Santa Ynez Valley Classic

Team Northstar/Giant was on hand this past weekend at the Santa Ynez Valley Classic is Buellton, CA. In the words of Jordan Lopez, here is a breakdown of what happened.

Downhill:

First day down of the 2010 Santa Ynez Classic and it was very eventful for the Northstar-at-Tahoe/GIANT Bicycles Downhill Team. Jon and I as well as Casey Coffman and our friend Clinton from Washington started practice at 9:00am and got in several practice runs on the very short course. After riding to the top of the hill in the back of a enclosed and slightly dirty cattle car on the first shuttle, we all decided to hike back up the hill for our other practice runs. After practicing the course several times we all felt confident that the race would be short and tight. The race started at 2:00pm and the competition was on. With a couple bobbles in my run and coming to a complete stop twice, I finished the race in 6th place with a time of 1:58:04. For the first race of the 2010 season, I am glad that I was able to put together a clean run from top to bottom with no serious mistakes or crashes. This also being my first real race since my shoulder separation in Ashland Oregon back in June of 2009, I am glad that my shoulder was strong and did not affect my run in any way.
But, the highlight of the day was my racing partner, Jon Wilson taking first place in the Men's Pro Downhill. This result was “Payback” for the previous time Jon raced here in which he crashed and missed the podium by only a small margin. A huge Congratulations to him.

Super D:

There was a +/-40mph gusts of wind and rain and as the race started the wind became more consistent. I was the 9th pro to take off and I faced a high wind almost blew me off course several times. I was the only DH racer in the group and with this race being part of the US Cup – West, there was a very large turnout of top national XC Pros. I finished the race in 6:48 and I only 27 seconds behind the top finisher. My final result was 9th and with the caliber of racers present, I am excited with a top ten finish. See you at Sea Otter.


Photo by Jordan Lopez

Congratulations guys!