"Chronicles of Gnarlia"

yep...

2012-01-24T15:22:00.001-08:00

new sponsor

2012-01-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

growing up legit

2011-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

So me and Max did a sweet little workout the other day. Deer Creek Trail with entire trail snowpacked! Deer creek to Plymouth creek loop and back (about 8-9 miles and 2000+ feet of climbing) Max was pumped and loves to be in the pack for hikes. He loves it even more when i jump off a rock or hop cause he gets tossed around in the backpack harness...who wouldn't love that ride? We stopped at 55min for animal crackers and water...and he hiked for 10min by himself...so rad. After 90min (50% running, 50% powerhiking) with a 30+lb pack I was pretty smoked. In the last year or so Deer creek has turned into one of my favorite training spots. Killer vertical and a mix of everything for MTB and amazing for hard trail runs. Its 10-15 drive from our house and rarely that busy. Hit me up if you want to join me sometime!

almost to the top
Dudes

the trail

going down steep hill...trekking pole to keep him stable!

Yep...pretty sure thats a mountain lion track! (as big as my hand)

snow patrol

2011-12-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

1:20 run---2200+ climbing---9degrees---no one on the trails!---mountain man shit.

looking southwest towards our house

moon shot from trail

looking east towards denver

the trail

done...frozen

more stupid crossfitters....

2011-12-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

*Why am I not suprised this dude is a crossfitter? but a nursing student also?? really? F- on the common sense. (i had to double check it wasn't april 1st)
Long Hoang decided to mail a package while running in this strange workout uniform.
Common sense was not on display in San Jose last week. On Tuesday, 29-year-old Long Hoang, a nursing student, decided to don a gas mask and go for a run. According to Hoang, the idea for the mask was to train simulating a run at high altitude–part of Hoang’s new “Crossfit” workout routine. He also donned a 10-pound weight vest.

Seeing a gas-mask runner was odd enough, but the story get’s weirder when Hoang decided to drop by the busiest post office in San Jose and mail a package during his run.

The bomb squad was called, while firefighters and postal inspectors closed down blocks surrounding the post office.

When asked if he thought his routine a bit strange, Houng responded with indifference. “Yeah,” he said. “But when I’m in my little zone, and I’m just running and doing my thing, it wasn’t put into context.”

Houng later turned himself into the authorities, saving the police hours of detective work.

“Totally big misunderstanding, totally unintended on my part,” Hoang said. “I won’t do anything like this ever again.”

quality music

2011-11-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

A couple killer tunes from M83 and Phantagram. Recently saw Phantagram in Denver and it was just as good as i had hoped. Enjoy these.

come race this sunday

2011-10-25T11:12:00.001-07:00

Low-key offroad duathlon...at bear creek state park. SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY. Should be fun, Come race!

http://bearevents.org/?page_id=5

are you stoked?

2011-10-11T13:09:00.001-07:00

come and gone....

2011-09-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Xterra nationals was this last weekend. A little bummed to have a lackluster performance, but I still had fun and it's always good to race and travel with good dudes like Patrick Valentine and Nick Fisher. After a slow and normal swim i was ready to rip the bike. I was riding away from most people and only got passed by John Klish and Nick Fisher (The 2 strongest age group cyclist). But i wasn't killing it..i felt a bit heavy with no snap. Once on the run my meltdown happened. After the uphill i just couldn't get the legs going and my stomach felt weird. I was just plugging along. I came around the last corner and saw Klish!...its a 50yd uphill and then 50yds downhill to finish...i completely buried myself to pass him and got a 5 sec gap into the finish...but i paid dearly for it, and started to puke. YEP! i puked once befor finish line (full stride) and then after i crossed. Major apologies to the disgusted stectators who mostly came just to see LANCE. After the race Nick borrowed a wakeboard boat and we went lake surfing for a few hrs after the race in pineview rez! good times.

It's tough to get beat that bad by guys i normally can hang with. I love this sport and am always after "that race" when everything clicks. I need to look at what i am doing wrong and have a better off-season. Looking foward to some CX and running races. I think i'll have a bit more focus on adventure racing next season but still do a bunch of Xterra races. Just Enjoying the ride as much as possible!

WTF

2011-09-07T17:54:00.001-07:00

on my current playlist -ARCADE FIRE

2011-08-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

2011-08-17T21:18:00.001-07:00

feel like surfing, but live in colorado?

2011-08-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Surfing in Byron Bay Australia
Post race: Summit adventure race...."winning!"

Before the adventure race all geared out...rei would be proud.

Starting the Orienteering/run section.

Post Beaver Creek Xterra (photo: Mike Nelson)

racing my face off (sort of)

2011-07-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

quick update before i do the full race reports...its been busy with work, but have been able to sneak some racing in on the weekends.

FIRECRACKER 50: 1st place in Mens Team Open (Jason Hilgers/Myself) 54mile MTB race.

SUMMIT Adventure Race: 1st place team! (12hr race) We even beat all the 2 person teams.

XTERRA Beaver Creek: 18th overall, 6th amature (not my best race, but it was still fun)

....check back soon for pics and super exciting blogness.

need some new neoprene?

2011-06-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

Xterra makes killer wetsuits at great prices. They are also a really cool company and have been awesome to work with. Need new suit? Go try one on, and you'll see!

Xterra 4 corners report (june 4th)

2011-06-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

Killer race down in Farmington NM. This is the 3rd year I've done this race and all three years I have placed 3rd overall. So as you know by now I got 3rd.....whats that? yep 3rd, 3 times. The bike course here is awesome (super flowy and bmx'ish). I was a bit bummed it wasn't longer but the race is sick regardless. The old race was a swim/run/bike...it was cool doing a different format but they used to have 2 transitions and a section on the paved road. The new course is all offroad and the new run is TOUGH and way more fun. The city really gets behind this race and even helps promote and run the race. Here is a link to some quotes i had in local paper about the race.
Farmington NM Daily Times
Luke Jay, of Littleton, Colo., is also back in the field of 200 individuals for the third straight year. He finished third last year, but still wishes the course finished with the legendary bike ride. (i never said that! dang reporters)

"Honestly, it is kind of fun to do it the other way just because all the other races we do are in the traditional format, so it was always fun to have something different," Jay said. "It will be fun, and the new run course will be great. But the bike is definitely the reason I keep coming back. It is super fun with tons of rhythm and it's super flowy. It isn't that technical but it is deceptive because you can lose a lot of time in the corners and over the rollers if you're not staying on your pedals."

THE RACE: After a terrible swim which is very close to a great swim for me I got on the bike and started my normal race routine and pick off as many people as possible and try to deflate some other legs as I ride by. It was going ok but I didn't have the power and snap needed to really make a dent. I ate way to late (5:30 and the race was a 7am) so i had a sweet GUT BOMB the whole race and a lack of power. The bike was only 15 miles long so it was tought to make up anytime. I came off the bike in 3rd and held that position on the run. I knew cody and nick where up a ways so i wasnt catching them. I pushed the run in spots, but didn't bury myself and just maintained and held 3rd to the line. I still had a blast and was able to get 3rd behind Cody and Nick (i beat nick last year, but he crushed me this year)...did i mention i was 3rd again? Had a rad time driving to race with Jason Hilgers (5th overall) and Marcus Brady (BMX phenom)....between Jason's coffee habits and Marcus's "ill advised" driving skills, and chatting about amazing "twitters" the 6hr drive was full of comedy and tragedy that made it go fast.

Post race : Jason(5th), Myself (3rd), Cody (1st)

...cowboy up

2011-06-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

XTERRA MOAB...rad

2011-05-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

(sorry, i've been slacking on blog) If you like hard and technical mtb courses and feel like most xterra courses are a "blue run" then go do Xterra moab next year. This was actually my first xterra about 5 years ago and i did not remember the gnarliness of the bike course. I was stoked they brought it back. RACE DAY: ate some breakfast at denny's with Becca (i think our waiter was buzzed on some coke) and headed to the race. Saw tons of fellow "xterra buds" and set up transition. Water was cold but felt good. Swim went decent (if swimming slow is ok) and i had a fast transition. Nick Fisher caught me on the big road climb up to the trail (he was flying!) i hung with him for about 8min until the first rocky climb...i hammered up the steep slickrock and SNAP!....broke my chain...shitballs. Luckily Jeff Dewitt had a chain tool and was right behind me. Thanks Jeff!!! He did warn me the chaintool was a crappy one. I went to work and needless to say didnt have a fast "chain fix" (about 10+min). So I decided to just have fun and hammer the bike to see how many people i could catch...i almost blew up about 15min later, but calmed myself down and got in a good rythm...the bike course is sick gnarly. I saw 3 bad crashes since i was riding through people the whole way. Was in 10th place overall by end of bike. Had a decent run (about 1-2 minutes off Nick and Brad Zoller) but i smoked my legs pretty hard on the bike. Ended up finishing 8th overall. Was happy with my fitness. Props to Nick Fisher, the dude was on fire. He beat us all pretty bad. Even without the chain break I would have had a tough time staying with him.

photo of the day

2011-04-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

MOAB adventure race..the good, the bad, the weird.

2011-04-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

MOAB: We killed it...finished a 12hr course in 5hr 58min! First place co-ed team. 2nd place overall team across the line. We did about 30miles of mtb, 6-8 miles running, 300ft reppel, 10mile kayak. WEIRD: I did a full endo flip the day before (pre-riding on a dirt road!)...Jason forgot his harness during race and we got a 1hr penalty (knocked us down a few places)....then we hit a deer driving home (crushed the front end of our new minivan). *big thanks to LIFEQUEST for supporting/sponsoring our team and allowing us to race these awesome events!

ryder goes snowboarding

2011-03-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

1st day on the hill! He skied for about 5 min, and then said "dad i don't want to ski anymore...can you get me a snowboard?" So i went to the rental shop and swapped for the smallest boots and board they had. He loved it.

is it almost time?

2011-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

Getting my butt back into shape...not the easiest thing after tons of work and lots of time in my car, trying not to eat total crap. The last 2 months have been nuts with work. Its going great and I'm enjoying it, just wishing i had an extra 2-3 hrs every day. I have driven about 55k miles in one year for work. Its way better than a cubicle....right?

I'm psyched to have a few new supporters on board for the 2011 season. LIFEQUEST is a great non-profit based in Colorado springs. They support soldiers and ex military people in multiple ways. One of the primary ways is through racing. I am really stoked to be helping them out and getting these guys out there experiencing the beauty of racing Xterra and Adventure races. I will be doing more adventure racing this season with the LIFEQUEST pro team.

Also back on board with EPC MULTISPORT for the season. Cody Waite had built a killer team of elite and age group athletes primarly focused on the Xterra circut. Need some coaching or training advice? Cody is your man. Join us for some fun/hard workouts in the next few months!

I will also be racing for ADRENALINE CYLES . Check out this great little shop in littleton for any cycling and triathlon needs. Matt is the man. I will be racing for these guys and we have some 12hr and 24hr mtb events on the radar...as well as a rad CX season once fall rolls around.

Big thanks to Trevor at SKINFIT for the new skinsuit. These suits are really nice. Can't wait to pee and spill gels all over it.

what my off-season training looks like...

2011-01-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

ryder jay...getting some HERO press

2011-01-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

check it out....http://tenspeedhero.blogspot.com/2011/01/youngest-hero-award.html
-Ryder getting "Cru Jones" on the BMX track just after Christmas.....love the look on his face...fear and determination at the exact same time. amazing!
and check out the blog while your there. www.tenspeedhero.blogspot.com

holidays and a sum-up. ...son

2010-12-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Offseason...eggnog, booze, and sweaters. I decided to put a summary together of my season with races and results. Not as much racing in 2010 as previous, but i had some killer races and loads of fun. Taking the next month super easy because work is crazy busy in JAN/FEB. I'll start ramping it back up 1st of march. Sorry i haven't been a good blogger...but i dont really care that much.

Xterra 4 Corners (NM) -3rd place overall, 1st place amateur

Xterra Dueces wild (AZ) -2nd place overall, 1st place amateur

Xterra BOLT (NE) -2nd place overall, 1st place amateur

Xterra Mtn Champs (CO) -DNF

Xterra National Champs (UT) -20th overall, 5th place amateur

Summer Open sprint Triathlon -8th place overall

Salida tenderfoot hillclimb -1st place overall

Fibark 5k -2nd place overall (17:41 @ 7050ft elevation)

Fibark MTB bike race -1st place overall (expert/open)

Bear Creek Trail run 5mile -1st place overall (28:23)

Bear Creek Trail run 7mile -1st place overall (41:07)

Advendure Xtreme (12hr) -2nd place (mens 4-open team)

Adventure Xtreme

National Championships -finished! (26hr race, 4person Elite -team lifequest)

looming date with the pain train

2010-09-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lack of posts have made my "blog"quite "blah"....here is the latest in a fast jumbled paragraph.

Becca and Me went to Canada (vancouver and whistler)...it was amazing! and a killer vacation with just the two of us. We went to whistler so i could race Xterra Canada...such a SICK SICK race! I'll be back next year....the bike course felt like a technical downhill course. The locals killed us, but i had so much fun racing. 17th overall and 2nd in age group behind Hairy Jason (bastard caught me in last mile of run)....My training has been solid with a small nagging knee issue...raced a 5mile trail run last wed and won...stoked. Held off Jason and Cody to win in 28:30 (it had to be a tad short!)...Heading back for tonight race of 6.5 miles...getting in some good pool time and open water and running has been going well. Knee pain is only on the bike...but i am feeling really solid for nationals coming up in 2 weeks...Sept. 25th is my hot date with the pain train...gonna leave everything i have out there for the mormans and utah mtns. SO pumped. Xterra planet did a rad article on Jason and some of us top amatuers. Stoked they used a bunch of my dumb quotes. (go check it out.) "love lasts longer than anything else"

Xterra BOLT race report

2010-08-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to writing this during my 3hr layover in SLC....good times in airports.

Went to Race Xterra BOLT in good ol nebraska on Aug 14th. Jared the RD puts on an awesome race. Way challenging and super good vibe like xterra should be. Go race it next year!

Drove down to the race with the "old hammers" Rickey "22" Toliver and ED "old man" Oliver. These are basically the two fastest Xterra men in the nation over the age of 40. During the 6hr drive Rickey introduced us to the magical power of the Power Balance bracelets. I've heard some legends of these magic hologram rubber bands, and seen many athletes wearing them, but this was the first time i held one. Lucky for me Rickey had TWO of them and YES i was going to wear test wear one during the race...."help me holograms!"...the jury is out folks. So after some horrible pizza at the legendary locals pizza place we slept and dreamt big dreams of riding as fast as ED...and

RACE: Woke up and ate some "conti breaky" ...pretty sure i spied ED eating boiled eggs, Jason was talking about Jake, Rickey was activating his magic blacelets, and mike was already in his speedo just waiting to kill us in the swim. Got to race sight and I was already a bit sweaty...oh yeah it was UBER hot and UBER humid in NE. Like 95 degrees and 90% humidity...did i say challenging. I am not used to that crap so i was a bit worried...but then i remembered i had a POWER BALANCE bracelet on loan...all good! SWIM: The water was hot...like 84 degrees or something. We all decided no wetsuits even though it was ok to wear them? It was a point to point swim across the lake! rad. It was about 1300meters and i swam ok considering i hadn't been swimming at all...no joke..well 1-2 times in 2-3 weeks. Came out with just behind ED and JASON. ok time to race BIKE: Decided to let ED go, not that i could have hung, but i wanted to slowly ramp it up and just ride consistent and hope i could run him down. Caught Jason and we ended up riding the entire bike course together...it was sick taking turns and having someone to push with. He is a wattage machine (breaks cranks!) so he was major on the flats and i was a bit smoother in the turns and loose stuff. We passed everyone but ED and Cody Waite. RUN: I opted to have a bit slower transition and grab an ice pack and water bottle. It was a good idea cause when i caught JASON he saw ice in my shirt and got pissed and was so jealous he let me pass him. I was barely running faster than him so i had to try to pull away slow but steady, finally saw old man (ED) and caught him within the last mile. I probably could have run a bit faster if i was pushed, but it would have hurt so much, and cody was a few minutes up so i wasn't catching him. FINISHED SOLID for 2nd overall. Jason was 3rd, ED was 4th, Rickey 5th and Mike 6th...all 6 EPC dudes that came took top 6 spots! Felt good throught the whole race, and i ended up having the fastest run! (*by one second). Pumped because in my 3 xterras this year minus my awesome DNF at beaver creek i have been 1st place amature at all three races. Hope i can Hairy Jason a run for his title at nationals.

PODIUM: Cody raising his hands in triumph over us mere amatures.

Myself, Rickey, and the legendary Jacob Fisher.

upDATEment

2010-08-05T14:21:00.001-07:00

...just signed up for Xterra Bolt (aug14) in Nebraska. Some of the EPC crew is going back after last year so i decided to join them.

...will also be racing Xterra Canada in september. Becca and me and gonna take a VACA to vancouver that weekend so i'll do the race in whistler. should be super fun.

...been thinking alot about some other races i want to do. maybe a trail marathon or ultra run late this fall or early spring. Will try to do 24hr of moab again (4man or 2man).

"think fast and speak slow"

video to hype you up...

2010-07-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

i now feel like a pansy when i go downhill...this is amazing.

wheels off the bus...DNF

2010-07-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Not sure why i was total CRAP in beaver creek? Yes i got off a 20hr plane ride on thursday, but thats not a good enough reason for me. Everything prerace was normal and i ate all the same stuff as usual. First lap of swim i felt good and was ready to rage the bike. 2nd lap of swim i felt like crap, but didn't think anything of it. Started the bike and was moving ok the first 5min. Then i felt like i had to PEE really bad....strange as i have never had that happen when going this hard? Got a gnarly gut cramp/kidney pain...part "gotta pee" part "stomach cramps". Couldn't get the wheels rolling and i was super frustrated. Decided i was just gonna finish despite being several minutes behind jason and other top dude (shilo). Then my rear tire started pissing air...so i stopped and was OK to be done. I peed and felt WAY better. I aired up tire and decided for the 2nd time that i would still finish the race....then before the last little dirt climb i could tell i was still losing air and no CO2 left. Stopped for 1-2 minutes and finally decided to just call it a day. Not my proudest moment. First DNF ever in a triathlon. Gonna take a short rest, and then get the ball rolling for nationals...now i got something BIG to prove in OGDEN

MT FALCON

2010-07-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

So if you ride front range trails of Colorado you know Mt Falcon. Its about 4 miles of steady uphill. No faking it here. Cody got me doing race effort tests here a few year back to see where fitness is and how the training is going. You will see EPC crew training here. It is a brutal and honest ride every time. Rough elevation gain is 1800-2000ft or so. Up top your sitting at 7900ft. On Sunday I was meeting some friends up top to ride a loop and then ride lair the bear down to Morrison. I decided to do a TT test up falcon before the ride...and i wanted to do it with no warm up since Beaver Creek is straight up right from transition. My legs felt heavy but GOOD, i tried to keep the pace high but manageable the whole way....HIT THE TOP in 25:09! This was a PR by far...up till Sunday the fastest i had ever done it was just a hair under 27min. Over the last few weeks my climbing has been good in training but i had no idea. This is killer motivation for the Xterra mt champs coming up. I feel like if i can run decent after the 3300ft of climbing at beaver creek i should be in the mix for top amateur...i gotta be realistic though as i will be in Australia for a work conference the whole week before BC and then a 24hr flight back on thursday before the race. I'm not gonna stress about it and just have fun.

Ryder turned 3 on monday! We all had a rad day at the gym on the trampoline and foam pit, got lunch at chipotle (his pick), a new toy car from target, and a bike ride in waterton with his new camelback...he probably stopped 20 times to take a drink (he was so pumped). He already has road rash on his elbows and knees from crashing his bike several times. He loves telling people his bike is a "specialized" and he always says stuff like "lets drop the hammer" or "i killed it"
...no joke. AMAZING.

Another weekend of fun suffering...

2010-06-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

So we headed up to Salida Colorado to hang out with a bunch of family and do some races...Salida is an awesome little mtn town and every year they have this huge festival called FIBARK...its a ton of hippies and boaters from all over, but they have some fun running races and just added a MTB race last year (score!). I always look foward to this weekend and its killer training since salida is at about 8,000 feet elevation! So first race is the HILLCLIMB...its a gnarly 1.25mile race stright up "tenderfoot" hill and straight back down. My uncle was basically "the dude" back in the 80's on this race (its been happening since the 40's i think) so this race is fun and it was one of the first races i ever did when i was a kid. So ive raced it like 10-12 times....I've won it the last 5 times i have done it (and actually have the current record at 10:32). I did a hard 2.5hr workout the day before so i was worried the legs wouldn't fire like i needed, but they did. I won the race and did 11:08. Coming down is where you actually win or lose this race. Some kid beat me to the top by 5-10sec. Saturday was the 5k road race...pretty flat, but its at 8,000 feet so no one is setting any PR's...went out fast and let this guy (kid) catch me and then we ran the entire race side by side...he outkicked me at the end, so i was second in 17:44. After the race i talked to him and found out he runs at Tennessee and runs the mile...i had no chance! Sunday was the MTB race...i was super excited to do this race. The day before i rode one lap (6.5 miles and 1100ft climbing) of the course and knew it was gonna be a tough day. The race started at 10:30 and was already in the mid 80's when we started. I had a secret weapon though...i left my thin baselayer soaked in the ice cooler and put it on right before the start. There was only like 15 of us in the "cat1/open" field, but i knew a couple of the local guys would be flying. I was taking it easy for the first bit but some LOC dude decided to light it up right away...so i had to keep him close. It was basically a long loose fire road climb (almost 1000ft)...then gnar tech steep downhill, then flat, then down to start/finish area. The 2 local dudes made work of me on the downhill on the first lap...i was close enough top see them starting second lap. My plan was to make a move on the climb second lap. I had Becca hand me big plastic cups of ice water in the fead zone (secret weapon #2) ...we started 2nd lap and once we hit the climb i dropped the 2 dudes like a hot pan. First dude was fried and 2nd dude kept me in sight...i know they could go down faster than me so i needed to grind the climb. Started my last lap in the lead and took more ice and 2 fresh bottles (it was in the 90's by then)...climbed hard but even pace. Rode the downhill carefull but fast as i could. Knew i had about 1-2 minutes on 2nd place so i was feeling good...had about 1/2mile to finish...then PSSSSSSSSS, my back tire was flat! Since i was almost to dirt road to finish i just cruised in the flat (had to run through a couple rock sections) pedaled through finish with flat tire....for the overall WIN!...2nd place was only 10sec behind me though! dang. So pumped the FELT carbon 9er...its killer. (Pics from the mountain mail paper in salida.)

Hillclimb (at top, then back down!)

5k (with winner dude)

Winning the MTB RACE

http://themountainmail.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=19470&SectionID=31&SubSectionID=&S=1

http://themountainmail.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=19454&SectionID=5&SubSectionID=&S=1

http://themountainmail.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=19468&SectionID=5&SubSectionID=&S=1

Xterra Race Reports...over due.

2010-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

XTERRA 4 CORNERS (NM): This is an awesome race... one of the best run races around and the whole town supports the race. They even set up grandstands for "locals" to come check out the action! The race started Early to save us from some NM heat. Woke up early with the dudes and we hit Dennys for some pre race food (gross, but somehow good?) SWIM: Started out pretty good, its full damage control for me every time i swim in a race. 2 lap course and it always takes too long. Hung with Will then he swam away from me (never happened before). RUN: Yep, you run second at this race. Started out strong and caught Nick Goodman, we ran the next mile or so together then i pulled away, was running strong and felt good. I let up towards the end of the 6mile run to save some juice for the bike leg...Nick beat me into transition...which was ok because i knew we could ride out together. BIKE: Started the bike with Nick and Mike (single speed maniac!) we hung together through first singletrack and Me and Nick took pulls on the road section. Once we hit the main singletrack i was feeling decent so i decided to just slowly ramp it up and not blow it all trying to drop Goodman. (im finally getting smart in my racing!) It worked well since i also seemed to be riding the corners a bit faster. This bike course is awesome...feels like a giant BMX track..tons of rythm rollers and tight corners, but you have to be able to keep the power up. Caught Will Kelsay in the big rollers section and couldn't drop him. We rode the rest of the course together and ended up catching Jason (thats when i knew i was having a killer race)...the three of traded blows and tried our best to get away. It was and epic battle that felt like a road race! Will beat me into the last tight corner before the finish line...i finished right on his wheel for 3rd overall (1st place amateur) and jason was only 5 sec back...talk about tight. Such a RAD way to finish.

SO after the crappy post race food, and cool awards...Me and ED Oliver packed the car and started the 4hr drive to Show Low AZ for the Xterra Dueces wild. It was 102 degrees as we drove through AZ! kept ice on my legs and did my best to recover...(pedialite, pretzels, ice on legs, compression socks, good tunes)

XTERRA DUECES WILD (AZ): Next day! Another eraly morning breakfast at dennys...but the motivation and pump was not there like the day before. I was more laid back and "whatever" up until the start since i was tired from sat race. SWIM: It was a long 800meter swim for sure...like 2-3 longer. My shoulders hurt the whole time...brutal. Came out like 20th or so. BIKE: Tough course that required some handling skill and navigation...yep navigation...the course whas not marked well at all...so we all did some bushwacking but no one seemed to get off course to much. Started the bike with Nick Goodman again and ED (hammer) Oliver. We pushed the pace and passed a ton of dudes. I got away from both of them on the only longer climb of the course. Kept it strong to transition and could see Will Kelsay leave transition as i got close. He had about 1.5min on me so i knew it would be tough if he ran ok. As i ran out i saw NicK Goodman coming into to T2...damnit!...here is what i thought "this is gonna hurt" because Nick is a good runner. I just had to hold it together for the next 30-40min....it was not easy. the hills hurt and the heat was on big time. Everytime i could see Nick he was only 30sec behind me..ouch! Was somehow able to hold him off...and pulled out another 1st place amateur and 2nd overall. I was psyched, and super done after 2 days and 2 Xterras. Ed crushed everyone in his age group and finished 7th overall. The worst part....the 9hr drive home. Thank God for Chipolte and AC. (no race pics because i never "buy" photos of myself racing...doesn't feel right)

skills man.....skills

2010-06-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

2 Xterras...2 Days...2 States

2010-06-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I raced Xterra 4 Corners (NM) and Xterra Deuces Wild (AZ).
I was able to put together two very solid races back to back....2010 is killer so far!

Saturday: Xterra (NM). I was 3rd place overall and 1st place amateur.
I managed to throw down the fastest bike by 2 minutes over entire field. Thanks FELT 29er!(1:14:24)
http://xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=1064

Sunday: Xterra dueces wild in AZ. I managed to repeat and was 1st place amateur and 2nd overall.
http://xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=1144

Needless to say the 10hr drive home for Monday work was the hardest part of the whole weekend.

FULL RACE REPORTS/PHOTOS COMING SOON
.

milestone!

2010-06-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Took Ryders training wheels off on wed...My brother shot this video on Sun.

Ryder Jay from isaiah jay on Vimeo.

summer open sprint tri

2010-05-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

I decide to blow out some cobwebs and race a great sprint tri up in longmont, near boulder. While the rest of the homies where off sweating balls in Xterra Waco I decided to get my "TRI GEEK" on. Plan: Go race a sprint after some big volume, have fun, turn myself inside out, not be the last place elite racer (there was 12 of us). Got up butt crack of dawn at 5am...and loaded the boys and gear. Ryder was in his pajamas and kinda pumped for no real reason (rad!). Jammed out to some M83 and JayZ on the 1hr drive to longmont. I didn't race any road triathlons last season so I had easily forgoted the huge amount of aero gear you will see at any given road tri. Since we are near boulder this race was exceptional on seeing"uber fast tri geek" kits. I don't have an aero helmet and I think I got a dirty look from someone because my road bike is not carbon. Water was cold (60*)! Got in a quick warmup. I am really stoked to be swimming in the new Xterra Vector Pro X2. It fits amazing and the Xterra Wetsuit crew has been really cool to help me out this season. Thanks guys! Check out my new Mafia Racing skinsuit....so rad! I am also rocking sable goggles. Check out SABLE they are worth every penny.

The Race: I felt ok in the swim, a little tired from masters the day before (i gotta up the pool time!). Managed to get out in 11:35 for a 750. Time to crank and pass some people. Passed about 10-15 people in transition (37seconds!) and started the 12.5 mile bike. It took a bit to settle in a good pace but i was passing dudes left and right. I swear i was the only one without a TT bike/disc/aero helmet. I rode myself into 10th place overall and averaged 25.5mph..all good and the bike was over way to fast (not bad since i haven't done any max efforts on the road bike!) Came into transition with another elite dude (tim hola) was hot on my heels and no one in site in front of me. I was struggling to get any turnover the first 3/4 of a mile, but it flushed out and i was able to pick up the pace and actually caught 2 more racers that were hurting. Finished my 5k in 18:30 with a 5:58mile pace. Not great but i was going slow the first 3/4mile...so i was happy. Crossed the line in 8th overall (1:00:47). Felt good about the race and had fun, Good day!

RACE RESULTS

adventure xtreme 12hr race

2010-05-13T10:56:00.001-07:00

So we headed to Buena Vista for some adventure racing this last weekend. The race is part of adventure xtreme series...and i am down with anything EXTREME! .. (Mt dew, rollerblades, red bull) all the normal extreme stuff. We raced as a 4 man team. Hairy Jason, Casey Hill, Boogie, Myself. Old man ed http://www.oldmaned.blogspot.com/ was gonna race but he had something come up...probably osteoporosis was acting up or wheelchair needed fixed?? So we took a gamble and recruited a guy named "boogie" last minute....lets just say we did better than any NFL team got in the first draft. The dude was strong like on ox and was down with all our sarcasm for 10.5 hrs. Woke up at 4am, drove with casey to race (after he got speeding ticket). The race started with a 3+ mile run up some steep hills to break things up, then quick change (except for jason) and hop in the kayaks for 6mile downriver paddle. Water was low, so it wasn't as EXTREME as i had dreamed of the night before. Over the next 8 hrs we biked, hiked, ran, traversed this massive canyon on ropes (way extreme!...casey was scared) drank, ate, got cold, got lost, got pissed, laughed at caseys shorts (he wore some WAY SHORT old school bright blue tri shorts just to be funny) we suffered and came up with some great extreme nicknames...Jason (sebastian) Casey (lawrence) Me (doug) Boogie (to good to change). We finished with some major ass kicking on the final bike portion and we finished 2nd place in the 4 man open division. 10hrs and 26min of training for the day.

Boogie getting extreme at the finish.
About to get extreme on the traverse!
Jason pooped his pants...you can't stop for anything in these adventure races.

snowing behind us!

the good things in life

2010-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Becca killed the Cherry Creek Sneak....ran 38:00 for a 5mile race.
Ryder liked his snacks and watching all the people in short shorts.
Speaking of short shorts, got some new swimsuits in the mail a couple weeks ago.

weekend training

2010-04-12T14:50:00.001-07:00

We had killer weather this weekend....got out for a nice 3+hr mtb on sat with a solid 35 min run after. I rode the new MTB on some trails up in deer creek from my house...yep! i can ride to these trails. sucka. felt ok, strength is coming back good...speed is not there yet, and i need to lose about 5lbs... On sunday i cruised up deer creek on the road bike for some 10min big gear intervals. Brutal, but my legs felt good and i got a solid 2.5 ride in. I'm gonna skip xterra vegas for a few reasons, and being slow right now would be the MAIN reason im skipping the race. Should be ready to roll by mid to late may. Between work and 2 little dudes its been really tough to get in the time i need to be race fit, but I have been SUPER motivated though for every workout i do get in. I got to make it count.
I'll be racing in the fastest age group this year (30-34) with dudes like hairy Jason (national champ) and Hilgers is gonna be real fast... so i'm really looking foward to some good battles out there.

happy late easter!

2010-04-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

We made a trip down to pueblo so the boys could hang with grandparents and me and becca got out for a rad little MTB ride on the pueblo singletrack. New bike is amazing! (i gave it two thumbs up)

coloring easter eggs & riding bikes...life is good!

todays run

2010-03-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

so i left early today to go down to new mexico for work...i was in taos then over to santa fe. after i finished work i found this great trail just outside town in santa fe. it was 70 degrees so i was stoked to run a t-shirt and shorts. within a few minutes of starting my run i was dodging a small river from the runoff and once i got higher it turned into big snow drifts. crazy! running in 70 degree temps, going from hard dry dirt to mud to dirt and snow all in a 50min run. good stuff!

my training has been getting better, and the fitness is starting to come around. got a good 1.5hr swim followed by a 1hr 45min trail run with all the EPC dudes on sat. then me and casey did a 3hr road ride up deer creek and high grade. casey is gonna be a fast sob this year. yep.

feel this felt....

2010-03-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

On monday i picked up my new Felt Nine LTD frame from David at Mafia racing. So hyped to get this bike and can't wait to race it. Really stoked to have FELT on board for this year helping me out...thanks Mafia and Thanks FELT!. Becca made fun of me for taking pictures of it. I got the new fork put on (reba race) and my old handlebars and brakes. Also running the new Fizik Tundra saddle. Already had it on my road bike for the last month and its awesome. Should have it done by this weekend for a little test ride!!!! To bad we have 6inches of snow outside.

craig vs wild

2010-03-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

some updates and MUSIC

2010-02-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

Getting back on the horse with some solid training...lots of trainer workouts now that we have 2 kids. Pretty stoked to have a couple new "partners/sponsors" on board for 2010. Xterra wetsuits! and Felt Bikes! I will be riding on the new Felt carbon 29er, and swimming in the fastest wetsuits around. If you are bored of your current music mixes, try these. Great stuff from "little boots" and some remixes of "yeah yeah yeahs"......PEACE!

sk8 or die

2010-02-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ryder wearing his new pads. He calls them his "ipods". Ripping some concrete.

best and worse of 2009

2010-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

BEST: Cyclocross. 29er hardtails. Good food. My boys. Becca. Bmx track. Skatepark by my house. Free stuff. Racing with friends. Junior boys. M83. Snowboarding. Learning to sk8ski. Driving all over. Brunch/coffe at toast. Dwell. Pears. Speedos.
Lair the Bear. Intervals with Jason.

WORST: Ed hardy. Tan team kits. Meatheads on bikes. Daughtry or Nickelback. Biggest loser. Riding inside. Affliction. Dudes on EPO. Cramps at nationals. Flat tires. Flat legs. DNF's. Intervals with Jason. Crappy wi-fi.

WORST KITS...EVER

2010-01-11T09:55:00.001-08:00

Not sure who thought making "tan" kits would be cool.

new Felt frame coming soon!

2010-01-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

here is what i'll be riding for 2010! Felt LTD 29er.....more to come. Hyped.

SABLE GOGGLES!

2009-12-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Flashback to Xterra Nationals...during a practice swim the day before the race i got the chance to try out these "sable" goggles that a few homies were raving about. Being a skeptic i was like whatever, goggles are goggles. After i put my head under water and swam for a bit i was blown away...these are by far THE BEST goggles a human could use. So i was able to get a pair of them and have been swimming with them ever since...i only wish i would have knew about these sooner. I predict you will soon see most every triathlete using sable at races.

It's like i've been swimming with "beer goggles" until now. Trust me, just try a pair. The clarity and fit is insane, Its like you are wearing sunglasses underwater...no joke. They are a bit pricey for a swim goggle, but fully worth the price. Right now you can get sable goggles at optical stores. Check out www.sablewateroptics.com to find out where to buy...and to learn about all the crazy tech that makes sable the best piece of swim gear you could buy.

i think i'm done

2009-12-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

I think my season is finally over...time to pull the plug. I love the racing, but have you ever just not had any juice for a while and the "instict" you normally have during a race is gone? Well that is where i am at and i am ok with it. Went and raced an awesome course (Alpha CX) in centenial. Big, long, open course with 95% of it on grass (tough!, 2 sandpits and a bunch of off camber grass turns. It was super fun and more of a power course. My homie Brad White killed us all. He races road with "ouch pro cycling" ...he is the real deal. Casey had a very solid race to place 8th. I managed 18th after a couple minor crashes (only one was my fault)...after the race i was content and pretty much decided to be done racing for now. My fitness is not what i know it can be and that is frustrating. State CX is next week and im bummed not to race, but if i did i would just get pissed and be grouchy. I need some time off to up the "motivation meter". Gonna start swimming a bunch and just recharge.

(photo: 303cycling.com)

happy cranksgiving...bitches

2009-11-26T21:21:00.001-08:00

Ryder Gets Gnarly @ BMX

2009-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Last week we made a trip to the BMX track about 20 minutes from our house. Ryder loves going there and riding all the "bumps" as he calls them. He got a killer new fox moto outfit from our friends that have three bigger boys. We got geared up and ripped the track...here is what went down! Snack and ride, snack and ride.

fixies talk cx

2009-11-17T09:43:00.001-08:00

Saturday CX and Sunday Snow

2009-11-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a sick cx race at bear creek park in morrison...They ran one "Open/Elite" category for all ages...the kicker, LE MANS START, so rad! They had us all put our bikes about 100feet up a small hill and then lined us up for the mad dash to the bike. I put my bike further in front of everyone, so as everyone was getting tangled up trying get on the bike i was already 20 feet in front and got the holeshot...not my plan since there are some "real time" pros like baker and pacocha. Once we hit the flat section i tried to suck wheels...hit the single track in 5th. Proceeded to get passed by a few "faster than me" dudes throughout the 1 hr. race. Was happy with a 13th place finish and Casey pulled a strong ride after a bad start for 10th. Super fun course with a good mix of technical singletrack, power sections, and sand.

Woke up sunday with a foot of snow on the ground...after some football TV action i decided to get "chronicles of gnarlia" and go for a ride. Only made it about an hour. Temp was low 20's and riding in snow is hard. After being on the trail by my house for 20min. i decided to just stay on the snow plowed roads. The snow would jam up my cassette and derailuer in 3min. It was more of an adventure than a workout.

the short lived "trail" section of my ride
This is what the rest of the ride looked like...Cold and wet.

great days....are good

2009-11-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Fall is always awesome, especially right now with 12 day old Max (sleep is over rated!)

And Ryder (29months) is awesome and says the most hilarious stuff sometimes. Check back for a "Ryder BMX" blog!

Its a good and bad thing when training consists of whatever i can manage for the week..haha. Rad just kinda winging it and riding when i can and not stressing about workouts or saddle time.

This week has been decent. Did a nice long 3.5 hr road ride on sunday with hairy Jason M. and Casey Hill. Lots of climbing and it was colder than i had hoped (about 50 degrees). On Monday i got a good trainer session while watching the broncos get beat up by the steelers. Tuesday I rode my mtb for the first time in several weeks with my buddy Josh. We rode for 2 hrs at Lair the Bear trail...so fun. Wed i got in a quick 2hr workout with my other homie Mike. We rode a trail up in castle rock called ridgeline. Really smooth and fast! I need to bring by CX bike here. Mike is riding a 400$ dollar Giant that weighs about 40lbs....He was ripping. Coming from a motocross background he was flying on the descents and hanging strong on all the hills. We swapped bikes for a bit...not that rad! I forget how much of a difference a nice bike makes. Watch out for Mike when he gets a new bike. (here is Mike in the pic)

MAX: next generation of bad ass

2009-11-02T22:07:00.001-08:00

MAX DANIEL JAY

Born: 10-30-09

7lbs 13oz.

Castle Cross

2009-10-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Castle Cx in castle rock on saturday. Race went pretty good...it was super fun and tons of mud. Finished 13th in the Mens Open. It was way tough and i never shifted out of my 36 up front. My homie Mikey Nelson showed up and took some really rad pics...thanks dude!

best products on the market!

2009-10-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Gu Roctane: expensive but works like magic and no stomach cramps.Scwalbe Rocket Ron: Light tire with great traction for almost all conditions.

Oakley: Hands down the best optics around. Expensive, but worth every penny.

NUUN: Easy and super convenent. Low sugar and good taste.
PEARL IZUMI OPTIK JACKET: Sickest light jacket ever. Packs super small (fits in jersey pocket with room) great protection...not sure how i trained without this thing. Killer.

So those are my picks of the 5 best products for 2010. After using all these extensively I can honestly say these are products i would go spend my hard earned money on! Some of these things i got for free or discounted, some of them i go and pay full retail for.

cool website

2009-10-15T10:13:00.001-07:00

www.cyclestrom.com

check it out...my homie brett started it and its a pretty rad mix of all bike related madness. He is like the "ultimate insider" when it come to the cycling industry. He is also known to sometimes stuff his gloves down his pants to "enhance" his crotchall-spandex area before and after races.

FRISCO CX

2009-10-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

Super fun race way up in frisco (rocky mountain high) ...good mix of climbing and single track. got a horrible start cause of a crash/tangle at the start (50 elites at start!). I went shitballs on that first lap to make up the gap. Coming around the first lap i was back in the top 15...things are ok. I tried to recover before the climb, but didn't happen and about 10-15 dudes blew by me. So here i am in about 35 place going into the 3rd lap...oh well. Started feeling better and picked off several dudes to finish 23rd...and i didn't get lapped (very close!) by Jake Wells (mafia fast man).

Becca got some cool videos of the tricky corner/barrier section...i'll post those up asap.

not so hot...nationals.

2009-09-28T14:30:00.001-07:00

NOT SO HOT is the best way to sum up nationals. Not my worst race ever, but far from my best. I felt FLAT the whole day and just couldn't get in going on the bike...leg cramps most of the run. Despite all that i still got 2nd place (25-29) and 10th age-grouper, 27th overall . I was very surprised to finish where i did, considering the way i felt. Still had fun ....i think i probably over stretched my massive legs (during this photo shoot in the bathrooms). Hairy man jason is a monster and pulled off a huge win! He was first place amature and 12th overall. Stoked for him and Ed Oliver (won his age group). Time for CX racing and beer drinking.

nationals here and now

2009-09-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

game time in just a few days! i love the ogden course and its super good for my strengths which i guess is going up. training has been not as great as i had hoped. work got busy and i was out of town in vegas then san diego for tradeshows. my last few sessions have been solid though and i feel strong. went and did a CX race on sat. finished 16th in the mens elite (cat 1-2) so it was good to blow the cobwebs out and truly suffer. my wrist is injured from skateboarding, but it shouldn't affect my race in utah at all. as my buddy erik says time to F.S.U!

update...

2009-08-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

haven't posted for a while....here is what's been happening in my "so exciting" life:

after a great race at beaver creek me and jason (hairy one) decided to try a 18hr adventure race.
it was brutal...we finished in 16.5 hrs and actually beat a few teams...we logged 3.5 hrs of paddle time, 6.5 hrs of run/hike, and 5 hrs of biking during the race. it took me a while to fully recover...like 2 weeks! and since my IT band flaired up super bad, i'm not sure if i am fully recovered. i took a good little break from training and didn't do much at all...gained like 4 lbs.
as i was getting back into the groove i got slammed with work and work travel....and every time i did any sessions my body just felt weird (i think i need to get my blood checked)...so this last week has been decent and i feel the speed coming back slowly. still feeling a little lathargic. they just finished buidling a killer skate park 1/2 mile from our house! its been super rad to go push around for an hour or so a few night a week....but last night i slammed, full speed, super hard on my right hip...it's so sore. skateboarding beats me up more than anything, but it is amazing and i don't plan on never not skating....oh well, i hope i'm ready for NATIONALS with all these issues. cody has some killer workouts coming up for me and i'll know in a week or so how the fitness is looking for late september. fast i hope! i would be stoked to defend my "national champion" title...won't be easy.

if anyone is curious about getting some top notch training programs and keeping up with the EPC speed demons...hit up cody waite. http://codywaite.blogspot.com/ he will get you going fast! and be ready for some hard hard workouts...but they work!

check out the videos of ryder. he just turned 2 and is already ripping on his "strider" bike.

xterra mountain championships

2009-07-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Xterra beaver creek

12th overall
2nd place amateur
1st in my age group (25-29)

stoked! had a good race...was able to drop some hammers on the bike like i wanted and still hang on for the run. I would have love to be 1st place am, but jason was on fire and had a killer race. Pics and more coming soon.

famous...not really.

2009-07-02T09:01:00.001-07:00

Latest issue of TRIATHLETE. I got a pic from the vegas race. Its a really cool shot, but its hard to tell its even me. If it was a closer shot you would have been able to tell how slow i was going and how pasty white i was, and then for sure they wouldn't have published it! Crazy landscape huh?

I'm Racing the Firecracker 50 up in breck as a team with hairy jason this sat. We will each do a 25mile lap. Its the marathon MTB nationals so there is a huge turnout. should be fun. check back for race report.

Buffalo Creek Xterra

2009-06-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Overall the race went well. I had a pretty heavy week of training before the race so i was tired, but that was my plan (to train through the race). Team EPC killed the race! Jason, ED, and me ended up 2nd, 3rd, 4th overall age groupers. I have never been able to really put together a super solid race here (not sure why?) My swim is always slow and i hammer the bike, but the rolling course isn't so great for me i guess. Buffalo creek is an amazing race though! its like one of the biggest xterras in the world (500+ athletes) and an awesome post race lunch with ice cream! I even got the best prize ever...a super deluxe toothbrush! yep, the plug into the wall and charge it up..with crazy brushes and a built in timer. My teeth are gonna be so clean it might make me faster.

-9th overall
-4th amature
-1st age group

Xterra 4 corners

2009-06-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

-3rd place overall.
-1st in age group.
-2nd fastest bike and run.
-Fastest T1 and T2.

The fitness is finally coming around. Still don't have that "snap" yet, but its encouraging to race pretty fast before beaver creek. Super fun race...Swim/Run/Bike. It was cool running fresh and strange biking last. Very good event though! EPC team owned it. check the team blog.

http://www.epcmultisport.blogspot.com/

results from the race:
http://www.ccrtiming.com/races/results/2009/094Corners.htm#males

home and garden

2009-05-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

i'm always curious (maybe just me) about other peoples houses and garages...something that gives a little insight to life outside of training/watts/HR/splits/and spandex. Here are some shots of our garage and backyard. Between becca, me, and ryder we have a few bikes. here is the current count. Luke: 2 MTB, 2CX, 1Road. Becca: 1 MTB, 1Road. Ryder: 1bike, 1 pushscooter. 9 bikes! With kid #2 on the way we might be able to open a used bike store in about a year.

huge mess of bikes
huge mess of bike gear

sunset in our backyard last week...coloRADo is the best.

backyard weeds and the mountain view

Our garden! tomatoes, jalepenos, peppers, carrots, strawberry, radish, lettuce, basil, cilantro.

try these ESI grips

2009-05-21T14:36:00.001-07:00

you will love these grips...i have had a couple sets of these and they are by far the best possible grips you can get. i have tried a ton. these actually do absord shock and they work awesome without gloves (perfect for xterra). i am not sponsored by them...i bought my grips at full retail and they are worth every penny. i got the white ones on the yeti now and they clean up super easy. next ones will be pink ones for sure.

http://www.esigrips.com/Silicone_Grips_Shock_Absorbing.htm

training update...i guess

2009-05-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

not any good pics to post...sorry. training has been good. did a 5 hr mtb with jason and casey yesterday..i was beat. last week was a hard week with some heavy running and a really hard race pace ride/run brick. gonna try to swim and run alot this week. On a good note: they started digging the new skatepark that is going in less than a mile from my house! so pumped....i'm guessing my training might lag a bit though.

Xterra NM is coming up . i have never done this race, but it sounds fun. swim/run/bike! a bunch of us EPC folks are heading out there. hope to go faster than my vegas pace. not stressing to much yet, since my focus is odgen/beaver creek and some cyclocross. on a CX note: i got upgraded to cat 2 last season (elite) and now race in the pro field (cat1 and cat2)...it is insanely fast and i hope to improve on my finishes. (i finished top 15 a few times and was 18th at state champs but also DNF in two races ..haha) but i think i can hang top 10 with some more training.

PS: "love last longer than life"

mustache MAY

2009-05-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

yep...the beard is growing strong, just waiting for a suprise attack from the stache.
-i hope to have a very nice caterpillar lurking for the Xterra NM race.

LAs Vegas was fun yet brutal. i was beat up! that run took me forever! it was hot!
i have no tan! dang son!
I have only been doing base...and to honest i have not been that motivated, and i
don't want to start to fast (seen to many fast dudes fade hard at nationals) ...but
after i got severly worked by several guys i should have been able to hang with
(....brian, jason,!) i am now realizing that i maybe should start getting serious about
this training stuff. despite not being that satisfied with my race i still won my age group
(how did that happen?...no idea. not alot of fast dudes in my age group there i guess.
30-34 is going to be tough. now the fire is lit under by buttocks, and i promise nothing
except maybe a slow race or a fast one.

heading to vegas...

2009-04-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

I'm in utah right now for work stuff...we have a regional trade show here in SLC so shops can come check out all the latest skate goods. http://www.tumyeto.com/ http://www.brixton.com/ http://www.dekline.com/ to see some of the brands that i rep for. we skated a rad SLC skatepark today after the show. super fun with the whole rep posse. stoked to get a tail bluntslide on the little tranny quarterpipe... got back to the hotel and rode the workout bike and ran to loosen the legs up. on wed i fly to vegas (meeting becca and ryder there) and staying with becca's parents.

the rest of the EPC crew comes in thursday night...still just chilling with training, been ramping it up a bit more but nothing ultra serious yet. have no idea how he race will go, but it should be fun to race and hurt and hopefully not puke. a bunch of us did a 7.5 mile trail run on sunday...it was rad and kicked my butt. pure running races are hard. jason loved the flat course (wait for the hills bro!) and smoked us all. he got 2nd and finished like 2min in front of me...cody got 3rd and i was 5th. good times!...i need to finish my beer and go to bed.

*rad pic i found on my laptop when ryder was about a year old.

chronicles of gnarlia

2009-04-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

so on april 17-18-19 we visited a place called fruita ...or as we call it "gnarlia" its narnia but much gnarlier. we had our EPC training camp. 3 days of epic riding in an amazing place. go visit fruita and ride as many trails as you can. you will love it. me and casey left on friday morning in a snowstorm. made it to fruita and did a 3hr ride with the rest of the crew. woke up early on sat and did an awesome loop called rim loop (i think?) we left the car at 10am....rolled back to the car at 4:30 refilled and did a couple more short loops. then finished it off with a 30min run. sun we did a 3-4 ride and 20min run....then drove home. 13+ hours in saddle in 3 days and my butt was sore. peep these pics for some spandex madness

20lb race beast

2009-04-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

here is the bike that will hopefully propel me to big fame, and huge fortune. i bought this bike with the money i made while i was a body guard for chuck norris and steven segal. SICK!

ryder sk8ing at 21 months old!

2009-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

he loves doing this...and he would do it 100 times if i would let him.

yeti build...bro

2009-03-24T22:23:00.001-07:00

pretty psyched about this bike....actually just got done building it two days ago. i really like hardtails. i love the way they ride. i'll post some pics of the complete bike (a hair under 20lbs total!) thanks to YETI! stoked to have them as a sponsor this season. just wait....?

love last longer than life.

2009-03-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

so getting back in groove has been fun and challenging...mostly due to weather and my work is still kinda busy. i have had some great sessions and i feel my fitness coming back pretty fast.

been back in the pool just doing some strength stuff with paddles and working on the smooth long stroke that i lack! ive been riding my single speed MTB alot lately. it is my only MTB right now and its so fun...go ride a single speed rigid mtb and you'll have a new appreciation for shocks and your skills will improve (or else you crash). did a fun ride the other day up waterton to the colorado trail in the snow! the new Yeti is on the way and all my parts have been ordered...stay tuned for a "tech" blog on the YETI ARC and my parts choice. i think i'm turning into a techno bike wizard thanks to cody, ed, rickey...those guys count grams like math homework. i think i got a good balalance of weight/stiffness/durability and i'm hoping to be under 20lbs!

ive been running in the nike lunar trainer (pic)...kinda crazy space looking, but they are amazing. i'm kinda picky with running shoes and HATE heavy shoes for training or racing. these are perfect,light, neutral, low, flexible. i'll probably race in the nike lunar racer (5.5 ounces!).

do work....son

2009-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

me and becca in breck during a "skate ski" nordic session
ryder getting his trainer time in...i make him do at least 5min a day

finally back at this "training" thing. i get so busy with work in jan and feb. that i can't do much of anything, and its nice to get some time off to get recharged and focused. i need the break for sure. i've been shredding (snowboarding) since that is part of my work and i'm in the mountains working...its been fun. learned how to skate ski nordic style...pretty fun! hard and an insane workout, but killer times. So know that i'm slowly getting back in "the zone"...i've just been doing some long rides (ususally 4+ hrs and 5,000 to 6,000 ft of climbing) they have been kicking my butt, but thats what i need right now. i have also been towing ryder a bit in the "chariot" behind the CX bike...its way hard! been doing some 45 min runs and a few pool sessions...weird thing was the other day i was feeling great in the pool?! i honestly think the less i swim the better i swim. I have a new whip on the way....a new YETI arc hardtail! i like the full suspension, but i missed the firm and "no nonsense" simplicity of a hardtail. i should be able to get that sucker pretty light...so stay tuned. PEACE!

2008-12-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

CX time...1st place...what!

2008-11-06T12:41:00.001-08:00

Let me say if you've never done a CX race, go online and find one and do it...they are so freakin hard and fun. So last weekend was the Boulder Cup UCI cyclocross race at the boulder rez. Its the biggest CX in the state and huge crowds. I seem to do well on sandy courses and since i got 3rd in the cat 3's last year at this same race i had some high expectations going in. I had a few good races already with two 2nd place finished and my first win the week before at the rez...so i knew my form was on. Got to the race and warmed up with some of the other MAFIA guys. Mafia had a tent set up and was handing out free PBR....www.mafiaracing.com (coolest team in MTB and CX)...i got a call up based on points, so i had a good start position. Gun goes off and my homie/teamate pins it for a whole lap dropping 95% of the field (this was our plan) see the 2nd bottom pic of casey leading (that is the first lap!!) then me and ryan (also mafia) proceded to ride away from everyone...I came in 1st and ryan 2nd (huge win for us and mafia). I was super stoked as my parents and sister came up to see the race, but bummed because ryder was sick and becca missed the race.

recently i realized i have won races in multiple disciplines (which i'm even more hyped on)

over the last few seasons....this is the only place it matters so here we go.

I have won races (1st place) in all these:

-Sprint triathlon (road)

-Criterium (road race)

-Running Race (hillclimb)

-Cyclocross

-MTB race (expert level)

-Xterra (national & regional champ)

24hrs of moab

2008-10-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

dang...this race is super fun! i hadn't done anything since tahoe so i wasn't expecting to be super fast...it also didn't help that i had been eating more than normal...which is alot. Casey, Jason and me drove out on friday and camped at the race sight with about 300 other campsites...it was blowing wind at about 50mph so we didn't sleep much...yvonne and brett showed up on sat. as the race started at noon. brett went first, then me...i posted a 1:11 lap which is fast but off the fastest guys by about 5min. the course is a 15mile loop...fun and some technical sections. casey crashed as he normally does...jason went fast despite his very hairy legs. We all had fun, i got 2 flats on lap, and lights went out my 3rd lap...we still managed to get 4th place in 5person coed.

NATIONAL CHAMPION

2008-10-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

2008 season=........Regional Champion and National Champion! so stoked. here is a little diddy leading up to the race and my race report.

So my training before tahoe had been a little wierd, but i knew i was in good form (sometimes). i hardly ever weigh myself, but sometimes at the gym. Last wed i hopped on the scale after i swam and was a little suprised to see 148lbs. i usually come in at 153 or so. I had done a TT up falcon with Cody and felt super heavy, but was doing ok on time, but i was suffering and got really worried about my fitness since tahoe was in 1.5 weeks. Then i raced a CX race the weekend in boulder...i raced the 3's and got second, i felt awesome and should have been first, but the little junior shithead sucked my wheel for 3.5 laps and wouldn't pull...then he passed me with 20 feet left (not a cool move or respectful, since i did all the work)...so that helped my confidence, but CX is only 45min of racing. i was basically going into tahoe 50/50 since i had some really good sessions as well as some really bad ones....but my coach cody http://codywaite.blogspot.com/ kept telling me i should do really well and my form was good.
My goal was top 5 amatures and to win my age group (not an easy task, but doable).

We left friday morning for tahoe (becca, ryder, ed, me) ...once we got there me and ed hooked up with james walsh http://www.jameswalshracing.com to preride the course. James is a rad dude and one of the few people that knows the movie RAD...most tri-geeks do not. He has had a awesome season and comes into tahoe as one of the top amatures in the US. We took it pretty easy and had fun...it was super cold though (45-55 degrees). I felt ok riding, not great, but not bad....still 50/50. Ate a super good egg sandwich after the ride that cody made. On saturday we did a short ride and climbed a bit up the first section of tunnel creek..i put in a couple short race efforts and felt pretty good. That night they had a huge dinner/award thing and i got my "regional champ" jersey so that was cool. The EPC team cleaned up for sure...we won 4 age groups! Ed, Carrie, Julie, Myself. Nice Job team....and thanks to "coach" cody. i made sure i didn't eat anything wierd like to much salad or to much salmon...i ate mostly bread, like 4-5 rolls and a bunch of rice..yes some dessert!..and tons of water.

RACE DAY: didn't sleep super good cause ryder kept waking up....woke up early and beccas dad bill made me some awesome pancakes and a fruit smoothie. I went to the condo where the rest of the EPC team was staying and finished getting ready...my rear tire wouldn't
seal and i was starting to stress out (not good) so i put a tube in and called it good. Rickey was super cool and helped me out and kept me from freaking out. Got to the transition and set up in the cold...rocked out the ipod with some "mgmt", "santagold", "M.I.A". i felt good and relaxed.
jogged to the water and got in for 10 minutes or so. water wasn't as cold as a couple years ago.
i lined up far left by the peir...gun went off and i stayed on heels on long as i could. i tryed to stay focused during the whole swim and think about actually swimming (i normally don't)....i was suprised to have a good swim and came out in front of people that i am usually behind. I had a good transition and started ripping the bike....my buddy erik sent me a text the day before the race...it just said "fuck shit up"....pretty much best text ever! i started passing people up the climb...will kelsay caught me and i stayed with him a short bit (he was flying)...i passed by buddy brian barret from AZ (my main competion)...and rode the flume trail all alone. i then caught mcquaid on the second set of climbs after the lake...i knew i was riding well. i suffered a bit at the very top...once we started the downhill i passed a couple pro dudes and was killing the downhill tech sections. I came in 3rd amature off the bike about 4min down (becca knows how to give me good split now) i passed stephen white from vail (fastest amature biker)...and was 2nd until a guy flew by me. i knew boobar wasn't far back (2 time national champ) so i was running scared. my run was ok, despite tripping and falling on my face. i finished 3rd amature and 19th overall, but best is i won my age group making me the national champion! so rad. I realized how blessed i am just to be able to race, and i have an awesome wife who supports my racing. Now time to rip up some CX races and eat alot of crap.

some pics we took with my cell phone....

2008-09-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

actually they are from our "team photo shoot"...cool shots from todd langley. My training has been a bit off and on...i have good and bad days. i'm looking FW to tahoe, although at this point i have no idea how i will do. i have been doing some CX races and my mind is already done with xterra and ready for CX season. Looking FW to seeing all the homies in tahoe, should be super fun!

2008-09-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Xterra Mt Championships! 1st place

2008-08-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

I had a great race. I won 1st place amateur overall...and was 13th overall. I was so stoked to finally have a good race, being a championship race made it that much better. The course was brutal, but amazing. This course is perfect for me and my strengths...full report coming soon.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/uploadedfiles/races/ncs/results/mtnchamps08.pdf

crested butte

2008-08-11T10:02:00.001-07:00

Xterra Crested Butte: pretty much my favorite xterra race ever...if you like xterra and haven't done this you are missing out. beautiful swim, hard technical bike, and technical run. i think the elevation is around 9,000ft....so good. Unfortunately i felt real flat and had no juice the whole race. i was traveling for work the week before and training was super minimal. i started the swim ok, then i felt "weezy" and couldn't catch my breath. this continued during the whole bike, and my legs felt super heavy...i finished the bike and suffered through the run. I was 4th place amateur across the line, but should have been 1st or 2nd ( i was 2 min slower than last year). i still won my age group, but whatever. this race is awesome! the EPC team cleaned up...every single one of us WON our age group!

TEAM EPC!

WRC team van...we are so official.

random......ness!

2008-07-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

coffe before SD xterra...check out the tights (i'm trying to be like cody)
wish i was as cool as this guy!....i'm trying to bring back some retro style.
funny card i sent to my brother (he runs marathons and ultras)
you didn't know i was famous did you? thats me in the blue flannel.

update...whatever

2008-07-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

so i got a message from a racing buddy http://krusetime.blogspot.com/ that my blogs are getting lame...i appologize to all 3 people that might read this...sorry. anyway, here are some pics to spice it up..oh yeah!

great training on mt evans with cody and rob. (we are at 14,000 ft) over 7,000 ft of climbing!

this is from xterra south dakota...i won my age group and was 4th overall....here is the kicker...i got a flat tire in the race! the one race i forgot my flat kit, of course i flat. luckily there was a guy in a relay and he stopped and gave me his pump and tube...amazing! i wish i could have bought him a beer...so i only lost about 5min or so. i finished 6min from first, so i was a little bummed as i think i may have been up there with the two pros. this race is awesome! cool course and beautiful scenery...my teamate rickey had a great race and also won his age group. TEAM EPC is dominating the xterra scene right now!

i know this is late...whatever.

update

2008-07-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

dang..i'm bad at updating this thing..my training has been going really well and i feel stronger (finally) than i did this time last year (thanks cody!).

Buffalo Creek Xterra: not great swim (as always)...had a really solid bike and was 2nd place (3min back) amature off the bike...started the run and felt good. i was really cranking trying to catch my teamate ED. got to an aid station and they were saying "stay left"...i went left and ended up on the short course. i should have turned right on the full course. i ran about 4-5 min and realized the mistake...so i ran back and cought three guys on the run to finish second in my age group despite losing 9-10 minutes...oh well. what can you do? nothing! i still had fun and felt good that i am back to 100%, and my fitness is almost 100%.

SALIDA TRIP

2008-06-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Pic of "Tenderfoot" mountain in Salida

Coming in for the win...the hardest 1.25 miles ever! (11:14)
Ryders first parade!

Every year we go to Salida Colorado to see family and do some running races...it was super nice to chill out and hang with my family. During the "Fibark" festival in salida they have 3 running races that are all super fun. First race is thursday. The "tenderfoot hillclimb" its a crazy race that is only about 1.25 miles long. the kicker is you go straight up "S" mountain (600 vertical feet) and then back down to the finish. I've done this race a bunch of times since i was about 13. This year i was second to the top and passed the leader half way down. i didn't feel fast going up so i was real happy to win. (this is my 4th year taking the win) ( i also hold the current record of 10:32). On friday i took it easy and we went whitewater rafting on the arkansas river...becca had never been and it was super fun. Saturday morning is the 10k road race...pretty flat, and a little longer than 10k, but we are at 7,000 feet elevation. i took 3rd place overall...then sunday is the 10k trail race (to finish the salida "triple crown" of running) this is a super hard 10k with almost 1000 feet of elevation gain. I finished 3rd again in about 44min...i know that sounds slow, but 1st place was a 43 min 10k and he ran XC at CU. So i finished 2nd place in the triple crown (behind ex CU dude) after the race i went for a epic 2.5 hr. MTB ride on the rainbow trail near salida...it was insane....i realized how much fun MTB really is. I also got a good bulk of hard training done. Buffalo creek is this weekend and i'm just training through it, so we'll see how it goes...lately i've felt a bit sluggish on the bike, but my run is feeling solid.

Becca @ sprint tri

2008-06-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

becca raced the highlands ranch sprint tri a couple weeks ago and slayed it...2nd in her age group and 13 overall woman. she did a 1:17 for a 500m swim, 15m bike, 5k run. It was fun just watching a race, but it was hard watching some of the top dudes coming in (knowing i could beat alot of them). Becca is getting really fast on the bike (she passed a dude in full aero gear..disk/helmet/bike) so rad!

THE BURN MTB RACE

2008-06-03T11:06:00.001-07:00

Ricky, Ed, Me, Cody at the burn mtb race...same area as the buffalo creek XTERRA...it was a 22 mile MTB TT...super hard, but way fun. i totally bonked on the last hill (2 mile climb) to the finish and ended up 7th in the expert. not that great, but my fitness has been slow coming since the surgery. i had to remind myself it was a training day.

training resumes...

2008-05-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

so after my surgery on the 17th, i've managed to stay in OK shape...not as great as i had hoped, but better than i had thought. i just got cleared to start swimming, i've been in the pool a few times and i'm pretty sure i will always be a slow swimmer! i haven't been in the pool in a long time and i think i was swimming the same speed as last season. As for the bike...the DR told me stay on my trainer for another couple weeks, but i've been riding outside since early may. i couldn't get any long rides because my shoulder would get way sore after 2 hrs....its feeling alot better so i did LONG one this last sat with my homie jason....we rode Mt. falcon/Parmalee/Lair the bear/Matthew winters/Bear creek...turned out to be about 40 miles in 4.5 hrs. Sunday i cleaned out the garage (managed to stay in zone 3). Monday i ran bolder boulder...turned out to be quite the ordeal...i ran 2 miles to the start, got my packet...had the wrong wave bib. they needed 10$ to put my back in the A wave...ran 2 miles back to car (got money)...ran 2 miles back to start (got A wave bib)...and sprinted to start line with 2 min to spare! i'm waiting to start and realized i had already run about 6 miles....no chance for a fast 10k. saw my buddy Will Kelsay at the start wearing a pink dress to match his lame mohawk, he still ran fast though. I had fun running the 10k, but just had to cruz it after mile 3 cause i was feeling beat. i usually do my long runs on trails so running 12+ hard miles on pavement hurt my knees/joints/muscles alot.

I got some good training ahead of me with some specific workouts to peak for ogden (thanks cody!) i'll be training through the buffalo creek race (hope i don't suck to bad) ...i'll be racing a cool trail running stage race in salida in mid june (hillclimb/road 10K/trail 10k). I also have a few MTB races coming up. Hope to get a few sprint tris in to clean out the cobwebs,

Picked up a bunch of new gear from team sponsors this last week...super psyched on the new Pearl Izumi speedsuits and team kits! thanks to powerbar for all the goodies, and to SKINS for
all the crazy tech compression gear. Also got a couple new pair of razors from oakley (thanks brad) i got some neon green ones...so keep your eyes peeled! the Specialized Epic has been riding awesome, and i can't wait to race it.

Talked to my buddy Casey (bike racing in europe @ USA cycling center) he has been hit by cars
3 times on his bike...dang...regardless, he is going to kill me on the bike when he gets back.

collarbone

2008-04-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

xray pic: you can see 2-3 pins and also the plate with screws.
3 days after surgery: super tender, still have iodine stains and will soon have a nice long scar.

BROKEN!!!

2008-04-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

so much for mustache theory....i had a great stache and managed to have the worst crash ever last sunday (broken clavicle) ... actually it wasn't my fault, i got my wheel taken out at the koppenburg road race. but i was feeling really strong and was hanging top 5 in the cat3 for the half of the race i rode...so maybe the stache is still ok. its a really cool race 1/2 dirt and 1/2 road. we were on a slight downhill doing about 40mph, and someone swing wide....then next thing i knew i was sliding in the fetal position on my right side. the road rash could have been way worse (as i slid about 15-20 feet) but my shoulder took the impact and cracked the collarbone. this put a big dent in my training (6 weeks)...bummer, but oh well.

NEW WHIP!

2008-04-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

soon the beard will be shaved and a mustache! will stay...its like EPO..but safe and legal. note the
sweet oakley razors...thanks to tim from oakley!

here is a pic of the new whip....specialized epic. pretty stoked about this one. this is actually the first new bike i have ever had. i've always bought demos/samples or used bikes until now. after a dozen or so rides on it i'm pretty sold on the rear suspension. also the phenom saddle is really good! i might put one on my road bike! Thanks jason and WRC!

FAMILY

2008-03-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Becca and me shredding at winter Park!

The Jay Crew....

homies for life

2008-03-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

me and my son ryder

2008-03-15T11:49:00.001-07:00

so i jumped on the bandwagon, and decided to do a blog. it will be a good place for to write race reports and post useless info, facts, photos and other dumb stuff.

i'm going to be racing triathlon for EPC mutisport elite team for 2008. i will still race the occasional road race and a full schedule of cross with Rocky Mountain Spine & Sport Cycling team (my 4th season with them)...although my main focus will be the XTERRA series. I'm super stoked for this season and looking foward to getting faster since Cody Waite is helping me out with some coaching. I need some structure in my training to get to the next level.