Thursday, May 28, 2009

New Mexico Road Trip

Sweet Weekend write up and a picture of me on: http://mountainflyer.com/news.cfm?itemid=206





Here is the race report and some other randoms from the first half of our NM road trip! Lots of stuff to read, will get pics or vid soon. For immediate Angel Fire enjoyment visit littermag.com!!!

Day 1 Thursday, May 21st –

Here I am sat in the passenger seat of the Rover(switched seats with Michael due to a food coma induced by the Leadville burrito cart) while the high alpine countryside surrounds me outside. It’s a wet and rainy travel day as it has been on and off the whole trip down. We currently have no clue where we are and we like it! A dear just ran out in front of the car! I feel like I’m in Europe, the mountains are still patchy with snow and there is a heavy fog in the air, if these are the current conditions in Angel Fire, we are bound for a fun weekend of racing and riding in the wet. I’ve been looking forward to this race since missing it last year in preparation for Europe. Let’s see if the off season training has paid off! Time to get back to gazing at beautiful views of this incredible landscape that has been laid out in front of us. Course updates and further thoughts about the weekend ahead to come!

I’m laughing my ass off right now! That beautiful drive that we just experienced was a huge detour. Somehow we missed the 285 exit and stayed on hwy 17. I really don’t care, it was really enjoyable, and it’s extremely funny as we are now farther away from Angel Fire now as we were 1 hour ago. Time to buy a map I suppose or learn how to use Michael’s iphone. Looks like we will be rolling in late…

Day 2 Friday, May 22nd –

KONA!!! I hucked a sick jump to a flat landing Canadian style today on the downhill course my first run out, it was sick! This particular jump rumored but yet to be confirmed, built by Shoey Juicler is a complete huck to nowheresville! I’m pretty sure I was the only one that hit it all day, but it had to be done, the Kona had to be tested and as expected it handled the flat landing like a PRO haha. Anyways, the first run I was having a blast, it felt so great to get back on a rough course on a different bike that brought like Obama a little change and excitement back into life/riding. This change brings expectations, I’m not gonna raise the bar too high here as I’m still dialing in my bike, and my hands by the end of the day could not hold on very tight, but I would really like a podium. Looking at the competition on course there is nothing I am not doing that the others are. Qualifying will be a good measuring stick to see just where I am compared to the rest of the field. We get a few more hours tomorrow which I’m really looking forward to.
MountainCross!!! The newly designed track modified by Wentz and co was a pretty big hit today. I had a lot of fun experimenting with some new lines on a section of course that is completely different. Racing is going to be tight, lots of rubbing I think, but it should be exciting. Tactics and line choice will eventually show and become more evident tomorrow morning as the full field should be practicing and pinning it. I fell good on the course, a few things to work on still, but I think I can do really well on this course.

Other random facts: Everyone is in new kits so I can’t tell who anyone is, I expect they will say the same for me. The Rockgardn Warbird helmets are a hit, everyone thinks they are a custom pain job. Broke and bent a few things on the DH bike, MRP G2 came loose and smashed up a derailleur(it is Angel Fire)! Working with the suspension, trying to figure out the winning combination. Walked the course, about to visualize, but it definitely helped big time, sooooo many lines I did not see riding. Kristin is stoked on her new DH bike, she loves it! Can’t wait to see her pin it on it. 11pm, my bed time, up and at it again @ 7am for 8am 4X practice. Pretty sick day!!!

Day 3 May 23rd…I think –

Thought it was June, only three days in to this trip and I’m already losing track of time! Heartbreak city, the Nuggs lost, we were all a little bummer over that outcome especially as it had already been a tough day. 4X in the morning was fun, but I got tired. Right after swapped pedals and loaded up for some of the slickest greasiest DH EVER! Two runs and a derailleur later I was fried. The day however was not over…4X qualifying was to come! I made some food and tried my best to get some energy back, was even thinking about a nap, the rain made that a little difficult today, heck, it made everything a little difficult today, except for the 4X. Without any practice for most Pro’s qualifying went off. I was super tired and was exchanging yawns with a few folks and knew I had to snap out of it. I waited until I near the back end of the group and then entered in for my gate, ran the course through my mind once over and snapped out of the gate. I felt relaxed the whole run down, no tricky moments, just solid riding, safe really. After keeping as low as possible over the triple set and casing the last one a bit the clock read 52.51 with a 4 next to my number. I got a few thumbs up and was told it was a good run. It didn’t feel spectacular, just no mistakes, and good cruiser run. Fixed bikes and ready for another early morning tomorrow! Bring on the rocks!!!

Day 4-5 May 24-25th –

“The races are over, everyone has packed up and got out of town, the arena is empty except for one man who keeps driving and striving as fast as he can, the sun has gone down and the moon has come up and long ago someone else left with the cup”… This weekend has reminded of this Cake song which I poorly quoted. Things definitely did not go my way this weekend! It wasn’t because of lack riding ability, I was riding as fast as I ever had this past weekend, I qualified well at both events and from many different people both riders and spectators was told I was destroying it in practice. Most people didn’t know who we were since we were on different bikes, and in a different costume. I was focused and properly prepared for both races this weekend which is always something I strive for. I had my lines dialed for both events. This is how my race runs went down…
4X – Choose lane one and was going to go inside on the first corner. Had a good gate, Wentz and I both started to move towards each other and his bar went on top of mine and he went down, I advanced but was later DQ due to the UCI 10 meter lane violation rule, which was in my opinion BS and I had video to prove it. Michael was on a role until he took himself out in the second round.
DH – Qualified 7th with a cruiser run, hit my lines, and kept my energy up! Race run I was focused and relaxed, made sure I made it into the woods and once I was there it was a smashing good time! I was going so fast skipping and doubling over everything! I decided to let it all hang loose, it was working well until I destroyed myself on a rock huck to flat. I thought my Kona could take it but I was off balance and ended up catapulting into a sapling! I got back up and was determined to finish strong but I ended up hucking huge off a rock into the flat peddle section all sideways, nearly died, ran out of the tape, then back in and then nearly high sided after sustaining a front flat! I was happy with how things were going. Lets see how things go next weekend!!!