Winter Training

This winter has been amazing for training, even though I can't ride mountain bikes in Durango due to snow. I have been training super hard with my room mate Tommy Tokarczyk from the Jamis Factory Team. We have been putting in countless hours at the gym, and on the weekends we have been riding xc with world cup xc racer Rotem Ishay. We have pretty much been doing 4+ hours of intensive xc shredding on Saturdays and Sundays. My bike handling skills feel great and my fitness is at an all time high. 2009 is looking good.

Finishing 2008 and Yeti Team for 2009

So I haven't kept up with this blog at all over the season, but the season fonished out well. I ended up third overall in the Mountain States Cup behind Kain Leonard(2nd) and Chris Boice(1st). Considering the amount and intensity of my injuries, I am satisfied with this result, but for 2009 I am aming much higher. I just finished racing collegiate cyclocross and it was a blast. I finished 20th at cross nationals, after a crash in the first lap that destroyed my left ankle. I learned so much about real training, fitness, nutrition, as well as mental race preparation. I feel like this is going to lead to a very strong 2009. So for 2009 I will be riding on the Yeti Team with lots of fast guys who I can learn from. I feel like this is a very positive move for me and the Yeti team atmosphere and dynamic is going to help me grow as a professional cyclist. I am super excited to ride the new 303R for DH and the 4x and DJ for slalom and 4x. Check out these bikes at http://www.yeticycles.com/. I would like to thank Chris Conroy, Damion Smith, Keith Darner, Seth Ramsbottom, and all the other wonderful hard working Yeti family for making this opportunity possible for me. I hope to impress you all in 2009.

Racing With Injuries

Well, the last two weeks have been hard. First was Sea Otter, I was feeling super fast and fit, but I crashed twice real hard on my hip in DH practice. I suffered severe bruising and a massive hemotoma. Needless to say racing was extraordinarily painful. Then this weekend I went to the Yeti Spring series to watch but ended up racing just for fun. It hurt super bad but I was still able to get 11th in slalom and 10th in 4x. I am trying to heal so that I can kill it at the Chalk Creek Stampede this weekend.

2008 Race Season Gearing Up!

The season has started early this year at Fontana and now on to the Sea Otter Classic. I have never felt this strong coming into the season. I feel like all the hard work during the winter is going to pay off with some big results. Fontana did not go so well due to an injury to my ankle in downhill practice due to a spectator in the course. I still mixed it up with the big boys in 4x and was five seconds out of the top ten in DH but I could not put any power into the pedals. My ankle is not 100% for Sea Otter but I am going to race hard any way. Such is life, git er done. I want to give a big thank you to all of my sponsors who are making this season possible.

The big news for the summer is that I will be building a public bike park for the town of Fraser. The park is going to have a bmx track, dirt jumps, slalom, and pump tracks. I will be promoting local events to get kids and the community more involved all summer. I will also be helping part time building trails at Sol Vista Basin, as well as coaching at three camps for kids at my private park, coaching some juniors privately, and holding day clinics at the new bike park. This will also be the first season that I will travel to all the national series races. I guess I am in for a busy summer.....Here we go.