April 2014 Blog Posts (4)

I made the trip up to Redding for the Lemurian last weekend.  Though this race usually falls just after my first training peak of the mountain bike season, this year I really have not even begun to train yet.  Despite my lack of preparation, I knew the race would be fun - so much climbing and descending on a long single-loop course, with cool temps and moist dirt.  Most of the NorCal hardmen show up for this one, and it would be hard to keep me away.

I built my new full suspension…

A good day to ride.

One week before the Devil Mountain Double, I needed one last primer to sharpen my edge, shake out sludge. A 60 mile Hopper over west Sonoma County mountain roads seemed the perfect last intensity push prior to easing off before digging deep across the 200 miles and 18K in climbing at the Devil the following weekend.

On course, I see many familiar faces, many at the same locales along the route seen in previous Hoppers. We start in Occidental and roll out…

Coming into this years NVDC I'm in my normal decent racing shape.  So I got to the start line 10 minutes before the start and ended up squeezing in at the back of the pack. I was just gonna have to get past as many people as I could before the single track.  Off the line we were charging hard, no one wanted to give up any spots, I was out of breath quickly, and thought I might pass out at the run up.  I had a chance to catch my breath while drafting up at the airport, but I also was able to…

The Napa Valley Dirt Classic is one of the first big NorCal races of the year.  It usually comes at the beginning of a fitness peak for me, one I have been working toward since November or December.  This year has been different, as some big life changes have disrupted my training.  I've been riding a good bit, but without structure and with relatively little intensity.  Despite my lack of preparation, I couldn't resist doing this race, which is one of my favorites.

Shiloh, Phil and I…