Wildflower Rush Race @ Crested Butte

There was a few Grassroots racers and other friends to show up at the Wildflower Rush in Crested Butte, CO. The weather was great, the people were friendly, no one got seriously hurt and I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone when I say we were all glad to be there.

Here is Amy Knepper showing off her newly found DH skills in a short rock garden. She had one hard crash on saturday but rebounded well for herrace on sunday. Congrats Amy on finishing your second DH race without a crash or mechanical!!!












Eric Landis had a great weekend. This was his first race as a Pro













Blake Treadway sending it off the last obstacle before the finish. He had a clean run, which hasn't happened lately for him! Congrats Blake! He was sporting his wife's bike, a Santa Cruz V-10, because he's in the process of selling his Transition Blindside in favor of a Cove Shocker, but the Shocker hadn't arrived yet. Luckily his wife, Jesse, has a badass bike for him borrow. Hopefully she will be back riding with us before the year is over. We miss you Jesse











Here I (Pete Knepper) am getting ready to blow through one of the final corners in my race run. Luckily they got a good pic before it all went bad, ha ha.










This was the first race with our new Grassroots Cycles Team Jerseys. I think they turned out really awesome! You'll be seeing more and more of them around so keep your eyes peeled. I should note that Kazzy Saito and Jesse Townsend were there and did well too, but I don't have any pictures of them to post... Sorry Guys!

Thanks again roots riders and friends for making another fun successful weekend possible!

Keystone!

So we cruised down to Keystone this last Sunday. Super fun time, the trails are sick right now. We escaped with only minor injuries and a few broken parts, all in all it was a good trip. I will be getting some helmet cam videos up soon courtesy of Jessy.

Telluride Trips

We've been doing trips to Telluride the last couple of Sundays. If you haven't been yet you're missing out. Only a few runs open but gas and food is all you need money for, the gondola is free and only takes a few minutes to get to the top. Not really any photos from the trips but here is a photo of Jesse's pretty face. Hopefully I can get some of his helmet cam footy.

By the sounds of it Telluride Sunday may become an annual thing.

Roots riders are flipping out!!

Congrats to Micah for stomping his first flips. Started in the foam then moved to dirt.

Video from around the valley

Edit from our friend Noah at OTE.

Nick Simcik Teva Edit

Cool little edit from the Teva Games in Vail this last Sunday.

Angel Fire Race Update Big Sunday DH Race

Sunday the weather greeted us with a smile and was nice and hot. During an inspection of my bike I noticed my rear brake pads on my basically new Transition TR450 were totally worn out! The 3 stage mud race the previous weekend must have taken them out along with me obviously being hard on the rear brake. I tried swapping the front and rear pads since I seem to be riding with a bunch of rear brake but this fouled up the front brake. After the first practice run I ended up borrowing a front Jucy7 from the guys at Secret Cyclery. Once that drama was over I got in one clean run and was ready to race!

My personal goal for this race was to be the fastest Cat1 on the mountain so I could be considered for a Pro upgrade of my license so I took this dead serious. I wanted to hang out and relax but I ended up getting Jesse Townsend to drive me & my preggy wife and son to the top of the course and walk it. While we walked I shot video of the sections that I was having trouble with and of new fast lines I wanted to hit. I reviewed that video before bed and again before practice.
Jesse had been riding well all weekend and had some hot lines sorted out. I got to the top just in time to cheer him on as he blasted out of the gate. He looked great as he disappeared in the woods but it didn't last long. One of the most tricky parts of the track, a triple rock drop, brought him down hard on his front end and caused him to go down.

I was putting a ton of pressure on myself and was super nervous. I just sat and ran through the course over and over in my head. I reviewed the warm up drills and bike handling skills in the handout I got from James Wilson's bike skills class. We only had 30 second gaps between riders and I knew I was faster than the 2 guys in front of me and would have to pass both of them messing up my run. Luckily I talked the start guy into letting me go first in the class so I had a clean course!

I dropped in and put my all down. My time on this course last year was a 5:28:69 with a pretty good run. My goal this year after my strength & Skills training and better quality equipment was a 5:10. I made some mistakes but held it together and was smooth. Where I could I pedaled like mad and had the strength to recover in the rough sections. Where I had to coast on the steep flats I rode switch to get my back leg to recover. I stayed in control and had power to blast across the finish line.

I could not believe it when I came to a stop and heard I had just ran a 5:01:28! I collapsed to my knees with arms up screaming! I had no idea I had or even could go that fast. I feel I could do it again maybe even a little faster with some more work. This time made me the fastest Cat1/Expert/Semi-Pro on the mountain that day in any age group & would have put me in 19th place out of 47 Pros.

It was a great and huge victory that took a years worth of work and is very special to me. I sincerely thank GrassRoots Cycles for their service & support, MRP, James Wilson/MTB Strength Training Systems, Transition Bikes, Marzocchi Suspension, the Secret Cyclery Gravity team for loaning me parts 2 weeks in a row, & of course my lovely wife Sara for taking care of all the details.

Eric Landis

Angel Fire Race Update Saturday 4X Cancelled

Saturday morning brought an early 4x Practice session. That course is nar to say the least. I started up at the top and started working my way through jumping all of the medium sized doubles. Once I got warmed up I went down and worked out the 3 huge doubles at the bottom. They are huge and high speed for a small light hard tail so they are a little scary. I went back up to the top to make a full run and link it all together and ended up slipping my front tire at the bottom of a G out and face planting hard. I have a little scabbing on the right of my head from the helmet because I hit so hard. Gave me a small
concussion and I was not feeling great.

Right around that time I heard a rumor that the guy I mentioned in the last post that got air lifted out from the day before was not doing well and they were thinking of canceling the race. I went back to my room and word came in that Craig Lange a young racer with the Mojo Wheels Team had passed away from his injuries. This was an unbelievable circumstance. I mean we all get hurt and go to the hospital but this time someone died. It hit everyone like a ton of bricks. The race was canceled out of respect for the family.

At 6:00 there was a memorial in Craig's honor that most of the gravity community attended. Instead of a moment of silence they send him out with a roar of a racers cheer more boisterous than any I have heard from such a small group. It did seem fitting and brought a tear to most of our eyes.
























Please Pray for Craig's Family......I cannot imagine.......

Most of the racers donated their entry fee to Craig's family.
More info or if you would like to donate to his family:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1470297743&v=app_2392950137#!/group.php?gid=129789557048217&v=wall

Eric Landis

Teva qualifyers

Teva games went great today. Eric took first place on a borrowed bike. He stomped his downside 3 whip and a front flip. Bass walked home with second, and our own Ranchstyle champ Casey Groves took third with a solid run. Unfortunately due to a pedal slip Nick Simcik was unable to make it into the finals.
Full results here: http://www.tevamountaingames.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Slopestyle-Results-Final.pdf

Overall there was sick riding and nice weather.

Here is some photos. For some reason the photos wouldn't resize so this link will have to do.
http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr205/coolbike2002/teva%20games/

Teva Games

Don't forget Teva Games at Vail are going on right now. Our shop rider Nick Simcik is going to be there representing. Good luck to all our friends competing. Keep your eyes open for Graham, Eric, and Casey. They're all going to be killing it.

http://www.tevamountaingames.com/?page_id=165

Angel Fire Race Update Friday Night

Jessie Townsend, Sara, Porter & I (Eric Landis) made it to Angle Fire New Mexico around 1am this morning. Got a little sleep and up to practice DH then the 4x course.

It is super warm here and it is a struggle to stay hydrated. The DH course is great. There is lots of traction through the huge, miles long rock gardens.

4x course is literally axle deep in fluffy powder in almost every corner. Apparently this week they have dumped a ton of water on it but it did not work. The jumps are huge and seem more intimidating than last year. It was tough to switch from the DH bike to the little hard tail. I felt like I was riding a 10 speed road bike. I did not jump even 1 double, but I got there late and only had about 30 minutes to ride but then I got kicked off for forgetting to grab my # plate from the Dh bike and put it on my Transition Bank. Tomorrow we get to practice from 8 to 11 so I will get warmed back up to it.

My goal for racing Pro 4x is to beat someone to and out of the first corner. From there just hold my lines and ride competitively fast. Small steps.

Eric Landis

Love IT

What we need in GJ!

First Post

This is our first post on our new blog!

We do have shuttles running on Friday afternoons, we will be at the Lunch Loops parking lot around 5:30 Pm.
We will be at the Lunch Loops at 9:00 Am on Saturday mornings.

Ranch Nights are Mondays and Thursdays. Check with shop to confirm.

Thanks, hope to see you out riding.