MSC Finals at Sol Vista Bike Park: GR Wins 2nd Overall!

Grassroots Cycles Gravity Team Wins 2nd Overall

Two weekends ago was the Mountain States Cup Finals at Sol Vista Bike Park in Granby, CO. It’s hard to believe the bike resort season is almost over, so if you have any opportunities in the near future, get to a bike park fast! We had a pretty good turnout of racers and friends at the Sol Survivor which made for a super fun weekend. The 4X was on Sunday evening and was probably the most exciting I can ever remember. The course was so well designed that it didn’t really matter who came out of the gate first, it was almost certain that some other rider would take the win. There was passing opportunities in every corner and the number of line choices was mind numbing, especially at the speed everyone was going. Kazzy and Matt were the first of the team to compete and they did so rubbing elbows the whole way down. Mike McCoy had a few heats in CAT 1 but unfortunately took some hard spills in every one of them. By the end I think he felt like he had been thrown in a blender. Around 5pm, the pros came on and put on an absolutely spectacular show for everyone. Eric was lining up next to some of the fastest MSC Pros ever and threw down! He made it into the small final and ended up winning it to take 5^th place! The Pro Finals were just as exciting with Brian Buell edging out everyone in the final stretch by taking an unorthodox high-line and flying past Ross Milan and Chris Boice as they took a high speed tangled tumble right before the finish line jump! The guys at Sol Vista Bike Park really know how to build a 4X course so if you haven’t seen one of these races, put it on your list for next year.

The downhill on Labor Day was on Cougar; a rough and fast course with times in the 2-3 minute range. It has two big step downs separated by the usual Sol Vista moon dust and rock gardens followed by the fast and flowy infield section to make it exciting for the spectators at the finish. Everyone that raced did well and had very respectable times in their classes. The winning pro time was 2:20:95 by the Reining MSC Champion, Chris Boice.

MSC Sol Survivor 4x Race Results
MSC Sol Survivor DH Race Results

Grassroots Team Race Results:

Kazzy Saito (CAT 2 30-39): Rode pretty consistently all weekend which well all know is the key to getting faster. Good work Kazzy! Way to keep it rubber side down!
--4X: 6th of 14
--DH: 10th of 16 with a 3:06

Matt Bollig (CAT 2 30-39): Showed up at the race after two nights at a Phish concert to race 4x... OUCH! Finished almost side by side with Kazzy!
--4x: 7th of 14

Adam Lavendar (CAT 2 30-39): His hands were still hurting him from his acccident a few weeks ago at Snowmass so he had very limited practice on the DH course. In fact he didn't do one practice run the day of the race and still had a great finish!
--DH: 4th of 16 with a 2:56

Blake Treadway (CAT 1 30-39): Blake had great expectations after his race at Snowmass and rightfully so with how he has been riding lately. However, he was really let down after he blew a corner at the top and had to come to a complete stop to get back on course.
--DH: 12th of 13 with a 2:54

Mike McCoy (CAT 1 30-39): After crashing his brains out in the 4x, he had another unfortunate incident on the DH. His right contact had slipped off eye (because he says he forgets to blink while racing) in the middle of his race run. He rode the rock garden and a significant portion of the course with only one eye open. Not an easy task!
--4x: 9th of 14
--DH: 8th of 13 with a 2:49

Eric Landis (Pro): The 4X was erics best race ever! His goal was to beat Michael Buell in hopes of securing 3rd place for the overall gravity title. Mission accomplished! He had the same goals for the DH but lost out to Micheal by 0.07 seconds! In the end he did manage to take 3rd overall in the MSC Gravity Series. Well done Eric!
--4x: 5th of 12
--DH: 8th of 25 with a 2:28

Myself (Peter Knepper) (Pro): This was my first ever pro race, and my first race this year since I broke my collar bone in May at Ranchstyle. Despite having not trained or ridden much this year, and my whole right shoulder/collar bone hurting pretty bad all weekend, I still pulled off a very respectable finish! I had some serious doubts if I should be a "Pro" but this race confirmed that I'm in the right class and I need to start training once I get this collar bone thing figured out.
--DH: 19th of 25 with a 2:34

Thanks so much for everyone that raced and supported the team this year. We have a team full of great people with some nice momentum. Lets keep it rolling into next year! If anyone is interested in racing for the team in the future, be sure to start lingering around the shop and riding with the locals. You'll have to be "approved" by everyone to race on our kick ass team! We're also looking to start a BMX racing division of the team if anyone is interested.

Another special note was that Jesse Kirkpatrick was there with us riding downhill!!! She isn't quite back where she used to be, but she is still shredding none the less. If you see Blake and Jesse, please be sure to congratulate them because it hasn't been an easy last two years.

~Peter Knepper (Team Mom)

Crested Butte Wild Flower Rush Recap

Other than a few wind gusts that would roll through in the afternoons, we couldn't have asked for better weather. To add to our excitement, the man, the myth, the legend... Matt Bollig came to throw down! He pinned it on the DS and DH in CAT 2 30-39 and got the taste of racing back. Before the race he was explaining his racing as "It's like racing, only slower" but after the race he said "I've got a lot more left in the tank for DH racing."

James Flatten decided to make a cameo appearance on Saturday afternoon. You should come to more races James! You taught us all how to cover parts of your body with blades of grass when sunblock isn't available. Ever think about going on "Survivor?"

Before you read the results below, you need to know that this was also a Pro GRT race, meaning there was a lot of really fast competitors here. Way more than usual for a MSC race. The top CAT 2 racers would have placed extremely well in CAT 1 and the top CAT 1 racers would have placed extremely well in Pro class meaning that everyone's class had some major competition. I think some sand-baggers need to upgrade to keep the fields tiered like they should be.

Noteables:

- Joel Scott came to cheer everyone on on Sunday seeing how its so close to his home.
- Eric and Sara brought out their brand new (used) $500 camper in the bed of their truck. You'd think for $500 it wouldn't be in very good shape, but they really got a killer deal and its super clean!
- Eric ended up 29/62 and Andrew Templin 43/62 in the Pro DH class. Both had solid runs and were only a few seconds off Brian Buell and Eric was directly behind Chris Shumake (Santa Cruz/SRAM)! The pro field was stacked. Way to represent Guys!
- Eric took 15/19 in the pro DS and was knocked out in round 1 which really disappointed him. But like i said before, the competition was unreal. Most of those guys ride their bikes for a living, like Jared Graves! One of the 2 guys in the big final was actually riding a DH bike to illustrate how rough it was!
- The two others that raced DS were Matt (CAT 2 30-39 11/13) and Kazzy (CAT 2 30-39 6/11). Matt got knocked out in round one, but absolutlely blew everyone away with how fast he rode. None of us knew he could throw down like that! However, Kazzy made it to round 2 before getting knocked out only because he wrecked in a silt filled berm in his second race of round two. It was going to be a close one for sure!
- Jesse Townsend had a great result with a 6th place out of 17 in the CAT 1 30-39 DH. That what hitting your lines and not crashing will get you. I wanna see a podium by year's end Jesse!
- This was Jesse Ruland's 2nd DH race ever (CAT 2 30-39). With a massive hangover from a late night CB with Matt and James, he still managed to pull off a stellar 9th out of 24! No wrecks and a solid run this time! You keep progressing like this and you'll have your pro card in no time little man.
- This was Chris Rupinksy's first race with the team AND first CAT 1 DH race! After a little suspension tuning he ripped off a 26th out of 34. However, his class is the fastest class next to the pros.... I should know, I struggled in that class for many years! BTW, you need to trade in those Yeti's soon Christopher.... while they're still worth something.. haha
- Last but not least, Matt Bollig managed to keep it out of last place in the DH with a 22nd out of 24. He said he's got more to throw down and just needs some time on a big bike and to get in better shape. Don't be surprised if you see him out laying down the power at the BMX track in 100 degree heat in the next couple weeks. The racing bug's bit him hard! He has also committed to coming to Telluride in two weeks, so if any of you see him trying to back out of it, lay the smack down!

We're all looking forward to the next MSC race Telluride July 8-10)..... I think I might race SD. We'll see how the collar bone is feeling (that will be 9 weeks out of surgery). Stop in and say hi in the pits if your going to be in town. I think we are going to borrow the 10x20 MRP easy up for our pits but just look for the Grassroots Cycles banner.

On a final note, if you ever get a change to go to Crested Butte, hit up the "Timeline" Trail. Its full of airtime and massive flow! You won't regret it!

~Pete Knepper