Ashland Spring Thaw DH
The last day of the Spring Thaw weekend was the two stage downhill race. Stage one down the fast and grippy Catwalk trail, stage two down the sand box pump track BTI trail. A few of us took a quick loop up to the Lynx trail to loosen things up before getting in line to hurdle ourselves down the mountain.
A few botched corners on BTI kept me from scoring a I was hoping for but at the end of the day I was happy to have kept it upright, more or less on the trail, and to enjoy the beers and burritos at the finish line.
After a weekend of racing, it was great to hang out and relax in the sun before we all split up to make our way home. Can’t wait to come back up for the enduro and 12 mile super D!
Ashland Spring Thaw Day 2: XC
The brisk and cloudy morning led to a pretty incredible day of XC racing. A quick bike check and weigh in for the all mountain riders and the race was off.
Straight up the mountain, straight back down, straight up again, and then rally your brains out to the bottom one last time. Once the whistle blew the cool air was welcomed and as the rain started to trickle before the final descent it added some nice tack to the dry and dusty trial.
After a long day trying to chase the high posted 29er kooks up the fire roads and doing my best to not kill myself following Mark Weir’s wheel on the downhills I was happy to make it to the finish line feeling good and one piece.
Tom and I grew up together spending most of our time after school riding our BMX bikes all over town. We have since relocated to different places but have both gotten pretty heavy into racing mountain bikes. For the first time in years, our paths have crossed and we’ve met up at the same race. After his second XC race ever, Tom was all smiles.
Ashland Spring Thaw day 1
Brue and I crammed our gear into the back of a car and made the haul across the Oregon border. After a quick stop in Shasta City we made our way to Ashland with time to get in a shuttle run and check out the downhill tracks before dark.
Kinda feels like cross season
Makeshift flat corner slalom run. Cornering skills don’t come free.
Where were you this morning?
