Tag Archive for '#mountain bike'

Sage Brush Safari 2013 race footage, US Cup #6

It was the US Cup #6 in San Diego at Lake Morena. The course was one 30 km loop with 660 m of climbing.

It was the slowest race start ever! I always get bored drafting so I moved in front and did my fair share of pulling the pack. At 15:15 I grab the wheel of Matt in 2nd place (series leader) for the long climb. The first downhill section starts at 20:12, I’m in 3rd following 2nd. Then at 24:34 we make contact with Josh in 1st place. There’s a lead change at 27:00 and we ride together for a while. I get dropped a little bit then make contact again with 2nd at 45:00 in the hike-a-bike section. I lost him again in the next downhill and never made contact again.  I got 3rd place in 1:28:10, 3 min behind the lead and 1 min behind 2nd place. Getting closer!

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

 

Pre-riding the Sage Brush Safari 2013 US Cup course

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

Racing in the heat of Sycamore Canyon, US Cup Race #5

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

 

Fastest XC course ever! US Cup Race #4 Santa Ynez Valley Classic

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

 

Track side footage at the US Cup Race #3 in Fontana, CA

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)