Round 2 of the USCUP/ProXCT took place at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, California. Heat played a major factor throughout the weekend and the challenge to stay cool and hydrated were high priorities.
Saturday's cross country race was broadcast live through the support of Sho-Air and USACyling. For the first time ever the United States has a UCI HC event. This means it's the hardest category before a World Cup. They (Scott Tedro of Sho-Air) are working to get this course approved as a World Cup sometime in the future. They built some new obstacles on the course to bring it up to an HC event. All of this combined to bring out the largest pro fields for both men and women that we've seen in recent years.
My race on Saturday didn't go as well as I planned. I'm normally a very strong climber, but the heat got to me immediately. I worked to pull it together each lap and climb harder, but I was pinned from the beginning. I finished down one lap in 27th place. Sunday's short track was a little better for me, I placed 14th. I'm excited to have a week at sea level to recover and prepare for better races next weekend in Fontana, CA!
After riding a few laps of the course on each bike I decided the Jamis Dakar XCR Team bike was the right fit. There were plenty of rocky descents and burned out corners and I felt like full suspension would be best. The Geax Saguaros held through the rough corners and had me rolling smooth up the climbs!
For short track the Jamis Dakota D29 was the clear choice! I swapped my tires to the Geax Mezcals for lower rolling resistance since 1/4 of the stxc was on pavement. They still held through the grassy corners but allowed for less resistance on the flats!
The star of the weekend were my Stan's NoTubes Valors! Everyone wants to see them and feel how light they are! I'm honored to race on such great equipment!
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| Descending the logs! |
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| With Rotem |
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| Man made features on the course |
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