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FT.WILLIAM, SCOTLANDGot to the venue today and the lift was shut due to extremely high winds, so we hiked to check it all out:)
The overall weather scheme so far has been overcast all day, windy and rainy. Looks exactly the same from the minute you wake up to the time you go to bed, but It's supposed to hopfully clear up and be nice. Seattle is similar weather, but this wind is a buzz kill, and potentil hazard. Guess it shut down the race at glenco last weekend. Crushed rock surface stays grippy and doesn't let the water seep in. They've got Round river type rocks here too instead of the square edged ones we just visited on the east coast. So no surprises, same as usual.
Sic mic, His mechanic terry', Scotty, and I got all got gortex-ed up to hike for an early inspection. Bit of a mission, but gave us something fun to do and get exercise. Sic mic is a bit of a champ here so it was nice of him to point out a few lines for me, in Bryn's absence.
It wasn't too windy until up by the cattle grid where the trees disappear and it is all exposed. Felt like the bitter cold of winter nearly pushing us over. maybe blasting at 60 mph or more. Didn't see any sheep, they must have fled to a warmer mtn or got blown away- So cute with their little black faces. Anyway, Waterfalls were gushing, midges were dormant, which made the walk sort of a windy scenic nature hike. Finished up by a nice warm dry set of clothes, and soup at the cafe:) dialled!
Besides that, There were a couple new pole placements as well as a new woods section and road gap. standard eroded terrain. I'm pretty pumped to ride here, looks real fun. Turns will suit me well, and rocks- like all that stuff. Haven't had 14 years of riding here like T-Mo (tracy), I'm a first timer, but it's shouldn't matter too much- here to shred. Will be all about the physicality of it, just so rough and long. Couple tricky bits, mostly the new stuff, but we will see once that beds in a bit..
Bryn got his staples out today and is going home soon. That's the latest update.... couple more days till practice starts...
Sitting at the airport heading to Scotland for the WOrld Cup at Ft. Bill!! Nothing but happy times ahead….
Been looking forward to this event for a long time. Ready for the next level of competition. Got great sponsors, my coach Scotty Sharples here, marshy wrenching, and Bryn's teaching in my back pocket. These girls are gonna see some serious determination outta me.
VERNON, NJ
American sweep today!! Actually all weekend, which is the first time that has happened here. Gwin and i took dh, and mitch and i took slalom.
I had a flawless weekend which is satisfying to report considering our week. Didn't know if i wa gonna race, sat out the first two days of practice, but got in 4 practice runs the morning of qualifying on sat, and 2 this morning before the final race. Wasnt really expecting much, but had a lot of fun and was happy to ride. Not 100% a new track to me, rode it last year, but the whole bottom was different. Did it for bryn! There was no way I could lose.
Sunny day too which makes things so much easier without having to deal with rain and mud up in your face.
I'm real happy with the victories and $4,750, which is outstanding prize money- thank you us open!, But I'd be a lot happier if Lars hadn't broken his fibula in his race run, 2nd turn, and is at the hospital waiting for morning surgery to plate it. He rolled his ankle so bad that it snapped in the weakest part, docs said it is an easy fix. Poor lars though, stomp of doom. I was so excited to see him come down with a ripping time, cause he was riding so well, but the seconds kept ticking by:( heard the report from a downward lift passenger, and soon followed tears from his teammate. Unbelievable really, seeing lars in a broken situation, not as bad as bryn last week, but I was not expecting a repete.
I'm glad that I was able to hold strong for the team an get some good results, but man. So unfortunate for the boys:( my crew is down to just me. Lucky to have my coach scott sharples here to help. Was real nice to also have the owner of Transition out here to lend some support and look after us. Fox and Shimano too. All our sponsors! So it's not just me, but Its a little lonely in our pits now:(
Pinkbike.com has results and pics. I didn't take any photos Later. Jk
Had a good day today:) needed it. I love riding bikes and felt pretty good. Won dh qualifyier and giant slalom finals for the third time in a row!! Buhly was 2nd in both, but she had a slower rider to pass in dh through the rock garden which held her up a bit. So it'll be a good match up tomorrow for downhill finals.
In the men's field, Neethling won dh quali . He was the big winner here last year, so it makes sense. Gwin 2. Gee.3
I didn't actually see times or anything, even for me, so I can't tell you much, except it was really really rocky with a ton of square edges everywhere. Was glad to get down.
It's been disgustingly hot too. Saps your energy sitting out there all day. racing the slalom is not easy hiking up that hill, but it's so much fun. If there are ever more slalom events, I wanna know:) the best event ever would be a dh, slalom, pump track omnium, but organizers haven't figured that out yet.
Mitch ropolato won the men's slalom, 2. Sic mic. 3. Mikey Haderer 4. Lars. 5. Timmer
We made a bet with Mikey Haderer , and he has to shave his hair and face cause he got on the podium!! Should be sweet, he is a hairy man, and it' time to donate those locks for summer!!!! Steve, his dog, may or may not recognize him when he gets home.
That is all.
Slalom is the best. Giant slalom may lack a little spectator appeal, but it's real fun to race I think. The course here is almost the same as years past, they just re routed the bottom and put the worlds worst jumps in there to the finish line. Jumps sooooo small for the lips, Gotta brake check fully or land into the face of the second jump. It's like a 6 foot jump going full speed with a lip for at least 20-25 feet. Track Is running about 37-40 sec. Mostly berms, I love power wheelies outta turns, plenty of that:) there is a crumbly layer of dirt which makes it pretty slippery. I actually had an incident in my quali cause of it. Can't push too hard, gotta just get the right speeds coming in.
Mitch ropolato won seeding as did I for ladies . Cut to 20 men, 5 ladies. Format For slalom race tomorrow, best of two runs.
The hike to the top is the hardest part, especially in this heat.
Men quali 1. Mitch 2. Sic mic 3. Mikey Haderer 4. Lars 5. Et
1. Jill 2. Buhly 3. Joanna 4. Jackie
Well I can't tell you much about practice, cause I haven't actually ridden the course yet, but Spent some time hiking and watching yesterday. Looks real fun, but I wasn't really in any state to charge down technical rocks.
If Bryn's accident wasn't enough, last night mom had a heart scare. Just extremely high blood pressure from stress/ travel/ business stuff. We as a family have been through this before, and it stirs up a lot of emotion for me as a human to deal with, can't loose another parent. Anyway, she is fine, got all checked out. Lucky she was in a hospital, with bryn, and they made her go see the dr. Sounded a lot worse than it actually was, her blood pressure was 189/90 all day pretty much, which is an emergency, but there's meds to keep that under control. She hasnt been taking them and it caused the spike with this stress. The pair of em can look out for eachother while I can't be there. Jeeze.
Bryn is doing way better. Got his cast off his arm, swapped for a new immobilizing brace, And is kinda up and moving between his bed and a chair. He's been cleared by p.t. , but is still in a great deal of pain. Think he can leave next week sometime when he feels ready.
I'm doing ok, just sitting out the dh till I feel more together. Gonna race giant slalom for fun, and will see about the dh tomorrow. Haven't done any practice, it's not worth risking my own safety till I feel ready. thx to all my friends and family who have shared a bit of the load with me, appreciate it.
Track here looks amazing.
VERNON, NJHeading to jersey for the us open. Time to shift gears and get back to work, been a brutal week. Bryn i still in Albany, healing up, but Mom is looking after him till he can be cleared to fly home.
Bryn got through his surgeries pretty well. The doctors got the structure back in place, but now it's a matter of controlling the pain levels, swelling, and his red blood cells. He is better each day, but I have never seen anyone in so much excruciating pain, femur is not a good bone to snap:( morphine doesn't seem to offer reliefmuch anymore either.
He's doing as well as he can at this point though. Had a good chat with our buddy Grizz who broke his pelvis last year at us national champs. And cam mccaul who did his femur last year too. They both had insightful stories :) having gone through similar scenarios.
No real word though on how long till he's back up to normal. No walking for 6-8 weeks:( since he's fit and healthy coming into this injury, he'll be quicker out of it. Think he just has to get the swelling down, and should be able to fly home in like a week, Or until he can get the staples out maybe, but thats not official yet. Few more days to know for sure.
Had some visitors and real nice cards/ well wishes. So thank you for the support , keep em coming:) although groggy, he appreciates it.
My mom is flyin out tonight from Seattle to take over my shifts:) I have to continue to handle business on the racing front. Pretty gnarley, but gotta do it on Bryn's behalf, and my own. That has really been the most difficult part for me. We ride together an spend every single day together, gonna be tough leaving my little friend behind:( I can do it though, and have more motivation than ever to do well.
I'll keep ya posted. He's just getting a blood transfusion at the moment from losing a lot of blood in surgery. Later.
FEMUR & ELBOW SURGERYGuess the world din't end today, but for Bryn it kinda did. He had fluke crash, front end slid on a rock, and he dropped from the air onto some rocks, causing a clean couple brakes in his femur (pictured left) and the little pointy part of his elbow to break off.
I came around the corner to hear him yelling and lars telling me not ot come over there. No words can really explain how that makes you feel when your teammate/best friend/ partner for life is down, clearly injured. He knew straight away it was broken, and his heart sank. So glad I was there for him, and everyone else who helped, homies looked after him:) Took forever for the ski patrol / volunteers to get things together and get him off the hill. Steep climb out, and the drive down the fire road couldn't have been any rougher. They sent him in a chopper to Albany.
He's had surgery and it went really welll. They got the bones all lined up and hardware in place. Seems like the worst pain ever braking that femur bone, that's gonna be the hardest part to manage. Not comfortable in any position, right side not happy.
Feeling so devestated knowing he was closer than ever to his dreams, and they are now on hold for a little longer. :( Heal up friend!!! I'm at the hospital to make sure everything is going ok..
THx for all the well wishes:) update soon.. It's gonna be awhile till a full recovery recovery...
femur
elbow.
PLATTEKILL MTN, NEW YORKMade a bunch of trips up the lift for practice today- super nice to have a lift!!. Little sun dried the track out quick, which is good cause we've been having a few thunderstorms, well a lot this whole week.
Track was riding really fast straight away. Run 2 I felt ready to go:) It's so fun mobing and going fast- lot of hoping and work that goes into this course to maintain speed though, so you gotta earn your speed. General theme is Traverses with rocks, into steep chutes. I got a couple little things to try tomorrow for bonus.
Bryn was looking real good out there, I was so impressed. All the testing we've been doing at home has given him new speed. woo! I tried to follow:)
Fun times in the Pits. Kirt, Colin Bailey, and Monk were cracking me up all week. We are growing tadpoles in our buckets, I fed em some lettuce, they got two days to turn into princes or we're out.
Practice and quali tomorrow, race sunday.
PLATTEKILL SKI RESORT, NYCatskill mountains are NW of NYC a bit, but it seems like a world away. Small little isolated towns with an old saying "When you have two rocks for every dirt, you are in the Catskills." Dunno. Country folk love old sayings, and mowing lawns it would seem:) Lotta grass everywhere. It's been so wet though that the riding lawnmowers are resting. I still don't understand why more east coasters don't get goats, maybe I can be a goat sales person in my next life- pitch sustainabilly-ty? Bad joke.
We are in Margaretville this week staying in an old colonial house with a stream out the back, pretty nice and restful. Not much to do really; Done a few laps of the town, rode around, found a gravel parking lot and made some turns and ruts:) The Venue at Plattekill is a familiar one from last year. We raced this exact track even. Went up the lift to go peep everything out, primo dirt today for the track walk. It has been pouring and pouring, but with half a day of sun, perfection.
We are ready to get after it tomorrow for practice. They changed a few minor things, like in the connector sections. It's nice to come back to here with more experince racing DH to directly compare. Wish Tracy Moseley was here, and Buhly, but I'll have my chance in Scotland to battle T-Mo again.Buhly is doing just 4x at World CUps. Maybe the US open for DH? Dunno.
Turnout- Trek is here again- Gwin, Leov, Neko, Bryn is here and Lars and I for TR , Heard rumour of Giant making a cameo?Riffle and neethling?, Specialized US riders Keene and Brad Benedict, Team DDR ie COdy Warren, Bubba Warren, JD, Memmelar, etc. Yeti National team; Immer , Eliot, and Richie Rude. Joey Schusler is healing up and almost ready to race. He's been stationed on the Joey-Cam filming the yeti boys for now. Um, Brian Buel and that crew, Grahme Pitts was winning pre practice today, KHS cronies were "saddled up". All ride Austin. Just kinda the USusal USA crew of fun and talented gravity bicycle riders.
Good vibe at these events. Hopefully we get some kind of relief form the weather. I have not raced a dry race since Windham last year!!! Even snowed on me in Australia!! Dry is a luxury.
Our Euro mechanic Marshy has this theory about full moons affecting rain patterns. Claims it always rains 4 days surrounding the moon. I question that by wondering if that applies to say, arizona or LA where rain is scarce, but in the mountains, it seems like he may be onto something. I personally think, I bring my own moon to events, and the rain follows me!!:) Port angeles goes off.
HYLAND MTB PARK
NORTHFIELD, NH
Today was completely different to our previous practice days,,, real wet, slippery, slower and more challenging to stay upright. I had a few spills, sliding in all different directions. Learned to keep my front end light over that stuff, but rocks facing the opposite way or polished roots are tricky to manuver. Saved em all pretty good to not really have done any damage to myself or bike, but I think most people struggled with traction on the rocks. East coast has unique terrain, I kept dry tires on as did most everyone, for grip. Lars modified some cut spikes and said they worked good too. The trick was to kind of ride it like it was dry, but to be smart in places where it could go sour. Worked out, pulled off a win!! $1,500 richer too!! THx Hyland.
So we had a couple practice runs, then quali, a break, and finals. Over that time it went from wet, to monsoon wet. Downpours non stop all afternoon.Kept the bugs away, which was kinda nice I guess.
Good practice to go through the motions of changing weather, terrain, tear off pulling (which was successful this time), and finding traction.
I had a pretty good quali time , with a fall. Then my final felt better but was slower. Ground was of course way more saturated, but I was happy to make my final fairly mistake free. It's a tough call to push too hard in these conditions, just kinda have to let it unfold however sometimes. 1.Jill 2.Jo Peterson 3.Lauren D.
In men's class, Lars, my teammate, did really good, 5th in quali, 7th overall for the day. Trek dominated though, Gwin- fresh off a world cup win in RSA killed quali with a 2.18. In the end though Neko, his teammate, and east coast l0cal won the final with a 2.20, gwin 2nd, Leov 3rd. Curtis Keen, pulled some consistency with 4th, Cody warren 5th, Richie Rude 6th, lars 7.
The people who own and operate Hyland Bike Park were great hosts. THis mountain has a lot of variety, worth checking out, and is the only Bike specific chair lift operated park.
NEW HAMPSHIRECouple days of practice and still having fun, getting 'er dialed in. The track is changing a lot, but this rain is really gonna mix things up tomorrow for race day. Bit of a debate on tire choice on the east coast. I rode some spikes today but didn't really like em on the rocks and stuff, wasn't sloppy or mucky yet though, just moist. Tomorrow is a new day. Wish us luck.
This is a really good track, fairly technical the whole way. 2 or 3 flat sections but the rest has a good slope and some flow, rocky everywhere. Roots have come to the top too and getting polihed. There are some wide sections with line options, but the key is kinda carrying momentum along the straights afterwards..
Hard to resist scratching the bazillion bug bites per leg too. Rampant flies and mosquitos out here, seen a lot of bug masks and candles. Just found two ticks crawling across my stuff too. Sketchy. Rain has settled them a bit, but if the sun comes out and it gets all steamy, man, it's gonna be insect war out here.
Lars and I are holding it down out here in the east. Bryn is racing in Port ANgeles this weekend and will be out here with us for the next race in NY and the us open.
Few pics from our homies working for Decline Magazine. Coverage at declinemagazine.com
HYLAND MTB PARK, NHHere we are back in the North East... Seems like it wasn't too long ago we were just here, but always pretty fun. Hyland is a bit of a destination MTB spot here in New Hampshire, the park has the biggest Slopestyle section I have seen. It was featured in NWD 10, for those of you who watch bike vids. Anyway, quite a few dh trails and other stuff. Nice lodge and facilities. Super buggy here though, almost as bad as Ft.bill. Good thing I exported/imported skin so soft bug spray to combat these savages.
I did a few random dh runs on my 6" trail bike and found it pretty good on the blue trails. DH race course is a bit tougher though, has some rough spots, lots of rocks, g outs, and would for sure use a dh bike to go full speed. I only walked it, but it looked real good, super fast. Here is a helmet cam video from aaron chase if you're interested. http://www.pinkbike.com/news/HMBP-Pro-GRT-Course-Helmet-Cam-with-Aaron-Chase-2011.html
Practice tomorrow... Later..
Love red bull and AirTrix for a beautiful collection of art. :) wish I had more space and nice shelves to do em justice.
Just wanted to say thanks to eSoles for making the best custom footbeds for me!! Been using their ePro cycling specific, and casual fitness footbeds for about 3 years, and wouldn't go without!! These stand out because of their 3D TruCapture® , a patented biodynamic air pillow scan of your foot, which gets a true alignment, not just a mold of you foot.
Bunch of pro road cyclists use these, golfers, olympic medalists, runners, even Kanye West knows what's up... So there you go, If ya can get to one of the Kiosks, these are the go. Check their site. esoles.com
Been home for a bit now, but only a couple days left till we go on the road for 10-11 weeks straight. New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Scotland, Austria, Tahoe, Colorado, Quebec, Windham NY, Whistler...
Been on a bit of a road trip the last couple weeks throughout california. Nothing makes me more happy than riding new spots every day and seeing homies. The ol sprinter is the best thing in the world!!! like a mobile studio garage apartment, got everything I need:)
So after the dirt series camp, I hung out in Santa Cruz for a few days. Parked on cliff drive one day, had the door open with an ocean view, wireless from the neighbors, and could ride my bike over to a tasty taco spot:) There is also some awesome pump tracks in the area. ET (evan Turpen) and I were hitting a new track per day. He is a bit of a freak show on a pump track, I made a video if ya wanna see.. http://vimeo.com/22978928 We both only had our slalom bikes- doubles, so pumped em up to 220psi in the rear and pumped pump tracks all day...
Also did some dh runs in Santa cruz with Brad, Amado , and Katie. I only have the TR 250 from sea otter, but it is riding so nice on a variety of terrain!! Then cruised up to Nevada City to see scotty, and we continued north to ride at Chico with some new friends. Awesome day up there, really good DH tracks, guess we got the first ride of the season on em. Thanks to Kyle Warner and friends for showing us the ways. And in case you were wondering, Scotty still shreds!!! Hits everything pretty much first or second run, fearless:)
I'm now in Ashland, trying to figure out where to go:) quick ride somewhere, then kinda heading home. It's been cold and wet in seattle, so I wasn't really in any hurry. Too happy on the road with all my stuff and bikes, almost better than home if Bryn were here. Good variety on the west coast though!! Helps to have friends in almost every good town.