The Santa Cruz AllRide Academy has three national champions!

Richie Rude – 1st Jr. DH
Cierra Smith – 1st Jr. DH
Troy Sladek – 4th XC, 1st DH
Mikey Sylvestri – 9th Pro men

The rest of the Academy did a great job representing at Sol Vista in Colorado. Kirt was the first brave soul to hit the massive jumps on the DH course. On the second run, followed by Shaun Palmer and Mikey Sylvestri, luck did not play in Kirt's favor when a strong gust of head wind slowed Kirt's speed off the lip which led to a 50ft case. Palmer almost went over the bars as he hit the same wind and cased his front end but Mikey whipped right through it. Scary, big jumps in the wind! Kirt’s foot was mighty swollen, which was enough to keep him out of the race.

For the rest of the weekend Kirt filmed the pros and Jr riders as they shredded the mountain. Trusty mechanic Travis had his work cut out for him as the course was rough and bikes needed a lot of maintenance. I decided not to race and spent the weekend being the team cheerleader.

The races were exciting and our crew rode well. Evan had a crash in the trees, so that was a bummer for him, but Mikey, Amado and Graeme rode clean and for the most part, felt happy with their runs.

Kirt is off to teach Gravity Camps in Whistler, film some more stuff for NWD, then straight into Crankworx!

Thank you to all of our life support... You’re keeping the dream alive.

Santa Cruz Bicycles, Santa Cruz Syndicate, SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, DT Swiss, CAMELBAK, Fox, Bell, Crankbrothers, Smith Optics, MRP, WTB, Lizard Skins, Clif Bar, Chris King, V.I.O. helmet cameras, Thule, Deschutes Brewery, Nike 6.0, Skullcandy, Nightrider, Cog Wild Mountain Bike Tours