Bryn, World Cup, Splatkille, Bill Murray

So Bryn is doing better. We're here in Albany, and he is a lot better than he was on Saturday. Surgery went as well as possible, quick and clean. Jill, Lars and I will be here tonight as well. Wednesday we'll headed down to the U.S. Open to destroy our enemies, so that all that remains is their burning villages and the lamentations of their women.








In other news, my petition was accepted for the Leogang, Austria World Cup. As long as I don't acquire a case of PRKT Syndrome, this is for real and I'll be racing in Austria.

For those who aren't up to speed on PRKT Syndrome, here's a quick summary. Those of us who don't have UCI points from one of the 3 UCI races in the entire U.S. have to petition like damn dirty apes to race in the World Cup. Pro Racer Kyle Thomas, PRKT, petitioned to USAC to race in Windham last year, and got accepted. After buying his plane ticket, hotel, and rental car, he got this email:

"Unfortunately I have bad news regarding the Windham World Cup National Team start I offered you last week. It turns out I will NOT be able to offer this start to you after all...Unfortunately I will not be able to reimburse you for travel expenses."

Bummer. So it's totally possible that I will be kicked off the list two days after flying out, but who knows. That would make me sad.







Here are some sweet pictures from the Splatkille, NY race from photographers AC Phillips and Chad Phillips. The race went pretty well, all things considered. I got 23rd, Lars got 10th. Not a personal best for either one of us, but I think both of us were excited to just get down the hill. A good weekend, and a bad one.


















And just to keep things on the up and up, here's life winner Bill Murray:






http://www.ranker.com/list/the-7-greatest-_real_-bill-murray-stories-ever-told/kristin-wong

More Highlander updates

Some sweet photos riding photos from Matt Delorem and (lifestyle?) photos from Jill Kintner. A great weekend, and a super fun race run. Conditions were very different on race day vs. practice.










A big thanks goes out to Mike at Fox for dialing in my suspension, Nick and the gang at Shimano for getting my drivetrain fixed up, and Lars and Jill for putting up with me. Also a big thanks goes out to the crew at Highland for making the whole weekend possible.




We're in beautiful Margaretville, NY for the next week. Plattekill is supposed to be flattish, and covered in loose shale. Pretty much perfect for me. Pretty excited. It should be a good week, and I'll try to keep photos updated. I probably won't, though.

19th place

Pretty good weekend at the Highland Pro GRT. It was wet and wild. We practiced Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the dry. Like clockwork, the rain rolled in Saturday night and raceday was WET. It got wetter and wetter between practice, quali's, and finals. I found out just how wet it was when I slid off a rock face into a tree. The funny thing is, hitting the tree didn't bum me out. We hit trees all the time in Oregon. It was falling backward onto really, really hard rock that surprised me. Rocks are hard.

Anyway, the track was really physical, super bumpy, and full of slick, pointy rocks. Everywhere the track got up to speed, they routed it back uphill. There were uphill rock gardens. It was difficult.

By the time finals rolled around, it was an absolute slip and slide. It was a "stay-on-the-bike" fest. I slid out once in my race run, but I got up fast. I had fun and kept it together the rest of the way down, and ended up getting 19th place.

Do I live to get 19th place? No. But I got down in one piece, rode good, and I'm ready to do the same next weekend. I'm ready to go kick some ass at Plattekill.





Oh by the way Lars got 7th, and Jill won and got $1500. So that's pretty sweet, too.

Sending it

Race day is tomorrow at Highland, meaning it's going to be time to send it. The course is mega bumpy and tough to carry speed on. It's also dumping rain, so that's kind of cool.

At any Highland race, there can only be one...





Lots of other cool stuff to report from roadtripping, and some sweet pictures, but so little internet access, and so little interest... can't... keep... typing...


-CHazz

Roadtrippin

Today is the day.

Lars N Bars Sternberg is going to be swinging by and picking me up in about 5 hours in the Transition Sprinter van, and the adventure begins.



It's a huge trip and a huge opportunity to go kick some East Coast ass. Because we're going to the East Coast, this will probably be the first time I'll ever "really" ride a trail that is either:

1. "technical"
2. "rooty"
3. "rocky"

From what I've been told by numerous East coast riders, the East coast is literally the only place where you will find all three. So that's pretty exciting.


The schedule looks like this:


May 7-8 Ranchstyle dual slalom and huckfest in Grand Junction, CO





May 13-15 ProGRT at Highland MTB Park, NH




May 20-22 ProGRT at Plattekill, NY





May 27-29 U.S. Open at Diablo Freeride Park, NJ





After that, I'll be flying out to Germany and then Austria to go race in the Leogang Worldcup. If all goes according to plan, you should be able to watch me in the finals at 4am on Sunday, June 12. I've never been to Europe, and the cool thing is that I'll have a week before the race to hang out with the locals:

















Okay, let's be totally honest. I won't be hanging out with any girls.



I just want to say a huge thank you to all the people who've helped me make this trip possible. A big thanks goes out to

Lars and the gang at Transition Bikes
Eric and Sadie at Deity
Teague at Diverse Suspension
Tim at Koolstop
Eric at Hankbuilt
Verg and urbody at Shimano

And everybody who's ever fed, housed, or shuttled my sorry ass or helped with my clapped bikes. That list would be really long.

Consider this the beginning of TEAM ROBOT WORLD DOMINATION PLAN MK. 1

SWEET!

... on pinkbike.com

How quickly my mood can change.

"A couple years"

Just got off the horn with one of the City's people. The word is that the land will not be purchased until later this summer, and development/groundbreaking will not occur for "a couple years."

This comes as huge news. The trails should definitely be around this summer. Come ride them while they're still here.

The trails are screwed.

http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=130431479407859000


We're hosed.