Give a high five to the fellas who went down to Angel Fire this weekend. Sepp won the cat 1 race, his first victory in the category. Teammates Chris, River, Devin, and Henry all finished in the top five in the xc. Levi flatted 2 times! Then finished the race like nothing ever happened. Chris Blevins took the victory in the Under 14 boys! Coaches Annie and Chad had tough, hot races and finished at the back. Annie crashed hard on her arm and cut it up pretty bad. They were sad, but then thats racing. The super d was tough and fun. Coach Chad broke his chain on a rock in the first 20 seconds, Sepp flatted on the first turn and tried to jump the jump anyway and crashed pretty hard, and then Shane crashed in the junior race and broke his arm, not that bad of a break supposedly. And to top it off, Sepp’s Mom, Sabina took a crash while riding down the mountain after watching the race and had to be taken down in the cart. She suffered a calf wound that wouldnt stop bleeding but is ok. Devin was the only one who made it down in one piece out of the 4 of us. Lets all say a prayer for a quick Shane recovery!
This Thursday is our annual Trails 2000 picnic and I’m hoping that all DEVO families would attend to join Trails 2000 and also celebrate our trails community. Nini’s is catering and all new or renewing members receive a free lunch. If you could please invite your crew, that would be wonderful.
Thursday, June 10
4pm-7pm
Durango Rec Center Outdoor Amphitheater
The BMX track had sweet terrainSepp and Lars pump it upTeal takes flight
Animas Orthopedic Associates/ DEVO Short Track pictures by Matt Phillips. Thanks to the City and Walker and Field of Durango BMX for helping us have fun on the track.
B Men; 1. Matt Phillips, 2. James Storm, 3. Robert Montgomery, 4. Keenan Desplanques, 5. Jeff Vierling, 6. Fabio Wen, 7. Will Berger, 8. Devin Feilen, 9. Charlie Malone, 10. Ben Malone
A Men; 1. Mike West, 2. Trevor Downing, 3. Howard Grotts, 4. Nick Gould, 5. Greg Lewis, 6. Miles Venzara, 7. Sepp Kuss, 8. Chad Cheeney, 9. Joe Schneider, 10. Elliott Saslow, 11. Arthur Nelson, 12. Christopher Blevins, 13. Levi Kurlander, dnf, Lars Elefson
A Women; 1. Teal Stetson-Lee, 2. Jen Gersbach, 3. Kaila hart, 4. Sarah Sturm
Former Fort Lewis College student and DEVO super fan Vanessa Hauswald has just completed her first race season as Executive Director of the model high school mountain bike race league in the country, Norcal. Here is what we asked and she answered.
Q: You lived in Durango for some years, what brought you to Durango and why did you leave? A: I came to Durango to go to school at Fort Lewis College. I had lived in northern California my whole life and wanted to live, learn and play in the mountains.
Q: How did you become the Executive Director for the NorCal League? A: Well, when I moved to California I learned about the League and thought what they were doing for teenagers was fabulous. I started a high school mountain bike team at the school where I teach, then I joined the NorCal board of directors to get even more involved. 5 years later (in 2010) the position came up and I took a leap of faith and applied: here I am.
Q: What are your roles? Whats the favorite part of your new job thus far? A: Many! Race organizing, promoting and directing; coach training, certification and management; fundraising, event planning, wilderness first aid training, trail work and trail advocacy, public and media relations management, staff training and management, and much more. My favorite part is definitely riding with the kids, oh, and watching them race is awesome too!
Q: You coached a HS team for some years, What team did you coach and what was a typical practice week like for the kids? A: I’ve coached the Casa Grande High School MTB Team for four years. It has been my favorite “job” I’ve ever had. Our team practiced twice a week (either on the road or mountain depending on the weather) and then had a spin class on Sunday evenings. We also do a lot of casual weekend rides because I am just as interested in introducing kids to sweet singletrack as I am in helping them to hone their racing techniques.
Q: Where is your favorite riding location in California? Is there any Cali towns that remind you of Durango? A: I love mountain biking in Tahoe, and of course, anywhere in Sonoma or Marin Counties. Durango is such a unique and amazing spot, I honestly don’t know if there’s any towns here that remind me of it. It’s hard to find a place like Durango with such epic riding, mountaineering, and skiing options in addition to such solid food, art and community.
Q: How did you get into the sport of mountain biking? How about racing? A: I come from a family of cyclists so I’ve always ridden bikes, but I really learned to mountain bike in Horse Gulch when I was a freshman in college. I didn’t start racing though until I was 25. My brother and friends all did it and they encouraged me to check it out too.
Q: Any tips for our juniors out there? A: Have fun and don’t take yourselves too seriously. Ride hard, eat well and enjoy life. Respect your coaches
and trails and give DEVO big love!
The Animas Orthopedic Associates/DEVO SHort Track series kicks off tonight at the Durango BMX track. This is the 3rd summer season for the local race series and it is looking fresh with 2 new venues to add to the mix. Later in the series, racers will head to Durango Mountain Resort to take on the newly Trails 2000 design Circuit Track with the majority at the heralded Factory Trails of Fort Lewis College.
Registration begins at 5pm and cost $10 per race. However, tonight’s race is a freebee! The B Women and men race for 20 minutes and start at 530pm, with th kids race to follow at 6pm and the A men and Women at 630pm. The kids race is open to all elementary ages and will be a shortened version of the adult action.
The course is a 2-3 minute lap the goes on and off the track 3 times in a lap and combines the outlying perimeter double track and packed gravel parking lot. There are several tricky fast corners and plenty of whoops to make your arms look tough. There will be announcing and music courtesy of the Durango BMX fellas. We’ll see you out at the track.
Today at the Fairgrounds is the 4th annual IHBC DEVO Bike Swap. Its 5o cents to get in and there is plenty of used stuff to make ya go crazy. Check out the Buzztown video here. The doors open at 1pm and it will go until 9pm. Have a fun IHBC weekend and we’ll see ya there.
