Race day at Deer Valley

I will admit, Deer Valley is not my favorite track. In fact, I would consider it a mediocre track at best. But I won’t spend too much time hovering over that subject. Race day came and it was an early morning practice, not too pleasing as the rest of the weekend held mid-morning to early afternoon sessions. Sanjay and I boarded the lift and prepared to do our pre-race runs. The weather was pretty nice, not as cold as we had expected. This meant that the highs would be in the mid-80’s, nice. Qualifiers were immediately following the practice session and I was seeded to go off 12 minutes deep into the field of over 60 PRO men. I decided to take a conservative qualifier so I could be seeded mid-pack. I did, and I ended up qualifying in the 21st spot which was not too bad. The usual NORBA thing was going on (bad scheduling) so we did not have finals until 1pm, which gave us much time to kill. Since the super-factory rig of the ODI-southridge team was extremely close to the lift I decided to spend my time there. Bradical and Hank were there and we quickly started talking about life’s deep questions and pop-tarts. Wes soon joined us and the I.Q of the group suddenly dropped, but not for long as my good friend Sanjay saved the day with his witty comments and useless taunting of Wes. Race time was approaching and the wind was starting to pick up, as the Semi-Pros came down from their race runs they all had a look of fear on their faces. They al mentioned that the wind had picked up majorly and the drop which everyone was having problems with had gotten tougher to manage and many people were getting hurt attempting to huck the drop. To spite the warnings from the Semi-pros I kept my plans the same and planned on hitting all my lines regardless of the wind conditions. Next thing I knew I was up in the gate and ready to rock. The beeps went of and so did I, over the rock double and into the loose, off-camber section before the infamous “Niagara” spot. Right before the “Niagara” my feet blow off the pedals, I manage to catch them with my heels and go down the section un-cliped. Not a big deal, I clip in and peadal hard into the trees and the “barney rubble” rock section. The cheering was incredible in the trees, a quick loss of traction before the rock garden sent roost off the trail and the crowd got even louder…Now it was on to the tough rock main rock section, I let go of the brakes and trusted my boxxer not to get caught up in the massive, sharp rocks. It did it’s job and I floated over most of the holes, roots and razor-sharp rocks. I took the first turn out of the section clean, perhaps a bit too clean for I carried too much speed into the next turn and hit a tree. The crowd was still cheering, as son as I hit the tree the crowd gasped and I fell to the ground, then in an instant the crowd rose again and cheered for me to get up and go. I did but not before realizing that I had twisted my bars, not time to straighten them up I was losing precious milliseconds. I cleared the rest of the course as cleanly as I could, that is until the second to last turn when I clipped a pole which sent me into at 360* dive and onto the ground…hard. This was basically at the bottom so you can imagine the amount of cheering I was getting before I fell and after I got up. Deer Valley was a good experience and although I did not hear my time upon finishing I’m sure it was not too heinous. On to St. Anne and my first ever World Cup, cross your fingers I hope I qualify, here we go…

To St. Ane we go

After a bad race day at Deer Valley, I am looking foreward to traveling to Mont Sainte Anne. We hop on the airport shuttle in a couple of minutes and get to cause a ruckus at the SLC airport for a couple of hours.
More updates as soon as I get to Quebec.

Deer Valley day dos

Well, just when I thought things could not get worse mechanically...they don't. But other problems do come up, mainly riding problems: today I had the worse fall in recent memory. My chainguide was caught on a rock right before a sizable drop and I dove about 12 feet onto the jagged, rocky landing. The course officials were stunned and made sure I was ok. When they asked me where I was I responded: "I'm at the bottom of the drop that just OWNED me." They found that humerus and helped me off the course. When I finally fixed my bike and cleared my head I went up for another run, which was short-lived due to the fact that I flatted at the top of the course. Got that fixed and was finally able to get some runs in. Can't say that they were as fast as I'd like but they were good.

The drop pictured here to the right is where I fell...

from the very top!

The minor damage from a horrific crash:

Deer Valley day one

Deer Valley. Whoa, what a crazy course. The dirt is super loose and the track is burly as can be. For some reason this course is taking it's toll on riders and bikes. My first run claimed my chain and a chunk of my e-13 bashguard. Second run claimed a tube and twisted my bars. Finally my third run was a bit better and I started to enjoy the track. There is close to zero tracion on this dusty, dry, loose and steep course.

A bit of bad news from the first day of practice: "hurricane DK", David K broke his wrist and will not be able to compete at this race.

Pracitce at 10am tomorrow morning, I need to commit to some lines and hopefully work out the problems I have with the course.

Angelfire low-down

Angelfire this year definitely left a mark on my wall of all-time "top races/trips". We packed both the F-250 and the SCION to their capacities and charged the 20+ hour drive like it was nothing. Me and Wes took care of the beast while the Aussies, Garrick and Griz drove the scone. Almost a full week of practice meant that come race day we would be pretty much spent, and that seemed to be the case for most racers including myself. I blame my fatigue on the fact that I was riding REAL downhill trails which meant that I was so stoked that I ignored the cramps in my hands and legs. Luckily our condo was large enough to handle our group, which was interesting to say the least. Griz kept things patriotic for most of the trip and drilled the Aussies; Yarl and Jason, whenever he had the chance. Griz also spoke to me in Jibber-jabber most of the time and whenever I would try to communicate with him he would simply reply: "What is he saying". Also with us were the brothers Anderson. Garrick and Ryan kept things quiet for the most part, that is till the time came for riding. Ryan had some super-ninja lines that most pros did not see, damn kid. Jake was or lone MTX specialist, he got pushed in the first heat and that is all she wrote. No worries though, Jake was pumped on the riding and spectating that was abundant up at the 'fire. Bradical was in the house and he made it clear that he has more energy and stoke than all of us combined. From the minute he arrived at my pad on Tuesday he was full-bore, and it did not let off. Maybe that was a good thing because he smoked the Junior-X class and is well on his way to Fort William to rep. the USA at Worlds. Oh yeah, Wes was with us too....

What a week, it seems like I just got home from that crazy trip and I depart of another in less than a week. My next endeavour will arguably be one of the biggest events of my life. If you would have asked me 3 years ago if I ever thought I would be racing a World Cup I would have laughed and shook my head. Back then it was just an unreal dream, but today I can say that I will be racing at the World Cup in Mont Saint Anne Quebec, unreal. So to St. Anne I go, stopping first at the NMBS @ Deer Valley Utah. I will be traveling with my brother, which is pretty awesome. Joining us on this East-coast op. is NorCal resident Mikey Haderer and New Zealand pinner Kieran Bennett. I'l be racing at the World Cup for DECLINE magazine, which should fetch some free exposure. Random pics from Angelfire below:

FIRE!!!

Stoked on the weekend's results! After qualifing 7th place I managed to put a semi-descent run in and pulled a 10th place in the pro division! STOKED! Bradical took the JRX division by a good gap also!!! I'm pumped for Deer Valley and the big show-Mont Saint anne WORLD CUP!!!!!

More pics and stuff to come!!!!

Day 1 at the 'fire angel.

Pics from today.