http://konablogs.com/paulwalton What goes on behind the Kona DH toolbox! Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:25:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The French National champs were held in Mongenevre last weekend. 21 and 22 July. As a contrast to the British champs the week before, it was dust, not mud that covered everything! It was a hot dry weekend and the track was loose and dusty, with some high speed sections, steep ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/07/23/french-national-champs/ Here is a summary of the very wet British National champs from 2007. My trip over was pretty easy this time, flight from Nice to Bristol where I was welcomed by Tracy and a lot of rain! We drove east to the welsh coast near Swansea and then headed inland toRheola Forest. It ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/07/16/british-nat-champs-rheola-forest-wales-2/ This world cup started really badly for me, with a broken down vehicle on the way, the gearbox, clutch and flywheel all destroyed just before the Austrian border.I received a fine for having the wrong papers in the truck by the Italian police when they came to see what was ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/07/16/world-cup-4-schaladming-aut/ It was a very successful weekend for the Kona Les Gets Factory Team, with all gravity riders making it onto the podium! The trip went well and we all met in Montreal on Tuesday evening at the airport, squashed our luggage into the car and set out for the 3hr drive. ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/06/27/world-cup-3-canada/ Champerey was challenging for all the riders, everyday brought changing weather conditions and the DH and 4X tracks were very technical. My travels started as always, with a little trouble. I got stuck on the swiss border for 5 hours because of 150kg overweight in the truck. I had to get ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/06/14/wc-2-champerey-swiss/ Vigo, Spain The venue for the 1st world cup was the same as the previous 2 years, a small hill just behind the city on the west coast of Spain. I was due to depart on Monday to arrive by Tuesday Evening, then setup everything on Wednesday ready for Thursday morning Training. ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/05/21/wc-no1-dh4x-vigo-spain/ Just Back from the 13th Annual SAN REMO DH CUP in Italy.  At just over an hour from home it was one of the few races where I do not have any crazy travel stories, well other than the small roads and sketchy Italian Driving!  The weather made for a loose dusty ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/04/22/san-remo-dh-cup-22-april-2007/ Maxxis Cup round 1 – Gouveia Portugal We all flew into Oporto, Tracy from England, Fab from Argentina, and me from France.We arrived pretty late so stayed in a hotel nearby the airport and decided to get the bikes built up and ready that evening. I had my work cut out as Fabien ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/03/19/maxxis-cup-1-portugal/ Wetter is Better By Paul Walton (team Mechanic) 13th to 20th Feb 2007British Midlands and Wales  After a long time off the bike due to injury, Fabien decided that he wanted to get some early season training done to improve his skills in the wet. I though this would be an ideal time ... http://konablogs.com/paulwalton/2007/02/21/2007-season-on-its-way-a-week-in-the-mud-to-get-started/