Some pics for the fans:) 
Viewing entries in
Uncategorized
Shuttle Day out in Port Angeles this weekend... $35 for shuttles n food. Camping, bonfire, riding, etc. It's supposed to be sunny, so anything goes. Transition will have a few demo bikes out there to try as well... c ya there. Haven't touched my DH bike since Worlds, so should be fun..
Bryn and I went to see the opening day of the Picasso Exhibit downtown at the Seattle Art Museum. Hard to grasp the magnitude of seeing original Picasso up close, and 150 pieces from his personal collection none the less!! First and only time this exhibit has traveled out of Paris, so pretty special up here in Seattle. It was extremely interesting, I recommend you go check it out. He covered a lot of ground in varying styles, dimentions, material, thought, etc. http://www.picassoinseattle.org/exhibition.html
This is a cool piece/ idea!! “HARVEST” by artist collective Haroshi, hailing from japan, is a series of works made from recycled skateboard decks.
Here are few shots added to the slideshow for the year. Thank you very much to all the photographers who contributed:)
Take a Kid Mountain biking day was pretty fun. Lot of little kiddies riding around having a good time. Duthie hill is the perfect place to start riding, all different types of terrain and skills for any level to enjoy. Awesome bike park in our community. I actually ride out there quite a bit, but on my own schedule... Gets a little hectic around weekend warriors when you are trying to shred as hard as possible:)
Anywhoo,Evergreen mountain bike alliance lined this event up, Kat Sweet mostly in charge, so I was one of "celebrity" riders. Me , Phil Sundbaum
, and Billy Lewis. The day went down like this; small group trail ride in the AM, hot dog lunch, a jump jam, and raffles. Some kid got a pretty rad Diamond back hardtail dirt jump frame, presented by Billy 
- of course.
There were a lot of other riders from the local scene as well, so all in all, pretty good day. Thx guys!! 
I love pups:)
Pretty rad that a company like Oakley all started with BMX grips. I'm working on a little vintage build to one of my old BMX bikes :) Here is a collector site: www.helixbmx.net
Little community involvement for the Kiddies. Oct 2, this Saturday, Take a kid Mountian biking day. I'll be there.___________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
| Trips for Kids and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance are teaming up in celebration of National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day!!Ride bikes with Olympic medalist Jill Kintner, “Summer of Shred” star, Phil Sundbaum and Diamondback's Billy Lewis. Win a brand new Diamondback dirt jumper and other great prizes including shin guards and flak jackets courtesy of Norco bikes and Mace, helmets, and other great swag. The Jump Jam will include local pro's and riders including Team Dirt Corps and Project 529.
Schedule: 9:30am - Registration Opens 10am - Rides 12pm-1pm - BBQ 1pm-2pm - Jump Jam 2pm-3pm - Fat Raffle Contact: Kat Sweet - kat.sweet@cascadebicycleclub.org Parking: LDS Church – 26529 SE Duthie Hill Road, Issaquah, 98029 Enter park through back gate, follow a-frame signs Thanks to our sponsors: IMBA, Diamondback, Sram, Norco Bikes, Mace, Bicycles West, Redline Bikes, Bicycle Center, Gerks, Pacific Bicycle. |
||
Well after my first year downhilling, plus a couple weeks to reflect, I have learned a lot but am still gaining ground. US racing is different than World Cup racing, but riding is riding , and there are many skill to take away from every location. Here is my list of the places I've been in 2010 and what each place taught me ..
RACE #1- FEB 12-14 Thredbo, NSW AUS
Rained so hard every day. This was my first race, course was 8min long, really rough, tons of effort, boggy, wet, loose. Had to sit down a bunch on the pedalling fire road traverse sections due to arm pump and tiredness. THink Thredbo is the best terrain in oz that I have seen. Race run struggled being able to see in the rain and mud, didn't pull tear offs properly, strap on goggles was loose so I pulled goggles into my eye and flailed for awhile:). Whoops. Tighten goggle strap when using tear offs.
MAR 26-28 NW Cup#1- Port Angeles, WA
Another mud race, had never ridden proper downhill here even though PA is only 3 hrs from home. Good scene, super mellow. Awesome terrain, bit of everything. Think King diamond to falcon punch. Not all mud is slippery, hit banks, ruts, and go.
APRIL 15-17 Sea Otter Classic- Monterey, CA
First big race of the year. Was on a mission for slalom, spent a lot of time prepping for it. Had the bike set up prior to the event. Felt really good. New team, new bike, stoked, love slalom. Dh was a waste, had nothing left. Shitty track anyway, need like a 6- 7" bike. DH bike was good, but too much. medium travel bike next time- Tr 250 would be perfect!.
APRIL 23-25 Pro Gravity Tour #1- Port Angeles, Wa
Super stoked that Volcano in iceland trapped international talent in the US. Home soil, big names, Rach and Tracy for chicks, Minnaar, Atherton, Ben Reid, Stevie Smith, etc for guys. Just looking to see where I stood. 3 sec off rach, 6 off tracy. Not bad, had a stall in run, but liked the course. 2nd time to PA for DH. Bryn dominated this event, whoo hoo!! THink it was mostly dry, but slick in some sections. First glance at competitive speeds. First time using Shimano Saint stuff. FOX suspension testing.
MAY 1-2 Dirt Series Camp for Women Makes me appreciate all that I know to help others. Enjoy the people and experience. Santa cruz and San Jose.
MAY 16-17 Ray's & Ohio Dreams, Cleveland, OH
Met rad local riders. Practiced some tricks and rode ramps. Took a pedal in the shin. Tricks are for kids:)
MAY 21-23 PRO GRT #2- Platekill, NY
This place was really important to carry speed . Rolling along doesn't cut it cause it was flat traversing into steep chutes. Hopping to find transitions and avoid square edges that slow you down were important. Hit a tree in final that killed all my speed. Small shelves to ride across. Super small town.
MAY 28-30 US Open- Vernon, NJ USA
One of my favorite tracks and events. Love the rock gardens here. Wet conditions are not good, super slippery clay dirt. Dry for final, almost won. Didn't hit the last jump after a massive wreck on it in quali. Didn't get hurt. Won slalom, 2nd dh. Don't ever think you are tired before hitting a big jump.
JUNE 25-27 Pro GRT #3- Northstar Tahoe, CA USA
Course seemed easy and flat, but the dirt was super loose which made it difficult. Altitude hurt lungs. Lots of pedalling. Being loose and making good turns. Felt in the zone. won.
JULY 09-11 Blast the Mass- Snowmass, CO Altitude, super high speed, straight and fast. Leaning the bike was important, moto skills. Should have practiced less. Day 2 was the best. Had a crash on high speed turn, twisted forks, stitches in face. Dropped my forks out too much and couldn't leverage it properly, rookie mistake. Had a great time the first two days though.
JULY 16-18 US National Championship- Sol Vista, CO
Battle with hitting jumps, wind, altitude. Not super difficult terrain but big jumps and loose conditions. Felt in the zone only on race day. Lot of people got hurt here. Stiffer suspension set up.
July 31- 1 Crankworx CO & PGRT #5- Winter Park, CO GOod top section, bottom was hell flat. 7 min. Rained. Dunno. Delicious taco spot in town. Won slalom on medusa mud tires, won DH as well.
July 2-3 Transition Dealer Days New NW Dh trails to me. Near Mt.Baker. Good fun times, nice n chill. Sun out. Steep terrain, narrow trails.
AUG 06-08 Crankworx- Whistler, BC Canada
Wasn't feeling it this time. Needed to Leave early.Won Pump track, overcooked a berm in air dh,slalom was fun.
AUG 27-29 World Cup #6- Windham, NY USA Most fun track to ride. I loved it. Took me awhile to battle through hitting the jumps, but got em and felt really good here. CHanged suspension to middle chip on tr450, wider bars. Bike was perfect here. Crashed in final, came into a section too hot. bummed.
SEP 02-05 World Champs- Mt.St.Anne, Quebec CAN
Fun track, loved the high speed and tech bits. Good to see faster speeds. So much variation in weather, and way too much practice. Few crashes, not a sweet final. Long week.
SEP 11-12 Pro GRT #7- Lake Placid, NY USA Hard to go to another event after worlds. 5k downhill- 9 min. Lots of varied terrain, actually fairly technical in spots. slippery first woods. pulled a tear off in finals, stoked. Won the overall national Pro GRT series.
SEP 23-24 Interbike 2010- Las Vegas, NV USA Didn't go .
NOV 8 Depart for Australia and New Zealand.
Bryn flew down to get surgery last week in San Jose to Visit Dr.Ting and reattach the ligament in his thumb. Same injury from jamming his thumb into the ground at Mt.St.Anne. Ting works on lot of top athletes such as Bubba Stewart, Pastrana, Yao Ming, etc. The list goes on...
Anyway, been a few days and he is healing up nicely. THey scraped the floating piece of bone away, and anchored that ligament back in place, kinda superglued the skin back together rather than stitches. 6 weeks off the bike, no big deal this time of year. Well, except the trails up here in Washington are in their prime. He has been getting pretty good at pickle ball left handed. Pickle ball is like a mix between tennis and Ping pong, it's like my favorite non wheeled activity at the moment:) The old guys at the gym take it pretty serious, so we gotta practice up:) 
This is kinda old news after last week, but Bryn and I won the Overall series for the Pro Gravity Tour in the US!!.
This Downhill series has steadily been picking up the pieces for Gravity racing in the USA and is growing in popularity amongst riders and industry folks. 5 events this year; Port Angeles, WA, Plattekill, NY, Northstar at Tahoe, Winterpark, Co, and Whiteface NY were the stops for 2010. Next year should be a little different. I went to them all, and got to see quite a bit of the country driving around, as well as variety in terrain and styles of racing. Super mellow and laid back environments, mostly about having fun and riding. Good place for people to develop their skills. The more people who support domestic racing the better!!! Just wanted to say thank you to Transition, Red Bull, Oakley, and our co-sponsors for making it all possible:)
LAKE PLACID, NY
Race day. It started to rain this afternoon just before finals, but luckily for us it wasn't for too long, and the dry tires stayed on. Pretty cold up top though and some bits were a little slipperier. My run started good, but once into the first trees, I caught a root with my pedal and kinda got ejected. That took some time to get unstuck, as did a pant-leg caught on the seat further down, just hit a couple roots awkward and got sideways, super slick in there, jeeze. Once I got out of that top bit though, I had the best run of the weekend on the bottom. 9 min is a long time to race downhill and anything can happen. Successfully pulled a tear off, whoo hoo! rode pretty good, learned about finding the edges of tracks where it is smoother to save energy. Still need to not brake on wet roots, but managed 2nd place today and the overall win for the Pro Gravity series.
Tracy Mosley had a dominating run, sub 9 min for the victory,me 2nd, Jackie Harmony third, Jess stone 4th. I am really glad this weekend is over!! 3 runs combined into one really takes it outta ya. Lots of upper body strength and fitness.
For the men, Trek World Racing placed 1,2,3. Leov, Neethling, Neko. Then Chris Heath 4th, Waylan Smith 5th. Guess Logan "Bitchin" Binggelli had a big crash to the head this morning, Gerrit Beytagh a mechanical, Kieran caught the guy in front of him who wouldn't pull over, and crashed into the guy when he crashed, etc. Anyway, Justin is a killer on these longer courses and did well to win by 10 seconds over 2nd place. Good thing too, cause with Neethling taking 2nd, Bryn maintained the overall Series!! Not a bad year for Transition Racing and the TR450 Dh rig!!
The organizers of this mountain were pretty pumped on the event, heard a few cowbells in the woods too. Prize purses for Pros were pretty good too, men's 1st $1500. This was one of the most technical tracks in the North east, Longest too, 3+ miles of downhilling.
Anyway, that's it for now. We fly back to Seattle tomorrow, then Bryn goes into the Chop Shop tues to fix his thumb, and we chillax for a couple months. After that off to Australia and Jan- Feb in New Zealand to ride some awesome terrain!! and it starts over again next april.
If anyone has a wheelbarrow full of cash and would like to support Transition Racing next year, give us a shout. :) Fund raising time....
LAKE PLACID, NYMost difficult place ever to do a full run. Jeeze!! so long, rough, and hard to hold on..... Here are the times from seeding- Everyone mixed together. Leov and Mosley took top times. I was 2nd. Bryn is not racing, he broke his thumb in Mt.St.Anne,,, the ligament pulled the bone off. Makes it hard to hold on for 8 min if you can't use your hand:). Final race of the Pro GRT. event info : downhillmike.com
LAKE PLACID, NYSo,, day 1 of practice on this 5 kilometer downhill track is complete. After about a week of rain, we were for sure mudding it. Top layer of good dirt has dispersed though, and we got into dark black slippery dirt and exposed roots. Drying up though.
Not too many people in attendance, maybe 20-30 pros?? Trek's full team, 1/2 of Giant, 1/2 of KHS, 2/3 of Transition, Kieran Bennett, Heikki Hall, Waylan Smith, Mammelarr, Beytahg, few locals etc. Our good pal Jared Rando has declared this his last race of his last full official season:( He'll probably race a few rounds in OZ from time to time, maybe a US round somewhere in the future, but is gonna settle down. We will miss him a bunch on tour.:(
There are some good sections to this track, kinda felt like trail riding. It is super rocky, rooty, ridiculously long, and a lot of work to make a full run. Top section from the start is straight and high speed, scares me every time, then into slow wooded switchback section, rock garden, fireroad, stream crossing, root traversing, etc, it just goes on forever. Some old school high speed flat fire road turns, which are sketchy getting sideways. Our mechanic Marshy and I were making passes on eachother through there:) After 4 runs, It feels like the objective will be just to hold on and make it down with some kind of flow. The guys who have ridden here were claiming 8min 45 in the dry, but it'll be longer than that probably if it stays wet. Rain has stopped for a minute, but cloudy skies are still looming..
LAKE PLACID, NYFrom quebec, straight down to NY. Lake Placid is a pretty nice place, not a lot going on though. They do have plenty of lakes, an Olympic training center for winter athletes, golf courses, resorts, and Whiteface Mountain is a lot bigger of a than I expected. Not sure if that is a good thing though, cause they are trying to race a 5k long DH track, averages about 8-9min. Plus it has been raining the last couple days non stop, so it's gonna be a trudge. HELMET CAM Final PRO GRT DH race of the season.
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
Tracy Mosley and Sam Hill took the rainbow stripes yesterday!!. Pretty rad event, but jeeze what a big week. Think over the 6 days of practice, we had a heat wave, dust, rain, humidity, fog, downpours, rivers running down the course, sloppy mud, drier mud, more rain, and other stuff. Lot going on , lots of changes, track was different nearly every run. Biggest holes too. Crazy how tiring that run was; weeklong battle, a few crashes, and the slow muddy track.
For race run I was in the start watching the rain fall. Not that rain is bad, mud is fun, but Not being able to see is my least favorite thing ever!!! I suck at pulling tear offs, and forgot to do it in the one spot I needed to, and rode tenative. Oh well, main thing yesterday was riding aggressive and not braking, but it is really difficult to do in such conditions. I had a good time, but not that speedy of a run compared to what I was capable of. Saint brakes were working too good:).
I still took a top 10, which is actually decent for my first year downhilling. For sure need to build up my tolerance to full runs and speed in rougher conditions. Congrats to USA teammate Leigh Donavan- 8th!! not bad for a part time racer/mom/business owner. Once a World Champion, always a racerhead I suppose:) Best fairytale ending for Tracy though, she smashed everyone, after 15+ years of trying, so a monumental day for the Brits. Frenchie 2nd, Ragot 3rd.
Sam Hill's win was a pretty good story too, but strange. He was out with a busted ACL early in the year, missed most of the world cup, recovered then busted his shoulder, missed more world cups, then comes back last week, keeps his speed under the radar, and straight killed it here in St Anne.
I was kinda hoping for a tighter battle between Peaty, minnaar, Gwin, etc, but sam had a dry-ish run and the last few guys down got a substantial amount of rain falling on em. Stevie Smith rode out of his skull, and took a 2nd for Canada, which is his best result. Got an evil bike up there on the box.
Kinda hard to believe we gotta go race in NY again this weekend, but it'll be good to take this ass kicking and turn it into some more speed. DH Mike from whiteface is running us down some 5k dh track- 8 min or something. Bit painful, but whatever. Last race of the season.. Till then....
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBECA whole day for just an hour of practice. Actually the Juniors and elite women get an hour, then the elite men had an hour to themselves. Cleaning all the mud off my gear took longer.
This morning it was raining, so at 9 am I was out there in my rain gear and spike tires ready to go. Tried to squeeze a few runs in today, the rain tends to bring out new lines and building speed takes awhile to feel good. Anyway, I caught most of the downpour on that first run, lots of tear offs, muddy head to toe, yada yada,, Upper turns are the slipperiest. The holes are bigger when you ride slower in case you were wondering, braking effects the ol hands too, so a lot more physical today. Even saw a few rivers running down sections, so I hopped in em and tried to float down:).
Once the rain actually stopped, and I could see, the track was ripping. There is like a sandy stone texture in the dirt out in the open that holds well. Overall there are about 5 or 6 different types of soil and textures though, so adaptation is also a skill. I was having good fun feeling at home in the mud, not as fast, but fun.
Bryn got his ankle strapped up this morning and was gonna give it a go, but had some problems clipping out and has now injured his thumb, stretched the ligament we think. Dunno why this place treats him this way, but it is my mission to get down this hill quick for him:)
Didn't see much of anything else.XC bandits had their race just now, bit of rain bit of sun. Looked like an awesome track, but tons of climbs. Poland took a win in ladies, willow Koreber of the usa got a medal!! Spain won the men's race and our ol teammate Burry Stander took a bronze.
Boxxer world champs were pretty fun too. Len vs Evan in the final. Dawson was knocked out in the semi:) HB was on the megaphone, wearing a US national jersey, Fuzzy shorts and camo crocs, which is his normal outfit sans jersey.
This event is where Rock Shox technicians rebuild a World Cup boxxer, head to head contest for who can do it first. There may be alcohol involved, and to finish, you have to build the fork but also skull a beer. Think it started with a shot too, so finalists are in prime form after a few rounds. Real prestigious event.
Matti Dupelle had a fan club being a quebec-qua and all. I din't know his nickname was - Turtle, but I guess he does looks super turtle-y. He is Pivot bikes mechanic this year, but used to work for sram, and used to wrench for rennie on Santa Cruz. He had the Rennie army photo from last year taped to his back. Pretty funny.
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
Another practice day, but I decided to have a rest from the DH bike, 6 days in a row is a bit much on this track. Instead hiked down to scope lines and watch practice. Hard to really see good lines unless you take time to look objectively why it's better and how to execute. I think certain skills take time, but I am learning and seeing things in a new light:). Bryn usually helps a little bit with this, but his sprained ankle has kept him sidelined the last couple days 
.
There was some light rain last night, which caused a few top turns out in the open to be slippery, but the rest looked surprisingly dry, only effected the top layer in most spots. Lot deeper holes in the turns. I probably learned more by watching practice and resting, then if I rode. Some of the boys have really creative lines out there, Ben Reid, our lucky little irish friend was quite crafty.
Couldn't really help myself though from not riding entirely, pump track world champs are saturday night, which doesn't suit DH racers sun am rce schedule, but I did manage a hot lap or two. There is about 90% less soul at this pump track worlds than at the one in OZ last year though. The course is built alright, couple good turns, but seriously lacking in technical difficulty- wasn't that impressed and I love pump tracks. Lopes is here to pump it up:) Didn't expect that, but I like when he comes to races and hangs out. Think they are having some kind of legends race for the 20 year anniversary as well.
ANyway, gonna watch 4x finals tonight, and then tomorrow another hour or so of DH practice, then sunday finals. Supposed to have some rain tonight. ever changing.
4X FINALS We watched the 4x on Freecaster.tv last night, and were laughing so hard from the commentary. Pretty good entertainment, glad I wasn't racing though. Seemed like it was really hard to see at night, dark spots and flashes going off. Rad to see a girl on her DH bike from Brazil almost make the finals:) Was gutted for Jared, he was leading the final, slowed down too much and got passed in the last turn. Kind of exciting, but I feel his pain . Caroline won with a snappy gate start, followed by the 2 Czech BMX ladies.
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC3 days of practice and a timed full run done and dusted so far here at worlds. The track has evolved a bit, but this practice schedule is extremely drawn out, with an hour and a half or an hour each day, and still 3 days to go. Today was a mandatory timed run, but it didn't really count for anything, except putting a full run together. So far, from that one run, and the conditions being as dry, blown out, and dusty as they were, I can tell you that it was extremely difficult to hit all the right lines, and keep speed everywhere without stalling. The track is 5 min + for chicks, and 4.40 something for guys. The length wasn't really that big of an issue except my hands felt it, and you are on a very fine line most of the way down at such high speeds. Guess your brain has to focus that whole time which is hard too. Minnaar and Mosley took top times. I was 5th in Elite WOmen. FULL RESULTS
Bryn rolled his ankle yesterday, so he had to sit the timed run out,but is getting better. Probably a good thing really to keep him fresh and just react to the track later in the week- After this alleged weather strikes. Hot temperature and humidity are putrid, but the tail end of a hurricane might be a little worse. We will see if "Earl" shows up or not.
I feel like I should be taking more pictures for all of you, but racing downhill now, there is a lot less time for wasted energy. Just kind of manage my time so I have something to report when it counts. Save the photo taking to the professionals at Pinkbike, vitalmtb, dirt, etc.
Guess the only unusual thing I did today was hand tailor my usa Jersey to fit. Dunno how many times they have screwed up my size, but I definatly had to do some quick needle and thread work. Red bull had my spare one professionally tailored for sunday so I don't loose mega time, Thx guys!!.
Here is a pic of my fancy world champs frame. It's looking pretty sweet all built up, but I haven't take a snapshot yet.
