Check out the April 2008 issue of Mountain Bike Magazine. The issue’s Eye Candy section features ten pages of incredible, close-up looks at bike parts, including WTB’s new Prowler SS tire. Mountain Bike Magazine’s Ron Koch details the tire’s sipes and the traction benefits the small incisions achieve on hard-packed terrain. The issue also has a very entertaining feature story about an ongoing feud between WTB’s Mark Weir and legendary downhiller Jurgen Beneke. Click on the image to read the write-up.

Turns out even with freezing temps and pounding rain, the compound is still bustling and productive. WTB riders Ryan Condrashoff, Brad Benedict and myself took the opportunity of a day off from riding to rout a new downhill short track. With the already existing 5 corner track and a bit of consultation from infamous Downhill coach Scott Scharples, we came up with a new track that traversed the front yard including a longer more technical rock garden. Check out the shots from the track and stay tuned for the riding shots

Poison Oak Productions, the two-person crew that put out the film Singletrack Minds, is finishing up a powerful documentary about mountain bike racer Bobby McMullen. Jason Watkins and Wendy Todd of Poison Oak invited a few of us to a private screening at Pixar Animation Studios last week and we were simply blown away.

The film documents Bobby’s 2007 race season—including injuries and break-ups—with the climax at the Downieville Classic. Bobby is one of the most colorful personalities that WTB sponsors, a damn good bike racer and he can talk trash with the best of them. Another notable point is that Bobby is blind. This film does an excellent job capturing his incredible spirit. Although his vision is impaired, Bobby has more focus and determination than any other athlete we know.

We’re confident that this film will not only be a smashing success among cyclists, but a hit among non-riders as well. Click the picture above to watch the trailer.

Ryan in the belly of the beast!

WTB riders Ryan Condrashoff and Brad Benedict have been hard at work rebuilding a set of dirt jumps at an undisclosed location. They shot over a couple photos just to tease us here at the office. Check back for shots of the full set and of course riding shots!

WTB rider Bobby McMullen stopped by the office the other day and gave us the update on what’s been going on and his plans for the upcoming season. Click on the image above for the low down from Bobby himself.

We invited a handful of magazine editors to come out to San Luis Obispo, California and ride our new Wolverine and Prowler MX tires on Rocky Mountain Slayer SXC bikes. It was an action-packed two days; hooting and hollering on fast, flowy singletrack with Mark Weir, Wade Simmons and Andreas Hestler. Read Kip Mikler’s full report by clicking the photo above.

Chris Armstrong, publisher of Whistler Mountain Bike.com, descended from the great white north and paid us a visit last week. We happened to be in the thick of a winter storm the entire few days that Chris was here. By California standards the storm was quite nasty, with torrential rains, strong winds and near-freezing temps. Our thick-skinned Canadian guest didn’t seem to notice or mind the foul weather. Click on the photo to read the complete report.

Mark Weir placed second on Saturday at the Brake Burner, a six-hour downhill race in Queenstown, New Zealand. The event was held at the Coronet Peak ski area where riders complete as many runs of the downhill course as possible in six hours. The event’s winner, Geoff Small, managed 19 runs in 5:58. Weir finished 19 laps in 6:02. Because his last lap was after the six-hour cut-off, it did not count. Team WTB rider Jiro Nakamura placed third in the event, right behind Weir.

While some athletes would head straight home pouting, Weir and Nakamura will spend another week on the South Island. The two riders will undoubtedly ride miles of epic New Zealand singletrack with Mark Dickson from KRD Imports and Caleb Smith from Spoke Magazine as their guides.

Click the photo to watch the post-race interview with Weir.

Guess who stopped by the office the other day, that’s right The man, the myth, the legend John Cowan. While playing paparazzi I got a couple shots of him rummaging through our fresh display!

With heavy storms hitting California, the Southridge “Winter Series” was staying true to its name. As we approached the Grapevine on I-5, the reasoning for closing it the previous night was quite evident due to the amount of snow still on the road. Without a hitch we made it down to Fontana and met up with the X-Fusion-WTB riders Ryan Condrashoff and Brad Benedict who had headed out a day early to ride down in Ventura with the guys from Decline.

MOUNTAIN CROSS
Saturday afternoon WTB rider Ryan Condrashoff took part in the Mountain Cross in a stacked field including former world champ Eric Carter. During the semi-finals Ryan and former National 4X Overall Champion Rich “Big House” Houseman collided exiting a berm, with only one spot left to be filled in the finals, Ryan took the opportunity aboard his Prowler SS in the front and Nano Raptor on the rear and ended up taking 4th in the finals.

DOWNHILL
With furious storms on Saturday night, the skies cleared once again just in time for the Downhill finals. Although the pits were filled with small lakes, the DH track held up surprisingly well. WTB rider Brad Benedict looked great on the track all weekend but with a bobble in the gate resulting in a time penalty, he took a respectable 10th place.

To complete an already successful weekend Ryan Condrashoff put up a blistering time just under 3 seconds off the leader Chris Kovarik putting him in third place. “The conditions were great,” Condrashoff said. “I was running the Prowler MX up front and the Prowler SS in the back and they suited the track great! My run felt good, I wasn’t as tired as I thought I’d be and knew if I kept it smooth I could put up a good time.”

Stay tuned for updates on the up coming Round 3.

Here are a couple of shots from the drive down,