Ranch Style Dual Slalom

Following Sea Otter, the team had a short break and then it was back to racing.  We all met in Grand Junction, Colorado for the dual slalom event at Ranchstyle.  Michael sat this one out, opting to better prepare himself for the upcoming East Coast trip. 

Our first order of business was a quick stop by MRP’s headquarters, where we met Noah Sears who showed us around and gave us the grand tour. Then it was off to Lunch Loops for a lunch ride. Lunch Loops is a sweet trail system of XC trails with a pumptrack, dirt jumps and a dual slalom course all at the parking lot to warm up on.  Thanks for showing us such a good time Noah!

Moving on to Ranchstyle… The Ranch is a private plot of land located high up on a desert mesa with some devoted builders. Over the past four years they have developed one of the best slopestyle / dual slalom combo events in existence, and each year it gets bigger and better. The dusty and dry land is full of shrubs, scrub oak and brush that create an interesting backdrop for the competition. We could spend all day riding the different freeride trails on the property, but this weekend was focused on the FMB World Tour Slopestyle and MRP Dual Slalom. The competition list was littered with some of the biggest names of our sport, but the vibe for the event was very chill - more up close and very much so grassroots. 

We did a bit of practicing on Friday evening on the DS course. This is one of the most epic dual slalom courses we’ve ever ridden. To get an idea of the course, imagine a 50 second long, fast single track and with berms through the trees going in opposite directions on both courses.  In the middle, it meets up for a few hundred feet starting with a quad-able step up step down which leads into a double that finishes with four rollers that are also quad-able into a hard right hand berm. This section was fast paced with some big moves. The rest of the course flowed through the trees with many berms and small doubles to navigate all the way to the finish line, just below the final slopestyle jump. 

Saturday consisted of shredding a bit of dual, testing out our bikes on some of the slopestyle stunts in the AM, and watching the slopestyle go off that afternoon. Some of the craziest stuff went down on the jumps, so big! Come Sunday the dust had all but settled from the previous day’s events, and it was time for some racing, Ranchstyle! Qualifying went very well.  Brian place first by nearly a full second, Jess 5th and Lear 7th. Unfortunately Jess had a hiccup in his first round and didn’t advance. The next few rounds went smoothly for both Lear and Brian, and they advanced by large margins each time. Fatigue and the heat of the day started to set in. That’s what happens when racing the likes of Tyler Morland, Kyle Strait, Tyler McCaul, and Mitch Ropelato. 

Lear ended up placing 5th on the day, and he had a strong showing on his Banshee Amp. In the final round, Brian was up against former DH National Champ, Skiercross Olympian, and World Champion Chris Del Bosco. It’s cool to see Chris getting back into racing. We all have memories of Chris from 2006 beating Jared Graves at Snowmass in the DH and slaying the 4X course. Anyways, feeling pretty confident and primed, Brian charged his first run faster than ever up top, but made a mistake and came to a stop midway through the course. He was able to make that up on the bottom and held a 0.5 second advantage going into the second run. Knowing the time differences on both courses, he felt like he had the disadvantage and had to give it everything. It was a great final, bar to bar blazing through the trees until he washed out in a corner near the bottom. With some cactus in his hand, he finished off the run doing some whips and having fun, but was definitely disappointed as he felt like this was his race to win. Everything went right all the way to the finals, just gotta keep the rubber side down next time! It was a sick event, and the racing was so much fun. We felt like jedis racing through the trees busting loose berms. 

Special shout out to all the people that helped out at this event! We appreciated really appreciated your help pushing bikes back to the top after a long day of racing.

With a sweet cowbell around Brian's neck and some good gas money in his pocket, Brian and Jess packed up and headed back to Boulder, Colorado.  The next morning they would take off for the East Coast. 

View the Ranchstyle Photo Gallery

Highland Pro GRT

Destination: Highland Mountain Bike Park. Miles to get there: 2027.

With Lear staying home in preparation for the 4X World Cups in Europe, Michael, Jess and Brian packed everything into the team truck on Monday morning and headed out. The usual boring drive out east consisted of a muggy night camped out in De Moines, another BP oil spill in Ohio, and some awesome rest stop ride/workout sessions. We arrived Wednesday night at the Highland Mountain Bike Park and awoke to a view of the small mountain and biting black flies. Everyone we've have talked to about Highland raved about how rad the place is.  After riding all Thursday afternoon and having a blast on many of the mountain's jump trails, and some rocky, rooty, east coast funny business, the mountain really started to appeal to us. 

The venue for the race was very nice - a big lodge, a lake, dirt jumps and a pump track all surrounded the finish/pit arena. The weekend started out warm and sunny; trails still tacky from the previous weekend's rain, but the weather soon moved in. The track was fresh cut and had a good amount of loam, roots and rocks with wide line choice in spots. It reminded Justin Leov of Val Di Sole a bit. By race day, the track had got extremely beat and slick after a solid night of rain. It rained all day race day. We put our cut Maxxis spike tires on and the challenge to stay dry began. It was tough to push it as we're all used to dry trails, and occasionally still a bit out of our element when slip sliding down greasy, mud covered roots and rock faces. 

Brian held it together for a solid 9th place result.  He was 13 seconds back on a 2:20 course.  It was interesting seeing the time differences between racers - he was still in the top ten in a pretty stacked field. It really just came down to who let loose and risked it all in the slippery mud.  Jess and Michael held it together for a 25th and 32nd and are still searching for pace in the mud, but feel they are getting close. Give us the duffy dry like Ranchstyle and it would be a different story.  We're still learning every time we go out east.

In between races we made our way down to POC's headquarters in Portsmouth, NH. It was really cool to meet up with Erin and all of the POC players that make it all happen for us. POC gear is so awesome, and we encourage you to try it out when you can! 

Afterward the POC visit we ventured into the city and found ourselves walking across a drawbridge to Kittery, Maine. What to do in Maine? EAT LOBSTER! Webster’s Lobster House was the destination and a pound of that red boiled crustacean was the special. Stomachs happy, we made our way towards Plattekill, NY. After one rain soaked week already, Plattekill looked like it wasn’t going to be any different...

View the Highland ProGRT Photo Gallery

Plattekill Pro GRT

Plattekill Mountain is an awesome place! We were stoked to be there. 

The race course had some minor changes done to it which made it slightly easier than years past. Other than that, it was the same ol’ rocky, rooty good time. We left the mud spikes on from the previous weekend for the first few days of practice, knowing that the sky was going to let loose on Friday afternoon. 

Brian dared to venture out in the pouring rain and lightning for a bit of mud riding. Not sure if it was a great idea as the thunder was rolling closer while he was riding the lift… An interesting observation he made while on the lift was that there was only one other rider on the mountain pinning it during the storm - the previous week's champion and east coast favorite, Neko Mulally. He had a great day Friday getting after it in the wet, sustained a few bumps and bruises, but overall was feeling great going into the weekend. 

The birds were chirping and the sun was out Saturday, but after a wet Friday evening it made for a slick and greasy day. The track dried up nicely by late afternoon for our qualifying runs, but was slick enough in some of the corners for us to keep the cut Maxxis spikes on. Qualifying went well, and all of us made it down with a lot in the tank for race day. 

The rain had vanished by Sunday and the course turned tacky by the end of race morning practice, but there were still a few slick spots on track as some moist embedded rocks remained in the main line. Due to delays, we were forced to leave the start gat 30 minutes past when we were supposed to go, which slightly goofed up our warmup routines. Finally our names were called and it was time to give it everything we had. 

The course was surprisingly dry, and the focus was not only to make it down as fast as possible but to let it go as everyone was going to be pinned. Brian had a slight bobble and minor issues clipping back in, but rode smart and pedaled hard to the finish for a 15th place finish.  Michael worked hard finishing 24th. Unfortunately Jess, with the finish line in sight, took an unexpected fall and ended up 42nd, despite qualifying in the 15th position.

Following the Plattekill ProGRT, we headed back to Colorado where we were originally scheduled to attend the Triple DHip.  However, the race was rescheduled due to unexpected residual snow pack.  It will now take place in mid June.

View the Plattekill ProGRT Photo Gallery

Lear's European Adventure

During the time that the Plattekill ProGRT was happening, Lear boarded a plane to Europe.  He is accompanying two of the USA's best 4X racers, Blake Carney and Melissa Buhl, to three major 4X races.

Their first stop was the third round of the British 4X series in South Wales.  As part of their premiere 4X series, 31 of Europe's best 4X racers entered the race.  Conditions were wet and miserable from the get go, which made the course very slick.  Several riders were having trouble staying upright during the event.   Lear qualified in the Top 10.  He led a few heats, but would accidentally slip a pedal in the final straight and get passed.  In the end, he wound up 11th on the day and is looking forward to the next event.

Looking Ahead

Lear is still in Europe, where he is preparing for 4X races at the Fort William and Leogang World Cups.  Both events have over 80 Elite entries, but he expects to do well given his training and course preferences.

The rest of the team (including our Junior Development squad) will meet in Angel Fire this coming weekend for the opening round of the Mountain States Cup Series.  After that we'll head to the Triple DHip at Sol Vista.  Finally, we'll round June out with the Crested Butte ProGRT.

See you at the races!