So, here is how it went. Tony from albq, who is on the decline team was my codriver for the 2k one way trip from fritch tx in my TDI.

to MSA world cup. It was his first time to the north east so he had lots of fun hitting up spots.

Little big bad news was BOTH my sd cards were dead. My cat chewed one up and the other

was locked when the switch broke off. Should have just stopped and got a new one,.............why didn't i do that?

O well, so this is all low rez off camera mem.

First stop Tulsa Ok for a quick skate park sesh. It was 98deg and 100% wet air. i lost about 5lbs.

Back on the road we drove to near ST louis and found a cool unfinished 2mil condo next to this little ski

area and slept on out airmats out on the deck. Any one who just drops sack when you get tired

of driving knows it's hard to find a good place to sleep all night w/o cops waking you, dogs licking

and trains blasting their horns at you. had to ride under the arch, rider - tony.

On to INDY to eat lunch with josh prater old school pro. We actually went to the racing capital of the WORLD on the way back,

but i am putting the pics in now. I love the british invasion of indy, these are for you DAD!

then on into detroit and over to canadia.

you can surf on bikes here in canada!

Ended up ON the BEACH of lake ontario for 2 and 2 killer camp spots!

spoke too soon! 2am a mounty told us we set off silent alarms at the nuclear power plant 1/2 mile up the lake, Who knew?

So he told us about this spot where we drove to and woke at. Never had a cop help me so much to find a squat area.

WORD

DAY ~ 1

Made in to MSA the next day around end of practice, couldn't reg so we walked up and down the track.

UCI want pro fem times around 5 min so they took out a LOT of tech trees, sucked for me. There was

a highway of berms and quikrete drops in the upper trees. Signs to hucks to flat. Bring back racing

over natural obstacles! But we were still racing a world cup so who cared!!!

DAY ~ 2

Trumpore parked next to us to give us our DECLINE jerseys and it was off to training. My first run down was

most fun of the whole weekend. I had forgotten how steep it was and i didn't want to stop. All the fresh lines i

walked were still in my head from yesterday. Next run i flatted the rear. It was a long way down. Fixed to

one crappy run then flat number #2 front. My speed must have been going up. Fixed with 2 dh tubes ala

1996. Last run i went OTB on a slow inside dip line on top. Face to loam. my nose was bleeding but i was OK. My carbon

xc bar was not. Back down the hill holding on to 1/2 my bar. I watched top 80 timed training in some sections to

see what's up.

DAY ~ 3

We camped up the road at MSA camp area. Very nice with a swimming pond that had slides and was freezing cold.

I dared tony to hit it, he did bottoming his cheeks in the sand. It looked cold i am glad i am a chicken.

Off to the track with croissant in hand. oui croissant evec fromage!

First run front flat. c'est la vie. So now i double tubed front and rear @ 40 psi. little much for getting max traction.

Last run down that day was good. My lines came in my cross hairs like they should being on Decline

team America and all. After all the bike stuff we went to the Kart track, no one was there. We got 2 10min sesh.

I was heading down the back strait. my left front wheel lost all but one of its bolts. No wonder i had crappy lap

times. Got the fastest kart, so said the crew and did four 1:01 laps. Owner said they get new tarmac next year! yeah!

Then it was off to Quebec city for THE party of the year for the locals. 200,000 people in the city. it was insane!

The peeing pic - There was a 40' drop on the edge of the wall they were peeing off. The kids said every year

someone falls off to there death.

Day ~ 4 race day.

I did one 50% run to see if my lines were clear. Qualifier run. All the decline riders bring up the rear. I clipped a pedal

off one of the quikrete drops into a berm and almost went down but just racked my jewels instead. Later down i skidded to a stop

over a berm and thought at that point i would be on the bubble to even qualify! The trumpore twins and i are the only

decline riders to make the show. bummer. Lots of flats and crashes were had by all of team America.

Final I was holding nothing back. No hesitation,.......... well till under the lift where I lost my chain. Yeah, always the race run

you know. Coasted to 73rd 1 sec slower than my qual. I also noticed my swing arm getting loose. I had cracked a bearing race

and lost all bearings in one side. Its not like i would have top 40ed. Its just so rad to ride at the top level. Still after 20 years

of Dh i still pick up on stuff at races. Facts: I was the second oldest rider there behind Jurgen Beneke, me then Photog and

Dh pro Sven Martin. Man, he was in his gear the whole day after his race run shooting. My vote for hardest worker of MSA!

So, i got 2nd in vet pro! Here are some pics i shot.

barel, reid, beaumont, minnaar, leov

beneke, hill, strobel, matti

rennie, samB, CVD, vink full on

we had one rider in 4x, Jeremiah Work

then 2000 miles back to texas. We broke it up some here is 1000 islands

at the canadian border, then bact to canada side to see Niagara falls.

USA side

FIN