STATES

This weekend was the last high school race of the season and the biggest, fastest race yet with it being the whole state of California racing. My usual Varsity field is about 25 people but at states, it doubles and this year it was 58. My family and I got up to Tehachapi on Saturday. We were invited  into a little RV compound with our friends the DeBruhl's and Gamberutti's. I helped set up camp, said hi to some friends and stretched out my legs from the drive. At around 11 Devin, Jonah Martinez,  my dad and I went out for our pre-ride. Right off the start, we ran into a large group of cows that we had to scare off the road, typical Tehachapi.  The course was the same as years past. It starts with a long fire road to a quick punchy climb some fast up and downs with some fun corners at the main climb of the course. This climb is usually easy, but add the winds of Tehachapi and it takes it to a whole new level of difficulty. The trail then leads into a few technical rock gardens that you have to watch your tires through, then into some quick single track on the side of a hill and you can look down into the venue. You head over to more rock gardens, then into a short climb, and then you do two passes through the valley right where the finish is. Then up to one steep climb, followed by a descent to the finish on the fire road to start/finish.  We did two laps and did the last section of the lap a few times to look for a quicker, straighter line over a patch of rocks as opposed to having to slow down for a corner. After that, we headed back to our trailers to get our recovery and relax for the rest of the day. We played some card games, talked with friends about Sunday, walked around and said hi to people that were coming in,  and watched a movie or two before dinner. Dinner was pasta as usual.  Gabbi, Devin, and my parents had some fun cracking jokes while dinner was being made. Around this time the rain was starting to come down and all the parents from our compound came into our trailer to eat and watch a movie. After it ended they began to slowly leave to get back to their own trailers or to hotels. With missing last weekends SoCal finals due to rain, and the storm again this night, it was a bummer to not hang out longer,  but I was able to get in bed a little earlier. The next morning it was pouring so the races were postponed an hour  (which made it a lot harder for our race) they also shortened the race by a lap (which I  was bummed at the time but ultimately happy with the storm that came at the end of our race). That morning everyone was rolling in while I was having my breakfast and we had 7 people on our couch watching the UCI race in front of our fireplace.  With the hour delay, we were going to start at 2:30 so we just had to lay around longer. This was a good thing considering that my derailer cable was fraying and Tony Gamberutti was able to get it all fixed before the race. He was my true savior. I started my warm up a little earlier than normal because it was so cold I wanted to make sure I was all warmed up. For the last 5-10 minutes, I rode around to see if my kit choice was good for the race, warm, protected but not overheated. I talked with my coach,  Jason Ranoa and a few other people on the way to staging. I was the 33rd rider into the start shoot.  It was a little farther back than what I am used to but with the course starting on the long fire road I wasn't too worried. I was surrounded by many of my friends from the Socal league and I was getting mentally into race mode. One of my friends Steve Barton aka"Big Steve" gave me a little shoulder and neck massage that made me laugh a little to help with the nerves. The count down started then we were off. The race started off very quick til we got to the first corner where it all kinda slowed down because no one wanted to pull into the headwind. Until the first climb, the top 8 or so took off and the rest of us were fighting up and down the first decent to the big climb of the course. A buddy of mine Aiden Chapin was right in front of me starting the main climb he was able to make clutch passes but I wasn't able to do the same and the group pulled away.  Meanwhile, a group of 5 formed with me and we were together for the rest of the race. When we started our second lap I got in front just working at my own pace until the climb where I pulled a little gap headed for the first descent. Since I know this area so well and had no one in front of me the group didn't catch me till the main climb on the course. One of the guys helped me in the front with the group behind us catching. For the rest of that lap, we were moving fast through everything. Then the third and final lap came around and again no one wanted to pull on the fire road so it was just a cat and mouse game and the group behind was starting to catch again. I fought to the front for the descent to help us pull away and as soon as we got into the open the rain and wind slapped me and almost pushed me off course. I was literally leaning off my bike to stay upright. Up to the climb, the wind went from a head to a tailwind on each switch back. Three kids passed me up the climb and I fought hard to try and catch them for the rest of the course. I tried to keep my lines as clean as I could so I didn't get a flat. I was able to be work with another rider to try and catch the group ahead of us but as we went through the first valley crossing and saw that we were no longer close enough I knew it was a race between me and him. Down the descent, to the crossing, my glasses got covered in mud from following him. At that moment I said to myself don't worry, get through this,  you can see enough and you know this place well enough to just keep going. So I pushed on and on the punchy climb I passed him and made sure I was first into the last single track sections. I took the straight line over the rocks, made the last left corner and crossed the line 19th. I am very proud of this result because it was a hard season with a lot of up and downs. I was able to accomplish some goals and learn from the ones I did not, but overall I worked hard and am proud of where I ended up and know what I need to work on for next season. We always finish our races with dinner with our cycling family, it's grown since we first started and I enjoy hanging out with all my friends and family after a long hard day.  Always a big thank you to my family,  girlfriend and friends who support me no matter what. Big thank you to Jason and SoCal Devo, Ellsworth, ESI, Tasco, Kenda, Ridefast Wheels,  Physiophyx, Rudy, Canari, Scicon, Gup and my coach Daniel Matheny.
 

Keyesville

This weekend was fun, tough and very challenging. Saturday consisted of openers in the morning, haircut in the early afternoon and off to my girlfriend, Ally's prom. It was a whirlwind day. We had a great time, my girlfriend looked stunning and we had a fun time dancing and playing poker but Sunday morning came way too soon. I didn't get home until Sunday at about 1:30ish in the morning and wake up was at 6:45. I definitely felt a little groggy and out of it. We packed everything in my truck, picked Ally, my trooper girlfriend, up on the way for the two and a half hour drive to Keyesville.  When we got there the venue was packed. We had to wait about 20 min for the Freshman to go off before we were allowed into the main area. We thankfully had a spot "sort of" saved with the Debruhl's but it was definitely a tight fit. People were parking everywhere and anywhere. It was a bit chaotic. After we got settled we hung out with Devin Debruhl and Levi Mason for the time before the race and they filled me in on the course conditions. When we were just about to watch the girls go off we heard that a young rider, Will, from the Simi team took a hard crash that knocked him out. I found out after the race that he had broken his collarbone, 2 ribs, and pelvis and they were monitoring his head. Sending my thoughts making sure that he is okay and heals up fast. At about 12:30 I started getting ready to rock and roll. I was able to grab a call up from Vail a month prior. The start was easy, no one sprinting off the line. We all rushed through the water up to our first climb. The top five pulled away from me a bit and I tried to hold on but I wasn’t able to and was in no man's land. The trails had way more ruts then last year and they had to make some new lines around them. On the back side of the mountain, the wind was a crazy crosswind pushing me across the trail. It felt like I was side ways. With all that went on Saturday, I was feeling rough and I couldn’t get myself up to speed and kept going backward with each lap. The course itself was awesome and fast. It was filled with steep climbs and technical downhills, which I normally love, my body just wasn't having it. Hearing and seeing everyone on the sides of the course is always crazy to me, seeing that I know so many amazing people and they know me and were cheering me on, despite my performance, made me so stoked knowing I am part of this amazing community. I did finish the race in 15th which is not what I was looking for here.  I did, however, take a lot away on what I need to work on in the future, sleep and rest being one of them. On our way down the hill we got stuck in a full traffic jam right at the bottom of the canyon because of a fire. We made the best of it by doing Chinese Fire Drills and hung out with all our friends along the side of the river waiting for it to clear. Just another opportunity to make more memories.  Once we finally got through we had dinner with the Debruhls, Gamberuttis, Richardsons and Levi Mason. It's always great to relax and be with my racing family for dinner. In the end, the weekend was hard because I did more than usual but the racing was fun. I came out with a lot to work on over the next two weeks with new goals set for Socal finals and States. Always a big thank you to SoCal Devo, Ellsworth, ESI, Tasco, Kenda, Ridefast Wheels,  Physiophyx, Rudy, Canari, Scicon, Gup and my coach Daniel Matheny.  
          

Always Improving

This weekend was fun, hot and very challenging but I feel stronger from it. This weekend started on Saturday morning when I drove out to grab my girlfriend, Ally, at 7am to take with us to the race. We left at around 8 ish and started our two and a half hour drive to our second home Vail Lake in Temecula. We ran into some traffic along the way and we took a quick pit stop in town to Harvest Bread, our favorite bakery, where we got some bread for that nights dinner,  monkey bread for the next morning and some huge cookies, that would be my treat for after the race. When we finally got to the event we got our RV all set up, my dad, one of my friends Ethan Villaneda and I went out to pre-ride the course. Right off the start there were differences in the course. As soon as the lap started we took the normal first two turns but instead of going right onto the fire road we keep going straight where they added a new road that was just a large out and back then it went to the normal course. Since we have raced here about 4 times already it was cool to see a big change in how the course went. The other big change on the course was the run in to the momentum climb Air Force, they made us go on a higher level from where it is originally and they added three really fun and fast berms up to the climb. After that there were no new sections, but we took a trail backwards from the way we usually do it in other courses. This race adds a pretty crazy climb called Marine Corps hill. It is very similar to Air Force but longer and steeper. It has a long run up and from the rains and the people doing maintiance on it (thank you), it was a lot easier and faster. After the pre-ride I hung out with my girlfriend and other friends and watched movies for the rest of the night. In the morning we were again, woken up by the announcers but it was a little later then two weeks ago. In the morning I felt super sluggish and took me forever to get moving. But once my buddy Blake Wray came down and helped our friend Aidan Chapin with his bike, I loosened up.
 I stretched out and rolled out at about noon and watched another movie. I asked a few friends that had already raced how the course was running and they all said fast and fun but the heat was getting bad. When it got to about 1235 I got on the trainer for warm up and felt the heat and it was crazy. I switched to my race bike and riding around there was a breeze that made it feel a little cooler and I had a cold towel on my back trying to keep me as cool as possible. I finally headed over to the staging and I was in the last line of the whole group.  "You can only go up from here," as my parents always say to me. I didn't really mind much being in the back because varsity is a very small group of only 26 riders so it isn't like fighting through about 80 at Sea Otter per say. Time for the start the count down is going all the parents and coaches join in and we are off except... I completely miss my clip and my whole foot slips so I have to jump back on the saddle after getting thrown forward and catch the group. Dead freakin last! Luckily the pace started off very slow and mellow and I was able to get all the way to the front of the pack in the new long straight. We were all chatting and cracking jokes all the way through the first lap it didn't even feel like a race really and the lap went by very fast. The second lap was a little different the pace was brought up and my mind was ready for it and up the first single track climb my body didn't show up and I knew this lap was not going to be fun. I lost sight of the 4 leaders and could hardly keep up with 5th. I had to back it off on the main fire road to get my legs feeling good and also to try and get some burps out because my stomach was all in knots and I didn't want throw up. As we got into the fun decent Tunnel of Love I was able to regain some comfort and get my legs a little rest. Everything was going okay but my legs still didn't want to kick in. On the way to Marine Corps hill there are two steep little pushes and something happened that surprised me. I wasn't able to get up the hill. I had to get off and run to the top. This messed me up mentally trying to figure out what had just happened and what was going on with my body. I was able to get to the Top of Marine easy and said to myself "just put that behind you and focus on the race ahead."  I put my head down and hammered to the two guys ahead of me. One of which was my team mate Ethan Sanchez. We were able to work together on the way through the first single track climb.  The guy we were with was able to pull away but Ethan and I stayed in our grove and just pushed on.  I had a feeling we were going to catch him anyway because I feel very comfortable in the tunnel of love decent.  He ended up getting a flat tire  half way through the decent which is just bad luck. I saw it and put my pedal to the metal a little more because we still had to do one more lap and I didn't want him to be in the picture. My dad was in a field of poppies. He was calling out times to people ahead of us and the places we were in, which is alway helpful.
My legs were still not feeling amazing but they were good enough to keep a good pace going. I went through the finish line and headed out on my last lap. I took a shot of pickle juice that I had in my back pocket. It didn't sit well in my stomach at first, but since I had it and my legs were a little off I took it just to be safe and make sure no cramps would ruin my race. The last lap was filled with a lot of little punchy sprints trying to see who of the two of us would crack. We went back and forth the whole lap but the gap wasn't able to form until the fire road decent coming into the last turns of the lap in the four cross loop. I was able to power past and push into the decent where I felt I would be faster then Ethan. I made sure all of my corners were clean and I put down power anywhere I could. There was a little sharp lolly pop corner to the end and I made sure to hit it clean and sprint to the line where I was able to grab 7th place. This was my best result yet for the High School races. I felt good mentally but my body wasn't 100% there. I congratulated Tuner Conway on his well deserved and long awaited varsity win after having two tough years from injury. Another amazing weekend that I was able to spend with awesome people who all love and support me. Also A big thank you to SoCal Devo, Ellsworth, ESI, Tasco, Kenda, Ridefast Wheels,  Physiophyx, Rudy, Canari, Scicon, Gup and my coach Daniel Matheny.                

1st Win of the Season

This weekends race was amazing. The course was fun and fast and it was the first race my girlfriend was able to come out and see. Early Saturday morning (4:30) I woke up and got my bike and gear in my truck and at 5 headed out to pick up Ally along the way to the race. My mom and I picked her up from a gas station a little off the freeway. It took us a little over 2 hours to get Vail Lake. Once we got there it was a little chilly and still
. I got registered and introduced Ally to a few people then did some stretching with the whole Devo team. We did a few weird stretches that made us laugh but it got us warmed up but it left us barely 15-20 minutes to get kitted up and to line. I did two laps of the new four cross loops with the new big berms and they were super fun. As soon as I finished them I got to the start and I was in the back of the group again. I saw my buddy, Blake Wray, right up at the front and told my team mate that we have to start all the way in dead last. Our group was about 50 kids with the Cat-1 15-16,  17-18 and we were paired with a few single speeders. The whistle sounded and we were off. It was a little slow in the back and it was hard to get a line to pass but I was able to move up about 10-15 spots going into the first single track. It was a lot of the same trails from the week before from the NICA race, just in a different way. There were a few big changes though. One was that we went out towards the front of the campground where the cars first enter and the other was after air force we did a little quick hill climb. The pace was solid the whole way through but hard to gain spots til we got onto the ambulance road climb which was one of the two main fire roads on the whole course. On that climb I was able to get into a fast moving group and stayed with them for the rest of the lap. I took the lead going into the four cross area because I felt I could be the fastest descender in the group from looking at all of them in Tunnel of love and I was right, I was able to open a little gap. Going through the start/finish I saw my mom and Ally right there cheering me on which was right across from air force where I would see them later on the lap doing the same. I also saw other kids that were part of my group so I grabbed them and again made sure I was first into the quick corners and up and out to the front of the venue. After climbing back over the to the main area I got in a breakaway with two other kids from that small group up slingshot. We were able to move fast through that section back over to ambulance. At the top heading into tunnel of love the leaders from the endurance race caught us but I got blocked off from the other two kids as I was going into the single track. It was really good because the endurance group was super fast and I was able to hunker in behind them and hammer. They were able to pick off a few of the people I was racing against and I was able to catch up with teammates Aiden Papell and Ethan Sanchez. Unfortunately, the train ended at the start of the third lap where I got stuck behind people from other classes but I got behind a friend of mine Chris Layton, from the 30-39 group, and still pulled out some fast speeds with him Ethan and I pace lining up the fire road after getting a little caught up from slower people on a steep climb on sling shot. I got into tunnel first and just ripped it, there was no one in front of me and I was able to go as fast as I wanted. I got to air force where there was a little head wind so I took it a little easy and just glided to the top. On the start of the fourth lap it was just me and Ethan together so we worked together, picked up and dropped people through the whole lap and just flying through everything but I knew it was going to be a tough sprint to the end. I gave it a little gas at the start of the four cross climb with a little bite from him but I knew if I got to the decent first I had a good shot at winning the sprint. So I played it clean all the way to the top of the climb and was able to get about a 10/20 foot gap on the decent and as soon as I hit the flat to head to the finish I sprinted, then made sure I was clean through the last few corners to the finish and sprinted again and beat Ethan to the line. After I finished my race a gave my girlfriend, Ally, a big hug then saw Ama and Imeh and talked to them for a little where I saw the average speed for my race was 15 MPH!! Which surprised me because it was 25 mile course. As my mom, Ally and I were making our rounds saying hi to people my buddy Ryan Landis came up and asked if I knew how I did. I said "No but I think top 10." But he responded with "No dude you won you got first." which completely shocked  everyone especially me. The first thing Ally says to me is "See I told you I only date winners." I was so happy to be able to take home a win. It just shows that all my training is paying off and I'm getting stronger and stronger each race and each week. The topper was, Ally was there to see it all and see me cross the line a winner even though we didn't know it at the time. As always a huge thanks to SoCal Devo, Ellsworth, ESI, Tasco, Kenda, Ridefast Wheels,  Physiophyx, Rudy, Canari, Scicon, Gup, my coach Daniel Matheny and everyone that cheers me on and supports me at the races, school or social media thank you.

Double Race Weekend

This weekend was insanely fast and filled with a lot of new experiences that I'm happy to have done. On Friday I drove down to Bonelli where the UCI International race was going to be the next day to pre-ride. when I got there my tire was flat. Luckily, my good friend Rodger with Kenda was able to get it fixed for me to pre-ride the course. I've raced here twice in the past but it has been a year since I've ridden it so I couldn't remember everything. I'm happy I did the pre-ride because they changed the course from the year before in a few different areas adding 2 more steep climbs and got rid of an out and back section near the water. On the ride I ran into a few friends from out of state that I haven't seen in years. After I finished my pre-ride, I went by my girlfriend, Ally's, to spend some time with her because I wasn't able to see her during the week and I had races on both Saturday and Sunday. I spent about and hour there and then I went home to get washed up and go to bed. The next morning I woke up at around 5 a.m. and got in our RV for the long weekend, starting with Bonelli. When we got there, I got kitted up and jumped on my bike to warm up. On my warm up I look down at my bars and I saw a sticker that said "Come and take it" which is from a flag from the Revolutionary War where we stole a cannon from the British. I love this saying because I think of it as if you are racing and you want to pass me you have to come and take it from me, but not without a fight. Also about 3 minutes later I saw another sticker but this time it is a picture of the cougar, Karen, from Talladega Nights. Which put the biggest smile on my face and I just laughed. It was a funny surprise from my dad. As I rode around, I ran into a few more friends that I hadn't seen the day before. After warming up for about 30 minutes I went over the staging where I was in the last three rows. The first 8 call ups were for people from Canada, Mexico, Netherlands and Denmark. It was kinda crazy to hear that at a race. People from all over flew all the way out here to race for UCI points and a chance to qualify for the Olympics, keep in mind this is a group of kids from 16-18 year old. Our group was about 70 kids and I was starting in the second to last row which isn't the best place to be to begin with and to top it off,  right off the start I slipped my pedal and when I looked up I was literally the last person. I was a little upset but I said to myself "well I can't get any worse" and kept pushing. Since the girls were starting 2 minutes after us we weren't able to do the parade loop, so we went into the first climb as a huge clump. I was able to move up on the outside and get into the top 50ish. We pushed up the climb down to the most technical decent on the whole course which I thought there was going to be a pile up for sure because someone was going to try and make a dumb pass but we all stayed clean through that section. For the next mile or so it is straight single track so there was little to no passing. When we finally hit some fire road it was for about a minute then back onto single track so it was hard to move up. Once that first lap was over the gap from the top 15/20ish to the rest of the pack was pretty big. I stayed in the 50s range. Sadly, I was only able to finish three laps before being pulled. Then the leader came past looking like he was hardly trying, having a solid gap on 2nd and 3rd. This was very eye opening, seeing how the International competition is on a whole different level. You can be a big name locally doing well at Cat 1 races but then go into UCI and its just a completely different animal. These racers gained a huge amount of respect from me and just racing with them is something I will never forget. After the race was over I hung out with the DeBruhl's in our RV until we left for Vail,  the next race of the weekend. It took us about and hour and forty minutes to get there and I rested on the way down. When we got there I went over and said hi to coach Jason. Then I visited with Nate Miller the owner of Tasco. I'm part of the Tasco tribe this year and I have been riding their gloves ever since they came out and have loved them all. This weekend he gave me a pair of gloves to test that will be coming out at Sea Otter. Let's just say, you will definitely want to grab a pair. That evening I pre-rode the NICA course with my dad. It was a very sprint heavy course, my type of course, none of the climbs are very long and you just have to push, plus there is a lot of flow and it's just a fun course in general. After I finished my ride I went over with my SoCal Devo team to Jason's camper and we got our new kits for the year.  They are super cool,  very tight, clean looking and comfortable. I'm stoked to be wearing these throughout the season. We ate dinner with Aidan Chapin and watched movies till about 9/9:30 and then I went to bed. The next morning I got rudely woken up by the sun,  then by Brandon's music and request for Volunteers to come to the meeting at 7:30 in the morning. I had my breakfast, rolled out my legs  and watch another movie waiting for the afternoon for my race to go off. I went out and about talked to Jason and Nate again basically trying to get my mind off the nerves. About 12:30 I started warming up. Yet again I got on my bike and found 2 more stickers with one being "IF YOU AIN'T FIRST YOUR LAST," on the other side of my bars and a picture of a Crystal Gayle on my seat post. This just made me laugh because my family watches that movie so much and seeing all of the references is just amazing and helped to reduce my nerves. I got up to staging and got on the line. We went off the start and again I couldn't find my pedal which drove me crazy but through the first .5 mile I was able to stay in the top 10 into the first climb and I stayed in 9th for the first lap. The second lap I was stuck in the middle of two groups and I saw my teammate Ryan Landis behind me so I went with him and we stayed together. About halfway through the course there is on climb that is short but very steep and it is just brutal but as soon and you got over it the rest of the course was pretty much down hill. On the third lap it stayed about the same with me and Ryan together and we had 1 or 2 other people with us until Air force climb which is just a super fast momentum climb that you can basically get up without pedaling but during the race there was a head wind which made it a little harder to get up. On the final lap of the day my back started to cramp up on the way up to tunnel of love where I saw one of my friends Brandon Greywitt who didn't look so hot but he said he was fine and I kept on going. At this point at the top of tunnel of love,  Ryan and another friend of mine Chance and I pace lined off of each other for the rest of the lap. Right after we got up the steep climb Ryan went past and I tried to catch on but I felt my rear tire kinda bouncing around, I tried to blow it off like it was nothing. But then I hit a few of the corners after the climb and I noticed that I was losing air in my back tire. I wasn't able to fix it quickly because my flat repair kit flew out of my pocket on one of the descents on the first lap. So I had to baby it for the last 3/4 of a mile of the race. I was a little disappointed that it happened, but there is nothing I could do and I really could not see where the air was leaking from (we found out on Monday that my rim tape was shoot and it was leaking through that then through the nipples.) I started with 26 psi in my tire and finished with 12 psi. I was able to get 16th on the day.  My goal was a top 10 finish  but not every race is going to go your way. The whole weekend was a bunch of fun, I was able to see many old friends on Saturday, experience International competition, test ride awesome new gear and race my mountain bike non stop, and no I did not catch on fire. Looking on ward and up ward to next weekend at Vail AGAIN.

US Cup Vail Lake 1

This race weekend was a quick one. I woke up on Saturday at 4:45a.m. to drive down to Temecula in the rain with my mom. Since we were so early we didn't hit any traffic but something crazy did happen right in front of us. On the 15 freeway a car spun out and crashed into the center divider and then spun into our lane. Thankfully, my mom was able to avoid it and keep us safe while chaos broke out.  It defiantly woke me up and kept me on my toes for the rest of the day. When my mom and I got to the race and it didn't look very good. The dirt was sloppy and it was still raining a little but I was still ready to race. We found out the race had been pushed back an hour so I had time to get ready and register. I was able to talk to an amazing person that I have known for the past few years, named Jeff Throop AKA Troop. We first meet several years ago when I lost my phone racing a Big Bear XC and he found it after the race when he was doing sweep. Over the years we have gotten really close. He's had a rough past few years.  First, around Christmas 2 years ago some dumb driver tried to pass someone on a one lane road and hit someone head on. Troop saw the whole thing as it happen. What he didn't see was the huge 5 ft tool box that flew out of the drivers car and landed right on his truck cab hitting him in the head. He was in the hospital for awhile having to learn how to walk again but was able to make a full recovery. Then last year he was on his motorcycle with Kyle Straight (his son-in-law) and he hit a tree head on. After this horrific crash he was back in the hospital. Thank God he is a true fighter and has been able to make a near full recovery. He is an amazing person and if you ever do a race put on by Big Bear racing look for him and just talk to him he is so down to earth and full of stories, he has been to hell and back multiple times. Back to the race though.  They had to adjust the course from all the rain so it was turned into a super short, sprinters course. I was racing Cat 1 17-18 and we were started with the Cat 1 15-16. I had a pretty good idea who my competition was. At the start it was super slippery so its was hard for everyone to start and mud was flying everywhere. Half way through our first lap the sun came out. The sun made me feel really good and I was happy that I didn't wear any heavy cold weather gear. The lap was up ambulance to tunnel of love, which is one of my favorite flowy down hills. Next we rode to the jump line climb, down to the steep switch backs at the main venue then down the little decent to the finish. The first lap I was in the top 12 of all the riders.  On the second lap I was passing one of my friends, Al Garza, he lives near me in SimiValley.  I called out my pass and he let me by, but someone that I was racing against tried to pass him with me without calling out and they hit bars and Al fell pretty hard. I turned my head to make sure he got up and kept on pushing when I saw my mom I told her what happened. She saw the whole thing and yelled to me, he's fine and to focus. The whole race I was pretty much by myself and kept pushing as hard as I could. I was able to finish in the top 10 of our whole group and 4th on the day in my category. With all the rain and having to get used to a new fit I got earlier that week I was happy with my performance.  I feel like I'm getting stronger after each race.  I just have to keep my head down and work harder. All of the this wouldn't be possible with out Ellsworth bikes, Esi grips, Physiophyx, Rudy Project, my parents, my So Cal Devo Team and of course my coach
Daniel Matheny
                                         

Lake Perris 1st high school race

This was an all together great weekend. It started on Saturday morning when I hitched a ride with our good friends the Flanagans, who are coaches for the SCV team. We got to Lake Perris and I tried to find Blake Wray or Turner Conway to pre ride the course.  Blake was already leaving with his sister Hannah and Turners sister Skylar.  I had to change my plan. I was able to kit up at the Conways and then I went down the pit area to see if I could run into someone who hadn't  pre-ridden the course yet which was really hard to do. I finally joined the Simi Composite team for a bit and then ran into my friend Devon Woolston that I haven't seen since the start off summer at the PedalFest race series. I talked to him all the way up the climb. When we got to the top he waited for some of his teammates but I kept on moving down the descent. I was looking for lines, which were almost identical the to year before, but there were big changes to the course itself. The first one was the G out, where another racer broke his jaw last year,  we had to do a little detour to go through the G out slower.  Second, was a two parter, right before the finish in years past on the beach there used to be three back and forths that were moved into the wood chips after the finish line which I was kinda happy about at the time of the pre ride but wished we were back on the beach after the actual race. Lastly, it is kinda small,  there were a few more flat turns through the grass to make it a bit more technical so it wasn't such a straight roadie course. After finishing the lap I ran into Blake and one of his buddies and we went out and had a little fun finding different trails a little off the course. Once we got back on course I was able to look over some of the new lines they added again. At one of the last new turns, right after the feed zone, I saw Devin Debruhl and Levi Mason looking at lines for a sprint finish which was difficult because there was a single track about 200 yards before the finish and whoever got into to that first, in my opinion, is who would win their race. Later, after looking at the lines I went to talk to coach Jason Ranoa to see how he was doing and get some words of advice. I also ran into TASCO and one of my dads buddies Lucas Rowton. After that I headed to the Wray and Conway compound and got back into regular clothes,  rested and then watched the Middle Schoolers go off. At around 3:30 my parents where finally heading down while Turner, Blake, Devin and I sat at Turners RV and played xbox which has now become a regular relaxing event I look forward to, at all the races the Conway's attended. At 6:30 my family finally made it to Perris. I headed over my RV to say hi to my parents grab some dinner and then headed back over to the Conways to keep playing xbox. At around 9:30 I went back to my RV  to get to bed for race day. 


That night I had a good night sleep and though I felt the nerves coming in, I was able to stay relaxed.  I stayed in my RV for most of the morning but went to support my other  teammates from the Devo team. After seeing them go off I went back into my RV to rest, stretch and get rolled out. At around 12:30 I got on my trainer and did some openers listening to my music and tried to visualize the course in my head. I headed down to staging at 1:05 with a big smile on my face and tried to stay relaxed. When I got there I was able to see my friends again crack some jokes which helped the nerves. Then they started our call ups. VARSITY. It was the first time that it finally hit me I'm in the Big Time with some super fast dudes and that all my hard work has paid off. I was the 5th call up. On my way up I went to give my mom my empty GU packet and the guy calling everyone up was blocking my way a bit so I tried to sneak past but I got too close to my mom and got my bar caught in her sweatshirt and almost went down before the race even started. After making myself look like a complete idiot and providing comic relief for the crowd, I felt like all the nerves disappeared. We sat at the start line for a few minutes,  then headed out to the real start on the road where everyone was lined up to watch. We all went off together,  not in an all out sprint, but we were all just pushing a solid speed till we got to the climb. As soon as we got to the climb it was a slug fest. Turner and I took an inside line then a group of about 13 ish took off on the climb and I was in the second group from 14-18. We got to the descent and I was stuck behind people so I had to wait for the fire road after to try and catch the leaders. I was able to fight back to be in contention for the top 10. We got in a nice group with three other guys with one being a teammate Ryan Landis. We stayed together for the whole second lap holding a constant speed with me and one of the other kids doing most of the work at the front.  This affected us because on the third lap climb Ryan and the other kid took off and I tried to fight back but I worked too much and didn't have the same power. I was able to push away for the other kid and tried for the remainder of the third lap and forth lap to catch up but I was in no mans land. NO HELP. Just me and my own will power to keep on pushing. I used the people in other categories as my carrots to chase up the climb. I also had my dad at the bottom of the last part which is the hardest part yelling at me to "dig deep" which I definitely did. It was also awesome to ride across the beach with literally everyone cheering you on, it looked like a tunnel with people on both sides. On the descent I pushed so hard to be as fast as possible and took the straightest lines. When I got onto the fireroad I used my new E*Thirteen cassette with a nine tooth cog (which is one of the smallest you can get p.s. smaller is faster) to try to catch up to the group for 6-11 position.  I know that I'm a good sprinter so if I got in there I thought I could very likely get a top 10. I was pushing as hard as I could but still in the back of my mind thinking to save some energy to sprint at the end if need be. When we hit the beach the group was slowing down and they had about 10-15 seconds on me so I picked up a bit of speed and tried to tag on the group. I heard my mom yelling across the beach to catch on to the group. This was my last chance because as soon as they hit the feed zone it is three turns away from the finish and they would already be sprinting and I had already pushed so hard. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, I got within 5 seconds but not close enough to catch the group. This is where I wish there was still 3 passes on the beach because I feel this would've increased my chances of catching the group and increased my odds of a top 10 finish.  I was able to come in 12th and I'm super happy about this. I did not take my training as seriously as I should've , until it was too late. I have had to really find out what I wanted out of this year and with the help of a new coach I think I'm on track to achieve the goals I have set for myself. This race, my goal was to finish in the top 15 and I did.   Knowing that I was that close to the top ten is a huge booster and is making me push harder. I can't wait to race Vail in 2 weeks time. The course is always a blast and its like a second home to me especially, this year with having 8 races there.











Special thanks to Physiophyx, TASCO, Rudy project, Kenda tires, Roger is the best and Boosters are awesome!! Ellsworth, ESI grips and Matheny Endurance.     

6 Hours of Temecula and Enduro 1st races of the season

The first races of the season was a blast. It was the 6 hours of Temecula at Vail lake on Saturday and the SoCal Enduro on Sunday. My mom and I left our house in the RV at 6:30 Friday night and the traffic yet again challenged us to a 3 hour drive. As I was unloading I saw Coach Jason doing a final course check and he came in and we were able to catch up before settling in for the night. It was a good thing because I thought I was doing 6hr solo and Coach told me that I was doing a team with Ryan Landis! I was very happy to hear I was doing a team. Ryan is new to our Devo Team and I knew we’d have a fun day.

The next morning I got up early to do my bike check and got everything ready for the day. I had my breakfast and headed up to the pits to meet up with Ryan. I saw Tuner Conway and Blake Wray who are close friends of mine, I haven’t seen them for a few months so it was great to see them face to face and catch up. After a quick conversation with them I went back to my RV and got kitted up. It was decided I was going to do the first lap.  I was warming up around the start and as I was doing another lap the start was literally filled within seconds and I got stuck in the fifth row. There were so many people there and many were pushing in from the sides, it started to become chaotic. I was a little upset but it is what it is and I had to work up from there. Right from the start of the parade lap I fought to gain some spots. As soon as we hit the dirt I sprinted and grabbed more spots going into a hairpin left turn where it was almost a dead stop. After that we went back into the venue and started the true lap. I was able to get into around the top 15/20. The rest of the lap was just pedal to the metal. At the end of the lap we had to do Marine Corps hill, that had a makeover from the rain a few weeks prior, and this made it so much faster and easier. I was able to finish my first lap in about 38 minutes. Then I handed it off the Ryan and had about a 30 minute break to rest and have some food and cold water. I saw Ryan heading up the boogaloo climb and knew it was about 10 to 15  minutes to get back to the venue and I started to warm up. He came in and I was off for my second lap. There was still a lot of traffic that I had to pass which was a pain because I felt like I was catching them at the worst spots and sometimes I had to get off and run. About half way through the lap I noticed that someone was pacing off of me and I thought, whatever, and kept on trucking. As we got to the boogaloo climb he was still on me and sprinted past me at the top, I used him for a bit but in the end let him go to save my legs for my other laps to come. I came in and it was one of my fastest laps of the day. The heat was starting to come on so I really had to make sure I had plenty of water. My 3rd and 4th lap were almost identical which I'm happy about because that showed me I was pushing just the right amount to stay consistent. Unfortunately, when Ryan was coming in from his fourth lap he was cramping super bad and I saw the second place team come in before him. We had lost the lead we had all day and the other team got about a minute and half lead on us and I had put everything I had to put everything I had left into my 5th lap. I pushed through every corner and fought very hard I was able to drop the gap a little by the time I got to the boogaloo climb but I still had to push hard but the chance was getting smaller and smaller for me to catch up. By the time I hit Marine climb for the last time I knew I wouldn't be able to catch him but the legend that is Turner Conway was able to gap the team he was fighting against to get the win in is category and we finished the lap together which will probably be a moment I'll never forget.

At the end of the day Ryan and I worked hard and were able to get second. I know I have a tremendous amount of work to do but overall I was proud of my ability to remain consistent and pull out my fastest lap of the day on the final lap. The rest of the day I hung out with Turner, Blake, Maddy, Margie, Lauren and Preston and a few parents around the fire just telling fun stories and making memories.

The next morning was enduro which is always a fun day. Same as the day before I had breakfast and headed up the the venue. I met up with Turner and we went up before the start of the day and rode one of the stages so we at least knew one of the stages so we weren't going in completely blind for the whole day. After a little rest at the bottom we headed back up to do the first stage of the day. We were one of the first ones to get up there so we were able to go, no wait, which is always a plus when you are doing enduro. I was able to fly down clean and easy on the first run, which was Stage 3 for the day. After resting and messing around at the pump track  we moseyed up the climb for the second run. This one was a completely different story. It was Matco which I did a few weeks prior on my hard tail for the Devo camp but it was anything but smooth and in one of the last turns I fell and lost at least a minute trying to get up and running again and had to find my computer that fell off costing me more time. So after the run I was pissed, but I had to get it outta my mind on focus on the last run of the day. Turner and I had some quesadillas for lunch before heading up for our last run of the day. We saw Maddy, Margie and Maddy’s dad, Brian, and we stayed with them and talked on the way up. At the top we looked over a few lines to make sure we would have a good start. As I started I felt clean and pretty fast but as soon as I got past the first rocky section and into the turns it was literally and figuratively down hill. I was coming into the turns too fast and having to break super hard and even got sent a little off trail at one point. To top it all off, I dropped my chain on the last final sprint and I decide to let it hang and pump into the finish. I don't know if I saved or lost time for not putting it back on. In the moment I thought it would be the same amount of time. For the results I got my lucky number 7 which is the number I always seem to get when I do enduro. In the end it was an awesome weekend. It was great to catch up with my racing family and friends.  

This weekend has showed me that I have my work cut out for me. Perris is coming fast and I look forward to seeing everyone there.  

 

SoCal Devo Boot Camp Weekend

Back to the grind starting the season with the SoCal Devo camp. I was very excited to see everyone after  three months off with a lot of ups and downs. It was awesome to see all the old faces and welcome other fast and fun kids to the team. We are all from different parts of SoCal, I took the prize for the farthest distance traveling about 100 miles and stuck in three hour of traffic on Friday evening getting to Coach Brians. Since my drive was so long I missed the welcoming and we were receiving our new sponsored gear for the year. We got geared up with new ESI grips, Rudy helmet and glasses, and Kenda tires for my cross country and enduro bike. The new members also received a Scicon travel bag, which is awesome to use for travel which keeps you organized for all races. Coaches garage was filled with all our Ellsworth bikes. After getting all of our stuff for the season I was finally able to say I to everyone, relax and play spoons, bs, and uno til the end of the night.

The next morning we all woke up had breakfast and got ready to head out to vail lake resort to ride.  As we were driving there we could see the dark clouds getting close and we all hoped that the rain would hold off. The first thing on the list was to do a T.T. up the Dam climb which every one was able to get to the top between nine and a half to twelve minutes. After we took our new team pictures. Then we went down Matco which is a fun decent. Then we did multiple laps of the boogaloo at all out speed up and down. After that we went to a climb rightly called, burning caves. From all the rain the past few days the climb was very tacky but had a large rut and that was messing everyone up. We stayed at the climb for a solid 15-20 minutes and only Coach Brian and Ethan could make it all the way up. While everyone was able to make it to the bottom or partially through the rut. After we finished there we went back to Coach Jason’s trailer and had lunch just as the rain began to come down hard. There was even a point that it was hailing for a few minutes. The coaches decided to head back to coach Brains and finish the day off with some power testing. I was in the first group for testing just to get it out of the way and relax for the rest of the day. When I finished I was all sweaty and nasty but I felt good and strong. Then when everyone finished the testing we had a little meeting then watched Supercross. After it was over everyone was beat and went straight to bed.

Day 2 and the last day of the weekend. We woke up, went straight to breakfast and pulled all the bikes into Coach Brians and my truck and headed out to a very well known climb called Los Gatos. It is an absolute monster, it’s about a mile long but has an average grade of 26%!!! We had to do it twice back to back! But we were all able to finish it in about the same times as the dam climb a day prior and I was actually able to improve my time the second time around because I knew the climb and I knew where to give one last big effort. Even though climbing it was very painful, to be able to go down a decent that has a 26% grade was so much fun! I was able to hit 59.8 MPH!! After we all finished there we headed to a pizza spot for lunch where we talked about where we were going to end the day with some fun riding. Because of all the rain we decided to go to X trials. I had a blast there it was my first time riding the trails and they were amazing. It was technical with a lot of switchbacks and an added degree of difficulty trying to dodge all the puddles on the trail. After we finished there we headed back to the house and I packed up for my 2 and a half hour drive home. The weekend was so much fun. I was so glad to be able to see everyone again and just have a fun time with everyone and making good memories.  

State Champs!!

This weekend, at States was the final race of my 2018 high school race season. Unfortunately, I got really sick after the SoCal finals so my training was minimal and rest was high.   My family and I left on Thursday after school to break up the drive to Petaluma.  I did not want to be uncomfortable sitting in the back so I drove the first leg of the drive in my dads van to Paso Robles where we stayed for the night. On Friday my dad drove us up the 101 into Petaluma and it took forever. My mom had bought tickets for us to see Deadpool 2 on it's opening day at the theater in downtown Petaluma, and we barely made it. Deadpool is one of my favorite movies and something my mom says to me before every race, "maximum effort" comes from that. The goal of seeing Deadpool 2 this weekend was to help me relax and enjoy myself before putting in some major effort. If you like dark humor I highly recommend both. We then went to our hotel and met up with the Chapin's for dinner. We had Mexican food for dinner that night and then went back to the hotel for an early night.

 On Saturday we headed to the race event for pre-ride. I had heard from my teammate Jonah Sanchez that the course was smoother than last year so I had high hopes. However when I rode it I was sadly disappointed. After one lap my hands were starting to get numb and my back was aching. It also didn't help that I took a spill in a dead grass corner that did not provide any grip when I took it like a normal corner my tires fell out from under me and I went down. I only rode one lap because it was a pretty simplistic course but I did not want to ruin myself on the bumpiness of the course.
Saturday afternoon my family, the Chapin's, The Debruhl's, and Gamberutti's all went out to lunch together. Devin, Aiden, Jenson, Aubrey and I after eating lunch toured down town Santa Rosa and saw some pretty cool talent on an old school bike throwing stopies, wheelies, and fakies and met a unique individual by the name of "Cheeseburger." We headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner with the Santa Clarita Mountain Bike Team. They have been very hospitable to me as an Independent Rider treating me as one of their own. We had pizza and pasta and I tried to stay off my feet for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning I woke up early as usual. I got breakfast and ran into Tydeman Newman and we chatted about the course and watched some woman's UCI cross country. I then rested in my hotel until about 10:45 when we gathered up the Chapin boys and left for the race venue. As soon as we parked at the race venue I started to get nervous. I went over and hung out with Devin Debruhl and Skye with the Bear Devo team and we congratulated Levi Mason on winning Sophomore D2. I got ready around 12:30 and did my warm up with Devin and Lucus Gamberutti at about 12:45. On a side note, it was crazy warming up with Devin because his trainer makes his sprints sound like a helicopter taking off.

  Warming up with them helped to reduce my stress and put a smile on my face. My race started at 1:40 but I had to be at staging at 1:15. I kept riding up and down along the grass until my call up. I watched varsity and the first wave of JV D1 go off. Then it was out turn to get called up. I had the 3rd call up, the 1st for SoCal. As soon as the whole group was lined up there was no hesitation for the 5 second countdown. The start pace was fast and the top 5 were able to pull away within the first half of the course. My breathing was not great with the dust and I still had a lot of mucus in the back of my throat. My body did not respond how I expected it to, I was missing that oomph and I just could not grab on to the top 5. They pulled away from me and I knew right then that I was going to be hanging on. There's no big WOW factor to the course, it's a hammer fest and I did not have the hammer, instead it was a suffer fest. On the second lap I tried to push as hard as I could on the climbs and recover as much as I could on the partial descents. In some corners I was very hesitant to go full speed so I wouldn't fall as I did in my pre ride, this helped me to keep my head level and helped me to focus on my breathing because I knew one wrong placement with a high seatpost could end in a crash.  On the last lap knowing that all the climbing was in the first part I gave it my all, grunting, yacking and spitting to clear my airway as much as I could with Skye as my carrot through the whole lap but I did not have enough to catch him in the end. I was able to finish 9th. This is not the result I was looking for but I'm still very proud of where I finished in a stacked field.


After the race I was able to talk with all of my friends and congratulate them on their finishes. I love the community that is created by NICA. I have been fortunate to make many friends in the SoCal and NorCal League and the memories that I've made are not soon to be forgotten.  I'm sad to see the 2018 season come to an end however I'm eagerly awaiting the 2019 season and I am beyond excited that SoCal will be hosting States next year.

A special thanks to Leslie Chitraroff for feeding me. Thanks to my coach Jason Ranoa for all your support. Love my parents and sister for always being there and my amazing mountain bike family.

Also always a big thank you to Ellsworth bikes, Ftech kits, Rudy project, Scicon bags, Esi grips, Ryno power, PhysioPhyx, Tasco, Kenda tire, Gup, and RideFast rims without you none of this would be possible.      

SoCal Finals!!!

This weekend in Tehachapi for the SoCal League Finals was remarkable and milestone achieving. My family and I got down there on Saturday morning and as soon as we dropped the jacks on our RV my dad and I got kitted up and pre-road the course. It is the exact same as years past but it was more hard pack which made it even faster.  I'm very familiar with the course because late last year I did a 6hr solo for the Santa Claus Grand Prix so I know the course like the back of my hand. The rocky descents are one of my favorite type of riding and Tehachapi does not disappoint. The rest of the day was for exactly that, resting. I showered and took a nap. I then went and watched some middle school friends race their last race of the year. I hung out with my good buddy Devin DeBruhl and we stayed off our feet playing games. We had pasta dinner and then as has been tradition this year we tracked down someone who had a TV with Supercross. Unfortunately, I got to bed later than usual but I slept in til 7 as opposed to my usual 6 so this balanced me out a bit. The nerves didn't hit until my family got up around 9. Then the waiting began. I love racing early. 9:30-10 is the best time for me. Waiting until 1:38 is a very long wait. I had my breakfast and listened to my music to keep me distracted. Around 12:15 I began getting ready. I went over my bike, my dad went over my bike and she was dialed in. I kitted up and began my pre-ride warm up on the trainer at 12:50.  At 1:05 I finished with the 15 min warm up and then another 5 on my actual bike to finish it out. I gave myself 5 minutes to get to the line and take care of any last minute details and literally in the middle of JV C call ups (the category before mine) I had to relieve myself (#1). I gave my gloves to my teammate Jason Ganske for fear of leaving anything behind and took care of business, sorry for the TMI, but all you racers have been there one time or another right?! I made it back just as JV C finished rolling in and JV A was to be called. Shockingly this reduced some of my nerves. When I get to the line I completely focus and wipe everything out of my mind and I just focus on the countdown. I hear my mom yell "Maximum Effort" just before the count begins and then I go when the announcer says GO!

This start was a bit unusual from the rest of the season with the count being drawn out and a few riders jumped the gun and had to regroup before we took off.  On the first lap, Kyle Chromy and I set the pace,  swapping back and forth with Aiden Chapin in close 3rd.

This order and tempo stayed true until the first descent on the 2nd lap when all 3 of us got caught behind a lapped rider. Kyle and I had to go off trail and I got stuck, having to unclip and push which let Kyle and Aiden break away. Kyle proceeded to get a 15 second gap on me and Aiden had about 7 seconds.  On the switch back climb they both managed to put riders between us but I was able to stay strong and move past them. When we entered the feed zone I had closed the gap to about 5 seconds. Coming out of the feed zone Kyle and Aiden had tucked in behind Tyler Herbert my former teammate racing in JV C, this allowed me to catch them, tuck in, hydrate, regain energy and as we hit the first climb for the last time I was able to muster enough energy for one more good haul. Kyle followed me and it was a slugfest up the short steep climb. I was able to get the lead spot into the descent which allowed me to regain more energy up the switch back climb. There I lowered the tempo a bit just in case we came down to a sprint in the end. At the very top of the climb I was able to get past a lapped rider which split Kyle and I up and allowed me to get into the spectator valley with a little gap. My mouth was so dry I could barely talk. I passed my good buddy Cole Fiene, and he helped to call out to lapped riders that I was coming through. This was awesome to hear.

With the last 1/4 of the lap ahead being my favorite rocky descent the only thing going through my head was "tires down, don't crash!" As soon as I made the sweeping corner into the finish straight away I could not help but smile knowing that I would be in the Leader's Jersey later that day, which has been a dream of mine since starting High School Racing for NICA. With the win I was also able to tie with my buddy Kyle Chromy for the Overall on the Series.

Another highlight of the day was when I watched my good friend Jonah Sanchez win the Varsity race, clenching him the leaders jersey as well. He is graduating this year and this is well deserved. I will miss racing with him.

It has been a phenomenal year and one I will never forget. I have made many new friends and became closer with many old ones. I am giving back to my community as a Teen Trail Corp Captain and a member on the Sapwi Bike Park Committee bringing the first bike park in Conejo Valley. I travel almost every weekend to new places and ride alongside my heroes. I would not be able to do this without the love of my parents and sister, guidance of my coach Jason Ranoa and support of my extended mountain bike families the Ranoa's, Sanchez's, Chapin's, Miller's,Wray's, Conway's, DeBruhl's, Flanagan's,  Chitteroff's and many more, you help make me who I am today.
Also special thanks to my sponsors Ellsworth, RideFast, ESI grips, Scicon, ASG Sports, Rynopower, Ftech, Gup, Kenda MTB, Rudy, Tasco and Physiophyx.
Lastly, I finally learned how to attach pictures to my blog to make it more interesting!! Ha!

Second Double Weekend Bonelli and Vail Lake

This weekend was the second of back to back cross country races of the year.  First at Bonelli for UCI then to Vail Lake for NICA. We started our weekend again at 6 traveling to Bonelli via RV allowing me to rest on the way down. I was able to cheer on my teammates who were doing the Jr UCI at 8,  and I thought I was going to the same course. Which is what I preroad that Thursday, but they added an extra section that I’d never done and I didn't know how many laps I was doing, this was unsettling. Just before we started warming up I found out in doing 3 laps but I still had no clue what and where the extension on the course was. Anyways, I continued my warm up and headed to the staging area and started talking to some friends cracking jokes to ease the tension. Then all of the sudden everyone jumped up and sprinted to get to the line where our category signs were at, again a bit unsettling. I was able to get an ok jump and wasn't left behind. We again settled on the line joking around waiting for the race to start. In front of us my teammate Micah was all alone in the 17-18 age group  so the people that organize the race had him start with us. But when it was our turn to start he went from the front of the group to the back in a literal second which was kinda funny to see but also kinda sucked. Our start was fast as usual which lead straight into the first climb which was steep and loose. I was able to position myself among the top ten and keep pace. The rest of the first section was good until I hit the added section, I had to go a little slower the first time through to see what it was all about but there was nothing fancy to it just a climb that's it. Right after that though, I saw that one section that wasn’t marked very clearly, and I was told the day prior that was not in the course, was in fact IN the course. The best way I can describe this section was two man made rock gardens, that were super janky. I took a horrible line over the first one and was able to recover for the second one, thankfully. Starting my second lap the first steep climb somehow felt longer. With the climb leading to a single track to a short gradual climb then down one of the rockiest and dusties descents I've ever seen. Every time I went through it I went just a little shower then usual to make sure I would make it down safe. The second half of the lap was smooth and fast. Last lap the only thing going through my heads was keep the rubber side down and something my mom always tells me before the race “maximum effort.” Which is from one of favorite movies to date Deadpool. It always makes me smile on the line and lets me know that it's time to go to work. I motored through the lap staying up right and getting 11th. My buddy, Devin Debruhl took home the win. Last week at Fontana my buddy, Blake Wray won. I’m able to race alongside my friend Kyle Chromy and Ethan Sanchez. It didn’t occur to me until this race that my great friends and I are racing kids from across the Nation and representing CA rather well. I think that’s pretty cool.  

As soon as I finished I had to get cooled down and focused on the next day at Vail Lake. I rode around and talked to some friends about their race and then loaded up for the trek down to Vail.

We got stuck in traffic for a few hours which wasn't fun. As soon as we got there and set up my dad and I went to preride the course. The first ⅔ of the course wasn’t new but getting into the finish was tight burmed turns and a punchy little climb into a long straight away. I had to ride it twice because it was new and I had to get it a little more clear in my head. That night I went up to the main lounge area where they had karaoke. It was fun talking with friends, eating dinner under the stars and listening to my Coach Jason sing Bad to the Bone. He was one of 2 the did not completely butcher the songs.  The next morning I woke up early and had to wait for my race in the afternoon. It's not fun having to wait all day to race but that's what I’ve got to do. After my trainer warm up I headed to the pits and as usual found all by friends and started talking and cracking jokes to take the edge off. Our call ups got called and we all filed in. I’m very thankful to be able to start in the front line because the dust was horrible. On the first lap for the first time this year we had the whole top three together which was Kyle Aiden and I. We had a super fast pace the first lap and were absolutely flying up marine corps hill with no problem. On the second was I was keeping true to the first but out of the first quick descent Kyle was leading and took a funny and unexpected fall in a sandy right hand turn. It held Aiden and I up so he was able to grab back on to the draft. Going into tunnel of love there was a lot of lap traffic so we weren't able to go as fast as we wanted through that section which is always is a bummer. The hardest part of the second lap was we ran into the back of a slow group right before marine core. I told Kyle to try and give them as much room as possible there was no way we could pass them in time. With having such a big group going into that section some didn't make it and we all had to dismount and run up which isn't fun. Heading into the last lap my legs were catching up to me. On the fire road up to get back to ambulance we ran into the back of a Varsity train. I decided to take a risky move through a tough rutt to the left of the group to try and break away thinking that Kyle and Aiden would think that I was crazy and not follow me, BUUUTTT they did! So I sat behind them getting some lost energy back as we all went flowing through tunnel and up air force and to the back of the course to marine. They gave a good push at the top of the climb before marine corp and put a varsity rider between us. The rider in front of me didn't make it all the way up marine corp so I had to go farther left than usual and Aiden and Kyle were able to keep that gap that was created till the end. I was able to see Aidan make his move and take his first win which was awesome to see. We all finished within 30 seconds of each other,  one of our closest races yet. I had so much fun out there, it is so awesome to battle with these two. I can’t wait til Tehachapi, it’s my favorite course!

Always a huge thanks to all my sponsors that keep me and my bike looking feeling and running smooth: FTech, Esi grips, Ryno power, Physio Physx, Ellsworth, Sicon, Rudy, Kenda tires and ASG sports.

Double Race Weekend (Fontana and Keyesville)

This weekend of racing was amazing and very fast. It started on Saturday morning in Fontana for my first Cat 1 15-16 race of the season. My family and I headed out there at 6 AM. When I got there at 8  I was able to say hi to some of my friends and hero's, like Aaron Gwin and Kyle Strait. One of my favorite things about this sport is being at the same event as many Pros and they are as accessible as you or I and equally as down to earth. I was also able to see Throop, and anyone who has raced any Team Big Bear event knows what an asset this man is to the crew, and an all around great guy. He was injured earlier this year and to see him back out on course made my day.  I saw my friends, Jonah and Turner finish their race and was able to talk to Jonah about the course and talk strategy. I then started to get ready for my race. Staging for my race was confusing because our line up was on the ground so our whole group was lost. We finally got if figured out and I was sent to the back of the pack to start. Despite starting in the back, I was able to get into the top ten by the first climb. The first lap was fast and we were already running into the back of racers that started ahead of us. I was able to pick off people with methodical passes on the fire road and maintain my position through the single track. The second lap was almost identical to the first.  Unfortunately, I saw my teammate Micah who got a flat, and I couldn't offer him much help. On my final lap I came across my good friend Derek Hermon and had enough left in the tank to give him a little push up the last fire road climb, it was the least I could do considering he was riding with a broken hand. I was able to finish strong in 9th place among national competition and got a glimpse into who I would be racing at Sea Otter.

As soon as I finished I had to keep my legs feeling fresh for Keyesville the next day. When I finished cooling down we said our good byes and headed straight to Keyesville for the high school race. We left Fontana about 1:00 and made it to Keyesville about 4:30.  My dad and I then headed out on a pre-ride of the course and watched some of the middle school awards. When we finished our ride we headed into Kernville for the night.  My dad used to spend a lot of time in Kern growing up and took us to the local Pizza Barn for dinner. The next morning after a great night sleep my legs felt strong. We headed back to Keyesville at 10 and the waiting began. When the race was getting closer the wind was getting worse and worse. My warm up went good and fast. While waiting for staging to begin I was able to talk to some friends and crack a few jokes before everyone got serious. When I got up to staging I felt ready and strong. First Varsity went then JV C, now it was our turn. Since it was a smaller start shoot the start seemed more relaxed than usual, but that all changed going up the first climb. Kyle Chromy and I went off the front quick and worked together at an extremely fast pace. Kyle and I jockeyed  back and forth for the first 2 laps. On the last lap on the steepest climb on the course I took a risky line to pass Kyle and kept going till the next fire road. I looked behind my shoulder and Kyle was out of sight but I kept my head down and hammered. Going into the last descent and climb I could taste my first ever win in the high school league and I kept hammering. As soon as I saw the finish line I was filled with emotion. I've been looking forward to that day for two years. It was a well fought race with Kyle, he kept me true till the finish. Now looking forward to next weekend with another double race weekend.

Thanks to my sponsors for the great support, Ellsworth Bikes, RideFast Wheels, Kenda Tires, Rudy Project, Ftech, Scicon, ESI grips, ASG sport, Gup, RynoPower, Physiophyx and especially my coach Jason with SoCal Devo for all his support.