Bones Over Metal Freeride and Downhill Video Blog

Update: Lars has made it to the US Worlds team as a discretionary selection. In fact, all of the DH riders were chosen in this manner. Get the full story on PinnedMTB.com

Congratulations to Lars Sternberg of Port Angeles, WA and Fluidride on his 4th place finish at Angel Fire. Now he’s off on the next two legs of a World Cup trip that hopefully gives him the points he needs to compete in DH at Worlds in Italy. In 2006, Lars placed 13th in MX at the Worlds in Rotorua. This was his only other time competing at the World level. Lars has been dominating in regional races and he got a top 25 at this years Sea Otter which sees the majority of the World Cup racers. I have a lot of hope and expectation that it is now Lars’ time. I wanted to know what Lars had to say for himself and about his journey.

It actually snowed in Angel Fire, NM during the practice days. How did this affect you when it later dried up for qualifying and the finals?

It didn’t bother me at all really. I’ve done a ton of riding all winter so it wasn’t a shock to have to ride in the snow. As soon as I heard it would be bad conditions I tried to prepare myself mentally as much as possible. Then getting to race in bone dry conditions was just a bonus.

What exactly do you have to accomplish to qualify for Worlds?

Well I either had to win at Angelfire, or place better than 23rd at Andorra.

You qualified six and finished fourth at Angel Fire, did you meet your goals?

I did my best. I had a couple pretty good off’s in mtx the night before and was fairly beat up. I couldn’t ride during practice, and could barely walk. I spent most of the day trying to stretch out, and warm up my ankle. Come race time I felt alright. My goal was to have a clean run and not crash. That’s what I did. I was a little too conservative but that’s how it goes. It’s a pretty fine line.

By going to a National and then on to the World Cup, you’ve just raised the bar for yourself. You must be stoked about the possibilities?

Definitely. I’ve been wanting to race at the World level since I began racing Mountain bikes. I am so stoked to be here. It is a dream come true for sure.

What have you done to prepare for this trip?

Not enough haha. Packing was interesting. What is the absolute minimum you can live with for five weeks, and still be as prepared as possible for all weather conditions etc.? I think I did pretty good though. A big thanks to Fluidride for helping me on this journey and setting me up with the essentials.

You are going to race at Andorra and Fort William. How are these courses going to be different then what you know at home?

Well I’m in Andorra now and it is muddy as hell. So not much different than a winter in the NW right? Fort Bill should be the same, so I’m looking forward to both.

What World Cup rider do you most look forward to taking runs with?

All of them!

By the time I had received my questions back from Lars he’d already raced Andorra and qualified 115 out of over 220 international pros. His time was 21 seconds out of top qualifier Gee Atherton’s time. Gee ended up beating Sam Hill by .1 seconds. This goes to show you how competitive it is at the World Cup level. Lars is now off to Fort William. You can learn more about his trip at Fluidride.com