Kyle Miller

Granoque and the Creek of French

2010-05-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

So it's been a little while since we last talked. Racin' has been going well lately, my results have been getting better since Fairhill. I took the week off before Granoque since I had just gotten done with a big training block, and going into the race I knew I wasn't going to have that snap in the legs. The day before Gunnar and I headed down to help out with the racing they were putting on and to do the 1st TT ever put on at the estate. The running race was pretty intense, actually it was quite the opposite. From what I heard it was the one of the strangest start any bike racer would ever see, calm is a good way to explain it. Even after they were given the 30 second warning the runners were still completely chilled out. Weird. After the start I headed down the finishing climb to meet Jake D. to do some water and heed feeds for the runners. I will say that more then 1 person took the heed and poured it over their head.... maybe their body would still absorb it, or most likely it would just get sticky and gross. They all did a entire lap of the course which is about 7 miles, they did it in just over an hour, I think that if I was an in-shape runner it definitely would have been a awesome trail run. Then it was time for the pre-ride and TT. Both were awesome, the TT was a quick 15-20 minute shortened loop on the regular XC course. I did my best and ended up 10th? I think, not sure on that one but it was an perfect opportunity to open up the legs after having a week off. Later, Scottie, Gunnar and I headed down to the river to do some swimming, the water felt amazingly good, it was incredibly hot out and the water was an awesome way to cool down, probably good for the legs too. Everyone packed the venue up for the night and Gunnar and I headed back to Jeff's house where we were going to stay for the night. We took some naps, washed some bikes, got some ritas, and played some gamecube, fun night. The heat didn't seem to want to let off even at night, I was down to my boxers, with a window open, no blankets on and was still hot, but somehow I still slept really well.

The next morning we were up bright and early to cram everything back into the VW and head over to the venue. I raced first so after helping set up some P A system stuff it was time to get myself ready. Even with it being early it was still hot and humid, never fun with a somewhat exposed race like Granoque. I felt good and was about 7th into the first piece of singletrack. It wasn't long until we started catching the enduro guys. I got stuck behind one just as I entered some more single track luckily it wasn't a very long section and I was able to get around him pretty quick. I soon settled into a rhythm and for the first half lap I was doing really well and was very happy with how I was riding. But pretty soon after I started to feel the pace and started to get sloppy, I wasn't riding the rocks very well and lost contact with the group I was with because of it. I went through the second lap and was happy to get water dumped all over me. Second lap I seemed to get a second wind and was able to get some guys, still sloppy riding but I was able to get through it and ended up 5th.

^ Yes Aaron is still wrecking the Mid-Atlantic Races, another awesome win for him!

This past weekend was French Creek, another average race. The morning of was the annual spring flea market at the velodrome, always a good time even if you don't buy anything, I saw some awesome hand built track bikes and even bikes with really really old wooden wheels. I only spent two dollars on a hand pump for rides and my mom was happy to get sunglasses for Bad Andy, Thanks! Once we got to the race I quickly got ready and started riding around, did I say how windy it was... EZ-up tents blowing everywhere and even a tree, we'll get to that later. So off the start around 4th into the woods and I was feeling really good. Stayed with the lead group up the first long climb up to the top but as soon as we hit the descent I got stuck behind a fully rigid single-speeder, I respect that and the fact that he was in my class but he would not let me pass. I definitely lost a good amount of time on the leader and Jacob. I was on the chase and started catching some people, a very deciding point in my race was during a climb I over shifted up front and my chain dropped off, I was on a steep climb and had to walk watching the two people I was with get away. By the time I got back on I could no longer see them and started the descent at the top of the climb. Someone caught me and I rode back and forth with him, he would get a gap on the climbs and I would catch back on during the descents. In the last mile or so I had a few second gap on him but he made a move that I couldn't respond to, he got away right before the finish I wasn't super stoked about that. I'm definitely going to learn some stuff during this season. I've had sprint finishes in my past 2 of 3 races in this class and had I stayed with him during his attach it would have been 3 of 3. I'm really pumped for the next race, can't wait!

Greenbrier

2010-04-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

Another awesome weekend of racing for the FFR team is in the books! Most of the team was down in Maryland this past weekend for Greenbrier, not only is it a nationals qualifier but it's also decides the Maryland state champs! The team set up shop the day before the race at a awesome campsite right by the lake, everyone was ready to get out on the course. By the time I had finally arrived I could tell everyone was itching to get kitted up. We got rolling very soon after and headed out. This was the first year I had ever ridden or raced at Greenbrier and I am a huge fan of the course, lots of climbing, a combination of fast smooth sections and slow technical areas. After an awesome ride and a few tries on the log ride we were ready to eat, not only that but we also had some entertainment via Scottie McGill. As we were sitting around the fire he asked his dad if he could go swimming, who could say no to seeing a small, fearless kid go swimming in the lake? Did I mention it was dark out, we also all knew it was going to be freezing. After his time wading around he came out and made some perfect sand angels. Awesome.

My race went very smoothly, no problems what so ever. I felt good up the first climb staying about 3rd wheel in the group. Julian was setting a blistering pace that I knew was going to come back to hurt me. I stayed with him and Jacob and Forest on the first downhill and then we started hitting traffic. The worst part about being a Junior is having to start behind almost the entire Cat 2 field, we were catching people within 2 minutes of our start. I got caught behind a few people and kept pushing everywhere I could. First lap I was able to get a gap on Forest after his chain came off on the rocky climb. Into the second lap, I knew I was going slower but I was able to go much faster on the descents since the groups were spread out by then. I ended up 2nd. Shortly after Scottie came in after his second race of the day with a top ten finish! Gunnar took home the win, beating all the expert juniors even with a flat on the lap. Zach also had some bad luck with a flat on the last lap as well, but he still pulled off a 2nd place finish! Jake did his first single speed race of the year and killed it almost breaking the top 10. In Scotties first race he took the W with some fierce older competition! Another awesome weekend for the team and we are all ready to kill it at Granoque this weekend!

Check out the team blog if you want to read it again...

Friday foam pits....

2010-04-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Soooo, no racing this weekend. I decided I need to work and make some cash money. No racing means no prep, no prep means I don't need to focus on drinking water and resting. So some of my friends and I decided we wanted to go to to this gymnastics place to jump on some trampolines and jump into some foam pits. I think the thought of a foam pit would make anyone smile, even just a little. But I know I was really excited, I haven't jump on these super bouncy olympic trampolines for at least 3 or 4 years now and I know how scary they are. I thought it was going to be a very not fun night but when we walk into the place and saw about 40 little girls running around I wasn't too sure, yes we all felt creepy. Apparently this Silvias place has a lot of good kids in it, I learned that before Elite, which is like Olympic level, there is level 10, there were two there and two others that go to my school that were level 10, pretty awesome. Luckily the people understood all we wanted to do was jump on the trampoline so we had that to ourselves most of the night. After I saw someone jump into the 'pit and saw a huge amount of dust fly up I started to think about the amount of sweaty, gross people that have been in this thing, there really isn't much you can do with the cleaning of a foam pit, nasty I know. I hadn't thought about this at first, I decided I was going to do my best to not go head first in, that didn't work. I over rotated something and went basically head first, it was dark, gross and hard to move, not a good combo. I finally got out after a lot of squirming and throwing of foam blocks. So basically by the end of the night I had a feeling of a scratchy throat which was actually just foam/dust, yes gross I know. But it was still a very fun night, it was followed by Ritas and then Wawa directly after.

Maybe I will bring my helmet cam next time, could be kind of cool.

Did I mention they had a poster signed by every US gymnast at the Olympics in 08, yes even Nastia Liukens and Shawn Johnsons signature.

The first one always hurts...

2010-04-12T17:31:00.001-07:00

I won't start this thing off with Fairhill, there are way too many other things that happened since my last post. Last Wednesday Gunnar and I did a sweet ride up at Bear Creek. Gunnar picked me up at my house and we crammed our bikes into his little Jetta and headed up. I must say it is going to be awesome once I have my license, I can't wait till September. On the way up we decided we were hungry and conveniently we stopped at Gunnars Grandparents house for some food. Two grilled cheeses and one Oreo Klondike bar later we were getting Kitted up and ready to ride. What I did find out is that I really need to get my Technical skills back in check, been doing way to much road riding lately. We did 1 1/2 laps and called it a day and headed home, fun stuff.

Friday night we headed out to Zach's place so we could help out with his Michaux Mash race on Saturday. We got there around 6 or 7 and started loading all of the trucks up with race supplies, gallon upon gallons of Chili, Hand Cut French Fries and a ton of other stuff. After watching Lords of Dog Town (awesome movie) we went to bed for a 4 am rise the next day. I am usually okay with getting up early but this one really killed me, the combo of having one of my last really hard blocks of training for now and staying up until 12:00 the night before wasn't helpful. So we made our way to Dunkin D where the lady hadn't turned the ovens on, so we left to go to Sheetzs gas station. I got a donut and a Shmagel which was actually really good. We finally got up to the venue and started unloading, did I mention it was still dark out? I was put on parking duty for the morning and course marshall for when the 4 hour endurance race started. This was the first time I had to course marshall and it isn't the funnest of jobs, long and boring. I spent my time laying around, practicing my trackstands, wheelies, etc, and taking stupid pictures with my camera. The most excitement I got all day were 1 or 2 endos and some guy destroying his man parts.

Afterwards me and Gun went out to sweep and tear down all of the arrows and pick up whatever trash we found. The trails were broken in nicely and at the top of the course on one of the pine tree surrounded fire roads I could have mistaken for being in Colorado which I found to be awesome, wish I would have gotten a pic.... Gunnar decided that he wanted to slice open his sidewall right before the last downhill to. I have never seen a tubeless tire deflate that fast, no stan's shot out or anything. The best part was is that we had to put a road tube in, sketchy. The tire wasn't seated into the bead at all except for a small section and the tire wasn't centered at all. We made it back down and finally started breaking down the venue. Gunnar and I didn't get back home until 9:00 or so, and I still had to eat, get my bike, clothes, bottles, and everything else ready for fairhill the next day. I ended up going to bed at 10:30. Do the math it was a 18 1/2 hour day, not the best thing before a race, let alone the first XC race of the season!

My dad and I got to Fairhill at around 8:30, my race goes off at 10:30 so I had plenty of time. Set up the pop-up, got registered and ready to race. Warm up I wasn't feeling to hot, flat feeling legs and just tired. I went to staging and luckily this year since I am racing sport senior 1 men we get to go off first, don't have to worry about traffic or anything. Last year I would have to start at the very very back of the sport class, it was bad. Start went pretty well sitting about 5th or 6th into the singletrack. I knew there would probably be a lot of group racing since Fairhill is basically a road race and thats how it ended up. There was a group of about 5 or 6 of us that formed half way through the first lap, I was feeling a lot better then I was expecting and the course was amazing, fast swoopy and no real climbs, which is good for me this early in the season. The group split going into the 2 and also last lap. I was able to pass two people and gain some ground on some people in front of me. I eventually made it up to the guy in front of me and rode with him for about a third of the lap but he eventually just rode away from me. I got passed by one or two other guys and luckily the finish came. I was able to sprint past some guys. But I made a bad mistake and didn't look behind me, I was only looking ahead, I should have been in an all out spring because some guy was closing in on me. Once I realized this all I could do was give it my all for the last 20 feet, there was a lot of bumping between me and the guy and I think he ended up getting but it couldn't have been for more and the deepness of my tire. I was dead and ended up in 8th, didn't seem right to me but the timing isn't exactly down and I guess a few guys could have gotten away early that I didn't notice.

^ Finishing stretch and the guy I didn't know was sprinting me... So pro

M-Ville Relay

2010-04-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

There's a first for everything, and the relay was't just another first for me. I now know why so many people look forward to this race so much.I have done the stage race for the past 2 years now and I couldn't race the relay last year because of my leg. Not only was the weather gorgeous with 70+ degree temps and sunshine all day, but the course was awesome, tons of flow and lots of cool features. It was a rippen fast course with barely any real climbs, that mean't super fast laps and lots of fun! This past week right before the race I had a little bit of a cold, I only got 2 easy days on the bike. Zach suggested I make sure I watch my limit on my laps and to not over extend myself, as it wouldn't be helping my cold go away. So I just made sure to keep as consistent as possible, which I feel like I did pretty well. My four laps were within 15-20 seconds of each other. I also did my best to look for the hidden eggs on the course, and if you don't know what they are, since the race is handicapped they eggs basically give you points which in turn gives you a better chance at winning.

Had a super fun day with some awesome people, Zach claimed us a nice spot with plenty of spots to see the course as we were warming up or waiting for our next lap. Hopefully I can get some pictures up later with all the awesome constumes, uncle sam was my personal favorite.

Here is a lap I did with my helmet cam, nothing very eventful but still cool, at least I think.

A Lap at Marysville Relay from Kyle Miller on Vimeo.

BIG thanks out to Kuhn and PA Valleys, everything was awesome!!

How have you been?

2010-04-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a while hasn't it, I'm a little rusty at this blog thing lets see how it goes.

I've been very busy lately. During my two months (planning on one, we'll get to that later) of offseason my days were filled with eating, sleeping, school, and skiing as much as possible. Skiing with all my friends is fun but every weekend I was missing racing. So get your popcorn ready, I'm actually eating some now, I'm going to try and sum up the past 3 1/2 months of my life in one blog post.

If you didn't see my helmet cam video from a few post ago you should check it out, it's a pretty sweet little camera. As long as you have good lighting it has amazing quality, it is HD. The best part is, is that the case/mount is waterproof, air tight, and probably bullet proof, though I don't really want to find out. So basically I can use it anywhere and it doesn't only shoot video, it takes sweet pictures too. The wide angle lens makes all the pics look awesome. Every picture on here was taken with it.

So the reason I had an extra month of off season is not cool. I broke my collarbone skiing at the end of January. It was supposed to been an awesome day of skiing, finals were done, got out of school early since they were all done and headed straight up to Bear. It was my third day on my new skis after my others had gotten their edge ripped out. This was partially the reason I fell. I was doing a 540 off one of the jumps, I got a little squirrelly off the jump and new something didn't feel right. I ended up landing on one foot off balance. I remember staring at my ski carving to the left to try and regain my balance, If you don't know yet I was landing backwards so that doesn't exactly help, all of a sudden I caught an edge and slammed on my left side. The wind was completely knocked out of me, I've never screamed when I've crashed skiing so I could tell something was weird. I go down and meet back up with my friends and just lay down for a little bit trying to tell myself nothing is wrong. I actually end up taking a few more runs just skiing down and feeling like I'm going to puke from the thought of what could have just happened and of course the pain. I can tell you that a broken collarbone hurts more than a broken leg. I go inside the bathroom in the lodge, and take my shirt off. This was a true pain cave, dark inside my shirt lifting my unknown broken collarbone into a position it should never go into. When I finally do get my shirt off I see a bump, a large bump that shouldn't be there. I painfully put my shirt back on and go back out to have my friends help me get all my stuff down to ski patrol. I chill there for an hour or so, answering lots of questions and getting a ghetto sling put on. By the end of the night and a couple X-Rays later I find out that I have a fractured collarbone and will be out for 6-8 weeks. Sweet. Did I forget the part that I was supposed to go out west to Utah in 4 weeks, goodbye skiing paradise, hello couch and TV remote. I had a sling on for 4 weeks and wasn't completely cleared for another 2 weeks. So about 3 or 4 weeks ago I actually started riding and getting ready for the upcoming season.

I was out for the best week of skiing we have had in the past 3 or 4 years the best I could do was watch my friends get towed in my snowmobiles and walk around in the snow. Before I did break my clavicle I had done a few fun rides at french creek and bear creek and just around my house. I am a huge fan of long winter mtb rides.

This isn't how I broke my collarbone, but I found it pretty funny. Everyone was okay, and the person who screams like a girl.... is a girl, not me. If she wasn't my friend I probably would have felt a lot worse about the whole thing. I do feel bad that I chipped her board though.

The ski season ended pretty abruptly, we got a ton of rain about 2 weeks ago and every mountain within 30 minutes of me closed. I was bummed but I did find biking down the trails that I ski down is just as fun. Fishtailing all the way down.

MACDC camp was this past weekend. It was my first time actually going since I had a broken leg last year and the year before that I had conformation at church. It was cold, very cold, at least it felt like it. Our little space heater that Zach brought didn't do much to heat up the cabin, but I'm sure it made a difference. I have only ridden in Michaux once, it was a race and I am absolutely in love with the trails there. I always knew they were good but I didn't know how much I would like them. Awesome weekend with a lot of learning, can't wait for next year.

I really like this picture I don't know why, I took it today while I was washing bikes.

^This isn't how I broke my collarbone, but I found it pretty funny. Everyone was okay, and the person I run into who screams like a little school girl.... is a girl, not me. If she wasn't my friend and just a random person I probably would have felt a lot worse about the whole thing. I do feel bad that I chipped her snowboard though....

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I should also probably catch you up on how my cross season went. I will say it didn't go as I would have planned. I have a slight problem with over starting.... I started to tone those down at the end of the season when I was basically done training for the season and just going to races on the weekends. I did a lot of cross racing, took a trip up to Gloucester Massachusetts. Stayed up with some of the C3 team and Henrys at the Bahnsons AWESOME house on the coast. It was really really wet and cold on Saturday. when you were riding close to the ocean you could feel the ocean spray, I was freezing all of staging and soaked, not a good combo. Sunday was much nicer, and it was awesome to watch the pros both days it was completely packed with people. Other than that normal crossy funness, I have caught the cross bug and am already getting pumped for next September.

^ this is the biggest rock I have ever seen. ever.

^ Jeffs post winning face.

I will see everyone at the races. Off to the relay this weekend. If you see someone with a camera on there head at the relay, you know it's me!

Amazing

2010-03-02T16:29:00.001-08:00

Not to get all weird and psychopathic or anything but this is probably one of the most eye opening videos I have ever seen.

Everything that happens on earth is so unimportant when it comes to the entire universe, not even noticeable. It really is amazing.

Go Pro HDissle

2009-12-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

You can watch it in HD the link under the video.

Go Pro HD test from Kyle Miller on Vimeo.

This is a VERY good thing!!

2009-12-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Lots a Racin'

2009-09-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Lots has been happening since my last post. Bear Creek was the MASS and my season finale, for mountain biking that is. Off the start I was 2nd into the single track. I knew it was a long race and when Julian pulled away I was terribly worried. At the top of the climb it was just me and Jacob. Luckily I prerode the course the weekend before so I knew most of the lines down the mountain. I was able to get a bit of a gap on Jacob on the descent. Onto the second lap I knew Jacob wasn't far behind. I hammered it up the climb and tried to save some on the descent. I was feeling great and pulled out a second. I was happy.

The team was able to grab a third overall!

This past weekend was Whirlybird. My second cross race of the season. Nittany was last weekend... we'll skip that. I can finally say it, CROSS is BOSS! It has been so much fun so far. I really really like the Whirly bird course fast, swoopy, and technical in cross terms. Felt great off the start probably top 10 or 15 into the second lap. But I started to slow down and ended up 23rd I think it was.

No thats not a laser on Jeffs helmet, its a video camera.

Zach killed it and came in 5th!

Sorry

2009-09-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

Riding cross bikes on mountain bike trails is sooo much fun.

I think I looked like a pretty pro surfer, as long as I wasn't surfing.

Well lets forget the fact that I haven't posted in over a month. Here is a summary of what I've been up to: Racing lots, riding lots, hanging out down at the outer banks for a week, more riding, thinking about cross, oh and school. Bear Creek is coming up this weekend, last mtb race of the season. Then it's time for cross. I'm getting super pumped!!!

Nationals and much much more

2009-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well this past weekend was Nationals. It was in Colorado, Sol Vista ski area to be exact. If you don't know our elevation was roughly 9000 feet. That is why we went out 2 weeks ahead of time to acclimate. Though nationals was the entire point of the trip it was probably the smallest part. Our trip started the day before The Long Pine classic, the whole team plus a lot of other people showed up at Brett and Donna's to eat some good food and shoot off some fire works. It was a fun time and the fireworks were sketchy! That night we stayed at Zach's house to then help set up the next morning for Long Pine. Everything went super smooth, the course was awesome, the venue was perfect, and there was tons of good competition. With roughly 3000 feet of climbing, it was brutal. From the "neutral" start I was in the front group, it wasn't very neutral though. The start was one big fire road climb and we were flying up it. I was probably top 20 into the single track with Forest, Jacob, and Julian still in sight. I could still see them for most of the first single track. I lost sight for a while but when we opened up on a fire road I could see Jacob, which meant everyone else was close. I was able to get my roadie on and draft for most of it then zipping around them right before the single track. Now it was one big descent back down to another fire road. I now had to look up at the first big climb it was loooong. I haven't had to climb something like that in a while. I felt awesome up it. The next big climb was just as bad as the first. Though slightly shorter it was much steeper, I could only ride up about half of it. It was pretty uneventful till I saw Julian finishing up his flat. I really turned it on on the downhill, but Julian was catching up. We spilled out on a fire road and I was on Julian's Wheel. We had one last climb, and Julian road right by the entrance, talk about luck. With Julian most likely still behind me I hammered up the hill and could see Jacob. He was close but I didn't have enough time to get him. I think the podium was the best part of Long Pine. Champagne, the winner got to spray champagne, it was so cool until you got it in you eyes! I didn't know it burned that bad.

After a cook out and some more fireworks it was time to go to bed and get ready for our marathon trip out to Colorado. We were supposed to leave only an hour earlier then everyone else. But it ended up being 2 hours and they didn't catch up until about 24 hours later. Lucky for us we were in the crafter, everyone else was crammed in the Subie. It honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, we were very lucky compared to the Subaru. We had Iphones, computers with 3G, DVD players, and a small sleeping hole in the back.

We got to see Saint Louis and the Arch since we were ahead of schedule.

31 hours later we were at the house and ready to go for our first ride.

Day 1: We unloaded, went for a ride around the house, felt the altitude, spun home and made dinner.

The next morning I stepped out into the garage to find out it was freezing. Probably 40-50 degrees. I also found Tom pretty much rebuilding Forests bike.

On Thursday we went to Boulder, we went through rocky mountain national park. We hiked up a trail to get up on top we were at 12000 feet, about 2.3 miles up. It was cold and windy.

Once we got to boulder we still didn't know where we were going to ride, so we stopped at a bike shop to get some advice. We ended up riding a Heils ranch I think it was called it was really cool, but completely different terrain. The plan was to sleep over at Yannicks house (a super fast junior). But we ended up not having enough cars for everyone to sleep over so that plan failed. We still ate dinner and hung out with Yannick. After some good pizza at Protos we went down to Pearl Street Mall, an awesome outdoor mall. Jeff, Gunnar and I got some wool panchos that are awesome, from this hippy shop, the guy at the register looked a little scary! After eating some delicious cake that Yannicks mom made we came home.

We just chilled out until Saturday which was race day #1, Winter Park point to point. It looked like it was going to be a tough course with a long climb at the start. It was pretty eventful when Tom and Forrest had some miss-communication and all Forrest had was a half full warm-up bottle. So Forrest had to start about 10-15 seconds later then everyone else. I really chilled out on the start since it was my first race at altitude. I felt pretty good I was in the second group and was able to get past a few other kids before the single track. After the first downhill it was a long downhill, unfortunately there were a few slow people and I got a little held up, oh well. After about half way through I started to turn it on. As I did I could see I was gaining on Jacob every minute. So after a long fire road climb I was right on his wheel. He tried to attack but I just stayed with him. After a few minutes I launched my own attack before we went into a single track climb. I was able to drop him and gain even more time on the downhill. It was nice to descend behind a super fast local! There was a climb after the descent and I was still feeling good so I attacked that to make sure Jacob didn't catch up. Now all that was left was some sweet downhill and a lot of flat. I ended up 2nd with some local kid 30 seconds ahead. I was happy!

After a rest and recovery day we went back to Winterpark to hang out and find something to do. We ended up doing the alpine slide, it was really fun! Luckily we did it when we did because it started to rain when we were at the top. After that we just hung out and then went to get some pizza in the town of Winterpark.

We made another attempt to stay at Yannicks house and this time it worked. When we got there we went out for a casual 3 hour ride around Boulder. Boulder is sweet! We saw the indoor velodrome, it was a lot smaller then the Trexlertown one but the walls were really really steep. almost vertical. We saw the dirt jumps which were cool also, there were so many different lines, most of the jumps weren't mandatory at all. Yannick said they have stxc races and cyclocross races there, they must be awesome. Forrest almost ate it, it was pretty scary. After some chipotle and checking out Colorado University we went back to Yannicks house. We just chilled out ate an amazing dinner and went to bed. The next day we went out for a legitimate ride. Yannick took us to a long steady climb so we could do our 1 minute efforts. It was right after one of the biggest and best breakfasts I have ever had, almost all pastries and meat, needless to say I felt it. Once we finished our efforts we spun back to the park by Yannicks house. It had a creek in it, people were tubing and swimming. Thats when we saw the rope swing, Yannick said it was definitely deep enough so we decided to do it. Jeff went first and it worked perfectly. Next went Forrest then went me, the water felt sooo good, it was really cool, we did it once or twice then rode back to the house. We changed and packed up, after getting some izzi (fruit soda stuff that is really good) we said goodbye to the eckmanns.

Now all we had to do was rest and wait for nats. I was pretty nervous the day before but I settled down. We got there right as Aarons race was happening, he ended up 7th!! Forrest and I warmed up on the trainers and then road around a little more on the road. Tom got us an awesome starting spot, 2nd row! Which is good when you have a 50+ field. On the start, which was a hard climb, I really just chilled out and stayed on the rear of the group. I was able to be about top 20 into the first single track. Then I dropped my chain on the climb and couldn't get it back on so I had to dismount and put it back on, I lost about 5 spots doing that. So now I just hung with the people in front of me. When we prerode we ended up riding the wrong loop since the promoter decided to change it like 2 days before the race. So I didn't know how much climbing we would be doing I just had to ride, which I was fine with. I felt awesome on the first lap apparently 18th or 19th at the top of the climb. But unfortunately I was really feeling it on the second lap. I really cracked and had to dismount once. I was on the wheel of some kid at the top and for most of the downhill, even until about 2 minutes from the finish, but luckily like many other people in the class he couldn't descend. I was able to drop him and ended up 24th.

The venue was awesome, I can't say the same for the course:(

The top with an awesome view!!

This was taken at pretty much the end of the weekend, everything on the course probably had a layer of dirt.

The stxc course wasn't the best either, it did have this cool wood thing though.

Jeff ended up third!!!

Zach also did awesome, he got pushed into the tape at the start and was dead last. He was gaining on second but dropped his chain, I think he could of got him, but he still ended up 3rd. Yeah Zach!!

JB's flash 17 lbs I think, not production which will be 16.4 for a medium frame.

It was really cool believe me.

Jake also picked up Adam Craigs Bottle

Colorado

2009-07-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well nats is tommorow, I excited, and nervous. This is my first nationals and there are 50 people in my class. I am pretty much banking on the normal Jr. start and having them bonk half way through. Oh yah I got second last weekend at winter park point to point, I felt good. I didn't bonk and altitude wasn't bad. Here we go.........

Register!!

2009-07-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

I wanna race

2009-06-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't raced in 2 weeks and I'm starting to loose my mind.

I'm getting tired of rain, really really tired of it.

Maybe a full weekend of racing at marysville will quech my thirst.

At this point I am just counting down the days until a full 3 weeks in Colorado, which I must say I am very very excited about!

This made me laugh

2009-06-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Don't worry he is okay.

I guess I'm a little behind....

2009-06-09T17:58:00.001-07:00

It the last 2 weeks a lot has happened. I don't really have much time so I will make this quick. The day before Iron Hill Gunnar and I went up to the PA high school state championships which is part of Zach's Tuesday night series in May. With a small turnout it was only me and Gunnar in the Varsity class, so we decided to save it for Iron Hill and only race 1 out of the 3, 3 mile laps. It was a very slow course with about 24 minute laps, it was more about handling then strength. It had a lot of logs and some really cool creek crossings. But Gunnar got the best of me and we headed home. Now all I had to do was recover for Iron Hill as best I could. On the drive down there were some rain showers and apparently in the morning it had pored. So the course was pretty wet in some spots, which made it very interesting. Off the start I was about 5th into the single track which wasn't very smart because I got stuck behind two slower juniors. I lost some time on the leaders and couldn't make it back up. But I felt strong for it being my first serious XC race back. But the podium was stacked with Cyclesports/Fast Forward Team with Jacob in first, Forest in second, and me in third.

This past weekend was the Hoo-Ha! This is my second time in 3 weeks driving over 5 hours to a race and I'm starting to get used to it. This race was really worth it, not only was it fun but this was my qualifier for nationals. We all prerode a lot of the lap the day before and it was brutal. It was the kind of course that I love, the kind I always ride, go up for a long time, then go down for a long time. Off the mass start I went pretty hard to make sure I didn't make the same mistake I did at Iron Hill. I was in the top 5 or so going into the first single track section. There was a junior right in front of me, I rode his wheel for a while until we got to the climb, I got into a pretty fast tempo and was able to hold on up to the top. There was a lot of traffic right before the downhill which slowed me down a lot. Once I got to the top I turned around and Jacob had made his way up to me.

Cresting the loooooong climb with Jacob right behind me

Now we got to the most technical part of the course, also the most backed up. I had to walk many of section that I could have atleast ran. Once past all this I made alot of passes on the downhill but still couldn't see Jacob. When I made it to the bottom I hammered up what I thought was the last hill, but we didn't preride the whole course and there was still about 3 miles in the course. Luckily I still had enough to keep a good pace. I finished 2nd and most importantly I'm qualified for nationals.

Finally I can race

2009-05-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I have filled you in on what happening. I can race, which I am very happy about. My first race of the season was the wilmington grand prix, it was a really really fast race with a scary turn 3. All you need to know is that I got dropped. After the race Jeff came back with us and was going to stay at gunnars for the night. But we ended up doing a night ride at Spring Mount which was fun. Then the next day we went down to wissahickon for a long day which didn't turn out as planned. We were going to do a loop then ride to Cadence, then get lunch, then do another lap which we figured would take about 6 hours. But with flats and a person (who will remain nameless) forgetting all of there riding stuff we got our 6 hours outside but only about 4 hours of riding time. By the end we were all super tired and couldn't wait to get home. Now it was time for recovery with Burn 24 hour challenge coming up. The team in order was Forrest, Jeff, Sam, Me, and Dan. Zach was doing it solo. After the 8 hour ride down we finally got to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning it was time to get to the venue.

The course was amazing, probably one of the best race courses ever. It was super fast, with lots and lots of rootes. I felt pretty good on the first lap, but not my best. When I got back I soon found Brian sprinting back saying Forest flatted (luckily it was about 100 yards away from the transition area and he was allowed to run back) Jeff was abruptly waken up and forced to go out on a lap. Luckily we didn't have anymore problems for the rest of the race.

This was the coolest course at night, you feel like your going so much faster then you were before, I was so excited when I got back from my first night lap. But that didn't happen on my next lap since it was 3:00 am I was to so tired and had to put a wet chamois on, not fun. So we ended up in 6th with 35 laps, each of us doing 7 laps. My garmin said I rode 42 miles, climbed 16591 ft , and total ride time was 4 hours 29 minutes. Now all I wanted to do was sleep I slept for about 5 of the 8 hours back home. Yes those are new bikes too, a good thing about getting hit by a car is you get a new road bike! But I don't suggest doing it.

End of last lap

Mud Fest

2009-05-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Granoque, still no racing thought. The rain seemed like it would never end, which it really hasn't. It has rained here for the past like 9 days. Anyways I don't really think you could call Granoque a race. It was kind of a Try-to-finish-and-not-break-your-bike-and-maybe-you'll-podium kind of race. Basically the only place were you could make up time was the last hill which is pavement and running anywhere you can't ride. From what I heard you were walking/running about 3 out of the 4 miles, and your bike would get so caked with mud that your back wheel would stop spinning. Peoples bikes had wheels that were 3 inches wider than they would be. In other news I can race next weekend, and we have a 24 hour team coming together. So I have a feeling May is going to be way more fun then the last month and a half.

Today was a good day

2009-04-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the first time I've ridden a bike outside in over 6 weeks. I didn't even care that it was 90 degrees out. I took it slow since I have only ridden the trainer for the past 2 weeks. I just road on the perkiomen trail for about an hour, spinning through greenlane. I went through a lot of water bottles. I still can't race for another 2 weeks but after that I should be good. So overall it was a good ride, it was nice to not be on the trainer.

What!

2009-04-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's just me not watching trials videos but this is insane. I found it on some colorado cross website. Just like they said it is a combonation of BMX and trials. This just blew my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

Back again

2009-04-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well kind of, I was at the doctor Monday again and he said that I can ditch the cast and crutches. So I am limping everywhere. He cleared me to ride the trainer as hard as I would like and pretty much do whatever I want. That's for 2 weeks then in another 2 weeks I can get out on the road bike (a new road bike). So hopefully my first race will be the Rocktober XC loop. I am pretty confidant I will be back at 100% by then. The scary part is that I can see that my left leg is tiny compared to my right it looks kind of funny. I will be at Fairhill this weekend I hope so see everyone there. Look for the one limping.

2009-04-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well my focus for this week has been drink lots of milk and ride the trainer. I think I have accomplished both even though I am drinking grape juice right now. After putting away all my ski stuff today I figured I would put some pictures up of my ski season. These are all from one weekend at Bear Creek that my friend Ethan Jeremias took. I don't really feel like typing much so here's a summary. Had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and went to Colorado.

Getting artsy

Best sunset I have ever seen

Our pride and Joy, even though the park manager wasn't very happy when he saw us spraying his lip away. (Gunnars the one spraying)

You don't know what you got till you lose it

2009-03-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my orthopedic appointment. Good and bad I can start to walk on it with crutches and I shouldn't need crutches when I go back in 2 weeks. The best part is I can start to ride the trainer every so often. Basically he said overall if it hurts don't do it sooo I guess we will see what happens. Bad is I still can't race for at least another 2 weeks possibly 4. I am starting to figure out how boring my life is with out being able to ride. But I plan to make up for this down time by putting a lot of energy into the season. I am going to be overly excited for the first race, this may just be a good thing :) I should be able to get a ride to the IIGOMBTRCUIAMO (Visit PA Relay) so hopefully I will see everyone there.

Broken

2009-03-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here's my leg. I figured I should put some stuff up that I broke my fibula. Which is the small non-weight bearing bone next to the tibia. I have a soft cast from my mid thigh to right above my ankle. I can take it off when I take a shower and stuff. Here is how it happened, none of which was my fault. I was rolling down the road towards the end of my 2 hour ride, going about 20 about to go through a intersection with stop signs on either side of me when a car pulls out and well hits me. It hit me right on the side throwing me down and rolling on the road into the grass. I guess I broke it when the car hit me and then just got a lot of road rash and trashed my road bike. So I can start putting weight on it in a week or 2 then should be good in a month. So I am going to Rockburn this weekend to help out a little, probably very little then just rest and start getting my bike, new bike together.

Colorado

2009-03-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

I don't feel like writing much so here are some pictures. I cooked that steak.

D-Town Summit County with Steamboat.

I went dog sledding too.

I thought this was cool

We got 10 inches on our 2nd of 5 days of skiing. It was amazing.

This was one of our awesome finds.

Local candy shops rule. It was called a Peanut Butter Bucket.

One of the biggest drops we did, about 12 foot.

They were doing a lot of building and stuff

The Gondola.

We had plenty of blue birds.

There superpipe was really fun it had 18 foot walls. In the end it was a great trip, and I had a lot of fun. We even drove by Granby were Nationals is going to be. It looks like it will be really fun in a really cool town. I think the elevation sign said like 7500 or something.

Michaux Mash

2009-03-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Michaux Mash. It was a fundraiser for us (Cyclesports/Fastforward Racing Team) to go to nationals. We had a little over 100 people and thank you all for coming out. I had just landed the day before from Colorado so I couldn't race the 4 hour race. We got there just in time to see the start. Even Eatough showed up. After the start Mr. Bergey, my dad, and I walked the trail backwards to find Eatough having about a 5 minute lead on the first lap. Jeff was right in there in 5th. The course looked really fun and really smooth.

Jeff was only the 5th person I saw get over this.

Jake and his new bike. It's sick.

Eatough is so fast I couldn't even get the shot.

Well...

2009-03-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

I can't find the camera so.... More later

Coloradaaa

2009-03-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

T-Minus 1 day for Colorado and my B-Day. 1 year and 6 months I will be able to drive to some of these race things. More of Colorado, this will be my first time skiing in Colorado and I am beyond excited. The last time I have been out west was 2 years ago. I hope to take lots and lots of pictures. That is if I can take my parents camera. My friend has a helmet cam and Gunnar is letting me borrow his video camera. So there should be plenty of footage. Hopefully I can post some stuff between now and next Saturday. But until then see ya.

Short Fun Weekend

2009-02-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

This was the teams second training weekend and it was just as fun as the last. Gunnar and I had a basketball game Saturday morning so we came up that afternoon after there 60 mile venture. When we got there we got the welcome of kings. Just kidding we were the ones who people were thinking of ideas of how they could make us feel the pain they did except condensing it into a short workout. Sounds like hill repeats to me. Very painful very fast, but we did get to use powertaps which was cool I didn't understand most of the numbers. Later that night we went on an urban assault with our lights it was really really fun probably the funnest ride of my bicycling career.

Saturday ended with Gunnar having his first bite of fish and Jeff dropping his. It was really good! We then watched TV and had some intense games of air hockey. Then we all went to bed tired and ready to go hard the next day. We got up early with a good breakfast of potatoes and waffles made by the waffle expert Tom. Then we got our kits on and ready to go. With some confusion on bikes Gunnar and I only had mountain bikes. But it worked out fine Jeff has plenty of bikes. Believe me. We left at a nice easy pace going through the campus to look for some college girls. There weren't any, too early. We then left out on the main highway for a few miles until we came to a light and turned left. This is where the really nice road biking starts. I honestly never thought I would say this but on some of the roads it was almost as fun as mountain biking. Going through the open fields we went across a few scary bridges. Metal grated bridges are not fun when their wet, luckily we didn't have to figure that out the hard way. Then we were on some rolly roads for some time, while almost getting run off the road by a big truck. Bikers and big trucks do not mix, in the middle of going around us he almost went head on with another car. Which was a reality check for everybody, we all got tight until we got to the "fun" roads. The roads were fast, curvy, and rolly. With everybody tucked we came to "The Wall." Everyone raced up it with Zach trying to get his one thousands. He didn't quite get it, yet. Continuing on Zach comes flying by us and getting his one thousand watts. We came to another hill that we raced up with Jeff pulling ahead. Dropping down another hill we took a left and got into some more curvy roads. We road around a while longer and came back to the highway we turned off at the beginning of the ride. We were on a flat road for what seemed like forever, seeing the horses on the muddy trails didn't make any of us happy.We turned once more and got back into town. When we got back to Jeff's road we all sprinted up but I missed a turn and didn't see who won. Zach made some pizzas one had pepperoni and potatoes and the other had fish. It was really good. Everyone lounged around for a while and got shower's. Then parents came, we packed the cars and were done with training camp #2.

Theres going to be another full story on ----->

http://fastforwarddevoteam.blogspot.com/

NJ Pine Barrens

2009-02-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Today Gunnar, Harlan, Elk and I went on a ride at the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. I have never ridden there but will definitely go back. On the road in there was a 1 room school house, church with a overgrown graveyard and square miles of Blueberry fields. Was kinda weird. It was really fun riding with Harlan and got to meet Elk who was also from Indy Fab. The trails were really flowy, flat and smooth, with a lot of cornering. I didn't see one rock the whole time but it was a nice change, perfect for winter training. Luckily all the snow melted with the perfect weather we had. Hovering around 45 degrees in the morning with not a cloud in the sky. First time in about 2 months I only had to wear one layer of clothing. Much better then last weekends 15 degree road camp.

Lance is my car companion for all the bike trips

The trails lacked rocks but really made it up with sharp corners, and logs hops everywhere. With basically no place to take your hands off your handlebars for more then 10 seconds we had to stop a few times to get fueled up. It was really easy to just zone out and miss a turn and go straight into a tree which I only did once or twice:) You really had to stay focused. Towards the end of the ride you really started to feel the burn and Elk took a pretty hard crash bending his handlebars luckily he was fine. We got back to the car to see Mr. Bergey back from his walk with Lance. Told him how nice the trails were, loaded up the bikes and said our good-byes. Harlan went out for another lap, in the end it was something like 19 miles and 2 hours and 20 minutes. Watching the Super Bowl now, don't know who I should cheer for.

Long Fun Weekend

2009-01-27T18:27:00.001-08:00

I guess the title says it all. It was a awesome, pain full weekend with a new team. The weekend consisted of eating, sleeping, bikes, nerf guns, ice, tunnels, oh yeah and did I mention ice. Gunnar, Jacob, Jeff, and I car pulled up to Zach's farm with Tom at the wheel of The Crafter. When we arrived we all expected a little hut in the woods but it was a "Palace" as Tom put it. Zach and Jake had already started dinner and it would be done soon. We brought all our stuff in, got the grand tour and then ate. The fun began after cleaning the dishes. Tom had brought some nerf guns and it started out as one person with a gun, then all of a sudden people were scrambling for the guns and diving and fighting for the balls. After about 20 minutes of war we decided we would take a hike and we went up the hill behind Zach's house. We laid down for a while looking at the stars. Then all the lights were taken from us and we had to chase Zach and Jake around in the woods. Finally we came to some huts sitting in the woods and Zach said run down the hill. Gunnar, Jeff, Jacob and I got a head start and started running down the hill. Actually it was more like rolling and sliding. We finally made it to the bottom with Jacob limping out he said he had rolled his ankle really bad. Luckily it didn't really bother him for the rest of the night until the next day. It was a nice relaxing morning with amazing waffles made by Tom and cartoons chosen by Tom and snow. It may have been a little too relaxed because by the time we got out there the snow had accumulated to about an inch. Luckily the roads weren't to bad and we got going. I felt phenomenal on the first few big climbs. Jacob said his ankle was really bothering him after we had crested the second or third big climb. So we decided that we would stop at this parking lot area. Tom rubbed on Jacobs ankle and Legs for a while, while we all got fueled up. We got going again and went down this icy road. Zach fell hard bleeding through 3 layers. He walked it out and decided not to go down that road. But we would see the ice again soon enough. We road back out to the intersection we just came from and went up a hill and it basically flattened out for a lot of the time. We stopped again about 2 hours and 45 minutes into the ride. Jacob was feeling terrible and cold so Tom, Gunnar, Jake and I all rode the rest of the time back to the Cabin. I think then was the worst I ever felt on a bike. It was almost all uphill and I was struggling with every pedal stroke. Luckily Tom, Jake, and Gunnar were feeling strong and helped me out a lot. Thanks guys! But once we got to the top It was all downhill from there 3 miles off fast downhill. It was so much fun. But I was feeling to terrible to enjoy it to much. Tom went ahead of us and drove back out to pick up the other guys. Me and Gunnar got showers while Jake started heating up lunch. We were going to go out and do time trials after but it was already 2:30, Jacob wasn't feeling good and the rest of us were pooped so we all took nap watched the X Games and heard Tom say Butter Box for the rest of the night. We all went to bed and had just the relaxed morning as before. Thankfully Tom had cleaned all our riding clothes the night before and they were all clean and ready to go. We left a little later then Saturday and were all excited to see "The Big Secret!" We left on the ride starting with a nice rolly road. Then came the first big climb and the last of the day. Zach and Jake pulled away from the rest of us and just kept going. Once all of us got to the top of the two mile climb we went down a decent and pulled into this completely ice covered dirt road. It was horrific we had to ride in the drainage ditches or in the high grass, stick, covered section above. After multiple crashes, and taring of tights we made it to our destination. There was a bridge over top of the road we were on. We hiked up on top to find an old abandoned high way. I later found out it was the old Turn Pike that had been abandoned since 1968. Then we all saw the ice, and lots of it. It was very treacherous and terrible on road bikes. Make the smallest turn, brake, or loss of concentration you would go down and go down hard. Luckily the ice stopped for a while and we could just ride. Then all of a sudden we see a big black hole and finally we all agreed that this was Zach's "Big Secret." We all got to it and started looking in the doorways it was very creepy with rust and trash everywhere. Once everyone was inside Zach led us up a set of stairs into the first big room empty with graffiti all over. Then up another set of stairs into the big fan room where there were 2 huge fans. Into another doorway we found holes and train tracks and darkness we figured out we were above the tunnel where the lights would have been in. It echoed about three times at anything you yelled. It was even weirder when you would jump up and at the end of the tunnel you would here BOOOOOM like thunder. We all went back out of the tunnel still amazed and then got to ride through it Tom had brought his lights and the tunnel seemed to go on forever. When we got to the other side we rode a little further then decided to turn around. We went through the tunnel and back through the ice. Gunnar fell really hard then slid into pavement. Once he got up we were off again and went pass where we had gotten on. It seemed to be even icier on this end. Then in the distance there was something again, another tunnel once up to it you couldn't even see the other end. Looking inside all you could see were two pillar like objects. Once inside you could see that they were ice pillars coming out of the light fixture holes. You could barely put your arms around them plus it was like a ice skating rink all around them. We got all the bikes through and started riding you still couldn't see the end then we all saw a little light at the end and rode and rode and rode finally we go to the end hoping to find a none icy way out, but there were none to be seen so we went back through the black abyss. Once on the other side Tom checked his GPS and saw a road about 400 meters to the left of the Tunnel. We decided we would see if there was any way we could get to the top of the steepest part of the hill through the tower above the tunnel. We got to the top and saw a few ways out. We brought all the bikes up through it and put them through a window and all follow out. When we got up to the top we were all expecting to see a road. No road, we had to hike our way out, with bikes on shoulders we started walking up the mountain. It seemed to go on forever but finally we heard some cars and got out. It was all downhill or fast flat from here. We started using drafts a lot more and were really pushing it and going really fast. We all got back to the "Palace" and started getting cleaned and packed up. We ate hot dogs and vegetable soup and a lot of it. Got out of there quick and missed cleaning dishes. We got home around 6:00 and boy was I tired. I can't wait for the next one.

Check out more about the team here:

http://fastforwardracingproductions.blogspot.com/

And here with a full team write up and hopefully a ton of pictures:

http://fastforwarddevoteam.blogspot.com/

Check out this nice early season endurance race The Michaux Mash:

http://michauxmash.blogspot.com/

Lazy Me

2008-12-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

I guess I have been neglecting the blog lately. There is a lot going on but not a whole lot of riding. I did the trainer for about 45 minutes the other day. I have still been lifting weights. Been doing a lot of skiing and hanging out with friends. Christmas is coming up and am getting a good amount of biking stuff. It is snowy and icy so can't really ride outside. I guess I will make this short I have to go wax my skis. Merry Christmas.

My First Cross Race

2008-11-27T14:52:00.001-08:00

Well last weekend I had my first cross race. It is only about 2 minutes away from my house so I couldn't wait. It was supposed to be at Spring Mountain but since they blew snow they couldn't have it there so they went to a park near by. I was kind of bummed out about because at the mountain they had alot of different kinds of terrain when at the park they had grass and flat open fields. I register for C men. I just used my mountain bike and can't say it helped me. By the end my tires were caked with mud and were terribly slow. I didn't get the best start or starting position. Me and somebody else got hung up a little. But from there I really felt good picking people off and staying on peoples wheels. Unfortunately I couldn't keep the intensity up. They had a number page which they were flipping which said how many laps we had left. I didn't see that till the end so on my 4th lap I thought to myself this must be the last lap so I went super hard and made my move on a Bikesport kid that I had been watching all race. Well I still had 2 laps left. They were probably the 2 hardest laps of my life. I got passed by 2 guys the kid I had passed earlier and somebody else. I ended up 25th or 26th or something out of about 46 or 47. Can't say I am happy can't say I am sad. But It was fun and I cant wait to race one again. I have been skiing alot, left school early to go skiing up at bear creek which was fun. Had thanksgiving today and am going to go up again tomorrow. I have been going on some rides and using the trainer. Using the weights we have a little more often. Here's some other pictures from the race.

This Weekend

2008-11-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the Pocono's. Me and my two friends Alex and Jake went to Big Boulder for the opening runs of the season. Other than the night before when there was a rail jam at good ol' Bear Creek which was really fun too. Got up nice and early to get started early. It was a really fun day and tomorrow is going to be even better. The other day me and Gunnar went on a ride and it was really cold like 30 degrees and absolutely freezing. By the end my feet felt like they were frozen, I need some nice warm booties. I decided I was going to do my first cross race at spring mountain. At least it was supposed to be there they were going to try and blow a snow pit to ride through but with the temperates where they are they are trying to blow in the mountain. Now it is at a park right near there and is a pretty good location I guess, it is basically flat and boring but I haven't seen the course, sound like it will be fun. Then afterwards I am going to try and go up to Bear again for a hike-park. Well I am really tired and better go switch up my mountain bike. Bye.

The Trainer

2008-11-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

Today I did my first ride on the trainer since last year. I forgot how much I hated it. I have it in by basement which is pretty cool but with no air moving it is terrible. I think I am going to put a fan down there to move the air around. I rode for a little under 1 hour with bottle refills and such. I felt good at the end but terrible at the beginning. Then I blew the dust off of my weights and put them together. I have decided that after school I can ride on the trainer for about and hour every day or go on a ride which I will hopefully do more of then the trainer. Last winter for me was spent skiing as soon as my dad got home some basketball games and more skiing. So I am going to have to balance it all out. Yesterday a bunch of friends and I went to Gunnars house to hit a rail. It was super fun, once we figured out that it was easier to ski on the astro-turf then the tarp that kept riping. So in the end it was super fun. My one friend Ethan probably had the worst falls and by the end he had mud on his whole body and said that he couldn't close his mouth all the way because his ski hit him in the face. Ouch. Even though when I got home I was wet, muddy, cold, tired, and sick, I couldn't wait to do it again. I am starting to get back into the swing of things with training and everything, and can't wait for ski season to come. Think Snow.

switchin it up

2008-11-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

So I am starting to switch to ski season. Got my skis and bindings mounted and picked them up on Friday. Today came in my new helmet can't wait to go skiing. I have been skiing since I was six so it is my favorite sport with mountain biking in a close second. I decided I should start to get into a little bit of a schedule riding. I went on a few nice rides over the weekend. I went on a mountain bike ride on Thursday and Friday over at green lane. Then on Sunday i went on a cross ride with Gunnars bike and had a lot of fun. It was very exciting since I was on my local rail-to-trail. But it felt good to get some life back in the legs. So long for now figured I put something up since I haven't lately.

Cross

2008-10-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well it has been pretty quiet lately not a hole lot of riding. Gunnar and I went on a short little cross training ride. I borrowed a old road bike with cross tires on to ride. It is a cool bike but if I turn to hard with my pedal forward my foot hits the tire so got to watch out for that. Today I have been watching the Phillies parade and am really really excited we just won the World Series. A few days ago it snowed, Yes snowed! I am an avid skier so I was hoping that when I got home I could ski and ride my dirt bike in the snow. To my disbelief not 1 flake of snow was on my driveway just rain. Up in the Poconos some areas got a foot!! One area tonight is setting up some rails to ski on. I was going to go but I figure its not Worth the drive. It sounds like tomorrow I'm going up to a cross race a Fairhill. My first race and I think it is going to be fun. I have been riding around my house practicing barriers and sprints on the new bike. It should be fun. Did I say I am excited the Phillies won its been 28 years!

A Fun Ride

2008-10-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today me and Gunnar went on a nice Fall ride at Spring Mountain. The last time I road was a week after Bear Creek so 26 days I've basically been resting and dirt biking and plan to be riding throughout the winter as much as I can ,without messing with my skiing schedule of course, with a few weeks off throughout. I brought the camera along and got some nice pictures and got a few of us crashing. We put the camera on burst and got some really cool pictures. I am going to send them to Gunnar so he can photoshop them into a picture. I'll put some other pictures up later this week.

Another Adventure

2008-10-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday Mr. Bergey Gunnar and I went up to Jim Thorpe area to go dirtbiking. We usually go to a place called 8 Bees Motorcycle Club and pay $25 which is worth it I think. But we did go there but sneaky us we parked about 10 miles away on the side of a road. All we had to do was ride about 15-20 minutes on the power line trail and get to the rest of 8 Bees and alot more and we don't even have to pay anything. So off we went having a blast riding around finding fun hill climbs and some single track I guess you could call it. We usually go to this really cool valley that has some really interesting hill climbs. We did and it was amazing now instead of leafless trees there were trees with beautiful yellow and red leaves on it. It was really cool to ride through it all day. I don't think it could have been a better day not a cloud in the sky dry but not to dusty and perfect temperature. After lunch we headed back out and went to this cool little coal pit. There we saw one of those side-by-sides. It was doing hill climbs and it looked sooooo much fun. With the sand kind of stuff we were riding in that would have been nice to have. We rode around a little more and decided we should head back to head home. We got a little lost on our way back and had to take a long way we knew would take us back with most of it right next to rail road tracks in these loose rocks not very fun. But after that we went back in the woods and had to go through this puddle that smelled absolutely terrible it was one of the worst things I have ever smells with green algae on top that was on my bike and boots UGH! So we got back to the trailer and loaded up. When we opened up the trailer at my house it smelled horrible with all of our bikes with the algae on it, it just stunk up the whole trailer. Right away I cleaned off my bike and boots and went inside to wash the black off of my face. So the day was absolutely the best and the weekend overall even better then I figured out I had to go to school the next day oh well all good things have to end at some point and so does this. Until next time, Bye.

I love flea markets!!!!

2008-10-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday my dad and I headed up to the Trexlertown Velodrome for the fall flea market. I always love this flea market, always getting amazing deals new or old and this year was no different. You can't beat a X-O rear derailleur for $20 bucks I think. I got a Specialized carbon water bottle cage for $5 usually around $65. Then I got the steal of the day, I think at least. A Silence Lotto team edition S-Works Helmet normally $230 I got it for $50!!! What can I say I'm a good flea marketer. I also got some winter tights for $35 not bad but not the best. I just got back from dirt biking with Mr. Bergey and Gunnar from Jim Thorpe area it was super fun and I am really tired more on that later. Bye.

My First Dirtbike Race

2008-10-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday I had a race. Not a usual race not cyclocross or mountain biking but dirtbiking. It was one of the funnest races I have ever done. We got up at around 6:00 to get there at around 7:00. The race was only about 15 minutes from my house and I have wanted to do it for a while. Unfortunately I have been on vacation the past 3 years. But not this year. We set up pit area. Went to register and then just sat around until about 8:45 when I had to start getting ready for my race at 9:30.
These races are a little different instead of warming up your legs you warm up your dirt bike. I rode around for a while and went to the starting line. I went into my Class that we signed up for. But what do you know some angery parent said I had to go into another class. The only reason was that my engine was liquid cooled uing a radiater and not air cooled. So now I had to go to a class that was the best kids intri-state area. Having bikes that cost more than my moms car and going to every race in the series. So now I have to get more stickers on my helmet and bike. They are the worst thing to peel off trust me. So if you don't know your engine is off on the start. So when you hear the horn you start your bike and go. So lucky me It didn't start on the first kick with the guys already out I kicked it again and started up and went. I caught up for a little but with the leaders being amazing I was dropped within the first half lap. Dirtbike racing is alot harded then mountain biking not because of the physical part but the part of just going fast. Usually you can push and get back up to the leaders in mt. biking. Not dirtbiking, if you can't go as fast as them then your done for. I got passed a few more times by some fast kids behind me. I was really strong in the woods but lacked a little on the zig zags in the fields. It was a very demanding course with lots of turns and muddy stuff. I had alot of fun and got 4th overall not bad for my first race.

Did I say that there were only 4 people in my class.

Different Kind of Racing

2008-10-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I have a race. No not a mountain bike race, but a dirt bike race. There is a local motorcycle club that puts on a harescramble every year. Unfortunately I have been away the last 2 years. But not this year. A harescramble is a mix of everything jumps woods and wide open straights, it's about an hour of muscle aching action. It is about a 7 mile lap and you do as many as you can in an hour. It should be fun and can't wait to see what it's like. I will try to get some pictures and tell you how it goes. Wish me luck.

Finishing Up

2008-09-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

The first rock Garden was absolute chaos first lap.

So this weekend was the Finals at Bear Creek. It was alot of fun between the downhill and the short track and then finally the XC. I was basically exhausted on Monday, I guess all the racing is catching up with me. So Saturday started off with me and my dad getting up early to get to bear creek by 9:00. Once we got there we went through our normal routine get registered take a lap on the course then warm up and get ready. I wasn't sure when my race was going to go since there was only about 5 people in my class Chuck said we may go with the Beginner A's who's race went at 10:45 instead of my 10:00 but in the end we went at 10:00. The race started with me going to the front and first into the woods. Somebody stayed with my on the climb and in the parking lot at the top but I dropped him on the first hill in the woods. On my first lap I had a pretty good lead and it only got bigger. The race went very well and I felt really good. I ended up 1st and won the series by 30 or 40 points. Then we went to get something to eat. We stopped at subway and got some good sandwiches I was starving. We went back to the mountain to watch the Expert A short track. It was very cool to watch. Harlan got a huge lead by the second lap! He didn't have any problems and got first. Now we waited for the downhill it was really cool. I didn't do so hot got about 30th or 40th. Harlan got first again beat out all the downhillers on huge full suspension bikes. It looks like it's going to be another Marysville. Then we went home to get a good nights sleep. On Sunday was the final cross country. It was beautiful out not to hot not to cold, blue sky's and just wet enough that it wasn't to dusty, perfect. My race went off with a about 3 or 4 kids hanging with me until we got into the woods. Unfortunately they cut out the first woods section so we went straight up the downhill section the day before kind of dumb but whatever. The climbing felt good I passed the 4 or 5 people that were in front of me. We then skipped another fun part at the top I was pretty angry we were skipping sections at this point but whatever just made me ride faster. The down hill felt good. I only got passed by 1 guy on a full suspension. At the end of the race I hammered up the steep steep hill towards the end. I finished second overall and 1st in my class. I felt really good through out the whole race and am going to kind of miss all the races, other than maybe some cross races. It's been an awesome season I will never forget. French Creek seems like such a long time ago. But it is going to be nice to have a break. Next was the spectating part got quite a few pictures, wish I would have formatted this differently kind of boring with all pictures but whatever. Now was the sport class Gunnar woke up with his eye swollen shut Ed just had surgery so he wasn't going to push sounds like a good day. Ed let Gunnar borrow a head cam you can check the link out on Gunnars blog it's pretty cool. Afterwards was the experts it was fun to watch, Harlan pulled away as usual with Brandon close behind then Rob. Harlan won again awesome job!!! So thats it I guess blogging going to slow down a little seeing that there isn't anymore races. But I will be posting probably going to be a little boring. Hope to make some trails over the winter at spring. The next bike thing is the flea market at the Veledrome if you have never gone you really should if you need anything for your bike you can basically find anything you want. Until next time Later.

Bear Creek

2008-09-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

So in the past week I've been to Bear Creek twice to preride. Wednesday me and Gunnar rode up to Bear Creek which was around 25 miles I think which wasn't very fun since we were on a mountain bike. But it was fun that we rode part way on a mountain bike trail at greenlane. Once we got there we started our ride at a nice slow pace. The climb up isn't very bad and the trail is very fun. The downhill is very demanding, very technical and very fun. The whole trail is much more ridable and a little different then last year. Once we finished that lap we went to the top again with Mr. Bergey to figure out the Super D. Hopefully we got it right but the trail is super fun with some logs that you have to jump over while going pretty fast. Then on Sunday which was yesterday Gunnar had his first cross race so I tagged along to watch and to go on a lap with him and Mr.Bergey afterwards. Gunnar had a good race and got first overall Good Job Gunnar. After that we got some food and went on a lap with Jay and Jamie from EWR and two other guys. It was alot more slippery and muddy which made it alot harder and much more fun. Once we got to the top Jay noticed he had a flat so we waited for him to change it. So we were off again and went super fast on the downhill didnt feel to good on the downhill with the slippery rocks and mud. So we said goodbye to everyone and went down to the car to clean ourselves up and get home. So tommorow is the final monthly short track at bear creek. Then we have The Finals At Bear Creek with will be very fun can't wait for the weekend see everybody there.

Univest Bike Race

2008-09-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

So the past week has been pretty boring. All the teachers are on strike so school hasn't started yet I dont know if I should be happy or sad about that. I was going to go up to Laurel Classic then another race on Sunday but then I found out that I had to acolyte at church so that ruined that. But I still got to watch the race. It rained all day which made it fun to follow them around and watch. I didn't get any pictures since it was a down poor. In the end a Garmin Chipotlye team member won. They were 1-3-4 which was pretty cool. So today went on about a little under 40 miles in 2:07 it was really nice out today which made it really nice. So I guess my next race is the 16th at bear creek for the short track should be fun.

August Short Track at Bear Creek

2008-08-31T08:05:00.001-07:00

So last Tuesday was the monthly STXC at bear creek. It was alot of fun. The course changed a little from last month. They just cut out a really cool new trail part rocky fun single track and part climbing double track. It started off with me in second into the woods and unfortunately was passed by chuck who didn't have a front brake and was on a single speed so he just ran away from me. I had a guy on my tail the whole race and luckily dropped him on the last lap. I thought I could hear chuck but I wasn't sure but unfortunately I couldn't get him. I ended up 3rd and am now second in the series and 1st in my age group. So then I went on a cool down loop on the STXC course for the final MASS race. It is very technical and alot of fun. So now it was time for the fun race. We did a miss-n-out but with a twist the last two went on a short intense hillclimb. I was one of the two and with my legs burning I got to the top first then I motored down the path to get back down to the finish. But I didn't understand where the finish was. So I missed it but luckily the other guy was nice enough to let me win. So I got my second pay day with $20. Can't wait for the Bear Creek race.

Olympic mountain biking

2008-08-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

So I was watching the Olympics last night and on came mountain biking I really didn't think they would broadcast it since it isn't really a spectator sport but they did and i did some research tonight and I knew the Frenchies took 1st and 2nd then a Sweden in 3rd. The best American got 29th out of 50 Craig Adams He was about 13 minutes behind 1st and all behind Craig were lapped at least once. Not bad. But it shows how much our country is behind everybody else. Oh well I went on Cannondale and they showed the bike there Olympians were riding it is amazing. Only 8.8 KG about a little over 19 lbs it is crazy raw carbon no paint. Not a whole lot on this bike that isn't carbon.

Iron Hill, Vacation the list goes on

2008-08-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody I guess I will start this off with a summary of Iron Hill. So that morning me and my mom got up which was weird usually my dad comes but he was busy. When we got to the race I jumped out of the car ready to go register unfortunately my mom was still in the car putting on her make-up. I have decided I am never going to a mountain bike race ever again with just my mom. So finally we got registered and it was time to get ready to go. So about a 1/2 hour before the race i start warming up after getting my cool tube tool bag ready. I have some if anybody wants any. So now for the start I had been looking around for Zach all morning since he was doing the SS enduro but he wasn't anywhere. So there I was waiting for my start when Zach pulles up next to me. So he cant enduro and has to do elite expert on a single speed. More on that on Zach's blog. Now its my start and me and the J3 are going together. To my surprise I'm in the front. I'm first into the woods and explosively pull away from the group. Unfortunately beginners didn't do the mega dip and I was mega disappointed. So my second lap went much smoother with no traffic so I felt a lot faster. So I ended up first and now there is only one more MASS race left and it sounds like its going to be one of the best. I got to ride one of the EWR's it was a sweet bike like Zach said it corners amazingly unfortunately the one I rode was set up for more of a dirt jump bike. I really want one now. So after Iron Hill the next day it was on to the Hatteras Island Outer Banks. This place is amazing with the temp in at around 84 with a nice breeze then the water is about the same temperature as the air. It is a super fun place especially with family we have had the best man hunt games ever there. But this year it was different since my cousin was off to college in Florida. So they couldn't come some we couldn't play. But I got to surf with my cousin Shane and destroyed everybody in go-karts the race was almost as intense as a bike race. So until next time later.

Been Busy

2008-08-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone sorry I haven't been updating but I've been at the Outer Banks for the last week and have been busy having fun. Have been surfing, destroying everyone at go-karts and getting sunburn. Luckily I still have my oh so loved farmers tan. So I am getting home in about 2 days I think so I will get some pics up. Bye

Iron Hill Preriding

2008-08-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday I met up with Gunnar, Mr. Bergey, and Zach at Gunnars place to go up to iron hill for some preriding. The ride up was good, going through the ghetto of West Chester getting lost a few times but we got to Iron Hill in one piece. We pulled in and met up with Jacob and Mr. Ehlinger. We did our first lap at a nice slow pace but rocketed on the down hills. Towards the end of our lap we heard some thunder but luckily the storm missed us. We did the mega dip a few times which is a really really fun thing and went back to the cars. We decided we would do a handicapped lap race. With Mr. Ehlinger having a 30 sec head start then Gunnar, Jacob and I, then Zach about 3 minutes back.I stayed with Jacob for a while but lost him. It was now just me looking around for Zach. He caught me on a downhill and just kept on going. Unfortunatly I never did get up with anybody and got last. Next we did a nice cool down lap. Then off to find some food. We ate at this really good Barbeque place called Famouse Dave's which was really good and very filling. So we got back to Gunnars house unloaded and I headed home, but not without my two Walmart bags full of tubes. I wanted to get them because my mom said she could make some bags out of them, like tool bags. So yesterday I figured I would try and make one and see how it went. The sowing isnt very good at all because it was done by me plus theres some blood stains on the bag but assure you when my mom does it there wont be anything wrong with them. Then I superglued some velcroe on, and then a little Specialized simble that I made it is a very cool bag. If anybody wants one you can just leave a comment and I will try and get them to you at Iron Hill. I think I will just charge like 5 bucks. I can fit a 26" tube probably fit a 29" then a CO2 pump and then 3 tire irons in it easily. I can put a logo on it if you would like but only to an extent nothing very hard like words or anything, sorry.

Camping at Spring Mount

2008-08-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well just got back from my hillclimbing day and I felt pretty good considering I did around 36 miles yesterday. On monday me Gunnar and our friend Zach went on an adventure at Spring. We did a loop in the light dropped our camping stuff off and went on a night ride. It was pretty fun even though it felt like it was 100 degrees out.

Busy Busy

2008-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has gone on since my last post. Between velodrome action to shooting clay pigeons. So Thursday I went on a ride in the morning around 20-25 miles about half on the road and half on the dirt at Greenlane. Then that evening after dinner, around 7:00 I met up with Gunnar at Spring to do some night riding. Of course it doesn't get very dark until around 8:00 or so, so we started our first lap without any lights and unfortunately Gunnar flatted so once he changed the flat we were off again. Gunnar showed me some cool new trails that were fixed up really nice. Thanks to whoever is doin that. So now it was starting to get dark and I got to go on my 3rd real night ride. I never did ride with lights at Spring before and it was really fun. We finished the lap and I heard a funny noise coming from my wheel. I shined my light on it and what do you know its way out off true and rubbing every so ofton on the brake pad. So we got back to the parking lot were Mr. Bergey was parked at around 9:15 and he gave me a ride home. When I got home I saw how wobbly my wheel really was. The next day I took the tire and and tube off to go get it trued and I saw there was a broken spoke. Luckily it was just at the nipple so all we had to do was change out the nipple then true it up. Later that night me my mom and my dad went up to the Trexlertown Velodrome which was really cool. I had only been there for the flea markets never a race. Boy do they move, I saw one really bad crash, one guy went over the wall and there were bikes in the air and all over the place. Unfortunately one guy got an ambulance ride out who was the person over the wall. So the next day we were going about 1 1/2 up north to the Poconos to Beaver Run. The ride wasnt very fun, from my long rides my butt was feeling pretty sore. Beaver Run is a hunting and fishing club that's really hard to get into. If you put your name on today you would get in in 10 years. My uncle was hosting a weekend event. It was really fun. I got to shoot a gun for my first time and hit 13 out of 25 clay pigeons. I beat some of the guys who have been shooting there whole lives. Then me and my cousin did some fishing but unfortunately we didn't catch anything. And that is what has been going on in my life for the past few days. This coming weekend is Iron Hill and I think I'm going to race in the sport class, Which should be pretty interesting. Sorry I don't have any pictures, me and Gunnar tryed to take some but none came out very well. Oh well see everybody at Iron Hill.

Monthly STXC at bear creek

2008-07-30T10:56:00.001-07:00

Last night was the monthly race at Bear Creek it was pretty fun. Even though the course was a little long for a short track and basically a total rock garden it was still fun. The race started off with about 5 of us pulling away from the group me in the back Gunnar in 3rd. Our group stayed together until the end of the first lap then we all separated. I had something lubey in my sights the whole race until I saw him on the side of the road at the finish on the 2nd to last lap. I guess he had a mechanical of some sort I'm not sure what happened though. But I'm pretty sure I got 4th, not positive though. I think there were about 9 or 10 in the race. After the experts went who were movin of course was the fun race. This time we were teamed up with somebody in the opposite race. Then top 4 would get in a paddle boat and go around the farthest fountain and back, 1st place got $20. I was teamed up with DJ, we were a pretty good team we both finished about mid pack. So the race went off and at the first corner I was stuck between some people, 2 people almost fell because of this big gully that they didn't know about. So when i tagged DJ we were in second and we stayed right there with Aaron gaining on us. I had the boat and life jacket ready and off we went. Somehow we were in first and had a pretty good lead. With both our legs burning we got to edge of the water in first and I got myself $20, nice payday for a race that cost $5. Hope we use the lake again next race makes it's really fun.

Finally a break

2008-07-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well today i just go back from camping for the week which was pretty fun. I got to go canoeing and it was really fun. For the first time in about 5 months i haven't been on a bike the entire week. So I'm going to have to get out riding tomorrow to get ready for iron hill. It sounds like it will be a fun race. Its a little different with the 1 hour time Span. Instead of a 8 mile course or doing laps. I'm not positive if i can go to iron hill because we are going to the outer banks the next day but I'm pretty sure were going. I haven't been to iron hill before but i heard it is a pretty easy course. Cant wait.

DTS Fair Hill

2008-07-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Fair Hill was really fun with a BEA-utiful day. The course was super fast and very smooth. The start didn't go to well. When they split the J2s and J3s they didn't make it clear that we were going about 5 seconds after the J3s so I sat there thinking i had about a minute to get prepared then ever body went, And I was still sitting there once I figured out that we were going everybody was out 20 ft in front of me. So I scrambled to get clipped in and sprinted to catch up. Luckily I caught up with them before we went into the woods. So after a while my chain suck guard got twisted, with the Velcro rubbing against the wheel it started making the sound of a dirt bike. So for about 15 minutes I had to listen to this buzzing and finally i got time to twist it and stop the noise. So by this time a had passed a few J3 kids and was running behind another J3 kid. I dropped him on the climb on the wide path and another long road climb. But with his full suspension he caught me on the downhills. Probably 2 miles from the end were there were a lot of roots and it was flat the J3 kid was nowhere in sight. So i just kept pushing and finished with a good gap between me and the next Junior 2 to finish. So now it was time for awards. I walked up to the awards table and what do you know i saw a stans tubeless kit that i wanted to get soon so I was pretty happy I got that. (The picture is my delayed start) So in the end it was a great day.

Training Training Training

2008-07-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Well lately I've been riding, eating, riding some more and then sleeping. Monday my legs felt terrible after the stage race in Marysville. So I took Monday off and just layedaround and rested. But the rest of the week I've been riding. Tuesday I did around 23 miles on the road then 27 on Wed. Thursday I did around 17 miles at Spring Mountain. Yesterday I did around 14 on the road I didn't want to tire my self out to much for Fairhill tomorrow (Sunday) I cant wait. So today I'm helping my dad paint a mailbox post ,drinking lots of water and getting stuff ready for Fairhill tomorrow.

Mary time at Marysville

2008-07-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Marysville was superfun the best race in MASS. Visit Pa put on an awesome race. Between great people, great food and a great course. Friday was the Night TT it was so cool. It didn't go amazing I fell on a log early on and it was hard to see because of the fog or mist or what ever it was. But I did pass about 5 people in the end and I thought it was the best part of the weekend. Saturday was the XC and the course was still a little muddy from the rain on Friday. At the start it was me Alex Reinke and another kid that rode away from the rest of the field. We stayed together for about 2 miles and got stuck behind some of the starters in front of us I think we should have been started earlier in the class but whatever. After we got passed them we were going good. About 1 mile after we passed them I dropped the other kid but Alex dropped me, luckily he is in J3 16-18. So the rest of the race went well and I felt really good. After the race I went back to the truck and cleaned up and went back to awards and some food.

Sunday was the hill climb and the STXC unfortunately their were only 4 people in the entire beginner class for the hill climb. Me and another guy went off hard and stayed together for about 1/2 a mile and then I dropped him and my legs felt good from there. Harlan, Kyle, and Aaron passed me about 1/2 mile from the top. Beginners started out like 1 mile in front of those guys they were haulin. Once everyone got up to the top it was a very controlled downhill. Just kidding it was chaos. I saw 4 people almost fall. It was crazy but super fun. About an hour after we got back to the farm it was time for short track. Off the start I took Gunnars advice and went off like a rocket and just tried to push and keep up the intesity as best I could. Then I rode my way to first. After that i waited for awards while everyone waited we did the famous huffy toss. It was super intense. Then it was awards I had a 2nd a 1st and a 1st and then they called me up for 1st place in the stage race. Now it was time to go home and rest. Cant wait for next year.

STXC at bear creek

2008-07-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

This race series is super fun this month it was the best course so far and i felt really good. I beat 2-3 guys and got 7th not amazing but it was fun. After every race we do a fun race. Usually it is just a miss-in-out, but this time they added a twist and the last 4 riders went over to the lake and took out a kayak and went out and back Topher won and i got last 4th with gunnar 3rd. It was the best STXC so far.