European XC to Oregon Enduro and more…
A whole lot has happened since I last jotted down a few
anecdotes from the road. Most
importantly, being on the road eventually, if temporarily, gave way to some
home time. That was a highlight
for sure. I love traveling to
beautiful places, and a long stint in the GMT-1 Time Zone this spring was the
right thing to do for my attempt to make the 2012 US Olympic Team. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Not even really very close. If the team selected four or five riders
I would have been a contender. We
earned our right to send two.
Those two were clear choices and I was glad to learn that the Selection
Committee did the right thing in sending Todd Wells (who had similarly bad luck
this spring as myself but kind of ruled it in 2011, consistently top 10 on the
world stage) and Sam Schultz, who was by far the most consistent and ultimately
the best American at the first four World Cups of 2012. Plus, he’s a stoked, talented kid from
Montana who’s paid his dues, one small step at a time.
The third and fourth rounds of the World Cup in Czech and
France seem like ancient history at this point, but they were only a month
ago. I had high hopes for the
French Alps training camp having gotten me in shape enough to make a statement
at these two events, both of which were on courses that I actually enjoyed
riding.
Nova Mesto na Morave is a scenic town in the central Czech
Republic countryside, not entirely dissimilar from where I grew up in
Maine. Farmland and forest that
sees more precipitation than sunshine.
We stayed in the Hotel Ski, right at the race venue, which was a nice
treat. The Rabobank team’s usual
M.O. for these World Cup races is to have lodging in some adjacent town in
order to maintain a quiet atmosphere for the riders to rest and prepare. The opposing view of this is that it
almost removes one too much from the environment, making these prestigious
races seem like just another weekend.
Not so in Czech, the energy in the hotel was palpable and I think it fed
all of the riders. Or at least
gave us something to do in the form of socializing with our competitors,
sponsors and random race fans. We
also go to watch the World Cup Eliminator race from the grandstands. It looked even harder than from the start
line as a participant…
U23 National Team member Russell Finsterwald has style for days.
Evidently the energy of the race was too much for me to
handle though. Other than avoiding
a MASSIVE pileup on the pavement, I had my standard average/bad start. Fortunately, I was still in the 70’s
(could be much worse) and riding with JHK as we started moving through the
field after the start lap. Then I
got excited and tried a new passing line.
It had a huge rock. I
smashed into it. My fault. The resulting flaccid tire had to be
ridden half a lap to the pit, which put me back into the triple digits. Still feeling solid, I worked back up
to the 70’s by the finish.
Super. Nino Schurter won a
hard-fought battle with hometown boy Jaraslav Kulhavy. Damn those guys are fast.
The next weekend in La Bresse was my last chance. I pretty much needed to light the world
on fire, or at least enough of my competitors to finish up near the podium to
salvage any hope of Olympic Glory.
To this end, I rode my trusty XTC 29 hardtail all week and limited time
spent exploring the Hautes Vosges region’s never-ending supply of amazing
singletrack. Which, it turns out
has such awesome tracks and lines burned in because Remy Absalon holds a
two-day Enduro event there every June.
Smart guy.
Hardtail skills are good to have, but this sure looks fun on a proper bike.
Again, average start.
Actually below average.
Somewhere around 100 after the start lap melee. Although, interestingly,
Burry Stander had some mishaps at the start and we were together in the cheap
seats on the first (large by modern World Cup standards) climb of the day so I
had a good marker to see just how far someone who’s actually fast could go from
said seats… Turns out it’s
possible to get 24th from the back. Good to know, Burry. Actually, I used to be able to do that...
I rode decent, passed about 50 guys and ended up 52nd. Still the 5th American. We all finished within a few spots and
minutes, nearly a lap down on hometown boy Julien Absalon. His convincing win on a track designed
by his brother and 20k from his home of Remiremont warmed my heart. I’ll say it again, he’s a good bike
rider.
Ok, that was Europe and not making the Olympic Team. Let’s move on.
Next up, a week off the bike. Which flew by, there are a lot of things to catch up with on
the home front after a few months abroad.
Like going snowmobiling with the boys after a surprise 18” dump on May
24th. Back on the bike
it was time to just ride the thing.
No powermeter, no intervals, just riding the terrain as it
dictated. Sometimes, on the
singlespeed, that meant really hard.
Other times, on the road bike on gravel with some Aussie prick on race
tires, it meant a lot of creative flat tire repairs. Either way, bike riding is ace in my book.
Byron likes to rock out. Being crazy pays huge dividends on snowsleds.
Fortunately, in this day and age of mountain bike contests,
there’s never a very long period without an opportunity to have someone say GO
and have a crack at it. I’m
growing ever more enamored with the burgeoning Enduro racing scene, which has
finally landed in The Northwest in the form of the new for 2012 Oregon Enduro
Series (formerly the Oregon Super D Series). The new format, which, just to clarify, exchanged the old
Super D format (one long downhillish run) for the European Enduro format of
multiple timed downhill “Specials” connected by un-timed but still to be ridden
uphill or traversing “Liasons”.
It’s kind of like Rally Car racing on bikes, but only on the good parts
… It’s also the future, I
hope.
Due to massive storm carnage in Hood River’s Post Canyon,
the series opener was moved to Bend.
Perfect, I could ride from my house to the race. And have local knowledge. Which proved kind of irrelevant, as I
don’t really make a habit of riding at 110% pace and commitment in my backyard.
Doesn’t really seem sustainable…
Series organizer Devon Lyons fingered Slaven, Anthony, The White Buffalo and I to star in a course preview video. Check out the terrain here-
A proud field of the nation’s top bike riders turned up to
see just how their particular skill set would stack up with this unique
format. I was quite curious
myself. Would established Super D
guys like Timmy Evens, Nathan Riddle, Matthew Slaven and Jason Moeschler use
the shorter, less pedally stages to give XC bandits like Carl, Josh Carlson and
I a run for our money or would the proper gravity guys like Curtis Keene and
Brian Lopes (yikes!) roll and smoke everyone with their precision and
snap? Hmm.
I had the extra layer of advantage/uncertainty/pressure that
came with riding this sweet new bike I’ve been working on for nearly a year
with Giant for the first time in public.
It has big wheels, biggish shocks and does great wheelies and
skids. Plus, it’s the fastest
color other than white.
Black. Seemed like a good
choice for racing on the good parts, but you know how it goes, if you win it’s
because of the bike, if you lose, well, that bike sucks.
I won. By a
decent margin (luckily, because a rookie mistake involving basic bike
maintenance starting stage 4 nearly cost me the farm.) Whew, the bike IS good. And condensing the racing into the
really good bits with time to reflect/BS/get stoked in between with your
buddies, or strangers, is pretty ideal.
Not to get all caught up in the stage times and what not,
there was one notable test from a time comparison standpoint. Somehow, in 2:12 spent on what amounts
to a downhill BMX track, I was only two-tenths slower than Lopes. Neat. And, how the hell did I do that? Side note- The sketchiest, shortest, lippiest, most
9-year-old kid looking jump on the course? The one some people just rode through the bushes
around? Yup, I built that one
fateful Wednesday evening last spring.
Sorry for the danger, I’ll go fix it the next time it rains…
New Giant Factory Team rider Josh Carlson overtook Mr. Lopes
on stage 5 for 2nd and Carl did the same to Curtis Keene for 4th. So, in the top 5 we had two XC riders,
a proper DH’er, an Ex-Pro Motocrosser (Carlso) and, well, Brian Lopes, however
you define that guy (he’s really good).
The rest of the top 10 included the usual Enduro suspects, and our
Shimano Boss, Joe Lawwill was 22nd, dead-nuts in the middle of the
45-rider strong pro field. He’s a
huge proponent of this Enduro business and we’re glad to have the support from
up top. There was a good turnout
from the bike industry, everyone seemed to be waiting with bated breath to see
how this event was going to play out, wishing success upon it as the next
coming of bike racing. I’d say we
got off on the right foot, pros and amateurs alike were stoked on the format and
amount of riding done throughout the weekend. Some kinks need to be worked out here and there, but hey,
it’s riding bikes in the woods, fast, it’ll all come together…
It was Carl's Birthday, so...
OK, two more bike meets to go-
Arguably the best one, definitely the most lucrative (even
by World Cup standards) is the Blitz to the Barrel. Local mountain biker/entrepreneur/businessmen/good guy Eric
Eastland suggested an undergound local’s race to me a couple years ago. This, it’s third iteration, is the most
condensed fun I’ve had at a bike race in a long time. Basically, we started at Wanoga Sno-Park and raced down
Funner and COD to Tetherow Golf Course, where a huge crowd watched us hit a
sweet rock-to-wood stepdown then try to huck a sand trap before four (count
‘em) miles of pavement were pounded to get to the finish at Ten Barrel Brewing
on the west side of town. Where
we, um, pounded a pint to stop the clock.
Tetherow unknowingly built their driving range on a perfect launchpad. All Access just had to provide the landing...
My goal for this year, in the face of the strongest field
and biggest purse ($20,000 split between the men and women’s top 5) was to
arrive at Ten Barrel with enough time to slightly enjoy my beer. With guys like Carl, Timmy, Gibson,
Barry Wicks, Ryan Trebron, Josh Carlson, and Chris Sheppard in the mix, it
wouldn’t be easy.
Things started off dangerously awesome with Carlson winning
the $500 holeshot prime, just, after Matthew Slaven did a RAD Crew Jones
impersonation, bunnyhopping the inside course tape to go from 6th to
2nd. So high, so
smooth, so close… I respected his
radness for a while, and Nick’s amazing pink POC kit, then set about catching
the Aussie. It happened fast and I
was alone soon after. Tasting that
deliciously bubbly malted beverage already. Tetherow was a blur of screaming fans and setting sun. Fortuately, Alex McClaren was on the
PA, and, instead of telling dirty jokes, he actually gave split times when my
unseen pursuer, Wicks, came onto the driving range. 45 seconds.
Just enough time to finish up and drink a pint. Fast. With some burping/sneezing/gasping. For $3000! Katie Compton brought the Colorado Springs’ locals’ battle
to the Blitz, taking down Kelli Emmett in the ladies division. Rosara and I really miss you on the
Rabobank team, Katie, but we understand your position… And now you’re rich
too! Thanks, Eric, and all the
Blitz Sponsors. This race is
ridiculous.
The Blitz experience really begins at the finish line
though. Imagine having a bunch of
stoked buddies, bike nuts and curious strangers at the pub, which is your
finish line, on a Tuesday night.
Plug in a Sublime cover band on a proper stage provided by All Access to
get everyone stoked for the final event, ARM WRESTLING! Who loves skinny, yet unhealthily
competitive bike riders performing feats of strength? Turns out, everyone.
Esepecially the elders of the race, Lev and Brooke. Evidently you need to be a parent to
rip someone’s arm off. Well
played. Things kept on after that,
just another Tuesday night ending in that fateful decision- whether or not to
go to the Westside Tavern for a nightcap…
Timmy Evens. Commitment. The Aussie buckled eventually.
I didn’t. With
a flight to the Ute Valley Pro XCT in Colorado Springs two days later, I had
enough of a hangover to make things tenuous without the Westside upcharge… But Ryan Trebron did, his chugging
skills just wouldn’t go to bed. In
retrospect, I should’ve too, as Ryan rode convincingly away from our
five-strong lead group on the penultimate lap of the XC race Saturday
afternoon. Must’ve been that
night-cap. Or just his continual
quest to actually tear his crankarms and handlebars off his bike with every
pedal stroke. OK, everyone go home
and do this Tree Farm approved exercise- pick a random stranger off the street,
challenge them to a beer-quaffing contest, then sprint off on your townie,
trying to remove the bars and pedals with your skinny appendages. Repeat for a decade and you too can
ride at 1,000 watts all day long.
Freak. My K.I.R. points
from Tuesday only paled in comparison to Ryan though, so I attacked the remainder
of our group with 500m to go, didn’t crash on the slickest rain/clay soaked
boardwalk ever raced across and got second place. Basically Todd, JHK and Sam should’ve all accepted their
invitations to The Blitz, it’s obviously ideal preparation… Next year?
Brady, Russell, Kalan, Mitch and Kerry race because they love to ride. Bonus lap, Garden of the Gods.
Not to get all sappy, but being in Colorado Springs, the
town that jump-started my current utopic MTB lifestyle, when the email entitled
“Olympic Team non-Selection” came through on Friday afternoon was
bittersweet. The Olympic Training
Center’s U23 resident athlete program that I earned a spot in after graduating
high school was absolutely the turning point in my life. It’s been a great ride, much like the
many rides I went on in the hills around Colorado Springs in those formative
years. When some of the current
U23 crop suggested a ride after Sunday’s Eliminator race (which I got smoked in
and Ryan won) my heart kind of melted.
Having Jeremiah Boobar (who gave me my very first free bike part, a
RockShox SID in 1998) guide us on some little-known Cheyenne Canyon gems was
the icing on an already sweet weekend cake. Thanks, stoked kids and lifelong MTB shredder, for bringing
it full circle. This is a fine
hobby we have…
That’s all for now.
But there’s going to be more.
The next eight weekends are spoken for, all good stuff.
June 23- Mont St. Anne, Quebec World Cup
June 30- Windham, NY World Cup (surprise in store)
July 6- XC and Super D National Champs, Sun Valley
July 14-15- Decision- Missoula, Montana Pro XCT or Hood
River Oregon Enduro? Vote.
July 22- The MEGA Avalanche Alpe d’ Huez, France Finally! I’m scared.
July 28- World Cup Finals, Val d’ Isere, France.
August 5- Downieville Classic.
August 11- Crankworx Enduro, Whistler, BC
August 12- Olympic Games Mountain Bike race/I hop on a plane
to the middle of nowhere, BC.
Good thing I got in shape the last few weeks…