Last 3 1/2 Months

Mid January I left for California to get in some good training on the bike. Home base Healdsburg.

The first race of the year was Fontana. I took the win battling with teammate Barry and Tinker Juarez.

The first US Cup was in Austin, Texas. I had a decent ride ending up 10th, Barry 15th. Barry and I drove over to Louisiana to race the Rouge Roubai. The Rouge is a road race with three gravel sections. I crashed out on the second gravel section. Barry 5th, Cory 11th, Spencer 12.

The roads in Louisiana are amazing. Great riding.

I was a little sore from my crash at the Rouge Roubai but that didn't stop me from doing the Fort Ross Grasshopper back in NorCal where I was the bridesmaid to Sam Bassetti, Jim Hewett 3rd, Roger Bartels 6th. The dirt decent into Cazidero helped me make some ground on the road guys.

For my 31 birthday I went up to Barry's in Bend to do some skiing. That week turned out to be quite a ride. Awesome MTBing, skiing, which included a 25km skate ski race and just hanging with a good crew of people. We even went to a rock show. Barry's mom and sister came to town so it was quite the full house. Adam Craig took us on some cool mtb rides by Smith rock.

Back in NorCal Odessa had an amazing birthday party. Cake flown in from Florida. I have never eaten so much cake.

Took in a San Francisco Giants game with Odessa, Hilary and Roger.

Geysers Grasshopper hillclimbing challenge was good. Taylor Burrett and I broke away from the gun and managed to stay away all day. I couldn't hang on the Pine Flat hillclimb. 1st Tyler, 2nd me, 3rd Billy Damon, 6th Roger Bartels.

The Kona Crew arrived in Healdstown for the Kings Ridge Grasshopper, to get the legs warmed up for Sea Otter. Kabush decided to join us . 1st Geoff, 2nd Barry, 4th Spencer, me 8th Cory Wallace 10th and Roger Bartels 12th. We thought it would be good training to do back to back races so we nailed the Napa Dirt Classic the next day. Barry won I got 4th, Cory 6th, and Roger 16th.

It felt good to get to SeaOtter and get the new bikes dialed in. It has been a long time since a bunch of euros came over and it was nice to see more of a european presence. The short track for the Kona boys: Spencer 14th, Barry 21st, me 38th and Cory 58th. In the XC I lined up becide Meguel Martinez. Martinez won. It has been a long time since I have seen Meguel on top of a podium. Barry 8th, me 28th, Cory 55, Roger 81st and pencer rand over a nail which took him out.

Altitude and the desert make for great racing. Everyone should check out the Whiskey Off Road. It is probably the second biggest mtb race in the USA. Very awesome atmosphere. Every Pro has to do the Crit in downtown Prescott on the Friday before the race. It is a muscly coarse and has a nasty climb. Max won, Spencer 4th, Barry 9th, me 20th and Cory 24th. The main event is the 50 miler that includes an 11mile hillclimb which blows the race apart . Geoff won, Spencer 6th, Barry 17, me 20th and Cory 30th.

After being on the road for 3 1/2 months it feels good to be home in Sechelt. It feels good to see logging trucks rolling through the main strip. Lots of the snow has melted and the trails are in good shape. Would like to build some new trails but don't know if time will permit with training for the upcoming Euro races at the end of the month.