GES #3 – Blue Mountain 2015

August 26, 2015

All Blue Weekend

Man what a fun weekend. We turned out in force. Nine riders total. Clear skies and super-fast track. Parking lot camping like champs. So much progression for everyone on the team. Big stories from this race; Amy & Mike Render, and Bobby the Berminator. These guys simply crushed shit. Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Jonny Lang

This guy hasn’t ridden his 6″ bike since 7springs, 2013. 2 seasons. So he shows up cold. No elbow or knee protection. We spot him some pads and he wears them for one run. Jeremy: “He’s not wearing any knee protection?” Me: “Yup.” If you come out again, Lang, it’s mandatory buddy! Elbow and knee at the very least. Had a good practice and decent race run (if decent means taking forever and a day to get down the hill). I jest. We love you buddy. Just look at how comfy Jonny boy was in our camper Saturday night…..

He didn’t race until the 125th slot. Which meant waiting for everyone to come down. Bobby and I watched him race down. We stood on the double and screamed at his ass with everything we had. It was so much fun. “PEDAL LANG YOU”RE IN A RACE!” Jon made it down in one piece with only one error. Good work buddy, Can’t wait for next time!

Joe Pharoah

I had a great time practicing behind Joe this weekend. He and Dana were set up right next to us. Rode his doap pit bike around all weekend. He took a few solid crashes trying to push it hard in practice. Even crashed in his race run and earned the closing spot in the GES video. See minute 4:07 here. So awesome.

Joe Shack

Joe clipped in for his first time ever at a DH race. He had a good run and a good practice that way. Said he liked it a lot. Crashed in his race run and ended up 8th. Looked great in practice AND won a MAXXIS skin wall tyre in the raffle!

Jeremy Fahey

One of the best additions to our team in a long time. I appreciate you, J. No homo.

Jeremy was pinned in practice. All weekend. For practice runs, I saw him for maybe the first 10 seconds of the ride. Gone after that. So fast. Finished 4th Cat 1 40+ with a super strong time. Bobby was just that much faster this weekend setting the pace and the field up for a really tough competition. When others might be bitching about getting beat, complaining about their time, or just plain dishing negative energy, Jeremy is all soul; “Berminator is for real. I’m happy for him.” I’m happy we have a guy like you on the team, Jeremy. You bring the soulful MTB attitude that helps grow our sport the right way. Really enjoy riding with you, even if it’s only for a few seconds.

Gary Lessner

This guy. Been tentative on the bike ever since his terrible crash at 7Springs. Was going around the drop all weekend until he saw Mike Render (yes, I said Mike Render) hitting it. Then he follows Mike in and BAM. We have our Gary back. Huge. Thanks Mike. Welcome back, G!

Mike Render

Speaking of Mike Render….LOOK AT THIS GUY!!!!!!!!!!!! I half-heartedly asked him if he wanted to follow me in. He said we should look at it and he asked me to roll into it while he watched. Thinking he wouldn’t do, I rode it so he could see, then I rode on. LIttle did I know he was back there following Amy in. Then BAM. All weekend long over this feature. Race run too. And guess what? He had one of his best finishes he’s ever had in a DH race. Beating out most other cat 3 riders placing 10 out of 14. And if that ain’t sauce enough for ya, check Mike out in the GES video at minute  2:42. Yeah buddy!!! This was easily one of my most favorite things about the entire weekend.

My Race

I came down and knocked Dan Davis outta the hot seat. Got booted on the next run. How I landed 1 sec off 3rd place is beside me. I was going pretty slow. Feel like I know what I need to do to turn it back up. That will happen. Got me a 4th place. Got another Dre and Dad pic. Stoked on that for sure. : )

Amy Leishear

Amy had nothing short of a kick ass race run. She beat me by a second with a 3:09. Fair and square too. My second favorite part of the weekend was practicing with Amy for two runs. Why? Cause it felt like we were riding trails at home or something. I don’t know. It was just fun. I showed her the race lines and we dismounted to look at some stuff. I think it helped her a lot but I am not taking any credit. This chick was flying. She earned her second place and I will bet anything she can find the 6 seconds that separated her from first place on this track. Great work Amy.

The Berminator

The story of the weekend. Last year was Bobby’s first race season. I beat him at Duryea. I was one second off him at Windham. At this race, Bobby was 10 seconds off the fastest guy on the field (Mao Estrada, Pro Men). Sick Bobby. Just sick. Progression like a rocket. Quite honestly, no one on the team has worked harder than this guy. Getting up to ride at 4:30 am on the weekdays…and with over 10 races under his belt in 2015 so far….Bobby is proof that hard work and dedication PAY OFF.  It’s really great to see. Bobby even won the Milwaukee Tools backpack in one of the raffles. Look at these two pictures. You can’t always get this guy to smile big. Here we have two of em, ear to ear. You earned it, Bermy. Fantastic work. Can’t wait to finish the season out with you.

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