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.