Our homie Amado made a team video for Transition at last week's world cup....click this video link >>> VIDEO
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MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBECWorld champs week going on right now. We drove northeast from Windham, NY early monday morning, crossed the border, then arrived just in time to be the last on the lift for the monday track walk. Pretty tight schedule considering it's an 7-8 hr drive. It was dark by the bottom, but at least not too hot, scorcher days here. Mosquitos were out too, but I somehow killed one with a single blink of the eye. Ninja:)
The venue here in Eastern Canada has been a staple of World Cup racing for like 19 years or something, so to have the grand finally of the season here is pretty special. I have never ridden DH here, but so far the track is really fun, fairly straight forward, fast as hell, awesome technical bits in the woods, and right now dry dry dry. High speed turns in loose skatey rocky terrain. Felt a bit timid not wanting to eat shit and die in the fast parts, but linking turns up is the most crucial part and finding flow in the blown out sections. Only had a couple runs on the course, so it will find it's way as will I by sunday.
Not stoked on being super hot and sweaty by 9am, heat wave or something. Rain predicted later on in the week.
WINDHAM, NYDH Race finals today on US soil. Lovely day, track was ripping fast and dry, except for two spots, and everything was set.
I got about 10 seconds, maybe less into my run and had a crash, bending my bars a little, and moving my break lever, bar to quad right on my nasty bruise, and kinda couldn't use my brake right, so that was it. Nice initiation. Doesn't mean I didn't have fun all week, and felt good out there. Just meant I tried to go too fast and made a mistake. Lesson learned. Rachel Atherton won on the day, after her shoulder injury a month ago, adn Frenchie (sabrina) took the overall.
Bryn had a flat I think near the road gap. Marshy has this little system rigged up on our wheels to keep the air in, so Bryn rode most of the course with about 10psi, till it finally went. Super unlucky.
Exciting racing from everyone else though. The Men's overall came down to .37 seconds between Gee Atherton and greg Minnaar, but Gee had it. Poor peaty though, he was about a second and a half up at the last split, and crashed right near the bottom. So it goes, some have lucky days others not so much.
Rad to see so many US fans out here cheering. I felt terrible coming through all dirty, like I let everyone down. Gwin kept it together for the USA though with a 4th, and 4th in the overall world cup.
Moving on to WOrld Champs next week in Quebec.
WINDHAM, NYMore fans rolled in today!! Saw a lot of homies from nearby Diablo Freeride Park, some guys from Plattekill, NY, etc, we've been picking up east coast friends all year from our National ProGRT Rounds. I'm liking all the USA support out there on the hill!!!
Bit of practice again today, XC bandits are racing now, and 4x tonight. I went up last night to watch a bit of qualifying for 4x, but am really happy with my decision to focus on Downhill, been having an awesome time this weekend.
Main objective for practice was to boost some gaps, and I got em done, thanks to Bryn's help. Super scary, but not too bad. I'm Lucky to have such a ripper of a BFF:) He is riding really well. Check this SVEN MARTIN photo off Vitalmtb.com, It says it all. Race day tomorrow.
WINDHAM, NYDownhill qualifying today, top 80 men, 20 women. Proud to say I made the cut, 7th with room to improve. Bryn with a 9th, and is riding better than ever, so proud.
Tracy mosley took the top time. She boosted one of the sketchy gaps, which was a ton faster, but rode awesome and put a lot of time into us. Nice one. Frenchies and Rachel in the top 5 after that, then me. Keeping it real for american fans:) Most of the girls sort of avoided a couple of the bigger gaps till everything dried out a bit more. slick in spots in the woods, guess ther are natural springs trickling down, but the track was a lot easier today than it was yesterday.
Quite a few people got wrecked out there. After Minnaar crashed yesterday and dislocated his elbow or whatever, he came back today and put himself in a position to still win the World Cup. Race is on for gee and him. Talk about toughing it out. Meanwhile, up on the hill, sic mic took a digger into a tree and broke a collarbone/ hit his head, matti did something to his shoulder earlier and had to pull over in qualifying, etc. All my scrapes and bruises and missing skin on my finger seem quite insignificant now to all of that.
peaty won mens quali, which is rad to see. Probably had some time to himself to finally focus. Good timing right for worlds. Idisnt look too close at results. Quali isn't too important, as the race is Sunday. But it helps for knowing how to find more speed. Pinkbike.com dirtmag , vitalMtb.com .. Check the media for more coverage, dunno why the Internet always sucks and I end up tapping updates from my phone with two bars of signal. Enjoy..
WINDHAM, NYFirst day of DH practice done. Track was super slick in the am, but by the afternoon, dirt was drying up, ruts formed, and speeds picked up. Still a few natural sprigs in the track. I was having a good time out there, doing my thing. Lots of tricky sections, and rocks getting unburied, roots exposed. If it stays dry, should be really fun, but sketchy as hell:). No need really to go too fast or do anything stupid day 1, but just scoping, feeling the flow. Track is something like 2min 40 sec for top guys. Sam hill is back in action, which is cool. Rachel is back too and riding well. Only real thing I heard from practice was that Minnaar hit a tree and had to go to hospital, hope nothing broken. He'll be back if is all good, fingers crossed.
WINDHAM, NEW YORK DH course walk today. It's been raining a bunch out here in NY, guess for three weeks, but considering how much it has rained, the dirt dried up pretty quick in some spots. Other spots, like in the flatter zones out in the open, are pretty screwed and unwalkable:) They cancelled all of 4x walking and riding today and maybe tomorrow, but anything goes for DH. This track is a lot steeper than most east coast tracks, seems like straight lines to steep shoots, few rock hucks, some jumps, few sketchy high speed bits, lots of trees, and soft in a lot of places which means it's going to have big holes and ruts over the next few days. Other than that, looks good and challenging, they have done a nice job getting everything together here. Rad to be in the USA after 4 years of not having a world cup here. Home soil is always better. I'm excited to see how it goes:).
There are some really good pics on pinkbike.com of the track today..
The Hot Shoppe just sent these pics over of my National Champs jersey!! Think they turned out rad. If you ever need jerseys printed up , Hot Shoppe is the best!! There are two cause we only have black shorts, but I liked the white one a lot:) might have to get crafty.... Custom painted bike on deck:)
Pretty stoked on this latest batch of helmets!!! Just in time for Worlds. Airtrix does an incredible job painting!!Thx to Red Bull, Chris Wood at Airtrix, and Cat from Sauce Creative Group!!!
Mitch Ropelado and I won the Pump track event last night! It was a super tight course, and the pursuit format was interesting, added a bit of suspense. We didn't get to practice how to start, but no hands or feet on the bike, 1,2,3, go! Kinda funky if you miss the pedal or are slightly off, just jump on and ride it.
Single elimination format too, which meant one lap to advance or be eliminated. Seeding was kinda a factor to get through the rounds, cause you got to pick which side of the stage to start from. One side was kinda uphill, and had a harder turn bit.
So two competitors start going opposite ways, full lap, and the first person back to the stage won. Timers were in place. There were almost a bunch of collisions back on the stage, Chris Van Dine, with the most dynamic bail off of it. Vories also had some cat like moves off the deck. Couple guys launched onto the stage and nearly took a frontflip from the wooden decking overhanging the berm/exit a tad.
The showdowns were pretty good. I was kind of in awe of how freakishly well some of these guys rode the track; Danny hart, Austin, Mitch, Brenden,Troy, C-Dub, E.T. In practice I had some little gaps and manuals, but they weren't consistent or fast for me, but mitch and a few others were riding in such rhythm were able to jump through multiple sections. Troy Brosnan vs Austin Aldrich was super impressive, and the final Mitch vs Brendan would've been close if brendan stayed up. Both those guys pride themselves on their pumptrack backyard skills, so it was fun to watch.
Organizers were going for a "Bro-Down" kind of event, and there was some serious bro-ing down I suppose. Practice was the most fun, cause you could just ride and try stuff without being eliminated. Liked that the spectators could all huddle around and heckle for the finals though, and we all pumped around till we were blue in the face. 12.5-14+sec laps.
From the backyard to main stage. Just wanted to say thanks to my buddy Travis for having a pump track in his back yard, and letting me dig, and also Transition for having one at the shop. It's sometimes more art than riding, digging takes over and gaps/ transfers ensue. It's nice to ride without having to drive anywhere sometimes. later
PHOTOS: Ian Hylands PINKBIKE.COM- http://www.pinkbike.com/news/crankworx-pumptrack-2010-results.html
RESULTSHad enough runs to need a good solid break from A-Line trail!! Kinda bummed on my run today, lost control on a high speed turn heading back into the trail off a fireroad and nearly came to a stop, back wheel over the top of it. Oh well, next year. Finished 4th by not much. Anne Caro won, Ragot 2nd, Rachel Atherton 3rd. Lots of women racers, which is always nice to see.
Lopes won his 6th Air DH in a row for the pro men!!. He's almost to whistler as Peaty is to Lisbon. Anyway, Bryn was the hero in my eyes, 4th today, and some of the nastiest scrubs both ways, fans were very impressed. Fans would have also been impressed by our pal Eliot Jackson, he's new to MTB, but used to race Moto, and is sooo good at scrubbing and riding, he and Bryn were having a field day yesterday. 1st Lopes, Sam Blenkinsop 2nd, Gee Atherton 3rd, Bryn. Poor ol Kovarik, took a digger off the GLC Drop, which is such a crappy place to fall. THat is probably my least favorite part of the track. Anywho, all good.
After A- line, we went up to the pump track for practice. The race is tomorrow night. Super tight track. Mitch Ropelado was putting a stamp on it. It'll be a good showdown between him, brendan, Troy brosnan, and Bernard Kerr, I think.
Went to go see this Deep Summer Photo contest as well. 6 photographers over 3 days, put together a photo slideshow, and are judged. Really impressive work. I liked it a lot. Jordan Manly had such a crisp beautiful collection of shots. He is legit, and took the W. Our homie Sven Martin was in the mix as well, with sort of a racer perspective other than the freeride scenic approach, so there was lots of variety. Anyway, rad event.
WHISTLER, BCBeen a few days, but another race day today. This time Air DH down a trail called A-Line. It's mostly all jumps, kicky jumps that were not really meant for full speed, but its a good chance for some to work on scrubs and staying as low as possible. Being that I don't really ever pop jumps or anything, and am racer through and through, it's right in my little zone. The only thing that makes this trail pretty difficult, is remembering which jumps to break check so you don't die, and pedalling in every place possible for almost 5 minutes. I guess when you come to Whistler and ride this trail, it all seems pretty cruisy, but let me assure you, I'll be near blackout status racing this by the end.
There was rain a couple days ago, so pretty good traction yesterday. Sun is out today though and about a billion people have been riding this trail, so it's gonna get "drier than Ghandi's thong", nice?. Some people have 6" bikes, with single crown fork, semi slick tires, etc. and their hands are wrecked. I found that even on a dh bike, I gotta check to make sure everything is tight each run. There are serious chattery rough sections and holes in the turns. Not bumps that are, say, breaking bumps before turns in predictable spots. THey are in the exits of turns, or at the apex. I honestly have no idea how these holes even form, It's crazy. Bike parks.
Gee Atherton and Micayla Gatto won the Slalom last night. Good head to head racing, lot of tight battles to the wire. We ended up having only 4 ladies qualify. I had awesome practice and qualifying, then come race time, having to sit around I was just off my game, dunno what happened- made a mistake, and went to the small final for 3rd. Kinda weak, but losing sort of pissed me off enough to restore my motivation. Gatto won some cash and was all psyched, so congrats to her.
Mitch and Gee were in the final, and I think if Mitch would've stayed up he was in it for the win. Bryn took 6th, we think. He was riding so smooth, super fast. Got knocked out by mitch in the round of 8. Slalom is the best type of gated racing, hands down.
- WHISTLER, BCSlalom is the first event to kick off Crankworx!!!. It is one of the best racing event here, in my opinion:); most people enjoy competing in it a lot, full cast of pros, fans can spectate the full course, follow the action, etc. They rebuild the course from scratch each year too, and this year the course is extremely tight and a little tech. You gotta find good rhythm to sinc up the turns. After yesterday's scorcher/ blowout, today has been mostly rainy, misty, nicely watered,,,Much better conditions.
Was a little surprised to see our little buddy Mitch Ropelado racing. He broke his collarbone at nationals a few weeks ago, if you remember. Anyway, got that all plated up 2 weeks ago, and is ripping this track apart on a single speed, single brake, kinda set up. Pretty rad, but what a maniac, qualified 4th by only a couple tenths. He actually had a crash this morning in training, landed on a rock. No problem with the collarbone, but I had to help him butterfly band-aid a big gash on his back.
Last year's winner- Kyle Strait, was seen with a cast on his hand, bumming. I know he was really looking forward to this event too, he will have to wait till next year to reclaim that title.
Lots of international talent, should be good tonight!!!. Men's quali results go like this:
MENS SLALOM QUALI 1. Sic Mic 2. Stevie SMith 3. Gee atherton 4. Mitch Ropelado 5. BRYN ATKINSON :) 6. Lopes 7. ? Prokop?? 8. Troy Brosnan
WOMEN"S QUALI 1. JILL 2. Buhly 3. Ragot 4. Gatto
WHISTLER, BCCrankworx time is upon us. Heading a few hrs north up to whistler, for the greatest Canadian event of the year. Bryn is back, so he and I will be racing about 5 events each over the next couple weeks. Slalom, giant slalom, pumptrack, a-line, and Canadian open.... Crankworx.com
BELLINGHAM, WABright n early monday morning, Lars and I built up our downhill bikes, and set off for some awesome riding in the N-dub with a few of the domestic transition bike dealers and Tr guys from the office. Dubbed - summer camp, these days are full of riding, BBQ, plenty of laughs. I had the best time, mostly super pumped to be back on home soil riding epic trails, and around people who just love to ride. Transitionbikes.com
WINTERPARK, COYesterday seems like a bit of a blur now, cause Lars and I raced that 7min course in the mud, washed our bikes, packed em, I went to podium and took a quick snapshot- cause I won!, loaded, tarped, drove to Denver in the rain, dropped off the truck, checked in, flew home, slept for a few hours, then woke up early, sat in Seattle morning traffic, and drove north to bellingham for a real fun Transition dealer day riding dh near Mt.Baker. Biggest sentence ever? Kinda how it was....
Not much time to take it all in...Was mostly stoked on a direct flight back to sea level and my own bed. Colorado is lovely, but I was tired of not having any oxygen, and battling flatness. Bear arms section of trail can go to hell, so annoying to race on a big heavy dh bike 4 min into a run. The rest of the course was decent, some really good steep shoots, few awesome corners. In hindsight, I guess if I were on an xc bike, that bit would've been ok. Blue trails at this bike park were painfully dull and flat for dh bikes, not reccomended by me.
As far as the race goes, I am a little shocked I was able to pull off a victory. Keeping momentum every possible spot to avoid stop and go sprinting was my plan. Quali was dry, an Buhly and I were sub 7 min 6.54?, boys were around 6.18 for the fastest. It rained hard most of the afternoon though, and continued to precipitate all of finals. I kinda though it was fun getting to pull tear offs and wing it. If there was ever a track that buhly should have an advantage, it was here, but the rain kinda sorta might have neutralized that. I felt like I rode better in the final, gave a shitload more effort, but our times were slower, and I somehow managed a 5 sec margin. I hit most of the technical sections good, roots were slick though, ripped some turns, had a few mini stalls but nothing catostrophic. Talking to myself, Felt like Trinity in The Matrix, in that opening scene where she has to will herself to get up... stand up and pedal. My ass was on that seat way too much, Get up damnit. Soo painful, just milking everything I had. The last bottom grass turns, it was all I could do to hold on. Knew buhly would be sprinting like a banchee, and she looked strong mostly to the line. anyway, tight battle here at 10,000 feet of elevation over 7 min 15 sec!!!! Our times were off the back compared to the cruisy quali times in the dry, but the weather bogged us down.
In the mens final, Waylan Smith was the first guy down, had a lighter bout of rain that the top qualifiers, and remained in that hot seat all afternoon. Lars had qualified 3rd with more in the tank, but had another unlucky afternoon with a big crash up top. Said he was riding the track aggressivly as if it were dry, but couldn't hold on. Bummin:( he's ok, though, just has to think of what could have been. Logan, who was top qualifier came down last, and at that point pools of water were standing everywhere. River runs down it, style. Maybe that's faster to have splashy mud rather than sticky mud, dunno, but either way, it was messy. Top 5, and the winner of $2000, 1. Waylan 2. Memmelar 3. Logan binggelli 4. Keiren Bennett 5. Brian Buell .kinda wondering what happened to Rando in his run? Fitness was a big part of this race, just straight punishment, but luckily the track wa tech enough ip top to count for something. Really glad it's over. Took a lot of energy to get pumped on this race. The people who run the event did a great job though. Scenery was epic, village was full, lifts ran smooth, excellent pro prize purses, A Really delicious taco spot in town- Marisol cantina, And other things and stuff. So a lot of positives, and I got what I came for. Still leading the overall series with one event to go in Ny after worlds...Crankworx in whistler is next. Back to back cx. And bryn comes home tomorrow!!!!! Whoo hoo!.
I'll know when I wake up, but good luck to bryn At the World Cup in Italy. Dh finals are tomorrow. Freecaster.tv at like 7am. Go get em!!!!'
WINTERPARK, CODh practice today as well as Slopestyle. Being that we are at a mountain resort with a bike park, there were so many people around the venue today. Bunch of familys, people riding bikes, spectators, etc., so on that note this venue is pretty good. I think if the dh course ended at the fireroad section about 4 min into the run, I'd be having a great time, but it continues at least another 3-4 min after that.
Top half of the course is actually really good and challenging. Some steep rooty rocky bits, skatey turns, traversing shelves, rocks, etc. It's just the bottom that is draining the joy outta this place. Really really really unmotivating. Oh well. I had fun working on sections that I needed to. Trying to save some energy for tomorrow. Have only done like 8 or 9 runs total, but should be good. I wouldve thought that more Colorado locals would be here, maybe they knew how painful this track is to race, dunno. Either way, riding is riding and that is all the reward we need:)
Slopestyle just finished up. We were watching the jumbo-tron from a nice shady spot until the wind got all crazy, cam McCaul broke his femur on a front flip, few other guys struggled too, so then they delayed the event. Our viewing spot was shady, but I was getting really annoyed by all these xc bandits standing right infront us, and the screen, Lycra-ed out looking all gross, also still wearing helmets eating lunch. Put some pants on and take your helmets off for crying out loud, arrghhh. Had to leave.
Anywho, Luckily for the slopestyle guys the wind died down, but Lars and I were already on our way to a tasty sandwich spot in town. Semenuk was pulling some flawless runs, and has really nice style, so the victory was his. Guess one guy did a double tailwhip on a big gap, but that wasn't enough.
Dh quali and race tomorrow, on a plane that night, transition dealer days mon and tues!! Then crankworx in whistler!! Can't wait!!!!!'
On a little side note, I was bombing down this open grassy section, and a bee nailed me at full speed right on the tender vain in my arm they usually draw blood from!! Such precision, missed my elbow pad by about a mm. Straight injected venom, nice.
WINTERPARK, COWell, no rain most of today. Slopestyle course dried up enough from yesterday to get qualifying done. We had dh practice at the same time, but I overheard top 10- most of the big names were in there. 1.Zink 2.berrecloth 3.watts 4.mccaul 5.Mitch chubey 6.Sam pilgram 7.soderstrom 8.Amir kabbani 9.gullevich 10.Paul bass. That's the cut.. Hopefully the weather holds and those guys get to run their final tomorrow.
On the Downhill front, part of the couse is good, and the entire bottom half is not. I was so unmotivated to ride the bottom half, just flat and a ton of effort, so flat my back was sore. 7 min course at altitude. I confronted the uci about shortening the track to fit the 2-5 minute official rule, and of course there is a clause, weak. Gotta make due I suppose. Tomorrow is a new day, and my attitude will change once the pace picks up. Didn't make us happy that the couse has been open all week for people to poach.
Only 4 runs in, it'll tak