Collegiate Nationals

The Truckee/Tahoe area is sweet!

Raced XC on Friday. 4 - 7.5 mile laps. Big climb up, descend down. Was a little conservative on the DH, but finished on the podium in 4th.

Short track Saturday morning. Started up a loose gravel climb. Lots of rubbing and leaning on each other. Just as I think I am clear of any trouble, some guy comes flying up and takes me out. Fly off the bike and run back to it. Look back and I am dead last all through lap 1. Rally the rest of the time and finish 6th. Was on the wheel of 4th & 5th, but ran out of time.

Did a sweet loop of the XC afterward and watched some four cross.

Made sure I looked like a fool on the podium.

Rode to Lake Tahoe with Cruise and some of his teammates. Views and ride was awesome.

Watched some downhill and yelled at Joe too much.

Drove back all day yesterday.

It's pouring rain here now. Time to get wet. Iceman is 18 days away. Let's see if I can keep some fitness.

While the Weather is Dismal...

for most of you. Seems like is has rained a lot in Michigan this week. And those down in Denver have been treated to freezing temperatures and fluffy white stuff. Way to early for me. On the other hand, the weather on this side is quite nice. I got a fun ride in Fruita today. Blue skies, sunny, and 70 degrees.

Enjoy!



In other news, my racing schedule is looking to be really fun with some of the biggest races in the country coming up. We leave in a couple days for Truckee, CA for collegiate MTB nationals. Two weeks later we have the Boulder Cup UCI cyclocross race weekend. Then the following week I will be setting sail back to the mitten for the all mighty ICEMAN!!! I'm so stoked. Might have to get a few sessions behind the motor after Nationals to pick my legs speeds up!

Here is my Iceman bike. 19.01 lbs.

Almost There

Conference Finals were last week here in Junction. It was nice to stay here for once and not have to drive into the boonies late at night. Short Track was on Saturday morning. We got a nice little hour ride with a bit of singletrack in before the race. My legs felt decent, but once again we all had a horrible starting position. Dead back row on a course that is all about position. Needless to say, we all sat waiting to get into the 1-track, then stopped again before a drop, then had to hike up the next hill. The course was a technical singletrack downhill, then a jeep road back up. After 3 laps, it finally cleared up a little and I was able to make up some positions. Ended up 11th which was fine. I think we would have all done much better with a better start.

Went up to the Ranch after that to help out and watch the dual slalom race. It was sick. There are some crazy fast dudes out here and the course was awesome. Here is a video of Ranchstyle that is held there in the spring. Kinda gives you an idea of what is up there.

Saturday night we went out to Olive Garden which turned into a bad choice. We ended getting competitive in an eating competition. Needless to say we were all hurting after 2 bowls of salad, 6 breadsticks, and 4 bowls of pasta.

Sunday morning was quite warm as I rode over to the XC course. It was dark and sprinkled a bit on me. My chain got jacked up with a tight link in my warm-up, so I spent the last few minutes before the start putting more links in. So, another back row start with not a ton of passing as it is a rocky climb. It started raining half way through the lap. By lap 2, the benonite on the ground turned into concrete. Wheels would hardly clear the frames. We hikes a bit, and just rode around having fun. No one was behind us as they stopped everyone after our group, so we rode a chill conversational pace and rolled in safely.

We leave next week for Truckee, CA for Nationals at Northstar at Tahoe Resort. Should be a sweet time. I am still waiting for my Superfly to come back. That bike should be killer on that course. I really hope it comes in by tomorrow so I can race it. After Nationals turns to donut and cyclocross season. Should be a blast!

I Love Mountains

Winter Park this past weekend was fun. We stayed in a nice little condo instead of camping this weekend, considering it was snowy the whole week. Weather turned out to be great with mid-60's and sunny on Saturday and Sunday.

XC race was more of a fun ride in the woods for me. My legs were fried after a really hard week of training. I also broke my Superfly earlier in the week and was on my second ever ride on a Stumpjumper 29er. The race was relatively short, so it was not too painful. The DH was so freakin fun, especially on a 4" 29er full suspension. The climb was mainly a long dirt road, so it was kinda boring.

Sunday was the DH race, so I went out and explored the area for a good 3+ hours. It was a blast finding new trails. Super fun time. My legs hurt really bad, but I pushed through it to get to some rad downhills.

After drilling myself day after day and racing 4 weeks straight, I finally have a recovery week. I am glad for it. Our home race is this weekend, which will be fun, but I am not looking for any result.

Hoping my Superfly will be back in time for Nationals in Truckee, CA. It will be built back up @ 20.5 lbs for some raging. Hopefully with some killer fitness and a rocking 29er, there will be a good result.

Mixin' it Up

Had a sweet weekend up in the mountains these past few days. Camped up at Sol Vista Friday and Saturday for another racing weekend. Rolled in around 6pm and had camp set up not too long after. Built a campfire and watched as the foxes circled around us.

The cross country was on Saturday this week which worked out great. Going into the race, I was actually feeling decent. I did a few really big days of training earlier in the week and racked up over 15,000ft of climbing in just 3 days. Somehow my recovery went pretty good. Did a little warm-up on course, then came back down the mountain. The official called us up 15 minutes early and we started late. By the time we started I was cold again. No biggy.

We raced 4 laps of the Pro XC course that was run at Nationals this summer. My plan was to kinda chill out and warm back up on the opening climb. I started near the back of the 30 person group. I just followed wheels while most of the people were going all out. One there was a little space about half way up the climb I started making my move. Climb was maybe 15 minutes to the top. The downhill was freaking sweet. Loose moon-dust type of powder all the way down with some steep techy parts up top(Watch the first few minutes to see some of the DH). Once I saw it on lap 1, I was able to really have some fun on it on laps 2-4.

I ended up just moving up throughout the race. Picked a couple people off a lap. Maybe I made my moves a little too late in the race, but I felt good about it. I passed Blake on the last lap climb and held him off on the downhill to finish 4th. It was a decent result. Rotem obviously won. That guy is a machine. And like a 8 time Israeli national champion.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed off to Breckenridge for the first cyclocross race of the year. While doing my warm-up I knew my legs were shot. They were truly sore from the efforts adding up throughout the week. Along with that I saw Baker, Brady, Pacocha, and Dwight all showed up. Game plan: Don't crash, don't run into any barriers, and don't get lapped.

I got to the start late, so I was last starting. We went down a big wood chip hill, so not much passing. There were around 30 guys who started, so I moved up a little. After a few laps of cruising around having fun, I realized I should be going a lot harder. I worked my way up to 14th, and was riding with another guy. With 2 laps to go, I got a wood chip jammed in my cassette which caused all kinds of skipping. As I stopped an attempted to get it out 4 guys passed me. Just as I got on, another went by me. I kinda lost my rhythm I had going after that. The freezing cold rain didn't help either. I took it cautiously on all the pavement corners to make sure I didn't eat shit. Finished up 19th, and had a good time. Once collegiate mountain bike nationals are over, I'll focus back to cross and hopefully get some decent results.

Next on tap is another cross country race at Winter Park this weekend on Saturday, then hopefully a big ride in the mountain hitting up some sweet trails on Sunday. Looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather is good, considering it was snowing in Denver today...and Winter Park is 4-5,000 ft higher.

Another week in

Race weekend number two down. Wasn't really sure how I'd feel for this one. Had some really hard rides during the week and my openers hurt the day before. A little 6hr drive, and we were at Beaver Meadows around 10:30pm. Set up camp and hit the sack.

Short track was a sweet loop with mostly 2-track and a cool 1-track climb. I knew I was in trouble during my warm-up. Was able to pick spots off during the race, but I couldn't get into an top end speed at all. Legs were a bit fatigued. The cold temperatures did not help either. Somehow I managed to move up to 8th out of 32 racers by the time the finish rolled around.

We went back to camp and ate some food before a pre-ride of the XC course. While we were relaxing, it started to snow lightly on us. A few falkes rolling down around noon. Not liking that. It was chilly. So the best thing to do is go ride up a mountain to warm up. Hit up the course and it was sweet. The 34T chainring up front was primo. Climbs were tough, and the DH was a large rock garden.

We woke up to sun on Sunday morning for our 9am start. Got a decent start and hit the climb in good position. By the top, I was sitting around 6th, about 15 seconds off the pace of the lead group of 5. That was the end of that. The trail went down and I went backwards. I think 5 people passed me going down. Luckily the legs were feeling good and I was able to pass most of the back on the lap 2 climb. Held off all but one on the descent, then hit the second climb on lap 2 hard. Coming to the last mile, the CSU guy I was looking for to pass me finally came by at warp speed. Yup, lost another spot. Fun race though, I just rode really conservative trying not to flat or crash. Last year I triple flatted here. This year, no flats, no crashes, no dabs-good race. Not sure how I finished up, as I never saw results.

This weekend should be good with a XC race at Sol Vista, then hopefully a my first cyclocross race of the season up high in Breckenridge. But first, I have to go beat my body up for hours on end before the weekend. Putting it all on the line in another month.

Back to Racing

The collegiate mountain bike season just kicked off this past weekend. 5 weekends of racing in a row, then a week off before a trip to Tahoe for Nats. Whats cool about our series-4 of the 5 weekends are in the mountains and all start above 8,500ft!

So this weekend was up in Laramie, Wyoming. Cool little event. Has s short track Saturday morning. In true fashion, I rolled in about last on the first lap. Made my way up to the lead group after that. It whittled down by the end, and there was only 4 of us on the last lap. Went for a pass at the top of the climb to move to the front, but was shut down. Not much passing after that, so I settled for 4th.

Super D was a little later. Never done one. Really, I just wanted to shred some sweet trails. I did a light jog to the bike and was last on. Passed some guys before the long DH started, and just had some fun while trying not to die.

XC was Sunday morning with a top notch field of guys. I hadn't ridden the course, but it was SWEET. A some climbing, then a long DH with some kickers, and a few longer climbs laced in there. Went down to a ravine, then had a climb all the way back to the start/finish. 4 loops of the 5.5 mile course. Was in a group of 5 after getting knocked over accidentally by Blake on lap 1, then moved up. By lap 2, I was third. Lap 3 I caught up to Trevor, and got a gap on him. Ended up catching up to Alders who was racing open, then we hit a nice DH stretch where my chain decided to wrap around my crank arm and twist up in the rear derailluer. Took me maybe 30 seconds to get it unraveled and back on. Just as it was almost on, Trevor came flying past me. I was able to get back in a rhythm and pass him on the last climb to get to the finish first.

RESULTS
Next weekend is off to Beaver Meadows, up in the middle of nowhere for a sweet race. Hopefully I'll have the 1x9 set up by then and my chain won't fly off.

Goal

So today's goal was to do a 5hr ride with some good climbing. I linked up a good loop that I was stoked on. The plan was to ride from town over to the Lunch Loops and catch some trail. Andy's Loop to the famous Ribbon. The Ribbon would pop me out on Little Park RD where I could hit up the pavement for 1/2 mile to some dirt. Take the dirt to Enoch Lake, then up 16.5Rd to Turkey Flats-a sweet singletrack loop that starts at 9200ft. Finish that and take more dirt back to Glade Park, refuel, and come back down to civilization via the Monument. Well, it didn't quite work...

Andy's singletrack

Mmmmmm...

Ribbon. A few miles of nose on the stem climbing. 15-20+% on slickrock.

Yup, still steaming even at 10am.

The view near the top.

A little road climbing

Dirt Road

Turned into narrow RIDICULOUSLY gravely road that climbed and had some steep pitches.

WTF...who owns this. The road is blocked by a ranch. Guess I'm done.

Went back and did some 'sploring. Found this little ORV road

Finally got high enough into the aspens. Nice and cool up here.

Road back to LPR, then over to Glade Park to refuel.

Yup, general store.

Took some pavement and dirt road back into the Monument.

Rode across the Monument, then came back down to town,


So, it didn't fully work out. I know that road goes through, but how I can do it, I am not sure. Still got a good ride in with some trail, dirt road, ORV trails, and even pavement. 5hrs and 7,000ft of climbing. Tomorrow wraps up a little 3 week 60+ hour training block. Body is feeling good and I'm excited to test my fitness again. Next weekend is our first race up in Wyoming. Short track and XC is on tap. Looking for the body to respond well and see what I need to work on.

And we're back...

Wow, haven't updated in a while. Let's see...been riding quite a bit. Knees seem to allow it for the most part. Did some good rides and trained through a bunch of races.

Had a good time at Big M racing with Robert and Bill before I popped.

Did the Lakeshore Relay as a last minute thing and had a good time. Guess I put in some past laps on the single.


Raced the Stony TT the next day and had another fun day on the bike.

Had a nice weekend of no racing. So I got a few long rides in.

Took a recovery week after an attempt at 4 weeks of getting my ass back into some sort of shape.

Guess it worked. Played my cards right and knocked out a top 10 finish at Ore to Shore.

Drove 21 hours to Denver from Marquette. Lots of rain and lightning on the drive.

Rode a bunch of trails and some good road climbs during the week. Even got in a fun and hard ride with Shawn and his buddies.

Drove to GJ, moved in, got some good rides in. Fruita 1-track on the 69er was smooth.

Shredded the Tab. Hit up the Ribbon trail. OUCH.


Rode my road bike for the first time in 3.5 months. Weird. Twitchy. I'll throw down on the Tuesday nighter and see what happens. My legs are trashed, but I might give them a brake in a few days. Haven't taken an off day in a while.

Looking forward to racing some mountain bikes in the mountains soon.

Yeah, the 29er is sweet out here. MC is building me some baller wheels up as well.

Finally in the swing of things

Yup, last week I was finally able to get back into a good riding rhythm again. Since the Lumbo, it was a few days of riding, then 4 days off for my wisdom teeth yanking, a few days of riding, then a quick trip to Baltimore. Now it feels good to be back in my normal routine that has been missing since the 1st of May.

Monday was my start to training again. By the end of the week, I had racked up 20 hours and lots of good times all on the fat tires. Hit up Boyne last weekend for the marathon race. Yup, trying to race myself into shape. Rode a hard lap on Friday, then did another good fun lap with Tim and Alan. Was able to get my new course knowledge down a bit and have fun shredding the 1-track.

The race on Saturday was fun. I rode most of lap 1 with Jaime, then rode the next 3 laps solo. Surprisingly, my body felt pretty good. Since it was over 3.5 hours, I made sure not to dig terribly deep and blow up since I have no top end. A last lap stop to fill up a leaking tire, and I was all good. Not many in the field, but I did manage to finish third behind Christian and the Simonster who were both killing it.

Next up is more bike riding, then Big M this weekend. Stony TT the next, a week off racing, then Ore to Shore before heading back to the land of thin air.