Van out of commission, AGAIN!

The new Diamondback livery

I love my van. I also sometimes hate my van. It's the best vehicle I've ever had and it has been pretty good to me so far. I've been logging the miles on it since I bought it in the spring of 2009. The 7.3 turbo powerstroke hasn't complained no matter what I tow behind it. It's taken me across the US along with being my daily driver. I'm hoping for at least 350,000 miles out of it before I start looking for something new.

I've been putting some distance on her!

A few weeks ago, before my trip to Colombia, I was driving to the grocery store and the van died. One towing bill and nearly $2500 later, it was back and running with new injectors and injector seals. I figured she would be good to go for another 200,000 miles but after dropping Ruth's car off at the dealer for a recall, the van sputtered and died on the way home. It was the exact same thing as what happened a few weeks ago. Hopefully the dealer forgot to do something and they can get it fixed soon without charging an arm and a leg. If you see me rolling up to a race in Ruth's yellow VW Beetle, now you know why.

US Open Friday

Proudly displayed above the Tiki Bar at PDX

I'm finally a cognizant human being again! I've spent the first half of this week recovering from the US Open of Mountain Biking in Vernon New Jersey. I work 40 hours a week as a mechanical engineer and squeeze racing into my weekends. This was a special race, as I managed to take a WHOLE day off of work to head to the east coast for the race. I worked a day shift on Thursday before driving to Sea Tac. My plan was to red-eye to NJ Thursday night and be prepared for practice Friday morning at 8:30am.  My flight left Seattle at 6:30 pm and made a stop in Portland before heading to Newark. I arrived without incident at 5:30am and found my shuttle to Diablo Freeride Park. I love stereotypes, and my shuttle driver could not have been more of a stereotype. He had a thick New York accent and after asking me where I'm from, started telling me how Seattle was a horrible place.

The "Short Bus" of airplanes

Anyways, he got me to the venue and I started building my bike. I had managed to sleep for about 2 hours on the flight before having to ride my bike at a high rate of speed down a hill covered in rocks, trees, and jumps. Thanks to the New Jersey Diamondback sales rep, Chris Budich, I was already registered. He even left a stand and a pump to so I could set my bike up. I finished building my bike right as Charlie Sponsel and Lars Sternberg from Transition rolled up. I decided to take my bike up the lift while Charlie did a course walk.

It came off the plane this way. Thanks TSA!

Charlie and I slowly made our way down the hill looking at the different sections. I had seen helmet cams of the course and photos, but it was much steeper and rougher in person. I really enjoy riding courses like this so I was starting to get excited. I took a few practice runs before practice ended for the day at 12:30. The temperature was really hot and unbelievable humid. It was so humid that my phone wouldn't register my finger on the touch screen due to the moisture in the air!

I dropped my fork off at Fox for some much needed loving and ended up heading back to the hotel in the afternoon to catch up on some sleep. I slept for a few hours before returning to the venue. Kelly Mcgarry and Eric Porter had shown up and were doing the slalom qualifying. Kelly managed to make the cut for the finals and would be racing the next day. I decided not to do the slalom as I was running on lack of sleep already and didn't need to add anymore physical activities to my weekend.

New seals and new lowers! Thanks Fox!

After securing the pit for the night, we headed to Aaron Chase’s house for a BBQ. It was a really low key get-together, but I got to ride the bike swing. Basically, it’s a rope swing you attach yourself to that is low enough so you are able to take a few pedal strokes while on the ground. After getting the hang of using it, Kelly and I were having a mini contest to try and land 540’s. We also got to see Aaron’s basement skate park. His house has an unfinished basement that has evolved from a mini ramp into a mini skate park. The ramps were really tight, but Chase was ridding them with ease. Kelly, Porter, and I all gave it a go. It was fun to ride a hardtail again. I need to do it more often. We grabbed some food and headed back to the hotel for a late night swim followed by a stop at the Tiki Bar. A few drinks with the locals and we headed off to bed.

US Open Saturday

It's close to the bottom, but it's still the first page.

Saturday morning was a little rough. I stayed out later than I should have, especially without any sleep the night before. I woke up and instantly remembered how every morning felt when I lived in Whistler. Fortunately for me, there was a good little breakfast sandwich shop at the base of the hill and that got me started on my morning. I did a few practice runs and was finally feeling decent on the track. I went and had another sandwich from the same shop while I waited for my qualifying run. This was the first race I've done that had actual qualifying. Most races only have seeding, which doesn't matter for anything, unless you're going for series overall points or trying to strategize against Mother Nature. This race cut to the top 50 riders. It didn't matter where I finished, as long as I was in the top 50. There were 108 Pro men, so it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

One of the amateur riders through the main rock garden.

All runs start the same. You’re in the start gate, listen for the beeps, GO! I started my run pretty conservatively. I shifted into a high gear across the ski run and forgot to up shift before the first rock garden. I popped out of the rock garden into an awkward slightly uphill off camber section but I was in too hard of a gear to pedal. I managed to creep over the top of that section and drop into the main rock garden. I had been doing a line on the riders’ right that wasn't being used as much. I liked the exit speed and the safety of the line. The rest of my run was smooth and safe until the last tree section. I came into the section and made the left corner into the rock chute. I didn’t lean far enough and my right shoulder tagged the tree. I ended up getting squirrely and hit the tree in the middle of the line. I pushed off and sprinted down the rest of the trail through the finish line. I crossed the line and didn’t even look back. I didn’t want to know if I hadn’t made it. Jackie Harmony congratulated me though and said I was good. I turned around and found I had come though the line in 31^st place. There were less than 19 riders to go, so I was in! I ended up qualifying in 34^th place. I was really surprised I qualified, but excited.

First turn of the course. Credit: Ian Hylands

Charlie and I decided to celebrate by seeing what else the mountain had to offer. We took a quick lap down the A-line style jump trail. It was really fun, so we decided to give it another go. We met up with Tyler Immer and Richie Rude from Yeti for our next lap. I offered to go last and just enjoyed watching all three of them boost, whip, and scrub, their way down the trail. It wasn’t quite as good as A-line, but I was impressed. The trails at Diablo were really fun and I can’t wait to head back next year.

Kelly keeping up with the racers in the slalom finals.

After watching the slalom finals, Porter decided we should all go out for Sushi for dinner. I hadn’t had any Sushi in a while so I was game. We went to this little restaurant in Vernon and gorged ourselves on the food. $65 dollars apiece later, we were stuffed and headed back to the hotel for a swim and then to bed for the race the next day.

US Open Sunday

Coming into the final sprint. Note the tires not touching the ground.

Sunday morning came around with the hotel breakfast buffet. The food was excellent, the service was terrible. I got changed and headed to the venue to get a few last practice laps in before finals. I ran into Dean Tennant and followed him down for my first run. I hadn’t actually followed anyone yet and was glad I did. He led me into some sections much faster than I had been going and showed me a few lines I hadn’t seen yet. I was feeling great after that run and decided to take another to cement my lines into my head. Practice went well and I grabbed some food while sitting around and waiting for finals.  

So much America this weekend. It was a great place to be during Memorial Day.

My bike was dialed, my lines were dialed, and I felt good on the course. I pedaled around the top of the course a while trying to get in a good mindset. Its a little nerve wracking trying to get in the zone with the best guys in the world right next to you. I got up into the gate and once the beeps came, I dropped in for my race run. About 15 feet into the course, I blew the first turn! I figured I was getting nervous and told myself to reel it in and be smooth. I stopped pedaling for a second and took a breath to regain my composure as I tripled the rocks into the first woods. I bounced off the next rocks a little harder than I had previously, once again I told myself to take it easy and be smooth. I settled down but felt like I was going slowly through the course. I rode the top part of my run either out of control and slow, or smooth, but slow. JBL audio sponsored the big rock garden in the middle of the course, and I had been doing a different line than most through there. I came through to a bunch of big cheers and vuvuzelas along with speakers blaring music. It was a really neat zone. I came into the next rock garden and hit my pedal on a rock, unclipping me and sending me into the crowd. I got up relatively quickly, but by that point my run was over. I still kept a good pace to the bottom, but I was pretty disheartened by the time I came through the finish line.

The rocks got the best of me. Local hero George Ryan goes through in practice.

I looked back up the hill to wait for Lars to come down. While waiting at the bottom, I was watching the clock and noticed that his time was getting up there and he wasn’t even out of the last wooded section. Once the rider after him came through the line, we realized something was wrong. Lars seems to have a tendency to flat, and this course had a lot of rocks, so I just assumed he had flatted. I walked over to Jill right as I heard someone mention broken wrist. I started heading up the hill to find out what was going on, but I couldn’t get an answer until after the race was over. I ran into Kyle and Kevin from Transition at the bottom of the hill. While we were catching up on the race, Kyle got a call from someone. He said Lars had broken his leg. They ran off to the hospital to see Lars while Transition’s other male rider, Bryn, was in Albany NY with a broken femur. It turns out Lars broke his Fibula and tore some ligaments in his ankle. Not cool. He said he’s out for at least 8-12 weeks. Hopefully some healing vibes are being received by Team Transition.

Lars in slalom practice the night before. Heal up buddy!

At the end of the day I ended up in 40^th place. I was happy to qualify and I had a great weekend riding the track, but a bad result like that is not something anyone who is competitive likes to deal with. I know I’m faster than that, I know I’m more consistent than that. I just need to get on my horse and prove it at a big race. I will say though, my bike and equipment were flawless all weekend long. Not one mechanical issue or flat tire.  I went back to the pits and had some alone time while I helped pack the tents, tools, and gear, away.

While packing the pit away, I saw a crowd gathering by us at the GT pit. I headed over to investigate. It turns out that Mikey Haderer had lost a bet the day before. The bet was that if he got on the podium for Saturday’s slalom race, that Jill Kintner could cut his hair. Mikey hadn’t cut his hair in over a year and a half. It was long, like creepy chi-mo long. So Jill grabbed the clippers and went to town. After a shower with the pressure washer, everyone enjoyed the good, light hearted, way to end the event. The only thing left was the after party.

"Shave his eyebrows too!"

We went back to the hotel to pack our stuff and have a quick swim. I had heard all week how the Vernon Inn was the place to be after the race. We headed to the pub and grabbed some quick food before hitting the bar. I was told I needed a local drink called a “Dance All Over Your Face” it seemed no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t empty my hands of them all night. We closed the bar down and headed home to load up the car for the hour long ride to the airport. My flight was at 9:30am, but we had to be there at 4:00am for Porter to fly back to Utah. I got my ticket and went through security before finding my gate and falling asleep on the floor. I awoke as the plane was boarding and grabbed my window seat on the 737-900. I watched a loose flap track fairing wiggle all the way back to Seattle. I landed in Seattle at 12:30 and raced home to let Rylie outside before heading to work for the day. Another weekend race mission accomplished. I crammed more excitement and adventure between getting off work on Thursday and being at work on Monday than most people will get all summer long.

Welcome to my Blog!

Alright everyone, (and by everyone, I mean "Hi Mom") it's finally time to start doing one of these. I'm going to try and use this site to show some of my travels, adventures, projects, and a place to yell where I won't upset the neighboors.

I've got some projects I'm working on and I wanted a place to document them. I'll be doing some extensive modifications to my Diamondback Mission frame with a general goal of making a six inch travel light duty DH bike. Cutting and grinding will be manditory!

My new DH bike is being welded together in Taiwan as I type. There have been some signifigant changes and I can't wait for it to arrive. I just saw the new graphics and it looks great!

Some fun trips are coming up as well and I'll dig into the archive and post about some of my travels from earlier this year.

Sit tight and this should get going soon.

-KT