US Open of MTB

On memorial day monday morning at about 6:30 am, I was just rolling back into town after this years U.S. Open in Vernon NJ. We arrived in Vernon on Thursday evening just in time to walk the course as the sun was going down. It boasted its usual gnarly rock gardens, flowy berm sections, and huge red bull finish line jump. Friday was practice day and I knew right away I was probably not going to be posting my best time ever. I'm still getting used to my bike and if nothing else, the Open provided me a great opportunity to figure out exactly what changes I needed to make before my next race. (Wish I'd figured that out before I drove 13 hours!) I raced the pro qualifying on Saturday after a short practice session and needless to say, that was the end of my racing as I didn't come close to making the top 60 cut. Probably one of the most embarrassing finishes I've ever had. I really don't know why but I just couldn't get it together and really felt out of myself the whole time I was on the course. Big props to Steven and Dave who both qualified in the Amatuer Class. As anyone who has ever raced the Open knows, the Amatuer class is no joke. To qualify for either the pro or the amatuer race is a big deal so congrats to Steven and Dave for stepping it big to make it in! Anyway, besides the racing, the whole experience was great. Diablo freeride park has so many DH trails, you could ride all day without hitting the same one twice, but so many of them are so fun that you can't help but ride them again! The atmosphere was great. We felt like real high-rollers staying at the "Appalachian" right at the bottom of the track. Funny story- The ride back home was uneventful for the most part. I took the wheel in NJ and made it all the way into NC where we were going to drop Steven off at his car that he'd left in the parking lot of a Super-8 motel. When we get there, not to my suprise, his car had been towed! After waking up the owner of the towing company and driving all over kingdom come to find the place, we finally got Stevens car back and Dave and I set off for home. I rolled in as the sun was coming up and slept most of the day monday thinking to myself, "Maybe next year".



We saw some bad crashes while we were there, so to everybody who got jacked up, heal up quick!

Massanutten!

You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who's ever raced at Massanutten who could tell you it wasn't one of the most fun races they'd ever done. I've been racing there for the past five years and last week's installment of the annual event was no let down. Big thanks to the promoters for keeping things so well organized as usual. The weather was the big question mark of the weekend. One minute, the sun would be out, the next it would be foggy, blink your eyes again and it would be pouring. I was surprised at how well the course held together in spite of the changing conditions. The only part of the course that really got sketchy was the upper rock section. The middle section of the course is full of loaming, sweeping turns with a couple of funky rocky right hand turns. There's a short high speed fire road before turning off onto a tight rocky single track that becomes a fast baby-head rock garden just before the finish straight away. After looking at the stacked start list, my goal was to put in a solid mid-pack finish. I met my goal, finishing in 12th place with a time of 3:59. Jeremy and I practiced together all weekend long and were pretty much matching each other pace for pace. He took a hard spill in one of the rock turns and finished with a disappointing time. Had he stayed on, I'm sure he would have finished with a very respectable time judging from the way we were both riding throughout practice. Steven T finished with a 4:07. Dave P. finished with a 4:17. The thing that sketched me out the most was the number of injuries at the top rock garden! That part took its toll on several of our local boys! (Kenan, Greg, Doug, anybody else, Heal up quick!) Other than that, it was another good Massanutten Race in the history books. I'm already looking forward to next year. The US open is coming up next week and Dave, Steven and I will be rep'n the SEI! can't wait!