Scott at Called to Creation captured this great shot of Brian near the Bottom of Boondocks – one of the most technical stages of the day, saved for last after 2 very physically demanding, pedal intense stages. Not to be outdone, the lead-in to Boondocks was a lung searing fire-road pedal that sapped strength and dulled focus prior to a trail that demanded both attributes in arguabally larger doses than any other trail on the day. What a great way to finish up day one – A generous helping of fatigue with a cross-eyed desert of white knuckle fun!

The calm before the storm. Day one dawned with perfect weather conditions for round 5 of the California Enduro Series held at Northstar’s extremely popular bike park. My Cupertino Bike Shop IBIS HD is all fresh and excited to get this party started! The Fox Float X2 Shock proved to be the perfect addition for the DH oriented and more technical trails offered at Northstar.

The Pro’s up front listening to riders meeting with Round 1, Battle Born Enduro Winner, Doug Thayer front, center and ready to shred! A close look reveals the Rabobank clad sleeve of 3rd place pro woman on the weekend, Amy Morrison who used her Northstar expertise to come back from further down the result sheet on Saturday night.

Waiting is part of the game with Enduro racing – especially it seems, at the first stage. At least the company is always good with some of the finest friends and bikers you could ever hope to meet hanging out and ready to rip! Here, Northstar Team Giant/Fox rider, Jordan Hartman and Trail Head Racing Ashton Smith are discussing techniques to nail the “Speed Trap” presented by THR on Sunday!

While waiting can be painful in it’s own right, heaving your guts out is also part of the game – if the game is played properly I’m told. Bikes resting, riders resting and muscles on fire, lungs burning and standing is definitely considered a chore at this point! On the left, Liam Ruff took the win in the highly competitive Expert Boy’s U18 class and Noah “Bear Bait” Catropa backed up his Ashland win with a solid 3rd place in Expert Men 19-29 riding for Ashland Mountain Adventures!

Dropping into the final stage on Sunday, the “Top to Bottom” run from Tahoe Trail, down Sinous, Karpiel, Speed Control, Lower Sticks & Stones to the Daytona Berms…and it was a burner! Moral is still high with Zack Peterson and Liam amping up for the approximately 8 minute stage!

Best lube bro! Seriously. Guys were re-applying lube during the day and my Dumonde Tech Regular Pro X Formula was flawless all weekend. I’ve been successfully using stuff all year and it is nice to find products that work so well. Last year, I also carried a spare chain lube in the tool bag, but this year, I’ve lightened the load and had no troubles since making the switch.

The SLO (as in San Luis Obispo BRO!) contingent was in full force with Brian Koch, Taylor Congdon and friends always wearing a smile and ready to get rowdy! Taylor chased me on Sunday’s stage 5, Sticks & Stones and I pedaled for my life knowing his DH acumen – talk about good incentive to give it your all!

The Scotts Valley Cycle Sport / Valhalla Builders Team is the epitome of Enduro racing – they are always a group of full throttle, fun loving, good time having Bro’s who get what riding bikes is all about. Not only is this great group of guys fast on the trail, but they are true sportsman as well – saving my bacon at China Peak by producing an elusive tool that I was in dire need of for that event. Are you guys taking resume’s for next year? Seriously, this team is stepping up at every race and has the dank style award on lock! 118 Nicky D was slowed by a mechanical but Mitch “Ropo” Pisclotta held down a solid top 10 in the highly competitve Expert 18-29 class.

Bear Bait! Ever the fashionista showing that while anyone can tuck a jersey into their shorts, it takes a special swagger to tuck your shorts into your knee pads! This is how they roll in Ashland…

EJ! Need we say more? Team Santa Cruz / Fox’s Enduro Jesus is as Enduro as…well Jesus! And we all know the trails in heaven are steep, lumpy and offer perfect traction every single day!

I’m not sure there are many other sports where the top competitors are as stoked to compete as they are to simply just enjoy ripping and shredding trails with their buds. Here Santa Cruz Nomad / Fox DHX2 rider Tim Krentz and Cannondale Overmountain Team rider Marco Osborne are stoked to have battled over the course of 2 days, 5 tests and maybe 1 or 2 Northstar rocks in order to have secured the top 2 spots on the podium with Tim up top and Marco a respectable 2nd. This is just prior to them dropping into the final stage 6 on Sunday.

Go Time! That moment with the nerves are high, the focus higher and the only thing you are thinking is “get clipped in and don’t fall over in front of everyone…”

Last

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Home

With another solid weekend in the books, we can’t wait to see what the final round will bring at Mammoth’s Kamikaze Games! By far, our favorite event of the year in 2014, we have high expectations for a weekend full of fun this year, too!