Initially I was stoked to race again and had a lot of input into the new 'Trail Bike DH' class that was unveiled in our Utard State Race Series. The idea was just amazing and added a lot of fun to an ever increasing lackluster race series. The two I attended showed promise and a bunch of new faces throughout the weekend.
Those that live in Utard know that Spring 2009 was nonexistant. Each weekend through May was either snow or heavy rains. Both don't bother me other than the dirt in the Wasatch doesn't jive well with bikes when it's saturated. After so many weekends of powerwashing and a complete tear down after each practice and race day, that just got old, really fast.
Casualties: 1 SRAM XO rear derailleur, 1 SRAM PC 990 chain, 1 XTR cassette, 1 Blackspire 38 ring, lots of time and lots of grease.
First race of the 2009 season I opted not to defend my Super D championship for the third time. Sundance is an ok place to ride and race Super D, but not on the bikes I had come race time. Plus 2 days is plenty down there, 3 is just pushing it. This was the first Trail Bike DH race ever and the course was actually fairly decent. It flowed well. It was mostly downhill. And you had to be both technically savy and fit as the middle section had a bit of uphill to it. To boot, Ron combined the Pro/Cat1's which was great to compete at that level.
As was mentioned earlier this year this race ended up pretty bad for me. Great event. But bad result for me.
Casualties: 1 new Ibis Mojo frameset, 1 new Royal Jersey, bit of paint from my carbon TLD helmet, concussion and pride.
Second race of the 2009 season I opted to enter the Super D as well as the Trail Bike DH. After all, I designed last years Super D course at Wolf Creek and it was a hit. Little did I know Wolf Creek just bulldozed, yes bulldozed, a brand new 2-3 mile trail....up hill, with next to no 'D' that would be used as the Stupid D course this year. With the Trail Bike DH looming later in the day and I being the only 30-39 male racing I took my time and took first place, almost losing to myself.
Great morning for a Super D, horrible afternoon for a Trail Bike DH race. Again, the spring time sun disappeared as the rain moved in. Seems grass, mud and water don't like bikes. After one practice run my brand spankin' new Intense was unrideable. I showed up, so I was going to race. Even if I couldn't clip in or stand on those little pinner XC pedals I decided at the last minute to use. Unwise decision. Again, a horrible result.
Casualties: $6 at the carwash and 4 hours of teardown, clean and rebuild time.
And that was it.
I come to find out the concussion I suffered earlier at Sundance did a bit more damage than I initially thought. For almost 2 months afterwards I was in a bit of a haze and had frequent headaches. Even on simple XC rides I was struggling to focus and was basically a jeopardy to myself and the foilage along the sides of the trials.
Adding insult to injury, bills started piling up, vehicles started needing major repairs and my stable went from a healthy and strong five bicycles to a modest two out of necessity. MTBR made a killing off my advertisements as full bicycles and spare parts went out to UPS on almost a daily basis.
So what to do for 2010?
Well on a positive note a few sponsors have picked me up again. I have a storage unit full of brand new rubber, enough to last at least two more seasons. Besides a desperate need to overhaul the fork and shock (approx $300) and the desire to replace my beloved but now duct taped and McGuyver modded Avid Juicy Carbons, the Intense is coming into its own. It is by far the best fitting and most comfortable bike I've owned in years. And finally, a day before it started snowing (today) I finally frankenmodded a great single chainguide system to the bike after a season of banging my head trying every guide system on the market. Dremmeling, grinding and hammering them all to try and fit around that horrible lower linkage design (photo's and full write up coming soon).
Here's to a better 2010....
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