For World Cup coverage Vitalmtb.com does a great job!!. Lovely photos, this one in particular, go Bryn:) >>>VITAL<<< Ft.William, Scotland this weekend.
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VERNON, NJSUNDAY DH FINALS
US Open Complete. I raced, then hiked back up to watch the men's action in the rock garden. Wow, impressive turnout of fans, I heard em when I came through, but really had no idea it was that packed. Red Bull brought in a DJ station,,, so tunes were pumping, beers were flowing, air horns and cow bells blasting. Nice summer day for a Bike race in New Jersey:)
After my crash yesterday, I had orders from Bryn and Lars, not to hit the finish line jump, so I had to ride the go around which was about a second slower. Finished 2nd by 0.4 seconds!!! Doh. Decent run, did the rocks clean, Just a exited the lower woods in an interesting spot, hit the low line by accident and lost a bit of speed. Still learning how to put together full runs, and I know what I gotta do next time, so I am happy to be learning and progressively getting better, which is my goal every race. T-MO (tracy) won, me 2nd, buhly 3rd.
In the men's final, we were at the top of the main rock section watching. Really interesting to hear results after seeing the top 15 from one spot. Mic Hannah, had a really creative, clever line entering the rocks, just a bit wider over rocks instead of the main root. He would have been loads faster than everyone else, but I guess flatted in the lower bit of the track. Neethling entered and exited super quick too, and it paid off with a win. There were 5 or 6 different lines. Brendan was wild, hit a low- low line to the right of the main tree, snaked around, degree of difficulty- High, reward-??, he looked fast, but not sure it was any faster than the main line. WOuld've been way better to see bryn out there, but that flat in qualifying put a damper on things. Lars was holding it down in the Men's final, till he nailed a rock and got a flat too- sympathy flat? probably not.
Podium here took well over two hours. All kinds of giveaways, and wild games to win sponsored stuff. I had to pound a beer to keep my sanity. Gee was there, but had to leave for his flight and missed it. Worth the wait though I suppose for a couple thousand dollars. US Open has the best pro prize purse for Pros in america. Not really stoked that they took away form the Women's purse to add to the mens. I hate this debate really, but I would at least prefer if they kept the same money from previous years and paid deeper, or add to it. ANyway, maybe they will learn for next year if enough people heckle them. Pinkbike.com is on it:). Regardless of anything, US Open is a Killer event, well worth going to on numerous levels. I am stoked that it continues to grow.
Anyway, pretty good couple of weeks, we will see how everyone goes at the World Cup next week in Scotland. Bryn will be on point, ready to dominate!!! I'll be at home training up , getting fitter,doing more full runs:) learning:) nursing my bruises.
RESULTS: live-timing
PRO WOMEN 1- Tracy Moesley - 2:40.16 2- Jill Kintner - 2:40.57 - +0.41 3- Mellisa Buhl - 2:42.58 - +2.42 4- Jacqueline Harmony - 2:50.19 - +10.03 5- Miranda Miller - 2:51.12 - +10.96 PRO MEN 1- Andrew Neethling - 2:19.55 2- Gee Atherton - 2:20.09 - +0.54 3- Justin Leov - 2:20.36 - +0.81 4- Steve Smith - 2:21.00 - +1.45 5- Sam Hill - 2:21.52 - +1.97
SUN AM: The track is dry, fast and ready to go. Couple hrs till race time....
SAT REPORT: GIANT SLALOM FINALS + DH QUALI
GS- With all the delays from DH qualifying, giant slalom start times were pushed back about an hour. Convienient cause right as we lined up to start, the rain came. I was the last pro women to go, and noticed the turns had a nice shine on the dirt, which is the slipperiest time to ride. Regardless, didn't slide out and put down a decent run. Had a nasty wreck over the finishline jump in DH qualifying, so I opted not to take my second run. None of the other top 3 women wanted to contest my first run, so I won! Should've gone up for run two for the fans though, sorry fans, bit uneventful.
Men's race was nice and close though, especially top 5. Mitch Ropeloto's first run backed up his performance from yesterday's quali, then Brendan slotted just behind him, lopes crashed in his first run, sam was not that aggressive, troy brosnan was right there ripping, Logan Binggeli had the best last turn carve, lars slid out, etc.
Second run (best of Two format) the rain had stopped so the dirt was drying. Most of the guys improved their times; Sam was pedaling a lot more in this run, Troy looked amazing, Brendan pulled a couple tenths on mitch's first run, and took over the lead, and then it was up to mitch, last male pro on the hill, who was for sure winning the race!! He was lookingto be up by a second coming into the last section of track, till he mis-timed the high speed fadeaway decent. His prehop off the the lip was off, as hit his back wheel on the lip which flipped him down the drop, over the bars, about 15 feet onto his chest. Knocked out for like 10 seconds. So ugly, never ever want to see that. He was talking and remembered where he was and stuff, could move all limbs, but his crash for sure put a damper on things. He should be ok though, will find out when he gets out of hospital. Brendan ended up with the win. Mitch's first time held for 2nd, troy killed it for 3rd.
Giant Slalom Pro Mens Winners:
1- Brendan Fairclough - 39.52
2- Mitch Ropelato - 39.65
3- Troy Brosnan - 39.88
4- Sam Hill - 40.31
5- George Ryan - 40.38
9- LARS STERNBERG!!!
Giant Slalom Pro Womens Winners:
1- Jill Kintner - 43.18
2- Melissa Buhl - 44.74
3- Tracy Moseley - 45.90
4- Anne Laplante - 46.47
5- Joanne Petterson - 47.14
(Photo; SVEN @ Vitalmtb.com)
The downhill Was actually earlier in the day..
DH Mens Pro Downhill unofficial Qualifying Results: 1- Mick Hannah - 2:21.27 2- Gee Atherton - 2:21.90 - +0.63 3- Andrew Neethling - 2:22.22 - +0.95 4- Steve Smith - 2:22.33 - +1.06 5- Brendan Fairclough - 2:24.15 - +2.88 6- Justin Leov - 2:25.36 - +4.09 7- Jurgen Beneke - 2:26.33 - +5.06 8- Luke Strobel - 2:26.91 - +5.64 9- Duncan Riffle - 2:25.98 - +5.71 10- Sam Hill - 2:27.40 - +6.13 Lars was 12th!!! Bryn with a front flat, didn't qualify and wasn't happy. Kyle Strait and Marc Beaumont front flatted as well.
Womens Pro Downhill Qualifying Results: 1- Mellisa Buhl - 2:45.12 2- Tracy Moseley - 2:45.16 - +0.04 3- Jacqueline Harmony - 2:54.27 - +9.14 4- Myranda Miller - 2:58.26 - +13.14 5- Fionn Griffiths - 2:59.61 - +14.49 6- Rebecca McQueen - 3:01.27 - +16.15 7- Katie Holden - 3:03.84 - +18.72 8- Vaea Verbeeck - 3:07.82 - +22.70 9- Karen Eagan - 3:09.43 - +24.31 10- Johanne Tuttle - 3:14.11 - +28.99 11- Anne Galyean - 3:17.05 - +31.93 12- Joanna Petterson - 3:24.73 - +39.61 13- Jill Kintner - 3:32.84 - +47.72 (Crashed during run) 14- Amanda Pilling - 3:36.03 - +50.91 15- Anne Laplante - 3:51.18 - +1:06.06 Women Times now official I crashed in the worst place ever, over the finishline jump. Landed back wheel, didn't save it, and cartwheeled. Only damage was a handlebar to the Quad, bunch of other bruises, and a destroyed folded front wheel. Ready for tomorrow, would've been a good run...
Our condo is right at the finishline pretty much , so we ha a nice little viewing party at the pad.
FRI REPORT: GIANT SLALOM QUALI + DH PRACTICE
Big day of riding, morning DH practice followed by afternoon Giant Slalom Qualifiers. Had kind of a rough go of practice yesterday, 2 flat tires out of 3 runs. Bryn said to be light, but there are so many square edge rocks, it is a little tricky. All good , though, takes me about 3 runds to really get into it, and with the greasy conditions from the rain the night before, there is a lot of adapting to do:)
Giant slalom went well and was super fun. getting on my slalom bike feels really comfortable:). It's not a dual event, just one course, ride it as fast as possible. As much as I love US open, the schedule started to annoy me. Practive forever, then an hour and a half break, more practice and qualifying, too much after having half a day yesterday. I think what put me over the edge was Third eye Blind blasting over the stereo and my drinks getting thrown away in that break time before the next practice. Such a long hike up only to discover no liquid is available. Not really that bad though I suppose. Mitch took the win in Quali on a hardtail, which would have really sucked on this track, so there you go, the kid has skills. I won the ladies. Best of two runs for finals. ..
Women: 1- Jill Kintner - 43.15 2- Melissa Buhl - 44.22 - +1.07 3- Tracy Moseley - 46.26 - +3.11 4- Anne Laplante - 46.70 - +3.55 5- Joanne Petterson - 47.31 - +4.16 6- Johanne Tuttle - 50.14 - +6.99 7- Kate Parhiala - 52.27 - +9.12
Men: 1- Mitch Ropelato - 39.91 2- Brendan Fairclough - 40.63 - +0.72 3- Gerrit Beytagh/Brian Lopes - 41.13 - +1.22 4- Jared Rando - 41.17 - +1.26 5- George Ryan - 41.21 - +1.30 6- Logan Binggeli - 41.35 - +1.44 7- Troy Brosnan - 41.38 - +1.47 8- Kevin Aiello - 41.44 - +1.53 9- Lars Sternberg - 41.45 - +1.54 10- Sam Hill - 41.54 - +1.63 11- Blake Carney - 41.96 - +2.05 12- Mikey Haderer - 41.99 - +2.08 13- Alejandro Ortiz - 42.00 - +2.09 14- Mitch Chubey - 42.01 - +2.10 15- Tyler McCaul - 42.19 - +2.28
VERNON,NJ
Us open seems to get bigger every year not for it's 1,000 feet of elevation, but as far as prize money and talent. They said something like a $25,000 pro purse!!. Plus in attendance; Sam Hill, Brendan Fairclough, Gee Atherton,, Stevie Smith, Bryn n Lars, Leov, Neethling, Tracy, Strobel, Giant fellas Duncan and Rando, Mic Hannah, Beaumont, Lopes, Odi Team, Buhly, Fionn Griffiths, Miranda Miller, Mitch Ropelato, etc.. So not too shabby, kudos to the organizers.
Yesterday was 93 degrees, super steamy from early in the day, just brutal to be outside, but today was not quite as bad. As I type this though there is lightning, thunder, rain, and wind. East coast is always so extreme with it's weather, makes for a lot of hiding out in the AC. I would trade it all for a nice 65 degree day with slight overcast, sigh.
Anyway, had a bit of course walk and a little jump jam at Jeff Lenowski's place down the road yesterday. Today; Giant slalom and DH practice. Gian slalom here is more fun than I remembered it last year. Very long hot sweaty walk to the top, but ripping. Corners are a little flat, as they seem pretty hard-pact and sustainable, but they all link up real nice. Best of two runs kind of format. Nice n mellow. I felt really comfortable on my little double today, so I'm excited for this.
DH was a lot better than it looked:) I mean it looked good! but the rocks rolled a lot smoother than what I thought, being a first timer on this track and all. Some square edged ones did try to bite me, but kept it going. Lots of fun. They added a new off-camber section which was a little tricky , and re routed parts of the bottom. The finishline jump broke a lot of people off because it was too short for the monster kicker. I didn't hit it today, don't really like the look of it. Saw so many people carcass off of it. Our room is right next to it, so maybe I won't watch any more of the Amateur practice. yeesh. Here is a helmet cam of the course VITAL
That's it for now, we will see what this rain does to the rocks up there...
Plattekill Bike Park- Roxbury, NY
Race #2 of the Pro Gravity series complete. Means a lot to USA racing to have top US and international talent supporting these events. Pro Podiums had 5 countries represented, USA, Aus, NZ, UK, RSA.
Throughout the day, conditions dried out from the overnight rain. Morning practice was a tricky, I got pretty dirty from a digger, but by the time 3pm rolled around, wind and sun made rolling almost the same as the previous days, and the course was in good shape. Qualification and finals were in the same day, which was nice. Bryn took the top spot in Quali and then was pretty close to backing it up for finals, but Neethling rode well and squeaked him out. I was up in drug testing for the men's final, so I missed most of the finals, heard some numbers from an ear against the window.
Women's race, Tracy Mosley has so much experience and was able to take 7 seconds off her qualifying run which was ridiculous 3.00. Her time was competitive with a lot of the men's times. Buhly and I were battling it out for the #2 position, think this track would'e suited her really well. I'm not sure how much time I lost hitting a tree, but I got beat, and this experience and learning from every run has been pretty exciting, so I'm happy with that. Just pinning it and letting off the brakes is not something you can just do safely, it takes time to build speed.
The organizers of the event were really happy to have everyone at their mountain, and we were happy to be here. Small town events are classic. The MC of awards defiantly took his time giving out awards, and botching names, and paid the price in the end getting soaked with pro men's champaign:).
KHS sponsored the event and gave away like 5 complete bikes to amateurs and event winners. They also contributed to the pro prize purse, which was fantastic. Bryson Martin earned his spot on the Jr Worlds Team as well.
I put a bunch of pics on facebook if you're interested...
Pro Mens Results:
1. Andrew Neethling 2:43:48
2. Bryn Atkinson 2:44:47
3. Justin Leov 2:45:20
4. Duncan Riffle 2:47:44
5. Kieran Bennett 2:47:99
6. Logan Binggeli 2:48:91
7. Jared Rando 2:49.28
8. JD Swanguen 2:49.70
9. Mikey Sylvestri 2:49.83
10. Jurgen Beneke 2:51.35
Pro Womens Results:
1. Tracy Moseley 3:00:49
2. Melissa Buhl 3:05:47
3. Jill Kintner 3:09:14
4. Darian Harvey 3:29:93
5. Rae Gandolf 3:45:12
Here is a pic from Ray's indoor mountain bike park the other day- Red Bull wallride. RAY'S
Thought I would just post up some photos from our little course walk after practice. There are a few main rock features , but overall the track is really fun and flowy. Nice dry dirt:) Some of the corners are quite blown out and getting worse, but not too bad. The organizers ran some sort of winner take all old school slalom; raked out dirt on the beginner slope, flags in the ground, super raw:). Not sure who won. Followed of course by some foot down for the kiddies, etc. We were up there for a pasta dinner at the lodge, so bit of something for everyone:). Plattekill is a lovely spot, really nice people, good scenery. Our hotel down the road is awesome- The Roxbury Motel. Also great to see small resorts step up for mountain biking.
Sorry, it's kinda hard to see these photos large. I have to work out how to send em to a new window.
Photos: Ian Hylands, Pinkbike.com
ROXBURY, NY
Got into New York a couple days ago, spent 1 day/night in NYC living it up, did some interviews to promote these up and coming events, then Bryn, Lars, and Strobel arrived at JFK airport in the afternoon and we drove north to Roxbury for round 2 of the Pro Grt National series.
The 15 passenger van we hired wasn't available, so we are rollin in new chevy suburban. Pretty sweet untill you try to put 4 people and 6 bikes and all the bags inside, so we stapped Luke Strobel's Evil to the roof. He was a little nervous, but it made it all the the way no problem. Tightest pack job ever though.
Thursday, course walk. Lifts were open and the people who were ready were practicing. Should be a good field here on the weekend. We got our full team, Lars is back in action, Bryn, me. Trek has their DH team, minus Neko (their Junior rider who is broken), KHS, Team ODI, Strobel, Kieran Bennett, David K., Brad bennedict, and a bunch more. Not all have arrived obviously.
East COast has a unique feel for the riding. People have a lot of character, elevation is minimal, but it's still pretty good. A bit narrow of a track here, few drops, bunch of traverses, but it looks alright. Bit like trail riding some said.
800 feet of elevation drop, 1 mile long. It has been raining a bunch, but today was as glorious of a day I have ever seen. 80 degrees, sunshine, dry track, green grass…
Can’t believe how much grass there is here, and every single person seems to be out mowing it on their riding lawn mowers. Maybe a goat or two would save a bunch of time. jeeze. We are in the country for sure, and it’s really nice and spacious though. Streams, rolling hills, greenery everywhere, should be pretty good.
Had a good time in Ohio this weekend, the people really made the trip for me. Ohio Dreams, which is outside of Cleveland about an hour, hosts mostly summer camps (similar to Woodward but smaller) so it wasn't officially open, but Red Bull got em to Open up and host some kids and other riders for the day to ride with me, sign posters etc:).
The compound has a ton of land, big indoor skatepark, plus an outdoor beginner one, full size bmx track, dirt jumps, ski ramps into water, etc. All the dirt stuff and pool weren't ridable yet, so we were mainly inside riding park. Normally skateparks are not really my thing on a MTB with 28" wide bars, but I had fun and caught some vert:) 
. My bro would've been proud. Staff was awesome, good riders as well. THx to Ann Marie at Red Bull, riders for coming out, and the Ashcraft family 
for owning a cool spot to ride.
Ray's had some new features since I had been there last; rhythm room, dirt room, new wooden pump track section. I spent some time exploring the place n riding a bunch of lines. Red bull Berm saw some action. It's a big wooden wallride/berm. I got above the bulls, which is pretty high, so I was stoked. Solid crew of riders there, place felt empty kinda though cause its so big. Dirt room was a good start. I would've liked to have seen a sick dirt pump track in there, but that's just me.
I did make the wall of fame of pro riders who have been there, so that was cool. Guess Ray is building another indoor park in Wisconsin near Trek, so he wasn't there. Keith, the new manager, was shredding, busted out a manual in the pump track over 4 deep rollers, I was impressed. He used to announce NBL nationals and race a bunch back in the day. Pretty good for an old guy:)
Not a bad way to spend a couple days en route to the east coast.
CHeck out the latest action from Maribor, round #1. Bryn said it has been the crappiest weather, super muddy, plenty of roots , steep and fast. True test to the best in the world. Greg Minnaar took the victory in the Men's class, followed by Gee, Brenden, a frenchy, and Sam hill. Bryn finished 12th, which is an awesome start to the season in these conditions. Jr. Atkinson, Rhys, had some bad luck and hurt his wrist in practice, should be ok for the next one though. Bryn sent a mini update, below. Guess this VOlcano has caused some more travel interruptions. I bought the pass on freecaster and couldn't watch anything, anyone else?
BRYN- "Sitting in the airport here in Vienna, my flight has been delayed and I have been re-routed.. + 9hrs to my trip.. Nice.
Round 1 of the World cup was on this weekend, in Maribor, Slovenia. Sloppy, muddy, conditions + 250 downhillers, made the track deteriorate so quickly. This was my first race with Mechanic Jason Marsh, we hit it off right away, and he did a great job, making things easy on me.
Racing went well for us. i finished 12th. I was 5th fastest at the intermediate split, and just made some costly mistakes in the last half which sent me back a few spots.
Back to America for the Pro GRT #2, and the US Open, should be some good times!"
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Bryn and the rest of the World Cup Circuit are in Slovenia right now getting ready for the first DH World Cup of the year on Sunday!! It is a double header, DH, 4x, so all events. If you don't know where Maribor, Slovenia is, peep this map, it's East of Italy, North of Croatia. Pretty nice place, real green, lots of rain, super Euro.
I am not attending any of the Europe World Cup rounds, so it's kinda weird being home, following as a fan, but I'm extra excited to watch live on FREECASTER.TV this sunday May 16th at 13:15 CET, which is 9 hrs ahead of Seattle Time.
Red Bull paired up with Ray's MTB Park and Ohio Dreams to put together a nice little sun/monday riding weekend in Ohio to reach out to young people, especially girls, who ride bikes or do action sports. Sort of an opportunity to ride with a pro, me, and be exposed to the lifestyle I suppose. Should be pretty fun. Ohio has some pretty crazy facilities, I never heard of Ohio Dreams, but it's similar to Woodward as far as skateparks, ramps, pools, dirt, trails, etc...I'll take some photos:) seems like they should get the word out a little better. Ray's, I have heard of and been to once before, but there are many new improvements...
They have also invited girls from the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland to this experience as most would not normally get a chance like this.
OHIO DREAMS from 12-4 Sunday and
RAY'S 5p-8p on Monday
From here to NYC.... Pro GRT #2 is coming up at Platekill, NY, followed by The US OPEN in New Jersey the following weekend..... East coast tour.
Seems as of Late, lots of riders are rocking helmet cams, and why not?!, gives that much more insight to riding. Contour HD cameras are the ones we use, "8 hrs of recordable HD on on a single memory card", lightest as well. Pretty incredible footage that is super easy to upload. The company is called Twenty20 ,camera is ContourHD. All the names get confusing, Vholder, Contour, Twenty20. All the same fun-loving people, All based in Seattle!!. You may have seen their bus, or Jason's crazy Mohawk, either way, these cameras are sweet. Team Transition did a little ContourHD photo shoot the other day, rocking the cameras on the goggle strap, stable, no sticky business on our helmet. Thanks to Ian Coble, a star photographer who does mainly ski photography, but mtb as well
.
One of our favorite Aussie magazines, [R]evolution, has just published a digital version of their mag to match the print one. Pretty neat-o!! http://www.zinio.com
[R]evolution
Since 2004, [R]evolution has been showcasing the new face of Australian MTB in it's pages. In a nutshell, the new generation of riding from the riders perspective. 100% rider owned, operated and proudly produced entirely in Australia, [R]evolution is dedicated to documenting this changing face of MTB.
We've been using Lezyne pumps for a couple years now. If your into sleek, well designed equipment, check these guys out. I keep the mini pump and a multi tool in my pack for everyday riding.
Probably the best new bit of hardware is the slip chuck for floor pumps,, Just presses on and seals with an o ring.
Was just checking the latest news from the first round of the 4x World cup. Obviously I'm not there, but congrats to Jared Graves, who Is clearly taking his domination from last year into this year, and to Jana who, I think, capitalized on a crash from anneke. Pretty bold statement that not a single American raced this event. I have no regrets not being there, but who will pick up the slack? Slalom would be quite sweet to have back at the world cups? No?
Anywho,, euros love bike racing, and Belgium has delicious waffles. Both good things:)
SAN JOSE, CAI'm down in nor cal with the Dirt Series guest instructing a 2 day mountain bike camp for women. Check out www.dirtseries.com
PORT ANGELES, WAAny DH riding before 9am is just a little too early, but that's what was on the schedule this morning. Nice day, sun was out, conditions were primo. Practice finished @ 10am. Cat 1, 2, and 3 riders had their race runs first, pros after that. Hundreds of riders rode these tracks over the weekend, got pretty tore up, but nothing unexpected in the finals.
Anyway, I can't tell you how rad it was in the Pro Women's class to have Top World Cup riders; Rachel Atherton, Tracy Mosley, Mellissa Buhl, ect., in attendance. 16 Women in all, which is a really good turnout. I couldn't see any of the other girls' run,,, but my run was pretty good, couple stalls, but decent. Can't expect perfection in Downhill. I had so much fun riding the track it didn't matter. Anyway, Tracy is riding strong on a rough track like this and took the big W with a 2:50, Rachel had a 2:53 with a bruised up hand, and I was pretty close with a 2:56. Not bad...I was really excited to get to race these girls, I respect them a lot. Good to know I'm somewhat in the mix for DH:).
Fans were doing their part. Could hear cowbells and cheers, but really had no idea that many people were watching and cheering till Strand and I walked back up to the big step down section for the men's races.
To make things even better, Bryn took the Pro men's victory, by over a second!!! Perfect weekend, qualfier and Final!!!. Nice to be close to home (Seattle-3hrs) and have so much local support, even if he is an import. Transition Bikes are working really well for us:) so happy. No surprise really that Fox riders were 1-6 on the men's podium. The testing was really effective for getting the bikes tuned. 1-3 in the ladies podium too.
In what appeared to be a one line-ish track, set up for certain sections and maintaining momentum were key. I thought there was a bunch of pedaling, but Stevie Smith snapped a chain coming into the first turn and was still on a 2:41, 9 sec off pace. Suppose if you know you have to keep your speed without pealling, you would be a little more careful as to how you brake and what you do. Knowing the flow of the course and being comfortable with the terrain were pretty important as well. Bryn said he had a pretty flowy smooth run, and when he came into the section I saw, he defiantly had a nice smooth set up with fast exit speed. I have some sweet footage of the top 7 or 8 guys. Fans had different chants for everyone, it was good energy in the woods.
As for the other riders, Dunno if the syndicate guys were feeling it so much. They liked the track, but Josh took a bit of a digger on the first day and had a nasty cut right on his knee cap, no where to do sweet whips either:), and Minnaar looked smooth and effortless, but was just off the pace a bit. The story of his accident this past offseason, and the scar on his leg were insane. He is lucky to be riding. He is the best racer head in the biz, shouldn't slow him down too much. Yeti boys looked fast in practice, didn't talk to any of em, but heard Joey clipped his crank/ chainring on the last jump and flipped onto the landing. Trek team all had stellar results. Luke Strobel is riding really well, has raced here a bunch, and got the bronze- local hero.
Nice work to Casey and Scott of N-Dub productions for running one of the best national rounds I have ever been to!! Next round is in NY...
Thx to Lars, n Scotty, TR, Red Bull, Oakley, Fox, Crankbrothers, Shimano, Maxxis, Dakine, Kore, Jaguire, The, ODI, e.13, 5.1o, freelap, cane creek, cadence works, park tool, e soles.
WWW.NWCUP.COMBit of rain this morning, but everything was clear skies for qualifying. I am really pleased to announce that Bryn took top seed amongst a stacked field by a couple seconds. Nice work!!! I got a top 3 with a little crash, not bad. So tomorrow A.M. will be the final. Track is pretty sweet! extra rough, little wet, fast, wish us luck:)
PRO MEN- Unofficially 1. Bryn 2. Dan Atherton 3. Luke Strobel
PRO WOMEN 1. Tracy Mosley 2. Rachel Atherton 3. Jill
First round of the US National series is underway here in P.A. Huge turnout, several top riders in attendance, 5 former World champions (Minnaar, Bryceland, Rachel, Buhly, and myself), top world cuppers (Bryn, Luke Strobel, Stevie Smith, Gwin, Leov, Neethling, Ben Reid, Minnaar, Bryceland, Tracy Mosley, Rachel Atherton, Dan Atherton, Rando, Ruffles, Danny Hart, etc), USA's finest, and a grip of regional riders enjoying Washington's lovely terrain. Suppose this track here has a lot of similar qualities to Maribor as far as being high speed, rough , rooty, a bit wet, so Fox SHOX testing here before the first World Cup is quite beneficial. Also handy that Volcano kept everyone around too:) Pits here on Dry hill have never looked so factory, yet everyone is just hanging out, relaxing all cool. Catered burritos, Thai food, and campfire will do that. Awesome boost for the local scene and to prove to the Forest Service the value of these trails here. Quite a few media guys covering the event as well which will make this series grow all that much more; Sven for Vital, Pinkbike, JDD Designs, Ian Hylands, 'n more. This is the closest to home I have ever got to race mountain bikes, 3hrs:). N-Dub is super sweet, glad people are loving the trails. Rained this afternoon, so all the bumps are gonna get bumpier with one more day of practice and quali, race on sunday...
Nothing better than custom!!!. Odi got an engraving/ etching machine and carved me up some custom end caps for my ruffian grips. Thanks Colby!! Odigrips.com 
Suspension is one of the trickiest parts of mountain biking. Getting things set up perfect requires a lot of attention to the detail. I have never done proper suspension testing, but learned so much today about the difference in compression settings, damping, etc. The engineers from Fox are here with clipboards, measuring tools, and advanced knowledge to make our bikes perform to their best ability for each rider. Big crew of World Cup riders, Trek, Yeti, Transition, Evil, etc. There should be public workshops for suspension tuning, maybe they are, but it helps a lot! I would have loved to know this stuff starting out, beyond the basics of sag and spring rates. Anyway, I was really impressed and changed what I thought was pretty good, quite a bit. Hi speed and low speed changes how the bike sits, how it absorbs hits, how it handles technical sections, high speed rough sections. etc. I'm no expert, but feel fortunate to have this opportunity to learn. Thank you FOX Racing SHOX!!
