Road trip!

True Tourtillot and I had a nice eight-hour drive to Big Bear Lake.

Highlight 1: Road construction forced us to stop in the desert for 45 minutes. We blasted Michael Jackson's Thriller album, moon walked (sort of) and even busted out an impromptu standing long jump contest. The locals were looking at us, like "Hey you fools, traffic isn't supposed to be fun." We were on vaction, on our way to some awesome riding. It was all good.

Highlight 2: As we wound up a steep switchback on the back side of the San Bernardino Mountains, our MP3 player randomly picked the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The stirring music, the endless desert and the craggy peaks made the moment feel immense.

Mountain Cross

The course was relatively flat with a few jumps, some nice berms and a few sketchy flat turns. This was a pedal war from the start gate all the way to the finish.

Trail Head bro' Curtis Beavers was amazing in the semi-pro class. He owned his heats, getting great starts and using his immense power to keep the hounds at bay. In the semifinal he got knocked off the course but recovered to finish second and advance to the final. In the final he got a funky start and held on for third. His mom, Jan, and the rest of us were screaming and yelling like crazy. We were SO STOKED to see our boy kick so much butt. After the final, the officials decided Curtis had cut the course in his semifinal. He was disqualified, but, if you ask me, he rode like a true champion.

Downhill

The pro/expert course was way more fun than last year. It had lots of pedaling, a few short woodsy sections, a couple drops and LOTS of jumps.

Allie Rau — pro women

Whether on skis or bike, Allie has an aggressive, yet distinctly flowy, style. True and I could see her coming down the course a mile away — and she was charging! She scored a 4:21 and a rockin¹ 18th place; her best nationals performance yet. When the people ahead of you are named Mosely, Muxlow, Giove and Streb, you know you¹re in serious company.

Lee McCormack — expert 30-34

I had a really clean run, but I just wasn¹t comfortable with the final big step-down jump. I charged at it, had a moment of doubt and carcassed into the crowd. I know at least one person — the dude I was flying straight at — will remember the Trail Head colors. I got up, hit the last berms and ran a 4:15. Disappointment. Mid-pack.

Pacifica tough guy and Trail Head friend Nelson Auerbach took first place with a 3:52. The crazy thing is, the night before the race I had a dream in which the time 3:41.63 appeared. It was right in front of me, in white type on a black background. I think that was supposed to be my time — if I hadn¹t pooched it on the jump.

True Tourtillot — sport 30-34

The sport course was extra fun. It's longer, more wooded and probably more technical than the pro/expert course. Less jumpy, too. True had the thing dialed, running consistent 5:40s in practice. On one run he threw a major flattie on the final tabletop, which is cool and all, but he doesn¹t know how to straighten in mid-air. The result: a big, silly crash and the observation, "Dude, I'm 33. I shouldn't be doing flatties."

As True said after his event, "I had 99 percent of a perfect run. The other one percent was spent crashing." Our man in yellow, green and red got off the program in the first rocky section of the course, losing lots of speed and perhaps a bit of his cool. He wound up with a 6:32, in the middle of the pack. It's a shame, too, because his practice runs were plenty fast for him to win his class and start pondering the big move to Expert.

DH equipment notes:

Allie and I ran Specialized BigHit DH bikes, which have eight inches of travel like the big DH bikes but which handle like freeriders: quick and snappy. I ran a WTB Weir Wolf in the front — this thing RAILS through deep dust — and a 2.35 IRC Kujo in the back. The Kujo hooks up well, is light and rolls quickly. The course wasn¹t super rocky, so I wasn¹t worried about flatting this mid-weight tire.

True has been running Maxxis Minion tires with the Stan¹s No Tubes setup. This axes the weight of a DH tube and all but eliminates pinch flats. This gives you a relatively light, quick setup and lets you run low-ish pressure for great hookup and shock absorption. True¹s been riding like a maniac all season with no troubles whatsoever. No troubles with his tires, anyway. Š His new Vigor Snell-approved helmet did its job.

Super D

A Super D is an extra-long downhill with lots of traversing and climbing. This translates into downhill excitement and cross-country pain.

This year Team Big Bear treated us to a Le Mans start. We all piled our bikes near the starting line and walked about 50 yards down the hill. This was at 8,000 feet of elevation, only 90 minutes after my DH run. When the atarter said Go, it was a free for all.

Footfalls, dust, tangled bikes. Cyclocross mount, lockout, hammering. Heaving, gasping, passing. I flew down gravelly roads and railed loose berms elbow-to-elbow with total strangers. I climbed so hard I almost soiled my shorts. I had to back off a few times just to keep things respectable. Third place was within reach, but my wimpiness netted me fourth. Oh well, I guess a fourth place medal with clean pants is better than third place with poopie pants.

Allie overcame some chain fu at the top of the course to have a grooving run. She brought home some hardware in the women under 29 class. Yay Allie!

Super D equipment notes:

Allie and I both ran Specialized Enduros, which are the ultimate bike any time you want to savor downhils and still climb well. My bike has on-the-fly lockout, which really came in handy. I ran WTB Mutano Raptor 2.4 tires, which provide a sweet combo of cushy ride, lightness, speed and traction. These are my favorite dry-conditions tires.

Thanks to Lars and the rest of the Trail Head crew for getting me the stuff I need and keeping my bikes dialed.

Rocknroll,

-- Lee