P R E S S R E L E A S E #3

MOUNTAIN BIKING’S FOUNDER GARY FISHER HITS NEW ENGLAND’S WITH TEAM HARPOON / INTERNATIONAL

See photos!

August 1, 2001 (Boston) — If the father of mountain biking called and said he was coming to Boston and wanted to ride some trails, where would you take him? Gary Fisher’s question opened up a great debate amongst the members of the Boston-based Rage / Harpoon / International mountain biking team. In the end, Gary was treated to some quintessential New England terrain at Lynn Woods, just North of Boston.

Over thirty Rage team and club members showed up at the Lynn Woods East Gate parking lot and were met by the Gary Fisher Team van.

Gary showed up shortly thereafter and climbed into the team racing uniform then took a look around at everyone wearing body armor. He stayed pretty cool, considering. Lynn Woods serves up some of the most challenging technical terrain in the Boston-area and the master handled it well (in fact, team members were surprised by how well Fisher hammered).

Fisher was riding a prototype Sugar (code named the "Sugar-plus") which features an adjustable rear suspension (from 2.75" to over 4.0"). The folks at Fisher have plans to put the bike into production for next year. The extra suspension should make an already great bike even better — especially for riding the type of drops, rocks and descents at Lynn Woods.

"Given the reputation of this place, I think I’ll leave the 29-inch wheel prototype bike in the truck," Fisher said.

The first half of the ride was fairly technical as club member and local frame builder Bill Lazdowski led all 30 riders up to the Wolf Pits for a little show. After an hour, the cross-country crowd was getting a little banged up, while the free ride crowd was just getting warmed up...so we split the group in half and Bill led Gary and the free ride gang up to Bow Ridge.

Gary spends about a quarter of his time doing team and club rides. "It’s a great way to be an ambassador for the sport I love. Who could be unhappy getting to ride great terrain like this everyday?"

When asked where the sport is headed, Fisher immediately pointed to Vancouver, BC. "At one point, Northern California was the mecca — it’s where the sport was founded. But, the lack of trail access has retarded the sport. Soon after mountain biking took off out there, the trails were mostly closed off to us."

"If you asked me where the innovation was coming from now, I’d say it isn’t any of those places. It’s the North Shore of British Columbia. That may sound faddish, but they’ve got all of the components in place there: excellent trail access, large numbers of skilled trail builders, close proximity of mountains to a major city and large numbers of passionate bikers. It’s a unique community. I’d say that if you wanted to find out where mountain biking is going, hand’s down you need to check out the Vancouver area. Trust me, there’s nothing like it in the US or Europe."

"When you go out there, the technical abilities of the riders is scary. The amount of rain they get forces them to build log bridges over very thick vegetation and muddy areas just to get the trail to go through. That leads to the kind of technical skills that has launched free-riding."

Fisher gave some coaching and encouragement to local frame builder and ride leader Bill Lazdowski, founder of Sinister Cycles. Bill was riding his prototype "Bow Ridge" model, a long-travel hard tail with BMX-like geometry conceived while riding these trails. "It’s local guys like Bill who move the sport forward — it’s a lot of fun to interact with these guys because it’s the same kind of energy that got me started," Fisher said.

Team sponsor International Bicycle Centers and Harpoon Brewery orgainized and sponsored Gary’s visit and we owe them a ton of thanks.

Team Rage / Harpoon / International is the racing team from New England’s largest mountain bike club. Last year, the club launched Team Harpoon, a mountain bike racing team with a unique approach to grass roots racing: anyone in the club is welcome to race for the team — from beginners to experts and pros. All have first-come, first-serve access to sponsorships. Thus far in 2001, the team has won the 24 hours of Snowshoe, the Rhode Island Cup, the Massachusetts and Vermont State Championships and has produced over 30 first place finishes and 35 top three finishes.

Team Rage / Harpoon / International competes on Gary Fisher bicycles with support from International Bicycle Centers, Pedros, Bell, Santa Cruz and Panaracer. Riders are fueled by New England’s finest microbrew — Harpoon and by the best in all-natural energy foods — California Dried Plums.

Founded in 1986, the Harpoon Brewery distributes its locally brewed products throughout the Northeast. The Harpoon Brewery's line of craft beer features nine year-round beers, including its signature Harpoon I.P.A., and four special seasonal selections. In June 2000, the Harpoon Brewery purchased the Catamount Brewery in Windsor, Vermont. For information on Brewery Tours and events, call 1-888-HARPOON or visit their website at www.harpoonbrewery.com.

International Bicycle Centers in the Boston-area’s largest bicycle retailer and has locations in Brighton and Newton, Massachusetts. International features Gary Fisher, Trek, Santa Cruz, Klein, Specialized, LeMond, Merlin, Independent Fabrications, Pedros and other top brands. Visit them at www.internationalbike.com.