Scott Pro Mountain Bike Team

June 17, 2013

Massanutten Hoo-Ha 2013 - Race Report

Cam Dodge: 1st, Enduro/ 2nd, Pro Elite XC
Dylan Johnson: 3rd, Pro Elite XC
Jeff Dickey: 8th, Enduro/ 9th, Pro Elite XC
Jay Dodge: 4th, Cat 1 Masters 40+ XC

Cam riding to the win in the Enduro, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

On Saturday June 8 Scott Pro MTB team members Cam Dodge, Jay Dodge, Jeff Dickey, and Dylan Johnson went down to Harrisonburg Virginia to compete in the 25^th annual Massenutten Hoo-Ha mountain bike race. This year the Hoo-Ha added an enduro race on Saturday before the cross country race on Saturday.

Jeff riding to 8th place in the Enduro, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

The Enduro was a four stage downhill event in which riders raced each of the stages for time and the rider with the fastest combined time from the four stages was the winner.

Riding aboard his Scott Spark 900, Cam took the enduro win buy almost a minute proving that the Spark is just as capable on the gnarly downhills as it is on an XC race course(especially considering that most of the competition had 5 to 7 inch travel all mountain bikes). Jeff finished in strong in 8^th place despite a bad crash on stage 2.

Cam on top of the Enduro podium taking a victory shower, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Sunday June 9 was the XC race. Massanutten Hoo-Ha regulars and heavy hitters Jeremiah Bishop and Nick Waite were at the race so we knew it was going to be a tough day(Nick was also on his new Scott Spark 900). Despite a blistering pace set by Jeremiah on the prolog loop, Cam was able to stay with him going into the first climb. Jeremiah and Nick turned up the pace on the climb and got out of sight of Cam, however on the downhill Nick crashed hard but came back to get 5^th place.

Just behind Cam was Dylan battling with Brad Perley for the third position. Cam rode by himself most of the race and maintained his pace to get 2^nd place behind Jeremiah. On the final lap Dylan was able to open up a gap on the downhill to snag 3^rd place making for 2 Scott Pro MTB riders in the top three and three Scott Sparks in the top five.

Cam on the first lap behind Jeremiah Bishop, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Dylan going head to head with Brad Perley on the downhill for 3rd place, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Jeff finished in the top ten, grabbing ninth place. This was a great result considering that Jeff was getting married in less than two weeks and had backed off his training. Jay had a strong race in the masters 40+ category finishing in fourth place.

Jeff ripping the downhill, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Jay on his last lap, Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Pro/Elite Men Podium

Masters 40+ Podium Photo Courtesy of Ian McAlexander - ITMexposures.com

Cam, Jay, Jeff, and Dylan were all running Continental X King and Race King tires with ProTection. Among eight tires there wasn’t one flat tire all weekend in both the Enduro and XC race on some extremely rocky and rough trails. In fact after talking we realized that NONE of us has had a flat during any race this season. Many of the races we do feature technical east coast trails loaded with rocks and roots where flat tires are quite common. We are certainly thankful to be on Continental ProTection tires with Stan’s sealant.

In addition to Continental, we'd like to thank our other sponsors of the team -- these folks keep us going!

Scott Bicycles - Scott Scale 900s and Spark 900s
Optic Nerve - Sunglasses -- Colorado to the Core
Limar Helmets - The lightest and most comfortable helmets in the world
Fizik Saddles - Comfortable and light and fit to your body flexibility type
ESI Grips - Hands down the most comfortable grips int he world
Zevlin - Makers of fine chamois cream, body care products for cyclists and handlebar tape
Yokozuna - Ultrapremium shift cables
Lifeproof - iPhone, iPad and iPod cases that are waterproof, shock proof, dust proof and snow proof, plus the accessories to take your device to the extreme.
Stan's NoTubes - Tubeless wheels and systems
Stuffitts - Portable drying solutions to keep your cycling gear dry and smelling good
Dumonde Tech - Eco Friendly and High Performance lubricants
The Parts Shoppe - Ceramic bottom brackets, pulleys, bearings and ultra low friction grease
Medilast - Compression gear for athletes
VeloInk - Custom graphics for your bike
Polar Bottle - Keeping your liquids hot or cold
Strava - Tracking rides and competing against friends
The Sufferfest - Training videos to kick our asses today so we can beat yours tomorrow!

- Dylan

June 07, 2013

Scott Vanish EVO Helmet Review 2013

Scott makes a mountain and a road version of the Vanish EVO helmet and woman specific versions but as far as I can tell the only differences are the colors scheme and that the mountain helmets include a visor.

Mountain Versions...

Road Versions...

Woman's Mountain...

Woman's Road...

The first thing that is apparent is that the helmet seems to have more square inches of vent openings than any other I've seen. The vents are big and numerous.

The style is nice it kinda reminds me of the boxy stealth fighter .

Vanish EVO probably avoids detection by radar too.

It has a very comfy fit. I've talked to other teammates that were impressed by the feel as well. The adjustment knob on back is on a plastic strap that wraps far down on the back of the head. The low location of the strap on the back of the head lets it pulls the helmet down very securely.

The helmet feels so secure with the adjustment knob/strap in the back that with it adjusted comfortably I can swing my head around and tip it upside down with out it falling off without even buckling the strap that goes under the chin.

The whole helmet seems to sit lower on my head than most helmets. There is more coverage on the sides and especially more on the back than what I am used to. The extra coverage and the snug fit combined give me a sense of security when wearing this helmet.

Here is the technology that Scott used in this helmet...

ConeHead™ technology : using several desitys of foam, one to act as a crumple zone and the other to maintain the shape of the helmet

MRAS II fit system: MRAS stands for The Micro Rotary Adjustment System. It's the name scott gives to the their adjustment knob on the back of the helment.

Cam Dividers: Little buckles that make adjusting the chin straps easy.

The helmet weighs 262 grams

It comes in Small Medium and Large. I wear a Medium and have a 22.75" head.

Comes with extra pads and a helment bag.

Overall... Great helmet for road or mountain, very secure and comfortable feel. The only downside I can think of would be for those who are bold/ shaved head (like Jeff on our team) will get some big striped sunburns on their forehead from the big vents.

- Mike

June 03, 2013

NoVa Epic

Sunday June 2^nd Jeff and Mike participated in the 1^st annual NoVa epic presented by MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts) and FCPA (the Fairfax County Parks Authority). MORE is a non-profit organization that maintains/ builds trails in 41 state and county parks in the Mid-Atlantic area working with and coordinating volunteers and working with government park agencies to maximize the amount and quality of multi-use trails for the region.

The NoVa epic event offered 20, 40 and 65-mile courses with many aid stations (with food and drink options), tee shirt, party with live band dinner and drinks for a fair price ($65/65miles). Proceeds went to MORE and its volunteer efforts to build and maintain trails in the mid Atlantic region.

Mike and Jeff participated in the 65-mile ride. The 65-mile ride was a point to point starting at Laurel Hill park in Lorton, VA and finishing in Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA. The trail wound through several other parks.

Despite doing many of theses trails before during some long-distance winter and spring training rides, we were introduced to some new trails that we previously didn't know about.

All and all it was a fun full day on the bike, we found some new trails and were able to help trail building in the area.