June 24, 2014
Incredible.
This place is beautiful. Nested in the Adirondacks, the views from this mountain top are second to seldom. It took us 8 hours to get there. At hour 2 I realized the pain that would ensue and was seriously considering a turn around. We had Dre. And at hour 6 we ran out of books, songs, movies and toys. For the last two hours he struggled hard. “Mommy, I’m having such a hard time.” He never cried. He was just vocal about how hard and uncomfortable it was in that little Recaro. My hero.
We got on the mountain at almost midnight. Threw up the camper and crashed so hard. At day break, it all melted away. We were greeted by the bluest sky and the fluffiest clouds. 75 degree weather. Damn I love DH.
Mike at the start gate.
Dre and the Hot Rock at the Top of the Lift.
Joe Shack and his buddy Jonah showed up the night before. 5am to be exact. He immediately texted me this photo. At 5am. They grabbed our team banners and placed them in the best spots possible. So thankful to J & J for this. You guys made my weekend, really. Ever since Duryea I’ve been kicking myself for not grabbing a shot over that bunker with our team banner beneath. Redemption. Jonah was there shooting vids and grabbing pics all weekend long. Was cool seeing him ducked in the bushes on each run in different places.
Our banner over the stream gap.
Joe had already done runs on Friday. He knew the course but walked it with me. What looked like hero dirt on the track walk turned out to be a greasy mess when the tyres touched down. I took one run, hit the stream gap clean and switched over to cut spikes. Those tyres grabbed with so much tooth it felt awesome. Ran them the entire weekend. Not sure how you non-spike guys did it.
Hats off to Eli Glesmann. This guy built the course almost single handedly with no real heavy equipment. Roughly 4 decent sized drops, 3 in succession, and a 12 foot stream gap with a sweet kicker. I liked this course a lot. It was a legit DH course. Thanks Eli and thanks Oak for letting Eli do his thing.
Bobby and Phil showed up around noon. We immediately hit the trail and started picking apart lines. To say these guys are helpful is a complete understatement. Riding with this team is unlike any other season I’ve raced. We’re getting surgical and it’s helping me find lots of seconds, not to mention confidence. Run after run after run. Thanks guys.
Four Amigos.
Phil, Dropping into the Final Chute.
We’re all done and sitting around. Phil suggests a track walk at dusk. We go. We find more lines. We come back to the base and into the lodge. I hang with Amanda and Dre and the guys drink a few. Dallas shows up around 11pm and we start fires, shoot fireworks and watch a fire poi show. What’s fire poi? You’ve seen glow sticks at a rave, right? Well fire poi is the super dangerous version of that shit. And Joe Shack is the man at it. He did two shows for us complete with Jonah lighting smoke and fireworks all around him. Thanks for the show guys! And great to have Dallas there the night before!
Joe's Poi Skills.
Bobby, Phil and Joe, Fireside.
We get on the trails fast. Lifts are slow at Oak for bike runs. 14-16 minute average so we knew we would only get about 4 runs. We split off and practiced separate. I’m feeling dialed. Shack puts a hairline crack in his carbon off a yard sale crash off the stream gap. Bike’s fine and he keeps running it anyway. Matt mentions never coming back to a race if he can’t be there for practice the day before. “This is just dangerous” he said a few times. At your speed Matt, yeah, it probably is. Let’s see if you can stay away : )
Bobby & Matt
Mike, Phil, Matt & Bobby.
Dre and Amanda hang at the top of the lift for a while. Dre man plays in the dirt like a little boy should. You have a cool mom, little man!
Love this Guy.
Clash of the Titans, Part 2
Matt finished second and Phil in first for Cat 2 40+. Phil won by .11 seconds. Sick shit man. Matt made some changes to the bike including spring and suspension tune but he’s most certainly still getting used to the new rig. Excuses aside, Phil’s on fire. Racing is racing and all that counts is what you do on that one run, that one time, that one day. Good work to both you guys. Seriously impressive show and big congrats. Standings-wise, these guys are in first and second respectively. Not bad for a bunch of freeriders, eh?
Phil, All Steeze as Usual.
Phil, First Place, Matt Dallas Second, Cat 2, 40+
Cat 2, 30-39 Team Battle
Bobby laid down a burner. Totally exploded into his race run. Methodical this guy. Takes it easy all day in practice, nails down lines and lays it down on race run. Text book. He was edged out for the win by this guy. Cool kid. Never met him before but seemed like a lot of fun. And super fast. Bobby is sitting in first place in our Cat. Nice work B!
Bystander Impressed by Bobby's BRAAAAPPP!
Bobby, second place, Cat 2, 30-39.
We think Shack was on a burner too. But he crashed out over a table. Ironically, this is the same table Amanda was standing at cheering him on. Shack, we hope the cheer didn’t end up being a heckle!! Serious. Here’s a pic of Joe getting sideways. He came off his bike and lost lots of time. Ended up in 6th.
Joe on the Last Table, Sideways.
Regardless, look at Joe soaring on this shot! Joe is holding fast to a 4th place overall in the standings.
Joe Shack, boosting out of frame.
Couldn’t be happier with my line choice and race run. Yes, there were areas I lost speed. But all in all, it was a good run for me. Took 4th. Almost thought I had a podium there for a while. I was the first guy down and was watching each run. The times ahead of me were gapped by about 10 secs. Not much I could have done (in this race) to make that up. I’ll take a top 5 all day long. AND…I got my pic. Thanks a million to Matt Dallas for grabbing this photo. Blurry or not, I love this shot. The kid under the kicker is too cool. Phil and Matt were both standing there and I heard them each cheering. Then over the second table….I was surprised by Amanda and Dre’s voices. I actually called out to them in my race run. “What’s up guys!!” I yelled. So cool seeing everyone there supporting you mid-run. I’m currently in 5th place overall, right behind Joe by 5 points.
Mike, Out the Start Gate.
Mike, Race Run Over the Stream Gap.
Gotta send a really, really big shout out to the O’Brien family. They own this mountain and they are doing everything in their power to make it work. Below is a photo of Matt and Laura O’Brien loading bikes and lifts. They did this all weekend long, non-stop. At the top of the lift, was their business partner, Matt’s brother Shawn O’Brien, unloading lifts. All weekend long. Shawn’s wife was working the snack counter. You guessed it, all weekend long. They are working as a team to turn this mountain into a destination. They let us camp, light fires, shoot fireworks and get respectfully rowdy. They have a total of 267 acres, 22 ski trails and about 4-6 DH lines. They are working really hard at this. If you have the chance, go up and check them out. It would mean the world to them and it will be a good time. I mean, look at that scenery……for more info visit oakmountainski.com.
Matt & Laura O'Brien
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