MOAB!!!

I just spent the last week in Moab, Utah. I got to camp out with my Alaska friends, Tyler and Andy, and their friends from MSU and Salt Lake. The first couple of days I went on epic hikes with them, then the rest of the time I went biking while they went hiking. It worked out great, because even if I wasn't spending the day with them, I still got to hang out with them at the campsite by the fire at night. Then a couple days into the trip, I got a call from my friend Adam, another kid from Alaska. Him and I met up and went for a couple bike rides together. It couldn't have worked out better, all my best friends just happened to be in Moab at the same time. I got tan, I got a lot of fitness riding my singlespeed, and I had a blast. Great week.

The Cliffs

Yesterday I said that I would get pictures of the really pretty road that I had never been on before. Well that didn't happen. I got pictures of The Cliffs, then the camera ran out of memory. I guess that's what happens when you have the family hand-me-down camera from 1999.
I have been up and down The Cliffs around 8 times, and I have never seen the sign at the bottom that says No Bikers, No Hikers, No Trespassing. About half way up today, a guy in a truck pulls up and tells me I'm not allowed to be there. Really, how much damage are bikers and hikers going to do on a road that nobody lives on.

90% healthy, 70% fast.

So I am finally done with the antibiotics. YAY!
Then yesterday I did my first interval workout of the training season and I had a blast. I had so much fun! The fun wasn't because of the intervals, but because it was raining, and I love rain. I really love rain! It just reminds me of where I come from. Anyway I rode just up out of Durango, to this hill called "The Cliffs". The Cliffs starts at 7100 feet above sea level and ends at just under 9000 feet. It is a great place to do AT intervals at because its so steep that its not possible to go easy. Then getting to descend down the 24 switchbacks, is completely worth the suffering up to the top.
Today, I went on the longest ride of my training season. It was 3 hours and 38 minutes, and 71 miles. I have to thank Matt Shriver and Neil (don't know his last name) for taking me on one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on, and the most beautiful that I have ridden my bike on. I will have to ride on it again tomorrow to take pictures and just enjoy it again.

Pneumonia?

I am finally getting over being sick. It started out just being a cold, then things did not get better for 2 weeks. The day I was planning on going to the doctor, it got really bad, I could hardly get out of bed, and there was no way that I was in good enough condition to drive to the doctor. After waiting for an hour an a half to see the doctor, I was finally told that I have Pneumonia. I am so tired of having rheumatiod arthritis. The medicine I have to take helps my arthritis, but weakens my immune system. So every time that I get a cold, it turns into Pneumonia, or Bronchitis, or a Sinus infection. I am so sick of it. Ranting aside, the antibiotics are working and I am feeling much better, not 100%, but better nonetheless. I have even been able to go for 3 easy 2 hour rides, but thats about it. My heart rate is always way higher than normal when riding, but Im excited to see a nice and steady improvement. So my first official race of the season will be the Tour of Tucson Stage Race in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get Cat 3 upgrade for it, I don't understand why USA Cycling wont give it to me, but ill keep trying. And my first professional race will be the Fontana National Cross Country and Short Track Races towards the end of March.

Back On The Bike, sorta

Dylan Stucki 2nd at 9.86 miles.

So in mid December I decided I was going to start my base training for the 2009 season. I got in a 13 hour week, then the next three days later I rode another 7 hours. It looked like I was off to a great start, well a three week trip back to Alaska for Christmas with my family ruined anything gained by the week and a half of previous training. Only on 6 days the daily high temperature was above 0 degrees F. I think I cross-country skied three times, downhill skied twice, went to the gym once. Then, as soon as I got back to Durango, I put in a 15 hour week, then a 12 hour week, with at least one good hard run a week.
To really see whether the lack of training did much damage, I competed in the Annual Snowdown Roller Races event. Its a fun race where two people at a time ride on rollers as hard as possible for 15 minutes. The winner is the one who goes the farthest distance while staying in place. I ended up riding 9.08 miles and that put me in 4th place.
Now I'm Sick!

Look at the speed!
Top(Alex Howard 3rd at 9.76 miles, Trevor Downing 1st at 9.98 miles)
Bottom(me suffering after 4th at 9.08)

Back to the Blog.

It has been a while since i have updated this thing. Since the last post, i have been to XTERRA USA Nationals and XTERRA World Championships.

Im not sure what to think about XTERRA Nationals, I got 3rd place in the age group after getting 2nd the year before, but my time was 20 minutes faster. I just didn't race a smart race. Once I got to ride my bike, I got all excited and went way too hard. I had made my way into about 30th place or so overall by the end of the bike. Then I started running, and things went from pretty good, to miserable. I lost 8 minutes just in the run to the 2nd place guy in my age group. The run dropped me all the way down to 47th place. A little dissapointing, but a good learning experience.

At XTERRA Worlds I decided I would use my new knowlege of pacing myself, well it was too hot for the little Alaska boy and pacing didn't matter. I had a few little panic attacks, that I was too hot, too thirsty, too dizzy and I couldn't breath. Later on the clouds came out and I was able to regain myself. I ended the bike towards the front of my age group and I felt great. I had a fast first mile of running and then we had to run uphill, and that turned to walking uphill. I would run till I got dizzy, then walk till I could walk strait, then run till I got dizzy again. Arount mile 4 I got to an aid station where they had ice water, I poored the ice cubes down the front and back of my skin suit. That helped me enough to run the final 3 miles, although any abnormal movement would cause every muscle in my body to cramp. I finished in 11th in my 15-19 age group. Congrats to Julian Langer and Joshua Olmstead, who finished 1st and 2nd in the age group, and beat a handful of pros.

And one little extra note, I got my first sponsor. Serfas. They make great sunglasses and lots of nice bike parts, im very excited to try their tires.

finally have internet

Ok, finally have internet! So the whole airport situation got figured out. Because my plane left 2 hours late from anchorage, i lost my flight to phoenix. the next flight was the next day. so alaska airlines gave me a hotel room. then i showed up the next day to see if i could get on a flight stand-by. well they choose who gets on the plane alphebetically, so of course, of the two flights i tried for i was always the person not to get on. o well, i only woke up at 4 in the morning for nothing. sat in the airport for a long time, until noon, kinda sucked but i finally got to phoenix. then i drove all night all the way to moab and slept in my car in the apache in hotel parking lot. woke up and drove to ogden.
OGDEN!
the race in ogden didnt start too well, i happened to hop on the race shuttle with the bus driver that had no clue where she needed to go, so i show up at the race with 10 minutes to go. i had a very slow swim, didnt feel that good, and was about 2 minutes slower than i would normally be. then in the bike, i felt super good. the course was mostly uphill, and was the best possible course for me. the goodness followed me onto the run and i was able to finish much stronger than i usually do. that was the best race of my life, i finished 27th overall, 9th amature and the race got me a #1 ranking in the nation for XTERRA Triathlons. It also qualified me for worlds in Maui. YAY! Vacation! well i got to catch the bus, so ill update later about the collegiate mountain biking.