Sea Otter Classic

I really enjoyed this past weekend racing at the Sea Otter Classic. Sea Otter is always one of the most fun events of the year. They don't have the best track, but all the top guys show up which makes for great racing. It is held at Laguna Seca Raceway, a motor sports venue in Monterey, California. Everyone comes out to support the industry, most of which is located here in California. Its really cool too see such huge crowds at the event for that reason. I raced the Dual Slalom and Downhill races this year. The Salom is always super fun because you get to compete head to head with so many top guys. I had a short night of racing after blowing through a gate and going out in the first round. Never the less, I had a fun day on my hardtail and really enjoyed the event. The Downhill went more smoothly for me. The race track is very flat, an extremely fitness based course. I managed my effort well and put down a solid run that got me on the podium in 5th place. I was really happy to see my fitness level up there with the best of them. Less than a second behind my teammate Aaron Gwin is something I'm really proud of. I feel like I am developing good race craft and this season I am able to keep building on the solid foundation I have created over the past few years. It's all coming together and it feels great!

NM

Pan American Championships in Mexico

This week was pretty crazy. I raced the Pan American Continental Championships in Puebla, Mexico. It turned out to be a really fun event and a great experience, even though it was a little disorganized. From the beginning, Mexico lived up to it's stereotypical reputation. The organizers who were supposed to pick us up from the airport never showed up, leaving us to find our own way to the event. We rented a van and managed to find the venue, about 100km away, just by asking directions... kinda sketchy. I guess they don't sell maps in Mexico. The traffic was insane, no rules what so ever. There were no speed limits, just speed bumps, so you couldn't speed if you wanted to. Dead dogs in the hotel parking lot, 5 people riding on 1 motorcycle, and chickens on the race track were all common place. It was quite the experience! 

I wanted to race the Pan American Championships to get some more racing in early in the season and it turned out that this track was a great place to train. The track was really short, but there were a lot of line options which made it really fun and challenging. Some big, dangerous lines out there too, which were worthwhile on such a short track. There were no shuttles for the DH, so we had to hitch hike back to the top of the track after each run. It was dry, hot and dusty the whole time. In the final I put down a very strong run, a run I was really happy with, but Marcelo Gutierrez managed to go faster and I finished 2nd to him. I had a really fun week in Mexico with the US federation. Experiencing a country like that is something I'll never forget. It was so cool to see that all the south american guys were so pumped on the sport. There are a lot of great guys down there that the we rarely ever see. I'm headed home now for a little while and I'm looking forward to it!

NM