BROMONT, QUEBEC
4x dirt is unbelievable for drainage, it rained all day and only slightly altered the course. Quite a lot of practice, this course is kinda hard to ride. It's long, has some stop and go corners, tight spots, big corkscrew, rocks, jumps, logs.....
BROMONT, QUEBEC
Qualification day. DH & 4X
DH
Dh qualifying finishes count so everyone is going for it, top 20 get points, top 80 get to race tomorrow. Making the cut is not that easy though. The rain muddied things up, and with all the steep rocks and big holes, you would think times would be slower, but the top guys' times were really impressive. The dirt here is weird, not super slippery, seems to take the water pretty well, but there is muddy layer of water that sits on top. mix of tire choice. Bryn ran regular minions 
, not sure if spikes were that necessary. Anyway, Fabien Barel Took the fastest time down the mountain. 2Nd.Sam 3rd.Minnaar 4th.Peaty 5th.Gee 6th.Kovarik 7th.Stevie Smith...19th bryn....
We spent a couple days after the race in mt.st.anne riding the trails out there. That place has a few really good xc loops hidden in the Forrest, and with all the rain lately, made for some good Fun mud riding. Think that it is fair to say that if you don't have experience riding in all types of mud, world cup racing will not be easy. Every chance it rains, something can be learned.
Same here in Bromont now. Last night was the most water I have seen fall in a long time. Literally within 5 minutes of the first drop of rain, tents collapsed in the pits, and mini rivers were flowing through.
Every world cup this year it has rained at some point in the weekend. It makes things a little more interesting, but yeah, gotta work on that slippery sliding. Practice today, dh will carry on, not sure about 4x, gotta wait and see how slidey it is, they cancel sometimes to save the track....
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
Big day, of World Cup Downhill and World Cup 4x today. Tough on the guys doing both disciplines, but that's what training is for:)
DOWNHILL
I think what stands out the most, besides Sam Hill finally getting back to the top, is the fact that American Aaron Gwin 
pulled a 3rd today. For those of you who don't know his story, Aaron comes from a motocross background and has only been racing DH for 2 years. His very first world cup was here in Canada last year and he got a top 10, now a podium. Someone said the last podium for an American might have been Kirt Voreis at Grouse 2003. Anyway, it was a great run for him and American Downhill.
UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Adilaide, AUSDR- Donny Robinson pulled off a victory, Mike Day 2, Arielle 3 in Elite women, not too shabby for the US of A.
ELITE MEN
1. ROBINSON Donny (USA), 2. DAY Mike (USA), 3. MARINO Ramiro (ARG), 4. STROMBERGS Maris (LAT), 5. LONG Nicholas (USA), 6. MADILL Luke (AUS), 7. JIMINEZ CAICEDO Andres (COL), 8. YOUNG Khalen (AUS)
ELITE WOMEN
1. WALKER Sarah (NZL), 2. AILLOUD Eva (FRA), 3. MARTIN Arielle (USA), 4. HORÁKOVÁ Jana (CZE ), 5. COOLS Samantha (CAN), 6. VALENTINO Manon (FRA), 7. CALLISTO Nicole (AUS), 8. DIAZ Maria Gabriela (ARG)
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
Second day of practice and also Qualifying today. Clouds have sort of rolled in, just overcast at the moment. Mountain towns usually have freaky weather patterns, and this place seems to either be really hot or wet from past experience....
MT.ST.ANNE, QUEBEC
So after driving from one side of the continent to the other, we have finally arrived in Mt.St.Anne. It's so rad having added Dennis J Beare (Aussie) 
to our program for the next few events. He is our good friend and an excellent helper,,, you wouldn't envy the driving shift he had yesterday though:). Anyway, the status of this legendary venue in the mountains of Eastern Canada is that people are rolling in, getting set up, rain is falling, and course inspections are going on. Tomorrow practice begins.
Both the 4x and the DH are really good!! Completely New 4x track, with length,natural square jagged rock garden - super rough, a rhythm, ok jumps- one over a river, some tricky flat turns on the insides, and an extremely long flat sprint to the end. In general, looks to be one of the better courses! I'm stoked.
SOL VISTA, CO
Word on the street is that Aaron Gwin is the new US national champ. Duncan riffle 2nd, jd 3rd, Cody Warren 4th, beytagh 5th, Strobel 7th....Strait 8th.. Palmer?? 12?. Buhly won the chicks race by .07 of a second. Pruitt with the deuce.
We are halfway through Nebraska, so don't quote me on these results.
SOL VISTA, CO
Last night was good, tight racing, and I say truthfully that the crowd was rad!! There was a beer garden on the hill, a killer announcer, tons of people cheering, and racing under lights, which really enhanced the show.
SOL VISTA, CO
Colorado is a breath of fresh air, thin air, but really nice after our big drive from Seattle and across all the nothingness to get here. Green everywhere, trees, wildflowers, streams, elevation, etc. Great state to ride bikes. Maybe I should say Turquoise everywhere, Yeti Cycles dominates this region from the looks of things.
First Practice day today, Pro DH is going on as I type, 4x was earlier this morning at 8am. I am really excited to see how the men's dh unfolds. This year has some really tough American comp with Gwin, Strobel, Strait, Cody Warren, Riffle, JD, some others, and the ol shredder Palmer making a comeback. There is a fresh DH pro only track with a ton of jumps, some of which sequence 30', 40' 50', but Kyle Strait assureed me they were easy and that he would make me do em if I was riding, thx...
MT.HOOD, OR
Northwest premiere downhill series- Fluidride cups. Bryn took a victory on a new leg (knee braced up- by CTi) and new Intense 951. Beautiful countryside up in the woods of hood. Seemed like the race was in a little misty rainy pocket, almost found the Sasquatch on my 2hr hike to the top:). 4+ minute track. Legends of the Northwest in attendance. $1000 for a victory, fastest woman got $500. Probably the best purse in America for gravity racing. Nice one. Yeah team.
Fresh pics for the slideshow. Feels like the site has been a little neglected lately, so I'm back on it with updates. 450 pics and counting...
These photos don't really do these bikes justice, but Bryn's new 951, and my fresh hardtail are ready. The only yellow 951 ever made, and my bike is sporting fresh new champaign wheels from crankbrothers.
We are about to embark on a pretty eventful month. Another week enjoying Seattle, then maybe to mt.hood, Oregon for a fluidride cup, then usa national champs in Colorado, then the big drive up and over to quebec for the world cup, then bromont, the the drive across Canada to Whistler for crankworx. Gonna be fun, lots of riding stops along the way...
My best pal April Smapril is going to South America in October to race mototaxies across the Andes for charity. Check this out, crazy...
The new Dirt magazine has a pretty incredible crash sequence of Jana and I from the first turn in Andorra. It is good to have competition and close battles,,, forces me to expand my racing skills and learn from these mistakes. Some things are avoidable, some aren't. Still learning after all these years. Was pretty proud of my drift.
Stopped by Oakley on my way back to Seattle the other day to visit our buddy Blickster, turn's out a bunch of Oakley employees and others have been digging after work to get this pump track going, looked fun, can't wait to come back down this way at the end of the season and shred.
So cool to see Oakley down with little projects like this one.