It’s been four years since the last race was held at Mammoth Mountain, but thanks to Don Jackson (Southridge USA) we were able to race our mountain bikes at the legendary mountain once again. While Kieran Bennet, Mike D and Theo were at the World Championships, John Hauer, Tyler Wilson and Griz shipped out for the Cal State race in the X-Fusion Sprinter van aiming to seek-and-destroy. With no mechanic around, John Hauer found new appreciation for Mike D as he struggled to keep his machine running strong. Watching John work on his bike is equivalent to watching a fat kid attempt to run a mile – it’s a wholesome effort that eventually requires the assistance of another. All kidding aside, we were able to get our Intense 951 race bikes in perfect running order to shred the pumice.

Practice began on Thursday and everyone was enjoying the track, having a blast and felt up to speed by their third run. It takes a few laps down the hill to adjust your riding style and flow the unique terrain at Mammoth, but the new 951 proved to suit the track very well with its light, nimble yet stable handling characteristics. Tire selection is critical to go fast at Mammoth as well – John and Griz started off on Intense 909’s but opted to switch to an ITS Edge in the rear and new ITS Invader up front by Friday. They felt the 909 was great at high speeds in deep pumice however the Edge/Invader combination felt optimal for the varying dirt conditions on the track. By Saturday, the team had their bikes tuned and tire selection sorted for Sunday’s race runs, but when the sun set a Freecaster World Champs viewer conglomeration formed at Jen Wolf’s – a mammoth local/ pro women DH racer – place. World Champs is another story, but we were all stoked to see KB have a clean run and give-it-hell, as well as watching our fellow Americans perform well and not to mention Steve Peat… Nice work to all just mentioned.    

Race runs began early Sunday morning with Tyler, John and Griz lined up back-to-back in the Pro Mens start list. Tyler gave it 110% and John pushed hard but the two would end up in a tie for 16^th while Griz charged for a 10^th place finish. All riders suffered the consequences of sprinting their butts off with severe coughing and hacking due to the dry air and moon dust, but were happy to race at Mammoth once again. At the end of the day, everyone felt like the weekend went well and was one of the more fun races of the season. With another day in the dirt all wrapped up, the team packed up the van and headed back to X-Fusion via highway 120/Yosemite National Park – resulting in an epic drive back to the bay area. That’s all for this edition, next stop is Auburn, CA for the Mammoth Bar race held by The Hub and RideSFO.