September 14: Mt Hood      J, Nate, Ty and I all rode down together to meet up with Eric at Mt Hood for the next-to-last race of the season. Great weather met us. . mid 70's.   We rolled into the parking lot around 11:00 and set up the Project 529 tent and chairs. The lift lines were a 40-50 minute wait which made for a slow day.  But with the nice weather and a ton of people riding the toboggan course made it entertaining.  On our first practice run, J took a spill and aggrevated his previous shoulder injury. He was able to muster his strength and keep going.  We were able to put in 3 solid practice runs and a couple of extra fun runs.  Nate was kind enough to ride the sport course with us to offer some suggestions. One suggestion was to "look up" and not focus so much on the ground immediately in front.  So I tried this and missed seeing the rock in line with my front tire.  BAM, rider down.  Just a few scrapes, and dust.  After adjusting my interpreation of looking up to a more realistic distance, I did notice an improvement in my riding.  He also offered up a few other bits of valuable advice that made a difference.

The sport course had a few minor modifications which made it more fun and THANK GOODNESS somebody built a ladder over "the rock" which has been a problem on the sport course since last year.  (A large boulder in the middle of  a peddle section which requires skill and speed to make it over, and it has very little to do with DH racing).   had a great time in practice runs.  One of the best moments was when Nate and I were at the lift line and  found out that practice was over. .no more runs.  Nate was quick to use his negotiation skills to try to get one more ride, but was shut down.  About that time we noticed J and Ty coming down the toboggan run in full helmets and pads. . it was a priceless 529 moment. . we just didn't have a camera to capture it.  Hilarious!  About the time they walked over, the liftee changed his mind and gave us all another ride to the top.  YES.  To wrap up the day we watched the dual slolam and surprise surprise  Eric Loney had entered the race and rode consistent and solid.  Result:  2nd place finish!!! 

After a full day at the mountain we enjoyed another special treat. J volunteered his brand new airstream trailer to use for the weekend. We set it up about 15 miles down the mountain at very posh RV campground. Water/Electric hook ups.  Showers and Bathrooms, firepit, restaurant on site.  It was sick!  We enjoyed spaghetti by the fire and kicked back with a few PBR's.  Ty had previously arranged a date with a local aquaintance of his so he took the -scade back to governement camp.  J, Nate and I challenged each other to a few rounds of Xbox "Facebreaker" While Nate and I kicked each others butt, J hung back and read the user manual.  (and understood all of the controls).  So when he stepped in we both got pummeled within seconds. .couch royale style.  After that we hunkered down for the night.  Practice started at 9:00 so we got up at 8:00, fresh and ready to go.  What?  no Ty, no truck. .hmm.  I'm sure Ty can shed more light on the happenings of his evening, But meanwhile J and Nate seized the moment and found a Really high branch that we could all hang Ty's bike from.

All in good fun, Ty showed up and while we missed the practice runs, we still enjoyed the a.m. The racing was awesome.  Eric pulled in a 3rd place finish, Ty 4th, I got a 5th and Nate finished top 10. J had a mechanical failure and had to coast down the mountain. . he still had a decent race time.  All in all,  another fab weekend of racing Project 529 style.

August 24: Port Angeles

A great weekend spent at Port Angeles.  Eric, Nate, Ty, John, and myself were all ready to tackle Dry Hill for Fluidride #4. Saturday practice sessions went really well.  Following the last Hood race, I upgraded my rear cassette to a 12/25 road setup along with a 38 tooth front ring. And with some minor adjustments to my chain guide (thanks Nate), the new set up worked great.  The coase was fun, a few fast straight sections mixed with drops, rocks and flowie lines spots.  A few blind corners made it really important to watch out for potential riders down.  John found out the hard way.  He came around a corner and ran into a 3 person pile up.  While he emerged unscathed, his front tire looked like it was sponsored by Taco Bell.  Between Nate and Ty, his front rim was straightened out for racing on Sunday.  In my last practice run on Saturday I came out of a burm carrying to much speed and ended having a face to face discussion with a tree. . . I'm still feeling it.  The weather was sunny and warm on Saturday. . would have been great to have a camp setup rather than stay at a hotel.  We also watched the Dual Slolam event.  On Sunday we were greeted with overcast skies and a tacky coarse from about an hour of rain that feel early a.m.   Perfect for racing.  We put in a couple of solid practice runs and prepared for the race.  Unfortunately, Dry Hill didn't live up to name.  About 45 minutes for the first rider came out of the start, it started raining, heavy rain, unrelenting rain.  The coarse, while still fun, became a different coarse than what we practiced for.  Standing water, mud, and slick roots/rocks brought both riders and times down. All in all a great time with the Project 529 team.  Looking forward to Mt Hood in a few weeks.

July 27 - Rosyln:  Surprise. . . my first XC race since 1993!!!

What a ride.  I couldn't decide to register in the Beginner or the Clydesdale catagory.  Luckily I chose Beginner.  I found out after the race that the Clydesdale racers went a full three laps side by side with the Sport  Category racers.  Check out Raman's blog to see the coarse. The uphill right from the start was killa-hhrgg.  My lungs exploded at about the 2 mile mark.  Just when I was doubting I could finish the race I was met on the trail by fellow 529'er Tina Sarin,  she pressed on and that gave me the much needed positive energy to keep going.  The payoff for the grueling climb was an awesome DH section for the last mile of the coarse.  When I rounded for my second lap, the 529 pits were supplying plenty of cheers to keep me going .  Second lap went much better,  I settled into my own pace and focused on clean riding rather than worrying about making the podium.  I finished in fifth place.  I was really happy just to have been there, rode a XC race and finish.  My wife Tiffany and two daughters were able to attend and that made the day even more special.   It was great.  We all cheered as Kelly completed her first race, Nate podiumed with a 1st place finish, Ramin and Tina had solid rides, and Paul finished off the day battling it out in the more competitive Sport class.  Additionally Ty showed up to help spectate.  What a fun day spent in Roslyn. I hope to participate in another one of these races in the future.
Thanks to Raman for soliciting 529 riders to come along,  And extra thanks to Nate for convincing me to show up. 

July 9: Mt Hood Oregon:   All members of the DH team attended and were greeted with a hot, dry, dusty racecorse, Only the bottom was open as too much snow was still at higher elevations.   The dry conditions provided challenging riding. J took a nasty spill on Saturday and ended up having to get transported to a Portland hospital to get checked out.  Hopefully he will be back to riding soon. 

Since this was my first race of the season, I was focused on getting saddle time, and get back up to speed on my bike handling.  I put in 8 runs on Saturday and focused a ton of energy around clearing a rock obstacle on the Sport course.   It was sooo much fun getting back on the bike with the team.   When race time came on Saturday, Andrew, John, Ty and I went up to the Pro course and watched Clinton, Nate, and Eric take their runs.  They were fast,  it's always fun to see these guys fly down the coarse.

On my first run, I went for a clean, direct approach and was able to put in a decent run.  After the sports comleted the first run, I was in 6th spot.  I was confident I could improve my time for run number two.  However, this was not to be,  my second run was destined for doom.  It all started when the lift operator was unable to get my bike off the lift hanger. . All the racers at the top of the mtn, including me, watched with jaws dropped to the dirt, as the yellow V10 rounded the carousel and took a scenic ride back down the mountain.  This was starting to affect me.  The race organizers were very accomodating, especially after I couldn't make my start time. . no bike.  Finally it showed up and I had to hurry over to the gate.  Within seconds, I was given the 6 beeps and whoosh. . I was headed down the mountain.  After clearing the first bit at the top, I started to peddle down the gravel road section. . and voila!  my chain was off it's ring.  That was that.  I tucked and coasted the rest of the way down.  Oh well. . I'll be working on my shifting and chain set up before the next race.  I still ended up finishing in top 10, and it was fun.  Other highlights:

-  Large number of riders. . excellent turnout and nice weather. 

-  Huckleberry Inn Oatmeal breakfast. . Nate and I just love this stuff,  yummy.

-  Portable toilets that proved people are willing to fit 500 lbs of $#!^ in a 300 lb container.  nuf said.

-  Greg and Alex getting tons of photos!

-  Andrew singing Pearl Jam songs

Looking forward to the next race!

July 9:  This weekend marks my first return to racing since last fall. . .and my last "fall".

I'm really looking forward to the Fluidride Cup race at Mt Hood this weekend along with the rest o the Project 529 Gravity team. It's looking like most everyone will be there.  Hopefully the course is in decent condition and the snow has cleared out a bit.   Clinton, Nate, J, John, Ty and Eric are all on board to race. . should be a great time.

To commemorate this seasons return to racing,  the V10 has been given a fresh coat of paint, it's all tuned and ready to go, including a new Rock Shox World Cup Boxxer front fork.

Stay tuned for the results.

May 5 - San Francisco International Airport:  What happens when you wear a Project 529 Tee (the one that reads like a digital clock 5:29) and walk through the security check at SFO Airport at EXACTLY 5:29?  A lot of friggin mayhem. . .that's what happens.

While travelling for work, I was returning home to Seattle and coincidentally happened to walk through the SFO security check at exactly 5:29 p.m.   The Agent was looking at my shirt as I approached the metal detector (my bags already on their way through Xray), and she says to me "hmm 5:29, whats that mean?"  Then she looked at her watch and noticed that it was exactly 5:29 p.m.  Her eyes bugged out of their sockets and she starting saying "what's going on here, wait a second, what are you doing,  what's up".  She set off the alarm, my bags and I were shuffled off to the side where I had to answer questions about 5:29.  After explaining that this was a pure coincidence, and that the 5:29 Tee was part of the Project 529 bike team, and showing them stickers on my Mac that says Project 529 they finally believed me.  What a wacky, security level Orange moment.  After all that, one lady was laughing. The other agents just walked off,  alot of spectators looking at me with odd expressions on their faces and the other agent still looked a little shaken and pale. 

Wear the 5:29 shirt and be somewhere at exactly 5:29. 

It can create quite a stir!

May 3:  A good size group showed up bright and early Saturday morning to ride the XC trails around SST.  It was the first time I had ridden SST, and the first real trail ride I have on my new Blur and since my shoulder surgery. . IT WAS A BLAST!  It was so nice to get back out on the trails.  Though I am completely out of shape, this was a great opportunity to get back out there on the trails.

After a couple hours of riding, some of the Gravity Team suited up and headed over to the dirt park area. I'll be going back there in July to practice on the jumps.  Clinton, Nate, and J were just having too much fun.  I took some video while they launched off some of the mounds.  About 1:30 the cold drizzle got the best of us, so we packed up, stopped at Subweigh for some lunch and made for home.

A great morning indeed for the Project 529 team!

March 29:  Bike Build!!!  Following last weeks paint party, this week the crew gathered to assemble the new bikes.  I've been waiting patiently all winter for my new Santa Cruz BlurLT frame to come, and it's a beauty, the team painted it up in Project 529 Team Yellow and now that its all built up it's ready to hit some xc trails.  Clinton and Nate did most of the assembly. . errr. .well, all of the assembly, as I watched intently and tried to pick up a few pointers about building up a bike from scratch. (it's my first built up bike).  I can't wait to get it out on the trails.  Huge thanks to Clinton and Nate for all the help and patience! 

March 17:  It's been a long, cold, wet winter with amazing snow pack in the mountains.  Perfect boarding. BUT because of my rotater cuff and labrum reattach surgery last November, I've had to sit it on the sidelines playing Xbox instead.  (First season I've missed boarding since 1984)

So now I'm focusing on shoulder rehab and general conditioning.  My goal is to get back into a race by June or July, meanwhile, I'll be supportin' Project 529 from the sidelines. 

The Highlights:

Record DH turnout. .8 riders!

A lot of yellow bikes and jerseys headed up the lift caused a lot of discussion

Spectacular weather on Saturday for the practice runs, crisp fall air, blue skies and perfectly tacky trail conditions.

My first race in sport class!

Had great practice runs on Saturday, and even a few photo opps with the team.  On my last run I lost my rear derailer and chain.  Luckily, Team 529 pulled through and J happened to have a spare XO derailer. .so my weekend would not be over yet.

Ended the day at the local brew pub sharing stories with the team and having eats and beers. .good times followed up by a brisk walk up the road to quench our thrist at Charlies.

Sunday the weather turned on us.  We woke up to 38 degrees and misty fog shrouding the mountain.  It was bone chilling!

Sport and Beginners had one run, Experts, Semi's and Pro's had two.  I put everything I could into my run, but didn't make what should have been an easy gravel fire road corner.  I went down hard, but got up and kept going as best I could.  Ended up 6th in my class.  Found out later that the gravel road got the best of me.  I broke a couple of ribs and ruined my shoulder.  "Latest News".  Torn Labrum and torn Rotator Cuff. Surgery slated for the end of November.  

All in all, the weekend was awesome and was a great way to end the season!  I'm looking forward to next year with Project 529

 Stoked!

I went on a few wednesday night rides and really enjoyed everyones attitude. . . it's all about getting out there, riding your bike, and having fun with friends.  Next thing I knew, I was flying down Hood on Fowler's VP Free participating in my first DH event.  I will always remember that day because it was the first time I had experienced a full weekend with the team.  They rocked the Mtn on their runs and still made time to give me a few pointers and impact others around them.  During one of the breaks before the race, there was younger rider who had busted his crank during warmup.  Within moments the project 529 team mobilized and had one of their bikes torn down.  They installed a loaner crank set on the kids bike and he was able race.  He was absolutely stoked.