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The best of 2017?

Becoming an annual reflection I think, but what was the very best ride of 2017?

Some years, like 2016, there is a sure-fire stand-out. Fresh single-rack, the best of friends or the wildest moments? Some years maybe it’s no so clear-cut? Maybe it’s that all the rides were mediocre or the inverse, maybe every time those tyres touched dirt it was sensational wild times.

Reflection is what makes this sort of otherwise useless blog post important (to me at least)! The lens we see the past through is constructed from those very experiences we are reflecting on….but that lens , I suppose, is easily changed in tint, hue or shape by the outcomes of those very reflections!?

Curbing all that philosophical yip-yapping, 2017 had bike shredding in every month! From January to December, maybe the first time for me in years, but what it also had as mind-bending savagely good trails, people and times in each of those months. So a very “best ride of 2017” is just not possible to nail down. Via the scary power of social media though below is a collection of some of the highlight moments. From shredding with Point1 athletes on endless alpine gems or wild berms to getting barreled in the berms of Champéry’s “coupe du Monde” track. 2017 delivered. Some of the most enjoyable rides were probably the solo, 6 a.m. missions to the top of whatever hill or mountain was above the World Cup h venues, praying to find a trail that was not only good but would bring me back to the apartment in time to whip up a decent breakfast at 6:45 a.m. for FMD-Racing!

Anyways, all going to “plan” 2018 will dish up a double portion of the same……cheers bikes, you’re class.

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2017 Racing – Tomorrow doesn’t exist until it becomes today.

17 days until the start of the 2017 EWS season and 49 days almost to the minute until racing will conclude at UCI DH WC #1 in Lourdes.

The freshness of it all, new teams, new riders on new bikes, colours, kits, venues and new ventures. Wheel size or watts the shiny new things are what keep so many people coming back for a fresh dose of race fever. Whether rider, racer, industry hack, journalist, spectator, coach, fan or fan-boy…this “newness” each season drags the heart-rate a little higher, pushes the addiction a little deeper and keeps the glint of hope shimmering in everyone’s eyes.

Wrapped up with the freshness & newness is the sameness – a must, the blend of fresh and same-old keeps things authentic, keeps DH and Enduro what they are – racing can’t change too much from the basics; A to B, fastest wins. That’s what we are all here for. Displays of preparation and execution against the clock.

Driven by instinct maybe or more possibly culture, the “players” whether fans or media keyboard jockey will speculate. Bench racing; who’s on the up, who’s got what to prove?

The athlete’s in all this need to be strategic, strategy implies purposeful thought. Getting sucked into speculation and expectation is a recipe for disaster – tactical nightmare, shuffling emotions about as best one can only partially dealing with the physiological fall-out inevitably linked to emotional reaction.

2016 is gone. Those with paper to fill will talk of the title defense, the rising star or failing veteran. But there is nothing to defend.

Whether your name is Rude, Ravanel, Callaghan or  Winton. Atherton, Gwin, Seagrave or Minnaar. Races can only be won. There is no defense to make. Each week, day & racing minute are opportunities for action only. If you aim to write some history, there’s only one way to go about it.

Races & Championships are only won, never defended.

MJW_3976.CR2

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The 1 Flow Warm-Up

Streamlining training success with a 1 Flow Warm-Up® ; that was the only goal with designing a smooth transition dynamic warm-up for Point1 athletes.

Below the current “1 Flow Warm-Wp®™” is demonstrated by CRC/Paypal/Nukeproof rider Joe Smith. The “moves” chosen all have purpose and intention, meaning they will not only improve your movement quality and capacity but will also lead to better application of technique on your bike as they remove unnecessary variations BUT increase usable ROM!

Use it before strength training, before DH runs or Enduro skids! Use it on it’s on for fun or regeneration. Just USE it! Consistency = Success

1 Flow – DMWU*

Start standing; relaxed. Draw in 5 big breaths. In through nose out through mouth! Fill your belly not your chest.

remember the below should flow

  • Spider-man lunge

  • T-spine rotation to free side (look up to hand)

    Hamstring Mobilise

    T-spine  rotation to support side (look up to hand)

    Deep Squat with T Spine Overhead Reach

    Squat to stand

  • Walk out on hands

  • Scapular Retraction Push Up

  • Calf Mobilise

  • A Frame Hip Extension

Cycle through the above, with no stopping for 3 to 5 reps per exercise per side; by side I mean each rep starts on a spider-man lunge on one side, cycles though all moves before you lunge to the other side.

Finish with Bear Crawls, Bounds, Jumping jacks and centre jumps to ramp up your HR and body temp!

Simple fast, fun to learn and highly effective.

 

*DMWU = Dynamic Mobility Warm Up

The video shows Joe “starting” the Flow from the Scapular retraction Push – Up

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Quick Fire 5 with – Fraser McGlone

The first in a new series of short articles giving you guys the fans & readers of all things Point1 some insight to what makes some of our well known athletes tick! First up is the angriest man in Scottish downhill, 24th place at the first stop of this years DH World Cup in Lourdes, 2nd at the recent SDA in Glencoe, Fraser McGlone, from Oban in Scotland is aiming to plant his large Trek Session firmly in the top 15 at next week’s Fort William World Cup!

Angry wee man!
Angry wee man!
1) Favourite meal after a tough day of training gainzzz
     Favourite meal recently has probably been tuna steak, sweet potatoes and veg (lots of veg to keep coach happy)
2) The training sessions you are most and least happy to see on the weekly plan?
     Most happy – When there’s lots of DH and moto involved!
     Least happy- When there’s gym on the programme I really get fed up of the gym!
3) Favourite race track/s? 
    Thats a hard question, you get a lot of tracks that are fun in practice but a mission to race on. Lourdes was good fun to ride but bloody scary to race on! But one track I’m really looking forward to this year is Val di Sole, always have a really good time riding my bike there!
4) Number 1 interest away from the world of bike riding and racing?
    Can moto be classed as away from bike riding? If so that. But if not I do like blasting about in my old VW mk2 Scirocco, always puts a smile on my face whenever I get in it and give it full noise.
5) Happiest when…….?
    The suns out with a good bunch of guys riding any kind of bikes!
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The VW Scirocco needs to be a bit lower Fraz!