Team Camp: Downieville and Nationals - Max Houtzager

Downieville Classic XC
Downieville, CA
Jr Expert 13-18
Teammates: Dario Fredrick, Will Curtis, Will Patterson, Nick Newcomb, Lucas Newcomb, Eliel Antila, Jonathan Kauffman, Taylor Smith
FOOD

Result: 1st (1:44)
After an awesome race last year I was looking forward to this event quite a bit. I underestimated the climb after feeling good on our preride and doing well last year, and had high expectations coming in more prepared. The climb was sustained and hot. I started in the top 5 on the road which was sweet and then settled into a decent pace on the dirt dropping back just a bit but began to lose positions halfway up the climb-mostly to all of the guys on our team (Lucas, Taylor, Nick, Riley) doing just the xc! I knew I had to ride my own race and not think about them. The top of the climb was super gratifying and Julia helpfully told me Taylor had 1.5 minutes on me, leading from our team.

Finding out how far ahead Taylor was got me super stoked because I knew I had the entire 50 minute descent to catch him on my all mountain steed! This gave me extra motivation to really kill the dh. I definitely got the flow on Butcher and kept my speed through all the technical rock sections, and then killed the waterfall section! A bunch of spectators cheered and it was quite epic. I caught Lucas in the middle and Taylor at the end of 3rd Divide and was incredibly stoked to come across the line first junior in both the XC and All Mountain categories, with a time putting me top 15 in the all mountain pro category (I only did top 20 last year).

Downieville Classic DH
Jr Expert 13-18
Result: 2nd (41:51)



The awesome part of racing Downieville in the All Mountain Category is once your done with the climb in the xc, you get to look forward to the most fun nearly hour long descent. Twice! First in the xc mixing it up with lots of other riders and keeping a moderate race pace on all the pedaling sections given you already climbed 3000 feet and then again in the downhill race, absolutely killing yourself to pedal all out at every chance you get for 45 minutes. At the finish of my downhill run I can easily say it was just as hard as the grueling xc.

I did just that as this year although I led the junior all mountain category by 5 minutes in the xc, a new points system meant that I had to finish stronger in the dh than 2nd place in order to win. And that was the goal after getting the All Mountain World Champion title two years in a row and $2300 Easton Haven Carbon Wheels on the line as a prize. Unfortunately I didn't have the run of my life. Although I found my flow and cleaned the waterfall in the xc, I wasn't quite able to do so in the dh. My front wheel slipped in the waterfall section, and then I slipped again getting up. My chain wouldn't go back on for 30+ cranks or ~10 seconds of trail afterwards. Before and after that I just wasn't that fast on Butcher. I knew at this point my run was probably over if Mason Bond (Giant Northstar, 2nd in the xc) had a clean run, so all I could do was pedal my eyeballs out and hope he had errors or didn't go that fast. I did just that, but unfortunately he had the run of his life, which is a really good one considering he lives an hour away from the course. His time placed 7th in Pro, right behind endurance downhill phenom Nathan Riddle. I was still stoked on my time, which was the second fastest expert time, and would have placed in the top 15 in pro and (I only did top 30 last year). In the end I still went pretty fast, rode pretty well, and am stoked to be moving up in the pro field for next year! Definitely wish I could have won the all mountain again but Mason put in a solid downhill (pts tie goes to the downhiller) with a blazing fast time (just over a minute faster)!

Nationals XC
Sun Valley, Idaho
Cat 1 17-18
Teammates: Keegan Swenson, Taylor Smith, Eliel Antilla, Tony Smith, Bobby Zidek
Result: 4th, 1:17 (52)



Combining ~10 consecutive weekends of racing/travel and all my training (and acclimation camp) with worlds qualification on the line for this race, there was a lot of pressure. The course was somewhat of a let down, but had pros and cons for me. The 8 minute sustained and steep gravel fire road climb was great while the non technical descent was not. With Howard Grotts and Keegan Swenson racing, as long as they kept a pulse a 3rd place was my best bet. Between my competition from Norcal, the AZ Devo kids, Casey Williams (Big Bear, CA) and Ryan Standish (US Citizen from Australia), and some more rocky mountain states kids, this would not come easy.



I thought they'd call up at least the top 10 ranked riders, but they did top 5, which did not even include Keegan with 3 pro xct's wins. I luckily weaseled my way in from the back to 2nd or 3rd row. I was nervous, but thought about how much worse it was at the world cup in Germany or the Swiss Power Cup, and that helped a lot. I clipped in quick and pedaled well off the line. I saw an opening on the far right side and decided to go for it instead of sprinting in the pack to get into position for the climb. There was a reason that it was clear... I began to slip and made every effort to stay upright and not slip out and was able to do so,but during this effort I dropped back to mid pack, and then there was a ball up and the running began. I had to run (somewhere in the last 5 riders) for at least 50 feet due to the steep loose road making it tough to get back on. I killed myself to get up to the front, making it nearly into the top 15.

At this point I basically tapped out and chilled behind the two riders in front of me on the descent. I thought I had no chance of a decent result, just looking forward to super d practice and the race being over. I recovered on the flat planning to just hit the climb hard again. Julia told me Taylor was a minute ahead. I felt good on the climb and went all out from the bottom, picking off more and more riders, stoked to see a lot of my originally threatening competition end up behind me. I passed Taylor and Will Patterson just before the top of the climb with Casey in sight.

The third climb was definitely the hardest as I wanted to catch Casey more than ever. I could see the gap shrinking and that he slowed down a lot at the last steep up previously so I gave it everything I had. After standing out of the saddle for the entire middle portion of the climb before the hardest steep ending, I did everything I could to stay up right as I made it up to right next to him. He had to get off and walk due to his 1x10 and then was running next to me at my same pace! I absolutely could not go any faster and this was really frustrating as we were on the fringe of the descent but the time it took him to get back on gave me a 15 second gap hitting the downhill.

Unfortunately, I rode the descent like a total nancy and he caught me half way down, hot on my heels, eager but not able to pass. We raced together through the flats and I could tell I felt stronger. I wanted to get a comfortable gap so went all out but in control up the climb knowing if I blew up, slipped out, or had to walk the top section I'd be in trouble. I got a pretty solid gap as I looked down and threw down, and ended up seeing Cypress (AZ Devo) in third up ahead! He had ~30 seconds on me so there was no way I could make it to him, with only half the climb left. I hit the downhill slightly better but still not the fastest and just made sure to hold it together to the finish, stoked to have worked my way up to fourth (1 minute down from 3rd, 30 seconds ahead of 5th).

I'm super happy with how I rode given my weak ability on the downhill and mess up at the start, and even more so to have made the podium in cat 17-18 nationals! Although the course was sub par I definitely had fun jumping the wooden fly over and surprisingly also riding through the parking lot rock garden. Everyone on the team absolutely killed it yet again and I'm glad to have been a part of all the success.



Nationals Super D
Sun Valley, Idaho
Cat 1 17-18
Teammates: Taylor Smith?
Result: 7th, 21:41 (56)

USA Cycling finally got the super d format right. Individual time trial starts with 30 second intervals and a course longer than 5 minutes. Unfortunately for me the course consisted off balls out fast fireroad and singletrack after a 350 foot 5 minute climb. I decided to lighten up my all mountain bike to feel more comfortable on all the super high speed loose slippery singletrack and blown out corners, instead of racing my xc bike.

I started behind Mason Bond (beat me in Downieviile DH by a minute) and in front of Taylor. I was gaining on Mason fast on the climb expecting to pass but after I closed the gap from 30 to ~10 seconds I couldn't get him. Just before the single track Taylor caught me on his epic and dropped in before me. Since he was clearly more comfortable on the course in practice I figured this would be great to follow his lines/speeds. Not so much. It ended up super sketchy following race pace blindly in the dust and trying to pull passes on the same rider traffic, only second. It also wasn't conducive to a fast time trial run since he could go all out where he was strong making up time on me but I couldn't push it where I was more confident. So much for the all mountain rig! I was pretty much able to hold onto his wheel until the start of the xc downhill where he gradually opened up another 30 seconds on me to the finish. It was pretty sweet to race almost the entire time with my teammate, ripping down the mountain. Enough excuses though, the competition was strong and I need to learn how to ride fast trails faster! I'm still pleased with another top 10 at nationals in a competitive field and my time was still quick enough to win all the other expert categories! Everyone from Whole Athlete killed the super d, especially Bobby and Taylor, getting 2nd and 3rd respectively. Time to train on some more fast Novato trails!

BEFORE these races as part of the Tahoe portion of the camp we also did a race in Reno. Here it goes:

Peavine Challenge XC
Reno, NV
Cat 1 19-39
Teammates: Dario Fredrick, Will Curtis, Will Patterson, Bobby Zidek, Nick Newcomb
Result: 1st



Preriding the day before I was convinced I wasn't even going to race. The heat, elevation, fatigue from previous training, and long non-punchy course led me to think I would maybe do the minimum 1.5 lap junior race. Prepping for the race with the team and knowing I'd be ripping it up with them beforehand got me amped enough to sign up for the grueling 2 lap Cat 1/Pro race (didn't really want to start 4th w lap traffic).

'm stoked on my decision as the course ended up being pretty fun at race pace especially with everyone else out there giving it. It seemed like a total road race as I settled into a pace with Dario, Will Curtis, and Clint Claussen and made it my goal to stick with them up the gradual yet never ending climb. I dug super deep and the dry air/elevation really struck during this time but I was stoked to make it. They opened up a gap and then I pretty much rode on my own for the rest of the race, getting passed by Gregg Stone and Don Myrah.

Riding the fast flowy single track through the meadows at the bottom as light on my bike as a cat was awesome as was the last bermed out techy gully section. I felt strong the whole time and hit the climb the second time pretty hard, ending up passing Dario in the process since he was having a few issues. The race was solid training and confidence inspiring going into Downieville and nationals given i'll only be more acclimated by then. Everyone killed it out there in the long hard race!