Back to full time training again...working over the hand now that the pins are out (one of them was 21/2" long!)...working on getting to Fontucky for the March 29th NMBS Event.  Hope to see all of you there!

Halfway through physical therapy for the shattered little finger, and the pins come out next week.  Very excited to ride...only 5 1/2 weeks left until Fontana. 

Got my cast off yesterday, still have three pins in my left hand.  Physical Therapy started this morning and I was assured I would be ready to roll for the Fontana National just six weeks away.  Hope to see everyone on the trails!

Went on a training ride here a few weeks ago, in the rain and the cold.  I was trying to race the setting sun when I came into the small gap jump a little hot, and on the wrong bike.  Without hesitation I gave the front end permission to fly, but the cold wet handlebars separated from my grip.  This started a bad chain of events that ultimately packed me into the ground.  It was bad.

I pulled off my left glove and realized my finger wasn't pointing the way it was intended to, more like my pinky finger was folded flat against my palm, pointing to my thumb.  Bad deal.  I grabbed it and a rock to bite down on, and in one swift motion I put it back into the proper direction.  Unfortunately the damage was done.

Broke my pinky finger in three places.  Had surgery last week and am sporting a cast and three pins in my finger.  Doc said its healing well and I should have it back in action in three weeks.  Five weeks for total mobility and six for my strength back.  Since the Fontana Nationals are 9 weeks away, I'm in good shape.

Moral of the story is when its wet and raining, and 40 degrees out...just stay in the garage on the spin bike.

October 2007 - Northern California

Great weekend at La Grange Fall Classic, Weaverville CA, which USA Cycling considered the State of California DH Championships.  It was one the final event for me for 2007, and I wanted to do well.  After driving all morning, then freezing my arse off during the practice run ( I only got one) it all paid off as I completed the course with the fifth fastest time of the day! 

It was the longest course I ran all year, and took the better part of seven minutes to complete.  Vertical drop was stated at around 2000 feet over 3 miles, so a very aggresive DH course for sure. 

Thanks to RXR Protect for the new gear...glad I didn't need it!

This past weekend my Wife and I entered the TBF Chanoko Mountian Bike Duathalon and took FIRST PLACE!!!   A 2 mile run followed with a 12 mike MTB lap, then another 2 mile run for the finish!  Great course with no mud and fast lap times.  What an excellent way to start the season...top of the podium!

Getting ready to hit the season strong with new sponsors for 2007! Thaks everyone. 

I'll be posting my race calendar soon...basically every weekend from April until August.  Trying to do well enough to bump out of Sport class by May, into Expert by June and possibly get that Pro card by Christmas!  

Either way it's going to be a fun summer and I look forward to seeing friends from last seson att the track.

WOW! 2006 was a great season, and I can't believe I made it through in one peice.  I did get a separated shoulder at the NORBA Brian Head event, but I'm totally healed and ready to rock for 2007.

I am actively seeking to extend contracts offered to me in 2006 and find new participation from frame and other componet manufacurers on every level, grass roots or otherwise.  I can't complete 2007 at the pace I am planning without your help!

Thanks to all my 2006 sponsors, and I look forward to meeting new compamies for 2007.  With your help, I'll be applying for a Pro card by the end of the year!

After a near disasterous first run that put me into second place, I completed the technical downhill course in Fontana California well enough to eclipse my time deficit andtake over first place overall to win the 2006 California State Downhill Chamionship! I got to the poduim once again and collected one fine looking jersey for the effort!

Taken from the Auburn Journal, July 21st, 2006

http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2006/07/21/sports/local_sports/01jimbrown.txt

Common name, rare talent
Cool`s Jim Brown brings home national downhill mountain biking title at age 36

By: Mark DeVaughn, Journal Assistant Sports Editor
Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:33 PM PDT

Hall of Famer Jim Brown, meet Cool`s Jim Brown.

The mountain biking champion crossed paths with his famous namesake while on an airline flight in 1992. And while the football great did hear congrats from a fan, the kind words had little to do with his athletic career.

"I pulled out my wallet and showed him my driver`s license," Brown remembered. "I told him thank you for being able to use the name as an in for meeting new people in high school. He laughed and shook my hand."

The more local Jim Brown just completed his biggest sports accomplishment. Competing at USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Sonoma this past Saturday, the 36-year-old construction consultant placed first in his age group in the beginner men`s downhill division.

Famous for not wearing hip or thigh pads, the NFL`s Jim Brown was the league`s all-time leading rusher between 1963 and 1984. It was also a special kind of fearlessness that allowed Placer County`s Brown to shine at the nationals.

Competitors were only given one run down the course at Infineon Raceway. Brown saw a fellow rider airlifted via helicopter to the hospital after taking a nasty spill on the treacherous downhill trail. Riders made their way through narrow paths surrounded on each side by boulders, danger that made it all resemble the set of an Indiana Jones movie.

Brown proceeded to steam down the 400-foot hill overlooking the racetrack, clocking in at 2 minutes, 28.18 seconds to claim top honors for the beginner division`s 35-39 age group. Despite a snapped pedal, he finished over 25 seconds ahead of his nearest competition.

"When I first saw the course I thought I`d get hurt or my bike would be broken, one of the two," he said. "Everybody there was a top qualifier. The course was void of any technical sections and was very steep. If you slipped up a little bit, you were done. Part of the track was only as big as the width of your tire."

Brown has long been an outdoor buff, counting skiing, motocross, and cross country mountain biking among others as pursuits through the years. He and wife Justine once regularly drove from their home in Sacramento to Cool to bike and take in the trails.

Nine years ago, they did the next best thing: They moved to Cool for good.

The proximity of so many mountain biking trails - you can often find Brown soaring through the air at the Clementine Loop and portions of Mammoth Bar in Auburn - gives him a stark advantage over his competition. Brown only began competitive downhill biking last year, yet the nationals triumph qualified him for September`s Masters World Championships in Canada.

"Training at the (American River) Confluence is tougher than anywhere I`ve raced this year," he said.

Rich Elmore began the Cool Cycling Club two years ago. Brown joined a year later and still belongs.

"Just having all those trails in your backyard is a big help," Elmore said. "It`s big confidence-builder. He`s just got a real-positive mindset. He`s a can-do kind of guy. He`s sees the possibilities in just about anything. He doesn`t place limits on his ability. It`s actually rather astonishing."

Brown`s two-wheeling jaunts began as a youth in Alaska, where he and brother Damon raced motocross bikes. They turned to snowmobiles during the winter months - until a rough freeze occurred during Brown`s teenage years.

His parents divorced, forcing a move with his father to Sacramento during the middle of his junior year in high school. However life at Rio Americano High was made a lot easier with the help of those Brown met through motocross. He remains friends with some of them today.

"It was very uncomfortable for a while," he said. "If you`re in a situation like I was, sports is a good place to find that common-ality. It`s true with every sport, you meet people you seem like you`ve known for a long time."

The national championship marked Brown`s third major mountain biking title in as many months. He collected first place trophies at events in Southern California in May and June, success that earned him his first sponsorship.

The pact with suspension system-maker X-Fusion - which paid the $500 entry fee to nationals - will come in handy. Brown affirms that his $3,600 Iron Horse bike is on the "low end," and that his equipment will have to improve as his mountain biking career takes off.

"But the better you do," he said, "the easier it gets."