Jason Moeschler: 2015 All Mountain World Champion
The stars were definitely aligned for Jason Moeschler this weekend when the 35-year-old Team WTB/Cannondale rider reclaimed the All Mountain World Championship title from five-time winner Carl Decker after winning the DH with a smoking fast time of 45.22.5! The last time Moeschler claimed the title was in '07 but the increasingly tough competition and the demands from his full-time job as WTB's Global OEM Sales Manager proved to be too tough to overcome to train properly for the suffer fest of suffer fests known as the Downieville Classic. Not the case this year as the heavens opened up to unleash a full thunder storm assault the night before the DH, leaving the tracks tacky and otherwise perfect for the Riddler 2.4 Light front and Riddler 2.4 Tough rear tires he'd selected. That along with a dialed bike, training program, and race strategy all combined to settle the score that would land Moeschler his fourth All Mountain World Championship victory in the event he's been racing since he was 15 years old.
With equal points assigned to the DH and the XC, Moeschler knew he had to race smart with zero room for flats, and develop a solid race strategy that meant saving enough in his legs to dominate in the DH and not bury himself too badly in the battle on the XC course. Letting go of the XC for a 3rd-place finish was a painful pill to swallow without a doubt, but in the end it paid off as his combined DH and XC points solidified his victory in the All Mountain category. It also didn't hurt that the other three threats with strong finishes in the XC: Decker, Colin Daw and Barry Wicks all flatted on the DH course.
Proof positive that it was a good day to be riding WTB with sponsored riders Ryan Gardner (3rd), Anthony Medaglia (4th), Jeremiah Newman (6th), and Jeff Kendall-Weed (9th) in the top 10 of the Pro Men's DH while Jaimie Kendall-Weed and Lauren Gregg took 3rd and 4th in the Pro Women's DH and 4th and 5th in the All Mountain. Huge thanks to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship for putting this incredible event on for the past 20 years. It's been an awesome ride!
