At the same time Cape Epic riders were sending plumes of red dust skyward, we had the other half of our team in southern California and the desert Southwest, tackling the first 2 rounds of the NMBS series.  From my perspective it was a challenge to have 2 events running at the same time, but on the other hand, it will be a neccessary situation for this whole season.  I'm trying to wring the most out of our program, and that's going to mean MANY double booked weekends.  It means I'm doing everything twice!

But despite that challenge, we had great success in our first 2 domestic races.  Competing were Ross and Lea, and staffing were me, Dusty, and new guy Shep.  At the first round in Fontana, we were pleased to see a busy venue and a boost in attendance from last year.  The course was a little shorter, but the same fast urban singletrack. 

Lea kicked off the XC with 8th place, a solid top 10 to start the year.  Ross was stunned by the level and came in 16th, but made up for it the next day with the most exciting short track we've seen in years, landing on the podium in 4th.  Lea was right in there too on her short track, taking 8th again ... while our Canadian Mical Dyck was 4th.  So it was great to be in the mix on the first weekend!

From Fontana we drove across to Arizona, with a 2 night stop in Sedona.  The riding was part of the goal, but we also had committed to a school visit.  As it happens there is a great k-12 mountain bike league in AZ, and we stopped in on Scott Keller's group in Sedona.  The riders did a short ride with the kids, and we had a great time!

Finally getting down to business in Fountain Hills, site of NMBS #2, we pulled down a few more sweet results.  Lea broke through to the top 5 for the first time, taking 5th on the short track.  Ross was ultra consistent, just inside the top ten in all 3 events for the weekend, and taking 5th on the weekend overall.  Lea was 4th on the weekend overall.  For me and the team, it was a real breakthrough because it means our up and coming riders are now UP and consistently in the top 5.  That's what we need!