Stinger Buzz

It’s about the middle of the summer riding season here in Colorado and Team Honey Stinger/Trek is hitting its stride. The MSC Blast the Mass was this past weekend and with a familiar XC course for our local Roaring Fork Valley riders, the team had a strong showing and landed two more podiums. Check out photos from the race below:

Len Zanni in the Pro Men's start

Team Captain Len Zanni battled it out with Jay Henry and Travis Sheefer in the pro men’s race to finish in a strong second place.

Jay, Travis and Len grind up the climb on lap 2

Also in the pro men’s race, Max Taam finished 6th, Ryan Dorsey in 8th and Ben Portilla ran his bike across the line (tubulars proved to be a bad idea) but still finished in 13th.

Ben Portilla

Josh Cullen and Michael Hayes had solid finishes in the Cat 1 division.

Josh (center) and Michael (right)

In the pro women’s race, Kelley Cullen continued her winning ways with another second place finish. Sari Anderson, 3-months into her post-kiddo comeback, fought through the hail that started just minutes after Kelley finished and ended up in a solid fifth place.

Kelley Cullen leads out the pro women.

Sari grits her teeth through the hail at the finish.

Dirty girl.

Next up for many team riders: XC Nationals in Sol Vista and the brutal Breck 100.

Most of you probably know by now that we’ve got a new guy in our executive offices. Not that he actually shows up and punches in, but we’ve got folks to ship stuff, drive the forklift, etc (but seriously – the forklift is pretty kickass – we’re gonna certify him the next time he’s in Steamboat). What you might NOT know is that we’re involved with a couple of other projects of his that we’re pretty stoked about. Today we want to tell you a bit about the Trek/Livestrong U23 Team.

We are one of the proud sponsors of the U23 team and last week we planned a little media event with them in Boulder. We invited a bunch of the cycling and outdoor media who live in Boulder and like to ride bikes (and I might add, they all ride bikes pretty damn well). We had folks from Bicycling, Outside, Elevation Outdoors, VeloNews, Bike Radar and Rocky Mountain Sports in attendance. There was even a follow car. We met at the Livestrong team house, gnoshed on coffee and bagels with the kids, then headed out for a group ride on the Morgul loop from South Boulder. After the ride we regrouped back at the house with the team and all the scribes and let everyone get to know each other a bit. It was a really good blend of riders and journos who ride. It was also a pretty decent way for the team and its members to gain a little more exposure, not to mention an opportunity for the journalists to gain a bit more insight into the team.

At the end of the day we’ve been involved in youth development in one way or another for over a decade. The Livestrong team is a natural extension of that and an relationship of which we’re justifiably (we think) proud because we believe that Colorado should be playing a prominent role in the development of future champions. And because we’re huge bike nerds at heart.

For a complete look at the days events check out our fan page on Facebook. You can get there from HERE. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Team Honey Stinger rider Bryce Gordon rips down Zippity Do Da

If you were anywhere near the trails of Fruita, CO this past weekend, you likely heard the buzzing of Team Honey Stinger, as 20+ team riders, kitted up in black and yellow honeycomb, hammered through a good chunk of the area’s world-famous singletrack.

Rob Peterson donated some flesh to mtb gods on behalf of the team

It was an awesome weekend of riding as the team ticked off rides at Loma, 18 Road and then pre-rode the Mountain States Cup TT and XC racecourses in Rabbit Valley. (If you’re interested, here are the course profiles for the TT and the XC course). In three days of early-season, testosterone-fueled riding there were limited mechanicals, only a handful of flats and just one trip to the ER.

Team Honey Stinger would like to extend its gracious thanks to our sponsors: Honey Stinger, Big Agnes, Trek, Alpina Capital, Boa, Mountain Flyer, Osprey, SOLE Custom Footbeds with supplier sponsors Smith, Giro, BAP, Smartwool, Bontrager and Paceline Products (Chamois Butter).

Special thanks to Carmichael Training Systems coach Brady Irwin for joining us as well.

We’re off to the races…see you on the trails this summer.

We couldn't get everyone on the team to stand still long enough to get a complete team shot, but here's a sampler of our motley crew.