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GRT Rounds 4 & 5 .....Windham, NY and Snowshoe, West Virginia  

8/23/2016

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Sundays mornings practice felt great and I was ready throwdown! It was supposed to rain right before we all dropped. Luckily it held out and was only just drizzling when the last man was coming down the hill. I felt really good about my run with only one small mistake up top. That run put me into 15th. My first top 20 result at a National!
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Sundays mornings practice felt great and I was ready throwdown! It was supposed to rain right before we all dropped. Luckily it held out and was only just drizzling when the last man was coming down the hill. I felt really good about my run with only one small mistake up top. That run put me into 15th. My first top 20 result at a National!
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From Windham we headed straight to Snowshoe where we pedaled some laps and made a little edit with trail bikes. The mountain there is unique because instead of the village being at the bottom of the mountain it is at the top. You ride down into the valley where there is nothing then catch the lift back up. The track was pretty long with some grass turns up top and long rock gardens down lower.
This was another race with lots of rain in the forecast. The first day of practice was pretty dry as was Saturdays practice and qualifying. The damper in my fork decided to blow on the first lap on Friday leaving me scrambling to get it sorted. I tried a lap on the trail bike and quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Luckily I was able to track down an entire right side stanchion assembly that I could run for the weekend.

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Saturdays qualifying went great for me as I placed 9th and had lots more to improve on in finals. It was supposed to rain most of the night and all the way through Sunday, and it did. The track was pretty much a river when we dropped in for practice and only became more sloppy as the day went on. My race run was feeling great until I smashed a wheel in some of the up rocks ending the run way to early.
First mechanical of the season so I guess I can't complain too much! I'm now headed back west for a few more races before the season comes to an end. I have learned so much from these past weeks out east here riding lots of new and different terrain. Huge thanks to Joy Ride Bikes for making all of this possible, wouldn't have been able to do it without the shops support!!
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GRT Round 4, Killington Vermont

8/4/2016

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After nationals at Mammoth we started making our way over to the East coast. We had a couple weeks before the next race so decided to ride a few spots on the way. We spent a few days in Dillon, CO riding the Keystone bike park and some of the other trails in that area. After a few days in CO we continued East, riding a few smaller spots in between there and Killington. We got to Killington a few days early and did lots of pedal laps in the bike park.

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This is the first year that Killington has had a Pro GRT stop at their venue. For this  race they had built a new fresh track for us to burn in. The terrain was rad with lots of it being raw. Lots of roots and rocks were under the this top layer of loam. The only thing to be desired in the track was a steeper grade. It was too hard to carry speed through it all but it was pretty flat for a race track.

Fridays practice went great, the track was damp and lines forming as the course was ridden in. By the time Saturdays practice rolled around the course had become much drier and even dusty in some spots making it faster. Qualifying went well as I ended up 26th with a couple things to improve on. Sundays track was going to be completely different due to the large amount of rain predicted in the forecast.
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We woke up to a steady drizzle that was on and off all day long making some sections slower but most lines were still the same. I felt good on track, being from northwest I was used to wet track conditions. It was running My run had a couple bigger mistakes but managed to stay upright and came across the line with a 22nd in finals. Improving a couple spots from qualies. Thanks to Joy Ride Bikes for keeping me going and keeping the dream alive!

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Another two week break then we head to Windham. Going to be getting lots of laps in on the DH bike between then and stoked to watch the World Cup at MSA.

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Lake Fair Extravaganza

7/27/2016

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I avoid Lake Fair like the plague, every year when it come to town I turn into a hermit, locking myself away in the forest with my bicycle and dog and weather the storm that blows through down town for the week. There is nothing that can convince me that it's worth braving the crowds and the mess and the smell..... EXCEPT the annual old bike ride to the fire works. Every year our very own Fresh Trout unpacks the old schwinns, loads up on the glow sticks, and we parade our way down to the lake, vintage schwinns, cruisers, swing bikes.. you name it. As long as it's old it's welcome. 
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Safety first. Lights go on and STAY on! All. Night. Long. 
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My bars for the evening. 

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USA Nationals Mammoth, California

7/21/2016

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After a solid result at Mt. Hood I headed down to Mammoth, California for National Champs. The track and terrain were completely different from anything I had ridden in the past. There was not dirt, it was all rock ranging in size from pea gravel to larger boulders. The small loose rock caused constant changes on course making it tough to trust. The larger rock gardens stayed the same but were just as hard to figure out.
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Once I got used to the track conditions I felt I could start to pick up some speed figure out where to push. The first two days of practice went great. Friday we had a short practice before seeding. I had a pretty bad crash in the upper rock garden that left me scrambling to get the bike fixed before seeding. That crash left me a little nervous but it was just seeding and I didn't have to push to qualify. My seeding run went well until I had another big crash further down the course that put me into 52nd place. 
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I came into race day feeling very soar and not super confident. I took two slow laps to build my confidence back up during practice that morning and started feeling at pace again. Having such a bad seeding the day before I was one of the first to drop. My run was much better than the day before and got myself moved up 19 places into 33rd. I still felt a little conservative in my race run but made it out of the weekend in one piece and I am pumped for the next GRT. 
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NW Cup #5 ~Kasper Dean

7/20/2016

1 Comment

 
From Angel Fire I had a few weeks at home and then headed down to Mt. Hood for the fifth round of the NW Cup at Ski Bowl. This is always a race I look forward to with the track being so fast all the way down. The weather was very wet and cool for July. It rained all of Friday night and then much of Saturday and Sunday too. The dirt up there handled the moisture well making the only muddy part through the lower woods. 
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I seeded 5th on Sunday morning and was gunning for 5th or better in finals to make my first pro podium! My finals run was going well until a little mistake in the woods cost me some valuable time. I ended the race with a 10th place finish, not quite what I was looking for but knew I had the speed to make it happen. 
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Now it was time to pack up for 8 weeks on the road, headed to Nationals, Mammoth, California and then over East for the remainder of the Pro GRT’s. Thanks to Joy Ride Bikes and Fly Racing for keeping my bike and gear in tip-top shape!



Stay tuned for a report from Nationals!

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