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The 2009 Turner Sultan

The longest but least technical ride of the weekend sadly belonged to the Turner Sultan. The “least technical” part was not by choice. Scissors and I started out thinking it would be great to get in a longer ride on Saturday morning before the crowds showed up. After looking around we saw a 10 mile tour ride. Sadly the “tour” part meant all fireroad. It ended up being about 4+ miles of fast downhill fireroad proceeded by a long, tough 5+ mile climb. We were able to, in the end, ride some fun singletrack, but that was short lived as we hit the pavement after less than a mile of singletrack and went back to the Sea Otter exhibition area.

The DW Link is new for the 2009 model year on the Sultan and, correct me if I’m wrong, all Turner bikes

My first thought on the Sultan was: 4.7 inches of travel on a 29er is going to be total overkill for my riding style. I was very concerned about the extra travel robbing me of the pedaling efficiency I experience with hardtails and 3″ full suspension 29ers. Pedaling efficiency was and is key for me because even though I’m more of a XC oriented rider, I’m still a clyde and pedal bob wreaks havoc on my mind.

The Sultan, though, blew me away when it came to climbing. It was extremely efficient even without having to “lock out” or turn on the propedal feature of the shock. I distinctly remember commenting to myself that even though I’m not a fan of long sustained climbs the Sultan’s efficiency made it sort of OK. The 50% more travel than I’m used to (from 3″ to 4.7″) wasn’t noticeable at all when climbing. I expected some bounce and for the shock to be using some travel, but nothing.

The Off Road 10 mile Tour’s saving grace was a rest stop at the bottom of the descent. Cookies, drinks, made to order sandwiches and a bike mechanic, all for free! You rock, Sea Otter!

On the wide fireroad downhill, the Sultan did great. I mean really, what bike would not have done well in that situation? Poor trail choice by the rider. The singletrack we finally did get to do was new to me but I did get a chance to open things up just a smidge when the coast was clear and I could see ahead down the singletrack a bit. The Turner Sultan did really well in those situations but even then the zip tie showed I wasn’t using all of the travel. I really wish I had some more time on more technical trails to get a good feel for this bike.

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On behalf of the MtnBikeRiders.com Family, we’d like to wish THE ANIMAL, a Happy Birthday!

The Animal prefers smoked turkey legs than cake…Happy B-Day buddy!

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RL Policar-As always, Kim Finch never disappoints.

Santa Yenz Classic is part of the US Kenda Cup Series, which is another fun XC race. We arrived Saturday morning for registration and had a chance to pre-ride the course. It was just around 9 mile course. The weather has windy on Saturday and on the ridge line had me feeling like I was riding at 45 degree angle but it was nice & sunny! Pre-ride was good and had a lot of fun. We watch a little DH races on Saturday and then we hit the Jacuzzi to rehab the legs..OK, you got me, it was just for the fun of it.

Sunday race day was very cold in the morning when arrived at the venue. Saw a lot of familiar faces which is always fun. By race time the wind had died down and the skies had cleared. The course was dry and dusty, some loose area but more over was very solid! I hop in line just in time to start the race. I hadn’t heard the staging call so I went out not knowing even who was in my class. All Beginner Women left on the same start. Quick pass the campers and cheering crowd. Quick climb and across the vineyard, and yes the grape vines were starting to sprout. We drop down & across the road to the first climb which a switch back climb that at the corners were steep, a lot of racers were hiking and made it an obstacle course of bodies.

From here out the crowd started to thin out. The downhill single track was fast & fun. I love the swooping corners. There really only about three major climbs the rest were casual but most all of the course climbs & downhill were single track! Far more fun then the usual fire or double wide road. I honestly didn’t know were I was as I finished the race but once results were posted I came in 2nd place, with a finish time was 58:30! This pushed me up in the US Kenda Cup standings to 2nd place out of 15 riders! I would like to thank all of our sponsors for there continued support and am looking forward to the next race!

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After months of persuasion, Priscilla agreed to try DH with me. She was never a big fan of the technical aspect of this genre of riding, but since she’s super cool and a kick butt rider, she figured it was worth a shot.

Since she’s never done DH before, the protective equipment we had for her was pretty limited. We had to borrow Moe’s chest protector and Priscilla used the POC Cortex DH helmet. We did have some knee and elbow pads, but even those were a bit big. I told her that if she likes DH, then we’ll definitely invest in better gear for her.

So our morning started off with my packing up the van and loading up the bikes. She was going to ride the Ibex Ignition that I used to win the Shimano Winter Series. This time I was riding a stock KHS XCT 555 (stock except for the ghetto tubeless conversion).

We arrived at Fontucky and began to suit up, we hiked up the mountain and proceeded to go down one of the many courses we’ve raced before. Though Priscilla felt scared at times, she rode through the trail with confidence. I have to say I’m very proud of her and you can see in the video that she has some major potential. So this leads us to the question, “Will she ride DH again?” The answer is YES. I better start saving up for some gear for her! But let me clarify, she would do it again, but not race DH. I didn’t care if she raced or not, I was just glad to see her doing DH.

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