The Bidwell Bump All Mountain

This event didn't go so well last year.  My bike broke during the warmup so I went to my backup but started the XC three minutes late, crashed a couple times but still didn't finish last and stole a couple Strava KOM's.  In the Super D I tried to go 100% race pace while sight-reading the trail, and just about tore my elbow off.  Learned my lesson there!

So this year the main goal was "Just don't die."  - Check!

Next goal: Crush the XC and don't crash (maybe even do well?).  - Fail!  Well... partially...

Crush the climbs and pedally stuff I did.  My Tallboy LTc soaked up the rough "lava rock" climb on North Rim trail and I was off the front with a substantial lead.

I turned into the first downhill (B Trail) and was smooth but pretty conservative since most of the corners and rock drops are concealed by brush or the hill's contour.  

I probably lost 20-30 seconds to the fastest chasers.  But by the bottom I was still all by myself and I motored on down to the creek crossing, shouldered my 28lb trail rig and tried not to fall over as I forded knee high waters.  Now with wet feet it was hammer time again for a 700ft vertical gain on mostly loose fire road where it I was only one second off of last years time but on a nearly 4lb heavier bike! Sweet!  For the next few minutes I hammered down Guardians Trail singletrack which is flowy and predictable.  I turned down onto "Bloody Pin" trail and felt solid and smooth through the first few rocky switchbacks.  The trail opened up a bit and I put the pedal to the floor but lost focus on an easy right hand sweeper and washed out the front tire... slapping the dirt pretty hard.  Damn!  Goal #2 Fail.  I sprung up and remounted to find that my right shifter had dug into the ground and bent so far down I could barely reach it.  I spent the next few corners figuring it all out and beating it into the most manageable position. 

Thankfully the photographers weren't two corners higher :-).

 The last few miles of the trail were pretty frustrating without the ability to shift.  It's full of very short steep pitches with blind entry.  Without course knowledge I ended up doing way too much of this:

And I got passed with less than a mile to go by a local ripper Lowell Mourel and was beat out by about by twenty five seconds.  Dang.  At least everything was intact and I could go for a Super D pre-run with my teammate Marshall, and WTB/Cannondale riders Ben Cruz and Marco Osborne before getting my taco truck tacos.  But with short digestion time it was still sitting heavy after the shuttle to the top... I was really glad I gave my second taco to Marshall!  A mocha Clif shot aided the internal processing and I was ready to go again with a slightly "greener" helmet.

 Oh and baggies!

I was having a solid run and feeling pretty good.  Especially after getting through the section that sent me to the ER last year.  But after hammering up that climb something went really haywire in the gears.  CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! PING!  And all those other horrible noises.  The chain didn't break, the derailleur cable didn't break, but my chain was loose and dangling.  I dismounted and inspected to find that I'd lost the bolt through the front pulley wheel on the derailleur and the whole wheel was gone as well.  The was no fixing this.  So I just removed the chain and continued the 2nd half of my Super D run chainless while cheering on the guys still hammering.  Oh well!  Maybe 3rd time's a charm and better luck next year?

Marshall had a decent Super D run but crashed in a washout as well.  He said this was one of the toughest races he's ever done.

There's Life After Downieville - Annadel XC Race Report

Cruising around town in Downieville after a mechanical failure ended my hopes for a solid All Mountain result (still ended up 13th though!), I found some motivation to keep pushing hard through August.  I had a little chat with Mr. Leipheimer and confirmed he was planning on racing the Annadel XC two weeks later.  A race I love and happened to win last year... by only five seconds over Colin Daw... who was also signed up.

So after a solid couple weeks of prep I was feeling good and ready.  The Tallboy was all shined up and looking good as well.

Both Ryan and Marshall were racing too, and beforehand I was trying to think if there was any way we could benefit from "team tactics" so to speak.  But really this race was just going to be a situation of chasing Levi and we all knew it.  Mitigate the damage on the climbs and hammer the tech sections and try to make up ground.  

It started off with the usual fast paced road start which was MUCH more well behaved this year than last.  No need to swerve into oncoming lanes to avoid cars even!  The pace seemed faster from the get-go which helped filter out some people that shouldn't be at the front.  And for me it went by very quickly, I wasn't struggling like normal and still felt like I had some kick when I could finally see the dirt at the end of the road.  So I sprinted up and entered the dirt in 3rd behind Levi and Glen Fant (I think).  I red-lined up the first few climbs and chose to dial it back a bit and recover.  So I got passed by a few, but managed to get back into third by the first descent down Cobblestone, this time with Colin Daw in 2nd.  

We were a bit spread out so I was all by myself for the next road section and undulating singletrack.  I lost a few seconds when I lost focus and my back tire kicked off a rock and sent my front wheel into a tree.  Thankfully it was slow and I didn't go over... it was just one of those "HEY! PAY ATTENTION!" reminders from the trail.  I could see Colin in the clearings up the next climb and he had about 30 seconds on me.  But by the bottom of the South Burma climb (after some good DH sections, about mile 13) I had narrowed the gap down to maybe five seconds.  Once we finally reached the top of the long Lawndale downhill I was right on him, unfortunately I didn't realize THIS was the top of Lawndale.  I should have gone for the pass but I didn't know it was the crucial spot.  Once I realized where we were, I didn't push the issue and sat in, figuring Levi was long gone anyways and the race was for 2nd.  

We took on the neutral water bottles from Camelbak and cruised Lawndale road together over to the Schulz climb where Colin sprinted to get in front.  We stayed together and when the climbing got rough and steep about half way up, I was feeling a little held up.  So I went for it where it opened up and as I got beside Colin I was in some loose rock and slipping out, expending too much energy trying to make the pass.  He looked over, saw that and attacked.  He quickly got a big gap while I needed to recover and suddenly I was all alone.  Frustrated... I picked the pace back up for Ridge trail, which is a technical undulating trail perfect for the Tallboy.  I still couldn't see Colin in the winding trees so my goal changed from trying to get 2nd to getting a sub-two hour finish time.  Suddenly I popped out of the singletrack and onto the final fire-road descent and I could see Colin up ahead!  I opened it up as much as I could, just taking the straight line over the rocks and soaking them up.  The sun/shade mix in the trees made the rocks hard to distinguish in the dust, so I had a few rim-strikes to the ENVE's but thankfully no flats and no damage.  I didn't quite catch Colin but still ended up with a time almost a minute under two hours and good enough for 3rd (about 3 1/2 minutes back from Levi).  

 It was cool to race together with Colin for so much of the course, that kind of close riding doesn't happen much in MTB racing.

And thanks to everyone who came to say hi after the race... and gave me their extra beer tickets while I waited in line... three beers for 3rd place!!! :-D

2013 Downieville Classic

It's summer in NorCal... hot, dry and on most days there's smoke in the air from a fire burning somewhere.  So we, as mountain bikers, flock to Downieville where it always seems to be awesome.  Even if the breeze isn't blowing up the canyon (which it is probably 80% of the time) and it's hot, just go ride in the trees where the sun's off your back and you make your own wind blazing downhill at 30+ mph.  Your leg's will get cooled off by the occasional creek crossing as you go and once your back in town you can get a little cryotherapy by jumping in the river.  And if you're stressed out from the day-to-day... Downieville is one of those true "get away from it all" places where there is still no cell reception and you can truly relax.

...unless you're there to race, and you think you have a shot...

Then Downieville will taunt you with the occasional clean run where you were going so fast your eyes were watering and you couldn't see... yet you still hit the lines and floated over the gnar with ease... and you're superman.  That would be how I felt on my first trip up there this summer in late June.  When I went up again the weekend before the race... something was off.  I was on edge, probably because I sensed the Kryptonite that was waiting for us.  Between my teammate Ryan and I, we had 5 flats, one broken spoke, a broken chain, a broken derailleur cable, a sliced sidewall on a new tire, and a lost pair of sunglasses.  Downieville always has a way of reminding you who's boss.  Frustrated with how things had gone the weekend before I really didn't want to go into the race with such a bad taste in my mouth.  Since my Tallboy LTc was all put back together and dialed by Eddie at Town Center Bike by Tuesday, I took off work and headed up for one more day of practice on Wednesday.  I softened up my suspension a bit and decided I was just going to give it some flow, relax, and give the rocks the respect they demand.  It turned out to be a flawless day and I had some of my fastest times... leaving me feeling much better going into the race.  

But for me with that confidence comes some self imposed pressure and a big bundle of nerves.  I was a mess on Friday... I just wanted to race!!!  I worked hard all day at chilling out and by the evening I had finally attained a little racer-zen and told Jen "Eh... it's just a ride on sweet trails with 600 other dudes."  

That was the perfectly relaxed attitude I needed to have and that I maintained until I was stopped in road construction traffic on my drive up race morning.  Sitting there, going nowhere for 20+ minutes as the clock ticked away I was suppressing some serious internal rage.  Once I arrived in Sierra City about 40 minutes later than I'd planned... I still had to pick up my reg kit, weigh the bike and hopefully warm up.  But it was out of my control and I could only move so fast.  So still in my street clothes I rolled down to the reg area without my phone or garmin (If I can't see the time I can't freak out about how late I am!) to knock out those necessary tasks.  People were warming up all over and some even wondered if I was racing since I was rolling around in shorts and a t-shirt.  No... I haven't embraced the "Enduro lifestyle" quite to that extent... I'm just late!  Eventually I got all my stuff ready to go and I went down to the start line with about twenty minutes to spare.  It was already a clustered mass of racers on the narrow road waiting for the start, and I picked my way through and up to the pro start group expecting to be able to warmup ahead of the start line like in years past.  But that wasn't allowed this year and I was stuck to ride in 30ft circles in the open area between the pro and expert start groups.  The worlds smallest warmup loop!  I wasn't warm, I was starting in the back of the pack... oh well.  At least it was time to race, finally!

Usually this race starts out at a fairly mellow pace up the road, which I figured would give me time to warm up before really getting into the climb.  Not so much though when you have a Pro Tour road rider (Levi Leipheimer) in the mix.  In one of the fastest starts I've ever experienced in this race, I was playing catch up from the gun.  The group stretched out quickly and I was stuck behind a couple guys joking about the start not mattering and "This is where the race is won or lost."  Yadda yadda... move guys... it matters for me!  I ended up burning a few matches before I finally made it up to some familiar faces in Jason Moeschler, Kenny Burt, and my teammate Ryan about 10 minutes into the climb.  I dialed it back a bit to something a little more sustainable for the 40+ minutes more of climbing and hoped my glutes and low back might loosen up a bit too.  We hit the early steep section and my back tire slipped out half way up so I walked the rest and recovered as about three riders passed by.  I remounted and caught back up to Jason and Kenny but it wasn't long before they decided it was time to go and put it in another gear.  I was not matching that.  Whether that was mental weakness or not, I resolved to "diesel mode" and chugged up the climb.  

I kept Ryan in sight and was about 20 seconds back from him as we approached the cheering crowds at the top.  I had no idea where I was positioned but a friend yelled out that I was 12th.  WOW!  Since I wasn't able to keep tabs on the front guys from the start, and considering how slow I felt just chugging along, I was STOKED to hear that!  I happily took my bottle hand-off from my adopted race family (thanks Morins!!!) and headed in to Sunrise trail a little over 53 minutes into the race, one of my fastest times to the top (on the heaviest bike I've ever raced)!  

After clipping my bars on a tree early on Sunrise trail, my focus resumed and I stayed smooth and relaxed, feeling like I was gaining some ground.  At least nobody was catching me, which I was expecting.  On the traverse over to Baby Heads I multi-tasked and munched down a mini blueberry crisp Clif Bar, chugged a bunch of water, and closed the gap to Ryan.  However once I got into Baby Heads section I played it conservative and went into equipment preservation mode.  More than anything I really, REALLY wanted to have a clean race without a mechanical problem or flat.  Something I don't think I've ever been able to do at Downieville.  I was respecting the rocks... so to speak.  

That granted a little physical recovery as well and once I splashed through the creek and made it up onto Pauley Creek trail I was ready to hammer.  I set out to chase down Ryan and ended up passing Alex Wild and Neilson Powless before connecting with Butcher Ranch trail.  Knowing I was now in the 10th spot I wanted to preserve that with everything I had... but it would still be nice to catch some more guys.  So I danced that fine line between taking risks and protecting the equipment down Butcher, narrowing the gap to Ryan.  After the short climb up to Third Divide the gap was down to about five seconds.  As I opened up the suspension, lowered the seatpost and dropped into Third Divide a spectator said "Have fun!"  Oh yeah baby!!!  I quickly got up to speed, but since I was only wearing glasses for the XC and still protecting my bike I grabbed a bit more brake in places... only made it up to 33mph on one of the most fun sections of MTB trail in the country.  I think Ryan was going balls out though because I couldn't see him anymore as I went into the final push... First Divide trail.  I put my head down and felt the burn... looking over my shoulder wondering when SOMEONE was going to take away my top 10.  I just didn't feel fast and it hurt!  But I was starting to see some dust... was I catching Ryan?  On a long stretch I could see that it wasn't Ryan, but a smaller rider in a black kit.  The only guy I knew up ahead fitting that description was Levi.  I pushed harder.  A few corners later I came around to bike, rider, dirt and rocks flying everywhere!  I fish-tailed and avoided the tumbling wheels and yelled "You OK?" as I went by.  And when I looked I could tell that it was Levi, and he didn't respond as he got up slowly.  I hit the brakes and yelled back again, "Levi... you OK!?"  "Yeah..." So I kept going.  And at the next road crossing I yelled to the volunteers there that if Levi didn't come down in a minute to go check on him.  I hammered down the last bit of First Divide, making sure not to over shoot a few key corners and fall into the river.  Eventually I made it to the pavement, ecstatic that I had finally made it through a race here without a problem! 

On that final stretch of pavement I kept looking over my shoulder for Levi though, figuring he could take the spot back and pass me with roadie power just like Menso de Jong did two years ago.  But I held it out and finished in 9th with my best XC time ever by over five minutes!  I high-fived Ryan who had finished up in 8th, almost catching 7th place rider Kenny Burt.  And after a little cryo-recovery in the river I started my drive back home, excited to share the news with Jen.  

Sunday morning, of course when it didn't matter as much, there was no construction... figures.  But it was good to get to the top nice and early.  I leisurely got ready, weighed the bike in (just over 28lbs), and pedaled around a while.  I felt primed and ready after a 40 minute warmup... and a double espresso Clif Shot!  The race crew was pumping some heavy metal tunes and I had some Rage Against The Machine blaring while I was in the start line.  I'm not really a fan of theirs... but it worked!  I was rockin' out and ready to rip!  

I set off and had a very smooth run on Sunrise, then promptly proceeded to almost wash out on the first two corners of the newly re-routed Butcher Ranch fire road.  Thankfully I didn't go down and proceeded to have one of my best ever runs down Butcher.  I climbed strong up to Third Divide and was gassed as I dropped in.  I took a few breaths to recover and missed out on some speed, only getting a little over 35mph on the initial descent.  But I was railing all the corners and just loving it!  I was starting to get excited, knowing it was going to be a fast time if I could hold on.  

PPSSHSSSHHHHHHHSHSHSH!!!!  NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I hadn't even hit anything!  I was being so smooth!  It's smooth trail right here!  AAAhhhh!!!!  My back tire was immediately flat.  I pulled over and had the world's fastest tube change... getting back on the bike not long after a second rider had passed by.  But about 100ft later... POW!!!  Like a gun shot.  There was something else wrong, and my only tube, and only co2 can was done.  I inspected the rear tire to find a hole in the bead... dang.  A rider tossed me a tube and co2 as he passed, awesome.  It was a 26er tube but I stretched it to fit and aired it up.  Though I couldn't put much pressure in it with the bulging bead.  I limped down the trail but the inevitable happened after just a few hundred yards and it pinch flatted.  Well... gotta get down the hill anyway... so lets just see how strong these ENVE hoops really are!  I picked my way down the last of third divide and then first divide trail, trying to stay out of the way of racers still hammering and trying to avoid the most jagged rocks.  

About six miles later I finally limped across the line.  I was last, but at least I finished.  And I was impressed that the ENVE AM rim was still straight and without any major damage! Nice!

So my hopes of a problem free Downieville weekend were dashed, as well as a potential top five in the All Mountain.  Oh well... 364 days 'til the next try.  I'm stoked for Ryan who ended up with a 5th place All Mountain in his first year racing at the pro level!  His race report is up as well if you want to check it out here.  And actually I ended up 13th in the final All Mountain results, which is my best yet!

2013 Marathon MTB National Championships - Sun Valley, ID

For the third straight summer I made the drive out to Sun Valley, ID... it's long, but totally worth it!  This year would be a little different though, as the race was the double length "Marathon" National Championship race and Jen finally got to come with me (always better!).  I was really feeling strong in the week leading into the race and the longer format usually suits me well (commence diesel mode!), so I was looking forward to a good result.  The course would consist of two circuits of last year's amateur xc national champs course... basically climb a big mountain and come back down... rinse and repeat.

Friday morning I set out for a pre-ride on the Highball.  From what I remembered the climb wasn't too rough, so the sub-21lb. hard tail might be nice.  And about half way up, I met Neil from Avex.  He snapped this photo showing the awesome view of the Ketchum/Hailey valley below.

He's also having me test out one of their new Pecos insulated bottle which is pretty cool.  It has a flip top cover to keep crud off the spout.  So far it's pretty cool and finally a bottle I wouldn't be afraid to have on the bottom of the down tube on my Tallboy LTc.

After the long climb was a ripping long descent and was a ton of fun.

While being fairly smooth and flowy, was also high speed and littered with sharp rocks in places that made the risk of flatting high.  So because of that I elected to pull out the Tallboy for the extra security of the squish.  There weren't really any places where I'd be hindered too much by the added weight, since almost all of the climbs were long and steady.  Plus I know the Tallboy could rip the downhill a bit faster... and be more fun!

Race morning came and I was pretty anxious.  Not so much about the race itself but that something just didn't feel right.  I ate a good light breakfast and had a cup of coffee, but I still wasn't satisfied and just felt tired.  Plus I was cold and couldn't seem to warm up.  It was about fifty degrees out at 7am, which is less than half of what I've been used to in Sacramento the last week or so.  But it's not THAT cold and I shouldn't need my thermal jacket which I was wearing during my short warmup.  The race was at 8 and I didn't really have time to eat any more or get whatever it was sorted out before lining up.  I just hoped I would start to feel better once things got underway.

We started out with a start loop around the venue and up a couple hundred yards of the "climb to the sun" which didn't feel so great first thing in the morning!  The field got strung out a bit after winding back down through the trees and heading out down the paved bike path.  I caught up to the lead group about twenty strong before we turned off the pavement and started up the big climb.  The group stayed together and composed until the climbing got steep.  The top six or so broke away and the rest of us spread out a little.  I was feeling ok, and hanging in the chase group just staying smooth and steady.  We turned into the singletrack and the climbing continued but was a little more rolling.  I got popped off the back as I needed to recover a bit.  The only problem was I really wasn't recovering and getting any "pop" back.  I kept sipping on the Clif Shot mix in my bottle and slowly reeled the chase group back in, catching them about half way up the climb.  I could see the leaders farther up the climb, at least five minutes ahead already, which was demoralizing.  Oh well... it just wasn't happening today.  After about fifty minutes of climbing we crested the top and began the descent.  I passed a few guys, and I also think I counted three who were pulled off with flats before we made it to the fire road climb, bringing us back onto the front side of the mountain for the final descent to the finish.  I had NO power for the climb, and was passed by a couple guys... dang.  I popped a Clif Shot because I was feeling hungry again, but after a little bit the hunger resumed.  I was already starting to feel a little over saturated with sugars and just wanted water, which I didn't have with me.

Thankfully after all those fun switchbacks on the descent, I came through the venue to start lap two and got the hand-off from my support crew which was a nice big bottle of straight water.  Jen yelled that she thought I was in 19th at that point... maybe after this water I'd feel better and could pick off a bunch?  So I set off for lap two...

I bridged up to a couple guys on the pavement and once I was in the draft, sucked down some water.  Then some more.  After about five minutes I was starting to feel better.  But then that whole bottle was gone about a quarter of the way up the big climb, and I still wanted (needed!) more but had nothing.  The only thing that kept me going up that climb was the promise of a bottle of water from the aid station at the top.  With about eight minutes left in the climb, I came around a ridge and could see that glorious white tent... an oasis in the mountains.  I finally got there, and yes, WATER!!!  Only problem was I could only take a couple gulps before needing to put both hands on the wheel for the descent.  Ahh!  I WANT MORE!!!  There was a short climb about half way down where I could get a few more sips before the high speeds resumed.  Finally I made it to the fire road traverse and I sucked down the rest... still feeling over saturated and hungry but getting better.  There was another aid station and I grabbed another half full bottle from them before cresting that climb and I sucked down some more.  I was about twenty seconds back from catching another guy so I set out to try and reel him in on the final descent.  But I still just didn't have the energy and he was descending well.  I made up time, but just not enough before the bottom.

 I rolled across the line in 17th after three hours and seventeen minutes for the 40 mile, 6000+ ft. vert. course.  I was pretty upset and frustrated with how I felt, because I think it was something as simple as not eating enough the day before.  But I did the best that I could with what I had, the bike was awesome, and this always makes it better...

And after tanking about four more bottles of water and eating two lunches... time to enjoy Sun Valley and a little vacation!

And on Sunday we had a fun time riding the gondola and lifts up to the top, rollin' the bikes down and enjoying some great trails and awesome views.

Ashland Enduro (Ashland Mountain Challenge) Recap

Earlier this month I rode in Ashland for the first time on our way back from the Bend enduro.  I learned quickly that I had been missing out on some good stuff!!  So I was certainly looking forward to the race.  And after a hard race at XC Sate Champs the weekend before... some time riding the big bike all day and hanging out was a nice change of pace.  So I got up there Friday afternoon and met up with teammate Marshall Eames for some preriding.  I even wore baggy shorts to try and blend in a little better!

Getting dropped off at the top of the East ridge (stages 3 and 4)...  Wonder how much all those bikes on the shuttle are worth...

Stages three and four consisted of the main downhill portions of the old "12 Mile Super D."  Unfortunately all of the singletrack down the hill isn't technically legal yet (but totally awesome!!! So I hear...) so we still have to blaze the old fire road for a few minutes in the middle of stage three.  I'd been fiddling with the Tallboy LTc's suspension setup all week and it was WAY better now.  So dialed for the downhills and jumps (it even pedaled better!) and this was confirmed on my first run back on BTI trail which is filled with small doubles and berms.

We then took the next "shuttle" (more of a hay ride in a flatbed trailer) up to the west ridge for stage one (Horn Gap) and stage 2 (Hit Road) practice.  We didn't ride these two weeks ago so they were brand new to me.

 But first we had to climb for a while after the shuttle drop-off... for about a half hour.

Horn Gap trail was all singletrack, and very very tight in the trees.  I went down ahead of Marshall for my first attempt and about ate it on a blind 180 degree switchback.  It's blind because if you don't know it's there, you think you're just going in between two big trees and then SURPRISE!!! It drops down and hangs that tight left.  I think I bounced off both trees and went into the rut sideways but somehow rode it out!  The rest of the trail was one of the most fun I've ever ridden.  The trees were so tight to the trail it was like a slalom course!  And with 780mm wide ENVE DH bars it was interesting at times!  It had a ton of flow and was just plain fun!  Only problem was it was just way too short!  It only took about four minutes to complete.  So we rode back up and did it again.

The transition ride over to Hit Road was another long one but it had some great views... couldn't help but set up a photo op...

Hit Road (stage two) was mostly an overgrown fire road descent.  Pedal where you could see ahead, and even when you can't if you dare.  It's a Kamikaze run with water bars in the middle of blind corners that will eat your front wheel if you forget about them, rocks in the shade that can end your day, and every corner is loose.  When we got to the bottom, Marshall and I agreed that would be a survival stage since we would only have one practice run and, as I put it, "I like having skin."  

So we cruised on down into cool downtown Ashland for some dinner obeying all speed limits of course...

And we found some other hooligans (Santa Cruz factory employees/racers and top contender Aaron Bradford) soaking up the last bit of sun in Lithia Park.  Just a few nice bikes here...

On race day I would start stage one at 9:15am.  Ashland Mountain Adventures had it setup where Pro's and Cat 1's would race stages one and two in the morning while Cat 2/3's were on the other ridge riding stages three and four.  Then we'd switch for the afternoon.  Seemed to be a pretty efficient setup to get everyone in and done earlier.  Especially when there were nearly sixty pros!  I have to say it was sure nice not to have to wait around until 2pm to start my first run!

Photo: Mike Albright

I had a blast on stage one.  I hammered out where I could but was also a little too cautious in places... like that blind switchback.  I just wanted to make sure I didn't ruin my whole day by screwing up in the first 200 yards!  That's definitely not the way to be fast in this format, especially on a sub four minute stage!  I hit most all of my lines and missed clipping my bars on all the trees.  The second to last corner I went into a little hot and hung my wheel out over the grove in a nice dirt track slide... sweet!  I finished with a time of 3 min 50 sec which was 33rd fastest and 46 seconds back from the stage winner.  Marshall was 37th for the stage just five seconds back from me.

Stage two started out with a sprint down a fire road for a couple hundred yards before a big gap jump where you'd better not come up short.  And since I don't quite trust my take-off ability just yet I wasn't ready to send it so I grabbed some last second brakes and scrubbed it.  The rest of the run is a "how well do you remember this corner" situation in between pedaling as hard as you can.  I was navigating the corners pretty well and remembering what was there but I certainly wasn't shredding them as fast as possible.  Unfortunately, my cables and derailleur decided that they were now "broken in" and needed adjustment as I was pedaling furiously.  Having ghost shifting and the chain coming off a couple times weren't exactly helping me keep the power down... but that's my fault for not giving it a final tune after preriding.  Half way down the stage there was a sharp left switchback that was easy to over-cook and slide right off the edge.  I remembered it was there though and was so focused on hitting the right line that I smacked something in the shade with the front wheel... HARD!  No flat! Phew! And gotta love the ENVE AM carbon rims!  Not a scratch!  I ended up 38th fastest with a time of 4 min 37 seconds which was 25 seconds back from the stage winner.  Marshall had a slightly better run and was 31st for the stage with a time four seconds faster.

After a quick bite we caught the nearly hour long shuttle ride up to the top of the East ridge.  I was sad I didn't have my camera... it was a beautiful clear day and the views to the South, into California and with Mt. Shasta in sight were just amazing!

We rolled down the transition towards the stage three start, with a little diversion for some tail-dragging steep single track fun before reconnecting with the "official" transition trail.  Doesn't matter HOW you get to the start right???  I got to the start line with about a half hour before our first racer would start... so rather than waiting around in the sun I went ahead for another practice run of the upper section which I had only seen once.  Gaining just a little bit more trail knowledge was well worth it, even after having to climb back up.  Stage three was a long one and I thought I would have a good chance at a fast time.  I just tried to stay smooth on the upper section through the corners and rocks as the trail wound through the trees before dumping out onto the fire road.  But the fire road isn't quite so easy either... it's littered with tree limbs, randomly placed rocks and freshly graded loose dirt.  The corners are almost all flat and slippery which certainly adds to the excitement while pedaling your legs off!  Eventually you turn back into Catwalk trail for some more jumps, berms and twisty wooded hammering.  I managed to catch Nate Byrom (WTB) who started a minute ahead but I still ended up just 32nd fastest and 52 seconds back from the stage winner!  Holy crap these guys are fast!!!  It's all about maintaining speed through those corners... I've got some work to do!  Marshall had a run in with a tree stump which tore off his rear derailleur at the bottom of the fire road.  He was able to finish out the run though, 45th fastest.

Stage four was an absolute blast!!!  I put a bit more into it knowing it was the last run of the day and pushed it.  I lost some time in the upper section when I totally blew a switchback and almost went down, but I was totally pinned after that.  I didn't care what obstacle, jump, drop, whatever, was in front of me I was just sending it!  The bike was awesome and set up perfectly!  I just need to trust it!  Once I finished the stage I was SO stoked!  It was my best run of the day and I had finally gotten a little taste of just how hard I need to really push it to be competitive... even though I was still just 28th fastest and 30 seconds back!  I'm getting better for sure... and that feels good!  Marshall had a fun "chainless" run down the stage but since there was still a fair amount of pedaling he was 53rd fastest.

I ended up 32nd overall (Marshall 48th) but more importantly I had a HUGE smile on my face and was truly satisfied by two days of awesome riding and hanging with the crew.  Who knew that racing could be so refreshing?!

Here's a video recap of race day on Pinkbike.

2013 CA State XC Championships - Big Bear Lake

I had put this race on my calendar early in the year, thinking it would be good to go back down to Big Bear and try for a championship title.  But then plans got a bit cloudy when my Highball was stolen, and even more so when I sliced up my hand.  It was looking like it wouldn't be worth it and I might be better off sticking around home and continuing to train for Marathon Nationals.  But God started putting the puzzle pieces together... my hand has been healing up nicely and I received my replacement Highball a week before the race and I spent all week on it making adjustments (since it wasn't the exact same build) and getting used to riding a hardtail again.  Then on Saturday morning I put on the lighter 28 spoke ENVE's with King hubs and lighter tires... wow!  Combining that with a couple days of light riding and feeling great, I was flyin'!  That confirmed my inclination and the race was on!

The race build, slightly under 21lbs:
XL Santa Cruz Highball Carbon
Fox 32 Float 100 CTD w/ Trail Adj.
Shimano XTR Race Brakes
Shimano XTR Trail drivetrain (38/26 double chainrings)
ENVE XC Twenty9 wheels (28h) on Chris King hubs
KMC X10SL Gold chain
WTB Nano front tire, WTB Nine Line rear
WTB Silverado SLT saddle
Thomson Elite seatpost
Easton EC70 handlebars
Shimano Pro XCR Stem
ODI Flangless Longneck grips
Ashima rotors (160 front, 140 rear)

So after about seven hours of driving I rolled into Big Bear around 1am, found a place to stash the car and bedded down... hatchbacks are awesome!

Thankfully the race didn't start until 11am so I had some time to get some warm breakfast and go-juice at my leisure.  The cup says "perfect oatmeal" but it was only perfect after I added some sweet chia/hemp/flax/almond/cranberry mix that I had.

Ok so enough about the travels... on to the race!  It'd be four years since I'd ridden in Big Bear, so I would be racing the trails blind for the most part.  Even though the course was much of the same, it was backwards from the only other time I'd ridden it, and there was a new trail along the ridge called Skyline Trail.  One thing I did remember though was that the last mile was a pretty fun and technical downhill.  I made sure to include riding that as part of my warm up so it'd be fresh in my mind if I needed to really hammer home.

We lined up at the base of a big fire road climb and after we all rolled up to the start line, I was a few rows back.  Oh well, I knew it was a big steady climb and I'd get to the front eventually.  I just hoped nobody went at a crazy pace right at the start.  Once we got going, it took a couple corners and maybe a few hundred yards before I was out in front of the cluster of Cat 1's that started with us.  I could see two riders way out front really pushing it and a little chase group not far behind them.  I eventually caught and passed the chase group and kept charging up the hill.  I was feeling ok but a little flat, maybe from the altitude.  I tried to push harder and bridge up to the leaders but it wasn't happening.  I could only get as close as about 10 seconds off their wheel, so I just sat there in no man's land until I finally crested the ridge and turned to a very loose downhill.  I was dragging the rear wheel in places and just trying to stay in the ruts from previous riders.  I almost missed the sharp left turn at the bottom and had to stop as last years champ Ely Woody went by.  He charged hard through the traversing singletrack and I made sure to keep him in sight since many of the corners were obscured by brush and trees.  I stayed with him and took advantage of his trail knowledge on the descent, allowing me to go a bit faster than I would have on my own.  It wasn't long though before the course turned up again on a fire road and I passed Ely at about mile seven.  I expected him to stay on my wheel but after a while I looked back and he wasn't there.  I couldn't see the guys up front either as the course weaved back up the hill with obstructed views.  So I just kept a descent pace in no man's land again and was thinking it would be nice to get on the podium... SO DON'T GET CAUGHT!

But then the course straightened out at one point and I could see the second place rider Joel Titius.  That sparked a little more fire in the legs and I pushed harder, eventually catching up with him near the top of the ridge.  And once I did, I could see the leader Miguel Valadez not far off.  By then we were on an undulating ridge road and I pulled Joel up to Miguel just as the Sport riders on a shorter course joined up with ours and we all funneled onto the new Skyline Trail.  This was going to be interesting... as I looked at the sandy switchbacks we'd need to climb up ahead.  I just hoped that none of these racers we'd need to pass would crash in front of me or make us have to get off and hike a climb.

Miguel was leading and I was right on his wheel, and Joel on mine.  We worked by riders where we could, but sometimes there was just no room to pass so we'd just sit up.  It was actually a nice break.  But I had to be ready to burst by as soon as Miguel went so I wouldn't loose contact.  All those passing bursts take their toll, it's a different kind of effort.  Thankfully the course wasn't too technical, just loose and curvy along the ridge line.  We became stuck behind a rider for a while and there were a couple places I thought Miguel could have gone for it but he didn't, so I decided I was going to take the lead and went by Miguel where there was just enough space between some bushes.  And then I went to work passing the traffic, making sure to talk to the riders as we approached and look ahead for them and let them know where I wanted to pass.  The pace certainly picked up once I took the lead and we dropped Joel.  And eventually the traffic started to thin out and I upped the pace even more.  The last couple miles of Skyline had some decent climbs and also got fairly rocky.  I was really missing the Tallboy here as the rocks were just a little too big to stay seated on the Highball.  There were some good flow turns in the trees that broke up the rocky climbing in a couple spots and I put a little pressure on Miguel there.  Then I'd relax a little in the rough climbs while he was working hard to stay close.

Skyline trail eventually dumped us off on a fire road climb and I knew the race was on.  We both sprinted up to the top and he went by for the lead.  There was no way I was going to let that stick!  We hammered hard over the last few rollers before the final fire road descent.  I got right on his wheel as we blazed down the sandy corners.  After a few corners, I saw a good 'S' turn where I could set up for a nice pass.  So I went outside-in and passed him on the exit of the second corner and put the power down... topping out the gearing, drifting the corners and having some fun.  I charged into the last singletrack downhill (the one I prerode) and it felt like I already had a little gap on Miguel.  I went all out where I could see the obstacles and held up a little where it was shaded... just praying that I wouldn't flat.  I couldn't hear Miguel, but I knew the course would open up one more time with a little more pedaling to be done so I could still lose it.  I made it through the rockiest sections clean and still couldn't hear him as I went up the last knoll... 'round the last right hand sweeper and across the line!!!  YES!!!!  I couldn't believe it!!!  I went and checked with the scoring crew to make sure I hadn't lost track of who was in front early on and they confirmed that I won.  Woohoo!!  Miguel finished 16 seconds back and I congratulated him and thanked him for a good, tough race.

I rolled down to the car and called Jen to tell her the awesome news!  And that her "lucky pigtails" worked!  Then after a little cool down spin I grabbed a peanut butter Clif Bar that had been baking inside the car for a few hours... O... M... G!!!  Like a fresh out of the oven cookie!!!  Of course... I tried the same thing with the chocolate chip Clif Bar I had there too!  Yum!!!  Food is SO good after a hard race!  And standing on the top step is pretty awesome too!

Then it was time to drive the long stretch back... in some of the windiest conditions I've even driven!

Be sure to check out the CA State Champs article on Mountain Bike Action Magazine's website.  It has my interview, Miguel's, and some good pictures of the race.

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!!!