Maxxis Introduces Maxxis Factory Racing with Haley Hunter Smith, Andrew L'Esperance, Sophie Allen & Colton Peterson
Maxxis has introduced its new factory race program with two cross country racers and two enduro racers.
Haley Smith and Andrew "Lespy" L'Esperance will take care of the cross country and gravel side of the team on board the Ibis Exie and Hakka and plan to attend Epic Rides, Life Time GP events, and a selection of UCI World Cup races. Sophie Allen and Colton Peterson will handle the gravity side, both racing the North American EWS and Big Mountain Enduro events aboard Ibis Ripmos.
Smith raced the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, has multiple Canadian national championships to her name, and has stood on World Cup podiums. L'Esperance, Smith's husband, has several stage race, Canada Cup, and Sea Otter podiums to his name. He has also represented Canada seven times at World Champs.
 | I’m beyond grateful to be part of this collection of iconic brands and wonderful people. This team represents an incredible opportunity to expand my career, continue to grow as a cyclist, and step into a healthier and happier version of myself. To say I’m excited for this new team is an understatement! |
Colton Peterson has numerous top-10 Big Mountain Enduro results from the last few years and is ready to step things up to the next level with new team support. Sophie Allen has likewise found success in the Big Mountain Enduro U21 races and will be one to watch as she moves into the elite category and picks up speed over the next few years.
| Maxxis has been a fantastic partner for Ibis both with our EWS team and as an OE supplier for many years. When they invited us to become part of the team, I was happy to pay it back. Also, it was an opportunity to get involved again in the North American racing scene in a big way. We're looking forward to seeing what Haley, Andrew, Sophie, and Colton can do this year. |
In addition to Maxxis and Ibis, the team is supported by Stan's, Hyper Threads, Wahoo, Shimano, ESI Grips, Enduro Bearings, Pedro's, Better Bolts, 4iii, Giro, Flow Formulas, Sock Guy, Race Face, Fox Suspension, Smanie, and Tannus Armour.
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A picture of a mountain may be painful to those who have lost friends and family to accidents, a picture of a road could be a painful reminder to the loved ones of hit and runs, etc ad infinitum. The only way out of life is death and it'll all be over soon so don't worry about every little thing.
Its unsafe unless you're intimately aware of the schedule the train operates on, have a scanner on tuned to the rail dispatcher frequencies, and the train actually uses the horns in that area near level crossings (and one is relatively nearby).to let people know its coming. I do photography also... i grew up only blocks away from an active (several trains a day) freight line. I know what diesel locomotives sound like and I know what their airhorns sound like, and the line I'm near now in west Ottawa only gets a single short train outbound and returning once a week. It goes out in the morning on wednesday to an industrial customer and comes back around six hours later. The subdivision line it uses only goes to that one client now. There are no other sidings, spurs, or customers it serves. There are also level crossings without gates before and after a stretch I've used for photographs which they blow the horns at. So its relatively safe to go out on a monday for example to do a photoshoot.
There are other parts of Ottawa for example where the "local community associations" complained to CN Rail and VIA about the trains blowing the air horns coming through their suburb.... so they stopped doing that... which is partially how a train came to smack into a double decker commuter bus killing everybody in the first 10 feet of the front of the bus. Passengers on the bus saw the train, they were yelling at the driver to stop, he wasn't paying attention and well...
As to other people taking photos in dangerous locations... the number of people now killed each year while trying to take selfies is proof enough that stupid people will do stupid things.
I watched a program once, each train driver in Poland will deal up to 4 suicide attempts per year. One dude smashed fricking 20 people over 30 years. It’s so bad it could almost be funny ( you know, better stay off tracks when Kowalski is on duty) but he said that while some were drunks, he did see young people, his train killed depressed teenagers,. He also managed to stop twice and talked to them. So guess what, yeah it’s fkng traumatizing! I did stupid things on tracks too, so let’s keep it low but deeights concern is quite founded.
The only components that are porky are the fork (could save 0.65lbs with the factory fork), Stem (assuming it's a Turbine) at 150g, and the Crankset/Cassette could save 0.5lbs going to XTR.
For what its worth, we did a medium light built for our 40th Anniversary. "With a generous amount of tire sealant, a 2021 Stepcast (which is 146g heavier, the new forks just arrived), trail-capable wheels, and a dropper, Scot’s personal bike weighs 22.7 lbs."
Scot rides a size large. You can see the full build here:
www.ibiscycles.com/news/scot-nicols-40th-bike-check