Banshee Bikes have come back in a huge way over the past couple of years. New bikes, new management, and a new philosophy have created one of the coolest companies in the biz; this is their experience at Monterey.
Words by Rob Dunnet
Action Photos by Devon Ballet
I had heard a lot of rumors about the weather at Sea Otter Classic. Rumors of a sideways rain that cannot be escaped. Rumors of a mud bog that will suck up even the smallest of people. Basically a rumor of a nasty beast called the Sea Otter Classic.
When I arrived in Monterey, it was raining. It was not a sideways rain; it was not much of a rain at all. On arrival I had the Legend Show Bike, 60 Banshee T-Shirts, 500 promotional stickers and my personal things. I could not find a taxi so I ended up walking two and a half miles dragging the bike with the rest of my gear on my back. If it was not for my newly acquired Evoc Travel Bag dragging that bike would have driven me over the edge.
I could feel the Sea Otter beast lurking behind every corner. A black cloud, a drop of rain, a scared bag lady following me down the street ... the beast was watching me.
On set up day the weather was clear. Over the next four days the weather would continue to improve until some people were complaining about the heat. I, on the other hand, still had to wear a long sleeved shirt for most of the day. I am not sure how I ever made it through a winter back home.
After spending so much time in the factory with the Legend frames it was nice to see so many of them built up. Our booth acted as a race pit for French Canadian ripper J.S. Therrien, Team Geronimo, and MCL Racing. There was never a shortage of pimped out Legends, Rampants or Amps and the atmosphere in the booth/pit was always lively.
With a stacked class of downhillers in Monterey our riders did pretty well:
Team Geronimo’s Brian Buell finished 46th with a time of 2:15.8.
Team Geronimo’s Graeme Pitts finished 64th with a time of 2:18.1.
J.S. finished 70th with a time of 2:19.5. (a tune up for his first place finish in Kamloops the next weekend).
Team Geronimo’s Michael Buell finished 81st with a time of 2:21.4.
Complete results for the downhill can be found at http://www.seaotterclassic.com/raceresults/index.cfm.
We had a great week in Monterey. The weather was great and we had a lot of interest in our bikes. I think a lot of people were disappointed that we did not have a Legend to test. I cannot wait to do it all again next year.
Keep Riding,
Rob Dunnet
For more information on Banshee Bikes please visit:
www.bansheebikes.com
www.bansheebikes.blogspot.com
