Return on the Jedi

Our last weekend of racing involved one of our most favorite races of the season - Return on the Jedi! Instead of just being a one day XC Race, three races are packed into an exciting, yet relaxing weekend!

While we had oatmeal, Kai decided
she would have a stick for breakfast.

The trip started with Sam, Cory, Kai and myself (Shane) taking a late evening departure from Redmond and Bend that put our arrival down at the Southern Oregon race venue right around midnight. The hub for all the weekend activities is an isolated campground southwest of Merlin, OR called Sam Brown Campground. This is where the relaxation comes in, there is none of the standard hustle bustle of life, no cell service, topped off by an incredibly beautiful area. Once we arrived, we quickly exchanged bro-hugs with Sean and Brian, who were already at the camp and then setup our tent and a hammock for Cory. Even with a lack of light that I had forgotten to bring, we were setup and in bed before 1am, which was awesome!

Cory and Sean cooking oatmeal in the Jetboils.

Morning light arrived with wonderfully warm temperatures to get us out of our comfy sleeping bags and ready for the short track (STXC), the first of the day's two races. Thanks to three Jetboil stoves, we were all stuffed with tasty oatmeal pretty darn quickly, giving plenty of time for digestion before the race.


The race course for the STXC is a really fun one that offers plenty of double track passing opportunities and some fast, singletrack with some good sharp corners and roots to keep you on your toes. The entire course loops around the campsites so there are plenty of spectators/hecklers on hand.

Sam ripping it up in her first STXC ever!Photo: Cory Fawcett

Race times were divided by Category, CAT 3 first, CAT 2 second and then the CAT 1/Pro field. The one drawback of the first day of the Jedi weekend are the small field sizes, but thankfully, although small, they are high quality racers. For example, Sam's lone competitor was a racer from Washington that has several podiums in her name, including a recent win at the Portland STXC Series. That being said, Sam went out in the CAT 3 field and rode a fantastic race, only finishing 2 minutes back from the winner. Cory, Sean and myself were as noisy and obnoxious as possible due to the excitement of watching Sam race so hard.

Brian pushing through the pain.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Next up were the CAT 2 boys - Brian and Cory. Their form has really come about nicely in the last couple races, and this was no exception. They both went hard out of the gates and never looked back. Brian settled into a super solid rhythm and Cory was able to create an insurmountable gap about 2 laps into the six lap race and put on a clinic of how to race short track. Cory took the win with Brian taking the last podium step with a good 3rd place finish.

Cory hammering away to victory!Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean and I were the last to go and went to battle with a fantastically fast group of racers. We both put down some solid performances - thanks to the cheering, well, jeering of a group of checker clad racers at the top of the short, painful climb. I was able to sneak into third with Sean taking a 4th place finish!

Shane pushing hard uphill.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean railing the corner.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Post race, we all headed back to the campsite to enjoy the wonderfully warm and sunny weather. As we cooked up some refueling meals, we made sure to try and soak up as many rays as possible, in a futile attempt to darken our bleach white skin.

Brian and Cory enjoying the sunshine.

Next on the race plate, was the Super D. These races are a point to point race, where you have some uphill sections, but in the end, you will have descended more than you climbed. This particular Super D has an insanely fast, dangerous and scary fire road for the first several miles. This definitely creates a bit of unrest in group of racers as some welcome the challenge with wide open brakes, while others are a tad more timid. A fun addition to the Return on the Jedi Super D is the added challenge of a Le Mans Start, where everyone runs about 25 meters to their bike that is laying down on the ground.

Always a kick to see cyclists run.Photo: Cory Fawcett

The Pro/CAT 1 field was the first to roll, so Sean and I laid our bikes down across the road. I had noticed a good little thought of laying my bike in the bushes of the sidehill as it put me on the outer edge of all the bikes. We all lined up on the running start line facing the bikes. When we started, the far side from me was a bit lucky we weren't in the Olympics, as a false start would have been called. Thankfully, I was able to tap into my track background and make up the lead quickly! I was able to get on my bike in 3rd position behind James and the infamous Tom Keller. I was able to sneak past James quickly, leaving just one more to pass. This had me super excited, because as strong as Tommy is, a singlespeed bike can only go so fast downhill.

Shane getting a good start.Photo: Cory Fawcett

I was able to get by him and have a clear view/ride of the road for about one third of it's distance which makes it super easy to keep speed at a maximum. Around a third of the way down, I was passed by Brennan Wodtli. After this, I worked as hard as possible to stick on his wheel down the technical descent. Unfortunately as we continued, I began to have some mechanical issues with my brakes, which ended up equaling no front brake. That definitely makes things a bit creepy as you are flying down, trying to scrub speed going into flat corners where if you go off the edge, well, you will be literally flying for awhile. Haha. Unfortunately with the lack of brake, I lost a couple more spots, but I sure felt like I was living on the edge! Once we hit the Jedi singletrack I was in no man's land so I kept pushing as hard as possible through the windy, wonderful trail. At the end of the trail, it empties out onto the campground road where I put down as much power as I had in my legs and crossed the finish line.

Brian killing it and taking the holeshot.

Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean came flying through about a minute back, putting out a super solid effort on the crazy technical course. Brian, who had started after us came blazing through a bit later, with a wicked good time, putting him as 2nd Overall in the CAT 2's! After Buskirk finished, we began waiting for Cory, but time began ticking away....and a lot of it did without seeing him come across the line. We began to worry, knowing how much this course likes to eat people sometimes. It mainly takes out equipment though, and that was what we were hoping for. Thankfully, one of the race volunteers had come down and informed us that our guy was fixing a flat. We were all relieved to see the black and neon green Marin Nail Trail make it back to the campground. Sadly, Cory had continued Bob's tradition of flatting on the Super D, by getting three gashes in his sidewalls. Unfortunate as it was, Cory was still stoked on the course and, along with the rest of us, had a big goofy smile plastered on his face from the fun ride.

Cory and his poor tire.

Tired from the two races of the day, we all went back to the Trinity Bikes campground where we cooked up bunches of food, including an attempt by Brian to cook a baked potato in our fire pit. Needless to say, we had to rely on the Jetboils for our evening grub as we sat around the fire cramming our faces full of delicious food so we'd be stocked up with plenty of calories for the big XC race the next morning.

Brian, Sean and Sam sitting around the fire.

When the sun rose again, sadly it did not bring the warm temps it had the morning before. There was no rain though, so that is always a plus! We all ate breakfast as we did last minute check-overs of the bikes and prepared for the epic course that is the Return of Jedi XC race. After getting all prepared, we rolled down to the start line for instructions from the race director about the course that laid ahead. 

Shane stretching out before the XC Race.

The starting format was, once again, Pro/CAT 1 first, followed in order by the CAT 2's then the CAT 3's. Sean and myself lined up and took off for the starter loop, which was a hot lap around the STXC course that looped back to where we started before heading out onto the course. Shortly thereafter, the CAT 2 group went, heading straight into the XC course. My start felt good and I found myself settling into a really comfortable rhythm, but once I hit some of the singletrack, I began to get a bit thrown off due to a mechanical with my front brake. This mechanical eventually turned into a full front brake failure. After finishing the 6.5 mile loop that, once again came through the campground, I opted to take the DNF (after much internal debate during this loop) instead of risking my safety on the extremely technical descents that are part of our course. As tough of a decision it was, I knew it was the right call, which was further cemented when talking to my fellow competitors after the race.


So, instead of being a racer for the day, I switched roles to become Sam's co-cheerleader for the other guys. This was quite a blast, as I had access to a huge pot to bang on with a metal spoon and be as obnoxious as possible! Soon, the CAT 2 racers began to come riding into the campground on the gravel, with several of them soft pedaling. When Brian came in though, he did not disappoint as he came mobbing in and even threw up a wheelie for our entertainment as he took a solid 5th place finish for the day. Our next wait was for Cory as we looked off through the trees, where we could see riders on the paved section of road right before the campground turn-off. Eventually we saw a checkered jersey walking, so we went running up the campground road to see Cory. The evil tire gremlins from the Super D, stuck with Cory for the XC race, as he ended up double flatting on the day. Luckily the last flat was only about a 1/2 mile out so he was able to walk across the finish line.

Brian riding as Cory walks with
his flat across the finish line.

Once our CAT 2 boys made it back safe and sound, we watched as the CAT 1 racers began to come in. Sean came through in 5th position after riding an extremely brutal course that has you climb roughly 4500 feet over 30 miles of some very technical trail.

Cory, after eating and watching the kiddo races.

Exhausted from the racing, the other three way more so than me, we all sat down for a delicious meal of tacos from Blazing Saddles, a catering company that comes out for the weekend. From our spot, we were able to enjoy the food as we watched the kiddos partake in their races for the weekend. After this hilarious entertainment, we enjoyed the awards ceremony, packed up camp and then headed home for the long haul back home.

Kai scaring the heck out of us - she just wanted a better
view of the cliff......

Aside from the few mechanical hiccups, we had yet another fun and successful weekend down in Southern Oregon!


-Shane Johnson