The Robbie Report is a new weekly feature on MTBracenews.com. Robbie Squire is the 2008 Junior National Champion and the newest member of the US National Team. Just two years ago Squire was racing as a Sport. In '08, his first year and only year as a Junior Expert, Robbie won the Junior National Championship. In '09 his first year in the senior ranks, the Utah resident will be racing with the U.S. National Under-23 Team. Each week Robbie will share his experiences with us. Join in as the 19 year-old Junior National Champion travels across the United States and Europe racing his bike and living out a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Environmentally, this area is much more arid than Utah and with the proximity of the U.S/Mexican boarder there are a number of boarder patrol units on the dirt roads where I’ve been training. The trucks treat the dirt roads as a rally course which is unnerving when descending around blind corners. Fortunately, they have been very courteous and I haven’t had any close calls.
In an attempt to ride something other than dirt roads I attempted to ride anything that resembled singletrack. What a mistake! The beginning of every “trail” was a lot of fun cluttered with rocks, drops, and considerably steep. As soon as I was enjoying myself the trail disappeared and I was left 1000 meters from the road with no other option than shouldering the bike and walking back up. After doing this two more times I came to the sad truth that there aren’t any trails and I would have to settle with dirt roads.
In an attempt to ride something other than dirt roads I attempted to ride anything that resembled singletrack. What a mistake! The beginning of every “trail” was a lot of fun cluttered with rocks, drops, and considerably steep. As soon as I was enjoying myself the trail disappeared and I was left 1000 meters from the road with no other option than shouldering the bike and walking back up. After doing this two more times I came to the sad truth that there aren’t any trails and I would have to settle with dirt roads.
This weekend’s race, the Sage Brush Safari, more than made up for the lack of trail riding, was a great race with some of the best singletrack I’ve ridden in a race. This race was claimed to be a classic American race as a one big loop race versus the several shorter loops that many newer races consist of. The descents consisted of smooth berms with numerous jumps –a lot of fun.
In addition to being an awesome course, I placed 4th in the elite category. This marked my first time on a Professional podium. I was really excited with my finish. I managed to make the Pro podium in my second professional mountain bike race. Granted the field wasn’t as competitive as the first Pro XCT at Fontana. However, the competition was still tough.
The race started off calmly on a pavement section where the Sho-Air squad and the U23 team were on the front controlling the pace until we hit the dirt. Sitting on the front of the Elite race was a new experience for me and I felt out of place. Once my teammates joined me on the front it was a bit more comfortable, that is until the race tilted up. The Sho-Air team along with Schultz hit the gas and the race began. Taberlay and Schultz attacked and I was in no shape to answer so I just did my best to stay close. I came to this race with the intention of using it as a training race and the previous days of riding were definitely evident once the attacks started. After a series of attacks, I settled into 4th place chasing Sam J. up the infamous Los Pinos climb.
The climb seemed to be never ending. Every corner I rounded revealed another steeper section of road. My legs started to hurt, but I knew that this was the last serious climb of the day and that if I could power up it, the rest would be all downhill. It was on this climb that I was able to drop Prado and cement my 4th place position. The arrangement going into the downhill would end up being the same as the finishing positions. Although I wasn’t able to catch Sam I was happy that I was able to stay with him for most of the race. All in all it was a great race and I’m happy I got the chance to race it and have a great result. The next race for me is Sea Otter which will boast a more competitive field with a much larger international representation.
In addition to being an awesome course, I placed 4th in the elite category. This marked my first time on a Professional podium. I was really excited with my finish. I managed to make the Pro podium in my second professional mountain bike race. Granted the field wasn’t as competitive as the first Pro XCT at Fontana. However, the competition was still tough.
The race started off calmly on a pavement section where the Sho-Air squad and the U23 team were on the front controlling the pace until we hit the dirt. Sitting on the front of the Elite race was a new experience for me and I felt out of place. Once my teammates joined me on the front it was a bit more comfortable, that is until the race tilted up. The Sho-Air team along with Schultz hit the gas and the race began. Taberlay and Schultz attacked and I was in no shape to answer so I just did my best to stay close. I came to this race with the intention of using it as a training race and the previous days of riding were definitely evident once the attacks started. After a series of attacks, I settled into 4th place chasing Sam J. up the infamous Los Pinos climb.
The climb seemed to be never ending. Every corner I rounded revealed another steeper section of road. My legs started to hurt, but I knew that this was the last serious climb of the day and that if I could power up it, the rest would be all downhill. It was on this climb that I was able to drop Prado and cement my 4th place position. The arrangement going into the downhill would end up being the same as the finishing positions. Although I wasn’t able to catch Sam I was happy that I was able to stay with him for most of the race. All in all it was a great race and I’m happy I got the chance to race it and have a great result. The next race for me is Sea Otter which will boast a more competitive field with a much larger international representation.
Until then I get to enjoy my new bike, the S-works Epic, as well as the new equipment that Specialized has been generous enough to provide. It won’t be too hard.
