The Belt Gets A CarboRocket Facelift

I paid my respects to Brad yesterday (Totally sucks to see him go). The WORS race scene has no idea what is coming their way.

He handed over the Night Race Championship Belt with a few modifications....Behold:

I'm digging the CR flair.

Even though Brad will be in Chicago, he left his mark on the belt.

A little more flair....

The next Thur Night Race Championship will be in Utah County. Oh the steeps are going to hurt. Details coming soon.

Magic Slippers

These things are like having an extra gear. Yeah, I know they are yellow. That's the point. If you have yellow shoes on you had better turn yourself inside out to go as fast as possible.

I've tried to train to get faster but that only gets you so far. At some point, you have to buy speed.

Besides, all the cool kids in the pro peloton are wearing yellow shoes this year.

I wonder if Rachelle will let me wear these to church?

P.S. Tomorrow is the WRS #9 at Soldier Hollow. Salt Cycling is one of the sponsors. Come race and win some bib shorts.

Deer Valley ICUP Race Video

PCTV put together a nice video of the ICUP race a couple of weeks ago. The first Night Race Champion now turned Adobe team rider gets some love from the camera.

My Commute

On my way to work via the Alpine Loop, American Fork Canyon with some co-workers. Way better than I-15.

CX On My Mind

It's only June but I can't stop thinking about CX season. Watch this teaser and tell me you don't want to go play in the mud.

Don't Derby With Your Wife

It seems obvious, right? Don't derby with your wife. Bad things can happen. And they did.

We were just finishing up a great ride in corner canyon. It was the last climb up Canyon Hollow. 30 seconds from the top, I could smell the finish line. I don't know what came over me. Maybe too many races last week left me in race mode. Maybe it was just instinct but I felt the urge to make a pass on the single track. There was a slight opening to the left. Enough room to surge and get around with little or no bumping (I don't recall any bumping but my wife remembers an elbow bump). The point is, I made a sweet pass only to look back and see Rachelle on the ground. One foot still clipped in.

Don't derby with your wife. She won't like it. I promise.

But you know what? She looks good with some MTB scars on her arms. Real good.

Thursday Night Race Championship II

The Thursday Night Race Championship II happened last night. I counted about 20 racers. Some came from places as far away as Provo for a chance at the Belt. (Technically, Kyle and Phast Dan came from Soldier Hollow as in, they raced Soldier Hollow at 6:30, rode through the finish line directly to their car and drove up for more racing....ah to be young).

Pic at the start taken by Brad:

It was another good night with perfect weather.

After 3 climbs and 3 fast, technical downhills, with a time of 1 hour 5 minutes, a new champion was named- Brad was the big winner. Nicely done. (Brandon wasn't able to defend his belt, but he had better things to do like hang out with his new baby boy born that morning- Congrats!)

The Belt fits him well (Beer not included). Check it out:


Brad with the cash "purse" literally (and beer #2)


The new course, for me, was a lot better. Canyon Hollow is a great climb at race pace. And mixing in some down with the up made it much more interesting.

JJ, Trent, and Jason M., got the early hole shot at the start but the group closed the gap before we got to the base of Canyon Hollow. I decided to take the lead so I could set a comfortable pace for the initial climb up Canyon Hollow and avoid blowing up. Brad was on my wheel followed by Corey L. The nice thing about night racing is you can look back and see exactly where the pack is. We still had a significant train up Canyon Hollow but it was early in the race with 2 more climbs left.

By the time we got to the Jacobs climb, it was Brad, Corey, and I with a small gap on the rest of the field. At the top of Jacobs, we had enough of a gap to enjoy the downhill all to ourselves. I felt like I was riding at high noon as I followed Brad and Corey down the technical descent. Plenty of light.

Things didn't change from there. Brad, Corey and I finished the 2nd Canyon Hollow climb in the same order and neither of us could get around Brad on the single track downhill.

I have a feeling the Belt won't look the same after Brad and his daughters get done with it. I can't wait to see the added bling.

Thanks to all who came out to play. Good one.

Double Header

It's only been 13 hours since the ICUP race at Deer Valley and I already find myself getting ready for the main event race tonight. I'm tempted to blame my 5th place finish at DV on the fact that I'm saving my legs for tonight's race but that would be a lie. I went hard at the ICUP and had good legs just not the lungs to back it up. DV has the hardest start of any ICUP course. It's not so much the actual Little Stick climb that hurts but the approach to it. Super steep with no recovery.

And as bad as the Little Stick climb/approach hurt on my 32x19 gearing, I couldn't even look at Kyle who was running a 34x18 gear. Seriously, just talking about that makes me want to throw up. Kyle went on to finish 3rd and grab a podium spot.

Chris Cole, 1st place, had an amazing race and pedaled away from everyone.

The current Night Race Champion and several other contenders were racing last night too so maybe there will be some soft legs for tonight's race.

The Belt has been signed and is now up for grabs.


Who's name will be next? I predict "Dug Anderson".

Thur Night Race II- Updated Course

We are still planning on a 9pm start from the equestrian center but the course has been changed (Rush trail is under construction)

• Neutral start from the equestrian center to the first service road. Regroup and start
• Up Canyon Hollow (near the top, stay right at the junction to Brocks).
  
• Up Jacobs
• Down Jacobs
• Down Ghost
• At the bottom of Ghost, stay left and cross the bridge, and then another left on to Canyon Hollow
• Up Canyon Hollow (stay right at junction to Brocks)
• Down Clarks
• Down Creekside
• Finish at the equestrian center

It's going to hurt so good.

Remember, $5 gets you a hand made number plate and goes into the pot. Winner takes the money.

With the ICUP and Solider Hollow races on Wed night, there will be plenty of tired legs. Anyone can win this one.

Whatever It Takes

I've been thinking a lot about how to get "The Belt" from Brandon this Thursday night. What gearing should I run, what tire pressure, should I add an extra scoop of CarboRocket?.....And that's when it hit me.




I don't know why I haven't thought of this before. Gotta clear the air way.

I think it's a wonderful plan.

Another Shot At The Belt

It's time to see if Brandon can defend his title as The Thursday Night Race World Champion and keep "The Belt".

The date is set for Thursday, June 17th @ 9pm. (10 days is plenty of time to train and get yourself into racing form).

In honor of Brad, we're going to keep this race in Draper one more time. Brad is moving soon and has made it clear he will not drive to the UC to participate. His time is running out for a shot at the belt, so let's keep it close to home. (I promise to give the UC guys their shot at home court on the next one).

But we should we mix up the course and do something different? I was thinking of the same neutral start from the equestrian center, but this time, let's go:

• Up Ghost and then up the jeep road over to the top of Rush
  
• Down Rush (Jamie's trail)
• Up Canyon Hollow to Brocks
• Down Clarks
• Down Creekside

This way, we mix up the climbing with the downhills.

If anyone has a better route idea, speak up now.

$5 entry fee, winner gets the cash and The Belt.

If anyone has something they can/want to donate as prizes so the non-competitive guys walk away with something, please let me know.

If you don't own a light, you are missing out. You have 10 days to go get one and join the fun.

The Belt

The current Night Race World Champion showed up at the group ride this morning- With the Belt.

Atta boy.


And he refused to eat the pre-ride donuts provided by Kris (Thanks Kris!).

I think he is feeling the pressure of keeping the Belt.

There have been rumblings in the group about the next shot at winning the belt (and the cash). Details coming soon, but until then, Brandon is the king.

Sleep well Brandon. The group is after you.

"You Mean You Miss The Pain...?"

(Photo by Adam)

This morning was the first of the 2010 "Before work AF Canyon ride/races".

I spent almost an hour in the pain cave. Some days it sucks having fast friends.

Marky Mark and Grizzly do a nice job with their write ups.

I showed up prepared for a group ride until Tibble Fork where the attacks usually start. So I was slightly bummed when we rolled past the Fee Station (20 seconds into the ride) and Mark started going. I looked around in confusion. "Are we seriously going this hard this early?". I didn't know Mark and Elden had plans to post their TT effort today.

It took me a few minutes to get my head around the plan. There was no way out of it. Today's ride was going to be a nice long suffer fest. I found my place in the group, settled into a good pace, and went into to "Seth mode". There would be no talking for 54 minutes and 31 seconds.

I had missed that pain that only an AF ride can dish out. Good times with some good friends. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Same time, same place.