US Open - Team Geronimo

The week opened with a long anticipated event - the team retrieved Pro racer Cody Eichhorn from Newark airport, NJ on Monday night, in time for him to get acclimated to life in the US of A. Tuesday was spent going over his new rigs, getting organized and relaxing a bit, and ending with dinner and a chance to get to know his new team mates. 31 hours straight travel time for the Codeman.

Cody Eichhorn - My main goal was to get a lot of time on the bike and get used to it - keep doing runs, just to get the bike dialed. Once I hit the first big table top, I thought "Whoa!!! This feels pretty good!" Coming off my injury, I wasn't used to anything, so it made the transition easier. I like the more raked out head angle, the Dorado feels plush straight out of the box, and I'm happy with how the bike cornered and how low the front end is.

Graeme Pitts - The GS was like the alpine slides where you can go ridiculously fast - and scary. The course encouraged riders not to touch the brakes.

Brian Buell - The GS was like a ski race, and being a former ski racer - I like the format of timed runs. The course was fun but really hard to race because in order to go really fast, it was a mental game and you had to set up and have your speed right and want to go fast.

Michael Buell - The GS was a challenging course to figure out tactics and how to ride. It looked really straightforward but there was a lot to it.



Friday - GS qualifying. It had rained the night before, which made the rocks slick with a film of dirt which got carried onto the rocks by racers' tires, which made it like riding on ice. BB wrecked his knee on the slippery course, and all the racers had problems in the rock garden. Brian was having a lot of fun - "I had to ride loose, commit, let the bike go and do its job. I got tossed off the bike, stuffed my knee right into a rock and got airborne. After that, I became a gimp on a razor scooter - it was the only way to get around because couldn't walk."

When it was all over, the team had worked hard, but didn't earn one of the 20 spots for the Giant Slalom event. Brian narrowly missed out, qualifying 22nd.

Saturday - DH quali day. Palms were sweaty. BB's knee was swollen. The course had dried up a bit so it was faster. CE got more confidence while figuring out his new ride as the riders all got their lines dialed. CE had overcome jet lag, and the diet of the day for him was ibuprofen.

BB - My goals were to keep momentum, keep it upright, and smooth in top woods portion. I survived; I had been riding cautious, got a bit of adrenlain - took it easy, pedaled hard out of turns - pretty decent run all the way to the bottom, and I was happy with it after thinking I might not be able to race that day due to about 35 degrees of movement in my knee. When it was all said and done, I had qualified 35th. They had reduced the field to 50, down from 60 the year before, and 137 were competing for the slots.



MB - My qualifying run was 99 percent good, until I was upside down. Had a good top section, got throguh the rocks clean, should have been within the quali cut until I slid out in the berm. Came off the bike, recovered as quickly as I could, but not good enough to be in the list of racers on race day.

GP - I had a sweet run and hauled butt. Got to the diarrhea rock section (looks disgusting and you don't want to put your foot down), but at the very exit as I was making the corner, the bike got kicked off line and I had to put my foot down. The other pedal managed to catch a rock, which pitched me forward and off-balance - I went OTB. I was trapped under my bike, trying to get up - people were yelling as I took off that I had dropped my chain, but I thought I'd just run with it ianyway. After fiddling around, my chain went back on and the rest of my run went pretty well. Gave it 1000% to make up for foobar, but it just didn't happen and I joined the ranks of spectators for the rest of the weekend.


Photos by David Tufino.

CE - Some cat told me that top 80 qualified, so I thought I'd just keep it smooth and not come off. Did the top with no mistakes, came out of the woods trying to be smart and conserve myself by not pedaling hard. Scraped in by the skin of my teeth with 48th.

Sunday - Race Day!
The weather was perfect, the course was bone dry and fast.

CE - Did two practiace runs in the morning - woods were riding really fast and it was a lot looser out in the open. I felt pretty good, I knew mistakes were going to be costly because it was such a short track with so many good riders. Race run went pretty good, and I just wanted to finish my first race in the USA to start off the season right. In the end, I had earned 31st place and felt good about it.

BB - Went into my run feeling no pressure because I had made the main - due to the conditions being so fast and dry, I willing to go faster in the woods. Everything was going great until I got a little bit loose in the rocks - hit a rock hard, sprinted out of there and over the step down into the wide open - I started slowing down and realized I had a front flat.

The crowds at the US Open were so loud - they actually had a DJ with a full on stereo system with turntables in the rock garden. So much fun to have that kind of energy at a race.

After the pit was torn down and the bikes all clean and loaded in the trailer, the team convened at the pool, where there was a pretty good party going on. John Hauer did the honors of throwing Leslie Pitts
into the pool fully clothed, which she duly appreciated.

We hit the road on Monday, bound for Angel Fire, NM #3 Mountain States Cup 1836 miles away. En route, Team Geronimo made a stop in New Jersey at The Proving Ground - home of east coast legend Lars Tribus and wife Christine for a full-blown freeride session, swim and grub at his private bike park. They were hosting a mega Memorial Day party, with many luminaries and media attending. Look for pictures of the event by Ian Hylands and Matt DeLorme.

Also, congratulations to Logan Kemp for pulling a podium on his new Podium pedals in the Junior men open class!

Full downhill results