My First Enduro - Oregon Enduro Series #2 - Bend

Well I had to take a little break from racing and riding for a little bit because I had an accident with a saw while working on my garage and did this to my hand... (you don't want to see what it looked like before the stitches)

 But even though I couldn't ride I could still work on the garage remodel...

I'm so happy that I finished it and it's awesome!  But SO bummed that I missed some super fun late May races like the Rockhopper Super D and XC, Peavine Classic, and SoNoMas (Levi Leipheimer was there this year, would have liked to race him again).

After a week off I was back on the road bike, then a couple days later decided I could ride a MTB.  The next day I decided it's been long enough (10 days) and I cut the stitches out (I did it while Jen was still asleep so I wouldn't get "the look") and then rode my road bike to work.  And then after a hard ride on Tuesday and a successful "tune-up" race at Prairie City on Weds, I decided I was ready enough and would head up to Bend, OR for my first Enduro.  All I'd need to to is not hit it on any tree branches!

I was somewhat familiar with the trails in Bend from last year's Marathon National's and was looking forward to some fun trail riding.  I headed up with Jr's crusher Matt Erbentraut on Friday and got in some fun preriding of each stage.  We met up with my Santa Cruz / Fox teammate Marshall Eames and I had a blast ripping behind him for two practice runs of stage 1, following his lines and getting some confidence over the drops.  I wish I had video of this because it was so fun... need a helmet cam!

Matt and I camped out in the venue parking lot and the next morning I was ready to go!  The race "started" at 10am, but that was for the Jr's, Beginners, etc.  My start time wasn't until 1:52pm!!  I guess I should be used to this with Pro XCT races not starting until early afternoon most of the time, but for some reason I was frustrated and fidgety.  Probably because I was nervous of the new format.  And so the waiting around began (in hind sight, I should have gone for a ride).

Marshall would be the first to go off for the Pro category.  He was calm and ready on his Bronson...

At about 1:30 I set off as well, on my Tallboy LTc, getting a nice warm up on the first transfer stage (un-timed) to get to the stage one start line.

I was keeping warm and spinning around the dirt road near the start and while taking a final nervous pee I heard some yelling.  I figured it was the guys cheering on a racer that had just started.  I got back on the bike and cruised around the corner to see guys waiving at me to get to the line... Ahhh!!  That's one way to get your heart rate up for a good start!!  I got there with 20 seconds to spare... PERFECT!  5-4-3-2-1-GO!!!!

I was off for my first enduro stage and sprinting.  Thankfully I didn't overshoot the first two corners with nervous energy.  They were pretty blown out already from others earlier in the day making that mistake.  I tried to just stay calm, relaxed, and flow through the turns.  After a few good switchbacks and pedaling it was finally time to get into the rocks.  I hit my line and didn't take the drop because I felt I was faster on the go-around.  Sorry camera guy...

Next up was some more sweet trail riding and hard pedaling down "Funner" trail.  There were three "Y" options which gave you a choice of a log ride cutoff or a pedally go-around.  I'm a weenie, so I pedaled figuring I'd probably fall off the log and lose more time.  I was feeling pretty strong but I was unsure of some of the features and turns that came up, almost like I hadn't seen them before.  I almost missed one turn completely and had to jam the brakes and just about come to a stop.  And then about 3/4 of the way through the stage I came into a sharp right turn around a tree, seeing an exit line to the left I started to aim for that, but as I came around the tree I saw the better drop line to the right and remembered that's what Marshall and I hit before.  So I turned and aimed for the drop, but by then I wasn't going fast enough and nose-dived it.  The Tallboy LTc is so forgiving with the longer travel and big wheels that I didn't endo right away.  I was riding out the nose-wheelie but was off line and tackled a small tree, sending me into a somersault and on my back in the trail.  I bounced up a midst some choice words to myself, picked up what'd fallen out of my pockets and picked up the bike.  Damn, chain came off.  A few more seconds lost putting it back on and I was off again... totally pissed at myself for the mistake.  I rode out the end of the stage in anger knowing my overall time for the day was totally blown.  Oh well.  I debriefed with the guys at the bottom while waiting for the shuttle back to the top.  It was cool to chat but it felt weird to me to be standing around while "racing."

The shuttle dropped us off back at the top and I set off for the 15 minute ride on the transfer trail to stage two.  I was still angry and looking for a little redemption.  I knew stage two wasn't going to do it for me since it consisted of mainly table tops, doubles and big berms, so in my own head I "won" the transfer ride to the top of stage two :-).  When I got there, the last of the pro women were still taking off so there was some waiting around to do.  It was nice to chat with the guys, but I wanted to keep moving, and especially wanted to get stage two out of the way.  Carl Decker seemed to have the same idea, getting to the front of the line as well.

The timing format allowed us to start any stage other than the first whenever we wanted... so I rolled up as the 3rd rider off for the pros.  With 15 seconds to go, I turned to the timing person and joked, "Wait... I don't think I want to start yet!"  He laughed, then started my 5 second countdown.  I had my best run on stage two (Upper Tiddlywinks trail) so far.  I felt smooth through the corners (I was still on the brakes too much) and cleared most of the jumps (I'm still a penguin!) but was still slow and I knew it... about 20 seconds slower than the winner as it turned out (over just a 2-3 minute stage!).  I went through the finish line and continued on the transfer ride to stage three... looking for redemption for my crash and having none of the skills needed for stage two.

Stage three was on Lower Tiddlywinks trail, which was more of general trail riding.  It was also a longer flatter stage so there was more fitness needed... good for me.  I set off behind Decker again and tried not to blow over the corners that had been slid through and crashed in by the earlier racers.  I almost lost it in a few but kept the pace up where I could pedal.  I had a good ride and came through the line strong but with too much braking in the corners and a few bobbles I was 20th fastest in a stage that I felt I had a chance... damn.  Once I caught my breath (these short anaerobic efforts hurt!) I rolled out on the transfer to the final stage, making sure I didn't over do it on the climb up.  Something felt a little off about the bike though, like my seat was too low.  I checked and could put the DOSS dropper in each of it's positions so there was nothing wrong there.  I figured it was just my legs feeling weird from having the post down and being in unfamiliar riding positions all day.

Stage four was on Storm King trail and would be about an 8 minute sprint.  After waiting around about 10 minutes it was finally my time to go and it was on!  I pedaled through the whoops that lined the first section of trail and the LT soaked them all up so I could keep the power down.  The trail tightened up in the trees for a little bit with a few sweet corners in a nice slalom format and then opened back up again, contouring a hillside with some small rocks and roots to fly over.  Then up really the only decent climb of the day, which lasted about 15 seconds but at full gas that was enough!  Down the final stretch with some small doubles to soar over.  Pedaling wherever I could, with the seat still feeling low, I made it to the final turn down into a gully and then up the other side to the finish.  Woohoo!  I felt like I'd had a decent run and it felt good to cap the day off with my best stage finish (13th).  I didn't feel like taking the shuttle back up to the top, so I explored and had a nice hour long trail ride (all climbing) back up to the venue to finish off the day.

It would be a while before results were finalized so I had some time to check out my bike.  Turns out the seat post clamp wasn't tight enough and my crash knocked it loose, dropping the seat about 7mm.  That would be why my pedaling position felt off!  It probably didn't hurt my time too much though.  I ended up in 29th place meaning I had gotten beat by a lot of guys who'd sat around drinking beer all morning.  Maybe that's what you need to do to loosen the nerves and just let it fly?  Well... maybe for some.  I'm OK with the result though because in reality I'm lucky my hand is well enough to be riding at all.  And I went into the race, of course hoping to do well, but really just to experience it and have fun.  Marshall had some good clean runs but ended up in 26th place.  And Matt ended up CRUSHING the Jr's field and winning it!  Nice!!

I certainly learned a lot during my first enduro.  Getting used to all the waiting around in between max efforts and how to prepare mentally and physically for that format will be important.  Also, working on my jumping, cornering, and increasing the speed at which I'm comfortable over techy stuff is going to be key.  But most importantly to make sure I get at least one practice run on each stage with clear vision, so that I can see and choose my own lines come race time.

Later that night we left Bend and drove three hours to Ashland so we could get in a good ride in the morning.  I'd never ridden there before so I was really looking forward to it, plus the next enduro will be there in two weeks.  Marshall showed Matt and I around the mountain and he also helped me out with some suspension setup.  Turns out I had it set up for pedaling (you know what you know right?) which isn't the best for the jumps, drops and berms.  Just a few small changes was a noticeable improvement and made the fast downhills of Ashland an absolute blast!!!

Clearing My Head - Prairie City Race Series #6

Nothing like a long bike ride, a hard workout with tough competition, fun course and being surrounded by hundreds of awesome people to help clear my head!

Photo Credit- Brian Joder

Last night was the 6th race of this years Prairie City Race Series and it was a good one!  Some new, tough competition showed up from out of town... Brodie Stringer and Gareth Feldstein from team Muscle Milk / Specialized and Kurt Wolfgang of P1/2 road team Squadra SF (who just won Boggs 8hr last weekend, on a single speed!).  In addition to those there's always pressure from locals Cody Kaiser, Ron Shevock and others.

I didn't know quite how I'd feel, after not riding the day before, the weekend before, and getting in just a few rides last week while out in Colorado.  I certainly wasn't feeling as... um... "lean" as usual after the time off and indulging in some "comfort food" the night before (Jen made AWESOME gf/df lemon bars!), but my hour long ride out to the venue from work helped warm me up.

Photo Credit- Paul Stewart

The first lap was quite fast and the three MM/Spec guys were working together which got me a little worried.  So on the second half of the lap when the course got tight and a little more techy, I went to the front to try and push the pace.

Photo Credit- Tim Westmore

By lap two it was Kurt and I out front working together as we started to get into lapped traffic.  With nearly constant "On your left!" "On your right!" we worked our way through the hundreds of riders out there for the remaining laps and pushed each other... hard!  My left pedal is getting quite loose and my foot came flying out a few times, so my ability to sprint was hindered, but thankfully the Tallboy makes it easy to put down good power while seated.

On the last lap, Kurt got a gap on me when I had to check up for a lapped rider in a corner before passing, but about a half mile later he got held up by some traffic on a sketchy climb (love those cobbles!) so I was able to catch back up.

Photo Credit- Paul Stewart

I went to the front in the same spot as lap 1, thinking that with the course layout and traffic there might not be another opportunity to pass.  With about a 1/4 mile to go, I hugged the inside of a corner and Kurt had enough room and momentum to attack the outside and went by.  I stayed on his wheel and we were hammering the last rollers, but with the final sweeping turn being just one lane in the cobbles I ran out of real estate before the finish line to come in 2nd.

After the race I did some more riding around the park and had some fun playing on some of the trails that aren't normally part of the race courses.  This was actually my first ride on a new pair of ENVE 29xc wheels, this time paired with Chris King hubs on a 28 spoke count instead of 32.  I have to say that the engagement on the King hubs is every bit as awesome as they're reported to be (even with the "angry bee" freewheel sound!) and the wheels are still wonderfully stiff with four fewer spokes.  I put them to the test, accidentally, casing a double off camber with the front which led me towards a ditch where I totally bottomed out the rear end hard.  Both wheels still true as ever...

It felt great to have such hard, close racing out there and to really be pushed by strong riders.  It really helped clear my thoughts and help me move on to keep doing what I need to do, realize just how blessed I am to have had the Highball in the first place and to have other great bikes to ride as well.  But more importantly to reflect on just how awesome and supportive this MTB community is!  Thanks to everyone who expressed their condolences and who are on the watch for my stolen Highball.  And thanks to Tony, Brian, and the rest of the PCRS crew for an awesome course and event.

Alert: Stolen Highball Carbon

Well my new Highball was stolen from the parking garage at my work in Sacramento yesterday at about 3:30pm.  Please keep an eye out for the complete bike or any of these parts someone may be selling at a swap meet or something.  Here's a couple photos and the build spec.  Thank you.

Build Spec:
Frame: XL 2013 Santa Cruz Highball c (matte carbon / green)
Fork: Fox 32 Float 29 100 FIT CTD w/ Trail Adjust
Wheels: ENVE Twenty9 XC on Chris King 28h hubs
Brakes: Shimano XTR Trail
Shifters: Shimano XTR SL
Crankset: Shimano XTR Race - 42/30 Chainrings
Rear Der: Shimano XTR Shadow +
Front Der: Shimano XTR
Cassette: Shimano XTR - 36/11
Chain: KMC X10SL Gold
Seatpost: Thomson Masterpiece 30.9
Saddle: WTB Devo SLT
Stem: Thomson X4 100mm
Handlebar: Easton Haven Riser
Grips: ODI Flangeless Longneck
Tires: WTB Prowler SL
Front Brake Rotor: Ashima Airotor 160mm
Rear Brake Rotor: Ashima Airotor 140mm
Bottle Cages: Blackburn camber carbon cage on downtube and titanium cage on vertical tube.
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 4Ti (Red/Gold)

And if you're on Facebook, please share this photo from our team page with the build info as well: Facebook Info: Stolen Highball

Riding in the Rockies and a Cannondale Synapse 5 Review

Last week I had the opportunity to head out to Denver and take advantage of some training for my “real” job.  Of course I still wanted to get some riding in, so I started calling some local Santa Cruz dealers and asking if they might have a familiar ride that I could use for a few days.  Tom from Pedal of Littleton went above and beyond.  While he didn’t have a Santa Cruz in his demo fleet available for me to use, he offered up his personal Highball!  Awesome!  I was stoked that I’d have the chance to go check out some sweet Colorado riding.  But on Monday evening when I got into town, I heard mention of a snow storm coming in on Wednesday.  A quick check of the weather forecast confirmed… Doh!  Once I got to the shop, I talked it over with Tom and decided that a road bike would be my best option considering the weather.  He set me up with a Cannondale Synapse Alloy 5, an aluminum road bike, and told me about a fast group practice Crit that rolls in the area on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I could hit up.

So Tuesday evening I rolled on down to the Meridian business park and joined in with about 25 others.  It was only 41 degrees and less with the wind chill which meant I could wear leg warmers to cover up my hairy legs J, but  I think I still stood out with my MTB shoes and Santa Cruz / Fox kit.  The group was nice and I sat in for the first few laps and then took my turn out front when it came time to catch a breakaway.  I had a good time and it was great to join up with the group to push me for an hour.  Afterwards, there was still some daylight so I went on exploring and eventually found the newly build Cherry Creek MTB Park.  This place is sweet!  There are a ton of nice features (drops, rock climbs and descents, and skills areas) all packed into a pretty small space.  A lot of work went into it and I had fun riding around on the singletrack, hopping the water bars and trying to navigate the switchbacks on the road bike.

On Wednesday it snowed… all day.  Big fluffy flakes and accumulated over a foot in places.  It was beautiful, but quite the change from the upper 80’s we’d been getting back home!

Thursday it was clear but still quite cold.  My training class ended a little early so I opted to skip the practice crit and head for the Rockies!  I pedaled out and around Mt. Morrison and climbed up “Grapevine Rd.” which mostly consisted of a well maintained dirt road.  I only had to stop once for a herd of white tail deer before making it across the next valley and heading up towards Lookout Mountain. 

There were some pretty awesome views looking back towards downtown Denver to the East, the city of Golden to the North, and the big Rockies to the west.

The final descent down to Golden was fun but COLD!  Once I finally made it to the bottom with frozen hands and feet (no winter gloves or shoe covers), I unfortunately didn’t have time to swing by the Coors factory but headed over to check out Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater which is definitely a unique place.

Although it was cold, it turned out to be an awesome 65 mile ride with over 5k feet of climbing. 

After a mock crit race and a decent climbing ride, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the Cannondale Synapse Alloy 5.  It wasn’t as “snappy” and stiff as my Giant TCR Composite but it still performed well in both settings.  I could sprint and keep up with the guys in the crit just fine without noticing too much flex under power.  And for the big ride it was pretty comfortable with the carbon fork and flattened chainstays providing some vertical compliance over rough roads.  It had the Shimano 105 components I was used to which were reliable and crisp.  The Shimano RS10 wheels were good for the price point and probably added to the overall comfort of the bike.  But I did notice their "softness" on the tighter corners coming down from Lookout Mountain.  They were also heavier than I'm used to so they didn't accelerate as quickly, but I think they're good for the price point.  Big thanks again to Pedal of Littleton for the loan, even though I really wanted to take out that Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon they had on the showroom floor!  Stop by if your in the area, the shop is nicely put together with a big inventory.  I of course had to pick up a shirt that just says “PEDAL.”  Nice and simple J.

2013 Sea Otter Classic Racing Report

The Sea Otter Classic, a "must" for any cyclist.  Even if you don't race, there's a ton going on and it's a blast of a weekend.  Outside of the Prairie City Race Series this was my first race back in 2006 where I raced in the "Sport Clydesdale" category for the XC race.

Yep, that's me.  It took me 2 hours to finish the old 20 mile course which was faster/easier than the new course.  I finished 13th in Sport Clydes... and was wiped!

Seven years later...

On Friday I lined up for the Pro Short Track race in a world class field 75 riders strong.  The course was different than previous years, starting on the Laguna Seca track and winding around in the expo area.  I liked it better than the old course on the hillside and it was a lot better for spectating.  I snaked my way up towards the front as riders were being called to the line and anticipated the mad rush rollup to find myself in about row 2 1/2 behind Ryan Trebon.  Sweet!  I would be on the inside for the first 180 degree corner.  When the gun went off, I had a bit of trouble clipping in but didn't loose much ground... I stayed on the inside and skidded into the cluster, tangling bars and barely making it clear of the barrier before sprinting to the next corner.  This was the "cattle chute" choke point corner for the course right at the base of the only climb on the course.  I tried to funnel in on the right side but as I went through the gap another rider turned into me and I was pinched between him and the barrier.  I had to unclip and awkwardly scoot through before remounting and heading up the climb.

Right in front of tons of photog's and heckling spectators.  It was a mess and I lost a bunch of spots.  But I finally pulled back in on the upper plateau as we hammered over in front of some grandstands before looping back down and across the worst part of the course, the gravel pit.  Yeah, they routed us through the gravel trap designed to stop race cars... by sinking.  Turns out bikes sink pretty easily too and trying to ride through there was energy sapping!  Your only chance was to follow an existing groove and hope it didn't abruptly end in a deep pile.  On the first lap I made it about 1/2 way and had to run.  But running was just about as fast and used less energy.  So as soon as I remounted I was able to pass by a few of the riders who rode it.  The field was strung out and mostly single file as the course wound its way through the venue with about six more 180 degree turns, some 'S' turns, a few rolling mounds of dirt and about an 8 foot rock garden.  I just set my sights on the next guy, whoever that was, and always tried to out accelerate him coming out of a corner or out brake him going into one.  I was moving forward and after a few laps was settled in with a group of about five or six and we seemed to see-saw a bit and mainly try not to wash out in the loose corners.

This short track was longer than the others I've done this year at 20 minutes plus three laps.  I was happy to have survived past the 15 minute mark as I could see a lot of riders had already been pulled.  I could see that the leaders were way ahead, but nowhere near close to catching us before our time was up so when I started a lap about 18 minutes in I sat up a bit more on the straights to recover and didn't pass everywhere I could.  I was planning on really hammering the last three laps and trying to bridge up to the next chase group on the next lap.  I should have just kept the power down because when I came around the final turn of that lap the USAC official was waving us to the side.  What?!?!  I was pissed!  They were pulling WAY too early!  I was in the last group to get pulled and finished 46th.  So then I loaded up with water, food, and set off for a pre-ride of the XC course.  It was a beautiful, warm day and it felt good to cruise for a couple hours.

Saturday's weather forecast called for a high of 64 degrees.  They were wrong!  It was pretty darn toasty by 11am when I started to warm up for the 12pm race.  I made sure to get in a nice long warmup in the hopes that maybe I'd feel decent in the first hour of the race, since we'd only be doing one lap and there wouldn't be much time.  I seemed to feel ok and recovered from Friday but you never really know until the gun goes off.  As I waited in the staging area listening to the callups, I think they named off about 20 riders before they stopped saying former or current world champion or national champion of some discipline!  This was an incredibly stacked field of well over 100!!  Once we rolled up I was on the right side again and about mid pack.  But start line position isn't as critical here since we roll around the asphalt raceway for about a mile before hitting the dirt.  Riding in a group of 100+ knobby tire bikes spinning around the track is one of the coolest sounds... but being IN that group also one of the scariest things I do all year!

Riding in a huge MTB peloton with guys who are all nervous, twitchy, and not used to being smooth and predictable in close proximity at high speed is nerve wracking at least to me.  And sure enough there was a pile up less than 100 yards into the race, thankfully on the left side.  I heard it and looked over to see the Specialized rider with his face on the pavement.

I think that spooked me a little because I just wanted to stay out of trouble and not be caught up in something stupid before we even really start the race!  I hung towards the back but got trapped in the middle.  Someone hit a cone in one corner which was flipping up in the middle of the group and right in front of me, I checked up and thankfully didn't loose contact with the draft.  As we started the climb up the hill towards the dirt, I could see that my teammate Ryan had made his way around the right side towards the front and was right where I wanted to be.  But I just couldn't get there before the exit of the track, which was yet another "cattle chute" cluster where those of us in the back had to dismount to get through and hope someone's pedal doesn't break a spoke, bend a rotor, or rip off a derailleur!  Jason Moeschler came leaping over the concrete wall and tires, passing probably 15 guys in the process... nice line Jason!

Finally I was on the dirt and the race could start!  I had lost a ton of track position.  Pissed and motivated... I sprinted up the first dirt road climb and got my passing underway.  The first downhill is a wide open stretch called "40mph DH" and the only clean line is to the far left.  The rest is full of ditches and cross ruts.  I had planned for this in advance though and put my water bottle in my jersey pocket so I wouldn't risk loosing it if I needed to slam through some of those ruts... which I did... passing another handful before rocketing the Highball up the next climb and passing some more!  This was the best I've felt all year in the first hour of a race and I was making the most of it!  I started to think I was finally gain some ground when I passed Adam Craig, Carl Decker, and some others I recognized.  After a few more rollers on the ridge line I caught up with my teammate Ryan in a group of about 4 guys.  He was coasting around a corner and a downhill so I yelled at him, "PEDAL!! We have to go now!!"  I went around and took off giving it max effort and drifting the gravel corners before coming to "the wall."  This steep but short climb was really loose this year, I made it about half way up before slipping and running the rest which wasn't any slower.  One more descent after that where I passed a couple more before hitting the flowy singletrack.  I fell in line behind Macky Franklin and Ryan Trebon and the pace was decent but not pushing it.  It was nice to be in a group that could actually ride and not feel like I was actually being too held up.  I recovered a bit here before we started up the next climb.  About half way up, Trebon pulled over for us and we motored by.  Then we passed another Kenda/Felt rider off to the side.  I guess they redlined a bit too early?  Or the maybe heat was getting to them.

Up on top of the next ridge Decker went by and I stuck on his wheel.  We see-sawed a bit and on one downhill corner I took the inside line to pass and smacked a rock, rim strike to both wheels!  I held my breath as I drifted to the outside, making the pass.  "That didn't sound good!" I said to Carl... and thankfully no damage was done to the tires.  I didn't even worry about the ENVE rims... they were fine.  We caught up to a good sized group as we entered some of the rutted and techy sections.  The dust was very bad and I couldn't see much, but it was nice to be able to trust the riders around me to pick good lines.  We made it through everything clean and eventually we were dumped back down to flat fire road for a transfer over to the next singletrack climb.

Just before that turn, Decker passed most of that group and I should have followed.  I figured we'd been going at a decent pace and these guys would motor up this climb too.  They didn't.  It's one of the longer steep climbs on the course and they just settled in to spin up.  It was tight and not much room to pass.  It could be done but would take a lot of effort.  Jason Sager (Team Jamis) went by really huffing but I elected to stay where I was and not blow up trying to make a few passes that might not stick.  I knew there were plenty of opportunities later.  Once we got to the ridge I made my way to the front of this pack but over the next few ridge line climbs we see-sawed.  I was giving it everything I had though and we were still catching and passing riders here and there.  I refueled with a Clif Shot and took down some more water before heading down the new trail for this years' course.  It was a smooth trail, but full of abrupt and tight turns which really broke the flow.  And unfortunately I was stuck behind a rider who was on the brakes a bit more than I wanted and he wasn't bursting out of the corners.  Nowhere to pass though and I was stuck to watch a couple riders pull away.

We popped out of the trees and down the road to the feed zone where I took down some more water before heading up the next ridge for some more good climbing.  I felt good on the steep stuff and caught up to team Giant rider Josh Carlson before hitting the gradual road descent.  I took the pull down to the bottom and as I turned to climb up the "goat trail" singletrack Josh complimented my strong pull.  I wanted to be in front for the goat trail climb.  I don't know what it is but I really like climbing this trail and always feel strong here.  It's mostly a steady climb with a few steep pitches, so you're alternating between standing and sitting, and it just has flow.

We caught and passed Macky and another rider before the trail widened up a little on some steeper climbs.  I needed a little break and Josh went by.  We passed Russ Finsterwald (Treck Factory Racing) who looked like he'd cracked... jersey open and sitting up.  I was maxed out too but could keep going.  With only the Skyline ridge climbs to go, I popped an Espresso Clif Shot hoping for one final jolt to the finish.

Josh, Macky and myself set out to try and catch a few more before all the climbing was done.  We worked together a little but we were all pretty gassed.

We still managed to pass a few and Macky got away from us both with two climbs to go.  And I had dropped back from Josh just a bit before hitting the last singletrack downhill as we got back to Laguna Seca where I caught back up to him and a Scott / 3 Rox rider Cameron Jette.

We powered up the last sandy climb to the track and hammered down the last 1/4 mile of pavement to the finish.  I locked out the CTD lever on my fork and gave it everything I had left.  I passed Cameron but couldn't get by Josh before we crossed the line.

I finished 36th, about seven minutes back from the winner Miguel Martinez (ITA) who was the Sydney Olympic gold medalist and former world Champion.  I'm really happy with my race and it was really cool to be up there with some "big names" in racing... and beating some.  And I'm always happy to come racing back to my awesome wife cheering me on at the finish line!

But as I was spinning around to cool down, a couple other racers asked me, "What happened on that downhill?!"  "Uhhh... what downhill? I didn't crash."  Turns out they didn't know there was another rider that same green helmet and kit out there.  So they thought it was me who'd crashed hard on the first blind rutted downhill.  After about ten minutes we were getting a little worried and riders started to trickle in slower and slower.  I went over and checked with the medical guys but they didn't have any reports of Ryan needing assistance.  Finally about 20 minutes after I finished, Ryan came rolling in, just a wee bit dirty!

Turns out he'd crashed so hard it cracked his helmet and he was knocked out!!  He didn't think he was out for long, and got going again but still felt out of it and stopped at a course medic station.  They checked him out and determined he was ok to continue so he went on to finish!  We made him go get checked out again, because he seemed a little excited about having knocked himself out :-).  But he was all good, at least physically.

Another cool thing about Sea Otter is that there is racing of all different types and it brings everyone together who loves bikes.  And for our team it meant we were finally all in one spot!

Marshall was there to watch us finish and we'd be there to cheer him on for his DH race on Sunday... in the one-of-a-kind white team skin suit!

Quite the different experience from my first 'Otter back in '06 eh?  It's amazing how much mountain biking has changed my life.

US Cup Triple Crown Finals / Santa Ynez Valley Classic

Last week three new carbon 29ers were brought into the world... just in time for the final round of the US Cup Triple Crown at Santa Ynez (actually... Los Olivos, CA) where each would get their very own race!  Teammate Ryan Chandler also made it down for each of the three races... aiming to get more black and green on the podium.

First up was short track on the brand new Highball.  The course is fast and flat, starting off with some long singletrack into a headwind.

We'd soon make a u-turn and head up a short climb to a plateau and make our way back on some more singletrack, bust through a couple 'S' turns and head down into a banked turn before looping back around to do it all over again.

The group all stayed together because of that headwind and I sat 3rd or 4th wheel most of the time until the later half where Ryan and I would be 1-2.  At this point I really started thinking... how can we work together?  I guess we should have discussed this before hand but we've never had this happen before!  And we've never raced road so we had no idea about tactics.  Mountain bike races rarely have situations where you can work together.  So I sat in behind Ryan... thinking... when should I go? I feel good... but is it worth expending the effort just to get caught again after we turn into the wind?  The laps ticked by and I did nothing, and neither did anyone else.  With two laps to go I thought there were three, so I was waiting to try something on the next lap.  But then we came around with the one to go signal... oops!  Ok, well I figured I'd attack on the climb.  The pace picked up right before the corner at the climb and Cody Kaiser went with one other guy as we got there.  Just as we entered the corner I was getting ready to go when another rider cut in front of me and then slowed down as we climbed right when the front three attacked.  AHHH!!!  A gap opened and I tried to sprint around this guy, there wasn't much room but I pushed by and tried to bridge back up.  They were haulin' and I gave it all I had and caught back up by the time we hit the turns and the final drop down to the corner.  But that effort left me with nothing for the final sprint and I came in 4th.  Ryan ended up getting edged out by Cody in a final sprint to the line... but Ryan did awesome for his first short track race!

Next up... Super D just a few hours later and it was the maiden voyage for my new Tallboy LTc.  In my preriding I dialed in the Fox Float 140 CTD fork, Float CTD Boost Valve rear shock and D.O.S.S. dropper post to my liking.  So much adjust-ability and fine tuning options!  I'll probably be fiddling with it all for a while but I seemed to get it pretty dialed in by my start time.  The Super D course was SUPER climb-y... and my Tallboy c would probably have been a better choice since I didn't need much travel.  I just wanted to ride the LTc because it's so fun!  And it pedals pretty darn well anyways!  The course started off on the top of the ridge, with a small drop about 20 feet from the start line.  My first goal was to get clipped in before that!  Check mark!  Next were two more log drops I got to pedal into with some good speed and just soar... WEEE!!!  That fun ended way too quickly and after only about 10 seconds into the run the first climb up the next ridge started and it was time to feel the burn and try to chase down Cody who started 30 seconds prior.  Once I finally got to descend again, I railed the first banked turn into a hip jump... sweet!  I couple more banked turns and then a loose off camber led into a traverse over to I high speed trail along a creek bed where I could really open it up to about 30mph even though it was barely downhill.  It was smooth and had banked corners and rollers to pump off of before it eventually flattened out and turned uphill again.  The gap to Cody seemed to be stagnant so I kept pushing.  The next climb was a doosey and would take about two minutes to complete before finally getting to turn down again.  I caught a female racer in a bad spot, going around a knoll where the trail fell away.  She pulled to the inside slightly and I went outside on the loose edge of the trail.  I fell off the side a bit and had to unclip for balance but made it back on to the trail fairly quickly.  Right after that I hit one of the small doubles with speed, trying to make up the time I felt I lost and the crosswind just about took my wheels out from under me but thankfully I hit the dirt again before I got too sideways!  I absorbed the next big jump on the course to keep the pedals turning (and because I'm a penguin) and hammered home the last couple sections to the finish.

I felt pretty good about my run but the gap to Cody didn't really seem to close, so I wasn't sure about my placing.  Ryan would come down a few minutes later... also feeling good with his run on his Tallboy but also unsure of his placing.  While waiting for results I posed with some adoring fans... MORE COWBELL!!!

 But they were unimpressed by my wheelie skills... Moo...

After a while results were finally posted... Ryan 1st, me 2nd!  YEAH!!! Team Santa Cruz / Fox 1-2!!!  We were separated by just 1.5 seconds over the 10 minute course.  Was that the difference between the Tallboy c and the Tallboy LTc for all those climbs?  Hard to say... but pretty cool!

After the podium celebration Jen and I headed down to the town of Buellton for some dinner with my parents as well.  The first place we went was super busy so we went to our next choice.  Once we finally got seated I was starving and thankfully food came quick... ahhh much better!  After eating all I could we checked into our motel to relax.  I'd say fitting XL 29ers into a small motel room, such that you don't impale yourself on a handlebar or chainring in the middle of the night is a skill...

Sunday morning was the final race of the weekend and I'd be on my Tallboy c... ready to rock!  Or was I?

Multi-time Aussie National Champ Sid Taberlay, probably in the country for Sea Otter (next weekend) rolled up to the line late and he suddenly became the guy everyone would be watching.  We set off at 11am under beautiful weather for two laps of the 12.5 mile course, and Ryan jumped out front right at the start.

The first part of the XC course was the same as the Short Track, so I fell in line, about 8th place, until Sid went by just after the climb so I followed.

I felt like I was barely hanging on even though I was working as hard as I could.  It just didn't feel right.  I looked down and my heart rate was only at 160.  What's the deal!?  I had warmed up for about 45 minutes, but since I had my GPS off to save battery and couldn't see my heart rate, did I not warm up hard enough?  Regardless... I just hung on as we climbed up the first set of switchbacks to the top... and the leaders started to pull away.  I had nothing.  It felt like I had already been riding for three hours or so.  The legs were just flat and I had no power for the climbs, or really to push it period.  So I changed my focus just a little and really tried to maximize the speed I could generate on the downhills and flat pedaling sections where the Tallboy is king.  About half way through the first lap I was in 5th with 6th place right on my wheel and I pulled him through the rest of the lap.

I could see Ryan and Cody Kaiser about 30 seconds to a minute ahead but I just couldn't get there and it was so frustrating!  I was passed by my "trailer" going up the first big climb of the second lap and I still had no power to stay on his wheel.  I just hung on and survived the rest of the lap, trying not to get the wheels blown out from under me in the cross wind if I caught air, and trying to make clean passes on the Cat 1/2 traffic we were catching.  As I was cruising into the venue area to finish up the final lap, I heard a spectator yell "GET 'EM CHUCK!!!" to someone behind me... I looked to see a grimacing face sprinting towards me with about 200 yards and one corner to go.  I had to at least try to protect my position so I pulled out whatever power I had left and gave 'er... protecting the inside on the final corner.  He was right there now, we turned, I stayed left to protect the inside on the corner exit.  The finish shoot was on the right and I made my way, sprinting, to the right as he was slowly coming up on my right and slowly gaining.  The finish shoot came and I was able to hold him off for 6th place.  Afterwards I congratulated Ryan on his 4th place finish and we debriefed the race.

Looking back feel like I know what happened and the mistake I made.  And it's as simple as not eating enough, soon enough, after ending the days riding on Saturday.  It left me in a fatigued state (my average heart rate for the race was 147!) and I know better... which is so frustrating.  So then I kicked back with my Mom and had some tacos and a Firestone Double Barrel Ale to help improve my mood :-).

So three races, three bikes, and three podiums!  I know what you're thinking... Short Track, Super D, he didn't podium in XC so what's the third?  It's the top step of the US Cup Triple Crown Series!!!!

Huge congrats to Ryan for his very strong weekend which put him in 2nd for the Triple Crown races on the weekend!  We're both looking forward to Sea Otter coming up fast next weekend and getting the black and green out there to mix it up with the big boys!