Deep into the Cyclocross season
Our local CX scene has continued to grow every year. YETI got a sweet new frame (ARCX) to us just intime for the local thunderdome.

Trip to DeerVally National.

The 5th stop of the National Mountainbike Series

Drive there was cool. Through the plains of Wyoming, vast wind energy farms.

Teammate and semi-pro racer John Chambers.

Park City Olympic ski jumps

Semi feed zone.... patroled by the Norba Nazi's feed zone official. Both Chambers and I got yelled at for "too much support"

Reducing our carbon footprint, with gas at 3 dollars + a gallon it's easy being ecofriendly. Packed in tight in the mini 3 bikes 3racers 1 Desert Beagle

Yeah, it's that steep. Anglefire NM is also littered with volcanic rockgardens. Really unpredictable sets of rocks that had me just holding on "pin balling" though the wost on them.

Dave Strouse at his post. The pits look better than ever. New yellow tinted topeak popups great mood lighting and bee attractor. COmotion & Breckenridge Brewery 'where the beer flows like wine'....

After a long winter slumber, Game On and back to the dirt. Nathrop CO for the first of 7 events in the Norba Regional Series the "Mountain States Cup"

It's a good feeling to race with intensity and purpose after being cooped up in a long front range winter. Our mountain bike team came out swinging and scooped up many points in the team competition. One of our tough guys, "Steve Oliver" payed the price in the short track. Had been cooped up a little to long and celebrated the opener with a "Bicycle Scorpion"

Off Season Skate Skiing with tha pooch

Boulder Cup Cyclocross

24 Hours of mudfest 06

Just when I thought the suffering was over.

My buddy Ryan Hamilton called me to see it I could wrench for him and be part of his crew for the 24 hours of Moab race. The event organizers called the race about 8-9 hours in because of bad conditions. WTF? Isn't 24 hour racing about persiverence, toughness, preparedness? No rider or team is required to go out into the storm. Anyone can curl up in their tent or RV and wait for it to pass. Our Rider and Crew had made it through the worst of the storm and were ready to go, but were not allowed to race. Super bummer for the best prepared team out there.

Brake Pads without the "Pads". Functioning disk brakes were hard to come by around 8pm.

The skys opened up at high noon (start of the race) and did not stop until about 9pm that night. Under normal conditions, rain is a good thing in the desert. It makes the course faster and cuts down on the dust. Some of the fastest lap times were recorded the next morning on the hard packed course.
Shit weather, Advantage "Hamiltonians"! With two very experienced mechanics, three bikes, two more crew, a tough as nails rider, and a guard dog, we were ready to go all night.

5th time "Behind the Rocks" in Utah!

Somehow shotgunning beers has become our "rally cap" or moral booster around camp. Seems to be working!!?

My last "call up" of the season. My race was going fine until I flatted in the second lap. Right about that time the skys opened up. The course became slow and dangerous (the leaders had already finished by this time) and I drug my mud cover body to the line.

My Savior

What I thought was a hard rain on the course turned into a flood of biblical proportions. I was soaked and instantly put into the deep freeze by the exhaustion and cold rain. I went into survival mode and hopped inside a port-John to shiver myself warm. Pro mountain bike racing is so glamorous.

Last National

Snowmass national series final pro men start

Brian Head Utah turned out to be a great venue. The mountains meet the desert. We camped close to the start/finish area at 9600 feet elevation. The course went up from there to at least 11000'. One big 27 mile loop. Our preride day was washed out with rain so both Kris and I race day would be our first time around.

The trail was sic. "Dark Hollow" is a one of the longest decents I've done in a race. It was so good we went back the next day to do it all over again. Hooked up with an old buddy from Ubikes that now lives in there. Steve "Bread" Faducia was our tour guide and hotel as we stayed an extra day and shuttled some sweet trail.

The Hotel Sienna just got bigger. Also works as our "factory pits jr." Our camping has become as dialed as our bikes.

Kris's races went predictably well. That's him gapping the feild at his short track.

Got some rest and home cooking, off to the next national in Brianhead, Utah. Temps are cool and the altitude is high there. Goran has been pegged to my side. He knows it's time for another road trip.

Long Road Home.

Really wasn't that bad. Sneaking Goran in and out of hotel rooms has never been so worth it. Kris and I hit the jackpot by scoring a hotel room in Provo that had OLN. We got the watch the Floyd explosion and redemption stages in the Tour de France. It puts our idea of suffering into perspective.

Russian River Rope Swings. Floated all day to beat the heat.

Goran stayed in the water most of the day. He was still paddeling in his slept that night on the hotel floor.
Picnik in the shade with some Fume' Blanc and our Maitre De' Kris w/a K.
Back home. Time for r&r and one of my favorite days on the calinder. I must be a obnoxious euro cycling fan encarnate. There is nothing I enjoy more than screaming at triathletes as they slog up the steep pitches of old stage road.

I should have taken a lesson from Landis and just kept a bottle in my hand. Riding through the California heat wave sucked. Two bottles on the front side feed and one on the back. Nine in total but i'd say I drank about six. Three more than any thing I've done in competition.

The perfect gut. A good three inches over the belt line. The avalanche of flab, seemingly about to fall on my shoulder. Is this what happens when you stop riding?

Super COMo Mom.

Ahh, the suffering didn't stop at the XC. I lasted longer that ever (16:40) at the short track, in slightly warmer weather.

Coast 2 Coast in 06'

The cold pacific waters around Montego Bay. Kris and I's NMBS tour has reached it's Zenith, but not it's conclution. It was a little symbolic touching both coast, and thinking of the lessons I've learned along the way.

All that aside, nothing could kill our buzz we had from wine tastings in the Russian River valley. Sobered up with a walk on the beach.

Getting "sideways" at some wineries.

"Generous pours, mineral finish, bitey, smokey start, summer in a bottle, bouqet, toasty, nutty, lively, floral." Words not to familiar in the Mt. Bike lexicon, except "generous pours."

06 SS National Start

Big field for the Single Speed nats.

Yeah! That's right....

Kris had a break out day in the SS Nationals. Sharing the stage with 3 time nat champ Carl Decker, 06 XC champ Ryan Trebon, Travis Brown, Mike Something SS cross champ. Good day for COMotion Sports and Lathrop.

technical nationals

Tough course, not real technical though.

On to Sonoma and the MountianBike Nationals. Met up with my folks in Santa Rosa. Buddy and Judy wanted to watch my "biggest race" this year and spend some time in Cali wine area.

The reviews of the course were a mixed bag. It was tough. My race was like a bake oven.... drank 6 bottles and four goo's and still had the "tinglies" most of the race. Not a lot of sustained climbing which made it a power course. Not much techincal. Nothing went great, but then again nothing really went wrong. I got 32nd of 66 starters. Pro pack fill.