STEVEN PASS BIKE PARKPretty sweet little ad from the Stevens Pass Bike Park and Photographer Chase Jarvis. This was a vertical rock roll that was a little intimidating coming in, but no big deal for my trusty Aurum:) Look to hear more about the bike park, and our instructional camps up there soon. Pro Team:)
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PORT ANGELES, WA
This is probably the biggest race other than Sea Otter to hit US soil this season for DH. Underworld cup/ NW cup #2/ US grand Prix , a race with many names taking over for the Pro grt series- which is coming up short this year. World cup talent pool in attendance with Most all the big teams making the trip north from Sea Otter.
Bit of a mixed bag for us this weekend, as Bryn went down in practice, tweaked his knee a bit, and decided to sit this weekend's race out. I managed to win quali and finals, winning on 3 different bikes in 2 weekends. Woo. Go Norco's .
Crazy heckling out there today though. Hard to concentrate with all the noise and paraphernalia scattered across the track. Bet the foreigners appreciate a big fat American flag to the face. Gets slightly outta control, but you gotta love the enthusiasm, and custom chanting:)
Pro Men's Results 1. Steve Smith 2:22.44 2. Josh Bryceland 2:24.69 3. Connor Fearon 2:25.15 4. Aaron Gwin 2:25.17 5. Brook MacDonald 2:26.32 6. Andrew Neethling 2:26.49 7. Cam Cole 2:26.83 8. Nick Beer 2:27.00 9. Neko Mullaly 2:27.06 10. Luke Strobel 2:27.09
Pro Women's Results 1. Jill Kintner 2. Miranda Miller 3. Casey Brown
MONTEREY, CAI am pretty stoked to announce a clean sweep at the season opening event of 2013 at the Sea Otter Classic in slalom and DH!.
Sea Otter is a unique race, as it's a huge expo/ media extravaganza with the whole bike industry on display for the first time for 2013. It's action packed as well with almost every type of event going on; Slalom, DH, xc, speed and style, cyclecross, road races, grand fondos, etc. Plenty of top class competitors in both the men's and women's fields as well, so it was fun to see everyone again after a long cold winter and get back into racing.
Slalom is the best event in my opinion. I look forward to it so much every year. Love the intensity, and getting to ride a slalom bike. The course is really fun, and gets slippery and windy as races progress. Boggles my mind how they build the course so similar every year after tearing it down, wish the jumps were a little bigger or more tech, but the speed is awesome. It moves through elimination rounds quick, and spectators love seeing the best riders in the world battle it out to the finish.
photo Matt Delorme
DS results
DH is fairly basic with most everyone choosing a trail bike of some kind for the fast rolling hard packed ground with loose sand on top. Baked in ruts in a couple places, but overally pretty flat with one off cambered tricky dh section, etc. This year was notable with so many different types of bikes and wheel sizes, 26" , 27.5", 29" ,,, slalom bikes, trail bikes, dh bikes, etc. The massive pedaling efforts dictated bike choice. This race is a really good fitness check to be on the podium. 2+ minute sprint, few uphill sections, jumps, 7 turns, etc. Pin it to win it:). I felt awesome this year, didn't even get the usual jerkey lungs, Big Thx to our trainers at Potentrx in Seattle:)
Here is the first look at my Norco carbon prototype 650b sight I raced. It's my trail bike 90% of the time and a dh bike just for here:)
photo Paris Gore
Bryn was riding strong all weekend as well.. He is unbelievably talented in slalom and DH, just bike riding in general. I am a big fan!! nice style, powerful. It was so impressive to watch him rip those berms apart. He took down Prokop in the first round, then 7th seed Cous Couse from france, just moving through the rounds, till the round of 8, which is the quarterfinals. He matched up against Jared Graves (eventual winner)and gave him a super tight battle, but got knocked out. Finishing 8th, so good job to him!!!.
In DH the next day, Bryn was only a couple seconds back, finishing up in 13th. Times were sooo close year, top 20 was within 4 seconds. Gwin was the winner on a 29er by a hundreth. Kinda sucks he won on a 29er, but he played it tactical with the rolling speed. We rode Norco's new 650B trail bikes- sights, and I think comfort wise, they made the couse feel smoother than in years past while still being maneuverable.
BRYN:
Small overview: there was a lot of sun, sunburn, and wind, most of the top contenders were here, tons of sprinting, some rowdy american fans waving their flags (KT):) , new products on display, fresh bikes and kits, all kinds of wheel sizes, lot of "enduro" talk getting thrown around, expo madness, thousands of spectators, and bike riding. That kinda sums it up. Slalom was the best part.
Happy to get some solid coverage for our sponsors on our new norco 650b bikes, with all black Crankbros wheels, etc.
Marketing, and finding ways to stand out are part of the beauty of sea otter. Bell had a mechanical bull to test out helmets:) Renthal had autographed bar give aways and a super stealthy new prototype dh stem for us, Shimano was on tech service and doing a lot of media stuff with the new XTR gear, wheels, etc.. Fox Shox were gold and black float 34 is rad- the best squish in the bidness, 5.10 had the whole pro team working with the designers giving feedback and wearing the new freeriders, e.13 has some new carbon guides, seemed like everyone had something going on, which was cool.
Guess one of the only other things that made the highlight reel was Lars and his mustache looking exactly like the Sea Otter mascot. Uncanny resemblance:)
DH RESULTS:
Big thanks to all of our sponsors:
Norco Bicycles, Red Bull, Crankbrothers, Fox Shox, Shimano, Renthal, Bell Helmets, Sombrio, Maxxis, Stevens Pass Bike Park, 5.10, e.13, Oakley, Jet Black trainers, PotentrX health and performance, Motorex, Cane Creek, Fi'zi:k, camelbak, alpinestars protection, and Park Tools.
MONTEREY, CA
We are a few days into the Sea otter Classic, but the fun part has finally come!! Sea Otter Slalom day is tomorrow!!!. It's kinda like waiting for christmas, I love slalom so much. Course looks good, little tighter this year, but the same classic style that everyone is accustomed to . The course builder said it took him a week and a half to build a new berm into it, wow. Don't think there has been much moisture, so probably took awhile to pack it in, soak it, repeat. Cat 1 guys raced today. Looked pretty tight, so should be fun.
In the mean time, we have had a couple days of dh practice. Tons of the world cup guys and gals:). Course is the same mostly. Seems a little easier, but that's maybe cause the ol 650 carbon Norco Sight loves it. Feeling good, DH on sunday.
Bryn and I came to nor cal a little early to get our pre-sunburn going, ride some trails, put in some suspension tuning with Fox, etc. Easing into it. Feels really nice to have sun after a long cold winter. wish us luck.
Pottery has been a part of our family for a long time, as one of my mom's best pals is seattle potter legend- Regnor. The only dishes we have at our house are made by him, so it seemed like a good idea to see some of the wizardry, and make wedding pottery cup favors. It's been a fun project seeing all the stages and little tricks he has. Obviously Regnor has years and years of experience with the right clay, glazes, firing temperatures, systems, etc, so it's really all his doing, but we helped. think we have like 80 done out of 150 cups. Bryn and I recruited our friends at different stages, but production pottery is a lot of work. Put in some 4 hr blocks in between training, making 1 lb perfectly round clay balls. We do gruntwork, and regnor centers and throws a cup in like 10 minutes. Anyway, nice little side project, but I have a much grater appreciation for eating off our dishes, knowing the skill involved in making these little beauties:) Hope our pals will enjoy a little handmade love:)
Ahh, such nice weather here. Fun trails too. We are here for a few days gearing up for Sea Otter which is coming up this weekend!! Can't wait!!!
Pretty exciting,,, building up fresh bikes and designing kits. Got kashima gold accents on our new Norco Aurum frames to match the FOX and Shimano Saint gear, so it should look pretty sweet. Sombrio also helped us design a fresh race kit to go with our scheme and match into their production lines. Got a couple color schemes for weather variety:). Sea Otter will be the debut of that stuff, I want to put the drawing up, but then it would ruin the surprise. I like it a lot though. This will be the 5th or 6th jersey I have designed . Putting logos on in a clean way is very tricky business. C ya .
Pod on Pinkbike.com !!! Our Team Photographer Paris Gore snapped a pic of me from one of our many pre season wet NW rides... THere should be a feature story from this ladies adventure in Freehub magazine next month. We were out looking for Leprechauns and frostbite, can you see them? Paris also has some treasures yet to be seen.... Parisgore.com http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/
SEATTLE, WA
The nicest day of the winter so far was this Saturday for the Seattle Bike Expo. I have only ever been to interbike, so this was a little smaller, but in a good venue on the pier just past downtown Seattle with lots of bike loving individuals.
I was there to give a little presentation with Olympic and Paralympic medalists Jennie Reed and Megan Fisher. Seattle Bike PT- Eric Moen as host. Jennie is a Silver medalist Track Cyclist from team pursuit in london, and Megan is a gold medalist in road time trials from london, myself BMX Bronze from Beijing.
Both ladies had awesome stories. Jennie had been to 2 other games- athens, beijing as a sprinter, and london she anged to be an endurance athlete for 12 laps as a team in a new event. They beat the odds against australia to win silver by.07 . She started a foundation to give back to cyclists Jennie Reed Foundation.
Megan was in a car wreck and nearly died, lost a lower leg, best friend died at the wheel, totally gnarly. She found bikes to be able to run her dog enough, and became the best in the world in her category. Thnk she also does triathlons, but for sure goes fast on a road bike.
My story was pretty sweet too, Blown out knee, made the team y one point, battled from last to take home a medal for usa in the inaugural BMX event, yewww!!. Yeah, good times sharing some memories with everyone.
Couple other fun events, Ryan Leech was there doing his trials show for Norco, Kat Sweet racing big wheels for Evergreen kids programs, some unicyclists kids doing routines, one lady who rides bikes with her 6 year old kids for hundreds of miles. Evergreen MTB alliance had a booth, Sea Tac BMX, there was a road bike classics show, our chiropractor was there from Inhealth:), Saw Whatcom county tourism representing bellingham area, GHY bike shop, etc. some food stops, etc. So a few homies in the mix. My pal Katie Holden and I had a fun time. Saw a couple of old pals from highschool too who ride bikes:)..
Been some nasty winter weather lately with the downpours, and cold weather but Bryn has been out filming with Bjorn for a bike video called Barred for Life 2. You may have seen Barred for life, or Elemental, both Bjorn films. Anyway, Cable cams, epic NW scenery, good trail crew, couple patches of sun amongst a lot of mist and rain, lots of hiking, a couple of flat tires in the truck, a blown up Saab, etc, but overall good times out in the woods:) I can see why rednecks love being out in the woods fixing trucks and rigging stuff up, good times. Bjorn had some truly canadian moments yesterday, bear hugging trees and shimmying up, a little acrobatics, resourcefulness, lots of exaggerated "o"s, and some real funny stories.
Should be a sweet little section of Bryn the ripper doing his thing. I was there a couple days to assist. It takes a lot of energy to make this kind of stuff happen. Carrying gear, pushing bikes, fixing up the trail having snacks and water, tools, riggin up cables, and of course riding. Many hands make light work, right:). Special Thx to Greg and Christian for the hard work, plus Paris Gore .
Here is a small preview from my Sony action cam. https://vimeo.com/61075601
Seattle, Wa
Sony Seattle store chose me to be one of the athletes to help supply some Action Cam footage in the store. The Moving 206 project, is a nationwide campaign across social media, etc, 206 obviously is Seattle Area code, so yeah, I will be making little POV movies of my adventures.
I've been watching reviews and Youtube videos to use all my little accessories with the Action Cam. It is in the same category as a gopro or contour but does a few things differently. The colors are bright, couple different lens angles, stabilizer, sound seems good, fits nice in your hand for sniper hidden videos:) and has wifi to use your phone to control it and send files, all in all a pretty sweet little camera. Once I figure it all out, will get "moving" . Sony206
Seattle, WA
We have enlisted the help of a high performance lab here in Seattle called Potentrx. THey work with a variety of people from Athletes, to firefighters, CEOs, people with heart conditions, etc. Having scientific proof and monitoring while exercising is reassuring to a lot of people, and the best way to check progress.
For Bryn and I , we have different strengths and weaknesses in our metabolic systems, so our training needs to match accordingly. The Vo2 test is pretty hard work, resistance keeps getting harder as you stay at the same cadence, testing your heart and oxygen system, (plus it's a little Darth Vader-ish breathing). Results show what HR you burn fat vs carbs and how much oxygen you provide to your muscles before it changes to co2 and you start flooding out with lactic acid. We also did a lactate test for recovery, resting metabolic test, biomechanics, pedal stroke analysis, etc. Really thorough place, awesome people. I'm no scientist,but thats the general idea. These guys are scientists, so we are really excited to have their help. It's very similar to the olympic training center style and Red Bull, but close to home!
We just saw a similar thing on the show Dirty Jobs with Race horses, go check it out...
Welcome to the team!!! Sean, Wes , and Dr.Tripps. Ninjas!!! Potentrx.com
We were planning on being in California to be able to ride more, but the Crazy part is that in Feb in the NW so far has been warmer than expected, and the trails are soo good here. All our new parts are rolling in as well , so I think we will wait till all our parts arrive, fresh new Norco bikes are built, and we are ready to roll. So yeah, we have been putting in hotlaps, testing a few different Maxxis trail tires, Camelbak packs, etc. These new Camelbaks have a Lumbar bladder to lower your center to around the hips (best pack ever, in my opinion)Charger, and spark for ladies. Bryn's also been trying out the little hip pack version and likes that a lot too (flashflo) Fanny packs are back:). http://shop.camelbak.com/packs/lumbar/l/163
We have been playing tourist lately for Bryn's mum , who is visiting from Australia. Pretty awesome activities in seattle. Dale Chihuly museum is not to be missed. http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/
Then a trip to the snow.
A little bit of a tweaker art project I found on my computer from 2009..
Our young filmer friend Jasper made another video , this time of Bryn ripping one of our local trails. You can't tell how cold and icy it was, but there were 3mm of frost on the branches of trees, burrr. Impressive riding, filming, and trail building... we are lucky here in the NW to have such lovely terrain:). http://www.pinkbike.com/video/296114/
Laguna Beach, CAOn a mission to help Bell promote their Bell Built program , Bryn and I flew down to Laguna to shoot a DH video with T.Sage. Pretty awesome to get to ride dry rocky soil and our dh bikes. Last time we rode DH at home was a cold push to ride throgh ice crystals.
Fresh full-9 helmet, Aurum bike, and Sombrio kit :) Also got to see some homies from Crankbros, H2, Shimano, Oakley, etc. So cal is the place to be this time of year, lots of people out riding it seems. Good stuff. THX to Bell for making it happen.
Bell Helmets is offering up to $100,000 in technical assistance grants to fund three (3) new mountain bike projects built by IMBA Trail Solutions in the United States in 2013-14. http://www.imba.com/resources/grants/bell-built
