Port Angeles

It's a little different at the bottom of Dry Hill without a race going on.

I started off my Sunday at 6 am cleaning and preparing my bike for a good days ride. The plan was to head to Port Angeles and meet up with Luke Strobel and Scott Tucker and film some pre-ride videos of the race courses for the season.

The weather seemed like it was going to be decent and I manged to get to PA without any difficulties. I met up with Luke at the bagel shop for a quick breakfast before heading out to Dry Hill.

Jalapeno bagel and pepper-jack cheese breakfast sandwich. Delicious!

Luke and I got to the hill and met up with Scott Tucker, the master of all things relating to Dry Hill. Scott puts in an insane amount of time, money, and effort into the trails and the race series hosted there every year. He is out working every weekend for months before the first race getting the trails in shape, building new ones to keep the courses interesting, and improving the facilities for when the bicycle party rolls into town.

Scott pulling a stump in a re-routed section before the first race.

You can believe that the trails will be dialed, the course will be full taped, the brush will be cut back, and the shuttles will start on time when you arrive at Port Angeles for the NW Cup. You get much more than you pay for at a NW cup. It's the best run race series I've ever been to and Scott deserves a ton of credit for why so many riders continue to come back. Next time you see him at the race, give him a big thank you. This is the amount of work that is required to put on a great race, and he does not get anywhere near enough credit.

Thank this guy next time you see him.

We helped Scott with a few little digging projects for a while and then got changed and ready to ride. Kevin Littlefield was out for the day as well and rocking a pretty sweet new rig for the season. Basically, it's not made of metal, and you can't buy it yet. I'm sure you'll see plenty of photos soon. Congrats on the new ride Kevin! Speaking of new rides, Luke was on a different bike as well. He seemed to be looking right at home and fast as always on it. He had a few major sponsor changes too! With the first round of the World Cup only a few weeks away, he is looking to do some international damage.

My rig. Same as she was at the end of last season and still going strong.

 I'm waiting for the new Diamondback downhill frame to arrive. We're still a few weeks out, but my current frame is working great, so I don't mind. The new one has a few minor refinements and some weight savings, which is always a good thing. I have a pile of new parts awaiting the new frame. It's hard not to put everything on the bike right now. I'm really excited to announce I'll be running Chris King hubs and Sun Rims for the season too!

We actually had more people than the trucks rack could hold, so we opted for the less safe version of just towing people up the hill. Hook a tow strap around your stem and don't fall over!

Hook the strap and hang on!

Luke and Kevin demonstrate the set up

Luckily, no one went down while being towed up! Actually, I rode terribly all day. I crashed 3 times! As I sit here today, I'm a little sore, cut-up, and bruised, but I feel good. It's a strange feeling, to know that you can be going that fast and hit a tree, a rock, or Luke (Crash 1, 2, and 3) and still be fine. It's a strange sensation to think of how easily you can trip and fall and get hurt, versus smashing down a mountain, then crash and be okay. Obviously, I don't like crashing, but the feeling of walking away from a crash virtually unscathed, is something that is good to experience now and again. It makes me want to push myself harder, knowing that even if I fail and crash, there is a good chance that I'll be fine. It's days like that when I am glad I run the parts I have. It's nice not having to worry about my bike being the weakest link!

Check out the tree imbedded in my stem bolts! 

Until next time, keep it upright more than I did!

PS, For anyone wondering, The NW Cup #1 track is in great shape, fast, rough, and steep.The ProGRT/US Gran Prix/NW Cup #2/AT&T/CNN/Additional Acronyms, track is going to be even better. It's completely different from last year and lots of fresh loam. Welcome to the Chunderdome! 

-KT