Sea Otter and NW Cup #1

Sea Otter Classic

The 2016 race season has finally started! I have been anticipating it for months now and I just finished up the first two weekends of racing. I started off by heading down south to ride in some sunny weather and end the week with the Sea Otter Classic. My friend Ben and I drove down to Los Osos a couple days prior to the event and stayed with his family where I got to explore some new trail and terrain.

Bikes, beaches and blue sky's.

We left Los Osos Thursday morning and headed out to Monterey were the Otter was taking place. I spent the first two wandering the venue taking a look at some of the new product that companies had to offer in between the couple hours of downhill practice. The track like usual was flat and sandy. On Saturday Ben and I decided to just show up for downhill practice in the afternoon and got some shuttle laps in Santa Cruz.

DH bike!

Sunday came I was eager to get the racing underway! I felt decent enough on track and thought I could lay down a good time. I had a great top section but then struggled through two corners that set me back. I tried to regain the time in the bottom pedal section but didn't manage anything impressive. Finished a good ways back but knowing I left a lot of time in those two corners.

NW Cup #1

Next up on the list for me was the first NW Cup up in PA. This is easily one of my favorite race venues, all of the trails are tons of fun and it never gets old. The forecast for the weekend looked poor with high percentages of rain. Luckily the rain held off during riding and there was minimal gear cleaning that had to be done at the end of each day. 

Lower Pro Hip

Qualifying took place Saturday afternoon. I was confident that I could put down a solid run. I had a few sloppy sections where I left time up on course but came down with a 7th place and I was super stoked on that. It poured rain all Saturday night leading into Sunday morning. By the time we got to the track and Cat 1 racers had ridden/dried the course and conditions where very similar to Saturdays. My race run went well and I made up some time where I wanted to. I finished the weekend with a 12th place result in a stacked field. Planning to build on this as the season progresses and work my way up!

Cheers till next time.