After 2 days of travel and missing my flight in Chicago i arrived in New York for the Plattekill Junior Worlds Qualifier. That afternoon we walked the course a few times while it was still dry. The next morning we showed up for practice and found a muddy slick course. Practice went well, but I had several crashes and a few close calls. I found the spots I needed to take easy. It rained hard for the most part of Saturday night. Sunday morning the course was torn up and super sloppy. I was haveing a little trouble with the exposed roots but figured them out pretty quick. My qualifier I took pretty easy but went off course twice. I qualified second behind Niko M.  My race run was clean but I took two sections super slow and safe. I won Junior Expert by four seconds and placed second in pro behind Gerrit Beytag. I also qualified automatically for the first spot on the junior worlds team.

Last Thursday I arrived at the Sea Otter Classic to some decent weather that lasted throughout the event. I raced dual slalom for the first time. Qualifying felt a little slow but I qualified first.

The first three rounds of the race I won. The first race of the fourth round I went up against Joey Schusler. He beat me in the first race but luckily I made up enough time to advance to the next round. In the finals I was up against Staats rider Mitch Ropelato who was riding quick all week. I ended up

placing first in Jr. x slalom.



Sundays downhill brought along pretty good weather until our class was up. The wind kicked up and slowed it down a bit.









My run was alright but tough to sprint on flat pedals.   



I placed first in Junior x DH.Congrats to impressive finishes by Aaron Gwin and Rich Houseman. Thanks to Joe at Bike Co for keeping the bikes dialed.

This weekend was the Fontana National. I showed up Thursday to find one of the more technical courses in Fontana.  Practice went well after getting the course dialed and my suspension set up by Fox.  Friday's 4x qualifier was pretty good qualifying 3rd.  After having my first gate start in qualifiers I went into the race on my new hardtail that had just arrived.  I found out pretty quick I wasn't the fastest out of the gate. I had to pull back and play it smart in both heats. I placed 2nd in 4x.  Saturdays national DH race went good. My run was alright and I placed 1st with a time of 2:30.  Sundays race run wasn't what I was hoping for. They didn't give us time for a practice run so my race run was my first run of the day. I hit new lines after watching the pros race but had a few bobbles because it was my first time hitting them. I got hit with a headwind on the wall and finished with a time of 2:34 in first.  Congrats to teammates Aaron gwin and Rich Houseman who also hit the podium.

This weekend was the final race of the Fontana Winter Series. I went into practice feeling pretty good and riding clean, hitting my lines. With this being the last race and everyone is allowed to drop a race i didn't know what the other junior x riders would be riding like and what to expect from them.

Sunday morning I got up late due to some technical difficulties with the time change. I had time to hike one run before the race and felt alright on it, but saw my friends riding pretty fast. My run was clean at the top and I carried speed up to the road crossing until I hit a headwind down the wall. Overall it was a good run, but not good enough. Since coach Rich dominated me it looks as if I have to mow his lawn  for the next two weeks. I ended up in first with Matt Kuys and Connor Bloum right on my tail, and also won first in the overall series with 500 out of 500 points. I can't wait to meet the team and get on the new bikes for this summer.Thanks to Joe at bikeco  and  Rich for dominating me.

Fontana round four was this weekend and my first chance this season to race in the mud. Saturday practice went well with nice tacky dirt. I found a few interesting lines after watching Brendan Fairclough come down. I was hitting them clean until I started getting sloppy and taking a few crashes.

After a long night of rain I woke up to all my friends covered in mud telling me to get up the hill now. So I headed up to find some of the sloppiest mud I have ever seen in Fontana. My race run was alright but not what I was hoping for. I broke my derailleur right before my run on a rock so I was stuck in gears 3-5 and was slipping gears all the way down the hill. With results posted I placed 1st in junior expert by 8 seconds and placed 4th in pro.

This weekend was my second race on a YETI in Boulder City Nevada. The course was super rough and rocky. Saturday practice went well after getting a feel for the terrain.  After practice I joined teammate Aaron Gwinn and the X- Fusion crew to do some extreme boulder rolling in the quarry.  Sunday morning I was on the mountain at 6:30 am trying to figure out some of the rough sections. My first run was slow at the top where I was having trouble carrying speed through corners. The middle rough section was where I gained most of my time where the bottom was sandy and slow.  After not seeing our first run results we headed back up for run two. I didn't take this run nearly as serious as my first run as I blew about four or five corners and had to get off my bike. I ended up winning junior expert and had the fastest time of the day with a 4:59. Also congrats to teammate Aaron Gwinn who got on the box this weekend as well.

This weekend was my first time out on the 303. Practice started out a little rough because I was way too excited to be on a new bike and wanted to go full speed first run of the day. After Rich calmed me down and made me try a few new things, it pretty much clicked. The bike felt super comfortable and fast. You could stick any corner and sprint out like you were on a hardtail. I got all my lines down and was ready for Sunday.

Sunday morning my practice runs were fairly good and consistent. My race run started out good but I had a few bobbles near the end. I ended up on top of the box with a 1:51. I'd like to say thanks to Rich Houseman and the guys at YETI for the support. I can't wait for this season.