XTERRA Time

The Rabbit Valley Rampage race in Fruita, CO went pretty bad for me. At the TT on Saturday, I missed my start because I was treating a gnarly cut on my knee that the porta-potty gave me. Once I get to the start, the lady tells me to wait till all the other riders have gone, and she would give me a new start time. So when I get to the finish, the director says "Nope, you are pro, you cant do that." If I had known that, I wouldn't have waited the 7 minutes. Anyway I finished DFL, 6 minutes behind the person who actually was the slowest. I think I would have been 13th if that hadn't happened.
Then the XC was just a sufferfest. It was just 1 big 28 mile loop, mostly on jeep roads, with a singletrack section that made my back ache like no other. On one of the downhills 6 four-wheelers were in the way, I made sure to yell at every one of them, especially the ones who were oblivious and cut me off as I was trying to pass. I finished second to last in the XC.
Now I will be leaving either this Wednesday or Thrusday to go to LAS VEGAS for the first XTERRA Cup of the 2009 Season. There are already 270 racers registered, and most of the worlds top XTERRA Pros. I am really looking to place in the top 20, but it is going to be hard with the heat. Forcasts are saying 100* F for Saturday. Hopefully Im ready, last week was one of my bigger weeks of training this year, and this week is going to start off hard and taper down a little towards Saturday. Wish me luck.

Pro XC

That race was nuts. 120 starters. The first lap was just insane, people were crashing and getting mechanicals all over the place. There was a super steep sandy climb at the beginning of the lap, and only the top 10 or 15 guys were even able to ride it, so I did what was natural to me, and sholdered my bike and ran. I passed maybe 20 people by the time I got to the top of the hill. Going so hard so early sort of ruined my legs for the rest of the race. O well. I ended up placing 71st and was pulled at the end of the 3rd of 5 laps. At first I was a little dissapointed with how the race went, but then I had to realize that I had pneumonia a month ago, and was out for 3 weeks. Now I am glad things went the way they did, I learned a lot and I now know that the only thing I really need to work on is my general fitness which should come throughout the summer.
The races coming up next for me are the Mountain States Cup XC and ST in Fruita, Colorado, and the first XTERRA Cup on May 2nd in Las Vegas.

Fontana U.S. Cup #1

This is just a quick update for how the weekend of racing is going. Yesterday we had the Super D, Trevor Downing finished 6th, and I finished 14th. I was really surprised to see that there were so few racers in the Super D, because there are 150 registered for the XC race this afternoon. Anyway, I feel that the race went pretty well for me, I gave myself the worst possible starting position just so I didn't get in the way of any fast guys in my first Pro race. So I was the last racer to start racing up the massive climb. Then I realized that I was faster than some of these guys, so I made a pass that I normally would never make make, and it went well. So cought up to a KHS rider with 4 foot wide handlebars, on a 2 foot wide trail. To pass him I just had to ride myself off the trail and power through the brush on the side. Made it by safe and sound. Then we finally hit the downhill, and I surprised myself by bridging the 5 second gap up to a 4 person pack. I was fine letting then set the pace, and flew by them on an uphill later on in the course. At this point I was getting pretty tired, and my lungs hurt like no other, so I managed to hold my position to the finish. I was happy with it. Time to fill my belly for the XC in a few hours. Oh, and there is an interview of me at;
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234765-us-pro-xct-1-fontana-city-national/165731-super-d-pro-men-will

Check it out.

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.