Season wrap-up!

Game over! 2011 race season is done for me and what a success it was!

Story of the year! 1st overall again!

We headed out to Moscow Idaho for the last race of the season. I was rolling with Bobby Stenson, Cam Hoefer, Kevin Littlefield, Ruth and Rylie. We rolled into the Moscow La Quinta Inn and hit the hay, ready for the best race of the season.

Moscow Mountain Road. I can't count how many times I've drifted my jeep around this corner.

Saturday was early for us. I built the course while I was in school there (Ok, I had a LOT of help!) and have helped put on the race for the last few years. Mike Smith usually does a ton for this race, but a broken ankle meant he was stuck at home and wouldn't be able to make the trip. Alex Eley stepped up and did a bunch of work prior to the race by renting a hedge trimmer and cutting back the brush and making an easy out around the off camber section. Tyler Martin got up there before the race and did a bunch of course taping, which also helped out a ton. Usually I try and get a little time on the track before practice starts to fix anything that needs it and add something to keep it new and exciting every year.

Alex hitting the off camber, thanks for the help this year!

This year we hiked the course and didn't have to make any real changes. The course was in pretty good shape. We knocked out the rut that was forming on the off camber section and added a few option lines in two other corners. Beyond that, we didn't have to do much. I took a practice run and remembered that Moscow is always strange the first run. You drop into the track and you are going. There isn't really any pedaling, or anywhere to rest. You are turning or jumping or trying to stay upright the whole way down the track. As soon as my run finished, the rain started coming down. It poured down and the trail turned into a muck fest right away. It became impossible to see. I hung out at the pit and grilled some brats with Jon Kennedy, the marketing manager for Diamondback. After an hour and a half, the rain let up and Kevin Littlefield and I were freezing. We decided to hike the back way to the top of the trail to warm up. After pushing to the top, I felt a lot better. I was warm, and we beat the shuttle truck!

Kennedy and Bobby. A long story goes with this photo.

Kevin and I dropped in and decided to stop at the off camber section. This section is hard in the dry, and crazy in the wet. We hiked and worked on how to ride it a few times before heading down the hill. By the time we made it to the bottom, the sun was starting to shine again. We grabbed Tim Zimmerman who was there to do a story for VitalMTB.com on the race. We went up the hill and shot a few of the sections, which was actually beneficial for us to be able to session and repeat a few of the harder spots. The trail was starting to dry out well and we were getting ready to wrap it up for the day.

Along with the DH course, Moscow has some amazing XC riding. We all brought our XC bikes and Jon, Tim, Kevin, and I decided to go for a XC ride with Rylie. We took the shuttle to the top of the DH course and pedaled to the top of Nemisis from there. We rode Nemisis and Gemini back to the bottom of the race course. It was such a fun ride. The trails were in great shape and flowed really well. Big thanks to Jim LaFourtune for all his years of hard work on the mountain. (For those that don't know, Jim passed away recently. Moscow lost a really good cycling advocate among other things. Check out Jim's Page for more info)

Thanks for the trails Jim. Your legacy will be enjoyed by many.

We all headed out to the Moscow Alehouse for some drinks and dinner. We had quite the crew rolling with us and were excited to head down to our old college drinking hole. We were all little bummed when we found out that the brewery was moving and wouldn't be brewing beer for a while. Hopefully they are back up and running again next year.

Me: "How's that for Brian Lopes parking job?"   Bobby: "Nah, you aren't in two handicapped spots!"

Sunday started with another early morning. I took 3 practice runs to make sure I was dialed on the course. The first one was just a nice coasting run. The second was a pushed a little harder and the third one was pedaling the whole run. I felt great and headed back to the van to wait for my race run. I have been doing the All Gravity Series all season and even with missing one race, I had a pretty good points lead going into the final race. I just had to finish to win the series, however, that's not a result I want to settle for. I love racing at Moscow and was going for the win.

My race run started off a little cold. I was a little loose around the first few tight corners, but quickly pulled it together. I came through the top section on the gas and hit the off camber section faster than I ever have. I shot over the wood jump and carried great speed through the tight corners after it. The rock roll didn't seem to be rough at all and I wove through the tight little trees after it without issue. I set up wide to drop onto the last road before the final section and in the middle of my corner, a root ball caught my rear wheel and I went flying over the bars down onto the road while my bike tumbled over me. I quick grabbed my bike and hopped on and started pedaling. My seat was twisted to the side which made pedaling weird, but that was quickly overlooked and sprinted it to the finish line.

I rolled over to the van and laid my bike down in disappointment. I was really bummed. I wanted to win that race really badly. I started to feel my wrist tingling as my adreniline was wearing off. I've broken it enough times before to know when I crash I put my hands out. I looked down and noticed some swelling starting to happen and ran and grabbed a bottle of fork oil from Cam's toolbox and dumped it on my hand. I was able to get my wedding ring off with quite a bit of tugging. I went to the medics and got it taped up then hiked up the hill to watch the impromptu "Huck to Flat" contest.

A rare shot of Justin Covey on the ground.

Last year before the race, we built a large jump towards the bottom of the course without a landing. We had always talked about having a huck to flat contest and Bobby managed to put one together this year. Justin Covey won without question, however he ended up breaking his collarbone on the last attempt. That ended the contest quickly and everyone funneled down the hill to check out the results. I waited for the crowd to disperse a little bit to find out how far down the pack I ended up. Ruth said I didn't seem far behind the guy in front of me, so I still had a little hope that I might pull out a mid pack result. To my surprise, the results sheet showed me on top!

I was pretty excited to see that result. I guess almost everyone had issues in their runs, so my crash didn't hurt my time as bad as I thought it would. I was excited to hear my name called to the top of the podium and for the first time ever, I got a champagne bottle to spray! Click the link below for Tim Zimmerman's photo/audio slide show from the race.

Vital MTB Moscow Slide Show

It was a great weekend, and I can't wait to go back again next year. I was excited to wrap up my season with another series win. That makes my season complete with 2 series wins, 11 podium finishes, 15th at National Champs, and another year of staying healthy. Not to bad and I can't wait for next season. I wore a wrist brace all last week after the race and my wrist seems to be doing alright. It's a little sore still, but I don't think it's broken! I'll keep an eye on it, but it doesn't seem to be bothering me.

Proof it is running!

In other news, Ruth and I are looking at houses now, I got my VW caddy running again, and trail work will be commencing this winter. I also figured out how to update the blog remotely, so expect more frequent updates throughout the winter as we start training for next season!