Jersey!!!

Hey Everybody, All I can say is I have been busy! After my crazy Colorado trip where more fun stuff happened at Cole's house post racing than I can even remember, I headed to Whistler BC for 10 days of riding and a whole bunch of racing. I raced yet again two slaloms while in Whistler, the first being regular slalom. It was anything but a regular slalom, This thing looked like a sculpture. I swear you could roll a basketball out of the gate and it could of made it down the track. Super smooth and just as the track was perfect, you had to be perfect to ride this track well. I qualified low in 16th place and by the time I advanced to the second round I was the only guy on a full suspension bike left. Well with Lopes being the number one qualifier it was time for me to race him once again. This time I finally came out on top and it felt good. I really wanted to go on for the win but with a few mistakes in the semi-final I found myself racing for 3rd against my teammate Cody Warren. The only consolation for not making the main was that one of my mistakes was turning to hard and dragging my handlebar in the dirt almost causing myself to crash.



Next weekend we raced Giant Slalom which was a really long slalom with huge berms and jumps. The jumps were about 60% to small for the speed we were carrying. This made for a pretty scary combination of breaking and scrubbing off the lips of the jumps to try to keep from landing to flat or the uphill of the next jump. Again I qualified 16th and Lopes?? Again he was first. I advanced past Brendan Faircloth in the first round, and then very next round Lopes again! I am starting to see a pattern. I really can't complain, it is the best experience I can ever get and I love the opportunity. I do need to start qualifying better though. Well Lopes got me, he was riding really well and had a super strong first straight.



Finally the whole Jersey thing. Well this weekend I am at Diablo Freeride Park for the Jeep 48straight race. Today was qualies and I got 11th, better than 16th, but still not what I am after. Tomorrow are the finals but you might just have to wait to find out the results of this one until it airs on CBS September 28. Hope all is well and we will see you at the races.

Slalom Video from Crankworks

Here is a little slalom video from Crankworks, sick track. http://freecaster.tv/1000006_1005614

Slalom, Slalom, Slalom!!!

This past week I have been out in Colorado staying with Cole Bangert and his family. We arrived at Crankworks Colorado on Wednesday to find a really sick Slopestyle track and what looked to be a fun slalom. Cole is recovering from a shoulder separation injury that occurred just before National Champs. He had decided it was finally time to try out some xc so we headed over to Sol Vista bike park. While there we had a great ride and also got the info that there would be a slalom race Saturday night. The XC was fun and it was good to see Cole recovering so fast.

Saturday was Slalom at Sol Vista. The guys over there put little time into building the track and it speaks volumes for how good they really are because the track was great. Saturday morning we had qualifying, then back to Crankworks to watch a little Slopestyle, then finally some racing under the lights. I was riding really good and found myself in the finals with Brian Lopes. I took the first run and Lopes took the second with an advantage big enough to take the overall. It was a great night of racing and I really felt like the crowd was behind me.

Sunday saw what felt like a really early morning of practice after the late night of racing at Sol Vista. Lopes and I met once again only this time it was in the Semi Finals which meant only one of us would make it to the finals. Brian took the first run and I took the second but not by enough. I ended up taking 3rd while Brian would take the win. It was a lot of fun and I feel like I am riding better than I ever have, a good feeling going into the next few weeks of racing. Look for a Crankworks slalom update soon!

Team America website

Here is the link for our team website www.declineteamamerica.com . enjoy

Colorado with the Bangerts

Hey everyone, I am out in CO getting ready for the Mountain States Cup at Snowmass. Cole picked me up on Monday and we have been pinned ever since. Here are some pics from the trip so far.

The Yeti boys invited us over to ride their new dirt jumps, here Blenkinsop noses in hard

This is the start of Cole's DH track we went here to ride after building bikes in the Best Buy parking lot.

Timmy whipping the last set

Aaron Gwin is the master mind behind these jumps and he has done an amazing job. There are some many lines going every different directions, hard to see from this pic but it is amazing.

On the road again

So tomorrow I fly out for the Snowmass Mountain States Cup. Teammate Cole Bangert is going to pick me up in the morning. Tim Price is also flying in, another East Coast ripper and Cole will be accompanied by Jonty Netherling, the younger of the two South African brothers. We are going to head straight to Colorado Springs to do some DH runs and then up to Cole's parents house in Twin Lakes. For those of you that have heard me talk about Cole's parents house you know it is a dreamland. We always have so much fun there. Hopefully I can lay down the bike for a minute and give you guys an update. Until then here are a few pics.

Here is Cole's place in the winter,

the pic is titled "Cole is an Idiot"

in my computer.

This is why I never have time to update my blog...

We are always "Training" or playing on a log

in our camp site however you like to look at it.

It's been a while

Hey everybody, been quite some time now. I have no excuses, just plain laziness. Well a lot has happened. Once back from the Open, I went straight into finishing up the new DS and DH tracks at Headwaters Outfitters Adventure Village here in Brevard, NC. It was a big push to get them done before the skills clinic Joe Haley and myself put on last weekend. Well the tracks were just barely finished when everyone started showing up Saturday morning, but it was worth all the work. Thanks for everyone that came out, we had a blast riding. I hope everyone enjoyed it and that you will all come back and ride some more. Big thanks to David Whitmire for giving us the opportunity for what I think is a great track. I have been promising for ever so here are some pics.

Matt, Jeremy, and myself

post Massenutten

Who ever thought getting into Canada would be harder than getting into the states once at the front of the line it took us another hour and a half to actually get into the country!

Geritt with the big "W" in Canuck land