Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park

Ray’s lived up to expectations, in fact, it far surpassed them! I’ve been dreaming of riding here for quite some time. Some of my friends from the mid-west have posted videos and photos. My friend in Las Vegas has visited both of them while working to get a bike park built (The Hub, the project has been stalled for now, but I want to help him get it off the ground again!). When I looked at the maps and our race schedules I almost did a flip on my bed! Ray’s is only open every other Sunday in the summer time. We lucked out with a Saturday race and a flight out of MKE and a Sunday between the two where it was open. I talked Evelyn and Crystal into joining me (which was easy, but slightly nerve wracking since National Championships are less than a week away and we all want to do our best there). We all had a crazy good time and luckily no injuries were incurred. We rented dirt jumpers and explored all the open lines. The lighting was really low so the photos didn’t turn out, but you can get the idea. 
They have a 4 turn pump track, a wood skills/bridge area and a longer jump line. No gaps, no drops (unless you make it that way), just keep the rubber side down and rolling and you’ll have nothing but fun! I’m telling you this, every one of you readers: if you are in a 4 hour driving radius of either Ray’s bike park, do it. Absolutely do it! You will not regret the effort, it just might be one of the best afternoons you ever have!
Crystal

Evelyn

Erica

Pump Track

Erica, Evelyn, Crystal

Crystal, Evelyn, Erica

Evelyn on the jump line

Pump Track

ProXCT# 6 /Subaru Cup, Wisconsin

The 6th round of the Pro XCT was in Wisconsin this past weekend. I nearly cracked the top 10, rolling in 11th place. I was sure I had a top 10 in laps 3 and 4 but I wasn’t able to catch 10th on the last lap. 
The course was a blast again this year, the WORS people do a great job making courses even though they have very little elevation to work with. The built a skills section at the end of the course that I looked forward to each lap. There was a pile of large rocks to get up and over, a “staircase” made from railroad ties, a steep dirt drop, 3 small rock rock bars and a bridge built slightly off camber between two trees. The rest of the course was twisty single track through thick trees, low ferns and all was so green!
I rode my Jamis Dakar XCR 29 Team with Stan’s NoTubes Valors. My team mate, Rotem and I both agreed that the full suspension was the right choice for that course, it made getting over the rocks so much smoother. I was happy to have my Valors for the short and sometimes steep climbs. This is the first race I’ve had my RockShox dual lockout system. I utilized it on the steep climbs as well. Since there was rain forecasted I chose to run my Geax Sagruaros, they can handle slippery conditions as well as dry. We had a little rain at the end of our race, but the course stayed in good shape for us. Not so much for the men’s race after ours, they were covered in mud and grass by the end of their 6 laps!
The highlight of the race was meeting Chris, Ben and Dianne from Mt. Borah. Mt. Borah is a great supporter of Team Jamis, they have been for a few years now. They make our custom kits which are top notch quality. I wear my kits every day in every condition and I’m always comfortable. They look sharp and hold up to a silly amount of abuse and washing! I talked to Chris about possibly racing the Mt. Borah Epic next summer, we shall see!

PS-as soon as I get a photo of me racing, I'll post it. So far I haven't found any!




Views during my warm up



Summer

I’ve become friends with a really great family from Draper, UT. Their daughter races for her high school mountain bike team. Last year they bought her a Jamis Dakota D29 and she has been racing really well ever since! This spring I gave her some of my jerseys from last year and below you can see the cute result. She is darling! It is so neat to see teens so excited about racing and getting involved in the race community. This girl has a bright future in racing, that is for sure!

Swag for Summer, my Jamis protégé!




Snowbird Intermountain Cup

The MtbRaceNews article stated it perfectly: "Tingey sprinted out to an early lead and never looked back putting her competition and recent struggles on the ProXCT circuit behind her". That was a perfect statement, I've finally left my struggles behind. I'm on fire and ready to race at the top of  my game! I won with 4.5 minute gap!
This is my 5th season racing the Intermountain Cup. However, the only time I've raced at Snowbird was in 2010. The podium looked pretty similar then (KC, Sarah, Erika and me). This turned out to be a very good race for me. I wasn't sure I would able to make it to the race since my son had his tonsils out just a few days ago. He's been miserable and I've been waking up in the night with him. Saturday morning at 7:30 I decided he was well enough to leave so I packed up and drove to the race! 
I brought both bikes since I wasn't sure what the course was (they have changed it in the past few years, but it turns out it wasn't that different).  Right from the start line I took off up the climb and never looked back. I wasn't sure how big my gap was so I kept pedaling like there was someone right there.  My Jamis Dakota D29 Team (hardtail) was the perfect bike for the course, lots of climbing and no real technical portions that I'd need a dropper or full suspension on. My Dakota D29 weighs in just barely over 19 pounds. I had more than a few people want to lift up my bike on Saturday to see how light it was. It's an advantage for sure!
Since I switched bikes at the last minute I ended up racing on my Stan's NoTubes Race Golds (instead of my Valors which were on my Jamis Dakar XCR Team). I liked the feeling of the Race Golds in the corners, just a slightly softer material that is slightly more forgiving. Can you guess the tires I was running? The Saguaros of course! I use them 90% of the time! My custom ESIgrips are still in great condition and I get asked about my custom colors on them all the time, including on Saturday.



KC, Jen, Erica, Sarah, Sienna






Some of very favorite women I race with (KC Holley isn't shown here, she was still riding-typical for her!).  These are the original women I started racing with in 2010. I consider each one a dear friend and could go on for days about their strengths. The fact that every one of them is still out there racing is amazing, they've had accidents and sicknesses that would sideline almost anyone. But not these gals. They've come back stronger.  I couldn't be an luckier to call these women my friends.
Erica, Sarah, Jen, Erika (KC-not pictured)


Private Clinic

I conducted a private clinic for this great family last week. The twin boys have been racing the high school league and the mother is prepping for an Xterra in Hawaii! We spent the evening working on skills in the parking lot then took the new skills up to the trails at Trailside Bike Park. 





Summit Bike Club

I haven't had much time to coach for Summit Bike Club yet this year, but they're still keeping me on their roster. They are such a great organization that is literally growing in people and events every week. Here an article about them in the Park City newspaper about the Montana ProXCT. They listed me as a coach still, thanks guys!


Coaching the kids this spring with Bart Gillespie


Bart talking: kids listening!

USA Cycling Visit

The Pro Rider meeting for the Colorado Springs ProXCT/USCup was held at the USA Cycling Headquarters on Friday night. I was stoked to see where the big decisions are made!



Gooooo Georgia!

Sarah Hammer?

Colorado Springs ProXCT/USCUP

It took me a bit to find a positive about my ProXCT race in Colorado Springs since I seem to have temporarily misplaced my "fast legs", but I did! I'm so happy to have raced in Colorado Springs and finish the race without a trip to the hospital. 2 years ago at the ProXCT I broke some ribs, punctured a lung and spent the following 4 days in the hospital. This year, I left Colorado healthy and that is something to be happy about! I'm also super stoked for my Jamis Factory teammate Rotem Ishay for his 10th place finish in the most stacked field of the season! Thanks to Kenny W. of Stan's No Tubes of the awesome race support! Also, massive thanks to Jamis Bicycles for all of their support!
My Jamis Dakota D29 Team with my Stan's NoTubes Valors was the perfect combination for the fast course. Both are so light and stiff, just what the short punchy climbs at Pulpit Rock Call for! The day before I left I put on a fresh set of Geax Saguaros which were perfect for the loose corners. My Julbo Bora Boras protected my eyes in the blazing sun and heat all weekend and my POC Trabec.
In my downtime I sat in my Elevated Legs and snacked on RxBars both of which made my weekend even better!





Rotem finishing 10th!

Team Jamis visits SRAM in Colorado Springs

Rotem and I scheduled a visit with one of Team Jamis' generous sponsors. SRAM provides our XX1 drive trains, brakes and suspension (and my favorite bike part, my dropper post). We got a tour of the entire facility and could only take pictures in some rooms to ensure protection of the prototypes! As an added bonus Keaton, one of THE SRAM mechanics dialed in my bike for Saturday's race!

SRAM lounge



Look at these stools, made with a suspension fork!

I NEED these stools, NEED!

One of Greg Herbold's bikes

One of Greg Herbold's bikes


Touring the SRAM Technical University

Suspension guts!

SRAM chains!

SRAM Art

SRAM art

One of the exciting things I learned today. These tools have 2 functions beyond protecting your brake pads when there isn't a wheel/rotor in there...you can measure if the pistons are pushed in when resetting them and it's a bottle opener


Massive thanks to Keaton Ward for getting my race machine dialed in! You know your bike is in good hands when in you're in the SRAM headquarters!

New custom decals for my SID RockShox thanks to the folks at SRAM MTB 



Colorado Springs non-race time

Sarah K and I traveled together for the Colorado Springs. She was one of the very first friends I made when I started mountain bike racing. She lives in Utah and we traveled to Vermont and Canada together last year. We discovered we get along really well, have similar travel habits and can giggle about lots of things together!
As I expected to, I flew with my Elevated Legs. I've taken them with me everywhere (expect Europe). They are THE key to recovery, particularly when you're racing two days in a row.

With Sarah on the way TO the race

Pulpit Rock Pro XCT Course  Pre-ride
Getting my recovery on, Elevated Legs style

With Sarah on the way HOME from the race, a bit more haggard!

Missoula ProXCT


My son and I made the journey to Missoula for the 4th round in the ProXCT. We had excellent weather and perfect trail conditions amongst the tall pines in Montana. I had front row call up and went for the hole-shot and got it next to Lea Davison! We climbed at the front for a few minutes then when we hit the single-track we narrowed into single file. I kept up a good pace on the climbs and posted my personal fastest descents. This year I chose to ride my hard tail (The Jamis Dakota D29 Team) with the SRAM Reverb Seat Dropper. That may seem like a strange combination. However, I'm leading the way, bringing droppers to the XC scene! AND...this course was a hard tail course, at least 95% of it was. Then there were the super tight switch backs, some of which had a a bit of a drop off in the middle of them. Having a dropper helped me get around those corners super efficiently and confidently! So yes, a hard tail with a dropper was the right choice for me! I finished in 14th and hold my 15th place standing in the overall for the ProXCT.
As always my Stan's NoTubes Valors were perfect for the course. With 900 feet of climbing per lap I wanted the stiffness they provide. We raced 5 laps, which meant by time I was done racing (and including my warm up), I'd climbed over 5,000 feet in under 2.5 hours! That's when you want light and stiff!
I wore my Julbo Ultra glasses which feature the best transition lens I've used. The Zebra lens can handle the bright sun and the transition through the thick trees in Montana. My POC Octal kept my head safe and my scalp cool with the wide vents.  


This captures the great feeling of the weekend, having my boy at my race with me!
The start line

Climbing on one of the 5 laps which gained 900' per lap!



My boy!



Parting shot

Dugway Desert Scorpion Race (Intermountain Cup)

Have you ever raced on an Army Base? Neither had I until a few days ago! In order to enter the base we had to show our drivers license, vehicle registration and insurance.
Jessica rode out there with me, so we warmed up together as well. I learned some really big lessons about pre-riding a course without any knowledge of said course. Long story short, we missed our start time. Luckily for us they had to delay the start so when we rolled up 5 minutes past our start time everyone was still there! We started with the other racers and raced 3 laps. There were some men the in Expert category that I rode and raced with then on the last lap I was alone out there! The pro men were way in front of me and the expert men were done. It was a long race in which I learned many, many lessons! It's the smallest field of the year (Jessica and me), and "just" a local race, but I learned more in those 4 hours I spent on the bike than I've learned in a really long time! So glad I had my Geax Saguraros holding me in those loose corners!



Jessica during the pre-ride

Finish line Army Tanks!

I took a spill in one of the steep, loose corners!

Jessica and Erica and an Army Tank

Most of the racers



Salt Air TT

I tried out my TT skills for the second time the other night at the SaltAir TT! If you don't buy a number for the season then your results don't show up on their website, just on FB.  Even thought I don't have an aero gear I still have a blast out there pretending to be a time trial rider!