January 8/08 6:55 am - Kona Partners with Steamer Racing for 2008

Posted by Editor on 01/8/08
 

Kona Partners with Steamer Racing for 2008

STEAMERRACING.CA is excited to announce a new partnership with Kona Bicycles for the 2008 racing season. Forming the Kona-Adobe Road Cycling Team, they look forward to working with Kona Bicycles to expand the team's program for 2008.

Kona-Adobe is a longstanding northwest racing team with a clear focus on developing new and emerging talent with the help of the experience of seasoned athletes in a team environment. The team's mandate will continue to be to promote racing as a TEAM.

The Kona-Adobe Team will be riding Kona's King Zing bikes. The King Zing is at the front of the pack in the Kona road bike program. The King Zing is everything you've ever wanted in a well thought out carbon fiber road bike design. This bike represents 25 years of understanding what makes a good road bike great!

The Kona-Adobe Team will continue its successful association with the MS Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Tour with the goal of raising funds for MS research. Last year the team greatly exceeded its prior fundraising efforts, and hopes to achieve even more in the coming year.

Team founder Paula Blanchette emphasizes: "We simply could not put this together without the support of our partners." Alongside Kona Bicycles and Adobe, the team will be equipping their bikes with FSA handlebar, stem, headset, brakes, front derailleur, carbon cranksets and time trial bars, Panaracer tires, Fi'zi:k saddles and Mavic wheels and cycle computers. The riders will be outfitted with Rudy Project helmets and sunglasses, adidas Cycling shoes, gloves and socks, and full custom race clothing by Giordana. KINeSYS will provide performance sunscreen and skin care products. Additional financial support is provided by Canadian Diamond and Synergy Business Lawyers.

Riders continuing with the team from last season are: Alistair Howard, 29, of Vancouver, returning as team Road Captain (Silver at the 2007 BC Road Championships and former National Junior Pursuit Champion, 4 times Junior BC Champion on the road and 8 times Junior BC Champion on the track, with European road experience); Chris Reid, 26, of Vancouver, a strong team player with a lot of road experience, is 2007 BC Provincial Track Champion and partnered with Jonathan Gormick to place 2nd overall at the 2007 Tour of the Himalayas mountain bike stage race in Pakistan; Dan McDonald, 33, of Penticton, a solid sprinter, placing 5th at the very competitive 2007 Tour de White Rock Hill Climb and at the BC Cyclocross Championships, and 4th at the Sidney Criterium, as well as finishing the 2007 Penticton Ironman; Jonathan Gormick, 29, of Port Coquitlam, is 2007 BC Pursuit Champion, and showed marked improvement last year, with multiple 2007 BC track wins and 2nd at the 2007 Crescent Beach BC Cup CX; and Zachery Garland, 22, of Newfoundland, a former Junior National Team Member, and multiple race winner and Provincial Road Champion in Newfoundland, whose strong riding last year gained him 1st place at the 2007 BC Espoir TT Champs, 4th at the 2007 Canadian Espoir Time Trial Championships, and 2nd at the 2007 Sidney Criterium and the 2007 Atomic BC Cup Road Race.

The team is excited to announce the following riders who will be joining us for next year: Shawn Goulet, 31, a proven winner on the Alberta scene, will be moving from Alberta to Vancouver to join the team. In 2007 Shawn was Alberta Cup Overall Champion on the road, 2007 Alberta Hill Climb Champion, and second at the Alberta Time Trial Championships. Marcel Arden, 20, of Victoria, will also join the team as a strong Category 1 finisher who we hope to develop into a race winner. Marcel's past results include a 3rd place at the 2007 Sidney Criterium, 3rd at the 2007 Kelowna Fantastic Four Criterium, 5th at the 2006 Atomic BC Cup Road Race, and he finished off the 2007 season with a win at the Bear Mountain Hill Climb. And last, but certainly not least, Matt Potma, 19, of Vancouver, Canada's National Junior Time Trial Champion for 2007, who finished 10th at last year's World Junior Track Championships in the Individual Pursuit. The team and Matt are looking forward to developing his world class time trial ability on the road.

The support of Kona Bicycles, Adobe and all our other partners, will ensure that Kona-Adobe can continue to race at the highest possible level in the Northwest racing scene, some of the highest level racing in North America.

For more information on the Kona-Adobe Road Cycling Team, visit the team website at www.steamerracing.ca.