NW Cup #7 Finals

Coming off of two top tens, one in the enduro and the other at the last NW Cup, I was feeling good about this final race at Stevens Pass. The mountain had gotten some rain and the Stevens pass trail crew had done a great job at repairing the track from the summers riding. The track was running fast. Having raced the same track here so much there wasn't much for me to dial in as far as lines.  The track was running faster so it did take me a bit of time to figure out the new speeds through different sections.

Saturday evening was seeding. I put down a smooth run up top but then had a mechanical towards the bottom that resulted in a dropped chain. Without being able to sprint the finish strip I came over the line in the 20th spot. Times were relatively close and felt like I had a pretty good pace set coming into Sundays finals.

Sundays race was opposite of Saturday. I had a sloppy top section with a couple mistakes but a killer bottom section. I ended up a second faster than Saturday and in 18th place. Not a bad way to end my first professional downhill season. My overall result in the series was 11th. I had an injury free year and I learned so much that I will be applying to the off season and next years races. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me through this years adventures: Gravity Components, Bell, Giro, my parents, and Joy Ride Bikes. Also look out for a more reports from some enduros I have planned!

Skipping through the rocks.

Kellog, Idaho NW Cup #6 and an Enduro

Even though I had a bummer of a race the weekend before during the Canadian Open I felt really good coming into this race. Riding whistler trails and getting a dozen or so runs in a day helped boost my confidence on the bike.

I was looking forward to this race mainly because it was a new venue and I had only heard great things about the place. The course was a shorter one, just over two and a half minutes. It was a loose wide open top section with the bottom dropping into some tighter tree, and corner after corner. Like many of the races this year, it was loose. Like six inch deep moon dust mixed with golfball sized rocks loose. For how dry it was the course held its shape very well over the three days.

I felt good on track all weekend and was loving the riding. My seeding run on Saturday put me into 10th or 11th place and I felt really good about it except a mistake up top. I was able to sort that out pretty quick Sunday morning. My race run was wide open up top and then as I got towards the bottom I held back just a touch as to not throw it all away. It seemed to work out. Came across in 8th! My best Pro finish yet.

Doing it.

Next on my schedule was the Capitol Forest Classic enduro that partnered with Cascadia Dirt Cup for the fifth race in there series. This is my home forest so I had these trails pretty figured out for the most part. I pre-rode once about 3 weeks before just to jog my memory.

When I pre-rode it was dry. It decided to rain the two days before and then during the race. If you have ridden Capitol Forest trails in the wet then you know just how slick it can get. We have a mainly clay based soil around the woods that turns everything it touches a dull orange red. I also hadn't ridden in the mud, except for Canadian Open, for a good couple of months. I wasn't too sure how hard to push it or where the limit was for traction.

Making our way up to stage one.

I found the limit in stage one with a stumble through a corner and a derailed chain. This run seemed to set a standard for the rest of the stages. I rode stage 2,3 and 5 clean but had a couple high speed dismounts on both 4 and 6 that cost a decent amount of time. There weren't many that day made it through all six without becoming victim to the red clay once or twice. Even with the mishaps I ended the day in 7th for my first enduro of the season. A result that I am happy with given the circumstances.

NW Cup #4, NW Cup #5 and Canadian Open

NW Cup #4

For the fourth stop of the series we headed back to Mt. Hood. This time the track was even more blown out than last race. We still hadn't gotten any rain. I decided to run a Maxxis shorty, a mud tire, up front in order to help the front track through corners and grip while braking. It threatened to rain once or twice but the clouds never let loose for us. The key to this race was staying loose and trusting the bike underneath of you. I had a decent seeding run and a mediocre race run. This put me in the top two-thirds with a 17th, same as the race prior.

A picture of me with my bike in front if a rad van and the e*thirteen
(Team Furbee)

Next I headed off to race Stevens Pass. This course has always been a challenge for me. Its got a mellow grade to it with many small holes and square edges to get hung up on. I spent the week before this over in Sun Valley, Idaho and put a lot of miles onto my trail bike and felt really good coming into this one. Conditions where same as they had been all year, dry, hot and very dusty.

Practice went well. I was able to seed into 14th spot, my best so far and went into Sunday confident that I could do much better. My run Sunday wasn't exactly what I was looking for though. I made up about a second on my final from seeding and landed the same 14th spot. Still best finish of the year and almost breaking through to the top half.

Skimming over a few of the square edge hits.

I was feeling really good after Stevens Pass race and decided to sign up for the Canadian Open during Crankworx Whistler. This is a race that I have always wanted to compete in since I first started racing, so getting the chance to finally compete in it was very exciting. Fridays practice went well, I took it easy and spent lots of time checking the track out. This was probably the most technical track I have raced yet. It was both fun and and exhilarating. Looking at the forecast on Friday I noticed that there was a high chance of rain the next few days but I didn't think much of it. 

Come Saturday's practice, the moisture had changed things up a lot. after first run down I knew that there were a couple lines I needed to change in order to compensate for the lack of traction. My seeding run later on that day involved a tumble down the track and mechanical that didn't allow me to complete my run. Once I got everything fixed on the bike, I went up and got a few more things dialed on track for Sunday. 

By the time Sundays afternoon racing had started the track substantially drier than the past day and morning. I felt solid and smooth thru the top half but washed out in a corner down towards the bottom costing me lots of time. On the bright side I had a great time and learned a whole lot about the bike and myself. I was happy to come out unscathed and ready for more racing.

NW Cup 2&3

For the second NW Cup we headed back to Port Angeles to race. The nice thing about coming back here is that we usually get to race a different track than the race before which was case this time. Its fun to learn different track and keeps things interesting. It was again very dry, loose and dusty which meant that everything was running scary fast. My qualifier went smoothly and felt like I could put down a fast run for finals. Unfortunately a root caught me out down towards the bottom and I ended up sending it into the woods which put me at the end of the pack. 

The next stop was Mt. Hood, Oregon. One of my favorite tracks because of how high speed and rocky the whole trail is. Usually at this time of year there are still a few patches of snow left to keep the the dust down and a few muddy patches. This year, because of how little snow the Northwest had, the trails were blown out and dusty. Every corner had a sand trap somewhere through it adding an extra level of difficulty. I had a relaxed qualifier because we were doing finals on the same day and was hoping to bring my time a good 10 seconds faster in final. My housing got yanked somewhere between practice and finals making it so that I couldn't get into any of my high gears putting me a second back from my qualifying run. Overall I was happy with how I rode and I get to race Hood again in a few weeks so I'm stoked for the second try. Hopefully the mountain gets a little bit of rain between now and then!

Sea Otter Classic and Pro GRT #1

Sea Otter Classic and Pro GRT #1

 a couple of friends and I started off the season by road tripping down to California for the 2015 Sea Otter Classic. We had a place to stay in Santa Cruz thanks to our good friend, Ben Furbee. We arrived  a day early so decided to ride the trails around town. These were very different from the moist dirt I had been riding back home the day before. Every corner was either hard as concrete or moon dust and judging which ones you could trust became difficult at times. We all had a great time and it definitely helped prepare me for the following day of practice on the downhill course. The next few days were spent wandering the venue catching up with friends I hadn't seen since last season and getting a couple hours of practice in. Come Sunday, finals for downhill, I was pretty beat from all the activity and being from cloudy and damp Northwest I was also baked from the sun. This was my first race in the Elite men category and I was a bit nervous. I ended up blowing a couple corners in race run but was happy to come down beating my time of last year by about 10 seconds. I left this race excited to see what I could throw down at next weekends race in Port Angles, WA.

Photo: Cam Sloan

Photo: Cam Sloan

Photo: Cam Sloan

I always look forward to racing up in Port Angeles because of how close to home it is and I know the trails very well. Five years ago this venue was my first ever DH race as a cat 3 rider. This place is where I learned how to race and I always love coming back. The trail started off a bit muddy the first day of practice but by the end of the weekend there had been no rain and it had become a dusty luge to the bottom. Since this was a Pro GRT we had to qualify for finals which meant that top 80 would be racing on Sunday. After struggling down to the bottom in my qualifying I just barely made the cut coming across in 80th place. Come Sunday I had a few things sorted out and was feeling very good about the bike and track. I was able to put down a super fast top section but got sketchy in the woods a few times. Bettered my time by a couple seconds from qualifying and ended up in 66th. Not quite what I was looking for but happy to come out knowing what I need to do. I can't wait for the next one!

Photo: Shane McKenzie

Photo: Cam Sloan

Photo: Kathy Sessler