Last Saturday we pre-rode the next US Cup course for you at Lake Morena near San Diego. Here’s what it looks like: Fast flowy singletrack with a scenic view. It’s going to be fun racing there! Again, it’s a completely different style of track. I love the variety in this race series, it’s unmatched.

Course map: http://app.strava.com/segments/1212810

At the Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013 Western Conference Quaterfinals. This was game #3 of the St-Louis Blues VS the Los Angeles Kings, the King’s first game at home. The clips were shot from section 310.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 21st, 2013.
This is the race start of the IndyCar race, as seen from grandstand 16.

Podium!! I got 3rd place today at the US Cup race #5 in Sycamore Canyon. It is my first ever Cat 2 podium so I’m feeling kinda stoked. But the day didn’t start so well for me with a major crash in practice session. I had to start the race bleeding which isn’t ideal. The heat was the big factor today. There was no shade at all, except for maybe 1 sec when a vulture would fly above your head waiting for you to bonk. I’ve heard a few racers got heatstroke/dehydrated and it was the first time I had to yield to an ambulance while racing. My strategy of preparing for dehydration by going to the desert at Coachella drinking a ton of beer worked perfectly!

Course Map: http://app.strava.com/segments/3935360

Here’s a full race lap of the US Cup race #4, the Santa Ynez Valley Classic in Los Olivos, California. It was a long race, nearly 2 hours race time (2 laps). There were 1500 feet of climbing per lap, 24.6 miles total. But it felt great, I managed my pace well and the course was great for this kind of endurance race. Not technical at all, but so fast! Like out-of-the-saddle-big-chainring-pedalling-on-flying-single-track fast. Average speed 13 mph. A crash would have resulted in a bad day.

Course Map:
http://app.strava.com/segments/3841069

This was race #3 of the US Cup 2013 mountain bike race series. I retired on lap 1 with a puncture (video here). So I thought I would make the most of my walk of shame back to the pits by shooting some track side footage of these guys & gals totally killing it on this technical course.

Course Map:
http://app.strava.com/segments/3672803

Song:
http://hypem.com/track/rppc/Metric+-+Help+I’m+Alive+(The+Twelves+Remix)

“Race control, #286 is out, mechanical – Copy that”
I did not finish, DNF, at the US Cup race #3 in Fontana. Two punctures on lap 1. That really sucks mechanical balls. The course was so awesome, with rocky downhill sections, technical climbs – I was so pumped to race on that track. Oh well. My mistakes. When I hit that first rock I thought “oops the tire won’t like that”. It when flat a few meters later. So I put a tube in immediately. Then, further, I caught some air over a small drop and, mid-air, realized “oops the tube won’t like that”. It pinched and it was over. Turns out the tubeless tire had no damage at all. It just burped. I could have just re-inflated it with the cartridge and keep going.

Lessons learned:
- Leave a fucking gap with the guy in front so you’re not blindly riding his line.
- Inspect the fucking tire before dismounting it.
- Those fucking CO2 cartridges are too small for big 29er wheels.
- Tubes can save the day but they still fucking suck so ride them gently.

Course Map:
app.strava.com/segments/3672803

Marshall Canyon is located in La Verne, CA in Los Angeles. I was riding with two lights on the handle bar – two NiteRider Lumina 650 – and a Petzl Myo RXP headlamp on my helmet. The footage was shot on GoPro Hero3 Black Edition in 1440p at 48 fps. No color correction was applied while editing.

Map to trail head: app.strava.com/segments/3615564
Song: Teen Daze – Wet Hair (Japandroids)

I finished 4th again last weekend at the US Cup Race #2 at Bonelli Park. It was a big race week-end with many olympic athletes present. FEllow canadian Emily Batty finished 2nd woot! The track was at world-class level with challenging man-made obstacles. It was a rough course, loved it! I completed my 3 laps in 1:23:16. What’s weird though, is I couldn’t get my heart rate anywhere near Zone 5 (anaerobic). I spent the race almost 50-50 in Zones 3 & low-4. I don’t know why. Maybe too much snowboarding the day before killed my legs.

I finished 4th today at the US Cup 2013 season’s opening race. It was a tough one. I had not pre-ridden the course earlier, I was discovering it on the first lap. It’s a long course, 8.9 miles, so we did only 2 laps. My total race time was 1:26:48. It was hot and extra dry with a lot of dust. But the gods of mountain biking blessed us with a few clouds and even a few rain drops on the final lap. The new bike felt great, stiff and fast rolling. I think a 29er carbon hard-tail is really a great setup for this type of course.