Monday, February 28, 2011

Sagebrush Fun!

CYCLINGNEWS REPORT

Well that was a muddy one!  1 mile of road, 3 freezing cold hub deep creek crossings, 1 mile of "singletrack" and 3 miles of muddy jeep roads.  Repeat 5 times while lapping about 200 beginner to expert races...

I wish conditions were good enough to hit the real trails of the original course, but we had some killer racing anyway!  I got myself to the front of the race early on, but didn't quite have the power to hang with Trek Canada rider Adam Morka.  In the end it was a solid Trek 1-2 at the US Cup opener with Adam taking the win, while I was able to ride away from the chase group for 2nd.

Right now I'm really thankful for great health and good fitness this early in the year!





Friday, February 25, 2011

Rest? Race?

Work has been busy all week... After solid training rides Wed and Thur morning and 10 hours in the office as a "rest" day today, it's time to go into hibernation as my final preparation for the Sagebrush Safari.

Hibernating like a bear should be good prep for a race site that is predicted to have several inches of snow the night before the race right?!  SNOW FORECAST!


I was on the podium last year, why no mention with Cyclingnews?
sagebrush-safari-kicks-off-kenda-cup-west-series  

Saturday, February 19, 2011

2011 Season Preview!

Sometimes (ok, most of the time) working a full time job and being competitive in an endurance sport is really hard.  Of course there are all kinds of reasons why endurance junkies always want more and are never satisfied - so we keep going.


For me though, the challenge and motivation has become more and more clear as time goes on.  Out of the countless rides and hundreds of races I've done there have been a few moments where I was truly feeling great, powering along almost effortless, and railing sections of trail near perfectly.  But I've never once thought "This is it, this is the best I can ever ride!"  We can always get better. I don't know when I'll be staisfied with what I've done in racing. In a lot of ways I'm already satisfied, and in some ways I never will be.  Most important I'm still finding ways to get better and truly loving the journey.

This year I have the advantage of the biggest races of the spring taking place close to home.  From there my summer plans are still a work in progress.  See you at the races!


Feb 27: CA State Series - Sagebrush Safari


March 12: ProXCT / Triple Crown Bonelli Park – San Dimas
March 26: ProXCT / Triple Crown Fontana City National – Fontana


Apr 2: Warrior's Society Vision Quest!
April 16: ProXCT Sea Otter Classic – Monterey
April 30: ProXCT Mellow Johnny’s Classic – Austin, Tx


June 4-5: US Triple Crown - Santa Ynez (Triple Crown)
June 25: ProXCT Subaru Cup - Mt Morris, WI


July 9-10: Downieville!
July 16-17: NATIONALS - Sub Valley, ID


July 31: Canada Cup - Panorama Mountain Resort
Aug 7-9: Trans Rockies TR3
Sept 17: Marathon Champs – Bend OR
Oct 1: CA State Champs - San Dimas

Monday, February 14, 2011

World Bicycle Relief - Thank you!

A very big thank you to those that donated through my WBR fundraising page last fall!   I learned that asking for donations to a far away cause is pretty difficult!  But thanks to a lot of generous people we were still able to get several bikes donated and truly effect the lives of some children. 

WBR always has some cool new fundraisers happenings and updates on their progress with various projects... check em out at http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/worldbicyclerelief?v=wall 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Praise!!

All thanks and praise go to God for another 3 weeks of good rides and great health in the midst of busy times at work! 

It's crazy how fast the winter has flown by for me, but things have definitely been good.  Beth has kept me eating well; friends have made a lot of my endurance rides fun; and a busy job is a good one to have these days.  Most important - I'm trying to rely more on faith and God to guide me through it all...
I wrapped up a solid week of training with a 5hr mountain bike ride on Saturday, and the Como group ride on Sunday.  The group ride didn't feel good, but I was able to make the front group and do my fair share of work all the way through.


Finally enjoying some of SoCal's benefits while the rest of the country is freezing.  Hanging with Beth in Laguna is way better than watching the Super Bowl. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Racers and Chasers Balboa Park

Wednesday evening on my 3rd week of a training block and I'm feeling it!  Tired and hungry!  I think it's still a good tired though.  The ride home from work is only 20 minutes, but it's never easy after a 2.5hr ride at 6am followed by an 8-9hr day at work.  I need to get in a core workout, but have run into trouble finding the time or energy for that the last couple weeks.

We had an awesome weekend here in SoCal and Racers and Chasers put on a cool little race in Balboa Park San Diego on Saturday.  The San Diego Velodrome is, well ghetto, but Balboa Park is otherwise pretty awesome and literally within a few miles of downtown San Diego.  The hour and fifteen minute race was exactly the workout I needed and it's nice to start the season with a win.  I followed that up with a solo century Sunday - I guess the training is getting a little serious! Time to spin home for some much needed dinner and prep for tomorrow mornings mtn ride.