Ranchstyle 2012: Dusty Dual Slalom Madness

Wide open down the straightaway! Photo: Bonnie Miller

            The beginning of the race season had arrived, however this past weekend was the first race weekend that the full pro squad would be together. Lear was holding it down at Sea Otter, and Jess was sharpening his big mountain skills heliboarding in Alaska. Michael and I represented the brand up in the Pacific North West at the first round of the Mountain Bike Grand Prix and have been on the road putting together a ride guide feature for Mountainflyer Magazine with professional photographer Andrew Wilz.

            Ranchstyle is an awesome event to be apart of because it brings together many different sides of the mountain biking communuty. It is a stop on the FMB world tour and some of the best freestyle riders are going huge on a very unique slopestyle course that is situated high above Grand Junction. Ranchstyle takes place on a private ranch in the high desert, and both the slopestyle and dual slalom courses slither in between the shrub brush forest atop the dry sandy soil. The dual slalom track can be best explained as a aggressively fast mountain bike trail that is littered with berms, flat turns and big rhythm sections. Both of the tracks run very similar times and always make for some great racing. A decent sized field of 24 riders from around the region showed up and once the dust settled from the previous evening’s freestyle competition, Sunday was all about racing.

Qualifying went very well!

             There hasn’t been a drop of precipitation in these parts for the past month and towards the end practice both courses were blowing up and quickly deteriorating. Qualifying well is extremely important in dual slalom, if you can get a top spot it allows for the easiest road to the final. This was on everyone’s mind as we climbed the hill back up to the start. I watched as racer after racer left the gate aggressively attacking the course and drifting around the top turns. My goal was to smooth out the track, keep it mellow and pedal when possible. This paid off big as I qualified 1^st by 1.4 seconds on a 50 second track. Most of the competition rode too aggressively, blew corners and got caught in the momentum robbing sand. Jess held it together qualified 4^th, and Lear was looking quick but make a crucial mistake and took the 6^th position. Michael also had a few difficulties, but kept all TG riders in the top ten taking 10^th place. 

Going head to head with Jamas Stiber. Photo: Becky Gardner

            The brackets got broken up into a round of 32 so the top 8 riders would receive a bye before competing again in the round of 16. Michael made quick work and advanced to the round of 16. Just as he was gaining momentum having the advantage after the first race he over committed and went OTB over a berm. His day was done but it was good enough for a respectable 9^th place finish overall. Lear was putting the hammer down and in the round of 8 took care of 3^rd place qualifier Cody Kelley by a large margin. Jess took care of business in the rounds of 16 and 8 with good consistent riding. In the round of 16 I found myself in the dirt but recovered to advance on against Eric Porter in the round of 8. The course was getting rougher as I took both races and advanced to the round of 4 where I found myself battling against teammate Jess to see who would make it to the big final. Lear was on the opposite side of the bracket and was dominating after the first race but within sight of the finish line slipped a pedal lost by a mere .06 overall. Jess made a big mistake in the first race and in the second run couldn’t make up the difference. In the small final and battle between teammates, Lear continued his tear and made up for his previous rounds mistake to take 3rd with Jess earning 4^th in a tightly contested race. I was determined to take care up business and the top spot and had a .5 second advantage after run one, however 2^nd place qualifier Mikey Sylvestri took advantage of some minor mistakes I made by crushing the fast, loose track and snagging the top spot, with me rolling into 2^nd overall.

Team Geronimo 2nd, 3rd and 4th!!!

            It was a very successful weekend with all TG riders in the top ten and 3 of us on the box in 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th. I was slightly disappointed I couldn’t hold on to the top spot after qualifying so well but with the course getting so rough and many trips walking back up the hill it all took its toll. It was great to ride with Jess and Lear again and to get the season off to a great start. Thank you all for your support as we look forward to the rest of the year.  

For more video and photo coverage of the event check out:

• Trevor Martin's Unofficial Networks Edit: http://unofficialnetworks.com/video-2012-grassroots-ranchstyle-grand-junction-96912/

• Vital MTB photo coverage: http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/member/2012-Ranchstyle-MRP-Super-Slalom,3669/Jess-Pedersen-and-Lear-Miller,34465/NoahColorado,128 

Ride On!!!

 

Race Report: Port Angeles - Mud, furry logs and more

Trying to hold on towards the bottom of my race run. Wilz makes me look good!

It was typical April weather in the Pacific Northwest, cool, damp and rainy. Perfect riding conditions up on Dry Hill as the track absorbs most of the moisture and provides that incredible black dirt everyone loves. A large contingency of international, Canadian and most of the top national riders were in attendance. Three of our juniors made the journey out as well as the Trident Canadian teams juniors, lots of energy was flowing through our pit this past weekend.
        A strong flat peddle out of the gate and within s few seconds the track pointed straight down the fall line, the section is called White Knuckles. The speeds start to slow as the track enters the thick forest while slithering through tight single track turns. About half way down the track builders cut a new section that sent riders plummeting down two steep and bumpy chutes. The second one would later be called Fairclough falls after claiming him in qualifying. Once past the steeps a step down jump was created and free quesadillas were being given out there all day. I opted for an inside sneak line that was much more efficient. A few more tacky berms and a sprint to the finish line and its over.
         The weekends practice went really well as I was feeling very quick on track. It took a few runs to really get used to the greasy surface, but once I started to trust to dirts traction I had the Legend leaning hard into the turns and blasting out of them. When I wasn't practicing on the hill, Michael and I were on our Spitfires riding and filming various other trails and having a blast. We were even able to squeeze in some time before qualifying to shoot with professional photographer Andrew Wilz.

Just a blur in the background as Wilz works his magic with the furry stumps

        I was really looking forward to qualifying as it would be the first time all year I would be able to compare myself with the best. My goal was to have a smooth run and not push too hard to see where my energy levels were at the bottom. I started towards the end and by the time I was out of the gate the light was starting to dim. I was on a great run but then found myself on the ground after over committing into a turn. I qualified a respectable 45th place out of 96 with that crash knowing with a clean run I would be top 10.
       Sunday morning practice rolled around early and I decided to spent my time walking the track and watching lines. Rain fell overnight and I wanted to check out the track surface and the condition everything was in after the thrashing it took the previous day. There was a lot of time to kill as my start time wasn't until 3pm. I did my warm up and found myself sprinting hard out of the gate, I was hungry for a great result. I was on another great run until I made a line choice error that nearly sent me off the track, instead it robbed all of my speed and was very unnerving. I never recovered from that mistake and piloted cautiously across the line and into 33rd out of 96 overall.
      The weekend was great and I was able to ride a lot. With it still being early in the year I'm excited to polish my skills and build upon what needs a little work. The conditions were very similar to what I'll be seeing later this year on the east coast for the World Cups and Nationals. It was awesome to get up to speed again, however it was not the end result that I was looking for. Ride On!

Slug crossing! "In the PNW, sometimes you just have to ride the wood" Michael says