2011 NW cup finals!

Lib Tech snowboards sponsors the series. They are from Squim Washington. Brand new 2012 T.rice Pro board! 

I'm normally not nervous going into a race, but this weekend was a little different. I won the overall NW cup last year and anything less this year was going to be a let-down for me. Thanks to a flat tire at the 3rd round, I was sitting second in points going into the finals. I was 21 points down on series leader Brian Mullen and only 2 points ahead of Eric Loney. Knowing that qualifiers was worth 75 points and the finals were worth 200, meant that it was anyone's race. 

I had spent all week calculating points and figuring out where I needed to place and running all of the possible point scenarios. But no matter how many times I did the math, it all came down to the same conclusion. I had to beat both Brian and Eric in the finals. 

Ruth has been working all summer and hasn't been able to come to many races, but she just got a new job and now has a normal work schedule. She drove up to my office and we headed for Port Angeles on Friday night.  We checked into our five star accomodations at the Super 8 motel, and got some sleep in preperation for the weekends events.

Last time setting the pit up at Port Angeles this year! Rylie guards the important stuff.

Saturday morning started early with setting up the pits and doing a course walk. The course was the same as the ProGRT but due to some logging, there has been some minor changes to King Diamond. A road had been put through the middle of the course which allowed for a road gap and a new technical section with a huge natural gap right afterwards. Due to the summer heat, there was no moisture anywhere to be found. The track was esentially concrete covered in loose marbles. I normally hate these conditions but for some reason I was excited to ride.

Fox has been awesome all year providing support at the races. Thanks Lewis, Nick, Mike, Justin and anyone else whose worked on my stuff this year!

After a practice run or two I was really starting to feel good on the track. I was hitting some new lines and feeling really confident. My DH bike was working perfectly and felt like it was flying down the hill. I normally do 4-5 practice runs, but I think I had done 9 by the end of the day. I was having so much fun I just couldn't stop.

The shuttle trucks were boiling this weekend. I managed to snag some runs with Scott Tucker which really helped out.

We gathered a big crew for dinner and hit up the best Thai restaurant in PA. Bryn Atkinson showed up to watch the race and came out with us for food. It was great to see him out again and he is walking with only one crutch now. Bryn broke his femur and his elbow earlier this year in a scary crash at the Plattykill ProGRT race in New York. It was good to see him back and hopefully he'll be healed and racing next season.

Number one!

Sunday morning was rough. I went to the grocery store to pick up some food, but it didin't matter. I took a sip of my coffee, had a bit of a bagel and that was all I could force myself to eat. I've never been that nervous going into a race. I was feeling great on the bike and on the track, but I knew what was at stake. I took two practice runs. I coasted the first one and pedaled through the second one. I felt good and went to collect my head before qualifiers.

I just wanted to cross this line in one piece. That, and do it faster than everyone else.

I was the second to last person to qualify and had a pretty decent run I made one big mistake in King Diamond that left me unclipped for the last section of that trail, so I lost a few seconds there, but overall, it was pretty good. I ended up in second place right behind Charlie Sponsel. I didn't care about not getting first, but I was excited when I learned I had put a few seconds into Eric's time and even more into Brian's. Based on my calculations, I was now the virtual points leader!

This kid got faster this year. Story behind this photo: Eric Loney rides for project 529. Charlie ended up with number plate 529. He wrote "sucks" after it. We took this photo and sent it to Eric.

Mike Estes handed me the microphone to do some announcing while he went for his race run and I was finally able to eat a little bit of food and relax after my qualifying.  I still had to go all-out in the finals as the points were even closer, but at least I was on the winning end of this this time. While I was annoucing, lewis from Fox Racing Shox was busy dialing in my suspension. Some new fancy parts for my fork would make my bike look (and perform) even better for the finals.

We gave away a Diamondback Mission as well!

Eric, Brian, Charlie and I got the VIP ride to the top in Scott Tuckers truck. As I was heading up, I heard that Rob Crump had crashed on the new road gap and dislocated his shoulder. Hopefully it isn't that bad and he can heal up quickly. Rob was looking so fast in practice and would have put down a very competitive time in CAT I. I tired to put that out of my mind as I waited for everyone else to drop in. I was the second to last rider to go and waited for the beeps. The first little section of trail felt great, I hit the road gap and started cranking for the Wu-tang gap. I hit the gap and ended up going a little farther than I should have and missed the berm completly! I ended up in the brush behind it and lost all of my speed. I quickly started pedaling to try and make up time. The rest of my run went pretty well until the last little rocky section. I came over the hump and somehow got sideways infront of a crowd of specators and thought I was going to lose it with the finish line practically in sight. Somehow I managed to keep it together and sprinted for the finish line. I came across the line into the hotseat. I realized I had just won the series and couldn't have been happier. Charlie came across the line and bested my time for 1st place which was awesome for him. He's been riding really well lately and not having the stress of the overall helped him out this weekend I'm sure.

Another weekend of Charlie and I dominating!

Awards wrapped up and I walked away from the weekend with back to back championships. Ruth and I stopped by Frugals Burgers for some greasy gut-bombs and a chance to reflect on the weekend. After a long ferry wait, we were back at home ready for a few weeks of rest and relaxation before the next big race. Looking towards the rest of the season, the next big race is National Championships in the end of September. I have some more fun trips planned between now and then, so stay tuned!

Greg Tubbs took this photo. He was a few cars ahead of us in the ferry line and got on the boat. We had to wait for the next sailing.

-KT