17th Annual Southridge Challenge

It had been two months since the race season had come to an end for me and in november it’s always nice to have a race to break up the off season! The Annual Southridge Challenges are always held at Fontana! The weather was beautiful this time around and the course had great flow to it with some really cool turns. On Saturday I put in six practice runs and felt pretty good! Half of the course I had already ran earlier in the year at another race so I new it and didn’t need to put in to much time since the conditions were the same! Sunday morning came around and I put in a few practice runs in to make sure everything was the same and my lines were still available! I was seeded pretty early so I was out of the start box before 11am! Besides feeling good about the course I ended up getting a little to zesty up on top and after the s-turns I got off line and went into this left hand g-out too inside! I washed out the front wheel and had an off the bike crash! The bars had bent so I had to straighten them out before I continued my race run. I lost anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds on my total race run with that mishap! I had It pinned and in control the rest of my run though! I pushed myself to the limit and was impressed with my endurance! I ended up placing 10th and actually beating a few people! I was nine seconds off the leader! So I know I would of had it if I had put together a solid race run! That’s part of racing and that’s what keeps me coming back for more!
THAT PERFECT RUN!
Before this race I was in the lead for the overall title by 140 points! I had the overall in the bag and didnt need to race this event to take the title but I love to race so I wouldn’t miss it for the world! The points I recieved for 10th place kept me well ahead of the second place overall racer so I’m stoked that I ended the year with the Overall Title. Thanks for all the support this year! It’s been a Great year for me and my sponsors with two titles and awesome race experiences! I couldn’t of done it without your help!

2008 Cal State Champion Poster

2008 California Golden State Champion

Winning three out of four races in the Golden State Series locked up the championship for me. I couldn't be more happier! Thank you everyone that helped me reach my goals this season. Greatly appreciated.

2008 California Golden State Championship Finals

After been off the bike for over three weeks and dealing with one of the worst injuries I’ve had, I accomplished
something I didn’t think was possible. This weekend was the final round of the California State Championship
Series held at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California. I was leading the series by only 15 points and with only
one more race left I knew I would have to race to have any chance of locking up the overall State Championship.
Saturday practice was fun. The course was short but longer than the previous race held there. Thirty seconds longer
to be exact. It ended up being a fun course for what it was, not my style but I was able to figure out some decent
lines and manage to carry my speed through all the obstacles.

I only did one practice run on race day morning due to the shuttle lines being full. I just wanted to make sure the
lines I was using on the course were still good and wouldn’t have to change anything before my race runs. This race
was two run format combined times. My first run was smooth but felt I could push it a little harder in some
sections. I ended up having the fastest time after everyone was done with there first run. Going into the second
run in 1st always puts a little pressure on me especially when I want to charge it a bit harder! Three quarters of the
way down on my second run I slipped a pedal and lost momentum in a critical section. I managed to get my feet
on the pedals before the next turn and finish out the rest of my run clean and fast but the damage was done. I lost
about 3-5 seconds on that mistake and I lost 1st place by less than a second.
Since I won the 1st run by a signifigant margian my combined time was the fastest of the day and I ended up winning
the final round of the California state series. With that been my third 1st place finish of the series I was able to secure the
overall win for series and become the California State Champion for 2008.

2008 THE Composite EC Helmet

-Strong & Lightweight
-15 vents & 4 vent channels in dual EPS liner
-Stainless steel D-rings & custom THE rivets
-Exceeds CPSC & CE standards

Cal State Round 3_ June 1st, 2008

The 3rd round of the Cal State series brought us back to Good old Fontana, California. A little different from
Angelfire, New Mexico and by that I mean temperature and terrain (no Lift access). Considering I’ve spent lot of time
racing the Fontana courses it was all good! I was surprised to see they decided not to run the traditional Calf State course!
They taped a course down the other side of the mountain. There was a little bit of the National course in it which was fun!
It was actually a fun flowy course. Practice on Saturday was fun, I only banged out five practice runs since the course
was pretty straight forward and it was hot! No need to over exert myself even thou I had Plenty of VitaminWater to
keep me hydrated! I saw alot of people hiking and just thought it wasn’t the best thing to do considering it was a
two run format on Sunday!

When Sunday came around the course was a little beat up from practice but not to bad.
I’d say it was standard Fontana conditions for this time of year! Dry, slick and dusty! They seeded me to start early on
Sunday which was nice. I took off out of the gate nine minutes after they started and had a real clean run for my first run.
I hung out at the bottom to see my time and check the rest of the field and I was sitting in first after we all took our first
runs! I felt I could push it a little bit harder on my second run but didn't want to push it to hard and throw it all away.
I had a two second buffer on second place but it’s anyone’s race so you cant think you have it! You have to give it your
all to the end! On my second run I wanted to chop down a couple seconds on my time which would guarantee me
1st place.

I had a little dab up top and got bumped off line in the bottom section right before the finish but still
manage to pull a decent time! only 1.85 seconds off my first run and with my combined time I placed first! That’s my
second 1st place finish in the Cal-State Series this year so I’m pretty sure I locked down the Championship! I have one
more race in that series in Sept and I will get the Cal-State Championship jersey for 2008!

MSC #3 Angelfire, New Mexico Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Angelfire, New Mexico was a great experience! It took us 14 hours to get out there on Thursday.
It was a long day of driving. When we crossed the New Mexico border It was snowing and we new
we where in for a good time! We pulled in to the Angelfire Resort sometime between 10 and 11pm
and I just hit the sack knowing I had practice at 8am the following morning. Practice was gnarly.
The top half of the mountain was covered with snow and ice. On my 4th run down I had a nasty
crash in the upper section. Pretty much lost my front end on some roots covered with ice and
landed sideways on my leg. It took me a few minutes to get of the course and took the rest of the
day off to care for my injury. Saturdays pros practice was at 8am again and I honestly didn't think I
would be able to ride the rest of the weekend but somehow pulled myself out of bed and geared up!
I took it a little easier that morning knowing the conditions were pretty hectic! My leg and knee felt
better the more I kept moving it so I continued to ride the mountain and ride open practice in the afternoon.
Sunday came around and pro practice was around 12 so I finally got some time to sleep. The storm blew
out and it was clear blue skies and about 70 degrees. Pretty much perfect conditions even thou the top
was still a little wet. The course was starting to dry out and get faster and actually safer! Race day was on
monday (Memorial Day) and the course was in great condition. I took off out of the starting box and
everything was good until this off camber root section were I lost control and flipped over my bars. I got
up fairly quick and jumped back on my bike in a section were you really needed momentum. It didn’t
take long to get back up to speed but still lost the race with that crash! About half way down the 5-6 minute
Course I end up catching the rider in front of me! The bottom half of the course is high speed and didn’t
get the chance to pass the rider. I proceeded to get stuck behind this guy all the way to the finish line. Which
had to of cost me anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds on my time! I ended up placing 22nd out of 60 which I
thought wasn’t to bad considering I had a off the bike crash and was held up for half the course!

2008 Cal State round 2

Round two of the Cal-State series was held at Woodward West in Tehachapi Ca. This was the first time I had been
to woodward. The course was short with some tricky flat corners and a few jumps. The course seemed to fit my
style of riding which is real flowy. Saturday was fun. I got a whole day of practice in and felt confident on the
course. I wanted to get a good result after my crash at the Sea Otter Classic the week before, so I was working
pretty hard.This race was a two run/ combined time format. Which means you race two times and they combine
both times for the final total time and who ever has the fastest time wins. It’s tough_You have to bang out two
solid runs. No mistakes. My first run felt pretty good and ended up being the fastest time out of everyone. I only
beat Amado(2nd fastest time) by a second and I know he can beat me just like anyone else on any given day so
there was a little pressure for the second run. I wanted to pin it a little harder on my second run and hope I would
stay in the top five. I ended up only going a second faster in my 2nd run but it was good enough for 1st place! I
had the fastest time in both runs. I never would of expected it but it sure helped the confidence after my crash at
the Sea Otter Classic!

2008 Sea Otter Classic

Unlike all the previous years 2008 was blessed with great weather! No rain , no mud, but some 40 mph
Gust were present! The downhill course was the same layout but with dry conditions. The top section of
the course had a thirty foot jump in the rhythm section and the rest of the course had lots of pedaley
sections. It was a real fun course with a little speed trap section in the middle and a cool step down jump
to right turn to double jump to left turn! Hopefully you followed that trail talk_hehe
I had practice at 8am on Friday and two runs in I have some mechanical issues with my bike and have to forfeit
the rest of my practice time to fix my mechanical. I spent the rest of my day watching my friends practice
downhill and some dual slalom. I only raced downhill because I couldn’t get a fork for my dual slalom bike in
time and it was another sixty bucks or more to enter dual slalom. Saturday there was no practice for pros on
the downhill course. Sunday was the next time I would be back on the downhill course.
I felt good on Sunday morning. I took three or four practice runs before my race run and felt that I had the
course pretty dailed! When it came down to my race run it was a different story. In my race run I had a horrible
crash. I made it thru the top jump section and into a real fast left berm, but right after the berm before the
tabletop jump there were two rollers that took me out! All of a sudden my front wheel washes out from
underneath me and I slam on the right side of my body hitting my head and right side of my leg on the ground.
I got up fairly quick and bent my bars back . I then got back on the bike and continued my run with a bent lever.
It was rough, the whole way down I was pinned but thinking it was over! in our sport five, ten, fifteen seconds
are devastating. All in all it was a great event as always but a horrible race for me. That’s why I’m still racing thou.
Still searching for that perfect run. I ended up placed 64th.Which was second to last place. I look foward to next
year and some sort of redemption.

National Mountain Bike Series presented by Maxxis Round#1

The first round of the National Mountain Bike Series presented by Maxxis was held March 27th-30th
in Fontana, California. The weather was surprisingly good! Unlike last year_it was a scorcher! With a
little bit of cloud coverage we couldn’t complain. The downhill was internationally represented with
world cup riders from New Zealand, Australia, Spain and the UK joining the US racers making it quite
a competitive event. Donny from Southridge did a real good job with the course design. He added
more turns and challenging rock sections to compliment the “Wall”, a long, flat, vomit inducing
pedaling section! My practice runs were really fun! It took a while to find flow in the course due to
technical rocks sections. Everything was working out for me until sunday race day. I had an over the bar
crash in my first practice run which resulted in a bent derailleur and sprained wrist! I never found a
replacement derailleur so I had to bend it back as best I could! I ended up placing 14th out of 40 with some
shifting problems and just lack of fitness! I was seven seconds off the leader and most of that was shifting
so I feel a little better knowing I could of had a faster run with all my gears!

In My California Golden State Cup race I ended up Placing 4th out of 7 racers! Not to many people hung
out for that race considering it was the same day immediately following the National race! I was three
seconds slower on that run than my National race run which was already bad. That’s racing thou

It was a great wknd thou! It was really good to see everyone......

Big Thanks to Big Ring Cyclery, VitaminWater, EVS, THE, Dragon, 661/Royal/Sunline, Straitline

2008 Turner DHR

My 2008 race lid

This is my new helmet for 2008. The COMPOSITE IZYK is lightweight and breathable. With 15 vents_it stays pretty cool. The padding is nice and removable so you can keep it smelling like new! I like the look of the helmet to! It’s got a racey shape to it. Real comfortable helmet thou. At first When I had the helmet on I was seeing the tip of my mouth piece but now after a couple months of riding with this helmet I don't even notice. My goggles fit really good in the face. I must say the IZYK is a great design...

The Final Round of The Shimano Winter Series

The Shimano Winter Series is officially over! I got my Turner DHR just in time for the final round.
Big thanks to Big Ring for hooking up the new bike and the late night putting it together!
Fontana was dry and slick for the last race unlike most of the races this year. The course was pretty
tame with only two rock sections in it. I felt pretty good with the exception of a 60 compound rear
highroller tire that wasn’t working to well in the dry conditions. I Placed 3rd with a sloppy race run
and ended up taking 2nd place in the overall. I’d like to thank everyone that helped me with my racing
so far this year_you all know who you are! I’m excited for the nationals and all the other races this year.
My new Turner DHR is a really great bike and I think it will make a huge contribution to my racing!

Shimano Winter Series #4

This weekend was really fun! I’m a little disappointed with my time and result but over all it was a real fun weekend of racing!
Saturday was awesome, we had some great weather. In the morning the sun came out for a little bit and made practice nice
and comfortable. I was riding my friend Josh’s Intense Uzzi VPX due to some mechanical issues I've had over the past two weeks with my bikes!


Needless to say It is a little different than my Avent Vandal and far from my old Ironhorse but thankfully I was able to use it this weekend and until I get my bikes figured out! The course was pretty awesome. Southridge finally ran the course down the rock section closest to the road. There were some fun g-outs and a couple speed trap sections. We all new that the course was going to be a whole different story on race day thou! Practice was still good for memorizing the course and getting adjusted to the bike I was about to race this weekend! hehehe

Saturday Night the rain started to come down, but just a light consistent mist if you will! We camped it and the rain made it’s way into the tent! Soaked my pillow and limited the room that I had to roll around in my sleeping bag. It was pretty funny!

Sunday Morning rolls around and it’s wet! Practice was real fun thou for how greasy the conditions were on the course. I just took two practice runs and hung out till my race run since I was soaked in mud! In my race run I blew out one of the turns up top and had to dab and pedal a little more to get back up to speed and found myself starting to feel gassed out! I had not even made the half way point yet! lol

I hit the rock section really good and started making my way to the last section which is an excruciating pedal if you’ve never been to fontana before! After the last little rock garden I put my head down and just tried to hammer my way to the finish! Needless to say I was Extremely gassed out and just didn't have enough for the podium! I ended up placing 6th with plenty of room for improvement!

I need to get back on my bike and start riding everyday again! See ya in two weeks racers.....

Thanks for the photos Shannon Weir.

2008 Shimano Winter Series

This season has started out good and quickly took a turn for the worse! I was trying to get a new bike for the Winter series! That way I would have four or five races to get used to it and I would be well prepared for the Nationals! It never works out as planned_ I ended up racing the first Shimano Winter Series race on my clapped out Ironhorse that you all have seen for the past three years! Surprisingly I took a third at the pre- season opener! With the Winter Series races every two weeks I was still trying to get a new bike! I finally placed an order with Avent/Bombshell and got myself a 08 Vandal!

I built my bike just in time for round two of the Shi

mano Winter Series! Built her up thursday night. Rode Anderson on friday so I could feel her out on a home trail. I made some adjustments and off to good ol Fontana for some winter racing! The bike actually works well! From going from a 4 link to single pivot I was impressed! 

The Avent Vandal corners great and hardly any pedal bob! Practice day on 

saturday was so fun! Brand new bike great tacky dirt! What more could you ask for_ ok, winning lotto and some beautiful women would of completed it but other than that I was a happy camper!

The second round of  the Shimano Series brought me a 4th place on the new steed!  I was pretty stoked to place that well in a decent field on my new bike! I only had two days on it and less then six hours of actual saddle time!