March-Raced some Rocky Mtn Collegiate open races while working, April-Cohutta 100 miler in TN finished 9th, May-fun trip to Moab, UT with Heather for her 1st time on a Mtn bike, June-Broken tib-fib from a road wreck, prognosis of 3 mths no wgt bearing and 8 mths total in cast, June-Sept-doing workouts on hand ergometer for fitness and recovery, got out of cast months early (quick healer), Winter-ran ½ marathon in Pueblo with only 5 runs under my belt post surgery in 1:45, raced CX Nationals open race for top 10 on a borrowed bike and shoes (hadn’t touched a cx bike since Providence Nationals!), January-Training camp in Tucson with MOB team; host housing was great, great miles, can’t beat warm weather in the winter, Feb-Valley of the Sun SR; had a great TT effort that averaged 345 watts for 33 min, rode aggressive in RR to bring back break but burned through matchbook by finish, rode conservative for pack finish in Crit. March/April-Field sprint win for 4th in crit in Albuqueque, raced some front range collegiate road events, broke a new hardtail mtb 20 minutes into 1st ride, had a wreck at 53 mph in the first 5 minutes a P/1/2 RR, May-Did local weekday MTB race series in the Springs, finished 3rd in Pro field after two 4ths and a 5th, June-traveled back to KY for the Tour of Red River Gorge to work and race; broke away from field for a 10 lap solo in Crit to take 4th, 10th in RR and shitty TT (only guy there w/o TT bike and wheels), then raced the Mtn States Cup race in Crested Butte for a 14th finish in the Pro field out of 30 riders and only 15 minutes off the Tree farmer, Ryan Trebon. Not bad for running a 1x9 with a 38t front ring on a course that starts at 9000 ft elevation and still climbs a heck of a lot. Yeah baby! Definitely felt the effort exerted in CB while riding with Heather and Buck in Breck the next day.
I think that brings us up to speed since today is July 1st.
Really….July already? That is cool though because the schedule
is slowing at work and I’m actually getting to work on some
projects and getting in some races. I just arrived back from
Taos, NM where Heather I went over the weekend to partake in a
mini-vacation of sorts to hang out with some of Heather’s
coworkers that make an annual tradition to attend the Solar
Music Fest. It’s funny that the best music experience of the
weekend was finding local coffee/gelato shop where Josh Paulison
was playing acoustic while the festival was going on. We picked
up his CD and chatted with him for a few minutes and almost
missed the start of the headline show at the actual music fest.
On terms of riding, I knew that Taos was close to Angel Fire
(where I raced Collegiate Mtb Nationals in years past) so there
had to be some other good trails. I looked up a local shop,
established credibility and got the in on some good trail
recommendations. Heather and I did the Mondragon/White Rd/South
Boundary Trail as a shuttle. I must say the section of the SBT
that ran at about 10,000 ft along a ridge of dense trees and
aspens was awesome. Although once we started the rocky descent
back into Taos, I wish I would have had my all-mtn bike or a
full DH rig since there wasn’t any elevation gain for the
remaining miles and the hardtail over all the rocks wasn’t the
most plush. We then switched gears the next day to do a high
mtn hike from Taos Ski area to Williams Lake at 11,040 ft. It
was nice to hike through some snow up to the bowl of Williams
Lake just below Wheeler Peak (the highest mtn in NM at mid
13,000s).
Plans, moving forward, are to head to Breck again in two days
for the Firecracker 50. It will be fun since my mom and oldest
nephew are flying out from KY to visit over the holiday
weekend. The race actually starts the 4th of July
parade on the main street through the town. We are going to
camp, enjoy the mtns, and I even get to race in the process! I
was hesitant about my potential to excel in some of the mtb
races out here after suffering in the Winter Park, Breck, and
Snowmass races out here last year, but the last few weeks of
racing the local mtb series during the week has led me to
believe that after 2 years, I’m finally getting acclimated to
intensity at altitude. It is really hard to believe that it
would take that long but it has. I just can’t train at the load
that I did at sea level and the intensity is reduced much, but
I’m slowly being able to do repeated intense bouts. I just need
more real rest and quality sleep.
After the Breck ultra race, I’m off to Leadville for the
Silver Rush 50. I luckily got my entry from the 07 event
transferred to 08 since I broke my leg last summer. It should
be a good challenge since the race starts above 10,000 ft! I’m
tossing the idea around of doing the Mtn Challenge Stage Race in
Brian Head, UT in Aug. It is a 4 day mtb race that has three 55
mile days on trails that starts with a 7 mile TT for staging.
There is some good money up for grabs and it’s the 1st
mtb SR in the US.
As you can tell I’m getting back into the mtb scene. I’ve had a
couple bad crashes on the road, ruined $$$ worth of parts, kits
and skin and am frankly a bit over that right now. Don’t get me
wrong still racing for the RMCEF/MOB Cyclery team on the road
but I’ve actually been getting faster since balancing out more
road and mtn stuff. Next stop CX season where the hour of power
comes alive and I can really dial my tech skills of mtbing on
the cross course. Let’s get ready to hop some barriers and flat
slide some corners on 700cs!
Daniel