Dirt Track Date!

Cruising some fresh single track on the new Epic Mtn. Bike
Putting out the vibe, Mesa Verde National Park in the background.
Raley goes down! I had the camera out just in time to catch the end of the crash!

I took a trip over to the outskirts of Cortez, Colorado to ride Phil's World on the mountain bike. I needed a good hard couple of hours and something different. My brother Zach and my roommate Shawn were also up for some sweet single-track. The conditions were perfect and we hit up a new trail that was awesome. The new trail is more technical than the rest of the trails out there and has lots of good little climbs that sweep through the Pinions and sagebrush. Mesa Verde is always a cool sight in the background. It was good to hit the dirt for a change of pace.

The new mountain bike is different. I am still not sold on full suspension bikes for fast hard riding. I feel like it takes more energy to maneuver the bike because it weighs a few extra pounds and it feels sluggish out of the corners. I do notice that it climbs well despite the weight difference and it is comfortable. Is this worth the extra $$$ you spend and the extra weight? I am not sold yet. I think I just need to race it and see how it feels during an actual race. I still think hardtails rule in racing, no doubt in my mind!

Yesterday I went back to the Townie accident site to relive the trauma. My injuries are healing quick and I felt good on the mountain bike today. The search for the front wheel continues although I doubt that I will ever find it. Whatever? I hope the weather is good tomorrow so that I can ride in the mountains. If not, maybe some more dirt riding tomorrow.

Carnage on the Townie!

I know that anyone who has ridden a bike before has thought about this. What would happen if my front wheel came off while riding? It is a scary thought that your wheel could come off throwing you into the pavement. I have thought about it before and brushed it off as a risk of riding a bike and I have had faith in my quick releases staying on. Well, on Tuesday this thought became a reality as I headed home from campus. I had just started coming down the Front Hill of the college. I didn't even have time to react it happened so fast. I heard a rattling and looked down to see my wheel come off of my bike. As my fork hit the pavement I was thrown over the bars and twisted landin on my right knee and smacking my ribs on the bike. It all happened so fast and I didn't know what was going on. I crawled over the curb out of the road as onlookers came to help me. One of my college teammates, Noah Singer, pulled up shortly after to help me out. The townie (Blue Thunder) was in bad shape. Both fenders are destroyed and the front wheel was never to be found. I still haven't found it! I am lucky to have walked away in not to bad of shape. Some bruised ribs, a sore knee and road rash are all that I acquired, Lucky!

I suspect foul play is involved in my wheel coming off since my bike was sitting outside class in the bike rack. Maybe someone is so jealous of my chiseled abs and stunning features or they just couldn't take it that I am better than they are at bike racing. Whatever it is, the Durango Police have launched an investigation into the attempted murder. I hope they catch the culprit(s) and find my wheel for finger printing. Thanks to Noah for helping pick up the pieces and get me back to my house.

Besides being banged up I snuck out for a ride yesterday in the monsoon weather that we are having and woke up to snow this morning. What happened to that 60 degree weather that we were having back in February? Maybe I will head south and hammer out some mountain biking this weekend if the weather is still bad. I think my next race will be the Boulder Roubaix in two weeks. Stay tuned and watch out for your wheels falling off, I don't wish that on anyone.

Private Property and Melanoma

I tried to ride up the Elkhorn climb out in the valley today. I wanted to try for a third consecutive day of training on some of the climbs around the valley. I was about halfway up the climb when some lady in her $100 thousand dollar Land Rover pulled up next to me. She said she was calling the Police and that I was trespassing. I talked her out of calling the police and calmed her down. She was freaking out and I pointed it down and was out of there in no time. So if you are up there on Elkhorn be ready to get your cyclocross on through the woods to avoid getting caught by the police or borrow some camouflage.

The race weekend hurt a little more than I thought and I had to bag the Threshold work today. I took the rest of my three hour ride to recover. I forgot to mention that I got a really bad sunburn on Saturday. My legs are lobster red and the tan-line is razor sharp. It is one of those burns that is bad enough to raise the skin from the swelling and it stings in the shower. I even put sunscreen on and still got scorched! Probably because I am ghostly white, hhmmm?

Still no word on who's in for Georgia from Target Training. All I can do is keep my training intense and hope it pans out. The weather isn't cooperating so I might not be in the passes this weekend. If it is nice down south, I might go do some hard mountain biking. We will see.

Sprinting Like Petacchi

Fresno Time Trial

Alright, maybe not just like Allessandro Petacchi, but I did throw down a decent sprint today for my first win of the season. I made the break today. Yesterday I fell asleep at the wheel and missed the break early. It was very windy so I should have known that it would go early on in the race. I tried to bridge up with some of the other strong riders from Durango, but the four of us were no match for the seven motivated riders in the lead group. I ended up finishing 9th yesterday in the first stage. Today I didn't make the same mistake and made it into the break early. The break consisted of eight racers and we soon had 3 minutes on the field. We were in the gutter allot early on and at the end of the race because the winds were so bad. On the way out we averaged 37mph, on the way back it was 14mph. It was like racing in slow motion. In the last six miles the attacks started. Jon Tarkington(he's the guy with the wig) from the Vitamin Cottage Team started the attacks. The cross wind was hell, but I was able to get on his wheel. We caught a racer that had attacked early and then Tarkington got away again. I bridged up in the last kilometer and played the cat and mouse game. Then Jon attacked again at 500 to go, I was anticipating the attack and jumped on him right away. I waited until 100 meters to make my move. It was such a rush! Tarkington didn't give it to me. He is a wiley, strong racer, and I barely got him at the line. A good ending to a crazy weekend of racing. All of the Durango riders were riding awesome. Everyone is so strong and it was good to be working with Miles, Mitch, and Lee in the chase group.

The whole weekend was an adventure. The Super 8 Motel in Moriarity, New Mexico was a dive. The first night I think there was a track meet taking place on the second floor. Kids were running around all night. I was about to take the massage stick up there and give someone the beating of a lifetime at about 4:30 in the morning. The best part was after the race today, cracked and hungry, I went back to the car for some food. Sean Peck, whom I rode down with, locked the keys in the car. Three hours and $60 dollars later a lock smith shows up and opens the door in 4 seconds! Aaaahh SNAP!

It is good to be home in D-Town again. I am planning on sticking around here for some fun hard training in the passes this weekend if the weather cooperates. I have to get back to writing my paper now though. The life of a student athlete, I'm not complaining! It isn't bad at all. Until next time.

Bike Fit at MBS and New Mexico Again!

I don't know what it is about rest weeks but it seems like it hurts so much more after not doing any intensity in a few days. This weekend is Two Days of Estancia down in Estancia, New Mexico so I am trying to get myself primed and ready to go hard. I am planning on training through the races and hitting it hard next week in the passes. Hopefully the weather is good and it doesn't snow a bunch.

I have been having knee issues and my bike has not been feeling comfortable lately. I went down to Mountain Bike Specialists for a bike fit. I was all messed up and it is no wonder that I was having knee pain after rides. My seat was to low, one cleat was to far in front of the spindle, my saddle was crooked, and my seat was way to far back on the rails. I got some new special insoles that feel so much better. During the fit you can watch your wattage output increase on the computrainer as you go. I put one insole in my right shoe and had the stock insole in the left shoe. Just from having the insole in my right shoe gave me 10 extra watts right away.The biggest difference has to be the insoles and the cleat shims to keep your knees tracking straight. Mine were all over the place, but now they feel so much better. I highly recommend a bike fit if you are putting in lots of miles on the bike.

My shot at being on the squad for Tour de Georgia is about 50/50. Hopefully I get to go, but there are still plenty of other big races left in the season. I am off to Estancia for the weekend. Hopefully the hotel has internet service so that I can update the site. Wish me luck

To Cool for School

I started the process of telling my professors about having to possibly skip a week of school for Tour De Georgia. I am just making sure I give them plenty of notice so that if I am on the nine man squad there is no reason for them to freak out. All but one professor so far has been understanding, and that professor told me I was "to cool for school" whatever that means! Georgia is the last week before finals which will make finals difficult but whatever.
The snow just keeps on coming down here in Durango. It is good to see the moisture as much as I am ready for nice spring riding. The snow will help save the trails in the Durango area. They get so dusty and loose when there isn't any moisture. Back in February the trails were dusty, in February! That is how little snow we have had until now.
Tomorrow is my last day of rest before I start to hit it really hard. Hopefully the weather cooperates enough to let me get up into the passes for some hard training next week. I sent the Power-Tap in for service and should have it back to help with my training efforts in a couple of weeks. My training will have lots of long climbs in it and time trials. I am horrible at time trialing and need to get better.
Well I've gotta go study and eat some Cheetah Bars for dinner! Love em! Thanks for stopping in and checking out the site. Not a whole lot going on in Durango right now. See you out there.

Tour De Georgia and Cheetah Bars

I threw up a picture of my cross bike from this past season because I am looking to sell it. I have changed a few things like the fork and wheels. If you are interested check out my eBay auction . I also threw up a link to Cheetah Bar. If you haven't tried them you should go online and make it happen. They are so good and cheap! All certified organic, made with figs and all kinds of wholesome goodness. A great training and racing food, but also a healthy snack. I live off Cheetah Bars.

Now that we are in for the Tour de Georgia I am awaiting to hear who from the team will be selected for the race. There are nine spots available and 12 riders (assuming no one else gets injured, knock on wood!) It would be an awesome opportunity to race with some of the best riders in the world. I would definitely have to step it up to a new level of racing. I feel like my form is coming on an in another month I will be riding much faster.

I am on a rest week so the riding has been super chill and nice just cruising. I am definitely overdue for a rest week. The legs are already feeling fresh again and I will be ready for the races this weekend in Albuquerque. Two Days of Estancia! Wells is down in the Caribbean and all he does is complain about his trip. Wha, I am snorkeling and my snorkel leaks, Wha I get paid to ride bikes, Wha, Wha, Wha! Wells is always thrashing me about whining, but he's whining now and he is getting paid to whine. How about all the people who sit in their cubicle all day thinking about getting out 15 minutes before 5:00 to get in a one hour ride before dark in the snow. Suck it up Todd!

Target Training in Tour of Georgia

Special Update:
I have just been informed by our team manager that Target Training will be racing in the Tour of Georgia this coming April. We have been keeping our fingers crossed throughout the political process of selecting teams that will be invited. This is huge for our new team. It is equivalent to a French team being invited to the Tour de France.

I think that the teams are limited to nine riders so the next step for me will be making it onto the squad to compete. It will be very difficult because there is allot of talent on the team. Most likely I am on the bubble already, but definitely not on the squad for sure. Hopefully I can get some descent results in the next month and make it onto the team for Georgia. It would be cool to race with the big boys and get some huge experience. We will see what happens. Just wanted to spread the good news!

The First Loser, 2nd at Highway 6

Well I initiated the break yesterday and we took off from the group early. It was a little big with nine riders. Three of which happened to be from the same team, NMVS. They were pretty much the three strongest guys in New Mexico. After racing all day in freezing rain and snow it started to get uncomfortable being outnumbered. With 8 miles to go the three teammates started to attack. No one else would work so I had to sit on the front and bring back the attacker. After covering and trying to go with a bunch of attacks within the last 6 miles of the race it came down to the last 200 meters. All nine guys still there. I got on 4th wheel and was in good position,but the guy in front of me pulled off and left a gap. I almost got Todd Gulgolski at the line, but he had the jump on me and was weaving all over the place. It was a good race though.

The RMCF guys did pretty good with Rolondo placing in 5th and being one of the nine in the early break. The sprint was just to weird and Rolondo likes to wind it up and string it out early. That guys drinks more coffee than a Starbucks worker. He pretty much had a pot of coffee in his hand at all time. First thing he did after the race was brew a fresh pot, First thing! I would lose it with that much caffeine. I can barely have a cup without hallucinating.

This week is a rest week for me. I am going to head back down to New Mexico for the Two Days of Estancia road race. The races are a little longer and have more climbing. Should be better for me and I look forward to racing some more. I am looking for some host housing down there for the race if anyone in Albuquerque has a place for myself and a couple others to crash. Shoot me an email.

New Mexico, Land of Enchantment & 40's of Liquor

I hit up the group ride today at Bread to get a few good throw down openers in before the Highway 6 Road Race tomorrow. It was super windy and started to snow on the way up the Shalona Climb. I am still feeling a little worked from the week of training and was climbing like crap. Good thing there isn't much climbing tomorrow in the race.

I traveled down to the race with some of my old teammates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Team. The hotel is a little strange. We had to get suites because the regular rooms were all occupied. The rooms are weird and I feel like I am staying in an R.V. There is a little bed in the window sill, weird!

New Mexico is a little rough around the edges. I heard a statistic that 1 in 5 drivers is driving drunk. There are liquor stores everywhere with adult porn shops all over. After the race I will have to start my recovery with a 40 of Old English and a magazine for the drive back to D-Town.

I will try to get some pictures of the race up tomorrow. The race is just for training so I am not taking it to serious, but it is a race and as always it would be nice to win. Stay tuned for some sweet New Mexico racing pics and a race report tomorrow.

No Redlands

It is official, No Redlands for this guy. My teammates plans to head to a UCI race in Brazil have fallen through. They already have six guys out there in California so it makes sense to send them instead of me when my form is not so good. I am a little disappointed, but at the same time I have three very important tests next week in school so it is probably good that I won't have a huge race like Redlands as a distraction. It looks like I will be doing some racing in New Mexico and maybe the front range over the next couple weeks.

No news really here in D-Town other than there is more snow in the forecast. I hope it doesn't stick around to long. I am so over the winter. Where have the days gone where it was 60 degrees? Soon enough it will be summertime here again.

I attended the Fort Lewis Dead Squirrel Time Trial last night. I am trying to get my TT dialed in. I am borrowing a bike and that always makes it hard. I had the fastest time, but I thought it was slow and I am still very uncomfortable on the bike. I am trying to get a TT bike of my own that actually fits. Just need to go pick some money off the tree!

Sorry for the boring update, there really isn't much going on right now with training and racing. I promise some good updates soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Redlands?????

Top Picture: Cruising in the Valley during a recovery ride.
I took this same picture last week of Bakers Bridge overlook, minus the snow!

I went back to school today after a long break from the grind. It is good to be back and almost done with the semester. It is advising week and I met with my advisor to find out that I now have another semester of school before I can graduate. They just keep adding classes to my major and it is killing me. I am going to be a professor by the time I get out of there.

The team isn't going to Brazil to race so it looks like I might get bumped off the Redlands squad. They don't need me out there when most of the team is already in California. I will probably do some training races in the area if I can find some. I have commandeered a TT bike to practice on and a computrainer to find the best position on the bike to put out optimum power. That is what kills me in TT's, bad position.

I am still recovering from my trip and getting my life back in order. Today was a good recovery ride in the white winter wonderland. It was cold today and feels more like December than March with all the fresh snow. Not allot to report other than it is nice to be back in Durango playing in the snow rather than in the Fresno Ghetto!

Back to Winter

I made it back to Durango today to find a million Texans here for some spring break skiing. "Y'all aint from round here is ya?" I don't mind the Texans at all ,but when they come in hoards it just gets overwhelming sometimes. I am just glad I don't work at a ski rental shop right now. They are stoked on the 100 inches of new snow at Wolf Creek and 30 something at Purgatory. I am not into the snow right now at all though. It is full blown winter here.

We finished up the race yesterday in Fresno with the downtown criterium. It was a good safe and fun course. The 180 degree turn wasn't bad because if you went down in it you were going slow already. There were only crashes that I saw and most of them lacked any major carnage which is always a good thing. I was tired and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get up towards the front. I would come close and then it would just string out again. I am feeling better about racing through.

It is good to be back in Durango even though there is all this new snow. I don't miss the Fresno Ghetto. I liked being with the teammates and racing but I don't miss a few things. Some of the luxuries I do miss already are: 1.) The trains going by right in our backyard sounding it's horn all day and night. 2.) I miss Kent, the rat that lived in the kitchen. 3.) I also miss the air mattress with the slow leak. 4.) and finally I miss all of the T Wells cocky shit talk.

I am looking forward to some hard training in the next couple of weeks. The next race I do may be as soon as this weekend down in New Mexico, but most likely will be Redlands. I am back in the saddle tomorrow for some riding at altitude. It is good to be home again.

Two down in Fresno!

The time trial didn't go so well. I guess not being in the TT position since last year at Tour of the Gila doesn't help. I didn't have any Aero equipment except for a set of clip on bars that Profile provided us with. The first part of the TT I couldn't get going and sat at 160 heart rate. Everything hurt on my body. The position was so uncomfortable. I finally got into it and felt better at about halfway, but it was to late and I lost so much time. After the finish I tried to stand up and couldn't I was so sore already. I need to spend some time on the TT bike back in Durango.

The road race was long for the first one of the year. 120 miles of flat racing. It was really hard at times and then easy. This kept p all day and then it started to rain. The laps were 15 miles each and with two laps to go it started raining. The pack stayed intact and it just got so sketchy. Guys breaking all over and the attacks were going left and right. On the last lap I dropped to the back to put on my vest and started to bridge back up when there was a bad crash. I heard the standard noises of twisting metal, tires exploding, breaks screeching on carbon rims, and bodies hitting the ground. Anthony Colby got caught in the crash and so did Dan "The Danimal" Greenfield. They bothe finished but were banged up pretty good. Colby is fine, Dan it a little more in the hurt locker, his bike is toast! We got two guys up there at the end and just missed the podium. Alegandro Actin (Arg) ended up 6th and Frank Pipp was 12th.

Today is the criterium down town with the 180 degree turn, should be fun! I hope it doesn't rain today and that there aren't to many crashes. I am ready to get back to Durango and train harder. School is going to be rough but I am nearing the end. Sorry for the boring entry, but honestly I am over Fresno in a big way. It has been awesome hanging with the team, but Fresno is getting me down. I hope I can do something today and we can get some guys on the podium. Wish me luck!

Snow cancels Uphill Time Trial

Top: Bill Elliston climbing up the Tollhouse Time Trial Course
Bottom: The Team rolls along in a warm up before hitting the TT Climb.

The uphill time trial that I have been looking forward to has been cancelled. Supposedly it snowed up on the climb last night so there will be no climbing this entire weekend of racing. All the stages are going to be flat now. Lame! The promoters are asking everyone to ride the same bike that they were planning on riding in the uphill TT. We only brought two TT bikes and we have 12 guys racing. Looks like I will be losing some time today on the FLAT time trial. I will give it my best. I haven't done a TT yet this year. Looks like I will get a crash course on my form today. My pick for the flat TT among the teammates, Wells first, Colby next.

Yesterday was an epic day and wasn't the best prep for racing. We drove all over to get the team together and then rode the climb. I am on a new bike that needs some adjusting to. Nothing like a National road race to get your stuff figured out in a hurry. Ken "Dizzle", the team Director, had a night from hell. He woke up in the middle of the night itching and the next morning had bites on his calves. Dizzle either has Fleas or a case of bed bugs in the hotel, gross! I would lose it and set fire to the mattress in my hotel room if that was me. He handled it and they gave him brand new bedding (including blankets) and a new mattress.

Wish me luck today! I will try to throw up a post a little later. Still trying to figure out the audio blog so I can just call in and update the site when I can't get a web post up. Stay tuned as the season begins today!

Traffic and Low Riders

Top: Wells and Bill Elliiston getting us lost. Bottom Left: New Team Rig. Bottom Right: Marco!







Gotta love Fresno for all of the low riders out here! This is our new team rig that Ken "Dizzle" Mills is going to be driving behind us during the hill-climb TTT. Loot at the clearance, there has to be some hydraulic shocks on the truck. Everyone drives a low rider or at least a car with nice rims, even if the car is junk it has sweet wheels.

We rode all over Fresno yesterday just trying to get out of town. After 3 hours of riding we managed to go through about 200 stop lights and ended up in some other town. The best part about the ride was when we would occasionally stumble on a bike lane and we could ride two abreast.

The whole team is here now and they all seem like a great group of guys. The team is loaded with talent and I hope I can contribute and help them all out. We received our clothes yesterday and did our team photo shoot downtown in the ghetto of Fresno at an abandoned warehouse. It will be easy to pick me out in the photos because I am right up front and there will be a glare on the photo because of my pasty white legs. They are blinding everyone! The rest of the team looks like they have been putting hours in at the fake bake tanning salon. I was hoping for some nice weather to get the legs looking good, not on this trip. It is supposed to get colder for the race and be raining. I am not really looking forward to that, but it is better than being in Durango where it is snowing now.

Tomorrow is the Time Trial. I am ready to get the season underway and anxious to race with the team. Keep checking the site for more photos and comments. I have had a request to make the website funnier for the babes out there! I will try my best! Stay tuned

Bezecny with a frozen stiff glamour shot!
The bottom of the climb before the pain starts!

Yesterday we rode the time trial climb. The photo above is the bottom of the climb. We wanted to take it easy, but soon found out it wasn't possible to go easy up the climb. It is 6.5 miles and about halfway up it just gets steep. I could barely turn over the 23 cassette that I have in the rear. It is going to be a brutal climb. I am going to try to pace myself on the bottom section so I don't blow up completely before the top section. We got caught in a sweet hail storm on the way down and our hands froze. I left Colorado weather to come out to some sunshine and it was snowing at the top of the climb. Cars were cruising down the mountain with a foot of snow on the roof. It was epic.

The weather isn't supposed to get any better over the next couple of days. In fact I think I read online that it was going to get much colder. I guess it is snowing back in Durango right now. At least it isn't snowing here, YET!

Most of the team and crew are here now. Wells and the mechanic got in last night and our house is full now. It is funny to watch the new guys in the house because they aren't used to the train going by 20 times a day, shaking the house, and torturing your ear drums with the horn. The mechanic, Eric, jumped out of bed eyes wide when he first heard it this morning. It was pretty funny.


Today is the team photo shoot and dinner. Finally I will get my new clothes and riding gear. I might even begetting a different bike because mine is a touch big. We are headed out on a ride right now in Fresno traffic which will be scarier than the race

Fresno is Ghetto!

Finally made it to Fresno last night! I almost had to pull out the barf bag on the vomit comet flight from Durango to Denver. We flew through a storm and it was rocking that little plane. I can hold my own when it comes to turbulence, but this was too much and I wasn't feeling stellar anyway. Luckily I was able to hold onto the peanut butter sandwich that I had just ate. The plane from Denver to Fresno was late and we were going to be rerouted to Bakers Field, California because of weather ,but luckily Fresno's weather wasn't bad.

Tom Schuler (Saturn, Motorola, pretty much the man) came to the airport and picked me up in the new team rig. Hey at least if I have to ride in the team rig I will be rolling in style in the Volvo Cross Country. Sweet ride! When I made it to the host housing Anthony Colby, Bill Elliston, and former 3D teammate Josh Bezecny were already there setting up the beds. We are in an empty house which is really kind of nice, except for the freight train that rolls by all night only 100 feet behind the house.

We are going to ride the uphill time trial course today. I am feeling a little more rested after a good nights sleep. I wish my weight was a few pounds lower, but it is March and these races aren't my biggest goals. Tomorrow is the photo shoot and then other media stuff. I am looking forward to getting my glamour shots done. The photographer Rico seems pretty cool. Well, I will try to get some more updates in, but they may be sporadic. Thanks for stopping by!

Off to Fresno

I am off to Fresno, California today for the first race with my new team, Target Training. I hope the weather is good and that we get our new team kits. We better because I am not packing any riding clothes, counting on getting new stuff. The weather looks like it is going to be pretty good with a chance of some rain showers here and there. I am not against rain just as long as we aren't racing the crit in pouring rain.

Yesterday was an easy day for me and the sun was shining. It is in the 60's almost everyday now, spring is finally here. I am sure Durango will get some more snow, but for the most part it is time to play in the sun. I am so ready. The photo above is from out in the Valley at Bakers Bridge. I love to just spin a valley sometimes.

Stay tuned to the website, I hopefully will have internet service where I am staying in Fresno to keep the updates coming and the race reports should be good. I don't know what to expect. Hope for good climbing legs!

Hill Climbing

This morning I woke up at the usual 6:00 time, made some waffles with blueberries, had my cup of coffee to get rid of the addiction headache and noticed that it was cloudy out. The Weather Channel said 51 for a high degrees and partly cloudy. I looked out the window to see it was snowing! They never get the weather right here in D-Town. Luckily it stopped very soon and there was no accumulation.

I met up with the group ride at Bread the bakery. It was much smaller today with spring break underway and the college has a race in Colorado Springs hosted by the Air Force Academy. I needed to do some efforts again so we decided to go out the valley and climb all the way to Havolin Lake, then hit Hermosa climb, then up Red Ridge road at the end. I felt a little tired at first, but soon I was throwing down up Shalona toward Havolin Lake. I felt good up all the climbs and was able to hang with T Wells up Hermosa. He is riding good already and he just started doing intensity. He is chasing Olympic points this year for the mountain bike spots. I hope he gets one. I hadn't ridden Red Ridge road in a long time. It is real narrow and goes straight up a cliff, I am guessing it is at least 18% and probably more in some spots. My legs seized up and cracked because I was trying to turn over a 23. I was pretty smoked after that climb and succumbed to spinning another hour. Wells went out for another hour of intensity, WOW!

Tomorrow I start packing the bags to head out to Cali. I am starting to get excited to race. The time trial is 6.5 miles of climbing and looks steep at the end. I hope I have good legs!

Motor Pacing

I forget how hard it is to motor pace behind a car rather than a scooter. It isn't as physically hard, but you are pretty much riding blind. My brother (Zach) drove the car for me since I couldn't get a scooter to borrow. There are 50 cycling millioinairs in this town that have scooters to motor pace with and I couldn't round one up, lame! We went out the valley on CR250 and I averaged 45 mph except in the corners where my 92' new Subaru Loyale would nearly dive off the road. Sketchy! It was very stimulating to be going fast and the Subaru worked out great because of the gale force winds that blew through Durango today. I felt more opened up and could go much harder at the end of the ride.

I head to Fresno, California on Monday for a team training camp and my first NRC race with Target Training. We are racing as a team in the Central Valley Classic. I am very nervous and don't know what to expect. I feel pretty strong, but the form is not there nor should it be. I haven't done any races yet this season or many hard efforts. I am strarting to do some harder efforts just so it doesn't hurt so bad in Fresno. Sometimes you can pop good results though just from having a little fitness and the desire to race in the early season.

I noticed in my comments section that Josh Bezecny asked me what I meant by being a SNAG. If you aren't familiar with the term SNAG you soon will be. I plan to do an entire explanation on SNAG's and what they stand for. Stay tuned you may be a SNAG yourself!!!

Welcome back to Matt Shriver.com

Matt Shriver.com has been down and out for awhile now. I have not had the desire to update my website since last September. Previously my site was hosted from the Fort Lewis server and was difficult to update. Now by switching to a blog, I will be able to update from anywhere and anytime. The main purpose of this website is to keep you all informed on my whereabouts and racing results. I will try to keep it interesting with photos, interviews, and great stories from the traveling. Look for daily updates! Thanks for visiting my website, it is good to be back up and running.