Plattekill this weekend.

I finished the 2008 season with a great result. The season started off a little rough but I finished strong and consistent. When it came to the last race of the Plattekill series I was in the running to take the win. I stuck to my game plan and finished second with enough points to take the win for the series resulting in winning the NY State DH Championship. A great finish that only gives me more incentive to come back stronger next year. It was a long battle over the past 3 years to finally take the series. Thanks to everybody for all their support including sponsors, my team SVB racing, racers and friends. See you all next season.

Thanks to Sponsors:
SVB Racing
Azonic
Kenda
SDG
e-thirteen
Sunn-Ringle
Turner Bikes

Team Mates:
Al
Donnie
Lander
Julio
George

Friends:
Kenny
Brian
Tim
Jim
Paul
Sasha
and a bunch of other people - you know who you are.

Well it has been a busy year but it is raining today so I have time for an update. I have been to the US Open, Daiblo Domination Series races, Jeep King of the Mountaion at Daible Freeride Park and the Plattekill Race Series.



In the US Open I qualified 60th out 300 riders and went for broke in my race run. It was a great weekend and an amazing course. Unfrtunately I pushed a little too hard in a new section and blew the corner which wrecked my run.



I have been plagued by flats lately in the Diablo Domination races but have been feeling great on the courses non the less.



Finally, for some good news. I got back on the podium again at Plattekill this passed weekend. It was a best of 2 runs race format and in my first run I got 2nd place. Before the 2nd run I loaned my friend a pedal and helped him with his front brake so he could complete his second run. I took my second run and bettered my time by 4 seconds. Unfortunately, to show his thanks he beat me by 1 second and bumped me to 3rd. Oh well, what fun would racing be without friends to compete against.



I'm also featured in a photo "going off the infamous Dreadnaught drop" of the race recap on the Plattekill website.

http://www.plattekill.com/images/plattekill%20sept%20report.pdf



Lot's of new photos uploaded to the race section as well.

Plattekill DH Series - Race#6

Not much to say on this one. Never felt comfortable on the course. My race run was my best run of the weekend but it was off the pace.



Diablo Domination Series – Race#5 Finals

Super fast course including the "road to nowhere drop", step up, waterboy, victory trails and the Red Bull booter from the US Open. I was feeling great on this course and was ready to let it rip then I blew the rebound cartridge in my backup fork. Luckily the course was so fast I don't think it caused me too much trouble. I pushed hard on my race run but ended up losing time by getting to sketchy and not being smooth enough to maintain the speed on the short course. I finish 23rd and 23rd for the series with one missed race.



Plattekill DH Series - Race#7 "Last Chance for Glory"

This is it - the last race of the season. I wake up Saturday morning sick and decide to stay home to rest for race day on Sunday. I laugh as I look on the computer and see the mountain covered in snow. I arrive early Sunday morning to register and get some practice runs in before the race. I here reports from friends that the mountain has iced over and the course is a death trap. I suit up and take the lift to check it out for myself. The course itself is not too bad but the conditions are dangerous since the ice turned the course into an ice louge. I make it through with 3 or 4 dumps and one section in particular is just about impossible. In my 3rd run I meet up with my friends. It is more a case of finding a way to stay on the bike than picking lines. They postpone the race to see if it would melt some and they try to salt the course but there is little improvement. At the last minute they run everybody on the beginner course which I think was the right choice. Most riders were relieved since some were ready to pack it in and go home rather than risk an injury. We only got one practice run and then the race was started. My run goes well even though there is still some ice and it drops into the last icy section of the expert/pro course. I'm not that familiar with the course with only one practice run but I keep the bike rolling rubber side down and grab my first podium in expert class (3rd place). I'm especially proud of this result since these were the worst conditions of the season and I managed to pull it all together for the last double points race and bump myself into the top 5 for the series.



That’s it for this season. There's nothing like finishing on a high note. A lot of riding and a few trips planned over the winter. There will definitely be a report from Ray's Indoor MTB Park this Winter.



Thanks to all my sponsors (Azonic, e-thirteen, Hayes, Kenda, MTB Strength System, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Sun Ringle, Turner Bikes) and SVB Racing for all the support.

Whiteface 5K Downhill

It’s finally here! The big race I have been waiting for all year. Unfortunately I may have fractured my sternum last race and I’m not feeling too strong. But still, I did not want to miss this race and with my friends Ken and Diane offering me a place to stay at Lake George I had to give it a shot. The course was amazing and even longer than last year with top ten pro times hitting the 8 minute mark. The weather was beautiful and the course was dry and dusty. Throughout the weekend the course turned into 6 inch deep talcum powder covering rocks and holes – really strange conditions for the east coast. Practice went well until I bent my crank spider and chain ring and snapped my chain. I got everything back together (thanks to my sponsors I have backups) and went up for my race run. The race run was going well but I just didn’t have enough strength for a full race pace run and got off line in a rock section and crashed hard. I took a break on the side of the course and then completed my run with a jammed chain. I managed to get 8th place but I learned that I shouldn’t race injured. I had a great weekend riding and cliff jumping at the lake. Thanks Ken and Diane, it was a great place to rest and recover from my injury with friends.



Plattekill DH Series - Race#5

I spent this week recovering by riding on the road bike and doing a dynamic stretching routine to regain my flexibility. If it wasn’t for the James Wilson’s MTB Strength Training program I have been following I don’t think I would have the strength or flexibility to recover so fast. The course was fun with the finish including a run through the slalom course. Big DH bikes in the slalom course feel funny. I play it pretty conservative all weekend because I can’t afford to fall and set my self back health wise since I am in the points race for this series. Me and my teammate Lander are tied for 5th place so far. In my race run everything was going pretty well until something grabbed my bike at the end before we dumped out to the slalom course. I went down, nothing too bad but it cost me a lot of time in a spot where you should be hauling into the slalom course. I ended up getting 10th place and dropping to 6th in the series. We have two more races, one of them being double points so I still have a chance to come back. Did I mention that Winter is coming – it dropped into the 30s Saturday night.



Mount Snow Iron Horse Series – Final

Everybody listen… This course should be used for the National Championships next year! This is by far the best course I have raced this year. High speed whooped out rocky sections, technical sweeping single track, and maximum speed fire roads all combined to perfection. I pretty much hit all my lines, maybe a little to conservative in some areas and end up in 12th place. I want to concentrate on this series for next year so I’ll have to work on the open high speed sections some more to become really competitive here. Best race course of the year, just like all the World Cup courses we watch in the videos. I can’t wait to race it again next year.



Diablo Domination Series – Race#4

It’s a perfect September weekend and I have my family coming up to watch with my little nephew Jared (maybe America’s future World Cup racer). For this race they had it go down the front side of the mountain through the legendary alpine trail, which includes wall rides and then into ripper. I end up having a catastrophic mechanical early in practice on Saturday. I go home early with a few runs and get to work on the bike. Four hours later I have a complete new front end on the bike cobbled together from a bunch of old backup parts and a lot of washers. It’s not pretty, nor perfect, but it will get the job done. I get a few practice runs on Sunday and meet up with family to show them the course. I was a little uncomfortable on the bike with the cobbled together setup so I took my run conservative and showed off on the wall rides for my nephew even though it was slower to do them. My mother got an awesome photo of me on the wall that I will be posting soon. I ended up 17th with my teammates Julio in 18th and Lander in 10th. All in all a great weekend and the family had a great time.



That’s it for September. Two weeks till the Gravity East finals. I should have my bike back to normal by then and I’m feeling fully recovered and strong so it should be a fast race. One more race report coming in November then the season is over.

Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill

I took some time off from racing after Mount Snow to heal up and attend the Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill. It was hosted by Shaums March and east coast legend Lars Tribus. I have been racing for 7 years now and I have never learned so much in 2 days. Learning basic skills all over again and then applying them to the race course was truly an eye opener. I realized that I had some bad habits to break and could beat the clock by concentrating on proper technique instead of trying to pin-it everywhere. Shaums and Lars explained how these basic techniques translate to your race run and it was great just to talk to them and learn from their years of experience racing at the top level. It was a great weekend and well worth skipping a race to work on my skills. I highly recommend the MMR Camps to anyone that is serious about improving their racing or just wants to have more fun riding. Congratulations to Saums (1st place) and Lars (3rd place) in the Masters Worlds in France. They are both truly great riders and coaches.



Time-out - Let's Just Ride

After the MMR camp I decided to take some time off from racing and concentrate on what I had learned at the MMR camp and ride as much as possible. I not only had some great weekends riding DH with my friends but I also applied the techniques I learned to my cross country riding. I feel like I have made gains and pushed my riding further. My race season should end on a high note.



Plattekill DH Series - Race#4

Back to racing! I'm driving up early since I want to race slalom and DH this weekend and need the time to practice. Unfortunately I get pulled over and get a ticket. This was the first sign of bad things to come. I get to Plattekill, suit-up and get on the mountain. First roll through run goes "OK" and the course is fairly standard. In fact years ago we use to call this course the Ghost Run even though we approached it from the other peak. My second run I'm coming through a shooty twisty section, go up and over some roots and manage to tap my bar on a tree and ping pong down the rest and land flat chested on a stump. I had my armor on but it was a small stump and hit me just on the zipper. I was not able to put much pressure on my bars so I did a few more runs to check lines and called it a day. No slalom racing for me today - I was bummed. I rested and got ready for tomorrow. Race day arrived and I did 3 runs to loosen up and see how I felt. I need the points so I decide that I can manage a 70-80 percent run and maybe if I keep it clean enough I can grab some points. I keep the run tight a clean but only manage an 11th since some of my friends raced with their A-game on. I hang around for awards since my teammates, Al, Donnie and Amy all podium. I get home Sunday night and realize on top of a bruised sternum I now have a cold. A good weekend for SVB Racing, a bad one for me - all I can do is rest and recover in time for Whiteface next weekend. It is that injury time of year and some of my friends were also caught off-guard by this course - heal up quick Jamie and Bill.



That’s it for August. September report to follow the end of the month including a report on the Whiteface 5K downhill race.

Iron Horse DH Mount Snow – Race #2

Back up to Mount Snow for a little training on the high speed open ski runs before the National Championships. The course was a variation of the sport course used for the Nationals. I have never been on this course and it was very fun. I was feeling great in practice getting used to my new Turner DHR. Race day came and we were not only racing the clock but the weather as well. As I left the start gate it started to drizzle. A third of the way down it started to pour and I thought this may be an advantage since the rest of my class would have to go off in the rain. However, I stacked it in the roxy rocks section and nearly knocked myself out. I managed to get back up, find my bike, and salvage a top ten with 8th place.



Plattekill DH Series - Race#3

Up to Plattekill for race #3 to keep the race senses sharp for the National Championships next weekend. I was testing some setups with the front of my bike and just was not feeling much flow on the course. The course never seemed to click with me so I registered for slalom on saturday. I have never had so much fun racing head to head. I will be doing more slalom races in the future. On sunday I crashed in my race run and finished 9th. I also donated my old DH bike to Plattekill's Junior Development program so we should start seeing some new kids on the mountain. Us old guys can't keep racing for ever, we need some new blood to keep the east coast hopping.



Mount Snow National Championships

Drive up wednesday and its pissing rain. Thursday practice in the rain. The course is a combination of Mt. Snows roughest wide open sections and now there turning into a mud bog. Practice goes better than I expected. Friday practice without any rain but the course gets worse. Rutted mud bog with giant holes forming everywhere by the minute. The course keeps changing and you have to keep trying new lines. I manage to hit a tree at full speed and bruise my quad. I thought I may have broke my leg and was on the ground for 5 minutes, it hurt so bad. I go back up to check out lines which was probably not a good idea since my leg hurt so bad. That night I ice, hot tub, ibuprofen and repeat to keep the swelling down. Saturday practice. Thank God for hot tubs, I feel a little better and I am able to pedal, walking is still not that good. Its sunny and the course seems to be improving and practice goes well. Saturday race run. My rear brake has been finicky all weekend and I crash right before ledges, I get back on and make it down to loose my bar with one hand and dump it in a mud bog before turkey falls. I scramble in the mud forever and at this point my run is basically over, too much time has passed. I get back on and finish my run with no rear brake ending up 13th.



3 Races = 3 crashes. Not a very good month but I have a week off to recover and get my head straight. After that we have the Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill, then Mount Snow race #3 and Plattekill race #4. I would also like to thank Fox for taking the time to setup my bike on thursday even though they were totally swamped and short handed. The bike feels dialed now.



That’s it for July. August report to follow the end of the month including a report on the Mad March Racing Pro Camp at Plattekill.

Plattekill DH Series – Race #2

One month the course is fast and flowy. The next it is technical and tricky. The course was a combination of trails from past old school races making it a instant Plattekill classic. Practice was mostly dry with some slick spots and come race day it looked like we were good to go without any problems. The pro class went off in dry conditions and then it was time to start the expert class. The winds picked up, the sky grew dark, some rumbles were heard and then it started to pour. With no shelter and no way down all you could do was laugh as you waited for your race run. So much for the dry set of gloves I brought up with me. It was raining so hard that the timing shorted 3 times and we were stuck on top of the mountain for an hour. The timing was fixed and now it was time to race. I leave the gate and enter the first section of woods and the trail is under water, it was crazy. I just followed the water and held back some since I couldn't see anything it was raining so hard. Amazingly I came through the finish with a clean run and landed seventh place. I was happy to be able to deal with all the weather and still throw down a clean run to keep in the top five for the series.



New Jersey State Championship XC Race

Well my DH bike is currently in pieces since my new Turner DHR showed up so I thought I would do something a little different. I went to the NJ State Championship XC race at Kittatiny. The course was fast and dry but not too technical. It was more of a wide open road race in the dirt and I was going to have to work to keep up with the seasoned XC racers. My class had 64 racers and when we hit the first section of singletrack it was a pile up. This continued for the first loop and I tried like hell to get out front but dropped my chain and had to fight to pick off more people. Lap 2 hurt real bad since I exploded on the first lap. The third lap felt better and people started to drop off since we all went out so hard on the first lap and a lot of people started to get flats. Not me though since I was running my 2.1 Kenda Nevegals like I was at a DH race. Towards the end of the 3rd loop I had to stop for a while while they cleared an injured rider with a quad and then I finally came through the finish line. I ended up 23rd out of 64. Not too bad for something I normally don't do but I definitely like 3 minute races better.



Diablo Domination Series – Race #2

New bike weekend! My new Turner DHR showed up and we frantically put it together friday night. It wasn't perfect yet but it was good enough to race and test out everything. Diablo also put together an amazing course which included the infamous Utah trail (rock upon rock and then more rock). Once out of Utah you headed into a nice set of berms and a step-up. After this you headed into a wide open grassy run and then to the Redbull booter from the US Open. This course had a little bit of everything and turned out to be very fast with times in the 2 minute range. I was messing around with bike all weekend and trying different springs and was feeling confident on the bike already. I was feeling fast and comfortable and was able to land 25th. A lot better than my last result at Diablo race 1. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season now once I work out everything with the new race rig. Thanks, Turner for getting the bike out to me as quick as possible.



That’s it for June. Check the photos section for photos from the US Open and my new Turner DHR. July report to follow the end of the month including the National Championship at Mount Snow.

Duryea DH in Reading, PA

A unique down hill event held in the middle of the city park. This legendary freeride event was back this year as a NORBA sanctioned race. It was missing some of the crazy stunts, such as jumping a car and the infamous airlines launch but it still had the same laid back atmosphere of the previous events making it the perfect season opener. I had a few bike setup issues to work out and did not have the best run but still had a great weekend hanging out with the team “SVB Racing” and just getting back on the DH bike and getting the bugs worked out. Special thanks to Brian and his parents for setting me up for the weekend. The food was awesome.



Plattekill DH Series – Race #1

Back to the grand dad of all east coast DH race series. The first course of the season was so fun with such amazing flow you couldn’t stop doing practice runs. It was also dry which is strange for an early season race. I was having so much fun I had a mostly clean race run with a bobble half way through where I almost went of course. I knocked it back a click or two on the last third of the course to keep it clean and ended up 6th out of 19. Maybe I should have kept it pinned? All in all a great race.



Diablo Domination Series – Race #1

Yes! My local freeride park is open and now its time to get used to the terrain before the US Open next weekend. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks made for a technical track. Smoothness was key to maintaining your speed. Practice was going great but come race day our luck ran out and it rained. I didn’t get the race run I was looking for but it was good to get some riding in on the mountain to get primed for the US Open.



Diablo Freeride Park US Open of Mountain Biking

One weekend its wet, the next it’s a dust bowl. This is quickly becoming the largest most competitive event in the US with 200 pros and 300 amateurs battling for 60 and 100 qualifying spots respectively. The course is the same each year with minor changes to improve upon an already classic course. This year’s changes combined with dry dusty conditions made it the fastest course yet. Did I mention the World Cup style booter near the finish line, too much fun. With some tight competition I managed to qualify with only 30 seconds separating 100 riders. Nobody came out here to loose. During my race run the next day I crumbled under the pressure, crowds, cow bells, and air horns. I just lost my concentration and crashed. I need to focus better and block all that out. Planning to turn it around in June – It’s on!



That’s it for May. Pictures and video will be updated soon. June report to follow the end of the month.

Race Season - It's On!



It is May and the race season has begun. Two races down and two more to go this month ending with the US Open at Diablo Freeride Park. There is a race every weekend this year and official results and photos come out slowly so I will be posting race reports monthly.



Check back the end of each month for full race reports, new photos, and videos.