For most, the 2008 MTB race season is over and the off-season training has begun. Part of the off-season training regimen is participating in one-off events that serve as a snack to appease the competitive appetite of the racers until the next race season officially kicks off. Mongoose Bicycles front man and cycling legend Eric Carter has long been involved with course design and has worked behind the scenes of some big-time events. A long time dream of Eric’s was to conceive and run events by racers for the racers and the first step on the path to fulfill his dream came in the form of the 1st Annual Hillbilly Downhill at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula California. The event was a huge success from the christening of the newest downhill course in California to the après ride festivities that will be talked about until next years event. The Hillbilly DH race is destined to be a must attend event for all MTB gravity enthusiasts.
GT Bicycles newest team rider, Kevin Aiello, made the short drive out to Vail Lake to put in some ride time on the hottest new DH bike on the market, the full carbon GT Fury. There has been quite a bit of buzz about both Kevin and the GT Fury since the Interbike show. Both are new to the pro MTB scene and everyone is excited to watch both bomb down DH courses in 2009. Well a lucky few got to watch Kevin and the Fury blaze down the Temecula foothills.
After a sunny and warm day practice on Saturday the competitors had to deal with windy and cold conditions on Sunday keeping everyone on their toes running to grab their jackets. The newly cut race course would serve as a challenge for all as the dry, sandy conditions were catching even seasoned veterans off guard. Kevin has been training and working hard coming into the race and as the youngest competitor in the Pro division he had his work cut out for him. Kevin ride clean and solid and earned a very respectable 3rd place against some of the best down hillers in the US.
Kevin will now be training and testing on the GT Fury to get ready for his virgin run at the UCI World Cup series in 2009. Keep an eye out for more updates on these two new exciting additions to the GT Bicycles line up.
GT Bicycles is proud to be sponsored by:
SRAM, Kenda, Champion Systems, Sun/Ringle, Fly Racing, SDG, Ogio, Kore and ethirteen
