Best time of the year: Fall - Max Houtzager

Perfect surf, tacky trails, windless road rides. Not too mention all the food (pomegranates, PERSIMMONS, squash, pumpkin, candy corn, Halloween and Thanksgiving).

I’ve been soaking it all up! Started base training, meaning some real hours (about 14) on the bike and it feels good. Been riding my Epic a lot, mainly just because it’s so capable and easy to climb. Got 2/4 of my trips out of the way so far (Tahoe and Santa Cruz), leaving just Ashland and Downieville hopefully before Winter sets in.



I went to Santa Cruz for the day with Bobby Zidek and Tony Smith, picking up Will Patterson from Stanford and meeting Nick Newcomb and Will Curtis at UCSC for some upper campus SHRALPING, Whole Athlete-Specialized style! It was pouring rain, but that would not stop us. We high posted all the same trails I’ve sessioned before on my dh bike, but in the SUPER wet! Too many berms and turns to count = too much fun. Plus being with everyone on the team again, hanging out and getting some bomb burritos afterwards made the day. Still running the Bronson-Nano combo and my bike corners on rails (mud and hardpack)!



Tahoe, more like Grass Valley, was the best last minute decision I’ve made in a while. Skipping my physics exam to drive up with Daniel Thomson (Redwood MTB) to stay and ride with David Lowe was an all around epic experience. From fro-yo, to 4 wheeling in the mud at night, to doing 8 shuttle runs in an hour at one spot and 2 at another, to ending with some fine Indian food, I had a blast. the first spot was steep, loamy, sweeping, flowy and a little rocky, while the second was just fresh berm slapping the whole way down with some jumps and drops mixed in. And the dirt was like CLAY too.