Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A very rough first draft

When I was in about first grade, I started riding bikes alongside my dad as he would run. We would usually go five or six miles five times a week. Sometimes I would get tired, and my dad would give me pushes to motivate me and keep me going. Going on these rides, which at the time seemed forever long helped teach me to get to the finish line. I couldn't stop or quit on these rides, I had to keep going. Stopping far from home was pointless, I would have had to keep riding to get home anyway. My dad would be disappointed if I quit as well, and I didn't want to disappoint him. So I pushed through, and rode through any pain until I reached home. This is how I learned to love riding bicycles, and learned to experience the joy that lays in obtaining what seems unreachable by pushing through to the finish.

My love of cycling has never diminished, even though it was interrupted by school sports and a two year volunteer mission for my church. While cycling has always been an important part of my life, it has played a secondary role behind school, work, and family. I have been able to adjust my seasonal cycling goals accordingly. This past summer I was able to dedicate a little more time to cycling than I had in the previous few years, as I was completing my undergraduate degree in the spring and had flexible full time work in the summer, and I was no longer a "newlywed." In March, two of my friends and I decided to train for and race the Breckenridge 70 in Colorado. The Breckenridge 70 is a 70 mile endurance mountain bike race that features more than 9,000 vertical feet of climbing and takes place entirely at 9,000 feet above sea level or higher.

Having never competed in this type of race brought new challenges to me. I had to train harder and prepare better than I had for any race I had done previously. Having no idea of course conditions, other than a rough elevation profile, made it particularly difficult to plan for as well. Another factor was that we did not decide to do, or even know about the race until March which is when the racing season begins. A typical training regimen includes long, steady rides in the winter during the 'base' period to build endurance. Once the racing season starts workouts become shorter and faster to build high end speed. Because I was planning on doing only shorter races until we decided to do this race, my base was not really adequate for a 70 mile race. I spent the winter doing moderate length workouts and snowboarding, hardly enough work for such a long race! As such, I had to figure out how to fit in long endurance rides while still getting my fast workouts in and not being worn out for my shorter races during the spring and summer. I accomplished this by doing long rides on the weekends that had no races, missing a few races, and by doing an additional easy rides after races.

Preparing for the race also involved equipment preparation. I made small tweaks and changes to my bike during the regular racing season. I treated a few of these races as experiment sessions. In the first race of the season, I learned that I could not race on a new lightweight tire setup I had been trying. The tires were too thin and tore twice in the rocky Southern Utah desert. I experimented with gearing setups, trying to find an optimal ratio that was as minimal as possible. I discovered that just one chainring at the pedals provided adequate gearing for me and was much simpler than what most racers use, a set of three chainrings. I experimented with several lightweight parts and found a happy middle ground that was both light and durable. I experimented with different modes of calorie consumption. Trying to consume 200-300 calories per hour and not get sick to my stomach while riding proved difficult. I decided on a mix of sports drink, energy gels, and solid foods would likely work best. Going into this race, I felt that I had my equipment absolutely dialed in.

As race time closed in, I felt that my equipment was ready, and my fitness, acceptable. I was in great shape, but apprehensive about the distance and my overall endurance. As the race played out, my first 15 miles were amazing, which I expected due to my good short distance fitness. About 20 miles in I really started suffering. My body was not happy. However, I made an awesome discovery. My mind was totally ready for the suffering. I was able to stay mentally fresh almost the entire race and keep my body going through all of the tough climbs, no matter how dead and sluggish my legs felt. My body fell apart, but my mind stayed strong and helped my body to keep going. I had no mechanical issues, so my mind only had to focus on my body pressing forward. When my stomach could no longer handle solid foods, I was able to rely solely on energy gels and liquids. Before that race I could hardly swallow gels, but I knew that I had take in calories in order to keep going.

Upon finishing the race, I knew that I had just obtained a major victory. I didn't make the podium, not even for my age group, but I did have a stellar first endurance race. On top of that, my mind had been able to stay strong when everything was telling me to stop or take it easy. Being able to push on when it got tough, when my legs thought it was impossible, made me more joyful than I had ever previously been on a bike, and gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Snow Day

better than a slushy ride



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

XTRa rotors

I have a few extra XTR centerlock rotors:
I wish I had a bike for everyone of these. Let me know if you need one. They are all 140mm for rear only.



Saturday, December 5, 2009

Roadie BMX

Last night at the races, while staging for a moto, a kid asked me how I got Dura-Ace cranks to fit on my bike. I looked down, saw them, and exclaimed "Woah, how'd those get on there???

Those are for roadie bikes!" It's no secret that DA 7800 cranks are some of the prettiest ever. And, as Calvin says, if you're not fast, you better look good. And, since I had a pair of these beauties "just laying around," I figured, why not. Plus, those stock BMX cranks are heavy, like 1300 grams. These suckers cut my rotating crank weight in half! And, it only took about 2 hours, 2 bent wrenches, a drill driver, an air cutter, a grinder, and a 4 foot long jimmy-bar to do it. Well, that was just to get the BMX cranks off. The dura ace cranks went on pretty smoothly after that. Just install the BB, crank, check chainstay clearances, remove BB, install spacers and BB, install crank, check cleareances and spindle offset, rinse and repeat. But yeah, they fit. They're light. And they look really good. The Ultegra post is a nice addition too. Road parts are for BMX bikes too.



First Place Loser Shelf

Ashleigh has dedicated the top shelf of our bookcase as the "first place loser shelf"




Highlights from last night's BMX include jumping a table riding my own bike (at last), and Dan racing 20s and 24s. Suh-weet.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Refinish or....???




I decided about a month ago to refinish my road bike. I think I had been hanging around Craig a bunch and talking about "murdering out" stuff. So I needed a black bike.

Anyhow, I started sanding the prepping the frame today. Problem is, I'm really digging this distressed look. Something you'd never see on a road bike, but still kinda cool. It might stay this way for a while...

Here are some of the crappiest pictures ever: What do you think?

Tis the season...






for debranding...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

BMX 3

Won the 1st moto, 2nd in the main. Getting decent at gates, need to work on manuals. Super fun racing guys my age instead of 15 year olds that smoke me.









Sunday, November 15, 2009

R.A.T. or not

Dan and I were going to ride around timp on Friday. Mother Nature had other plans. So we smoked the pipe instead. Dan and Aaron have got me hooked on that thing. Doing it in the snow is fun too.

We headed up Betty and it was slow going. The mud made it slippery and pretty hard to keep traction. Miraculously, I can run 18 psi nowadays and never bottom out. I don't know why I had to run 25ish on the superfly but can run less on a rigid bike. Weird. Anyway, the low tire pressure helped out. After grinding our way up to the rock pile, we cruised over to dry canyon.

We thought it might be dry over there. Nope. It was muddy there too. It was one of the funnest descents ever though. BonnyShorline was drier.

Last time I was out Brandon mentioned that Dry was a descent where it helped to know the trail (I've now done it 6 times - 2 at night). I'm getting faster through that section. Shoreline I can rip on coz I've ridden it for almost 10 years, It was the first (and only) singletrack I rode besides racing until 2005. So I know it pretty well.

All in all, the snow ride was a good ride, albeit about 4.5 hours shorter than we planned. Dan was nice enough to rinse my bike off for me, it was muddy. Thanks Dan.


At the rock pile. Stolen from facebook.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Does this mean it's official?



Am I a true BMX racer now that I have my license? Doubt it.

6:18

I ran a 6:18 mile yesterday. Wow, that's only 2 minutes of my best. I was actually trying to run 7:30s but my splits were obviously way off. I use the digital clock at the indoor track to time myself, and I just wanted every lap to be x:10, x:40, x:10, etc. 90 second laps, 5 laps per mile, 7:30 mile pace right? Easy enough. Well my laps started being at x:27 and stuff that I couldn't figure out in my head. Afterwards I settled into a 7:30 pace and it was a lot easier.

So...maybe I'll start running more than once a week. Maybe I'll get to where running doesn't feel like taking a jackhammer to my poor cycling legs. Maybe I'll try to go under 5:00. But that might be silly. And really, a sub 5 minute mile? Really doesn't seem that fast. And having to work for something that doesn't seem fast? Seems crazy. Maybe I'll try to run under 4:40. Now that's just insane.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

My first cycling trophy ever

First place loser trophy


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

On the way to the bike show. To look at the bicycles.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Spindly legs

My legs have gotten more of a "biker shape" this year than they ever have before. I've been feeling good about that today. On the mountain bike, I felt like they were good and tough. Not tree trunk tough, but tough for what I'm used to seeing. Today I went and did 90 second intervals with Dan up by the Provo temple, and that feeling disappeared. The first half of our interval was maybe a 3% grade, and then a crosswalk, and then it kicked up to, I don't know, maybe 5%. Dan kicked it at the crosswalk every time. He blew me away, and blew my mind. As I struggled to stay within 15 yards of him, I'd look down at my legs, and only one word came to mind. Spindly. (Long and skinny, often denoting weakness). Yeah. Spindly.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Race Update

I haven't talked about racing for a while. At the Canyons ICUP race I double flatted out on the 2nd lap, which was okay because it meant I didn't have to do a 3rd. At the Sundance race last week I flatted on the 1st lap which stunk because it meant I didn't get to to the 2nd, and I was climbing and descending dreamily.

Anyway, two DNF's was frustrating because I've felt like I've really got my fitness back where it should be, and much closer to where I want it to be.

At Soldier Hollow this week, it became evident that a group of the riders had strategized to ride the first two laps slow(er). I knew that if we all just dilly-dallied around for two laps it'd be a brutal next two and I wouldn't be able to hang with hardly anyone in the top 8-10. So I tried to push the pace the first lap and foil their plot. It seemed to work, as the lead group dwindled and Wolfe wheelied in front of me. I knew pushing the pace wouldn't drop everyone, but I knew that for me to get a good finish it's what I needed to do. Wolfe and another guy decided to take off on the 2nd lap and Matt and I had a battle for 3rd that lasted until the 4th lap when Matt dropped me. Derrick caught me on the final descent and tried to outsprint me before the pavement - so I dropped some 4x moves and blocked the inside line, forcing him to take the outer, slower line, and allowing me to get back in front for the sprint for 4th, which I took. (see, watching all those DH/4x movies pays off!) It was great to have to put some thought into a race, ever since I moved up to expert I've just been riding as hard as I can to finish the race, it was fun to finally have some tactics. Makes me miss being a cat 4/5 and racing the crits at TP (Thanksgiving Point).

I also got in trouble by a few of the racers (Jay), for running an "illegal" bike. Apparently there is a unwritten rule that limits bike weight to 24 lbs or more for the Wed. night series. Oops. I've been cheating by 2+ lbs. all year. Apparently the gold chain is a no-no as well...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Funny Time

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Downtube Guards




Here are some pics of the prototype. It weighed 29 grams including mounting tape. Pretty light insurance if you ask me. It mounted really flush and looks really clean on the bike.I've currently got a few in cue with more layers of fiberglass. We'll see how stiffness and strength compare, although I personally think that a light barrier with the foam mounting tape will be enough to disperse the impact enough to prevent frame damage. Stay tuned...

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Superfly downtube guards

Custom molded downtube guards for the 2008-09 Gary Fisher Superfly are in the works. We're just finishing our first prototype. Expect to see them on a few bikes at the Canyons ICUP race. They should be available for purchase soon afterwards! Initial price will be around $40. This is a great preventative product to help eliminate rock damage to downtubes.


Breck

Breckenridge is a small little ski town in Colorado. It sits at about 9,300 ft. elevation-wise. It was the setting of the Breckenridge B-68 and B100 that Dan, Calvin, and I participated in last week.

We rode some of the course, about 4 miles, on Friday, and it was scary. The elevation and the fact that we were riding cliff-like singletrack definitely worked out lungs over in just a few short miles. The descent, although rocky and rooty, was pure sweetness. The trail was really well built, with rocks laid out before every switchback to eliminate brake bumps, and some fat berms at the bottom that required almost no brakes at all. The descent erased all of my fears regarding elevation and climbing (coz going downhill on sweet trails makes going up easier, right?).

Saturday morning Dan got up early, I remember trying to say good luck but already being back asleep when he left. He had a 6 AM start. Calvin and I rolled over to the start at around 8, setup an ezup, and hung out. Dan rolled through starting his 2nd lap around 9, and our race started around 10AM.

We had a neutral start that went uphill on the road for maybe 2 miles. By then everyone was so spread out it wouldn't have mattered to have a neutral start. Soon after, we jumped onto one of the nicest singletrack climbs I've ever ridden. The quality of singletrack must have got me excited coz I started picking riders off one by one. I passing 100 mile racers quite constantly throughout the day which was so nice as it gave me a target to chase down all afternoon. The uphill climb lasted for about 12-14 miles and got more steep and technical the higher we got up. We were all walking the last 100 meters of the climb. After a bit of level singletrack we hit a fireroad that was built like a 4x or Dual Slalom course, with sick 'jumps' every 50 yards or so. Since it was a race, I pumped through about half of them, and just launched off of the other ones. As troublemaker says, "on a long ride, you've got to look for stuff to keep it fun." I was having fun, and not looking far to find it. Next we got on the Colorado Trail which involved a bit more climbing. I was riding with two others on 29ers who were spinning their 22/34s the whole time. I was a bit jealous since my low gear was a 32/34. The next 10 miles or so was more amazing singletrack.
Soon after, we hit a road followed by a dirt road with a gradual climb back into town. After pushing the singletrack sections I was getting tired, and the climb almost took me out. I was worn out and considering quitting. Once I (finally) rolled into the finish area though, I got all adrenalized and forgot about quitting or even taking a rest until I was 5 minutes into my next lap, which quickly took us to a the most technical, steep road I've seen. After pushing, walking, remounting, riding and repeating several times, I just started walking up the dang road. One rider caught me and gained about 10 feet over the course of a half mile, so I wasn't losing much time by walking.
More up and down singletrack, a 12 mile grind on a dirt road, and some (by this time, miserable) singletrack, and I finished.
All I could down was gels and water the entire 7.5 hours. Gross. I couldn't eat for another hour afterward. My stomach was not happy, but not wanting to do anything about it either.
My back hurt so bad, as well as my wrists, shoulders, and buttocks, that the only somewhat comfortable position was standing over the pedals. Walking was quite nice too... Now I understand how being stuck in a room too low to stand up in and too short to lay down in is torture.
I did not enjoy thinking about anything bike related for a full 24 hours afterward. I hated bikes and what I had punished myself through.
And yet, by evening the next day, I couldn't wait to do another one.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Struck

Last tuesday, Ash and I took a 2.5 block bike ride to the church on our single speeds.

We only made it two blocks.

At the intersection two blocks away, I got hit by a car turning right as we were crossing on the left side of the road in the crosswalk. I could see that the guy wasn't looking at me and going to turn anyway in time to 'set up' for the impact.

I tried to jump over the front of my bike onto his hood as my bike smashed into the front of his car. I landed on the hood and rolled off onto the road.

I was okay. My bike was hurt. The fork is bent, the rims are mostly oval.

The most disappointing thing is that I've spent the last year swapping parts to make my bike just how I want it and really, really, really good looking. All silver components, nice cranks, etc. The wheels were less than a month old, and already compromised for life. I was trying to build a nice, durable bike that would be good for life. Ha, jokes on me.

New rims and a fork should do it. But I'm really gonna miss having the matching frame and fork.

Anybody know a good frame painter?

Friday, July 10, 2009

Wednesday night

Lessons learned:

1. 30 PSI. No matter what. Any less is too little. This lesson I seem to have to learn over and over again. Maybe I haven't learned it yet.
2. Ride mountain bikes more. My descending was off, and I totally blew through a few corners.
3. 1 AM bike builds are sure to have at least one problem. (a very noisy rubbing front rotor)
4. Be the first winner of the raffle. P712 gift certificates are the greatest prize.
5. Riding regularly reaps results. Check out that alliteration.
6. Breckenridge will be a blast. (not really a lesson learned, but I'm still super stoked)

Everybody Wants One

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The downhill finish-playing it safe

It's no secret that downhill finishes are dangerous. High speeds become higher, bikes become less stable, and crashes become uglier (as well as the people in the crashes...).

On second thought, maybe it is a secret. I'm not sure if the average cat 4/5 rider knows this, although I'm sure that the 4/5 field at the Whitewater Road Race (actually circuit race), knows this now, and at least 8 people have first hand experience in becoming uglier.

It's also no secret that cat 4/5 fields have a stereotype of being full of sketchy riders (note: to that cat 4/5 who is constantly talking about how sketch the other riders in their race were, you need to know here and now that you were part of that sketch and not just a witness to it.) The stereotype is true.

After just the first lap of seven into this race, I knew that if the group stayed together on the last climb, I wouldn't be contesting the sprint. The course was sketchy, the riders were sketchy, and a finish in that situation was sure to get ugly.

That's exactly what happened. As we crested the hill and the finish line came into view, everyone went nuts, and mass carnage ensued. I stayed to the side and cyclocrossed through the gravel shoulder around the biggest road racing accident I've ever seen. I rolled in at 16th place, which meant there were only 16 of us who didn't go down. I know I was the last person to finish who didn't crash. 8 people finished after me, and I'm thinking that 4-7 people never made it across the finish line who were involved.

And let me tell you, at least two of the people involved got very uglied.

Some times it's smart to sit out on a sprint. I can think of a few good reasons:

My face isn't any uglier than it was before.
All of the pain is on the inside, ya know, like lactic acid stuff.
I don't have to take time off the bike to let my body heel.
I didn't shave my legs, so any and all road rash would have been painful.
Breckenridge 68 - two weeks.
12 hours of sundance.
The ever important 3 gun biathlon next month.

The best 16th place finish ever just happened.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Mud, Flats, and Rock'n'Roll









The ho-down at 5 mile pass was last weekend. It rained all night and morning before the race. They shortened the race from an 11 mile loop to a 4 mile loop. My category did 3 laps.

2 miles into the race I was all excited coz Dan, Racer, and I were all in a row, like ducks. Then my rear tire started going flat. Then my front tire started going flat. Then I thought the rear one sealed up so I kept riding. It didn't. So I stopped and fixed it. Which pretty much put me out of contention for anything but last place in a race this short. Then I thought the front one sealed up so I kept riding. it didn't. So I walked/rolled into the start area where I got some air in my tires. I though the front one sealed up so I started lap 2. It didn't, and slowly leaked as I rode with the leader of my category, who was starting his last lap. Then I had to start being really careful coz the tire was so low. Then the bead popped off and I lost all pressure. So I walked through the mud to the start line. Where I stole Chad's wheel (Thanks, Chad). Then I rode my last lap. Without incident. Too bad everyone else was already finished.

That makes 4 or 5 flats in three races, and at least one mechanical in every ICup race this year. No worries, we'll figure this tire crap out and get a good finish soon.

The race pics Ash took are funny. Here are a few of other racers:


Here are a few "action" shots of me:Yup those are mid race photos. Sweet. Racer flatted too.

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Graudation "Walk"

Graduations are awesome. Ya know, you like get to listen to some cool speeches, walk across the stage, shake your dean's hand, etc. Wear the cool hat and robe 'n stuff. Awesome, right?

Well, I decided to try something a little different for my graduation. Save the $30 tassle fee, or rather, trade it for a tank of gas, and go to Moab.

Every year, Kenny puts on a group ride called RAWROD, which means for Ride Around White Rim in One Day in bike acronym language.

White Rim is a 103 mile road in Canyonlands National Park outside of Moab, where "you ride down into a hole, you ride around another hole, and then you ride out of the hole." Most people tackle the ride in 3-4 days, and the N.P.S. recommends that jeepers do it in at least two days.

But since bikers are crazy (or stupid), we all got together to do it in just one.

So my graudation "walk" was a ride. Sweet.

Sweet, especially the descent (Shafer's) into the hole, where Craig and I took turns turning little bumps in the road into jumps. Sweet, except for the 25+ mph headwinds we battled for at least 20 miles. Sweet, except for the 1500 meter climb out of the hole, where I went from feeling like a decent climber to becoming a believer in the 22-34 combo. Sweet, especially the ice cold Cherry Coke Craig promised was waiting for me at the finish.

I had a good time out there in that hole. But it only took me about 30 miles before I started asking myself why I was doing this. I still don't have an answer. Is that what endurance riding is about? Doing things but not knowing why you are doing them? Well, I'm new at this endurance stuff. Kinda like a freshman. Doing stuff coz its good for ya even though you have no clue why.

P.S.
Thanks Craig for keeping me in the game mentally.
Thanks Fish for letting me know how crappy you felt, it helped me know I wasn't the only one feeling like that.
Thanks Jon for keeping the humor up, and for showing me just how much better discs are than V's. And for not noticing that my shorts were white when you were making fun of everyone else's white shorts.
And thanks Craig for that killer Cherry Coke.
(Yeah that's my RAWROD thank you list, not my college one, in case you couldn't tell.)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Lambert Park

I've never ridden here before. It was totally dry, even after the huge snowstorm Thrusday. Got in a couple of hours with Ash, then ride home. 60 and sunny...nice. A good break from finals.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What the heck is NOIR?


So in the middle of my ride today I started wondering what the name of my handlebar noir meant (I didn't name my handlebar, the manufacturer, Truvativ, did(It's also the name of their carbon cranks, duh)). In the middle of writing my last undergrad paper ever I started wondering again. This is when you know you're no longer being productive and should go to bed is. So I started looking it up. Here's what I came up with, in a convenient list format:

  • There is a film genre called film noir, which you can read about here. Sounds boring compared to movies made today. No chance they named it after old movies.
  • In english the word noir can have several definitions, which all seem to have roots from film noir. My favorite definition is "suggestive of danger or violence." This could be the meaning, however, I'm not sure that they'd name their lightweight XC carbon components that.
  • In French, German, Cajun German (?), Provencal, and not Scottish noir means black. That's probably it because crabon fiber is, well, black.
  • My favorite definition, although the one I'd least likely to see come true, is the Spanish defintion. NO in Spanish means no, and ir in Spanish is the infinitive of the verb "to go" So basically it means no go. Kind of like the Chevy No-Va (which didn't sell well in Mexico!). I don't want this to come true because that will likely involve my bars breaking which sounds bad.
So, now I (and you) no longer will have to worry about what noir could possibly mean. I just have to worry that my bars don't "no ir" me. We've all been educated here. Too bad this won't help me any with that last paper. Maybe I can just turn this in. It kinda involves economic growth, right? No? Well, looks like I justed wasted another twenty minutes of precious paper writing time. Definitely time to put the computer down and stop working on that paper.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Cholla

Just came back from a great weekend in St. George racing at ICUP #2, the Cholla Challenge down in Hurricane. Here are some notes.

1. It's amazing how fast the dirt dries out down there. Our Friday evening pre-ride was a mudfest, by Saturday at noon the course was dry. There was only one puddle on the entire course, and the dirt was dry everywhere else.

2. Bad luck. 3 years ago I DNF'd at Cholla less than a mile into the race. My chain snapped. Last year, I rode without incident. Last month I DNF'd with two flat at the Desert Rampage. This weekend, my left shoe's lacing system broke halfway through the race. I was able to finish, and ride well, but imagine running with no shoelaces. That's what this was like. My southern Utah racing stats are one out of four races without a mechanical and finishing two out of four. And...I've had four mechanicals in four races. Dude.

3. Dan, those socks have got to go.

4. The first two times I raced at Cholla I ran a 29/44 2x9 setup. First on a 26" bike, which, I only raced about a mile. Then on a 29er. This year I ran a normal triple, but really wanted to run a single 32 ring upfront. That was the perfect gear. I never left my middle ring.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Rampage





Last weekend was the first Icup race down in San Jorge. Ash and I pulled in late Friday night and set up camp and went to bed. It was a windy night and we used the car to hold down our tarp while we set up the tent. The wind woke me up once around two and I had to get up and take a walk. Besides that I slept well as I usually do when camping. It was nice staying at the course because it gave us a lot of free time before the race. Ash raced first and did well, while I chatted with teammates and prepped for my race.


I had a good first lap and stayed in contention with the top 5. Stuart Goodwin showed up and he and I were passing each other for the first lap and a half. That was cool, Stuart's old bike (by now really old bike) was my first race bike about 8 years ago. I ran with his brothers in high school and they were fast, just like Stuart is on a bike. Racer passed me during the second lap and I grabbed his wheel. Racer's wheel is a good one to be on coz he always takes great lines. Kenny passed me on one of the river wash climbs.Kenny's bike has a belt drive that makes a slight humming noise, kind of like a UFO. Very cool. Probably the coolest sound I heard all race, and definitely the most distracting one. Bikes usually don't sound lik UFOs.

From here on it all went downhill. I flatted on the downhill portion of the second lap, Stan's spraying all over and then drenching my rear wheel after I put a tube in. I lost a bunch of places but passed a ton of people on the first half of the third lap. But then I flatted again, the front this time. With no tube I started hiking in. I took a short cut and just went back to the tent. I crossed the finish line walking the wrong way at about two hours.

I felt really good when I was riding. It was a lot of fun despite the mechanicals and now I'm super excited for the rest the season. Afterwards we went for a ride and Ash took these funny pictures that look like team photo profile shots. They totally belong on a rider profile page.

Good times in San Jorge. Can't wait for dry trails up here and more riding.