Travis Westerkamp

Friday night the GS qualifiers kicked off, conditions were nice and dry, the freshly swept course was free of debris. i ended up qualifying 7th which i was more then happy with since the rest of the competition was on hard tails and DS rigs while i was on my Jamis Bam DH bike.

Saturday was the start of the dh qualifiers, the conditions were arguably the best it has ever been for the U.S Open. i hit every line the way i wanted too and qualified 11th. later that day the GS finals started. The format used two runs, which meant that each rider had to hike up for a second run if they were not satisfied. unfortunately a rider went down hard at the end of the course which postponed the amateur race until the next morning, for their second run.

Sunday, i opted not to take my second run on the GS due to how close it was the the dh start time. later, I was pumped. i had taken 3 runs on the DH course and i felt dialed, i scoped out a new line in the rock garden earlier in the day, which went awesome. i was expecting good things, but unfortunately i ended up taking a spill in the ONLY uphill section of the course! so i ended up running up to the top of the rock garden, jumped on my bike and i was gone! i was just focusing on loosing some time, i didnt even bother clipping in until i reached the fire road. from then on out i was pedaling like a bat out of hell.

to say the least i was happy with the results. i may not have come out on the top, but i had an awesome time. i have definitely toned my self down a bit from the past years. but it has definitely payed off in the long shot. hopefully i will have better luck next year!

i would like to say thanks to everyone that helped me out this weekend!

Geax for the awesome tires!

HBG kept the bike running smooth, the dorado performed flawlessly

Jamis for keeping me on the mountain!

thanks guys!

see you at 7 Springs.

-Travis Westerkamp

(pics to follow)