NW Cup #4. Mt Hood revisited

Definition Epic.

A lot of people think most good racers are cocky. Part of being a good racer is mentally knowing you will win. To a lot of people, this trait comes off as being cocky. However, downhill racing is 90% mental. It’s the ability to tell your body to go faster, push harder, brake less, and jump further.

Coming into the 4^th round of the NW cup, I was in a good mental state. I had a brand new bike that was feeling great, I knew some of the typical “fast” guys were not going to be there this weekend, and I was excited to ride the course. I actually felt like I was going to win this round before I even arrived. Being down in the points after my flat in the last round meant I had to have a great race to close the points gap with only one round remaining.

With both of my cars still out of commission, I managed to grab a ride down to Mt Hood with Bobby Stenson and Cameron Hoefer. Pro practice not beginning until 2 pm meant we weren’t in a huge hurry to leave Saturday morning. My phone died during the night, so I was woken up with Cam pounding on my door. I grabbed all of my gear and hopped in the truck for the 4 hour ride south.

We arrived with over an hour before practice started, so Bob, Cam, and I registered and hiked the course. Nothing has really changed in the last two weeks, and with that knowledge, I donned my gear and headed for the top. I always tell myself to just go slow and take a cruiser run on my first run, but it never ends up happening. The rock traverse about halfway down the course has been the location of a lot of carnage over the years, but I’ve always been really fast and consistent through it. During my practice run I tried to double two rocks I’ve never jumped before and landed a little off of my line. My front wheel bounced a little off the course and caught a big stump. I ended up face planting down the trail. My left leg took the brunt of my crash and started knotting up quickly due to the impact.

Crashing in this section hurts. A lot.

I got down to the bottom of the course and tried to shake off my crash. I still managed to get a few more runs before ending for the day. Other than my crash, I was feeling great. When you crash in a section, you usually end up going a little slower through that area for the rest of the weekend, but I knew I couldn’t take it easy this weekend.  The new bike was absolutely amazing. I really felt faster than I’ve ever been and think that might have been the cause of my issues. I was going into sections so much faster than I ever have, but the bike handled it great and was looking for more.

We ended the night with the premier of Clay Porter’s new film, “3 Minute Gaps.” I had been wanting to watch this film for a long time and was really excited to see it. I was blown away by the filming and the story itself was presented very well. The movie ended with a standing ovation from the audience, and rightfully so. A quick soak in the hot tub before popping some painkillers ended my night.

Go see this movie. It's better than Avatar.

Waking up on race day is never fun. I was surprised at how good my leg was feeling though. It was still sore to walk on, but much better than the previous night. A sausage and egg brekfast at the Huckleberry Inn provided some sustenance for the day. I was feeling in a good mental state and ready to do some damage to the overall standings. I headed up for my morning practice run with the food settling in my stomach.

The upper part of my practice was good, but then I dived into the rock traverse. Right before the waterfall, I went to grab my rear brake and it pulled straight to the bar. Sitting on your bike, knowing that what is going to happen next will hurt, is never a fun feeling. I tried to hang on through the corner at the bottom, but it wasn’t going to happen and I hit the deck hard. I snapped my rear brake line and smashed my shoulder, elbow, and cut up my hands. I slowly rolled down the rest of the course without a brake and rushed to fix my bike before heading up for qualifying. Fortunately,  Todd Olsen had a spare brake with him and loaned it to me so I could qualify and race.

Todd saved my weekend. Thanks a ton!

Quickly working on your bike is never fun, but with the help of some friends, we managed to get my stead back in running order. I was the last guy to drop in for qualifying and with the points on the line, I knew I had to have a decent run. I sprinted past where I flatted last race and came into the 180 left hander on the ridge trail. Without warning, I lost the front end and laid the bike down. I got up quickly and continued my run, being pretty conservative and sitting and pedaling in a few sections.

I came across the line into second place just a hair back on Jared Hobbs who through down a killer run. I was right ahead of Eric Loney, who is my main competition in the overall points chase. With my slide out in the run, I was feeling really confident for the finals. I figured I could shave at least five seconds from my run.

Hobbs on his way to a personal best, 1st place qualifier. Nice Job Jared!

I grabbed the microphone and started announcing for the rest of the morning while the lower categories came down the hill. Matt Patterson managed to hook up his laptop as well and we had the live feed from the Windham World Cup broadcasting. Everyone huddled around the feed while we watched Aaron Gwin destroy the field and take his 4^th win of the season!

Gwin on his way to winning 4 of 5 rounds so far!

After the beginners started, I had to hand the microphone to Casey Northren and head up for my race run. Riding the chairlift solo is always a mental nightmare, but I put that behind me and enjoyed the view of Mt Hood on the crystal clear day. Once again, wait for the beeps and drop in! My run felt like it was going really well. Off on the side of the trail where I had flatted two weeks ago, I saw Eric Loney. He had crashed and was waiting for me to pass. This gave me some confidence that I would be doing well in the points chase. Blasting down Cannonball was fast and fun trying to avoid all of the blown out bomb holes, but I felt faster than I had all weekend. I came into the rocks a little conservatively, but kept it smooth. My only real issue on the track was in the lower woods. I tapped a stump and hit the brakes to avoid crashing, which slowed my momentum into a flat section. Other than that, the run felt pretty good. I sprinted the final straight into the finish, confident I had won.

I barely paid attention as Petr wrote the final times down, before looking up to see my time listed as a 4:04. I’ve never been that confused at my race time. I crashed in my qualifying and sat down in the pedal section, but somehow ran 4 seconds SLOWER in my race run. I felt much faster, and couldn’t believe my time. I tried to keep a good face as I congratulated Luke Stevens, the race winner, and the rest of the guys that beat me. This race was brutal to a lot of racers. Adam Ransavage was pinned all weekend long and a major threat to win the race, but crashed in his final run and broke his collarbone. Adam still managed to finish the race in 9^th place! Adrenaline is a heck of a painkiller!

I'm not a doctor, but I don't think X-rays should resemble works by Picasso.

Everyone grabbed a beer and headed over for awards. I always like awards and gave my raffle tickets to some little kids who ended up winning prizes. After the raffle, Casey found two more handlebars and decided to have some contests to win them. The first contest was a spinning contest, and while that was happening, I bought two pitcher of root beer and put on a chugging contest for the other bar. Everyone was blown away at the chugging winner who literally finished the pitcher in 3 seconds.

The awards wrapped up, I grabbed my money, and Bob, Cam, and I left Ski Bowl. After a short pit stop at a Chinese buffet, We headed back to Seattle. We’ll be taking a break from NW cup races for a few weeks. Next weekend is Crankworx, followed by All Gravity Series #3 at Schweitzer Mountain. I’m looking forward to a change of pace for the next few weeks. I’m going to take most of the next week off and nurse my wounds and see everyone at Crankworx!