Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Pacifica - June 28, 2009

Khaner and I did timed runs with our Moto timers from the top of the middle section of boyscout, through the S berms to the hip just below "career ender" down to the drop line and through the new ravine trail. The watch was stopped as we exited the ravine trail and rode over the berm into the main trail. After our first run, we realized that we had both taken slightly different lines. Khaner's time was a :58 and mine was 1:02. I was progressively 2 seconds faster through each of four runs with a final run of 56:08. Khaner's third and final run was 55:90. With at least a second or so margin of error, you can't get any closer than that... 

The timers made great use of our riding time and added an extra element of fun to our ride.

Khaner pulls a nice seat grab... 

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Team Ride - Thursday June 11


Khaner and I met up with Keith and Justin for a ride in Pacifica today. The weather was awesome, and we hit up Crack and Mile and sessioned Boyscout for a total of about 3 hours of pushing/riding. Khaner, Keith and Justin pictured.

View of Pacifica from the trail to the top of Mile.

Keith hitting one of the new doubles on Boyscout.

Cross Training at Napa BMX - Wed June 10


I took the family to North Bay BMX in Napa for Wednesday night practice and Racing. The track has recently just been completely redone, and I was told it was by the same people that did the Olympic track in Beijing. Not sure if it had anything to do with Donny Robinson, but I think that's at least part of the equation. He was actually there last night and it was pretty cool to see him air the quadruple on the first straight and clear it with ease... Its crazy to see how high level pros are completely heads and tails above anyone else.

The track looked great with an asphalt starting hill and asphalt berms. The rollers and tables were groomed perfectly. The starting gate was new and functioned flawlessly. What can I say. Its a true world class track. Khaner's one complaint was how flat it was. But, for BMX he's use to The Hill in Elgin Illinois. We stopped racing BMX when we moved from Chicago to San Francisco and therefore his memories of BMX are having to brake to slow down so you don't fly over the berms and over clear the tables. The Hill was almost a Downhill BMX course. Napa: Much more traditional. But fun and flowy.

Khaner practiced for a few hours in spite of a headache and the onset of what could be the Swine Flu.

Deegan (my 6 yr old) practiced and ultimately asked if he could race in what would be his first race of any kind, ever. He had a ton of great practice runs, especially taking into account that he had never even ridden the bike that he was racing.

Each time he got faster and better. Come time for his moto, he had 5 kids in his 6 yr old Novice Division. it was a 2-2 transfer and he got last on the first moto. In his second, a kid crashed and Deegan ended up transfering to the main event. In the main he got 4th and was sore and tired. I think he needs to get out there and train so he can earn a spot on the FACTION team for 2010.

Sick Pic of Keith from SC

This was taken awhile back, but I had to post it. Nice pic JB, and Sweeeet riding Keith!!! Check out the comments on PinkBike.


CCCX #6 - June 7, 2009

The Faction team rolled 6 deep to the second to the last race of the 2009 CCCX Downhill Series. Khaner and I headed out at 6 am to meet up with the rest of the team at Toro Park. Once there, we headed up the hill for practice. The course was supposedly "skinnier" than in the past, so hiking up was prohibited. We had to take a steeper section around the mountain to get to the top.

We stopped and sessioned an S-berm section in the middle that reminded me of the sandy berms at Sea Otter, except these had a a bit less sand in the bottom and a bit more chewn off the top. Still fun, but sketchy nonetheless. We ventured to the top for a few runs of the the fireroad start section and then headed down to a section of trail that Keith DeFiebre was touting as Virgin Trail. One section seemed familiar to me from years past, but was rutted and covered with loose fine powdery dirt.

The section that followed was steep, loose and as practice rolled on, a rut started to form at the bottom so you could actually hold your line and not end up in the brush. 

After that section, the trail drifted into another newly cut section of rough single track that led into a gully of freshly hacked shrubbery. In my race run, I ended up in and out of the inch or so diameter spears as I snaked toward the final stretch:

Another new section of trail that ran along the edge of a ravine only about 4 to 5 inches wide in some sections with a jump toward the end that shot you back into a section of trail about 5 inches wide.

I got one practice run through there as this was an area you couldn't hike back up to session without running riders off course and sending them careening down into the ravine. So, out of respect, we went to the bottom and opted to skip another trip all the way to the top for another practice run. It was about 11:00 and we would have been cutting it pretty close. 

The course overall was much more interesting than previous courses from Mr Defeeb, but lacked a sturdy base to keep riders on course. And in my experience with trail building, all of the new sections are environmentally unsound and destructive to vegetation and prone to erosion. Not sure if anyone cares out there, but building some of these trails sustainably would provide immense opportunities for future course options for years to come. Oh well... Its his race and the course was fun.

I had a good race run other than washing out in one berm in the s-berm section and running into the bank of the 3 inch trail toward the bottom. A jump in that section shot you toward the edge of the trail and to avoid ending up in the ravine, you had to make a quick left and hold a rut a few inches wide. A photographer happened to be just behind the jump as I came through and flashed me (not with his nude body, but with his flash of course), which distracted me just enough to get me off course. Luckily, instead of going right off the trail, I went left and buried my handlebar in the bank of the ravine to the left. It took me 4 or 5 seconds to dislodge my bars and get rolling again. The rest of the course was a good pedal and I missed a few of my lines... I had only been through there once, so it wasn't burned into my mind as it should have been. My time was 3 m 37 s and 42 hundredths. I ended up in a tie for 3rd with Mr. E, Eric Brecheen from Mr. E's bikes. 

Allen had a solid run and posted a 3:17 for 4th place in the Pro Division. Keith crashed in the vacinity of where I had my incident, went over the bars and into the ravine. Even with his mistake, he still managed to pull out a 3:25.

Justin came in with a 3:30, Tony with a 3:32, Khaner with a 3:41 putting them all on the podium in the 18 and under Jr. Expert Category with 2nd, 3rd and 5th, respectively.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Angelfire Chili Challenge - May 22-25, 2009

Keith’s been on a roll this year with a streak of podiums and top 10 finishes on the Gravity tour. Last weekend he took a little 20 hour drive to Angelfire New Mexico:

I chatted with Keith on Sunday after his race run:

Keith: "Practice went amazing all 5 days, but my race run didn't come together the way I hoped it would. Actually, I think it was one of my worst race runs on record. I was trying to go a bit too fast and blew some of my lines. I've been training regularly and have felt like I'm in great shape. Not this weekend. I felt like I hadn't trained a day in my life. I'm sure it had a lot to do with the fact that we were up above 12,000 feet. In spite of all that, I finished a pretty solid 8th place. Its never a great feeling knowing that you could have done much better, but I'll take 8th and chalk it up to experience."

Keith going big in New Mexico


A tech section on the course at the Chili Challenge.

Next weekend we'll be doing another CCCX practice race. The next big one is Nationals at Sol Vista in July. Keith, Myself (Dustin), Khaner and Allen will all be attending. It should be a blast. Khaner and I haven't ridden in CO in 4 years. I don't think Keith and Allen ever have.