pedals not pistons

Yoga for Cyclists Workshop!

2012-01-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Contact Pranava Yoga Center to register. Space is limited. You can also view info about this workshop and many more on the Pranava Workshop Page.

Back to the now

2012-01-30T19:09:00.001-08:00

I keep meaning to take a few photos from one of my classes, but I keep forgetting. I was subbing for Mike and his people are use to all kinds of tomfoolery, thus....

I needed a few shots for the "Yoga for Cyclists - Connecting with the process" workshop that I will be guiding on May 13th, mark your calendar and bring your Mother! Details will be up on the Pranava website sometime this week.

There is a Jay-Z song where he is rambling on about things he can't change and the next line is "let me get back to the page". Back to the now... Jay-Z also has a line in the song Haters, "you know I got a down... dog"

You now have 2 chances each week (sometimes 3 or 4) to catch me at Pranava. You should come check out the rest of the wonderful instructors at Pranava, if I'm not your cup of tea. Pranava has a wide variety of classes I'm sure there is something you will like. Check the schedule

Enjoy the Process!

2012-01-30T07:22:00.000-08:00

Big old group ride on Sunday. The whole world showed up to ride. The trails are fairly clear for this time of year, we need the snow, let it snow... Our usual little group was joined by another 40 or so riders, most of which fell off the pace or turned off on the way thru their own process. Kip Biese and Jonathan Davis kept us "regulars" company at the front. I was so happy to be out for a long ride, I was a little tired from working, riding, teaching yoga and attending an 8hr yoga workshop on Saturday, but I woke up on Sunday morning motivated to ride. I could have just as easily gone out for a 4 or 5 hour ride by myself, but it was fun to have some friends to share the process with!!! The process today is what it's all about.

Schwalbe Tires!

2012-01-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

Stephanie and Lambie know that Schwalbe Tires are the best. Look at the love. I love 'em too! I've been using these tires for years. I can only recall 1 flat, that was at the Growler and was mostly rider error. I burped the tire and thought I could finish the race without stopping to put more air in. I finally rolled the tire off the rim a couple miles before the finish. I love the Racing Ralphs but the Hans Dampfs or Fat Alberts hook-up like bananas just about anywhere. If you have trouble mounting the tubeless version be patient use the easy glide stuff they sell, and don't plan on mounting any fresh tires right before a ride. Let the tires sit unfolded over night and if you really have trouble seating them put tubes in for a night, then take them out in the morning. The tires will hold their shape and it will be easier to get them to seal.

Yo Yo Yoga

2012-01-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

7:30 too late for yoga? I will now be guiding the yoke on Tuesday at 7:30pm and Wedensday at 5:30 pm. This week I'll be subbing for Mike on Saturday and Monday. Check Pranava Yoga Center

Also save the date May 13th 2012 I'm teaching a 3hr Yoga for Cyclists Workshop! Should be exciting! The details will be relieved soon.

Story of the Mask

2012-01-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

So Jon Severson was out in Utah, drinking beer apparently and who's mug should be on the bottle he was sucking on... you guessed it! Ironically I rarely drink... anymore. A few years ago I came to the realization that the less I drink the better I feel which led to not drinking at all for a couple years. I spent too many hours wallowing in maudlin nastalgia or the gooey future that never came. Clarity in the present moment is a beautiful thing. In another odd twist of beer fate I won a New Belgium Brewery cruiser earlier in the year and did have a beer in New Belgium's honor. I would probably drink one of these if I could get my hands on one. Shades of Pale Brewery made a limited edition beer to help promote the Park City Point 2 Point, a race I've always wanted to do but have actually never done because it has conflicted with the Dakota 5-0, I think? How they decided on a picture of me from what looks to be a local SandCreek race, I will never know? It must be the cool mask on the jersey or something. *edit* All truths have been discovered on Facebook, ha! The photo on the bottle is from a Wednesday night SandCreek race. That is Jj(#4) and I lapping Adam Jeffrey of Southern Colorado Velo. Jj and I traded pulls for the full 60 minutes. It came down to a sprint finish and I pulled out of my pedal coming out of the last corner less than 100 meters from the line.

Speaking of the mask... "I thought it was a scary clown or a horse's head looking up from a trough." Kate's Real Food had a FaceBook contest about what the mask was and some guy said it looked like, "a horse's head looking up from a trough full of water." Haha! It is actually a Himalayan Buddhist mask, sometimes called a "happy mask". It is said to protect the wearer form anyone who would harm human life. I won't go into all the mask metaphors, or what I think the five little heads represent? The five senses? The five sheaths? I just thought it was cool and it spoke to me at the time. This is a picture I took of the very mask our design is based on, it is at the Mountaineering Museum in Golden, Colorado. I was at the Colorado Trail Foundation holiday party a few years ago and I took the picture then, it was another year or so before the mask made its way into the Bandwagon logo. Michael from Eon Studios and I worked out the drawing. We added a tooth here and took out a tooth there... I love how Primal used the mask in the new kits! Let me know if anyone you know ends up with one of those bottles.

Some actual bike related content

2012-01-22T17:18:00.000-08:00

Solid ride today with Kalan Beisel, Jason Hanson, and Fernando Riveroz Paez. Fernando had a little get off and found an armful of cactus. He is cussing at Kalan in Spanish in the above photo. So shortly after Fernando picked all the cactus out of his arm I slashed a tire, not a Schwalbe tho that would never happen! I've been riding the gf's Niner until I get a new bike, from Colorado Cyclist? I have some fresh Schwalbe on the way too, can't wait! They make every bike rip.

Kalan, Jason and I hammered the road ride yesterday. we were all a little tired after the effort yesterday. We were suppose to ride to Deckers on the road again today but the cold winds relegated us to the mountain bikes, good thing, we (Bandwagon) picked up a new rider and really nice kid. We have been riding with this Columbian ripper the last couple weekends and he needs a team... so the Bandwagon it will should be! Now I have someone to take to the front at the ProXCT races, haha, until Jason gets his game straight, haha again. I think he is on his own at the World Cups tho.

I facebook more than books face me...

2012-01-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

Pure Being

2012-01-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know if we will get to the ball thing tonight? We will work on some pure being tho! Yogas tonight and Thursday night.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:59:00.001-08:00

For a change of pace...

2011-12-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

For those of you not hiking the incline with the Navigator, a change of pace this New Year's Eve!

2012 bandwagon Racing Kits

2011-12-29T13:16:00.001-08:00

Primal Wear did an awesome job designing the new kits!!! We can't wait to see how good these arm warmers feel!

Thank You

2011-12-20T10:56:00.001-08:00

I would like to THANK Michael J Chavez and Jennifer Scovell Chavez, they have been a joy to work with over that last couple seasons. Michael is running the Leadville Trail 100 next year, wish him luck. Michael made this awesome thank you card that I had to share! They have also embraced the yoga community as part of their dharma!

Cat powered yoga

2011-12-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Urban Peak COS

2011-12-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

"Urban Peak Colorado Springs (UPCS) was incorporated in 2000 in response to an identified need for services supporting runaway and homeless youth in the Pikes Peak region."

Urban Peak has a bike program that they are asking the cycling community of Colorado Springs to help out with... Basically the youth can earn credit for a bike, or parts for their bike, by volunteering. They are meeting every Monday night at 7:30 to work on donated bikes, swap stories, and bake cookies... if we can get Stephanie over there, haha! UPCS needs donations of bikes, tools and/or parts. If you would like to share your knowledge about cycling and help keep the program moving along show up on Monday night or contact Daniel Byrd at Urban Peak.

CYCLO X Louisville, Colorado

2011-12-03T19:12:00.001-08:00

The second to last Colorado Cup race took place up near the People's Republic of Boulder on the mostly frozen tundra. What wasn't frozen was a muddy mess. The sun peaked out just before the start of the Men's Open race making things a wee challenging to say the least. There was a fairly high number of DNF's.

The start was really interesting with everyone trying to get into the tiny ribbon of snow packed singletrack that was ridable. I just hung at the back... the first few laps I was just cold and wet. I didn't have a spare bike and my pedals eventually turned to little square bricks of ice. It was borderline orgasmic when I would finally get clipped in after the run-ups. I added a few pounds to the bike by the end which made those run-ups delightful. I managed to stay off the floor some how. The day was more than enjoyable, 20th on a brutal day.

Yoga Giiiirrrrllllls and Boooyyyys - Music Video [HD]

2011-11-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

Pretty funny video from the "It's getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot" guy!

Speaking of yoga... I will be guiding a little yoga practice tonight, Tuesday at 7:30 pm. Check out Pranava's website for more info.

I've also updated my coaching page if you need to work on that all encompassing bike practice!

NaI'mGonnaStay

Castle Cross

2011-11-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Lucky #27 at the Castle Cross today. Slooooowly racing my way back into shape. A little R&R in Fruita for Thanksgiving and I should be good to go!? We maybe... Course was super fun today, a little bit of everything, more climbing than a normal cx race. Sorry no pictures, Lortie was cheering.

The Transformation of the Individual Self into the Universal Self...

2011-11-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Ganesha and Godzilla enjoy skipping little ninjas across the pond when there are not arguing over who makes the better curry.

The XC Ruined My Life page has been getting the love it deserves from Trevor, Jon and Stephanie. Give it a look see. We will also be updating the team page and partners page in the coming weeks.

I am now teaching a regular yoga class at Pranava Yoga Center on Tuesday night at 7:30pm. Stop by if you are in the Springs, your first week is free. I also will be subbing usually one other day a week thru the holidays and winter months.

Pikes Peak Velo Supercross

2011-11-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

And they are off.... I felt a little off right from the start. Not much snap in the legs today. Stephanie and I rode a ton last weekend, then I ran for a couple days and taught yoga a couple nights and my toenails needed trimming... On Thursday my legs felt a little flat. Today was kinda the same story.

The course was really fun. Lots of loose gravel to keep you on your toes. I ended up beating the guy in the green and a couple other victims of the course. I ended up 5th, thin crowd, we are a long way from Boulder and this wasn't a Colorado Cup race.

Had no snap on the run-up either. But overall I was loving being out there and I am feeling stronger every day. Now that the finger is really usable and there is no more pin sticking out of my finger, I can make my march back to riding like days of old.

Brett "Big Guns" Billings was on hand, he missed registration so he raced with the 3's after getting a pep talk from the Texas Road House armadillo.

Couple money shots

2011-11-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

These photos and many more can be found at OutThereColorado.com

On the pre-ride with Trevor there was a nice smooth track to push your bike up. I thought it was going to be easier to push rather than carry my bike, but after a few hundred racers softened up the track it was easier to carry the bike. I pushhed it up on the first lap then switched to lugging that hunck of aluminum up.

Fall Back Cross Race

2011-11-06T18:19:00.001-08:00

Trevor made his CX debut racing with the 15-18 juniors. We met on the bike path and rode over to the race in true Bandwagon style. It was a little brisk at 8am but kids don't care. One practice lap and he was off. I can tell his Dad has been working with him on his dismounts. After he gets the hang of coming into all those loose flat corners he will be rocking the 'cross seen.

The course was really fun with a couple little sections of singletrack to ease the soul into giving it everything on the run-up one more time. Trevor raced his way into 6th place, then hung out ALL day and cheered me on! It was a lot warmer by the time we rode home.

The run-up was pretty long which was fine by me, I'm running at about the same speed I'm riding at the moment, haha! I had a much better day today. Mostly due to a course that was suited a little better to my current level of fitness. I finished on the lead lap, didn't get DFL, got some UCI points, won some money and finished lucky number 13.

The finger is feeling dramatically better by the second. The barriers were pretty easy to hop.
Man everybody was screaming there lungs out like it was a World Cup! Especially Eddie Miller and his kid! THANKS to everybody who came out and cheered! I'll be inching my way closer to the front with every race.

USA Cycling is planning on putting on this race again next year, but the venue will have to change, as condos are going in on this property. To bad... There is another CX race coming to Colorado Springs on Movember, 19th. Just north of the Garden of the Gods at Flying W Ranch, should be reasonably rad!

I got schooled at the School Yard Cross

2011-11-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I had surgery to fix my damaged digit. They basically had to cut my finger off then sew it all back together. The pin holding the tendon to the bone just came out yesterday, so... might as well start racing the very next day! The doc said it "probably wasn't a good idea", but hey I gots to get back into shape and the 'cross season is slipping away. My finger is still plenty swollen and I don't have much mobility, but the swelling has been going down dramatically since they pulled the pin. Even after racing it feels much better.

Danny Summerhill led wire to wire.

I felt strong all the way thru the first set of barriers! Haha! Actually I didn't feel too bad. I haven't finished a race in almost 4 months. That's an eternity considering I have raced at least once a month, even thru the winter, for the past couple of years. I was hoping for a nice "easy" race where I could maybe sit in a little, maybe drill some tricky corners, find a rhythm let the adrenalin carry me... NOT so the course was insanely slow! Other than the one set of barriers that I had to dismount, I pedaled the whole course, even the downhill sections were so slow if you stopped pedaling it was like slamming on the brakes. The upside to the entire course being slower than snot was it was super easy on my finger, I didn't have to pull hard on the brakes or navigate those little tires thru any washboard.

It was delightful to get back out there and ride hard for a couple laps. It's a bit discouraging when the group you are usually riding with laps you with 3 to go... I've got no where to goes but up! 27th ouchie

Fall Back Cross tomorrow. I'm riding from the house and chaperoning our Jr. sensation in his CX debut.

Hold Please

2011-11-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

An oldie but a goodie. CX racing is coming to Colorado Springs in form of the Fall Back Cross race this Sunday Sunday Sunday. Sorry for the lapse! We will do lunch and catch up... soon.

Peak Poaching... then I get Bitten by a Dog

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

My last big ride before the 24hr National Championship race was to be summiting Pikes Peak via bicycle. I left my house just before 4am on what would be a most delightful fall ride... almost. The ride to the top, 14,110', is about 30ish miles, mostly uphill to the summit.

Sunrise over Colorado Springs

Bike and body feel just as good above timberline as they do down in the low lands.

Fall colors, yum...

Barr Camp for coffee.

There are always some characters hanging out at Barr Camp. Plenty of good reading material and the coffee is priced to move, step inside...

From the top of Pikes Peak it's a 13 mile descent back into Manitou Springs. Barr trail turns into a crowded expressway towards the bottom. I was yielding the trail on a switchback and some hikers stepped aside to let me by, as I rolled passed a dog decided he needed a piece of my arm for breakfast. I know what your thinking, and more than one person has said, "I thought you were the tamer of all beasts great and small..." Nope turns out I get bitten by fate like any modern man or woman. Ouch... Blood gushing everywhere I had to hike the last mile into Manitou, I was met by an ambulance as well as search and rescue. Turns out I wasn't going to die so Jon Hurly came and gave me a ride to the ER. The woman who's dog bit me made it down the trail in tears and apologized... She seemed like a relatively good dog owner and Buddy was a sweet dog he just got a little freaked by the bike. Having said that some pet owners need to take a little more responsibility for there time on this planet. If your dog gets freaked by anyone or anything, Barr trail is not the place to be on Sunday morning. The day before I was riding in Palmer Park and I come up behind this guy walking 2 dogs off leash AND he is wearing head phones!?? I understand that sometimes we get so caught up in our own internal bs that we think we are the only ones here but when you enter a public trail system with hundreds of other users... seriously! Everything you do, think or say effects everyone, everywhere...

Only a few stitches but my arm was really sore all week. Too sore to ride a mountain bike for 24hrs straight. I'm also taking some pretty powerful antibiotics that are making me extremely tired all the time.

If you have been following along... I crashed in the Colorado Trail Race damaging a digit, which lead to me abandoning the race. Well I figured I had broken said digit, but after most of the swelling and pain went away I kinda had a feeling something wasn't quite right. I was going to have it looked at after the 24hr race... but since I was in the emergency room anyway... "oh by the way I have this problem with the other hand as well". After an xray and the nurses eyes about popping out of her head and the doctor getting a good chuckle over my stupidity, the doctor shot the finger full of drugs but couldn't pull it back into place. I went to see a hand specialist and I get to have surgery once the dog bite heals. This is what they refer to as a severe dislocation! It still bends enough to use a break lever... They have to cut the tendons then reset the finger and sew me all back together. Riding won't make it any worse tho. Maybe I can crash and knock it back the other direction?

And so my 24hr racing debut will have to wait until next year. Bit of a shame I was feeling pretty good about the race. This has taken so long to get up on the website cuz I'm really bummed about not getting to race... seems like every time I have the ability to do something special in a big race, disaster strikes. It's a practice... same time next year!

24hrs of COS

2011-09-03T18:32:00.001-07:00

Just in case you've been living under a rock... The 24hr National MTB Championship race is coming to Colorado Springs. Not just C Springs but the race is being held at a park less than a 10 minute ride from my house. I'm racing solo, which means I get to pedal my by bike for 24 hours straight! They shoot horses don't they? This will be my first 24hr race solo. Although not my first time pedaling for 24hrs by any stretch of the imagination, I won a 12hr race a couple years back and was on the greatest 4 person SS team ever assembled! But I know a solo 24 campaign will be a whole different barrel of monkeys. I'm hoping the home court advantage works in my favor.

All the local heavy-hitters chimed in with their thoughts on the race for the local Peak Region Cyclist mag. You can also view the online version here, but you now have to pay per issue or buy a subscription. The mag is coming along and if the rest of the issues are as sharp as this one it will well be worth the moneys. The 3D version is still free so pick up a copy today.

Colorado Springs Cycling Extravaganza!

2011-08-27T19:28:00.001-07:00

So many great happenings around Colorado Springs this week. The USA Pro Cycling Challenge came to town on Monday and has been tooling around the state ever since. The Prologue was a spectacle to behold. I've been watching the race every day on the interwebs and it's a great pleasure to hear Phil and Paul wax poetic about the great state of Colorado!

We had many small races, art shows, movies and festivals to support the big race. I hope all these great events return next year. Coupled with all the spectacular mountainbike racing we now have as well, the Springs has gone straight up Euro. With so many happenings and races I don't even have time to hit all the races within riding distance of my house.

I'll be in Manitou tomorrow at the Assault on the Peak-Peak Region Cyclist Bike Festival/Swap. Maybe Ted and his ladies will show?

Pablo von Boeck flying the flag

Tall George and JC working the tall bikes at the People's Pedal Party

I won this sweet New Belgium cruiser. Thanks to Upadowna and New Belgium Brewing. They sponsor a cruiser ride that happens every Wedensday down at McCabes in dtown Colorado Springs. I went barely enough times to get entered into a drawing to win this bad boy! Ha! And Wowzers Badowzers I won! I have been lusting after one of these fine machines for awhile now, lust no more... It takes a third lung to pedal it uphill but those fat tires sure are groovy.

I've been riding the skinny tires on the road a lot while I'm waiting for the finger to heal up. On todays group ride everyone was so friendly out on the road! It was quite unbelievable. It really feels like we turned a corner and the motorists, racers, casual cyclists and bums sleeping under the bridge have all come to understand... we are one.

Grand Prix of Sprinting

2011-08-22T06:40:00.001-07:00

Couple shots from the women's keirin on Saturday night. I'll put up some more photos of all the festivities around Colorado Springs after todays Prologue.

CTR Report- Truth is the Color of Water

2011-08-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Another DNF for me! This years CTR went all wrong straight away. Jesse and I were pinning it off the front as soon as we hit the singletrack in Indian Creek. I like to ride right on someone's wheel, even through the techy sections and we came to a little log drop, I hesitated, took the wrong line and went straight over the bars. Wasn't a hard crash but I broke my middle finger. I was pretty sure the race was over right there and then. The adrenalin hid the initial pain. The sucker swelled right up and was unusable from then on.

I hit Bailey just behind Jesse and Ethan. The convenient store where everyone resupplies was closed "temporarily" ? This threw most everyone way off. I had brought enough food to get to Leadville and was planning a quick hit at the store anyway. Word quickly spread that there was another store 10 or so miles up the road. Jesse and I hit the liquor store for drinks. Ethan continued on.

I left town just after Jesse. The legs were feeling great and I motored up the pass! "Shawnee? Shawnee??? Why does that seem so familiar?" I was suppose to ride a gravel road that came out in Shawnee and skipped some of the dreaded HWY 285. Instead I cruised straight up 285 totally spacing the other road. I thought about throwing in the towel right there, broken finger, and now I had just ridden 5 miles uphill off course?

I don't use a GPS. I had a map for the Cataract/Coney section, mostly incase I got off course or had to make an exit stage left due to lightning or illness. I wrote down all the wilderness detours just incase but felt I new the route fairly well. In 2009 we went straight up the road, but last year they added in a little extra dirt so we wouldn't have to ride 285 the whole way. I just totally forgot. Going over the route in my head the weeks before the race I never went over that one! Oops!

I decided to go back and stay in the game. By the time I hit the top of Georgia pass I had passed most everyone back. I think I was in 5th. I can across Kerkove and he was not having a good day. The hand worked better than I thought on the descent off the pass. I could only go downhill at about 75% of my normal speed, but I was thinking I'd be reduced to walking certain sections. I had to use my index finger to break and help control the bike. My 2 outside fingers were becoming over worked. By the end of the day it was causing all kinds of issues with the rest of my hand, wrist and forearm.

I came across Kevin Thomas on the hike over Ten Mile. It was just Ethan and Jesse in front of us now and I think Ethan was right there in the darkness. There were fresh tracks coming out of the streams and I kept catching glimpses of a light up a head. It was nice to see a friendly face and have someone to ride with at night. That section is one of the longest hike-a-bikes. Lifting my bike up became a huge issue, I couldn't really grab the frame with the right hand. I love the ride off the top tho! Broken finger or not! I was hoping the swelling would go down enough over the next day to at least use that finger to break with.

Kevin and I had a mid-night snack at the bottom of Copper mountain. I took my glove off and showed him my finger, his eyes got real big and he said, "You are going to have some stories to tell!" We started up towards Searle/Kokomo and bivvied in a warm spot in the trees. Neither of us had sleeping bags, but it was a warm night. A couple racers went by around 3:30am. We got up at 4 and continue on. Kevin was on a mission. I told him I'd catch up but never did. My finger was done and the legs weren't feeling all that snappy. I didn't eat as much on day one, due to being preoccupied with all my other problems.

I thought I could make it to Buena Vista then make the call, but coming into Leadville it was obvious that riding a bike for another 3-4 days straight was not going to happen.

The first couple of days took it's toll on the heavy-hitters, most everyone who had ever finished in the top 5, dropped out! Other than Ezster she's tuff! She was the fastest woman and almost broke 5 days. Congratulations to Kevin Thomas! Now you know! Bandwagon's own Joey Ernst in his first CTR attempt just finished up in 5 days 15 hours, nice work! Look for some stories over on xc ruined my life.

Jon Csakany who had also dropped, he wasn't feeling well after being sick the week before the race, came and picked me up in Leadville. When he dropped me off at my house back in Colorado Springs it was raining cats and dogs. All my stuff went to Durango, so I was walking around the side of the house to break in and I was nearly struck by lightning! I saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground less than 30 feet away in front of my neighbors house!!! After all my adventures I get struck by lightning walking into the house, almost! Nice try! I didn't even feel it. True story!

The next day I was unlocking my commuter bike after drowning my sorrows in a delicious breakfast at Smiley's Cafe! The girl putting change in the meter had written on her arm "Truth is the color of water". "What the hell does that mean", I asked her? Thinking it was pure crazy talk. Well she gave me one hell of a story. The "short version" was about 15 minutes long. Standing on the curb she told me about a friend who was obsesed with finding the "truth". "Like you are going to find it under a rock or something." The story involved a homeless black man in Seattle that she had met under a statue in the rain, she bought him lunch, turns out he had the "truth" tattooed on his chest, something about an umbrella, more rain, stacks of notebooks with cryptic messages(there always are!)... and eventually someone says..."the truth is the color of water." It was a delightful story and what I realized later that morning was, by God damn God, truth is the color of water! Until next year.... for now the game is a foot!

Following the Colorado Trail Race made easy

2011-07-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

The race is about to begin! We roll out Monday at 6:30am. Throw a little brewers yeast on that popcorn and settle in for a week of watching your favorite dot crawl across the state of Colorado. A full boat this year, 75+ racers. If I was you I'd get an office pool going on how many will finish. I'd also put my money on Jakomait to roll in close to 4 days!

Follow the blips at TrackLeaders.com/ctr

For a your daily podcast check out Joe Polk over at MTB Cast.com I'll probably call in at some point, usually in the middle of the night when I need someone to talk to and a recording works just fine.

For much armchair debate, pictures and some very insightful commentary get on over to Bikepacking.net

If you haven't found the Bandwagon FaceBook page, do! Pablo will have some pictures of the start and be posting updates. There will be some other surprise updates as the week unfolds as well. Please post pictures of baked goods and send them along telepathically! But if your coming out to enjoy the race from the side of the trail, please look but don't touch, don't give the racers anything but a slap on the ass, wait that's touching. This is a SELF-supported race, don't drag it down.

The rig is packed and ready! I'll just wait here... wake me when it's go time. Osprey sent along an Escapist 20 for me to test on the race. Rad pack, our euro friends can already get there mitts on one, but we have to wait until 2012. The Escapist is wider and has a lower profile than the Manta. They got rid of most of the unwanted clutter, which lightens it up, perfect for adventure racing! In case you missed it I did a little Q and A over on the Osprey Bike Blog.

Breck 100 2011 edition

2011-07-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well sports fans as it turns out I wasn't quite recovered from my adventures down in Durango from a couple weeks ago. I went over the top of Wheeler in pretty good shape. By the time we hit the bike path at the bottom of the descent I was in 6th chasing Jesse Jakomait with Ezekiel. I started to realize I was in for a long day when I could barely hold his wheel going downhill on pavement! Once I hit the Peaks trail I could tell the power wasn't there, the smoking section started coming up behind me, Ha just kinding! Zach Guy had a great ride finishing 10th overall. Turns out he is friends with the Durango crew and a CTR veteran looking to have a strong ride this year.

I was planning on trying to just get thru the 2nd loop, but I really wasn't feeling it on the pavement heading back into Carter Park. Instead of digging a hole I might not be able to climb out of in 2 weeks, I decided to pull the plug. I felt really good on some short rides last week, the depth in the legs to race 100 miles just wasn't there. I rode Kenosha to Georgia Pass on the Colorado Trail with Tracy and Kristi today and felt pretty A-Okay. See ya at the CTR.

Eric Cutlip had a strong showing with a 10th place in the SingleSpeed class.

Jesse Jakomait was more than delighted with a 4th Place ride.

Colorado Springs had a strong showing! Someone from the springs was on almost every podium, among them Dan Durland 3rd SS in the 68 miler, giving Dax Massey the what for...

Junior State Champion

2011-07-11T08:44:00.001-07:00

Trevor Von Boeck takes the win at the Full Tilt in Telluride Mountain States Cup #6. He is now the 14 and under State Champion and proud owner of a really cool jersey! Other than that Bandwagon jersey of course...

She said the magic words...

2011-07-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

Band Wagon music is down in Durango, no relation... yet!

Joey and I took top honors in this years Durango Dirty Century. 1st and 1st!

After a neutral roll out from town Nick Gould pulled a select group up the road climb that leads to Hermosa Creek trail head. When we got to the trail Joey took off like a scalded cat. Eventually I ran him down on the trail and we hit the road at the end of Hermosa together. Chris McGovern, the new cycling coach at Ft. Lewis College, caught up at the first aid station and set the pace up Bolam Pass Rd. Joey and Chris put the hurt on me going up the road, but were snacking at the top when I arrived. We trudged thru the snow together on the Colorado Trail up to Blackhawk Mnt. There was a small group on horseback looking down upon us as we pushed up thru timberline. There is quite a dramatic ridge at the top and to see a group of horses at the top of a '12,000+ pass as your staring into the sun is quite surreal. We all checked with one another to be sure we saw what we thought we saw?! I assured Chris that it was bikini girls on horseback waiting with iced lattes. This was his first adventure of this sort...

It was a threesome for a few hours until we lost Chris shortly after the second aid station. For a more detailed account of the day check out Joey's write up. Joey and I spent the next 6 or so hours riding, snacking and refueling at the aid stations together, so it seemed fitting when we hit Kenebec Pass we call a truce for the final 25 miles, since it was looking like the Wagon was going to come out victorious either way. Then we could take it easy at the last aid station, shoot the breeze, swap stories...

The above picture and a couple others are courtesy of Jeff Kerkove. I think that is Ken Boyer in the picture they tied for 2nd. This is Indian Trail ridge the last really hard section coming into Durango. You can see the trail as it meanders thru the rocks, a lot of pushing but a lot of great alpine single track!

Sonya took this one back in the woods before Blackhawk. Snow drift after snowdrift, it was like ultra-cyclocross. Some were pretty tall and you had to post-hole up and over. ”Despite the insanely difficult course, there wasn’t a moment where I wished I was someplace else," said Miss Looney of her adventures that day. And those my friends are the magic words, it takes a lot of practice to get to that point, but when you're completely absorbed in the moment to the point of not wanting to be anywhere other than were you're at... then you've got it! Sonya is going to have a go at the CTR and with talk like that, she just might make it.

This is Jeff and his dueling GPS's coming down one of my favorite parts of Indian Trail Ridge. A smart man would probably walk this section, not risking death and/or tearing a sidewall, but you know me always throwing conventional wisdom in the toilet. Brappp!

After racing 12hrs on Saturday we had a day to rest and travel to Salida. The 4th is the annual Don ride, another 12hr adventure with some great riding on the Colorado trail. There were some big cornices up on the Crest and we had a hoot glissading down, bike in hand! Most people cache a cooler just past HWY 285 and lunch is served. Kevin Thomas and Marc Walker caught here rehydrating are a couple Salida SingleSpeed legends. I don't even think they will sell a derailuer to someone with a Salida mailing address. Watch out for Kevin in the CTR, he can fly! Wade and the Subculture Cyclery crew thru an awesome party complete with the Tour on the side of the Icehouse in downtown Salida and fireworks to finish off a great weekend!

Elk Park- Bike Camping at '12,000 FTH

2011-06-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

This plan was hatched at the last minute. Jc and Fred "the Brute" wanted to ride up to the top of Elk Park and watch a little of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb then head back down thru Jones Park. The top of the Elk Park trail sits at timberline and drops in off the Pikes Peak toll road. We did an out and back riding the trail in both directions. Most sane people shuttle such a route driving up the toll road. I decided to head up the night before and get in a little high-altitude camping. I camped at the same spot we bivied a few years ago. We tried to poach the highway in the middle of Halloween night a few years ago and ended up huddled around a fire just below timberline until the sun came up, long story...Ha! Anyway I was going to camp, get up at 4am-ish, poach the road to the top of Pikes Peak, come down Barr Trail and meet the gang at Barr Camp, then ride back up to Elk Park and continue on with the day.

I also wanted to get in some CTR "training". Try out some different light set ups, sleep very little way up high, ride a lot, push my bike, ride something stupid steep all loaded down. You know the drill. I didn't leave my house until 6pm so it was getting dark by the time I left Barr Camp that night. It was a beautiful night for a bike ride, not a drop of wind and still plenty warm at '12,000. We live in such an amazing place that you can climb to such heights From The House, see a life time worth of stars and ten life times worth of city lights aching their way towards Kansas.
Just before 4am I heard the sound of cars on the road already. It sounded like a few racers were poaching a couple extra practice runs. The wind had kicked up in the middle of the night. And I mean WIND. So I decided to hang in the bivy until the sun warmed my little corner of the mountain and shuck the idea of bagging the Peak. I rode back to Barr Camp to meet the gang. Jon and Fred had run across Adam Nurmi in Manitou, those 3 went up Elk Park while I kicked it at Barr Camp with a cup of coffee swapping stories with all the hikers and runners. After a couple hours I went up to meet them and ran across Logan and Brandon from SRAM. The whole world was out on that trail. You rarely see anyone out on Elk Park and rarely any bikers up at Barr Camp. I've never even heard of anyone riding UP Elk Park until that day, but it only takes one I guess. It was inspiring to see all my friends out there, it's a solid 3-4 hour climb to get up that high. Nice work you lazy bastards! We spent the rest of the day riding and pushing our bikes where no sane person will ever go... wait they're probably out there right now!

Speaking of the Colorado Trail. I promised you a Colorado Trail Race preview of sorts. Jefe and Ethan don't do the internet but look for those 2 to be crushing the race this year. They both just finished up the Tour Divide in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Wowzers! I'm not very good at devulging many details about my CTR preperations in this blog other than race reports and the occasional cryptic ride report. So here are some of the people that I know are racing the CTR this year. Some post a ton of detail and some just ramble on about nothing, but most have some amazing things to share! This is a photo of Michael Chavez taken by the Navigator, on one of the more serious sections of the Colorado Trail. You ride over ALL those mountains and then some. Michael and Jon will be smashing it!

Eric Cutlip and Joey Ernst on a delightful alpine cruise. Joey may be out but Eric is in and diggin the Acli-Mate. I do a horrible job of plugging the sponsors, but we picked up Acli-Mate mid-season and everyone is loving it! Seriously the stuff is delicious and works great. Orange-Mango bam!!

I was just sick, so now I won't be for the CTR, Ha! This is a pic of me leading Ethan and Jesse Jakomait thru Buffalo Creek. All in. Jeff Kerkove is working the camera and in for another go. His super sexy teammate, Sonya Looney is also going to have a shot at the CTR. We should get married just so I could take her last name! Speaking for fast chicks, Ezster will make all the men look bad again! Dejay Birtch, Kevin Thomas, Ryan Douglas, Shelman? and Andrew Carney will all make you realize you don't nead gears to get over them mountains. There may be some I'm missing or forgetting check Bikepacking.net

Ringing the Peak

2011-06-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

We had a solid group out on Saturday for our annual Ringing of the Peak, myself, the Navigator, e, Fred "the bruiser" Hackinson, Chauncy and Mark D'Angelo. Perfect day to be out on the trails. We hardly took any pictures, if you want to get a gist for what the RTP is all about check out this interview we did for KRCC a couple years ago. BTW there is a race going down on this very same trail come October. I'll be racing the 24hr National Championships which is on the same weekend here in Colorado Springs as well.

I think I have conned some of the gang into racing the Durango Dirty Century come July 2nd! Sounds awesome, out on Hermosa Creek and back on the Colorado Trail. I can't imagine a better 100 miles in the dirt.

Om is the eternal vibration of all forms of energy

2011-06-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Yours Truly will be guiding the flow of the yoke this Sunday at Pranava Yoga Center. If you haven't found your decoder ring in the bottom of your granola cuz you ran out of almond milk.... I'm teaching a yoga class, 8am... NOW the disciple of yoga is explained... Ha!

And in bike racing news... Sand Creek race tonight in Beer Creek Park. Saturday June 11th. brings us the Hotter than Habanero MTB omnium in Ute Valley Park. Some of the Wagon will be racing their little hearts out at the 3rd stop of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series in Castle Rock. The Sand Creek series returns to Cheyenne Mountain State Park on June 19th.

Lots of local racing so you should have plenty of time to swing by Pranava for a little yoga!

Sandcreek Sports Wednesday night Race

2011-06-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jj Clark and I went wheel to wheel for the full 60 minutes. In the end I lost out in the sprint. I felt really good considering I raced 64 miles on sunday! Pikes Peak Sports has the best coverage, check it. Clay Allison from Ascent Cycling took this and a few other amazing photos, check him on Facebook or something... or walk in Ascent and mention how you think the Wagon should be riding Rocky Mountain bikes!

Trevor smoked the 14 and under feild again. The kid is 3 for 3 and his dad has caught the racing bug. Pablo is know 2 for 2 in the Single Speed category this year!

The Growler IV

2011-05-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you already know I missed out on getting into the Growler, again... it sold out in 7 minutes. Dave said I was high up on the waiting list, but a couple weeks before the race my buddy(she always called me buddy) Mary Hoyle said I could have her spot. She said she couldn't get off work.... I sent her a text later in the week asking her to send an email to switch the entry, if she really didn't want to race? She replied, "K will do. i love you, Doug" which I thought was completely out of character, she rarely opened up to anyone. Mary took her own life a few hours later. Mary was a much loved member of our cycling community, a great bike rider and a little too crafty for her own good. I'm sure she signed up for the Growler in the first place because of my constant blathering about how awesome a race it is....Those that knew Mary best all agree that no one really knew Mary all that well. I think this photo says it all. I wish I had something eloquent to add to what has already been said, but I don't.

This is a shot of Charlie Dunn's hairy trunks. Many of us from Colorado Springs rode with the memory of Mary in our hearts. Mary would have rocked the Growler. A few months ago Mary and I ran the incline, on the run down Barr Trail she stopped mid-stride and started crying, "I'm never going to get better..." It's hard to comprehend what was going on inside of her head.

Charlie reminiscing with Sarah Uhl.

I broke the spring on my right pedal within the first 5 miles of the race. I rode the rest of the lap, some 27 odd miles, only clipped into one pedal. Which really wasn't all that bad on the descents, but climbing the steep, loose stuff took a huge amount of energy. I stopped at the aid station out on Skull Pass thinking someone would surely have a pedal to loan me but no luck. I thought about packing it in, but I figured I had to ride back anyway, might as well do it on the race course. When I finally came thru on lap 1, my main man Steve Crosby was waiting with some drinks and snacks, but was quite suprised when I needed a pedal off his bike. They were Time pedals and not Crankbrothers but would work. All we had was a multi-tool to switch the pedals with and my pedal was ON THERE! Not until a guy surfaced with a real wrench did we get the pedals switched out. I managed to stay in the top 15 or so on the first lap but after wasting so much time with the pedal swap, I don't think I headed out on lap 2 even in the top 30. I felt awesome all day. Once I got into the meat of lap 2 I realized how big a difference not being clipped in had made! It feels great to be riding so well, even when my numbers don't come up. I knew there was not much hope of chasing down a top 10 finish so I just tried to ride solid and have fun. I kept thinking 'Mary must have really wanted to go to not stick around for this'.. such an awesome course! I finished 21st. I truly believe you make your own luck. I think if you are truly engaged in the moment, you won't do silly things like hit your pedal on a rock, or insist on riding flimsy pedals that don't suit your riding style... Mary, stay sweet... see you next time.

Palmer Pimps and Ho's AKA Palmer Park SandCreek Race

2011-05-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

Clay from Ascent Cycling snapped this shot of me coming off the slab. Thanks to Ascent Cycling, Andy at SandCreek sports and all the volunteers who came out and sat in the drizzle, under gray skies ALL day. You guys rock!!

It was NOT a stellar day for me . I crashed 3 times on the first lap alone, all on uphill sections. The yahoo who designed this course thought we needed the MTB version of Hell Track, HA! One crash required a little trail side maintenance to return my brake lever to a usable position. I put together a reasonable second lap, but after catching my shoe on a branch and going straight into the terra-firma one more time mid-way thru lap 3 I decided to just cruise in, hopefully without being lapped by JHK. This day was not for me and I was willing to concede to just riding. I was treating lap 4 as a cool down lap. I stopped at one point to give Jon Watt my Big Air, as he was having some tire issues.

Jurgen even came out retirement for this one! Jurgen was the King of the Springs for much of the '90s. Jurgen still rides EVERY ride with the enthusiasm of a kid falling in love with cycling for the first time.

I believe the top 6 looked like this...
1.Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski
2.Kalan Beisel
3. Jj Clark
4. Mark Legg-Compton
5. Doug Ryden
6 Jurgen Bergeron

I realized that if you go into promoting a bike race with the idea of attracting a ton of riders so you can be rich and famous with the hopes of creating a major cycling event... 9 times out of 10 your plans will fizzle at best. But if you follow your heart, people will probably get behind you in ways you'd never expect! Not that I think every race should look like this one, but if you're going to race in Palmer you might as well run it on the trails we all go to ride week in and week out.

Heather Irmiger raced with the Pro Men and thanks to her having some sort of shoe problema, I did not get chicked.

Jon took an obscene number of photos of Heather.

Speaking of being chicked... Hillary Heinton had a great race. She rode this guys ass all the way thru the "hard" section and passed him just after coming off the slab, it was totally awesome!

Tracy Hackinson also had a great ride for the WMBA ladies, coming in 4th.

Pablo collected the unofficial Men's Single Speed winnings. We weren't sure wether Cameron Chambers was racing with the Pro Men on a SS and he wasn't at the awards ceremony, so..

Speaking of awards... I asked Andy if I could help raise some cash so the Pro Men and Women would at least win their entry fee back and hopefully we could draw a bigger more competitive field. He was NOT interested, so we went and did it anyway, on the sly, under the table. A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to all the sponsors, individual benefactors and racers who chipped in, you really made it seem like my ideas aren't so hair-brained and it's really not all that hard to come up with something cool, just follow your heart and your friends are probably going to get behind you.

JHK didn't want to play along, something about having to be back in Boulder... So Kalan was crowned Palmer Pimp. Taking home some pretty sweet prizes!

There was some debate about who won the women's race, so Hillary and Mary Hoyle shared the title of head Ho!

But it isn't about the winning... "Higher, faster, stronger... not higher, faster, stronger than your opponent, simply... higher, faster, stronger" - Bill Bowerman. I leave you with a couple paragraphs from an email I sent out recently, unedited to preserve the cuff of my shirt writing style....

I think the vibe of the race changes when you know the race promoter isn't walking away with all the money and they are doing everything in their power to ensure each racer has the best experience possible. Prizes and what not bring bigger more competitive fields, it's more entertaining for the fans, more fans and racers bring more media coverage, sponsors, etc... More people get inspired to go for a ride, by a bike, support our sponsors... you see were the circle is going, I hope! I think the future of racing leas in raising the level of the local and national scene. Sending all our good riders over to Europe, because that's where the best races and riders are, just is not a sustainable way to develop the sport. There was a time when all the Euros came over here to race, and more specifically to Colorado! Just ask Jurgen.

It's not about the money, prizes or silly trinkets. Racing makes me a better person, I think, Ha! I race to be the best I can be and being the best you can be is really about feeling as good as you can feel. And who wouldn't want to feel better than they have ever felt. When my friends are riding well it inspires me, they lift me up with there energy, I have no choice but to get faster and become a better person in the process. Hope all of you come along for the ride.

Palmer Pimps and Ho's

2011-05-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday Sunday Sunday Holla to find out more.

Front Range 60 RME #2

2011-05-08T07:16:00.001-07:00

Every year I say I'm never going to race the FrontRange 60 again, and every year I show back up. I generally prefer races with more rocks and roots, twists and turns.... this race course has maybe 2 rocks, one root and a couple twists and turns. The race was run in the opposite direction from years past which made for some really fast times. In years past this race has been a cattle drive, with so many people on the same 10 mile loop you spend the day wearing out the phrase "on you're left". But this year the shorter Battle of the Bear race was held after the marathon event. The Pro's also got to start up in the first start wave, which saved us a few 100 "on you're lefts".

I was looking to get in a good training race, not go out too fast and work on taking in enough fluids and calories for a longer race. Which seemed to work out and I had a little more fun than I planned on!

Kalan and Brady took off on the long climb half way thru the first lap. The rest of the top ten were left scrabbling for wheels. Kalan cruised in for the win in a mind numbing 3:33. An average speed of 17 miles an hour!

Some bees decide to take up residence on this bike!

I cruised in 14 minutes and change after Kalan for 8th overall. Derek Henderson pulled me around for a couple laps. Then I rode one alone. Half a lap with Yuki. Lap five I had my nose back in the wind and not much water due to a water bottle malfunction, the lids on some of the neutral bottles were highly defective! Then I tried to make the last one a fast lap. It will be interesting if they post the lap times to see if I accomplished such a feat. I felt great on the last couple of laps.

I won the old balls age group! Not by much tho!

Which means I get to dawn the series leader jersey for the RME. For those of you keeping score at home I'm know leading the Pro Men in the Mountain States Cup AND the 40-49 Men in the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series. I didn't set out to achieve either of those things, I'm just racing the races I like and that's how things are working out.

Our boy Shaun Motley squeaked onto the podium in the Single Speed division. Charlie Hayes took the win.

3 of the top five overall women.

Most of the top ten overall. left to right - Yours Truly, Yuki Ikeda, Brady Kappius, Travis Macy, Kalan Beisel, trevor Sheldon, Zachary Vestal, Charlie Hayes

Rabbit Valley Rally MSC #2

2011-05-03T09:36:00.001-07:00

The second stop of the Mountain States Cup also coincided with the Fat Tire Festival in Fruita. Both the Time Trail and Cross Country held out on the trails at Rabbit Valley are ripping good times.

I was 6th in the TT. I had a pretty clean run other than catching my 30 second man almost immediately. He wasn't to keen on letting me by. Mountain bike TT's are kind of luck of the draw about whether you get stuck behind a slower rider at the wrong time. He really only cost me 10-20 seconds which wouldn't have meant slipping into 5th. I think if we are going to lay down all that cheddar for a TT we should get seeded based on the overall series standings and be sent off in 1 minute intervals.

I went into town to check out the festival and ran into a group of 3 from Boulder county who had set out to ride from Vail to Moab via the Kokopelli Trail. They turned back due to a clogged water filter after some complications at Silt Creek. I had been shut down on a tour several years ago due to ALL my water purifying devices going south, so I could sympathize.

This young man from the Bay area had some questions about the Kokopelli trail. He had flown in, with plans of riding from Fruita to Moab. After he heard how technical the initial 20 miles of trail were he was having second thoughts. His set-up was not exactly singletrack friendly and he didn't really have any mountain biking experience. He said the only other place he would live other than the "Bay area" would be Boulder, Ha! So I'm guessing he didn't even leave town. You know I can't resist taking a dig at Boulder. I'm guessing he caught a ride to Moab and went rafting or something.

Clear skies but chilly temps brings us to the XC. Kelly Magelky lead us down the righteous path, or at least to the first climb. Kelly took a massive pull at the start of the race and I thought he would surely have to drop back, but he went on to win the race, ridiculous effort! After the first little roller, I looked back and only the top ten were still around. Kelly tried to lead us down the path of the forsaken, by taking a wrong turn, which shook things up a bit. As we climbed up to the ridge I was thinking it would all come back together on the descent into the valley. I went by a couple kids, but things never came together the way I thought they would. When we hit the valley floor, the front 3 where stuck together like glue. Mike West was just ahead of me chasing anoher couple guys who weren't really riding together either. I was stuck out in the wind but since everyone else was in the same boat I didn't really care. Things almost came back together when Mike caught the other two. One of the kids caught me from behind and one from the front group dropped back and I had a mile or so to regroup for the big climb out on the Kokopelli.

I was feeling good about toping out on the days toughest climb well within the top ten. I rode with a couple other guys for several of the most technical miles. We came across Tad Elliot floating in the water up on the ridge. One of his teammates had a serious crash behind me and there were but two of us.

By the time we dropped into the Western Rim I was thinking I could easily cruise in for a top 10 finish. As we wound around the rim I could see a couple other riders and the top 5 was right there. About the time I was thinking a strong push would put me in the top 5, Tad had returned from the dead. I guess the 2 time U23 National Champion didn't want to die in the desert. Once Tad came by I realized I wasn't really in the mood for pushing thru the pain for another half hour. One of the Trek Store boys went by, yes from Boulder most likely. I could tell the other guys were fading, but so was I. I was happy to ride in without incident to bike or body. I could live with 12th on the day.

And I am currently leading the Mountain States Cup .

2011 Voodoo Fire from the house

2011-04-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

And so goes the tradition of riding 60ish miles down to Pueblo to race mountain bikes. Steve Crosby and Jon Csakany came along for moral support and the adventure of it all.

It took us 4hrs at a fairly leisurely pace, door to campsite. Not many hills between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The climb up to the rez is the only significant climb.

Adam Nurmi, in true bikepacking virgin style, 'just strap the tent to the handle bars, your sleeping bag to the seatpost and off you go.' Maybe an Osprey pack to pick up the slack.

My lips got a little chapped, I think that brought about my melt down on lap two the next day. Jon's bike doesn't see enough camera time, what a lovely shade of green.

Crosby DID pack an espresso maker and a 10 inch frying pan but had to bum a pot for his tortellini. Come on Steve? I hope you are more prepared next time!

A tasty cup o' tea, then Jon and I bivvied in the pea gravel next to the play set. Softer that your mother's bosom.

Joey and Sandhya drove in from Durango. Joey had enough of the race after a lap or so.

Espresso and gummy bears the breakfast of race fans around the globe.

The day before Easter I had to give Daniel Matheny the rabbit ears at the start. Daniel was crushing it, but was slowed significantly by 3 flats. He still beat me tho. And he flatted 3 times last weekend, that has to be some kind of record.

I set the pace for most of the first lap. I was feeling just fine, but heading out on lap 2 the legs weren't there, I don't think the ride down had much to do with it. I probably could have eaten a little more the night we arrived and a LOT more for breakfast, but you know... live and learn. For most of lap 3 I was feeling better, I rode with Paul Gorbold, who eventualy finished 8th, thru the Outer Limits. It was nice to be able to stay on someone's wheel for a change, on lap 2 Kip and Matheny both dropped me on downhill sections of trail, so embarrassing! Just when I thought I was going to be able to salvage a top 10 finish the lights went completely out, the world started spinning and I had to sit at the side of the trail for a spell. Less than 5 miles out of 69 to go, I completely bonked. Normally I can fake my way though the last couple of miles when need be, but this was the first time I've ever been reduced to sitting by the side of the trail during a race. I eventually limped in and Matheny came back by for about the hundredth time on the day. I crawled in for 20th overall.

I still wanted to ride home, I new my lack luster performance had everything to due with the lack of proper fuel. So we hit a mexican restaurant in downtown Pueblo for some serious refueling. And just to make sure I was uncomfortably full for the entire ride home we hit the connivence store on the edge of town as well. Adam and Jon both had flats on the way back. It looked like we were going to beat the weather, but after one last stop in Fountain, for a much welcomed Vanilla Chia, the last hour or so was spent riding into sideways snow and freezing rain. Good times! Wish you were there!!!! Jon paced me the ENTIRE way back from Pueblo, thanks that was awesome. Once the weather hit we left Adam and Steve for dead, but I think they made it in. I hope Adam and Steve recover enough to ride with us again. Jon and I kind of have a 'that's the last time I'm ever doing that' effect on people. Until next time...

Voodoo Fire

2011-04-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

The Wagon is riding down to Pueblo on Friday afternoon. We are rolling out of Poor Richard's at 2pm. Come along if you want! We are riding self-supported and camping at the rez on Friday night. The Voodoo Fire mtb race charges off the line at 8am, Wish me luck I'm racing a 70 miler then "riding" home on Saturday afternoon. These are a couple photos from my trip a couple years ago. I rode down and placed 3rd in a shorter version of this race. In one of my proudest moments of 'imitation is the greatest form of flattery' Jon Csakany and a few other loons rode down and raced the following year!

We are rolling at least 4 deep this year, seems like it's tradition. When I started the team I had dreams of not only having a team that would ride a few miles to a local race, but having a group of brave pilots that would be willing to ride a good 60ish miles and camp out the night before the race without giving it much thought. Thanks for playin along!!!

And it will be Earth Day, so what better way to travel?

The Gazette

2011-04-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Christian Murdock took a great shot that ended up on the front page of the Gazette. The next Mountain states Cup race is out in Fruita it should be dope, see ya there! Unless you're going to Texas to chase UCI points.

The new kits came in just after the Cheyenne Mountain race. Look for them on the interwebs soon.

Cheyenne Mountain Explosion XC

2011-04-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

The video and all the photos are courtesy of Brian and Tim over at Pikes Peak Sports. These guys do an amazing job of providing coverage of all the local events.

Russell led us out and I sat in behind Kalan and Brady. Kalan proceeded to almost go over the bars as soon as we hit Medicine Wheel. Shortly there after Brady had a little get off and I squeezed around him. By the time we came out of Medicine Wheel, Mitch had caught up to me. Russell and Kalan where just ahead us us. Mitch bridged up but I figured a more geriatric pace was the best course of action. Brady passed me near the top of the climb. I also realized on the first lap that I had forgotten to bring my spare tube and multi-tool!?

I looked forward to airing out this little rock garden on the descent every lap. I yo-yo'ed back and forth with Kelly Magelky, Collin Cares, Collin Osborn and Skyler Trujillo for the first couple of laps. Kelly was fresh off a plane from Spain, wasn't even planning on racing and rode 4hrs the day before, so he wasn't at his best, but he said that this was one of his favorite races.

Did I mention I designed the course. It was so good to see everyone enjoying a day at the races that I had a hand in planning. The Mountain States Cup has done itself a great service by letting Keith Darner take over the reins. I've known Keith forever, he is the best! He gave me the nickname 'Mr. Smooth' when I was racing 4x, which quickly changed to 'Hot Tamale' when I started bringing him tamales as an offering to the often thankless work of race promoter.

I started lap 3 in 6th pace 90 seconds down on the leaders. I was riding most of the course in the big ring other than Medicine Wheel and the steep single track on Cougar's Shadow. The third time thru the Medicine Wheel section I spaced shifting into the small pie. I think I banged my chain on a rock that time thru. I also totally shanked the little ravine on the third and fourth laps.
Jay Henry and a couple others caught me at the top of the course on the third lap. This is when my chain broke. So sad! And with out a tool I started running and/or coasting back down. It took forever for anyone to catch me. A couple people passed. I probably coasted for 2 miles before Daniel Matheny came by and offered up his chain tool. Daniel had a great race finishing 11th! In my opinion Daniel is one of the best coaches over at CTS, great guy, much positive energy! Thanks for the tool!

I had some issues getting the chain fixed in a timely manner, but was intent on finishing the race. Once I got rolling again I picked off a couple of riders on the final lap and finished 17th.

Mitch Hoke took the win for the second day in a row! This is some of his fan club from Colorado College. Kalan is in the back ground coming in for the deuce!

Mountain States Cup #1 TT

2011-04-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Cheyenne State Park TT podium, 1st Mitch Hoke 2nd Colin Cares 3rd Doug Johnson

I was more concerned about Colorado Springs bragging rights than placing well. I was hoping to come up with a good enough ride to beat Mitch, but it was not to be. Mitch is an awsome bike rider and one of those guys you really don't mind losing to.

This is a shot from Pikes Peaks Sports of me poaching a little warm up. They have the full story and tons of great photos here. Tomorrows a new day. The weather looks dicey and all the local heavy-hitters should be in attendance. Honk at ya later!

He who has fun never gets tired

2011-04-02T19:46:00.001-07:00

Typical April ride with the gang. 8hrs of meandering thru the woods with a pizza stop at the end. Some sweet new trails, a torturous hike-a-bike, we got lost at least once in a dead end canyon with no way out except our old friend... bush-whack straight up the mountain to where we think the trail is... and it was. Good times!

With a little help from my friends...

2011-03-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hello All, I've been helping out Keith with the Mountain States Cup race that is coming our way. We need volunteers for the race at Cheyenne State Park on April 8-10, course marshals, parking, set-up, tear-down, etc... Food and beverages will be provided. If you can email Keith with your phone number and which day or days you are available that would be great. Please forward this along to any volunteering types!

Keith Darner keith@racemsc.com 719-221-1251

Bike races DO NOT happen without volunteers. I think this is a great venue and the right time of year for a big event like the Mountain States Cup to come to Colorado Springs, with your positive energy I think we can turn this race into something special.

Hope to see you out there!!

This is a shot, courtesy of Alan Keffe, from the Rabbit Valley time trail last year, which I won! The Cheyenne Mountain TT is going to be dope. The course is a blast if I don't say so myself.

FRC Bike Show

2011-03-21T11:39:00.001-07:00

The Front Range Cyclist is the brain child of one Mr. Jon Severson. The 1st 3rd annual (he was part of Peak Region Cyclist) bike show went down on saturday March 19th. I was trying to find someone to bring me a table for our booth, so I could do the whole human powered thing and pull all the schwag in a trailer attached to my commuter bike. The night before the show when no tables were materializing, I was sitting at home on my couch, looking down at my coffee table and I thought, 'there is a perfectly good table right there, and I'll bring all the junk that is already on it and have some sort of theme going on'. I brought along my aloe plant and my new orchid, her name is Iris. In the marketing coo of the century I was placed in between the WMBA ladies and Yeti Beti. Not such a bad way to spend an afternoon.

The reading list was as follows, The Art of Losing poems of grief and healing - Kevin Young, The Death of Marco Pantani- Matt Rendell, Sex, Sin and Zen- Brad Warner, Andy Pruitt's Complete Medical Guide for Cyclist, The Colorado Trail Guide Book, Flight- Sherman Alexie, Dreams for Dummies, Thrive the vegan nutrition guide to optimal performance- Brendan Brazier, Bhagavad Gita- Eknath Easwaran Dreams for Dummies came in handy! Some tea and incense just to give it that homey feel. The whole day made me think I should just have a regular day where people just drop by the house for tea and we talk about silly books. The bikes are really just an excuse to get together.

Kennon trying out the velocar

The race promoters... more to come about the upcoming races in Colorado Springs. I designed the courses for the up coming Mountain States Cup race. Thane from the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series offered me a job teaching yoga in Nicaragua. Long story...

Sarah Martin digging the Kate's Real food!

Jesse Parker, my favorite shot from the weekend.

I'll have the new t-shirts up on the store soon.

More pics can be found on Facebook and/or Pikes Peak Sports.

Doug and Keith

Doug's girls

Allen received the volunteer of the century award. The award was hand made by our very own Jon Csakany.

I've never even been to New Jersey?

2011-03-10T11:11:00.000-08:00

Most of the other sponsors are on the rear pockets. More to follow...

Masking

2011-03-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

I appreciate all the feedback about the mask/logo over on FaceBook. I'm not sure if the pockets at the Wagon are deep enough to use more than one version. I do like the one with the logo in the teeth, but it wouldn't be very readable. Not that I'm really into the whole "branding" thing. I was thinking of using a fairly large version on t-shirts.

We will most likely use the version with the Bandwagon logo floating over head. The new kits are going to feature our new friend. This is a Himalayan Buddhist mask; it's said to protect the wearer from anyone that would harm life. How cool is that! Get yours today, or errr... in a couple weeks when they get printed up. The first place that you are going to be able to get your grubby little mits on one of these finely crafted garmets is the Front Range Cyclist Bike show on March 19th. We will also be handing out various items from our sponsors, including a grip of those tasty Tram Bars!

Oh AND all proceeds from merchandise sales go into getting the team to the races. So your purchases are going to a great cause in a round about way!

Let's Ketchup shall we?

2011-02-27T18:48:00.001-08:00

Pretty rad ride today! Rode the Cascade Drop with Kalan, Mitch. Michi, JJ Clark and some cat from CC, Daniel, but he dropped in at Williams Canyon because he had to catch a yoga class at Pranava(you may want to check out their friends and photo pages just for good measure). Small world! Sorry no pictures from the ride it was a pretty tight group. We made quick work of a 13 mile climb, then laughed and hollered all the way into town. Kalan, Mitch and I took a little extra tour in Red Rocks. Too much fun, can't believe we have the nerve to call this work! Totally feels like we are getting away with something.

The day before it was more Springs madness with a different crew. Pablo, shown below in the first picture with the only pack any self respecting mountain biker would ever wear, shot the rest of the pictures from the ride.

One Mr. Dug Johnson

You can never have to many Doug's on any one ride, Dougie Ryden dropping in.

Jon"the navigator" Csakany

My x-wife's bff was in town for STU. Her name is also Jenny and they share the same birthday. I picked Jenny and her friend Sara up from the airport, don't get me started on Jenny's and Sara's, HA! Anyway Jenny went for a spin in the velocar at Angletech.

Lastly, a couple shots of Emily from yoga teacher training. Csakany was saying something over on FB about the devil having "red rope hair, jawbreaker eyes, and cotton candy thighs..." Emily is the epitome of that statement. Go ahead laugh, she thinks it's funny too.

We're all connected, duh...

2011-02-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last summer I was up in Breckenridge pre-riding the Firecracker and/or Breck 100 race courses. After a full day on the bike I was milling about the mean streets of Breckenridge and I ran into this woman selling some cool hand knitted hats. I asked her how much they were? "$20", she replied.
"$20!", I gasped. I was just trying to be cute, but she thought I was being cheap and wanted to barter.
She said, "How about you pay me what you think it's worth."
"$20 is more than fair!" and I was off with my new favorite hat. She gave me her card as well and it turns out she is also a photographer and founder of Shoot Cameras Not Guns. "Shoot Cameras Not Guns is an organization focused on teaching photography in conflict areas in the US and abroad as a tool for empowerment through storytelling, accurate journalism and self-expression."

There is an exhibition of photographs from her trip to Kenya happening in Breckenridge this weekend. If you are near by check it out. I think the whole idea is bloody brilliant!

A few months later I was sweet talked out of said hat by a Russian girl whom I met on the mean streets of Vegas while she was taking photographs of neon glitter. Both the hat and the girl are now in Moscow. I'm here, you are there and the photos from Kenya are in Breck. Got it? Good, HA!

Wolverine Farm Publishing Presents "Don't Just Sit"

2011-02-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

One more from the fort. Silly northerners!

Matter Daily

2011-02-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

Matter Daily

I've been working on getting all the links up on the partners page. If you know of somebody doing what should be done for the sake of doing it, holla and I'll throw them up. Not all the sponsors have sent me their logos, hint, hint, and there are still a few strays out there.

CLOUD CULT - JOURNEY OF THE FEATHERLESS (Live)

2011-01-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

some words to chew on...

Pueblo Rez

2011-01-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

I have a new fancy pants camera! I've been taking a lot of pictures trying to figure out how all the buttons work. Here are some shots of the gang from Sunday's ride. I figured you could use a break from my cryptic commentary, but brace yourself I have some thoughts on the up coming race season!

Small Faces Big Hearts

2011-01-24T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ponderous Posterior 50k

2011-01-16T21:26:00.001-08:00

I’ll give you the long winded version of the day. You are probably asking yourself why in the name of Godzilla are you running? I took up running a few years ago to train for the CTR. There is a ton of hiking don’t you know? After spending much of my life as an anti-runner, now I run a lot in the winter, it’s easier dealing with the cold and ice. I fell in love with the simplicity of just running... shoes, jacket and maybe a bottle, you’re off. Not as much gear required, even in the middle of winter. I find running relaxing and I’m not as attached to the out come, compared to cycling. I usually enter a few running races thru the winter months just to keep myself entertained. I always ride to the races as part of my own private duathlon. I think it has made me a much better bike racer. Mountain biking requires such a huge bag of tricks and every little thing makes you better.

The thing that attracted me to the PP 50k was the route. I didn’t hear about this race until a few days before it happened. Once I read the route description I was in! Some of the best trails in the area. I’ve always wanted to do a long trail run. In fact I'd like to run the Leadville Trail 100 some day, I'm thinking when I turn 50. I'd like to have a couple years to devote to running. The longest running race I’ve ever done was 20k. My longest run, time wise, before Saturday was about 2 1/2 hours, and that was last winter. I have been running fairly regularly 3-4 times a week, but an hour here or an hour and a half there. The distance or running time really wasn’t much of a concern, but with all the vertical I was worried my calves or hamstrings would tighten up and I’d be relegated to a long walk back into town. I usually run from my house, maybe a leisurely saunter around the lake in the A.M. to listen to the ice moan as the sun hits. Not much vertical gain.

The route was from 31st street, through the Garden of the Gods along the ridge, up Biker Friendly, Rampart Range Road to Williams Canyon, down Williams to the connector trail, over to Waldo Canyon, counter clockwise thru Waldo to HWY 24, cross the highway, up Long Ranch Road, down Barr Trail, traverse the Intemann Trail to Red Rock Park, back down to 31st. 7,000' of vertical gain.

I’ve ridden all these trails literally hundreds of times. Although I hadn’t been on Long Ranch Rd. in at least 5 years or so. Long’s is about 3 miles straight up. It’s an old service road that leads to the Experimental Forest and is no longer used. I’d never heard of any sane person going up it in the name of fun. But up it we would go.

There were three start waves, 7, 8 and 9am. Twenty to thirty people in each set. I left at 8. Anton Krupicka, Scott Jurek and a few other ultra-oddballs left at 9.

A group formed at the front containing Matt Carpenter. I was avoiding setting the pace, but somehow always ended up back at the front. Just before we hit Biker Friendly, this trail climbs rather steeply up to Rampart Range Rd., I stopped to take my jacket and gloves off.

By the time we had hit RRR I had caught back up with everyone but the front group of 3. I dropped into williams with some lad who’s name I did not catch. We descended past some of the earlier starters. I was having just as much fun on the technical singletrack by foot as I usually do on my bike. Maybe more so on this day. When I hit the connector trail I was quite surprise to see I had caught back up to the group of 3 that contained Matt Carpenter. When we hit the top of the connector, Matt stopped for a nature call and his companions jumped on my heels as I went by. I thought they would be chomping at the bit to get around me on the little climb that leads to the high point of the Waldo Canyon trail. Instead we jogged along at a chit-chatty pace. Once over the top I noticed I was opening up some gaps as we rolled up and down. I figured I needed a little cushion going into Longs. So I pinned all the little tricky sections of trail. Mary Hoyle and I had been running Waldo together almost every week, this was one of the only sections of the course that my feet knew better than my tires.

When I hit the Waldo parking lot it felt like I had a few minutes on the other three. It took me a little under 2:15 to get to that point. Brain Crolley was driving the resupply vehicle for me and his wife, Marny, who was the only woman to finish the entire 50k as far as I could tell, but official results were sporadic at best. Never the less she came in at just a few ticks over 7hrs.

I had barely reached into Brian’s trunk when the group of 3 came gliding across the parking lot. There was a neutral resupply vehicle there as well, but those three didn’t need to stop. I ditched my pack and opted to carrying a bottle, a bar, a gel and a little pouch with endurolytes and a few iodine tablets. I was using the pack mostly to carry extra clothes, but it was so warm out that even hiking through the snow at 9,000’ I was fine in shorts, a t-shirt and arm-warmers.

I had the front 3 insight, but promptly made a wrong turn as I was digging in with my head down. I went a few hundred yards up the road we usually take when we do the Ring the Peak Trail. Instinctively I turned around.

Longs was a long slog. I never really pushed my pace too much, not knowing the climb all that well I was erring on the side of not completely blowing up. Matt crushed everyone and was long gone. At the start he said he was just running back to his house in Manitou and not doing the whole route. Not that I have much of a chance of running uphill with that guy no matter the circumstances. The climb lasted for an eternity, the steep parts were not at all runnable for me and even the shallower sections were nearly impossible to run in the snow.

As I neared the top of the climb I reached into my rear pocket for my bar so it could warm up in my hand. I wanted to eat it on the way down Barr trail on the other side, but it had fallen out at some point. I wasn’t able to zip the pocket on the back of my shorts with the bar in there, I was thinking it wouldn’t fall out going uphill, wrong. I drank most of my water on the way up, I was planning on having little or no water for the trip into Manitou, but I wasn’t to stoked on the idea of no water and no food, other than the gel, which I finished off right away. I scooped up some snow, hoping it would melt enough to have a few sips on the way down, wrong again. It just turned to a block of ice inside my bottle.

Coming down Barr I ran past JJ Clark, who had just hiked the incline. He ran with me the rest of the way down, having a friendly face to talk to took my mind off my refueling issues. I told him what I was up to and he seemed to think I was crazy... it’s been suggested. He asked me how my legs were feeling and I said not too bad, but I was feeling the effects of running for almost 4 hr.s on only 400 calories, I had 3 other gels on the way to Waldo. Where is Waldo anyway? Brian was suppose to meet me in Manitou with his glorious trunk full of treats. I trotted up to the spring next to the Intemann trail. No Brian! I filled my bottle with some spring water and figured I’d press on with just water and endurolytes. Glory days, Brain pulls up. A fresh bottle, bar and gel, one of Marny’s muffins and I’m off. Thanks Brian. Brian also makes finely crafted bicycles with a really cool logo.

Traversing the Intemann over to Crystal Park road sucked it! I was fighting off some cramps and the dreaded bonk the whole way. I took another wrong turn on a section of the trail that is diverted through the neighborhoods, heading down a dead end street, the same dead end street I’ve mistakenly gone down a million times on my bike!

The trail eventually comes out in a cemetery, I was hoping the undertaker would be digging a new hole and I could just jump in. I think I ran downhill out of the cemetery slower than any other part of the route. Once I got over to Crystal Park road I started feeling better, the calories were taking hold. The other neutral aid guy drove by and I refilled my bottle. Just when I needed it most a little tail wind pushed me along and I was reborn. I had about 6 miles to go, but it was 6 miles I knew like the back of my hand. Although I’d never run a single inch of it I knew it was going to be fun again.

A big part of the allure of ultra events is completing something your not so sure you can do. It’s hard to describe that feeling of coming over the final climb... I rolled in at 5 hours and 43 minutes. Originally I thought I had the 4th or 5th fastest time, maybe 7th 0r 8th 10-20 minutes behind the greatest ultra-runners of all time. Even if they were just out for an easy 50k, in the end it was a great day on the trails with some of the best runners. My calves aren’t too sore and it looks like I’ll only lose one toenail.

Here is a pick from Pikes Peak Sports website. Scott Jurek(far left) and Anton Krupicka(the guy in the center who needs a good barber) are two of my biggest inspirations in the ultra world. These two know that you run with your heart not your legs.

Carl Maggiore | LAMonitor.com

2011-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Carl Maggiore | LAMonitor.com
It was an honor to ride with this cat!!!!

The Man Who Runs with the Vacuum and Other Tales

2011-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

The other night I saw the man who runs with the vacuum. For those of you who haven’t heard this one; there is this guy who runs in my neighborhood, I always see him at night, sometimes as late as mid-night. When I first started seeing him a few years ago he was always running with a vacuum over his shoulder, full up-right job, chrome base and paisley bag. Originally I thought he was running with the vacuum to transport it from point A to point B and it was late and snowing, hence the running. But after seeing him a few times running with the vacuum I realized that is just what he does, he runs with the vacuum, at night, in the worst of weather. This is a true story btw. If the weather is reasonable I see him after 10p. When there is nothing but snow and ice covering the earth he runs a little earlier but still after the sun has set. Yes there is more to the story, another time perhaps. So the other night when it was about 4 degrees outside; he was running, not with the vacuum this time, but it was after dark, although not that late. I was riding home from a post work grocery run. He stares me down like he knows me or at least recognizes me. Our eyes always meet. I can’t ever seem to force the handlebars into turning around to introduce myself. To be honest I’m a bit scared of the man who runs with the vacuum and as you know, I’m not that great at introductions anyway. We are ALWAYS traveling in opposite directions, normally I’m going west and he east. This time it was I who was traveling toward the east. Never north and south? Never. There will be a day when we are going in the same direction, both running with empty hands.

Why can’t I just post something simple like power graphs, or pictures of my dog? I don’t own a dog for one and SRM isn’t willing to cough up a power meter for the Wagon. This isn’t a bunch of totally random nonsense, wait maybe it is... The man who runs with the vacuum is connected; at the very least to the story I want to tell.

The racing season is shaping up nicely for those of us who live here in Colorado Springs. I’m taking a yoga teacher training program over at Pranava. Check this link for some sweet pics! Mike is Japanese and takes pictures like a tourist on the Las Vegas strip. Before you get all excited, that's one of his jokes. The program is all day Saturday, Sunday and Wednesdays nights every other week more or less thru the middle of April. Which means I’ll miss the Leadville Winter Series and winter running series. I think not racing as much over the winter months will leave me fresher when spring rolls around. Having said that I’ve decided at the last minute to run a 50k trail race this weekend. I’m thinking it will take in the neighborhood of 7hrs to complete. I’ve never run more than 2hrs at a time so it should be an adventure. Anton has the details. One of the best blogs on the webs, check it anyway. Typically I’m flying in the spring and tend to get burnt out towards the middle of summer. It’s hard to focus for that long, so not racing as much in the winter/ spring should leave me with more focus for going deep during the summer months. My yoga practice has definitely been helping with my bike practice! Learning to take what I need from any given moment and leave the rest behind, kind of like you should be doing with these words.

The Mountain States Cup is coming to Colorado Springs! I’m predicting a half dozen pro riders in the top ten on the men’s side. Maybe more if you consider Mitch Hoke and Colin Cares Springs residents. It’s not much of a stretch to say either Kelli or Katie stand a shot at winning the women’s race. The first 3 MSC races are looking pretty tight. I can’t wait to get back over to Fruita and race again, the course is dope! The main focus of my season will be much as it was for last year. I think these words still ring true. Did I mention I won the Rocky Mountain Endurance series last year? Thane has some great races on tap, the Breck 100 being one of the best. Don’t you guys think someone besides Josh should win?

If I survive the CTR there is the Ring the Peak race.

The Air Force Academy will be hosting the 2011 24hr National Championship Race. You all know I’m not a big fan of the 24hr format, but when the curtain calls, what’s a boy to do? Actually I really like the trail and it will be fun having a huge race like that in our own back yard!

As for the rest of the Wagon check out the racer profiles or XC ruined my life to see what those kids are going to get into this season.

Rescue Run 2011 Day One

2011-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

Now doesn't that look like fun?!? The temperature couldn't scare off a few hundred brave souls. It was a pleasant 9 degrees at the start. I wussed out on hiking the incline with JC and company last night so perseverance was on full reserve. I finished 12th besting last year's finish by one place. My time was a few second's slower than in 2010, but this years course was covered in snow and ice. I think I'm finally getting the hang of running downhill. I just image I'm a marionette doll, feet dangling above the ice. I still got torched by two or three guys on the run into the finish. Full results are here. Here is the top 20 for your entertainment.
Overall Gender Age-Group
Place Place Place Bib Name Age City State Time
1 1 1/15 1013 Peter Maksimow 32 Manitou Spring CO 0:36:44
2 2 1/10 1134 Joe McDaniel 28 Colo Springs CO 0:37:00
3 3 2/10 179 Daniel Castaneda 26 Colo Springs CO 0:37:59
4 4 1/35 493 Jeff Turner 40 Colo Springs CO 0:39:14
5 5 1/20 491 Gerald Romero 39 Colo Springs CO 0:40:00
6 6 2/20 135 Duane Roberson 39 Colo Springs CO 0:40:12
7 7 2/35 742 Dan Vega 43 Colo Springs CO 0:40:40
8 8 1/4 279 Philip Meyer 16 Colo Springs CO 0:42:29
9 9 3/20 185 Edgar Trillo 35 Colo Springs CO 0:42:37
10 10 3/10 1153 Eddie Gleason 28 Colo Springs CO 0:42:43
11 11 ?/? 437 David Anderson ?? Colo Springs CO 0:42:44
12 12 3/35 1108 Doug Johnson 40 Colo Springs CO 0:42:49
13 13 4/20 326 Harsha Nagaraj 37 Colo Springs CO 0:42:55
14 14 5/20 71 Jon Teisher 35 Old Colo City CO 0:43:06
15 15 1/23 343 Rick Sholdberg 49 Guffey CO 0:43:19
17 16 4/35 317 Paul Doyle 41 Colo Springs CO 0:44:03
18 17 5/35 713 Thomas Moore 40 USAFA CO 0:44:32
19 18 2/15 723 Julien Lang 33 Aurora CO 0:44:33
20 19 3/15 97 Bryan Johnson 31 Salida CO 0:45:13

Sheet metal screws for traction. Worked out excellent!

Some fool road his or her bike to the race. It was actually a warm 9 degrees, plenty of sun and no wind.

Here is a video of the race shot from the top of the climb. My goal was to hit the top of the climb with the heavy-hitters, then fade. My plan was executed to perfection. I come by just in front of Gerald in the first minute.

Dip your delicate dripping spine like a holy feather into my mouth

2010-12-31T09:08:00.000-08:00

I first heard the poem printed below while laying on my back one September afternoon. Jessica read these words during shavasana. They fell on me like wet leaves staining my soul. When we finally rose I asked her if she was really trying to kill us with that poem? ‘It’s good one, eh?’ I’d say! I left the studio and wanted to call everyone, someone, tell them about this amazing poem. Who? Most would think I’d put too much syrup on my pancakes and was getting too sappy. Just as I rolled up to the corner of Weber and Dale, by a twist of fate this woman I’d been ‘hangin out’ with happen to be crossing the street. She was going to buy some tickets for a show and return a movie. She walked her dog, I walked my bike, I told her about the poem. Her apathetic heart couldn’t be pierced by a witty turn of phrase. Her most delicious freckles misguided us through the night. I was like a viking sailor trying in vain to navigate with a constellation I knew nothing of. I promised to read the poem to her one day, it never happened. The night was forgettable and the horses screamed....In some small way this is for her, but not because of her.

Over the last few days I’ve heard many people express their willingness to be done with the old year and start anew. Like everything is going to change at the turn of the clock? If a ceremony and a toast helps you bury the dead, well I guess I’ll wish you happy New Year! I’ll be celebrating the memory of a great year and welcoming the new one.

I wouldn’t really call this an appropriate poem to celebrate the birth of the New Year with, but it moved me like none other in 2010. There is a lot of beautiful regret in here. I think sometimes the best way to move on is to acknowledge what you wish you would have said or done and get on with it.

Letter from God

Ruth L. Schwartz

I wanted to give you the swallow’s egg, but it shattered,
Leaking yolk like joy. I wanted to give you the dead fish
But a bird had already stolen it’s eye. I wanted to give you the
ruby socket
But the fish held tight. I wanted to give you the beach with it’s miles
Of brownish sand, mounds of bleached and broken shell,
But I changed my mind. I wanted to give you the trees with a little
Butter and lemon squeezed on top, but they were firmly planted.
I wanted to give you the slimy moss, the gnats like tiny exploding
stars,
The driftwood crossed like mothers’ arms. I wanted to give you
My hands, the morning bodies of dolphins,
Arcing easily from water, plunging in again. Hunger
And the absence of hunger. The willow trees bent low to the water,
The nippled peaks of the water, the living stone,
The names and hearts chiseled into the stone. Lovers say they will love
forever
And in some other world they might. In this world, a man on the
boardwalk
Can write the entire Lord’s Prayer on a grain of rice,
But everyone goes on running and dying
Like dogs on the beach, their bodies extended
Into forever, for nothing, for joy, for a stick.
I wanted to let you go but I thought I would die.
I wanted to let you live but you were already gone.
I wanted to sip you like fine wine, wanted to gut you like a trout,
Dip your delicate dripping spine
Like a holy feather into my mouth. I wanted South,
North, East, and West. Wanted to praise you and catch you and
throw you
Back, like one too small or one too beautiful
To keep. I wanted to marry you like the light
And forget you like the dark. I wanted to promise you something,
then give you
A thousand times what I’d promised, then take it away,
Then give it back again. There are sticks muscled as snakes,
Sticks never fetched, hopeless sticks. There are faithful sticks, and
faithful
Mouths which carry them. There is a moon thin as Communion
Waiting to be dissolved under the tongue. There is a bluejay
In the tree, it’s feathers more dazzling than your veins,
There is a cardinal redder and brighter
Than your blood. Tongue of water, lip of water
Where two swallows mate like ribbons
Twisted into air.
This is it. Take it or leave it. Love,

1950 Cyclocross Race.mp4

2010-12-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a waist deep water crossing to keep this honest.

23 Feet – Documentary Trailer

2010-12-21T08:26:00.001-08:00

23 Feet – Documentary Trailer

"What could be more Matador than ditching convention to live your passion? For the people Allie films, the choice to live simply isn’t easy, nor glamorous. These people have given up a lot of the stability and comforts that many Americans take for granted–the same comforts that keep them tied down to jobs or places they don’t like–for something that transcends a steady paycheck. They are defining their lives in the same terms they define their adventures: fluidity, unpredictability, and filled with what they love to do most." - from the Matador website

The Meteor Shower

2010-12-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

Jon "The Navigator" Csakany and I rode up to Manitou on Monday night, then hiked Barr Trail up to tree line to catch a few stars falling from the sky.

We stayed at the treeline A frame shelter. It was a warm night, but windy as hell. We were glad to have the protection of the shelter. It felt like home complete with indecipherable messages and a tasty cup of tea. The meteor shower was fabulous.

No pics of those little Geminid's. This is what sunrise over Colorado Springs looks like from 12,000'.

Sweet Potato-Peanut Stew anyone?

2010-12-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

The much awaited recipe for Sweet Potato-Peanut Stew is upon you. Vegan friendly, gluten and strychnine free! Don’t let the vegan moniker scare you, it’s a tasty little dish. Even those who spend the day ingesting nothing but processed sugars and swear to despise even so much as the sight of a sweet potato have bowed in honor of this stews charm

Heat in a heavy stew type pot: 1/4 cup peanut oil
Add: 1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, minced, seeded if you’re pure cracker
Cook until the veggies are tender.
Add: 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 packed tablespoon of minced ginger
Cook for another couple minutes.
Stir in: 1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Add: 3 big-ish sweet potatoes cut into bite sized cubes
2 zucchini sliced
6oz. tomato paste
28oz. diced tomatoes
salt and ground pepper as needed
Add enough water to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Prepare in a small bowl:
1/2 cup peanut butter
Add enough of the hot liquid from the stew until the peanut butter is smooth. Mix into the stew and cook another 15 minutes. More salt and/or ground pepper to taste. Garnish with cilantro for a splash of color.
Serve with rice or quinoa. In the above picture I pureed some steamed sweet potato and added less water in an attempt to make a super thick concoction suitable for burritos. It’s a work in progress. This recipe is basically the same as the one in The Joy of Cooking, only I’ve added in diced tomatoes, some more tomato paste, and I haven’t given you the option to add in any death. If I’m making it for myself I add a pinch more chili powder and cumin. Have fun and remember the best ingredients make the best food.

Whilst we are on the subject of food. There seems to be a misconception that I have taken upon myself this horribly boring life of renunciation as part of my training scheme. It may seem like I’m some kind of modern day ascetic, blogging sappy prose with a panache for endurance racing, but I assure you my practice of avoiding certain indulgences is just part of a practice. I made a silly Rumi reference, It’s come to this oh well. I don’t eat much meat, usually many months pass between eating something that once had eyes. And if it were not for my beloved yogurt addiction I wouldn’t consume much dairy. I don’t sit around wishing I could have a cheeseburger. Through practice, trail, error(much error) and being a contentious consumer I’ve come to my current ascetic, ha! lifestyle. There are certain things that you put in your mouth that you feel good about and foster the mind-body-earth connection. Most things I do just make me feel good about the day. I’d do them racing or no.

I was reading a story about how Buddhist monks who are usually strict vegetarians, if invited to dinner and being served meat they would would graciously except, feeling more harm would come from disrespecting their host. In my younger days I was a strict vegetarian for 7 years or so. Not that I was staunchly against killing cute fuzzy little animals, assuming it is done humanely. Health reason weren’t much of a consideration at that point of my life either. I thought my choices were going to change the world and a plant based diet I thought was going to cure all the environmental and social woes of the world. I was a young wide-eyed bushy tailed kid with a head full of ideas... At holiday gatherings back out on the farm where even the candied yams come with a side of bacon, I was always the odd cousin (Actually my cousin Rick may have out done me. He just wrote a book), now I’m crazy uncle Doug, sweet! Hi kids. As the bark on the old oak trees swell I wish I would have been more like those monks. Sometimes breaking bread with a conscientious butcher is more important than saving the world. But when you’re young you feel like you have to blow some shit up to be heard. Our food choices are one of the biggest decisions we make, and we make them several times a day. Food effects our well-being, our neighbors and the planets well-being directly. There are plenty of tasty morsels to be made without animal products, ride your bike to the store and make something amazing from scratch, it’s one of the greatest gifts you can give. Eggplant curry and my thoughts on these Digambara monks is next.

If you want some good reading on these subjects check out Brendan Brazier’s book Thrive. It has a bit of a vegan/athlete slant but there is a ton of great research about how food effects our hormones, mood, energy levels and planet.

My New Mission

2010-12-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

The quote on the tasty bit of tea I’m drinking at the moment says. “ ‘Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”

That is kind of how I feel about this blog, but alas...

I’ve been finding a lot of notes lately. The first one is a list really and it came by way of facebook. Apparently some girl left her purse at a bar and the helpful patrons that dug through her purse to find some identification stumbled upon this list of things to do. Funny thing is I actually know people that could write a similar list. What does that say about you Mr. johnson? Well... I’ll let you make your own, er... judgements. I was going to let the whole thing go but as sad as this list is; I can’t help but to think there is a little bit of all us in there somewhere. As the new year approaches I hope we all have the forethought to perhaps better ourselves and not just make lists but take action.

Most times this blog feels like a random note you might find in someone’s purse or left behind at the library. Totally random and you probably don’t have enough inside information to know just what the hell it really means. I’m making a New Year’s resolution to type a couple of extra sentences to help you along. I was reading a friend’s blog the other day and she has a way of being beautifully vague. As I read along I should be thinking ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’ but somehow I know exactly what she is talking about, even with all the vagueries. I made that word up, maybe Bush did? To me it sounds better than vagueness? Say it with me,... vagueries. Beautiful!

On my morning run a few days a go I found a note written in pink ink on what looks to be testicle-shaped stationary. I think it is actually suppose to be a pear or something. The scribbles on one side read ‘tell Nicci baby love’ and something else indecipherable that hints at new teenage love. The other side simply says ‘take pix!’

Well all this got me to thinking about the whimsical women who have had enough passion in their hearts to leave random notes around my house. Not many mind you but a few and the ones that have left random love letters hidden about my house while we were actually speaking to one another, ha! You were the best..... and screwed the system up.... Maybe that is why I’ve only “dated” (or “hung out” if you prefer) with a couple of people in the last couple of, yes, years. Or maybe.... ah, another time.... Back to a couple of years ago, a few months after any woman had so much as entered my house for a cup of tea I ran across this note a top my fridge. It sat there for over two years until i rediscovered it yesterday. More of a poem, silly and fun like a note tho. Unsigned and it could have only been penned by one of two people. I find it more romantic not knowing, thanks! Random notes rule!

So what’s all this about a mission? As some of you know the saturday road ride follows the same route down to PPIR and back thru Foutain and Fort Carson. Most of the good riding happens down to PPIR then back into Fountain. From there it is fairly uneventful back to the Springs. Today it was cold with a head wind waiting for us all the way back, and not much of a group. For a change of pace I tried to talk the group into taking the bike path back from Fountain. About 15 miles of crushed granite and the occasional patch of sand. Perfect for a road bike, right? Not really but it is a lot of fun. You get into the trees a little bit and out of the wind and traffic. The group ride has a reputation for being a bunch of uptight road geeks who are only looking to get in some serious “training”. For the most part they are a bunch of uptight road geeks, but I like some of them. Separately I had each person sold on my diabolical plan. But once they realized I was serious, sadly, there were no takers. So as I rode the bike path back alone, it was awesome btw, I got to thinking how much fun it would be to bomb the bike path with 20 or so road riders. The path south of downtown is pretty much empty. Some days the road ride tops out at over 50.

Further along, as I was immensely enjoying my solitary adventure, I wondered if I really wanted those uptight road geeks along, or if I just wanted to know that I could talk them into not being so uptight for an hour or so.... kind of like how you are always asking to stick it in her butt, ‘come on it will be fun, it won’t hurt, that bad...’ but is it the anal sex you want or the challenge of talking her into it? Maybe it’s just that you want them to let go for a minute and be someone else, someone who loves you enough to take a chance on an ill-conceived adventure that they just might enjoy.

And so my mission for the winter is to get a significant number of road geeks to return from Fountain via the bike path, and loosen up those sphincters a touch.

nostalgia

2010-12-05T17:00:00.001-08:00

I scoured the internet for photos of Chris Kuzma and I at the bmx track but couldn't find any. I know they are out there. This is a shot from the indoor bmx races in Colorado Springs, circa 2007? Chris was there that day but I don't think he was racing. I think it is fitting that I'm wearing a cutters t-shirt. This shot is from practice. That was one of the best weekends I ever had racing BMX. Maybe I'll get to the story of how we got from there to here. I bailed on the CX state championships this weekend. I hit the Starbucks road ride on the both saturday and sunday, Chris Kuzma on my mind...

These days may be our last

2010-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

Dignity Memorial Online Obituary Photo Gallery

I just learned a few days ago that Chris Kuzma died of a heart attack in early November at the tender age of 44. He owned the eBike Stop. Chris raced BMX back in the glory days and moved on to road racing in the late 80's and early 90's. Like a few other old fools he continued to show up at the races. Always coaching his two sons and anyone else that would listen. I started calling him "coach" at the bmx track because of his endless advice. I spent countless hours at the BMX track with Chris and his two sons, Zach and Sam. The last time I saw Chris was at Cheyenne Mountain State Park back in July, he was racing mountain bikes along with his sons at the International Classic. He mentioned wanting to lose some weight and getting back into "shape". We talked about going for a road ride, but never did... RIP! You'll be missed!

Biking to Work

2010-11-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

Biking to work in this weather, madness! Must be a slow news day. Why else would NPR run a story about commuting, when winter is just hitting most of the nation? None the less HERE is a cool little story about riding to work and getting in a little exercise along the way. Someone is picking up what I'm putting down. Good day to commute eh?

Peopleforbikes.org: Onward and Upward

2010-11-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

Check out people for bikes if you please and sign the pledge

New Belgium Cup day 2

2010-11-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

Let's see, we had a hot tub on course, streakers, much alcohol consumed, one car caught on fire and a costume cruiser cross "race". Day 2 on paper appears that it went much the same as day 1 for me. Some what, the course dried out a bit for day 2 and things were a lot more enjoyable. Still slippery enough to be challenging. They changed the course for day 2 and it seemed to flow even better than the first day. They rerouted the climb that was a long slog in the mud, now that the climb was reasonably dry you could hammer the whole thing out of the saddle if you so chose.

Nothing but game faces on for the costume cross!

Ok maybe they aren't all that serious.

New Belgium Cup day 1

2010-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

We finally got ourselves some cross weather!!! Mud, snow, grey skies, frozen fingers..... it was sunny in the Springs when I left town, but I was delighted to find out that it had snowed enough in Fort Collins to turn the whole course to mud. Slippery mud. Some serious crashes went down in the elite women's field. Check out the coverage on Cycling News or Cycling Dirt. You can watch yesterday's race in it's entirety on Cycling Dirt. During the dry moments I think they should try to get the fans in there, or have a camera set up in the hot tub! Cycling Dirt has a live broadcast of the whole race, get there by 3pm today if you want to see me get slaughtered again. Another fun but humbling day for the Mr. Doug racing cross. 48th, never found a good rhythm and desperately needed a bike change. The heavy-hitters were changing bikes every other lap. Super fun tho, can't wait to do it all again today.

35+ men going to work. I've been racing with the Elites because I don't like getting up early and shooting off to the races this time of year. I also do well enough at the local races to get called up close to the front row. I'm also racing with the Elites as part of scheme to be faster next summer in the shorter races and making some friends so I can stick it to these guys next fall.

When this van rolled in from canada I was super stoked on the graphics. Full ghetto mini-vans alway get my blood flowing.

The van's got soul!

The venue and the crowd rocks. they know how to throw a cross race up in the fort. Hot tub right on course. I shot this around 1pm, but they had been there all morning drinking whisky cheering people on.

The more the COW the more the COW BELL!!!

2010-11-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

The Wagon is rolling up to the Fort for the New Belgium Cup this weekend. The photo on the website is ridiculously lame... for such a cool event, I shouldn't get into it...Should be a groovy time. Cow bells a plenty and college kids spitting beer all over us on the run ups!

I've posted the schedule so you don't have to text me asking what time I'm racing. The schedule is the same on saturday and sunday.

Do send a text to find out what time I'll be at Lucile's! I'll be there both days for refueling. Things are always groovy at Lucile's!

Castle Cross Nov. 7th

2010-11-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

JJ Clark won the 35+ race in the morning and decided to stay for the open. He usually kills it there as well. He needed a ride home after the race. I told him "only if he lets me win" HA! He sat up at the end, due to stomach issues, and finished 9th. I was coming... kind of... but my chain kept coming off. I switched to a 1 by 9 a few days before, but my front chain management device was wholly unworthy. I finished 12th on the day. I'm going back to a 2 by 10. By the time you get all the gizmos on there to hold the chain on it weighs just as much.

If you haven't been over to Bandwagon Racing.com get there. The team is looking sharp. Will Jj join the wagon?

Super windy but the course was fun. Groovy times indeed!

The pump track was part of the cyclocross course. Now we are talking.

Yoga Yoga

2010-11-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned I'm taking a yoga teacher training course at Pranava Yoga Center starting in the new year? Well I'm mentioning it now, should be groovy. I'm using the word groovy a lot this month. I'm trying to reach a quota of a thousand groovy usages. These are my groovy friends, I stole some yoga pictures of them from Pranava's website. This is Sandhya and Liza neither of which actually live in the Springs any more. So sad! Their respective boyfriends drug them off to some far out places. If I'm going to use groovy, why not far out? But Sandhya's other half, one Joey Ernst is an intergral part of the Bandwagon. Check out how the website is coming along. You can also view this blog straight from the website. To view the links on this blog and the groovy dinosaur valve cap you have to come here.

One Mr. Christofer Fiedler getting his yoga on. If only he was always this happy... Maybe this will help. The focus of the month, we've already learned that mine is groovy, but the focus of the month over at Pranava is
Vairagya - Non-Attachment: is a state in which a person overcomes his or her attachment to desire for things, people or concepts of the world and thus attains a heightened perspective..

"To be unattached means that you are free from outside influences that overshadow your real self. This lesson isn’t one our culture teaches us. Modern people place a high value on being committed, excited, passionate, deeply involved, and so forth, and they fail to realize that these qualities are not the opposite of non-attachment. To be committed to a relationship, for example, ultimately means to have enough love and understanding to let the other person be who he or she wants to be.
I’ve found that moments of non-attachment are characterized by the following: I am present with my body; my breathing becomes very refined, approaching stillness; mental activity has calmed down; I feel no threat–there is a certainty of belonging; I perceive my inner world as an open space with no boundaries–awareness extends in all directions rather than being focused on specific thoughts; self-acceptance flows out into the environment. Things “out there” seem intimate to me, an extension of myself." - Deepak Chopra

But you thought there was no "self"? Brad Warner explains it this way. "When you were a small child, your concept of who and what you were was much wider and more inclusive than it is now. You didn't see strict boundries between you and the people and things you encountered. As you grew older, the bigger people around you, whose ideas you relied on for learning how to survive in the world, told you that this view was mistaken. They told you that you were much smaller thing and that the connection you thought you felt with the rest of the universe wasn't really there.

Of course they didn't tell you this in so many words..."

Chris is returning to that child like state thus not being attached to any one thing by being connected to the rest of the universe. Time for a ride, too much reading not enough riding.

The Long Good-Bye

2010-11-04T19:45:00.001-07:00

I teased you all with a quick hello from Anna. Well after a long good-bye she has returned to Russia. She caught a plane, but not without missing one in Houston, back to Moscow a couple of weeks ago. I find the behind the scenes personal lives of people fascinating. We all have stories to tell. Everyone is going thru something whether it's horribly wonderful or seemingly insurmountable. These are probably all enlightening stories to someone. I have also come to realize that some things take time and some things are better left unsaid.
Everyone has been asking about Anna, thinking all professional athletes live some ideal-ac life with lingerie* models coming in thru the window or something. This is a great misconception, for me anyway. In fact it takes a great lack of a social life to make even modest forms of greatness possible. Sleep makes the whole thing happen. Sleep is when your body naturally produces all those groovy hormones that endurance athletes are selling there soul for. So anyway I'm getting lost in the woods again...

Until next time..... bye silly!

*or banana-hammock model for those professional athletes of a different gender or sexual orientation. (thought i'd try out the style of one of my favorite authors)

Boulder Cup 2010

2010-11-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

More from boulder. I come hopping by at around 2:22.

Thoughts On My Bike

2010-11-03T14:21:00.001-07:00

"The ending to my story, the words to my song"

CX Ruined My Life day 2

2010-11-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

OK I think I'm addicted to this cyclocross thing. Wish I had some better legs to put up a little more of a fight. I feel like I'm recovering really fast, so maybe with a little more racing and a lot of sleeping, I might be able to make some noise. The crowd was ridiculous on Sunday. The course was slick as ice. The WHOLE course was off camber and slick as snot. Really fun tho. I flatted on the second lap just after passing the pits. I had to run all the way back around to the pits. The Mavic neutral support guy saw me running down the hill and had a front wheel ready. By the time I took off I could hear the leaders coming round. I lasted a couple laps. I worked my way back up to a couple riders way off the back and was pulled. In these big time races they don't let anyone go a lap down and when the UCI officials feel your demise is imminent, they yank your ass. It's kind of feels like the Gong Show or something. Wish I could have that one back. I was feeling good and the course was to my liking!

I had to start at the back again. Brett drew a good starting position, but went down hard at the end of the first lap, breaking his front brake lever and a finger in the process. I was a few riders behind him, he slid out on one of the many off camber sections taking a handful of riders with him, which at the time I thought was very nice of him to clear a path for me. I flatted shortly after that and it was all for not.

The only problem I had with the whole weekend is, you guys were not yelling loud enough for JAKE WELLS!! I know he is not from Boulder but he is crushing it, come on people. Jake was 6th on the day, making the working man proud!

CX Ruined My Life day 1

2010-11-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

First of all Jennifer wins the significant other of the year award. Here is Michael and Jennifer Chavez camping in the parking lot at the Breck 100. Jen is a good 7 months pregnant at the time. Lawn chair out reading a book, what a trooper!

Michael didn't have such a good day racing, but Henry made it out to his first bike race and a beautiful day for it.

Brett and I had to start at the very back of a 70 rider field. Colby Pierce went down twice in front of me on the first lap. Colby still somehow finished a good 20 riders ahead of me at the end of the day. On lap two I was trading pulls with Will Iaia and he went down in front of me. I t-boned his sprocket and I thought things were going to get ugly but I some how landed on my feet. That's racing tho, everybody is giving it everything they've got to get to the front. From there things settled down. I was feeling great and working my way up thru the field every lap.

Brett Billings working the barriers. The course was really flat and fast. One big sand-pit that was mostly ridable.

I never thought I would be so happy to finish in 41st. Things felt easy, course I was a long way from the front. Big Guns was not as happy about his UCI debut. Cycling News has the results and probably a report about what went on at the front

Colorado Cross Classic

2010-10-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Never thought I'd feel so good about 41st place. Big Guns didn't feel as good about 56th. We had to start in the back row of a 70+ field. Full report and photos on the way. Boulder Cup on the way today.

Boulder cx

2010-10-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

Whoa!!! I had a rough day up in Boulder yesterday. Wasn't exactly feeling it. Tripped over the same barrier twice and had a slow leak in the front tire. I could find Brett's spare wheels in the pits. I couldn't find a pump to borrow. A good day to DNF, well it's never a good day to DNF, but that is what happened. I like the clouds in these shots of Brett and I.

Brett "Big Guns" Billings put up a better showing for the Bandwagon, coasting in for 25th place.

Michael "chipper" Chavez made his cyclocross debut in the singlespeed class. I had a much better time cheering him on. Not sure if he has a nickname, but he has the best attitude of anyone I know, it's an honor to coach him and call him a friend!

In the shadow of Longs Peak

2010-10-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

Sundays cx race took place quite literally in the shadow of Longs Peak outside of Estes Park. A near perfect venue for some cross racing. The Pro/Open field was stacked with over 50 rides. The officials where militant about where everyone lined up. Brett "Big Guns" Billings was nearly thrown out of the race before it even began for getting a little unruly. After everyone was on the line in perfect order the gun went off and I nearly went down twice in the first 50 yards. I believe Big Guns did go down behind me. The guy that lead us into the first corner preceded to wash out in the gravel. I love the crazy starts, banging elbows, locking bars, full sprint into turn one...

Halfway thru the first lap things settled down and I was glad to be at the front. I spent most of the day floating around 10th place or so.

Big Guns ended up a respectable 26th.

Big Guns working the descent. About every other lap someone went down in front of me on this hill.

I had a great day and felt much better than last week. With a lap and a half to go I got into the back off some guy in this water pit when he decided to change lines halfway thru. My derailuer cables were all tangled up in his seat and by the time we got it all sorted out I had lost a handful of spots. I ended up 18th on the day. A top ten finish in that field would have been awesome, but it was great just being out there racing strong again. Results will be posted on the ACA website on tuesday.

Big Guns enjoys a recovery beverage in the hippest of attire.

From Russia with Love. To Buena Vista with a Little Cyclocross Action

2010-10-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Bandwagon traveled over to Buena Vista for the first race of the Colorado Cup Cyclocross Series. I have barely ridden in the last month and certainly haven't done much that has resembled training. I rode a reasonable race and finished 14th in the open. Thankfully Brett "Big Guns" Billings is picking up the slack. He crushed the 3's in an exciting two man breakaway.

In an exchange program with Russia we have picked up a new team photographer.

The winds were horrible and finding someone to work with was key. Brett and this guy rode off the front on the first lap and never looked back.

Eric Collins had a solid ride as well. A Springs native who has defected to Boulder, but we won't hold that against him.

Where ever did he learn to ride like that? Hopping the barriers and eventually the finish line for the win. Brett has a mandatory upgrade coming, so now I'll have a teammate to pull me around in the wind. Nice job Big Guns.

You may be asking yourself, "But what about the Russian girl?" To make a long story very short, characters on this page that represent words that describe the actual events will fall painfully short, but... We met in Vegas while I was at Interbike. We ran from Vegas and spent five days on a cinematic tour of the southwest. Anna wrote this poem the day after we camped in the Grand Canyon.

I wish I could have stayed forever observing nature out of your car
I viewed my past and have seen my future
But found peace and comfort only now
I stand on the edge of my illusions imposed by immature mind
I learned to see the pristine beauty
And say a lot without words
The wind will blow and show me the path to freedom as long as I step along with hope
On lofty rocks I found wisdom and felt in love with sandy desert rows.

I particularly like the last line. We drove thru Durango and Ouray. Eventually we found our way back to the Springs. She flew from Denver to resume her travels in California. Fill in the details as you wish, they are stranger than you will ever imagine. After Cali she was suppose to fly from New York back to Moscow, but got on the plane for Colorado instead.

Racing without riding is a rough way to go. On the upside the legs feel nice and fresh, they just don't go all that fast. That's all right, we will see what the snows bring? So the story continues and for now we will be tracing the horizon thru foggy windows.

It's been so long

2010-10-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's been so long I can even remember what happened at this race. I think I was 7th, hopped a few barriers, rode hard, broke a sweat.... Shawn Lortie has the race report over on the MountainFlyer website. There have been many adventures off the bike in the last few weeks. I may get to those stories, we shall see.

Secret Worlds, Secret Messages and the Someday that may never come

2010-09-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

"At some stage of every day’s walking or almost every day’s walking, there comes a moment when your cerebral synapses seem to click into gear. For a few minutes or half an hour or perhaps even for the rest of the day, you fire on all cylinders. You soar, embrace the universe, see everything, solve the insoluble at a glance - you operate, that is, the way you wish you always did.” -Colin Fletch from The Secret Worlds of Collin Fletcher.

I've been thinking about this paragraph a lot lately, almost to the point of being paralyzed by it. I’ll get back to this later.

As I zip by waiting for that "someday" that may never come: I feel like we are in a scene from a movie. The one that is utterly unpredictable, yet hints at a story that has been told a thousand times. And even though it seems like you've seen this one before you can't help falling in love with the characters. You hope the scene never ends. It's not so much this mythological "someday" that I long for, it's prolonging this moment by making someday today..... In my own secret world I try to embrace the universe and you along with it.

How's that for some vagueries? (I think I made that word up but it makes sense to me)

Sorry for the delay. Over Labor Day weekend Eric Baar, Jon Hurly and myself traveled north to Ft. Collins then the Dakota 5-0 up in Spearfish, South Dakota.

The Tour De Fat rocked as usual. Here are a few photos.

I"ll be rockin this outfit for the Fall Running Series as well.

I'm a sucker for dinosaurs

And cowgirls! Unless they're to spacey, HA! (more secret messages)

We weren't the only ones who had the spirit of the Tour de Fat in our racing bones!

The race starts out with a few miles of gravel road. I managed to stay at the front until we hit the trail. Then I let the front group go. My enthusiasm for endless hours of hard pedaling has taken a vacation. I rode the 5-0 really consrervitive. After dropping out of the CTR I was just looking to ride a solid race without incident. When it's all or nothing and you're racing to win, sometimes you end up with nothing. I was looking to just have a good day out on the trails. About 15 miles in I was in 17th place and decided to do a little racing. I finished 9th overall and won the 40-49 age group. Check out the Ridge Riders blog.

The Odd Ones

2010-08-28T11:15:00.001-07:00

"The odd ones are their own works of art, their own paintings, their own symphonies, their own books, ...." - Charles Bukowski

We are all odd ones indeed and we are all coming together at little event known as the Tour De Fat. This is by far the coolest bike parade on the planet. We are headed up to Ft. Collins this saturday for some bike parade debauchery. Then it's off to South Dakota to race the Dakota 5-0. Here are some photos from last year's adventure. If you're not planning on going, change your plans, seriously....

"

Tales of My Demise, a CTR Report

2010-08-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Some time ago this young woman asked me, “If you could have one superpower, what would it be?”
“I’d want the power to be able to ride my bike all day and night without getting tired,” I told her.
Which isn’t exactly true. To have this “superpower” would take most of the fun out of it.
I like the process that goes into attaining that power. Sometimes I feel like I have the power to ride indefinitely without getting tired. The wheels feel like they are rolling on glass and my pack must be a jet-pack. Nothing super about it really. I’m just a mere mortal who loves floating over trails.

When you feel invincible, you’re the most vulnerable. The harder you try to hold onto something, the faster it crumbles in your sweaty palms.

I’ve embarked on a fairly ambitious race schedule this season and as many of you who have been following along at home(or the side of the trail, you’re the best thanks!) already know things have been going quite well. I felt like after the Firecracker 50 I started going slightly backwards. But I thought if I could tough it out thru the Breck 100 I’d have a couple of weeks to taper and be flying again for the CTR.

Well the weekend before the CTR I felt great, super-human, with the power to bike and run all day and night. But I got a little carried away up in the hills outside of Creede, Co. When I feel lonely I seek solitude on the trails, which most of the time leads to my advantage, and I feel lonely most of the time. Actually I feel the presence of everything when I’m alone in the mountains and in-turn not so alone. Anyway when I should have been resting I was trail running at 11,000’. But I felt awesome, I knew the end was near, but I was hoping the end was still a couple weeks away. After the weekend I got sick, muscle aches and the shits for a few days, I felt horrible. I knew I was screwed. I did next to nothing for a week . By the weekend my bowels had settled and I started feeling normal.

If it were any other race I would have stayed at home. But this was the Colorado Trail Race, I was hoping for the best. For the first couple of hours of the race I didn’t feel too bad. I set the pace up front with Jesse Jakomait. The trails were horribly wet from the rains the night before. The trees held so much moisture that every time we hit a branch with our shoulder or helmet, it’d be like someone threw a bucket of water on us. By the time Ethan and Jeff caught up to us I knew I didn’t have it. I had no power at all. Legs and back were already aching. Last year I rolled into Durango with barely a twinge in a single muscle. We all hit Bailey at about the same time. I was the last to leave.

I suffered on the road up to Kenosha Pass. It started raining just before I hit the top. I was hoping my superpowers would return once I hit the trail. They did not. I was reassessing my goals for the race. As I churned up towards Georgia Pass I thought I’d just cruise until I got to Copper Mountain, then see how I felt. If I felt better I’d continue. The same, I’d ride on, but it wouldn’t be pretty. Worse I’d pull the plug.

It stopped raining. I felt better as I popped out above tree-line, my superpowers always work well up there. The descent off the top is always awesome. There is one section that is a mile long rock garden, it was really fun with all the moisture. As much fun as I was having I could feel that I didn’t have any power, even going downhill! Once I hit the bottom the real rains began. I hid out under a tree, put the rain gear on, and scanned the forest for a better tree to hide out under. I wondered about all the racers still up on Georgia Pass, I’ll bet they will have some stories to tell.

I thought about getting into the bivy to wait out the storm, but most everything I had on was either soaking wet or damp at best. I was also getting a chill just standing there. I wasn’t carrying a sleeping bag, only a bivy and bag liner. A sleeping bag liner is basically a silk sheet meant to go inside a sleeping bag to increase it’s warmth. I was going “light and fast”. Most of the racers up front are carrying the bare minimum to survive. We usually have just enough layers to only be a little cold at night while riding with everything on, including rain gear. And we sleep only a few hours at night, again with everything on. Last year I only had one night were I was too cold to sleep, so this year I decided to save the space and weight, and leave the sleeping bag at home.

This whole “light and fast” philosophy requires a couple of things. One, you are in good enough shape to keep moving most of the time, 20+ hours a day. Two, you are tough as nails and nothing goes wrong. I’m sure all the racers regardless of the amount of gear they were carrying had an epic experience these first couple of days. And for them some of the greatest challenges are yet to come. This is such an epic race that the first couple of days may be long forgotten by those who roll into Durango.

So standing in the rain, I knew I wasn’t getting any closer to Durango. I rode on for a couple of miles. The trail had turned to a river and every flat section a lake. When I hit Tiger Rd. I thought about waiting out the storm, but without a sleeping bag there was no way I could conceive of being warm or drying out inside the bivy.

Physically I didn’t have it, had the legs been feeling good I would have pushed on thru the rain. Which lasted all night. Waiting out the storm wasn’t all that appealing. I knew it was mostly downhill to Breckenridge on Tiger Rd. I bailed into town. Disappointed, YES. It has been a great season thus far, maybe a little to good.

It’s impressive how much ground Ethan, Jeff and Jesse made up after not making it over Ten Mile Range the first night. And as for my good buddy Jon Csakany, when asked what superpower he would choose? “The ability to regulate my body temperature no matter what the conditions are outside.” Keep moving my friend! And the young woman? “Gecko fingers and toes.”

Let's Get Ready To Ruuummbbbbbllllllllllee

2010-08-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Trail Race is upon us. The above photo is from the end of the Coney Summit section, all the racers that make it this far will forever be changed, trust me. The race starts tomorrow at 6:30am. The Springs is rollin 3 deep this year. Myself, Jon Csakany, and Jesse Jakomait will be flying the flag for Colorado Springs, stay classy, C-springs until we get back.

Both Jon and Jesse are well prepared and should be at the front of the pack. Jon is rockin only the one gear, wish his knees luck. I've run into Ethan Passant a couple of times this season and he seems motivated for "THE Race" this year. Jason Shelman calls the CTR "The Race" like there is no other race. This is "The Race". A race to end all races. Jason isn't racing this year, neither is last year's winner Owen Murphy, but watch out for the likes of Dave Harris, Jefe Branham, Jeff Kerkove, and Eszter Horanyi on the women's side. I'm sure she will beat most if not all of the men.

I've stolen the following from Kerkove's website. This is more or less exactly what I was going to post about how to follow the race. It's a little scarry that I'm starting to think like Kerkove! Thanks Jeff, that freed up some brain cells to ramble on about all the players. I'm sure a few people I haven't mentioned will surprise us all and crush it.

From http://www.jeffkerkove.net/
"Unsure what this Colorado Trail Race is all about? It very well might be the hardest mountain bike event you have never heard of. Some details for ya: Well, each rider is self supported. Each rider must carry all needed equipment to get from Denver to Durango. Riders can only resupply (food, etc) at pass-thru towns....ie: pick up more food at grocery stores or gas stations in towns like Leadville or Buena Vista. There is NO outside pre-arranged support! Riders are also self-navigating. Sorry, there are no course markings here...no arrows....no course tape. Most riders get from start to finish either on memory or GPS. Me, I am going on a little of both.

While us racers are out suffering, you folks at home can follow along in great detail! Almost all riders will wear a SPOT tracking device, so you can follow in real-time. Also, there will be non-required call-ins to MTBCast. Riders will call a specific phone line and provide audio updates....which are then uploaded to the web. Finally, there is the web forum. Bikepacking.net will have a forum thread rolling during the event for anything and everything to be discussed. Below are the links!"

Spot Tracker Leader Board
mtbcast callins and race coverage (start list has been posted)
bikepacking.net in depth race commentary and maybe a few photos

More from the Breck 100

2010-07-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is most of the men's top 10 overall. Yuki Saito took this podium shot. I'm still not sure why he wasn't racing? If your pining for a race report check out the Mountain Flyer. Shawn Lortie calls me "long in the tooth". Little does he know, I'm just getting started.

Breck 100 July 17th

2010-07-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

1, Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) 8:23:47
2, Joey Thompson 8:31:51
3, Jeff Schalk 8:42:51
4, Colby Pearce 8:46:40
5, Max Taam 8:59:41
6, Jesse Jackomait
7, Matt Woodruff
8, Doug Andrews
9, Doug Johnson
10, Mark Thompson

I was 9th, had a pretty good day. Such an awesome race. You suckas missed out. Full report and photos soon. All my love, DJ

Now with a UCI point

2010-07-12T07:17:00.001-07:00

I didn't have much left for the short track. I was basically riding to look reasonably respectable until I got pulled. The start was like the keystone cops going into the single track. The officials having mercy on my group and calling us in was my favorite part of the day. I moved up to 25th in the GC, which gives me exactly 1 UCI point, woo whooo!! Short track and GC results are up on Pikes Peak Sports.

All the pro's had to pose and look pretty for a photo op.

The Breck 100 is coming up this Saturday. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing 10hr race.

Drifting Falling XC Report

2010-07-11T05:56:00.001-07:00

I thought the start was going to be insanely fast with banging bars and flying elbows. The trip up the road and out onto the trail was quite civil. I found myself relatively close to the front and not working that hard. "This isn't bad at all" I thought, then the guy in front of me dropped his chain on a steep little section. I was boxed in and had to come to a stop, so much for starting at the front. On the way up the climb on the first lap I continually found myself behind racers who had never seen rocks before and while I was cussing at some guy a half a dozen others would run by. I should have been prepared to run all the rock gardens on the first lap or two. Live and learn.... or live and remember what it's like racing at this level in such tight quarters.

Meanwhile, still on the first lap, I passed a couple people on the descent then ran into a log jam. I was content to hang with this group thru the start/finish and use them going up the climb on the second lap. But I lulled myself to sleep whistling dixie at the back and went ass over tea-kettle into a scrub oak.

After an atrocious first lap things started to go a little better. It would have been hard for them to get much worse. I'm not that great at playing catch up. I rolled across the line in 28th.

Elite Men XC Results, Saturday, July 10, Carmichael Training Systems International Classic
1 4 USA19780811 HORGAN-KOBELSKI J SUBARU-TREK 1:57:47 0:00:00
2 2 CAN19770414 KABUSH Geoff TEAM MAXXIS-ROCKY MOUNTAIN 1:58:07 0:00:20
3 1 USA19751225 WELLS Todd SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING 00:05 1:58:10 0:00:23
4 5 USA19851211 SCHULTZ Sam SUBARU-TREK 2:02:59 0:05:12
5 22 USA19810305 TREBON Ryan KONA 2:04:04 0:06:17
6 20 USA19840619 WELLS Troy 2:05:05 0:07:18
7 23 USA19910918 FINSTERWALD Russell SUBARU-TREK 2:05:46 0:07:59
8 16 USA19731223 BRODERICK Michael 00:05 2:05:54 0:08:07
9 17 GER19800730 SONNTAG Benjamin 2:05:59 0:08:12
10 24 USA19841209 PAXSON Spencer 2:06:19 0:08:32
11 38 USA19851006 ALDERS Bryan 2:07:33 0:09:46
12 19 USA19870803 CARES Colin 2:08:45 0:10:58
13 41 USA19811120 BEISEL Kalan 2:08:49 0:11:02
14 26 USA19901213 KANE Kevin 2:10:24 0:12:37
15 27 USA19770925 MCCALLA Michael 00:05 2:11:23 0:13:36
16 33 USA19870529 KAPPIUS Brady 2:11:25 0:13:38
17 28 USA19891125 BEATON Matthew 2:12:23 0:14:36
18 21 USA19830829 SCHULTZ Andy 2:12:31 0:14:44
19 39 USA19820127 MARION Robert 2:13:06 0:15:19
20 31 USA19890606 CARPENTER Greg 00:15 2:13:48 0:16:01
21 34 USA19880314 HOKE Mitch 00:05 2:14:03 0:16:16
22 47 USA19890710 OSTROSKI Peter 2:14:19 0:16:32
23 40 USA19910327 WERNER JR. Kerry 2:16:03 0:18:16
24 37 USA19781231 ELWELL Aaron 2:16:28 0:18:41
25 29 USA19880722 SCHNEIDER Joe 00:15 2:16:41 0:18:54
26 51 USA19740826 FREDERICK Scott 2:17:01 0:19:14
27 52 USA19870803 FRANKLIN Macky 2:18:35 0:20:48
28 50 USA19700708 JOHNSON Doug 2:19:26 0:21:39
29 46 USA19911030 PATTERSON Will WHOLE ATHLETE CYCLING TEAM 2:19:58 0:22:11
30 49 USA19741127 MICKIEWICZ Bryan 2:20:36 0:22:49
31 30 USA19790811 PETERSON Cody 2:21:17 0:23:30
32 55 USA19870814 CONNORS Matt 2:22:36 0:24:49
33 36 USA19880706 UHL Tristan 2:23:31 0:25:44
34 53 USA19890127 DE JONG Menso 2:24:24 0:26:37
35 43 USA19730913 WOHLSCHLAEGER Cr 2:24:28 0:26:41
36 35 USA19830131 WOODRUFF TJ 2:25:32 0:27:45
37 48 USA19731003 NOBIL John 00:05 2:25:44 0:27:57
38 57 USA19901114 ALDREDGE Graham 00:15 2:27:28 0:29:41
39 44 USA19900414 WIEBE Matt 2:38:07 0:40:20
40 56 USA19720511 CLARK JJ 2:49:25 0:51:38
41 42 USA19901113 BENNETT John 2:55:00 0:57:13
42 3 CAN19850529 PLAXTON Max 3:02:57 1:05:10

Short track goes off today at 4pm. I hear it is more of a short xc course on all wide open crushed gravel "trails". The beauty of the short track is the group kinda stays together, but it sounds like there is some significant elevation change and the group will not be staying together. Should be a good suffer session at least.

Thanks again to Ultra-Rob Lucas for the great pictures.

International Classic Time Trial

2010-07-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rob Lucas for the photo.

The TT started off on the extremely technical medicine wheel trail. I got off to a good start. Greg Frozley and Alison Dunlap were up on the trail a few minutes in, Alison yelled "that was fast" as I went thru. With a burst of confidence I proceeded to bounce backwards off some rocks on the next couple of tricky sections. The second half of the course was all wide open crushed gravel with loose flat corners. I slide out a couple of times then pulled it together and rode a bit more under control into the finish.

I finished 21st, not a perfect ride but I get to start todays XC in the middle of the pack.

Pikes Peak Sports has nearly up to the minute race photos and results.

Pro Men
Carmichael Training Systems International Classic
Time Trial Results
UCI Elite M
7.5K
1 PLAXTON Max 00:05 0:17:11 . 84 0:00:00
2 KABUSH Geoff TEAM MAXXIS-ROCKY MOUNTAIN 0:17:20 . 03 0:00:09
3 HORGAN-KOBELSKI J SUBARU-TREK 00:05 0:17:21 . 84 0:00:10
4 SCHULTZ Sam SUBARU-TREK 00:05 0:17:40 . 12 0:00:29
5 FINSTERWALD Russell SUBARU-TREK 0:18:04 . 28 0:00:53
6 Benjamin 0:18:08 . 34 0:00:57
7 TREBON Ryan KONA 0:18:19 . 41 0:01:08
8 KAPPIUS Brady 0:18:20 . 84 0:01:09
9 WELLS Troy 0:18:26 . 00 0:01:15
10 CARES Colin 0:18:29 . 38 0:01:18
11 BRODERICK Michael 00:05 0:18:35 . 62 0:01:24
12 PAXSON Spencer 0:18:39 . 34 0:01:28
13 ALDERS Bryan 0:18:47 . 22 0:01:36
14 MARION Robert 0:18:50 . 29 0:01:39
15 BENNETT John 0:18:54 . 22 0:01:43
16 CARPENTER Greg 0:18:56 . 97 0:01:45
17 KANE Kevin 00:05 0:18:58 . 50 0:01:47
18 DE JONG Menso 0:18:59 . 31 0:01:48
19 HOKE Mitch 0:19:00 . 81 0:01:49
20 SCHULTZ Andy 0:19:01 . 72 0:01:50
21 JOHNSON Doug 0:19:03 . 12 0:01:52
22 WERNER JR. Kerry 0:19:06 . 50 0:01:55
23 BEISEL Kalan 0:19:08 . 47 0:01:57
24 SCHNEIDER Joe 0:19:17 . 94 0:02:06
25 FREDERICK Scott 0:19:20 . 97 0:02:09
26 WIEBE Matt 0:19:21 . 91 0:02:10
27 OSTROSKI Peter 00:05 0:19:22 . 69 0:02:11
28 ELWELL Aaron 0:19:24 . 69 0:02:13
29 BEATON Matthew 0:19:30 . 62 0:02:19
30 UHL Tristan 0:19:35 . 66 0:02:24
31 WOODRUFF TJ 0:19:36 . 28 0:02:25
32 PETERSON Cody 0:19:48 . 88 0:02:37
33 MICKIEWICZ Bryan 0:19:52 . 56 0:02:41
34 NOBIL John 00:05 0:19:55 . 84 0:02:44
35 CONNORS Matt 0:19:58 . 09 0:02:47
36 CLARK JJ 0:19:59 . 75 0:02:48
37 FRANKLIN Macky 0:20:06 . 00 0:02:55
38 MCCALLA Michael 0:20:11 . 18 0:03:00
39 WELLS Todd SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING 0:20:12 . 12 0:03:01
40 ALDREDGE Graham 0:20:14 . 12 0:03:03
41 WOHLSCHLAEGER Cr 0:20:42 . 97 0:03:31
42 PATTERSON Will WHOLE ATHLETE CYCLING TEAM 0:20:59 . 00 0:03:48

SOMEBODY LEFT ME BIRTHDAY WISHES UP ON MESA RD!!

2010-07-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know how I feel about ducks, you know how awesome this is!

Doing what needs to be done for the sake of doing IT

2010-07-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this photo needs plenty of explanation but I aint going to give it to you. I've had trouble excavating some good photos for a Firecracker 50 report, so you aren't going to get that either. The Mountain Flyer has a good write up including a photo of the guy playing banjo up on the little french creek climb. I think I rode just about as well as I could have on that day in July. A full list of results are up.

There is a big stage race here in the Springs this weekend. I'm racing with pro's, it should be wicked fast. I can't wait. I hope to throw down a fast enough TT on friday so I can start the XC on saturday at least in the middle of the pack. For better or worse I love racing and I really love multi-day races. There is a point about 2/3 of the way thru every race when this feeling washes over me where I don't want the race to end. Towards the end of the race when the end is imminent I get this feeling of wanting the race to go on forever, continually riding hard, floating thru the woods, chasing and/or being chased..... It's strange I know. In a stage race the race may end but you get to do it all again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday! See you guys tomorrow.

Firecracker 50 Results

2010-07-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

I was 19th among the Pro Men at the Firecracker 50 or as some people like to call it the USA MTB Marathon National Championships. 60ish pro men lined up and around 45 finished. I was hoping to ride a sub 4 hour race but you can't have everything... where would you put it? Or maybe I already have everything it's just not stacked in the right order yet.

A full race report with photos will soon follow.