Consistency...

Well, here we have the final race of the season being exterminated like a bug. No more Vegas finals, that's okay. I was planning on a strong finish this year with some good prep work for the pro XC tour's last hoorah, and it looks like I will have a weak finish in New York. I guess on the bright side I can always improve on my consistency as can sho-air. I actually think that it is a good move for the overall health of mountain bike racing to end before the Worlds instead of after. The Zaskar is holding up like a zaskar. If there has been one thing this season that I would chalk up to being consistent I would say it is the GT. I can't say that I have even had a mechanical on or off the course. I have put many road, trail and race miles on this bike and all that I have had to do is change tubes and lube the chain. I wish I could say the same for myself. Although, what a learning experience this year has been, traveling to the national series has prepared me for next year with what I am confident will be a year full of great results.

Two Races, 24 Hours

A little dirt goes a long way.

i had been waiting all week to decide last minute whether i was going to make my way to Angel Fire, NM for the short track race this past saturday. i was already signed up to ride the growler in gunnison. my friend Hank signed us up for the growler so i was definitely headed to that, but the race in angel fire, i couldn't get out of my mind.

earlier that week i bought a ford f350 that i had owned a few years back... yes, i bought my truck back after seeing it posted on craigslist. it's a long story and one of these days i will tell you all about it. the good news, i had my truck back which was playing a factor into making the trip to angel fire and then looping to gunnison.

the short track race was supposed to start at 9pm on saturday. i left my house after finishing a tree job at 1pm and was haulted by traffic in colorado springs. i called the race organizers to check in on the weather, it was starting to rain where i was and was told they moved the race start up to 6:20. now i really was racing the clock. after i made it through the traffic i jammed and made it to angel fire by 5:45 for the 6:20 start. set up the GT tent, met a few folks and hit the course.

Notice the Ford stroker in the background...

this cool cat out of Taos, Mackey Franklin won the race, beating my bud Jay Henry. i grabbed a beer after the race and headed back on the road to make it to gunnison for the 7am start. i was starting to growl at this point... realizing i wasn't going to get much sleep.

it's a good thing i committed to only one lap of the growler, because riding a rigid-rigid for three hours on a course that seemed to get tougher on my body as we went, was not easy. halfway through the ride, i realized this was a great practice ride... especially after i had stopped a few times to help some guys with their bikes - i'm that guy.

overall, it was a good weekend. i look forward to road tripping it to Alabama this weekend with another Pro dirt friend out of Colorado Springs. i will keep you posted...

Lending a Helping Hand

Getting ready to hike.

talked about the Zaskar and how great it is!

On Saturday, May 17th, my wife, son and i ventured to colorado springs to help with a charity event called Climb To Conquer Cancer for the American Cancer Society. It was a combination of mtb riders and hikers. their goal was to raise $40,000 and they were over $55,000 by saturday. it was a fun way to show off GT, set up the tent and help fix bikes for those who needed it. on the flipside, the weather was horrible... rained the whole morning. in spite of that, over 300 people still showed up. Congrats to Dana and the organizers for a great fundraiser. thank for letting us be a part of your event.

Sponsor Shout Out!

Thanks to all of your support for my 2009 racing season!

Thanks to our 2009 Sponsors!

The Last Month... Well Actually the Last Two Months

Sea Otter 2009

The lapse between my last blog... well, I am getting used to keeping track and sharing my thoughts on a blog.

The last month has been crazy...
Been to California twice after receiving my GT Carbon Zaskar - which I love in April.

My first race of the season was Fontana. I traveled from Denver to Arizona and drove with my good friend and photographer Riley (http://www.aplusrphoto.com/). When I arrived in Arizona my GT bike was waiting for me. A little crazy to put it together, do a short ride and then take it in my first race of the season. Needless to say, Fontana was great, but results were not there. I realized in that time I had some training ahead of me.

I am finally getting into the swing of Spring in Colorado. Hadn't been able to do much mountain training until last week. Great to be back in it and feeling good. I figure as the season goes on, my conditioning will only improve.

I committed to the National race series which I do not regret. So, a few weeks after I got back from Fontana, my wife Laura and I road triped out to California again for the Sea Otter.

We got caught in a snow storm leaving Colorado so it took us longer to get there than we'd hoped. We made it to Santa Barbara where we had an amazing place to stay for a few nights and heaed up to the Sea Otter on Saturday.

This was my first venture to the Sea Otter and the event was everything we had expected it to be. For those of you there, you know it was definitely hotter than normal. We scoped out the event on Saturday and I did a pre ride toward the end of the day.

Had a chance to meet Jenni Cathcart from GT and Steve the founder of 9er Bikes who happens to live not far from us in Denver. We are going to ride sometime soon.

The race on Sunday...
Had about 155 Pro riders - the biggest field in the US since the merch of semi-pro and pro. We took off on the Leguna Seca Raceway and then headed out in the mountains. Definitely a hot one and being from Colorado, I wasn't used to riding in so much sand.

Stopped to help Ryan Trebon who looked like he'd tweaked his knee. He said he would be okay and kept going. Felt good to try and help... that's who I am.

Getting pumped for the race in Alabama the end of May. Need to put the training in, but getting jazzed for the trip out there.

Heading to Colorado Springs this weekend to help with the Climb to Conquer Cancer event. Setting up the GT tent and helping riders fix their bikes. Looking forward to it. I will post photos this week.

My excitement to be on the DC this year is through the roof. My good friend in Phoenix received the call to help me set up a blog (my handling skills on the bike are an A+ yet my computer skills come in at a D-). After looking at a blog from a fast CX racer out of Wisconsin this past weekend, I knew that my blog also needed to be black. I told my friend to get some of that cool GT yellow in the header and this is what he came back with. I guess that is what happens in the late afternoon in phoenix when you don't have a zaskar, beer and bad ideas.

My two nephews came into town a few weeks ago caked in germs and smeared them all over my house for me to ingest in the middle of my base training. Trying to ride twenty hour weeks has been slashed in half and I am still a mess. Who needs base training anyway? I have both XC national championships right here in my backyard. Anyone coming in from out of town for nationals from the DC is required to track me down.