Diamondback sponsors Harrison

Diamondback is sponsoring Dave Harrison, a veteran pro mountain bike racer, for 2009. Harrison started racing in the 1991 UCI Grundig World Cup at the age of 23.

"Travelling with World Champion Mike Kloser to races in Italy and France," Harrison recollects, "was a huge advantage; I learned some tricks of the trade!" Soon Harrison was the top rookie on the NORBA circuit, and he's been racing ever since.

He has previously raced for Nukeproof and Cannondale. In 1993, riding for Cannondale, he became the first to race a full suspension in the European World Cup cross country circuit.

In those days, full suspension bikes weren't exactly light. "That Bike was a pig, and it cost me, but I still managed to get some top NORBA results and continued my string of qualifying for World Championships form Durango in 1990, Il Ciocco, Italy in 1991, and Bromont, Quebec in 1992 before being sidelined by an injury in 1994 just before Metabief, France."

In 2008, the 15-time Idaho State Champion won stages of the BC Bike Race and set the course record at the Whiteknob Challenge, the longest running mountain bike race in Idaho.

More recently, he finished sixth at the Winter Triathlon National Championships last month in Bend, Oregon, where he was mixing it up with some other mountain bike pros past and present, like Brian Smith (first), Mike Kloser (second), Carl Decker (third) and Ned Overend (fifth).

Harrison will race the US ProXCT including Sea Otter, Idyllwild, Downieville and the Cactus Cup.