Arizona MTB Racing

Mogollon Rim mountain bike ride.

2009-07-09T21:43:00.005-07:00

Travis and I attempted some exploration of the Mogollon Rim last Friday. The weather was great for a long ride and the added bonus of a day off work paid didn’t hurt either.
We set out to try to follow the General Crook Trail that runs along the top of the rim out to some single track. The trail is less then maintained so we spent most of the time on Rim Road 300.
It allowed some great views, however as the day progressed more and more people began showing up to camp for the holiday. The area we choose to explore is really popular for this but we wanted to get out to some single track that is up there.

While we could have just drove out to it that wouldn’t have been as fun so we logged some long dirt road miles in our attempt to get there.
Problems started around mile 20 when Travis got a flat. Then is when we found out that he had forgotten his hand pump and the valve for my big air had gone MIA. Being 20 miles away from your car is not the time to find this sort of thing out.
I started moving quick back to the car but about five miles away here came Travis in the back of some ones truck. He had gotten tired of waiting and decided to take advantage of all the people out there and just hitch hike back. Good thinking.

Next time better preparation and fewer crowds will be in order. We didn’t even get to the single track so we have that to look forward to as well.
One funny thing was the Arizona rain storms up there. When we stopped for lunch there where big thunder heads building up. As I rode back I went through nothing but sunshine though the remnants of a rain storm where clear in the water running down the middle of the road.
Arizona shower will hit one mile of land and then like a light switch off, move a mile down the road and start again.

New road frame, hurray for me.

2009-07-02T07:30:00.003-07:00

Thanks to the folks down at Curbside Cyclery I was able to get a brand new frame in exchange for my old Six 13 frame when I had some issues with it last month. Also big thanks to Chris the local Cannondale rep for getting a replacement to me in under a week.
In the exchange I got up graded to the System Six with a full carbon fork and the beefy 1.5 head tube. Talk about upgrade, I have been out on this bike for the last week and it is exponentially stiffer then the old frame with a much better ride quality. We just switched all the components over from the old frame and they did a great tune up on the rig making it all run like it was new.
Right now I am doing the whole lifting cross training thing so time on the new ride is lower then normal and I wont be able to put the rig through its paces for a few months. The System Six is no longer made being dropped in favor of the Super Six but for me who doesn’t have to have the newest and hottest road stuff it works great. Thanks to Cannondale and Curbside for the great ride.

Back packing Haigler Creek Arizona.

2009-06-28T09:15:00.008-07:00

When it comes to hiking in Arizona in the summer I try to keep everything centered on one thing, a place with swimming holes. It is just too freaking hot to try big overland hikes without some kind of pay off at the end.
Friday my friend Ben and I explored Haigler Creek up by my parent’s house in Young. At the bottom of the creek is a public camp ground which I am not a huge fan off so we decided to hike up the creek and see what we could find as far as good fishing and swimming.
The creek was pretty good, you have to bypass some privet property and we saw more people then I typically like along the way. When I go hiking I really want to feel remote so the fewer people the better. This is a relatively popular place so the run ins where often but friendly.

We kept getting bombarded by these little light blue bugs. The little guys would fly around and for some reason land on us then hold on for dear life.
Along the way there where lots of wild flowers which Ava decided to take a break in. she isn’t much of a hiking dog so whenever she gets the chance she is laying down in the water or in grassy patches.
The water in the creek was pretty cold and we eventually hiked far enough to find out why. There was a spring flowing in from both sides of the creek that provided at least half of the water volume downstream and made it feel ice cold. Of course on a hot day nothing feels better then water so cold it makes you head hurt.

While swimming through I found the freakiest thing ever. On the other bank was what I think is a wolf spider that was not joke as big as the palm of my hand chilling out. He was so not scared of me that when I got the camera right up to his face to take this picture he didn’t even flinch. If you open the picture up its so close you can actually see 4 of his eyes glowing yellow, I think it is just a sign of how purely evil he is.
Overall it was a fun hike, like I said though too many people for me but it is great to just get out and not have any concerns other then navigating a creek bead and avoiding man eating spiders.

Pearl Izumi Octane SL extended review.

2009-06-25T15:31:00.002-07:00

Gear reviews isn’t something that I typically do but as I took a chance on the new Pearl Izumi Octane SL Shoes I figured I would let you all know how they are working out. I say “took a chance” not because I don’t trust Pearl, all their gear has been nothing but great but up until this point in my cycling life I have ridden nothing but Sidi’s, I loved the buckle and wondered if the all velcro straps on the Octanes would hold up and tighten as well as I like.
After four marathon races and lots of training rides over the last two + months I think I’m able to render a verdict on them to this point. And the verdict is (insert your own drum roll)…..I love them. I have never ridden on such a stiff pair of shoes. The carbon sole is ridiculous, while it does get muffed up here on the AZ rocks those suckers are a solid platform to ride on. So solid in fact that there have been a couple times on fast descents where I hit a dip with such speed that I actually pop my ankle a bit. There is no flex in those things so there is no place for that energy from my straight leg to go but up. Time to adjust my sloppy ride.

As for my original concern about the velcro, well that was completely unfounded. The shoes secure tighter then my Sidi’s ever did, in fact on my first ride I think I cut circulation off to my toes by having them too tight. Keep in mind that all my mountain rides and races are over 4 hours long so they have plenty of time to come loose but they don’t. In addition there was that race a couple months ago that was wet and muddy and they stayed on strong.
One point I hadn’t planned on but like is how venty they are. The toe section has perforations in the leather that come in really handy on hot rides. I can actually feel the air flowing over my feet which is something I have never experienced. In the winter this could prove to be an issue, but it ain't the winter here.

The down side is that if you are looking for a super comfy shoe and you’re not interested in having the lightest race shoes around they aren’t for you. The ride could be considered harsh for most, but if you want it a responsive super light weight shoe this is for you

Arizona night ride.

2009-06-24T07:16:00.005-07:00

Travis and I got out for a night ride tonight out at Hawes. Travis as usual forgot something, this time the velcro strap for his light. Thankfully as I have talked about before he got all the white trash jerry rigging ability in our family and he was able to improvise a bungee cord out of his car to hold it on. It actually held up the whole time which was impressive. He and I both have to spend some long hours to get our mountain skills back. I walked a couple sections of trail that are really no problem to ride but I couldn’t put the skills together to get up and over it. When it heats up here in the valley the only way to ride is to start out around 6 PM and ride into the dark. Add the dark into my already weak mountain skills and you have a recipe for going to very slow. Without any races coming up and lots of homework to do in my masters program it feels good to just hang out on the trail and not take myself too seriously. The clouds were out tonight which made for a great sun set.

Owls on Hawes trail.

2009-06-17T21:52:00.004-07:00

The weather has been so unbelievably nice this month. This has to be the coolest June that I can remember, that Al Gore is full of crap. Tonight I got out to Hawes for a mountain ride. At the top of cardiac I saw this Great Horned Owl feather on the side of the trail. Great Horn’s are so freaking cool, they take on pretty much anything so I put the feather in my helmet to draw on the bird’s strength and my Native American ancestry. As you can tell I’m like 100% Cherokee and my grandma was a Cherokee princes. However Great Horned Owls must not be able to corner to well because later down the trail I cut it a bit quick and paid the price. I slammed my shoulder into a teddy bear cholla sending the the needles right into the shoulder blade. It’s always a good time trying to pull those suckers out let me tell you. Once when I was a kid I put my whole shin into one and just got it covered. You should learn quick in AZ not to do silly things like this but that’s what I get for letting my single track skills slip so far this year.
It was good to just go on a ride with no particular purpose, just to be outside and to ride. On top of that you just can’t beat Arizona around sunset.

MBAA State Finales.

2009-06-14T21:18:00.009-07:00

I have to be honest, I was pretty reluctant to get up to the state finales this year in Flagstaff. It's been a long season starting back in December and know in June I was burned out. I felt so great at the last race in Payson, it felt like I had hit my stride and was coming into forum for the last few races. Like most well planed out things the plan went down quick when I got sick last month. I don’t think I fully realized how much it all took out of me until this weekend though.The wife and I stayed at a cabin with my friend Glen, AKA the best bike mechanic ever. The week before the race he rebuilt the wheel I had dented at the first race and now before the race he ran through everything to make sure it was working right.

Unfortunately my legs couldn’t match the expert tuning he had given the bike. I knew I was in trouble within the first 20 minutes, there was just nothing there but I pushed on through and tried to put up a good fight.

The curse went up and over mount Elden 2x for a total of 6000 feet of climbing and around 46 miles. (That's Eldon on the right in the picture above.) The first time up I felt alright, not good but alright. The second time up I tried to push it again but once I reached the top I was completely blown. So blown in fact that I walked the technical section at the top called hobbit forest, a downhill section with large boulders and trees. You couldn’t ask for better riding but I was so spent I just couldn’t hold a line.

Once at the bottom it was all I could do to keep the peddles turning, but I finished, the finish was far back though. I came in 13th out of 26 so right in the middle. It’s very aggravating though top have felt like I was coming into great forum and then to go back to square one. O well though, it was good enough of a finish to keep me in the top five for the overall series. 4th sounds better then last so I will take it.

Thanks should go out to Absolute Bikes in Flagstaff for getting us on such great trails to race. It was apparently quite a work to make it happen with all the tree hugging hippies in Flag who hate bikes and really hate bike racing. Hopefully we can get back there next year.

After waiting for freaking ever for the overall podium Sarah and I crashed back at the cabin with glen, Gail and Gail’s son Jay. Jay and I where on the same team this year at Old Pueblo so it was cool catching up with them and enjoying some nice mountain air.

By the end of the race my legs where so depleted that when I sat down they started shacking uncontrollably. You have to watch the video for a few seconds for them to start up again but it’s funny when they do.

freaking cycling socks.

2009-06-09T22:29:00.003-07:00

Tonight I have one complaint and one happy point. Complaint, every freaking pair of cycling socks I have and have ever had busts out the toes. Its not like I have rat claws down there cutting through these things, I keep them trimmed very short just because of this. But here I have this unnamed brand that is barley a month old and then this. Carbon fiber is cool these days, maybe they could mix some carbon up in there to strengthen these things. Then again maybe I am the only person that has this problem.
On a more positive note the weather took a turn for the cooler this week. We had been getting up into the 100’s the last couple weeks but this week it has been over cast and today it only got into the high 80’s. I didn’t even mind the wind today because I got out before 5 pm.

Baby and peeing on the bike.

2009-06-07T19:11:00.003-07:00

Had a great ride yesterday with the guys over at SMC, we went out and around the mountain with a group of about 50. It’s a long flat ride and out on the flats I have to stay in the middle of the pack to survive. The problem is as you all know that if you get off the back of a fast moving group in the flats alone you will never catch up. However if you have a small bladder like myself you have to go pee every hour or so, add on top of this that in the summer here you have to drink like a fish to stay alive. So of course 45 minutes into the ride I have to go, I held it as long as I could to no avail as I started to cramp up. Right about then a few guys made moves off the front trying to break away so I formed the plan to jump off the front with them, get as far ahead as I could push myself to go, stop and take a leak before the group caught up. Needless to say I have never bothered to learn how to pee on the bike.
I leaped off the front peddled as hard as I could for 5 minutes, came to a screeching halt, whipped it out and proceeded to do my business. As fast the group moves though they caught me in no time and passed. Now I’m in panic mode, I whipped it back in and made the mad dash to catch back up. Thankfully my worst fears of being left alone on the flats for miles was not realized and I caught back up pretty quick, I have been on rides out there where I have not been so lucky though and it sucks.
Friday afternoon the wife and I went and got some pictures taken as well, partly to celebrate here collage graduation with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing, partly to have some nice pictures of her sexy baby belly. Some one asked me today how the baby was doing, so assuming that a growing belly is a sign that everything is alright I replied “sure is doing great, right now the baby is working on her tiger claw punch so that when she comes out she is ready to do battle.”

R.I.P. Catlike.

2009-06-03T07:59:00.003-07:00

Isn’t it strange the attachments we make? Shop guys have been telling me for years that not trading out your helmet after a couple years is dangerous but for the love of my Catlike I refused to listen to them. My helmet just fit my head and because of the fact that I took this helmet on every ride, dirt or road that thing became my favorite peace of equipment. Yes I even loved it more then the bikes I rode, they have come and go but the helmet has stayed right on the top of my head where it was built to stay.
Eventually I did buy a new Catlike last year; they don’t sell them here in the US so I had to special order the sucker form England. When it got here I wore it a few times but it just didn’t feel right, and by “right” I mean it didn’t feel like the old one. Now though I am thankful to have it on hand because last night disaster struck.
There I was “just riding along” climbing a hill and “pop” the plastic adjuster behind my head just broke. The helmet went loose on my head releasing all the sweat into my eyes which was good because it hid my tears. I think it must have been the heat; my theory is that it made my head swell breaking the tensile strength of the plastic. Whatever the cause it is a sad day.

New Shimano shiz.

2009-06-01T07:21:00.003-07:00

It is hot enough now here in AZ that all black jerseys are at the back of the closet and everything that does not incur the suns wrath is brought forward. Here Travis is in his new SMC kit Saturday morning at the top of South Mountain, this still may be a little too much black for me at this point. I am contemplating the entire white skin suit thing just to keep the heat under control.
Here is a super secret spy pick of shimano's new black box rear derailleur for the road. You will note that is made from parts of an old XT mountain derailleur and something else. Travis has been testing it for a few weeks now and it seems to be working out alright. Here is my problem, why is it when two brothers come from the same line of white trash Travis gets the redneck fix it up abilities and I get the hoard everything I can part? It's just not fair.

Mountain bike girl to be.

2009-05-21T07:43:00.003-07:00

Well its official the mountain bike baby will be a girl! I'm excited to start the training as soon as she comes out of the womb to mold her into the next Olympic champion so she can redeem the country that invented the sport. I can say this because my wife doesn't read the blog, but from the looks of things she has been cheating on me with an alien.
Check these legs out, I think with these kickers she will be able to smash the competition. In all reality I am just excited the baby looks to be healthy and growing well.

No racing but lots of helping.

2009-05-17T22:08:00.006-07:00

Well I have not written over the last week due to me only riding about 4 hours. Every time I have gone out and put in any effort I have started hacking up a lung. Whatever I got the other week is still holding on and making it impossible to race. However it doesn’t make it impossible to help out at the races, so this weekend the wife and I took the opportunity to get out of the valley and head up to Flagstaff for the weekend.
Saturday I went out in the morning and stood watch over the race course at one of the corners. As it turns out some of the Flagstaff locals who are apposed to racing where out screwing with the marked course over the last week. What gets me about the Flagstaff “locals” is that none of them are actually from Flagstaff but are imports from all over the country but for some reason they think they own the trails that are on national forest. Pricks.

While I was sitting around pointing people in the right direction I found this little guy trying to cross the trail.
As I was checking him out I realized the Horny toad is in fact my favorite lizard.
After the race the wife and I hung out in Flag and then headed east to Meteor Crater by Winslow. Despite living in Arizona for most of my life I had never been out there and as far as road side attractions go I have to say it’s the coolest big hole in the ground caused by space crap I have ever seen. Here is the wife and baby pointing out the giant hole if you can’t tell where it is. -h/

Mogollon Masher 63 miles of muddy fun.

2009-05-06T13:32:00.004-07:00

What a crappy couple days I have had after getting back for the Mogollon Masher MBAA race. I must have stirred up some kind of illness from big foots dick locked in the numerous mud pits up there because starting Sunday I was sicker then a dog and barley got back to my 9-5 job today.

The race though was freaking radical! It was on top of the Mogollon Rim a place if you remember is where I have been doing a lot of training so I was excited to get up there to the 7200 elevation and get the burn on. The problems started when I got up there late and was told that the feed zone was a mile down the trail, well I didn’t have time to go down there and I was flying solo so I just ran down the trail from the start a few hundred yards and dropped my cooler off figuring like most races I would loop back through there on each of the 7 laps. With this thought in mind I started the race with only one water bottle.
The course was a blast, a good mix of single track and old jeep trails. Just for fun some very deep mud holes where thrown in that came up the hubs of the wheels. First lap I was feeling great and was putting in a good fight with the top five guys. Then as we came up top the feed zone disaster struck, I realized then that we never loop back to the start finish and that my water and food was a mile away. No time to think about it now though and I was off for lap two. Midway through this lap my front tire flats. CRAP!!!! So I fix that and get going again trying to regain a couple positions I lost and trying to think about what the heck I am going to do for a refuel.

When I come up to the feed zone again I see one of my friends Tom hanging out, I yell out to him asking for any extra water bottles he might have. He gave me a full bottle of Heed and said he would run back and pick up my bottles. I’m saved I think but then at the end of lap three Tom was not back and so I had to mooch another water bottle off some one standing by. Lap four I had to get a banana from some one else before I saw that Tom had come through and brought up a bunch of my bottle s and gels.
By this time though I was way behind on the nutrition wagon and it was too late to catch up. Each of the remaining laps my time went further and further down. Then on the last two laps my cleat on the right side decided to come lose, not once but twice. So I had to sucker some one into giving me their mini tool to tighten the stupid thing back up again.
Eventually I rolled in completing the 63 mile race in 5:31, good enough for a fifth place overall. I can only imagine how well I could have done with as good as I was feeling at the start of the race if i had my nutrition and water lined up. O well though it was some serious man game out there and I was just glad to be a part of it.

I wounder how bad this will hurt?

2009-04-28T20:38:00.002-07:00

As bad as I thought my race went Saturday Travis’ race was even worse. He forgot his size 13 shoes at home on Friday and didn’t realize it until he had an hour until the race. Do you know how hard it is to find a size 13 shoe at 7 AM? As it turns out its imposable. He had to wait until 9 when a shop opened and then he went ahead and bought a new pair, threw on cleats and rode out at 9:15 AM and still came in 117th place.

Never underestimate the power of an angry gorilla. He did get the above picture and video of the start though; this angle shows how many people showed up to this event. I have said it before and I will say it again but I think these types of races are the future of American mountain bike racing.

2009-04-26T08:05:00.003-07:00

Well my results from the Whiskey off Road did not come out to what I would have liked. I came in at 4:17, 8 minutes faster then last year but still slower then my best time. Even with the faster time though the field this year was stacked, I guess having Floyd Landis out last year was all the reason everyone needed to show up this year and give it a go. With a faster group I came in a disappointing 39th, as you can see from the video though the group was freaking huge.

The great thing about this event is that it gets bigger and bigger each year. I could tell it was on from the start though as when the pavement ended I looked back and saw the majority of the field split, once we where on single track it thinned out more. The one down side to the first section of single track is that there are huge log water diverter things in the trail. You hit the first ten of them alright but after that they get tougher and tougher to get over. Finally I got up and over one with so much momentum that I went right off the trail falling and shoving the seat in my butt as hard as it would go. A great way to start off the race.

Eventfully I got going again and found a rhythm going up the first fire road climb to the aid station where you either make the big drop into Skull Valley or head back for the 25 mile ride. It seemed like I was in and out of a climbing rhythm all day, I would feel good for a few minutes and get going, and then slow down again. With 7000 feet of climbing that lack of consistency ended up hurting me as I made the big climb. I didn’t start feeling great until I had made it back up to where the 25 mile riders where feeding back in, then I had people to chase. It’s amazing how much better passing some one, anyone will make you feel.
The ride back down the mountain was a breeze this year, the last couple years I was so cramped up by that point that going down was no fun at all. Yesterday though I was rolling and the time went by fast.

The funniest thing I saw was as I got back down to the pavement the trail was in and out of a creek bead. One section went up hill to the right getting very narrow as it rises about 15-20 feet above the water. This guy a few feet ahead of me must have bumbled his peddles because he went off the bike and then off the embankment into the water. Mostly he slid on his belly the whole way down but it looked rad, I am sure he was dumping a load in his pants about that though.

Once I hit the road I was all alone the whole way in, when I rounded the corner to the finish line I saw some one out in front so I pored it on to catch them, it was only until I was a few feet back that I realized it was a chick in one of those cycling skirt things. So here I was looking like a douche beating up on a chick in a skirt who had most likely done the 15 mile fun ride. I kicked her ass though so at least I can feel good about that.

All in all it was a fun day on a bike and hanging out with friends. While I am disappointed with the results having come in 17 minutes behind my time goal there is not a whole lot to do and complaining sure as heck won’t help. Get back on and ride again its all for fun anyways right?

How about some Whiskey?

2009-04-22T20:29:00.003-07:00

Shiz has been so busy the last couple weeks that bloging has had to be put to the side for a few. Riding however has not because on Saturday it is time for Epic Rides Whiskey Off Road, that’s right 50 miles of suffering is on tap for everyone. With the way this event grows each year I am sure that the competition will be even more stiff this year.
As for myself I have a personal vendetta with this event. In 2007 I did it is 4:08, and then in 2008 I came in at 4:25 and suffered big time. This year the goal is to do it in under 4 hours. We will see how well we do with that idea though. The place to make the time as usual will be the big climb out of skull valley, isn’t that a great name? Skull valley, we know how to name things appropriately here is AZ.

New Pearl Izumi Octane SL's.

2009-04-09T07:05:00.004-07:00

I have been getting a lot of clicks on this blog so here is an updated review of the Pearl Izumi SL mountain shoes. Check it out and feel free to ask any questions.

I got home today from work to find a box from Pearl Izumi on my porch. I have been waiting for this box for over a year starting when they teased their new high end mountain bike shoe the Octane SL and then quickly took it down again. See I have been wearing the same pair of Sidi’s for over 5 years and while I new it was time long ago for a new pair of shoes I just couldn’t bring my self to drop $300.00.
At Interbike The Guys at Pearl said they would be coming out around Christmas so I waited even longer. Today the wait is over through. These shoes are so cool they come with their own bag, and what could be inside?
That’s right a pair of the most pimp shoes ever, come on out and play friends.
At just 320 grams they are by far the most blingy shoes I have owned, and will I am sure the carbon sole will be muffed up by the end of Saturday I am just pumped to have some new kicks that I don’t have to make excuses for. As for the Sidis, they will be retired to a place of honor in the house where we can talk about old tomes.

Apocalyptic destruction at the Prescott punisher.

2009-04-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

Whoever said that shaving your legs makes you faster is full of crap. I shaved my legs the other week for the first time in a year or so and then went out and got my butt kicked yesterday. Sure it could have been the 40 degree temperatures at 8 AM at 6000 feet elevation. Maybe the fact that my legs had no protective layer of hair was why they felt like a solid back of cement for all 40 miles and every foot of the 5500 feet of climbing. No matter what the reason everyone got a peace of my ass yesterday.

I love the course up there in Prescott; it’s a fun course but is actually a 4 wheeler track and keeps you on your toes all the time. There is one climb that allows you to get into a rhythm, but that only lasts for a quarter mile if that. With the cold temperatures in the morning no one was excited to get going when the gun went off; it was no joke probably the slowest race start I have ever been in.

I thought maybe my legs would warm up after a few minutes but it didn’t work. First one guy passed me, then another and then another. Soon I lost track of where I was in the group but I was well aware of how much life was sucking for me. At about lap three of seven I started contemplating good excuses to drop out but I couldn’t come up with anything.

So I stuck it out, I figure I have to have at least one horrible race a year and I guess this had to be the one. Three weeks from now though will be the Whiskey off Road Epic Rides event so this made for some good elevation training. Also next week Travis and I have a big 70 mile training ride planned at elevation which should help out as well.

Regardless of the out come it was fun as hell. Isn’t that strange? I paid to get physically destroyed and suffer. Why do we do this to ourselves? No one paid me and I lost big time. Yet three weeks from now I will be doing the same thing.

Random mountain biking thoughts.

2009-04-03T07:42:00.003-07:00

The other week when I was sick and didn’t ride for a few days in a row I got to feeling down and slow. So I shaved my legs again to make myself feel faster. While I can’t say that I am faster I noticed two side benefits that I like #1 they feel great when I climb into bed between the sheets. #2 after shaving my pants feels cool. Other then that not much of a difference.
The other day was the first weekday ride in months in which I got the whole thing done in complete day light. This time of year is perfect for AZ riding, temperatures in the 70’s sun light until almost 7 PM. It just doesn’t get better then this.
I have a race this weekend up in Prescott, this is like the 8th complete season of racing I have done. At what point do you stop getting nervous about a race? I have had some big races in the past so I try to tell myself it’s not that big of a deal but I still find that if I think about it too much I can get worked up.
I saw a sign in a bike shop the other day that said “lance is back on the bike. Are you?” and I thought to myself “screw Lance Armstrong.”

You should use Fluid Recovery.

2009-04-01T08:52:00.003-07:00

I am not one to jump on a band wagon for a cycling products. With my own cycling gear and nutrition I always stick with what has proven itself to me over an extended trial period, to break into the Hosman circle of trust is a hard thing to do. With nutritional products it is such a crap shoot, the stuff is expensive and seems to do no better then a simple and cheap Fig Newton so why bother blowing the extra cash for day in day out training food? This brings me to Fluid Recovery. Evomo picked up Fluid this year on the recommendation of one of our team guys who used it last year. After getting into contact with the guys over at Fluid I found them to be a really cool bunch of people, totally into sports nutrition and most importantly cool laid back people that fit the vibe we where looking for as a partner for the Evomo team.

The product itself I started using at the beginning of the year and now after a couple months of use I can recommend the product 100%. I wont try to explain how the product works and will just let you go to their site to get the whole low down. The important facts to me are that it is a 100% natural blend of complex carbohydrates and natural flavors. I use it directly after each ride to speed recovery for the muscles and belive it or not have actually noticed a difference in the speed of recovery as well as the way I feel the next day on the bike. As my season advances I double up on interval days doing two hard day is a row. That second day can be tough to get motivated for little alone have the strength for but with Fluid my muscles do feel noticeably more lively on day two. The motivation position unfortunately it does not help with though, maybe they could add some crack or meth to help out with that?
While I don't intend my blog to be a non-stop shill fest I do have to say Fluid does work. Spending money on nutritional products is a hard one for me, we can spend so much money on stuff we just poop out anyways so spending my money wisely is important to me. If your going to try something new for recovery check it out, if your not doing anything for post ride recovery you need to, it makes a huge difference but I am not a coach and cant help you with that.

Go vote for the next rider submited Evomo T-shirt.

2009-03-26T10:39:00.004-07:00

Evomo had a great contest going on for all you haters out there who think they could design a better t-shirt then them. Well I approached that wrong, they had a great contest for those creative people out there where you could submit a t-shirt design then have it voted on by the public. The winner gets their t-shirt run in limited release for sale on the site.

You can go to vote here.

I’ll give you a preview of your options starting with m y personal favorite. But don’t let my opinion swing your choice. Go and vote for yourself.

It brings so much pain to my little world.

2009-03-25T21:09:00.002-07:00

So you may be asking where the heck I have been for the past week and a half. The answer is…..sick. Yep I got back last weekend from the race and the allergies started really kicking my ass. By Monday I was completely out of it and didn’t get back on the bike until Friday.

At any rate I am back on the bike this week and feeling 100% better. No that I am back I motion to burn down every orange tree in Mesa. All in favor let’s go out and do it so we can all live better.

MBAA race #4, Fort Huachuca.

2009-03-15T16:00:00.006-07:00

It was a great weekend for racing down in southern AZ. The MBAA series held the first race in 6 years on the Army base Fort Huachuca; it’s a great place only 15 miles from Mexico with an elevation around 5000 feet. For those of you who didn’t make it down to this race, you missed out. The course is mostly epic single track weaving through oak tress and up and around grass covered foot hills.

I rode down with the guys from focus, Dan, Lane and Travis. We got down there in time to put in a couple laps.

The race starts out right, with a big tough climb, you can see the elevation gain from the last post. Once you make it to the top its right onto single track for a fast off camber decent that winds through trees at the bottom. It was decided that this would be the portion of the trail that would decide race. If you got behind a slower rider there really was no way around them so if some one got out and ahead they would put some major time on you.

There are also a few technical sections that could mess you up. It was rocky enough that I got a pinch flat my second time around. On this one Dan takes the foot down and looks a little sissy, but you wouldn’t know it on race day because he got second in the category 1 group. Great job Dan!

Race day itself was beautiful, high 50’s with a few clouds in the sky. The marathon group I was with started first as usual at 8:30 and to start the day off right I got the whole shot to the single track. It was a great peace of work but within the first mile an unknown guy who blew past me. Turns out he is a full time pro from Canada who decided to travel down here for some early season racing. Cool I guess, I figure if he is willing to travel all the way down for this then he can have the win and deserves it.

My race was great though, I completed it in 3 ½ hours and with as rocky and technical as the trail is I was happy with my position. Considering I am not a technical rider it was a good thing Travis and I got out and warmed up the tech skills over the last couple weekends. With the flat on Friday I was a bit sketched out so I pumped the tire pressure up to 40 PSI. That made for a really bumpy ride and not as much control as I am used to. Time to get a new rim.

Throughout the race though all I could think about was how great the trail is. It actually felt like a mountain bike race and not a glorified road race. I fell into my 3rd place with in the first lap and then had to sit in to try to catch the two others ahead. It wasn’t to happen though and I finished solo a few minutes ahead of number 4. However I was off walking the trail watching the pros when I heard my name being called for the podium. To make up for that though I got this sweet pic of fellow Evomo rider Darren who placed 4th in his race. Way to go Darren!

Good times on the training ride.

2009-03-11T20:00:00.005-07:00

It's hard to stay entertained on a recovery ride, there are only so many routes a person can take at low speed for only so many years before you want to pull your hair out. Tonight though Mesa PD did me a favor and posted the movable speed radar right into my path. So I got the camera out to see just how fast i could get going without hands.

24 MPH, not so bad. I think I could have gotten it up higher.

This weekend I will have to do some driving to get down to Sierra Vista for the MBAA race. The marathon race is only 35 miles long. The thing is though that when they cut the mileage down you know it is going to be rough steep and ugly. Looking at the election here I am going to say it will be a little of both. Sierra Vista is practically in Mexico so it will have to be an over night adventure.