The year so far... (pt.2)
Reflecting on the first half of my 2024 season. Part 2 of 2
Hello and welcome to my Substack!
I’m not quite sure how this will develop but I hope to use it to provide updates on my racing, travel, adventuring and training.
I’m about halfway through my season so I think a good place to start is by recapping what’s happened so far. I’ve done a lot of racing so this is part two, hit the link below if you missed part one.
Downieville Classic
After Oregon Trail, I had some time to recover in Bend before linking up with Cameron Jones from New Zealand and hitting the road to Downieville. With a jam-packed hire car and our camping gear, we headed to Truckee to link up with fellow Easton Overland teammate Caroline (reuniting me with my little buddy Squeaky the cat).
Downieville is a magical place, we spent the week practicing the courses and swimming in rivers and lakes. The riding is next level, an amazing mix of natural rocky chunder and open high-speed flow. Both Cam and I had a few mechanical issues but we’re both feeling good ahead of the race.
Uniquely Downieville hosts the “All Mountain World Championships” (official recognition unknown). Your bike is weighed for two days of racing and you have to run the same setup. The results of both days get you points and the total determines your position for this category. After speaking to everyone I know who’s done it before, including Downieville legend Carl Decker I settled on the following setup changes for my Orbea Oiz:
+1 click of high-speed compression in my Fox 34SC to keep the front end a bit higher through the repeated hits
2.4 Schwalbe Wicked Will Addix Soft with a Tubolite SL front
2.35 Schwalbe Racing Ralph Axxis Speed with a Cushcore Trail insert rear
Bacon strips taped all over the place
Fresh brake pads and brake bleeds front and rear for race day
All in all not too much different to my usual setup, I wanted to keep it feeling familiar and I’ve been blown away by how capable the Oiz has been this year.
Day 1, Downieville XC, 43km, 1,100m, 2:09:58
Cam and I spun to the start together and lined up for the start, the next thing I saw was Cam riding the front towing Keegan Swenson away from the rest of the race. I settled into my tempo which was a bit lower than I would have hoped. Cresting the top of the climb in about 13th position I made sure to get the bike through all the sharp rocks over the high point of the race safely then set about picking off as many people as possible. After a dropped chain and two crashes, I rolled across the line in 10th, battered, tired but stoked. After a quick river debrief it was time to get clean and soak up the atmosphere, the river jump is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen and the log pull is one of the strangest. Due to running low on rations Cam and I took advantage of the hot dog cook-up before returning to camp to finish off our spaghetti bagognaise.
Day 2, Downieville DH, 23km, -1300m, 47:19
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a downhill race but all the feelings are the same. Listening to the soundtrack of Three Minute Gaps to get pumped on the drive we went from very chatty to quiet and nervous. Sitting in the start gate felt as if I remembered, even if it was strange to be sitting there in road kit and an aero helmet, the countdown happened and I sprinted out of the gate into 47 minutes of the wildest riding you could ever do on an XC bike.
The course breaks into roughly three sections,
1: the fast and chunky top section to the infamous waterfall.
2: the even faster but less chunky section through the middle
3: the lung-busting flatter section to the finish
I got through the top third quite clean, had a little mechanical issue in the middle which cost me some time and then risked it all through the bottom. Crossing the line in 8th and securing 6th in the all-mountain category. The sketchiest part of my run turned out to be the concrete slalom in the finish chute as I must have picked up a slow leak in my front tyre.
Downieville is the first race in a while that I want to go back to because of how good of a time I had. Congratulations to travel buddy Cam for taking second both days and in the all-mountain. We hit the road and after a quick KFC pitstop arrived back in Bend.
High Cascades 100
High Cascades 100 was a race I picked out as a target quite early in this years plans. It’s long, hard and local to where I’ve been based for most of my time in the USA. After spending a few days getting used to riding the Oiz in marathon mode again and a good hit out at the Bend Criteriums I was feeling ready for action.
The race started early and started hard. As soon as we hit the single track the pace was on and it was very quickly a select group at the front. My plan for the day was to be anonymous and make my move in the back end of the race. Until this point my focus was on eating, drinking and saving as much energy as possible, giving some space to the riders ahead of me so I could pick my lines and ride as economically as possible. For the first 3 hours of the race, I got down 120 grams of carbohydrates per hour and plenty of fluids, I wasn’t quite sure what the feed zone situation would be late in the race so I wanted to get out ahead of this one.
We hit the major climb of the day and our little lead group splinted as the pace got wound on. I rode hard but sensible to limit my losses here confident that I could pull a good amount back on the long descent that followed. After this, it was just two of us at the front. My mission from here was to make it to the top of the last climb and then let the dog off the chain all the way to the finish. We attacked each other a few times but ultimately came into the last feed zone together, here my friend Shane saved my life with a coke bottle hand up. As we hit the last descent I made my move, attacking into the fast open corners and through the chunkiest rock gardens of the day I managed to get separation and committed to driving it all the way to the line, after having the worst cramps of my cycling career up a little pinch climb I hit the tarmac and knew all I had left to do was put the bike in the biggest gear I had and keep the cadence as high as I could.
It’s always special to win a race but this one stands out to me, It’s not often you go into a target race and have everything go as you hope it will. After a tough start to the US season, Downieville and this race gave me the confidence I needed to stay on the path and see the season through.
Some stats:
5:57:13 race time
147km
2480m ascent
24.7kph average
294np
Washougal MTB & PIA Short Track
After packing up my life in Bend I was on the road to Portland with Fast Freddie, headed for a doubleheader (which then turned into a triple header) of XCC and XCO racing. I was pretty nervous about how the body would respond after a season where all my focus had been around long events with minimal thought put towards being fast over a short race.
This weekend ended up being a bit of a love letter to local races, hard racing and fun vibes. After spiking the heart rate in the team relay we lined up for the XCC, 25 minutes on the limiter saw me in third behind the Dryve racing boys. Day two’s XCO brought the same result but with the suffering extended to 90 minutes. The Washougal MX facility has one of the best XC courses I've ever ridden, a great mix of high-speed moto track and tight technical forest tracks. Add into the mix a pizza night with the crew, great coffee and a nice place to camp and you have a winner.
Monday night in Portland brings more racing with the Portland International Raceway Short Track. A physical course with a 40-minute race time was a bit more of a hit-out than I'd bargained for as I took the lead early and had to commit for a good 30 minutes. A fun race to win and a great vibe with a huge turnout. It’s great to see so many juniors and people from all walks of life racing and having a good time. After a great Mexican meal with my host family, it was time to pack the bike, get 3 hours of sleep and catch the red eye to Denver.
What's next…
I’m typing this from Breckenridge, Colorado the night before Breck Epic. I’m about to start a pretty gnarly swing with six days of high-altitude mountain bike racing, a day off and then SBT GRVL. Last year I suffered at altitude but so far this year I'm feeling a lot better touch wood. After this block, I head to Spain for what might be my last major event of the season, Badlands…
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