday are the Gravix awards which show off peoples’ filming and editing abilities. Some are really good and some are just too long… showing the same thing over and over. Wednesday is Swiss Night where people can enjoy various traditional Swiss pleasures like Swiss cheese on bread, Swiss music and a show on the Switzerland countryside. On Friday night they show more movies or you can relax before the big race day.

The races begin on Saturday morning. This is one really hard and technical course with lots of speed and lots of braking in the turns. If you go off the course in some parts, then you better have wings because it is a long way to fall. The best part about racing on Saturday is that the Dirtsurfers are the last event. This means that we have the biggest crowds in the last corner.

It is an intense day of racing with Ueli Gut being crowned as the 2006 IGSA World Champion in Inline Boarding. You may remeber that Ueli set a speed record on a Dirtsurfer when he reached 136 kilometers per hour at the European X Games back in March.

Now here are a few tips that I have learned about racing in Europe:
1. Come prepared. Bring tools, tires, extra stuff that you think you will need.
2. Pack heavy. Buy a cheap tent from Wal-Mart and then leave it in Europe.
3. HAVE FUN!

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Madison County Gravity Fest 2006

by: Brian Duvall

The fifth annual Madison County Gravity Fest was held at Munnsville, New York on July 28th through the 30th. (8:19, 9.5 Mb)

The town welcomed the gravity racers with a parade and festival followed by a spectacluar fireworks show after dark. Most racers camped out under the stars in the field behind the newly renovated American Legion Post. There was plenty of good food and story telling around the campfire as everyone fine-tuned their race equipment for the Saturday morning race.

After a hardy breakfast provided by the volunteers of the American Legion, everyone gathered at the starting line to set-up base and go through technical inspection. Gravity Sports International organizes the race each year with the help of legendary street luger Beagle Jarvis. Neil Orta with GSI oversees the operation of a safe and fun race with numerous course marshals and other volunteers.

One of the main reasons that racers enjoy GSI’s format for races is that everyone gets plenty of opportunity to practice and race. Each racer participates in four heats and earns points based on how well they place. First place earns 4 points, second place earns 3 points, third place earns 2 points and fourth place earns 1 point. The person with the most points after four heats wins. In case of a tie, they have a run-off for a tie-braker.

After technical inspection to make sure everybody’s safety gear and race equipment met minimum standards, the track was opened for practice runs. Practice lasted until noon then the first race event was the Dirtsurfer Inline Boards.

There were seven Dirtsurfer racers this year, including two from Quebec, Canada… Jean-Martin Sicotte and Jonathan Raza. This was their first race and both were sponsored by Sports Plus of Montreal.

Other Dirtsurfer racers included 42 year old Rob Turman (who placed 2nd last year), 16 year old Chase Turman (who placed 1st last year), 14 year old Hope Turman (her first race), Tom Whalen (who placed 4th at Top Challenge last year), and R.L. Webb (who placed 3rd last year).

The race consisted of two sets per heat. Each set had either three or four racers battling for top placement in each heat. We had high hopes for Chase Turman this year because of his rocket -like start. The kid can skate a Dirtsurfer like a pro. Unfortunately, in his first heat Chase skated too long and stumbled while trying to step up onto his Dirtsurfer. He crashed hard but managed to get back up and push off again to catch back up to the rest of the group. He came from behind and went on to place first in that heat. Too bad the rest of his heats weren’t as successful. Chase finished 5th overall.

The 1.5 mile course is smooth paved surface with five good technical turns to challenge even the most experienced riders. Turn one is a sweeping right at the bottom of a long downhill stretch. Turn two is a tighter sweep to the left causing some riders to scrape rails as they hug the inside for position. Several racers in other class events were injured in this turn and had to be treated by the EMS crew standing by.

Immediately after turn two the road plunges into another long rolling downhill straight away where competitors hit their top speeds of the race. Street lugers were reaching 70 plus miles per hour through this straight leading into Crash Corner.

Crash Corner is a tight 180 degree right into another tight sweep left forming the treacherous “S” curve that took its toll on many racers over the weekend. This is where most of the action is and so this is where you see most of the spectators who come out to cheer on their favorite atheletes.

Several hundred yards past the “S” curve is the finish line at the bottom of the final downhill straight of the course. Once the racers have finished their heat and the practice runs are completed, everybody piles into a box truck to be hauled back to the starting line to have another go.

Veteran gravity racer Tom Whalen was a crowd favorite challenging long-time Dirtsurfer Rob Turman. “Rob was a freight train all day,” Tom said. “He was just too tough to beat this year. That left the rest of us battling for the bottom three places.”

In the end, Rob Turman took first, Tom Whalen took second, Jonathan Raza took third, and Jean-Martin Sicotte took fourth. The rest of the field is Chase Turman in fifth place, R.L. Webb in sixth place and Hope Turman in seventh place. Congratulations to all of the racers who competed in this outstanding event. We expect to see much more from them at Top Challenge in Montreal in September.

Cheers,
Brian

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