2011 Ride

Finally getting up to speed on the machine for 2011! I found a great deal on a Yeti AS-R that fits perfect. It came with XTR M970 drivetrain (M960 cranks) and decided to stay with that for now...changing from SRAM XO. Using my 2010 Fox fork, SDG saddle, Stan's ZTR 7000 wheelset.

This year I've been running Bontrager XR1 front tire & XR0 rear and on deck for some looser stuff are Kenda Karma's and for mud Michelin Grip'R 2.0 front and Kenda KOT 1.8 rear...one lesson learned from last year to be sure to have a mud setup. No weight on it yet...but its light ;)

The race at Swanson Park on April 3rd marked the last of the Superlight which I have to say worked awesome for what I used it for...it just wasn't quite the right size and that extra long stem positioned me too far out over the front wheel- kind of unstable on high speed downhill turns and braking...which is definitely not where I want to be at all unstable!!

More Preseason Racing

After much debate...I'm going to check out the race scene down in Oklahoma this weekend. Fruita is a beautiful place and one of my favorites I will get back to again, but the iffy weather and time available are just not in favor of that trip this year.

The race this sunday is in Osage Hills Park outside of Bartlesville, OK and is currently considered a "state" level USAC race. The state level designation says a lot about what USAC thinks of this particular event. In comparison all MN, WI, and Mountain States Cup series races are at this level- which all are very well organized and attract many racers making the field usually very competitive. Plus when the promoter sends results to the USAC office, its a chance to really boost a racers national ranking...which I think is fun to watch how I progress and fuels good competition.

TJ's still has the great preseason workouts setup for me and has been able to get these schedules to fit in to my ever-changing "other" schedules without me feeling guilty...and thats huge- just keeping it fun- what it should be ;) I got the most recent edition of Momentum Endurance newsletter today...always full of GREAT information, racing success stories, and links to websites that I never knew about with great race videos and post-race interviews and other really good stuff to fuel the passion.

Life's been busy so this has been a little neglected- no pictures or fun stories really...I just realized also that I have no info about my new ride yet even! The core season of racing is right around the corner- should have some good racing this year- yesterday the Powertap gave me some encouraging numbers!

Colorado Training

Driving to Colorado so often has made the drive feel almost like a regular commute...not joking...kinda sad ha! The weekend went well for a 2am arrival Friday night. On Saturday, I had already nixed the MSC race for Sunday (for several reasons), so I got in one of my favorite rides: the Super Walker.

Sweet 30-40 minute mountain climb before descending to the trailhead, and then getting some sweet technical skills riding- both ascending and descending- on some awesome singletrack. The lap at Walker can really test the skills in all areas.

I did take advantage of this technical stuff by passing through, stopping and going back, then riding a different lines...so fun to get out and play while in between these sessions getting some great interval/climbing work. The new bike works so awesome.

Saturday night was a good night out in Old Town Fort Collins wih friends. It still amazes me just how many people commute there on bikes at all hours! Awesome! Except I'm still a car guy...hopefully things will settle down soon so I can get buildin my next project. Some talk about that over the weekend as well...

Sunday was as usual...mostly depressing cause I had to leave...

What to do this weekend...

I am heading to Colorado tomorrow. Can't wait to get my dogs that my parents have been watching for me through this rediculous month of traveling!

Race on Sunday...maybe...it's the season opener of the Mountain States Cup in Colorado Springs. Should be fun but I have to say the entry fees are a bit crazy. I was planning on the TT Saturday and the XC on Sunday but that would cost $100. I understand its not cheap to run these things but geeeeeeeez- $45 for a TT?

If anything, I guess $55 for the XC I might do...mainly because I have just assembled my latest weapon for the 2011 season and I REALLY want to get out there! More to come on the new ride ;)

Race Report: Psycowpath Series Opener!

Busy days leading up to this...I was in Miami Beach for the four days leading up to this...and it turns out that is NOT the best way to preapre for a full weekend of racing...weird huh?

Well started off on Saturday with a Time Trial at 1:34pm and short track later at 5:30. The TT course had lots of power climbs and tons of surprise switchbacks. Going all out for ~20mins was really tough- couldn't get any rhythm with the steep quick climbs and turns. I finished 8th out of about 23 in the CAT 2 Open class- but only 3 seconds out of 5th...meh...whatever...not the greatest but could've been worse.

The short track course was at a different venue and really flat and really fast- 50% singletrack. I was able to stay loose and felt my legs coming back a little...finally realizing what they're supposed to be doing.

At the start line they combined our class with three others which made it roughly 35 riders. Off the start I got the third spot and held it for the first four of 8 laps. About six of us broke away- the leader put 10 seconds on us. I slid to fourth on lap 4, fifth on lap 5, but then those that passed blew up and I got back up to 3rd again on lap 6. Off the last turn into the last sprint to the finish, I drag raced the 2nd place rider to the line but just couldn't get past him. We were still about 10 seconds back from the leader but there was at least a big gap behins us! I felt awesome during and after with this finish! Short track racing is awesome!

I finished 4th overall on the day...those 3 seconds in the TT would have put me in third (on the podium) and riding the TT course at least just once or twice to get the layout could have put me in 2nd or maybe 1st. But it was a great day of racing!

Sundays XC Race...I woke up SORE!!...the prior weeks lack of riding or training is really showing up now. After getting some warm-up riding in I knew I was way down on power.

I couldn't get a good start- I couldn't sprint my way to the top 5 off the line going into the singletrack like the day before and wound up around 15th going in...and there were several crashes involving riders around 7th through 12th within the first 100 yards of singletrack leaving the rest of us stopped and weaving off course four different times.

Overall, I could maintain a steady and decently quick pace throughout, but any time I got out of the saddle to make up some time I felt like my tires were full of lead. Finished 13th- 5 minutes behind the race winner. Each of my 3 laps were within one second of each other at 25mins each- and I felt like I could've held that pace for 2-3 hours...but just NO power.

Not what I was hoping for...but I'm still excited and moving on and looking forward to the training and preparing for the next race!