Thank You

I just wanted to take this time between races to thank a few of my sponsors.

Powerbar for the amazing fuel to keep my going and help me recover after races. The long hours of training are that much more enjoyable when you don't have to suffer on the bike and suffer to eat something. Powerbar has done a great job of making products that actually taste good and replenish the calories and nutrients you use while training.

Easton for the FAST wheels and fork that take a beating day in and day out during cross season and hold up strong.

Sisu for the great bikes that much like the wheels are abused on regular basis and keep on ticking.

Thank you so much for the stellar products and your support in my cycling endeavors and goals now and in the future!

Collegiate Mtb Nationals

Sweet view from the place we stayed.... everything is bigger out west.

I'll do a formal write up soon when I'm finally caught up with hw and life in general.... till then here are a couple sweet pics from collegiate mountain bike nationals in Truckee, CA.

Your Toast hahaha!Finally using my little ring for the first time!

Short Track rocking the downhill ahead of a Fort Lewis rider

Northstar Resort short track

Wisco homies at awards

Awards

Group ride after short track with a couple guys from the conference

Everything is big out west

Four Cross course

UCI3 Day 2 and 3

Overall this was a great weekend of racing and a confidence booster for the rest of the season. I got a taste of some good luck and my true abilities form wise. There is a night and day difference in my form from last year and I finally feel like I can be a little bit competitive within the elite class.

Day 2's start was my best without a doubt this year as I managed to file into the top 20 with the hole-shot and maintain it for a solid lap. The course has a little bit of everything including a ton of tight u-turn corners to put the mtb skills to good use again and get a little bit of recovery time. As the race progressed my placings in the race started to fall off a little and I drifted my way back a little bit every lap. I can't say if it was the lack of sleep or just not my day because I managed to find the back portion of the race by the end and finished 40th overall. The good news is I raced a full hour and finished with 1 lap to go in the race for the first time ever on an elite level. The one time I really hope for Trebon and Powers to lap me and relieve me of a my racing duties they don't show up and leave me to suffer like a dog haha. In hind sight I'm glad they didn't catch me until the last lap and gave me a chance to really dig deep for a whole hour.

Day 3 was another ridiculously hot day with temps in the 80's again and a scorching fast dry-dusty course. 2 days in a row I managed to avoid the crashes in the hole-shot and file into a good position some where in the 20's for the first lap. I thought for sure my legs would be toast asking them to race 3 cross races in a row but they decided to show up and surprisingly not control my pace for the day. I was able to push them as hard as I could and leave it all out there for 2 days in a row. Jason Karew was my carrot for the day and gave me a good run for my money as we rode together for the majority of the race. Jason gapped me with 3 to go and I gave up mentally for a little bit until I realized I was giving up to easily and should probably go catch him again. The gap started to come down and he was back within sight a lap later when I bombed a steep downhill section too hard and punctured my from tubular.....game over. I ended up finishing with 1 lap to go and in 35th place in the weekends premier C1 race. The calendar is marked and I'm definitely going to race the UCI3 Cincinnati weekend next year!!!

Next up is Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in Truckee, CA this coming weekend.

Cincinnati Cross Day 1

Day 1 is in the books. 28th was the final result which just so happened to be the bib number they gave me for the weekend. It's pretty sweet having your name on your bib number.

This race goes down as one of the bumpiest cross races I have ever done! I would have gladly ridden my full suspension Trek Top Fuel if I could have. Not only was the course bumpy but lacking a flat section for more than a couple hundred feet leaving for an up or down feeling the whole race. Surprisingly my legs weren't wasted from the 3:30am wakeup call and 8 hours in the car but never really felt good enough to really push the pace. Mountain bike skills definitely came into play today and worked to my advantage to make up for the bla legs. Thanks to the new Easton wheels and Tufo tires which got glued less than 48 hours earlier I would say the race went pretty well.

Dinner was quick at a place called the Spagetti Factory and back to the hotel to rest up. 2 hours into recovery mode Brian is fine one minute and the next he is saying he doesn't feel good at all. All SHIT BROKE LOOSE and he was running for the bathroom. A little scare and a trip over to the ER we were back in the hotel room. The doctor still doesn't really know what happened....maybe food poisoning or an allergic reaction. It's too bad I thought I was going to be one spot better in the race today lol jk. Brian seems fine today and should be back on the bike without a hitch.

Hopefully today goes a little better than yesterday and nothing to crazy afterwards.