Todd Wells

Spring Time

Man it feels good to be back home and getting some training in. The weather here in Durango has been awesome ever since I got back from Sea Otter. The weather at Sea Otter was also great. I've been making up for that grey and cold week in Houffalize with some CA and CO sunshine. 

I was suffering from jet lag for a while after this last trip. I felt like I was in a haze for the first few days we were in Santa Cruz. No amount of Verve cappuccinos and mochas could get me going. I even had to buy a new Mate press b/c I left mine at home in hopes of harnessing some energy. 

By the time the Sea Otter rolled around I was feeling much better and it was great to have Burry, Benno, Piete and Sandy in the US for a race other then the World Cup. Speaking of Sandy, he was tuning all sorts of bikes that weekend. 

The highlight of the weekend was riding on the bike path in Monterey. It goes along the coast and has to be one of the most beautiful paths in the world when it's clear and not too windy. The race itself was a bit lackluster, I made a mistake in the first corner of the STXC that resulted in me missing the move and chasing all day. In the XC, Kabush was just too strong and rode away from the group, which I managed to get 4th in the sprint out of 4, for 5th place. Not horrible but not as good as the past couple of years. 

The great part about the Otter is getting to see everyone from the office I only see once or twice a year. We had so much support this year as well with Sandy, Joe, Gordie, Jeff and even Garth was turning wrenches in the pits. Speaking of Spider Monkey(Joe Devera), he just built me up a new L S-Works Stumpjumper so maybe I can make it around some of those tight corners on the World Cup now. 

I'm usually not very into shopping but last week I bought a bunch of stuff on line, one thing being this Tanita scale. I don't like it very much though as the weights and body fat fluctuate up to 6 lbs and 5% every time I stand on it. I could stand on it 5 times in a row and get 5 completely different readings. Should have just stuck to my $10 normal scale. 

I also bought a Euro specific plug for my Mac which only cost $2 and they sent me 3 plugs! Plus, a international plug/power converter so when I plug in my Podium Legs overseas, I don't blow the fuse. Last time I brought them all the way to SA only to plug them in and have the fuse blow instantly. 

There is a big race coming up in Durango this fall. I think it's already sold out but it's worth looking into, the Kennebec Pass Enduro. It takes place on the CO trail and is one of my favorite rides in Durango with out having to climb the 4,000 ft from town, they shuttle you up there. 

Finally, our diabetic cat is finally standing up to Winston and hanging out downstairs with us more. She is starting to rule the Durango house the way she owns the Tucson place. 

And finally, a big congrats to Eli Tomac for winning the West Coast Lites Supercross Championship this past weekend. I guess the Tomac family is the fastest thing on two wheels with or with out a motor. 

I'm looking foward to watching the results from Tour of the Gila and Collegiate Road Nationals this weekend, hoping Bowman, Elka and the Fort Lewis racers bring home another title. 

I wonder how the Darts' wedding planning is going.....

Houffalize 2.0

I don't know how many times I've raced in Houffalize but I can tell you it's been a lot! It's my favorite stop on the World Cup and one of the "classic" races on the MTB. The coolest part of Houffalize was always starting in the middle of the old town and looping through it many times per lap.

This year they decided to change the course and put it all on the 4X hill side of the town. The course was condensed into the the size of a typical cyclocross venue except most of that area was on the side of 45 degree slope! I think they set the record for the largest amount of course tape in the smallest area. We went up and down the steep slope 3 or 4 times per lap. They also added a few feature drop sections which seemed more natural then some of the other recent additions to the World Cup course. I prefer the old course but the new one is definitely hard and selected the best riders for the race. 

I stared with plate 62 since I missed the first WC, I don't think I've had that bad of a number since I started racing World Cups. I've never missed the first one in my entire WC career so I've always at least started with WC points. If you've never seen a "euro" WC, they line everyone and every 8 riders has a line they have to stay behind. With about 4 minutes to go everyone crunches forward and you go from 8 people wide to 24 people wide with pedals stuck between your spokes, handle bars all locked and you can barely lift your leg to clip in. Then the gun goes and you either pass 20 people right away or get passed by everyone else. 

With 1 minute to go before the start I looked next to me and Sven Nys had managed to move up next to me with plate 90. He jumped 30 places before the gun even went. The start was insane, we had a 500 meter slightly downhill road start which lead into a 25-30% dirt climb. I was spun out 50 meters before the climb and had to skid from there to the base because the 60 people in front of me slowing down as they hit the hill caused this huge slow down back in the group. 

I only had to run for a hand full of seconds and I was back on my bike. I started to move up a little at the beginning of the race but I knew it wasn't going to be my day. I was dying on the climbs and could barely hold the pace of the guys I was riding with "50's" on lap one. I managed to move up a little bit on the flat and downhill sections but I was climbing like my tires were made of glue. I would pass a few guys on the flat, hit the 2 minute climb and loose 30 seconds. It was brutal. I don't know exactly why I was so bad but I think it was a combination of loosing some training time with my injury from PMB and then trying to catch up afterward leaving me a little tired for the race. I was able to fake it a bit at Continentals but after flying to Europe I was even more tired and you can't fake anything with a World Cup field.

That isn't how I wanted things to go but that's what happened so now I've got even more work to do. That said, I've got a new coach! I have been coaching myself with some input from Rick Crawford for the past 6 or 7 years. I've had some success but I haven't been good enough to land in the top 3 at any World Cup/ World Championships/ Olympic XC event. Maybe it's not possible for me to achieve those results but I want to give myself every chance to be as good as possible. Things came together when I hurt myself in SA and got checked out by Burry's coach/doc(Jeroen Swart). We got to talking and I really liked his training ideas and how scientific he is about things. He agreed to coach me and we're just getting started so I'm excited to see how much I can improve. 

When I was warming up before the start in Houffalize in the Specialized tent b/c there were so many people and it was freezing, I looked over at Jaro doing the same in his World Championship jersey and thought how cool it is to be on the same team as the current XC World Champ and so many other time World Champs. It was my own little moment before the suffering began. 

Another trip across the pond and I'm at Sea Otter getting ready for another race tomorrow. It's crazy to finish 45 at the WC and then get this plate for the Sea Otter, I remember when every top international rider raced the Sea Otter and it was the start of the Calendar. Now we're 2 World Cups, 2 PROXCTs and 1 Continental Championship into the season already. 

 
It's time for me to get out to Laguna Seca and ride around in some poison oak bushes.

I wonder what Winstons' doing right now..... 

Continental Champs 12

Won my first race of the year this weekend just outside of Mexico City in a small suburb (1 million peeps). I was suppose to be recovering from the first World Cup and the Cape Epic this week in SA playing golf with The Dart. Instead my ankle injury forced me back to Durango to do some intense rehab for about 2 weeks. Thanks to Jeff from the Durango Sports Club, Luke from Quantified Performance and Dr. Frank from Walk in Chiropractic I went from not being able to stand on my foot to racing a top level race in about 14 days. Pretty amazing group we have in Durango. 

Continental Champ trips are usually super dialed in and I thought I needed to do a race before I lined up in Houffalize this weekend. I wanted to work on my form and test my foot under race conditions. Well my ankle got put through the paces after a BIG trip to Mexico City. I was fine to ride on it right away but am suppose to stay off it other then that as much as possible. When I was home in Durango all I would do was ride and go to therapy, no walking other then that. Flying to Mexico City I probably walked 4 miles through the airports. Then our lodging was on the 3rd floor and the elevator wasn't working so I put it through the paces. Thanks to great work from everyone that helped me heal it, it held up super!

I haven't slept in a bunk bed since I was a little kid but this weekend I got bunk up with all the U-23s, junior and the staff. At first I was pretty skeptical but it turned out to be great. I slept awesome there and it was great to kick it with the future generation. When ever we go to Pan Ams you never know what's going to happen and we had plenty of funny stories just ending this morning when I nearly missed my flight because we were doing hot laps around the airport. Some of the crew didn't make it but all the riders made it. 

One thing that cracks me up is how the cafeteria works. They give you these little finger print size meal tickets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only people staying in these dorms are there for the race and the people see the 100-200 same people all week. They still want these little tickets and won't give you food with out them. It's like they are worried about people sneaking in to eat some rice and pasta. No seconds allowed either, Susi would be proud. There is quite a procedure for the bike check as well. 

Like I said, you know what you're in for going in so as long as you are prepared for it, its not bad. It also helps when you win! The XC team came away with 3 gold medals, Grace (junior girls) Finsty (U-23 men) Me (elite men), silver for Kegan (junior men) and bronze for Kerry (U-23 men). Howie would have probably scored a medal too were it not for a mechanical on the first lap. 

I didn't know what to expect going in. My training has been improving but after almost 2 weeks off the bike I didn't know how far behind I was. I died at the start which doesn't bode well for Houffalize starting up the Liege climb but by the end of the first lap I was with Soto. Soto is from Argentina, ride for Wolf Trek, was in the lead group at World Champs on the first lap and finished 25 in SA WC a few weeks ago I think. Needless to say he is a great rider so I happy to bridge to him and stick his wheel for the next lap. He put in a big surge on one of the steep climbs and I knew I couldn't beat him racing like that so I did a hard turn from the bottom of the climb on lap 3 of 5. The course was pretty bumpy and with my Epic I could sit down and power while he was bouncing around the HT. I got a small gap but it was only about 10 seconds after a whole lap of killing myself. The next lap I stretched out the 35 seconds but he wasn't giving an inch. On the last lap I finally got a good gap and ended up winning by about 1 minute. 

It felt so good to win a race and I really like the Continental Championships. It doesn't get much press in the U.S. but it is a really big race for the Latin American countries, Columbia picked it's Olympic team off of it and it's a big honor to win the jersey. Those countries have a lot of great riders that don't get a chance to go to all the races we do but are incredible riders. 

Now I'm off to Houffalize for the first big test of the season, hoping I make it further then half a lap of practice this week. Houffalize is my favorite World Cup because it has the biggest crowds, the coolest setting and probably the most history of any venue still on the circuit. It is a "classic" race and the first euro World Cup I ever had a good result at. 

I wonder what Winston and Meg are doing right now......

Perspective

Ahhh, the 2012 season hasn't started off quite as I had imagined it. Things went pretty normal for my first 2 races, Texas and The Cape Argus. I wasn't great but not too bad and the form seemed to be coming around. Things got a little messy though when I arrived at the World Cup in PMB. 

My first lap of the WC course I took a pretty big tumble halfway through from the top of the log steps. I ejected at the top, landed on my head and back and doinked my ankle on the ground and pedal. Now I probably dropped a good 10 feet so when I could move all my fingers and toes I was pretty stoked. My most immediate concern was my back but after about 20 minutes I was able to breath OK and started to notice my sore ankle. 

I got a ride down to the first aid tent and they determined I wasn't broken anywhere and I was whisked off by the Specialized crew to the hotel where I was put on the RICE program. It was hard to take but at least I had Meg there with me to lend moral support, fetch food and help me get around. A few days later my ankle was feeling much better, a doc looked at it and said I could ride if it didn't hurt and I was becoming pretty mobile. 

The WC came and went with out me racing, just watching from the stands. That was pretty hard to take and it was the first time I've watched a complete race from the sidelines. I usually either can't get out of bed b/c I'm sick or at least start the race. That night Meg, Burry, Cherise and I headed to his house just 2 hours away. 

The next day I was on my bike and out for a 3 hr ride with out any problems. I thought for sure I was going to heal in time for the Cape Epic, 1 week later. Monday Cherise and I went for another ride and then we all went to the airport, Burry and I flew to Stellenbosch for the Specialized office launch Cherise home to Joburg and Meg back to Durango. I spent a lot of time on my banged up foot and by the time we arrived in Stellenbosch it was starting to get sore again. That night it really started to throb and completely swelled up and hurt much worse then when it first happened. 

The team took me for a MRI/CT Scan yesterday and it was determined to just be a bad bone bruise on my heel. I am sentenced to crutches for 6 wks but can start riding as soon as the pain is gone since cycling doesn't stress the bruised bone, just walking. The only problem is I'm stuck about as far away from home as possible in South Africa. That's about 40 hrs of traveling solo just to get back home. Travel from SA is hard when everything is perfect but negotiating airplanes and airports with a sore foot is going to be something, I'll be getting the wheel chair treatment. 

The hardest part about the whole thing was that I thought I was getting better and now I'm worse off then when I started. I have been keeping a positive outlook though and everyone has been very supportive. I'll start my big trip back tomorrow and with a bunch of compression socks, ice, painkillers and a little luck with the seating I'll be back home in a few days hopefully with out an enormously swollen foot. 

It hasn't been all thorns here in SA though, Meg and I got to spend some time at the beach at Burry's house when my ankle was feeling better. 

 

I've gotten witness Geoff Rodgers eat hamburgers at just about every meal.


 As of now I'm hoping to be back for Houffalize but I'll just have to see how things heal up. There are 3 races left to qualify for the Olympic team and since no one had a good ride at the WC in PMB I still have a good shot. I've said all along I want to make the team because I'm riding well, not because everyone else rides bad. What ever happens things always have a way of working out. 

I wonder what Meg and Winston are doing right now, sleeping probably.....

 

South Africa

Check out this guy on top of the box at the 1987 World Championships, hasn't slowed down much since then. 

The trip to South Africa was incredible. Meg and I got upgrade the whole way here, well Meg didn't from Frankfurt to SA but the rest of the way we were living it up in business class. And Meg had the whole row to herself because the A380 we flew down on had 250 empty seats. I have never flown on such an empty plane, amazing. 

We had a 10 layover in Frankfurt but that was fine since we got in late morning and had another night flight to SA. Spent the day eating these Whole Foodesque salads at La Marche


 After lunch and many cappuccinos we got a day room at the Hilton that is attached to the airport. We spent some time on the spin bikes, did some stretching and hit the steam room and sauna. We watched Paris Nice and then back to La Marche for dinner before heading to SA. 

The Cape Argus is going on this weekend in Cape Town, it's a 35,000 participant road race around the Cape. The airports have special areas for bikes and signs for the Argus leading you to all different areas of the airport. You can imagine 35,000 bikes flying into Cape Town from all over the world requires some organization. Here is one of the drop off areas. 

It has been really nice here in Stellenbosch, which is a small town about 50 KM from Cape Town in wine country. It is like a little European village dropped down in the middle of South Africa. It is where all the best endurance athletes go to train in the winter and it is Africa hot right now since it's the middle of their summer. 

The reason we came to Stellenbosch rather then heading straight to the World Cup is to attend our good friend and former Specialized Team Manager, Bobby Behan's wedding. Bobby got married last night and it was the fanciest wedding I have ever seen. I felt like we were on an episode of CSI Miami. To give you an idea of the venue, the reception was at a Polo grounds estate and they kicked off the ceremony with a private Polo match for the 300 or so guests from around the world. Here are some pictures. 

Some of the S Team at the church where the ceremony took place in downtown Stellenbosch

The viewing area for the Polo Match

Didn't get any good shots of the bride and groom but of course I got a good one of Benno and Manuela

Susi even flew in had his new girlfriend for the occasion. 

Looks like I do have one of the new Behan family with their first dance.

There were some fans on the climb yesterday where I was training. 

It's about that time to hit an evening spin, can't relate how great it is to be back with the team again, I love these guys. Got an early wake up call for the Argus tomorrow, 4 am for a 6:15 start, that's about 2 hours later then I went to bed last night and we were some of the first to leave the wedding. 

I wonder what Winstons' doing right now.....

I kicked off my race season this weekend in TX at the Mellow Johnny’s Classic PROXCT. In addition to being the first PROXCT, it was also a UCI C1 event that offered double prize money for the top 3 places. I didn’t know about the prize money before the start but was happy to take advantage of their generosity by nailing down a 3rd place. Of course I wanted to win but that didn’t happen so I’ll take what I can get.
This year we saw a new venue for the race, no longer at Lance’s ranch we raced at Flat Creek Ranch about 10 miles from the old course. It was a nice change of venue too, way less dust, awesome tight single track and even a few small creek crossings. The lap was 5.5K and we did 5 laps, which saw Plaxton win in a time of 1:16ish, a little short but still plenty of pain.
I rode with Plaxton and Kabush for 3 and half of the 5 laps. At the start we also had Zanstra in our group but he popped off before the end of the 1st lap. Kabush set a hard tempo for the first 3.5 laps and I struggled to hold the pace constantly falling off and rejoining the group until Plaxton hit it on the one short climb and I couldn’t hold the pace. They quickly rode away and Plaxton made short work of Kabush soon after that. I spent the last lap and a half riding alone in 3rd place.
You never quite know how the form is going to be at the first race of the year. I changed my prep a bit from years past in hopes of having good form now but still seem to be lacking a bit. I knew coming into the weekend that the powermeter numbers and the group rides hadn’t been great but was hoping for the best. Both Plaxton and Kabush are good riders so I wasn’t riding bad, just not great. To do anything at the first World Cup 2 weeks from now I need to be great so hopefully this weekend helps jump start my system.
I got my new bike and kit this weekend and Specialized have outdone themselves again. The bike is amazing along with all the SRAM components, I couldn’t ask for a faster, lighter bike. I really like the kit too, since it has an actual U.S. flag on it, think it’s the best one yet. Hope I can do it proud this year.
I go back to Durango for one day of cold weather before embarking on my journey to the other side of the world. The Specialized Global Sports Marketing guy, Bobby Behan is getting married this weekend in Stellenbosch so Meg and I have a wedding to go to as soon as we land. The next day I’m participating in the Cape Argus road race, the largest mass participation road event in the world (30,000 racers). It goes around the Cape of South Africa, I’ve driven the course with Burry and it has some amazing scenery, hope I have a chance to look around in the race.
Everyone seems fired up for the Olympic year and with everyone trying to qualify for their respective countries teams I’m sure the World Cups are going to be faster then ever. I think most countries are picking their teams off the first few World Cups so everyone is extra motivated to get things going.
Speaking of World Cup racing I saw Willow, Myels and Raven on my flight to Austin, they were heading to South Africa early to get situated and do the test race on the course next week. Willow is looking fit as ever and Raven didn’t make a peep on the flight from Durango to Denver, of course they still had about 24 hours of flying to go from there but they were off to a good start.
I wonder what stories I’m going to have after racing the Cape Epic……

Base Training

I'm dedicating this blog to Muller since he is the one that got me to write it. 

A few weeks ago when we were back in Durango at East by Southwest Sushi we finally got the cotton candy dessert. They use to have a basket of jelly beans at the hostess stand but now they give you cotton candy. Well, this is the first time they gave it to us since they switched the desserts, about a year ago. They probably knew Snoodle would do something like this. 

When we were back in Durango a month ago I also got to attend the Trails 2000 Auction. This is something like the 20th year it has been going on and it's a who's who of Durango, not quite sure how I snuck in. It is always held at Old Tymers on Main St., there is an auctioneer and it's the biggest fundraiser of the year for Trails 2000. If you've ever been to Durango you know how awesome Trails 2000 is because all the trails in the Durango area are either built or maintained by them. And that is an original 1990 MTB World Championships banner hanging up at the far end of the restaurant. 

On the way back to Tucson we had to make a quick detour to Phoenix where I sold my CRF 450R that I have been using as a glorified tire rack for the last 3 years. The bike was amazing but I rode it about once a year so I was happy to have it find a new home. Hopefully it will be happy there. Also had a bunch of equipment to bring down to Tucson to donate to the El Gruppo development crew. 

Back to the training, I just finished up my big block of base training. A lot of MTBers have been in  and out of town this year. I am mostly a lone wolf when it comes to training but on this particular ride it was awesome to have the company of fellow MTBs Finsty, Ettinger, Decker, Spencer Paxson and roadie Morgan Schmitt. The weather has been perfect this year for training and I haven't ridden in a drop of rain since Jingle Cross over Thanksgiving. Now that I said that it will probably piss rain all year but I'd rather race in it then train in it any day. 

I'm about 4 weeks ahead of schedule this year compared with years past since I have to be ready to go in the middle of March instead of the middle of April. It's funny because I've done the same thing for so long, I'm not use to doing intensity in early Feb, usually it comes in March. I also feel like it should be warming up in Durango now but instead they're just starting to get snow. I'm done with my big training in time for the World Match Play Championships in Tucson so hopefully I'll get to be a golf spectator for a day in a few weeks. 

Meg and I have only made it to In and Out Burger once so far this year but it was sooooooo good. 

Speaking of eating beef, the Contador case is finally done after almost 2 years. As an athelte that gets drug tested what more can you do then read the label of ingreedients for food, water, medicine, supplents and believe that it contains what is says it contains? If he was cheating then he should get suspended but if he did unknowingly ingest it and it had no affect on his performance every athlete that gets drug tested should be very concerned. CAS said they felt he got it from a "tainted supplement" not "tainted beef" but either way they felt he didn't do it knowingly, it was too little to affect his performance but he still deserved a 2 year ban. 

I don't know if you can see it from this picture but the other day I was riding the AZ trail south of Tucson and saw this real life Disney World style castle. It is visible for miles on this trail, it's white and looks just the castle in the Disney World pictures. The trail by the way is awesome! It's pretty smooth by Tucson standards, offers some cool scenery and I think this is the only castle you will see on it. There are great canyons, cool washes and enough technical stuff to keep it fun. 

Finally, what everyone wants to know is how is Winston doing. He's doing great, although he did have an altercation with a Cholla the other day that started on his paw and ended up stuck to his nose. He hasn't been doing too much training either lately but seems happy to just play ball on the golf course at night.  

That's it for me, time to hit the gym, play a little tennis with Meg and go for a spin, few more days left of my break and I have to stay busy so I don't eat everything in the house. 

I wonder what the Darts' doing right now......

Training for 2012

I'm not even going to start in about the neglect of this site, not updated since La Ruta, I blame Facebook and Twitter. So what's been going on since Costa Rica...

Had a good CX race in Louisville on Day 2 sprinted with Powers for the win and got 2nd. Drove down to Tucson after that and went to Jingle Cross.  Won Day 2 at Jingle CX when Driscoll and TimmyJ decided not to race and was pretty good on Day 3 as well. It was nice to spend some time in Tucson in November training with a big group in the warm weather. 

Jingle Cross is usually when I ramp it up during CX but this year I pulled the plug right after to take a break and get ready for the first World Cup in South Africa, March 17. With CX Nats moving a full month later in the year and the WC starting a full month earlier, it was an easy decision to end my CX season early. That said, it feels weird to be doing base in December, usually I'm sitting on the beach this time of year. Don't worry, I still spent a lot of time on the beach, just a few weeks earlier then normal. 

Meg, Winston and I loaded up the truck and pointed it South right after Jingle Cross for our annual pilgrimage to San Pancho, Mexico. It's a long drive from Tucson, 19 hours with plenty of hassle like registering the vehicle and going through customs/immigration in Mexico. This year we managed to get 3 tickets as well, 2 for speeding and 1 for making a left turn without a left arrow(can't see the arrow, the traffic lights are barely visible when they change). This was the first year we've ever seen traffic cops giving out citations, usually it's just the Federalies with huge machine guns and the military. 

We also had an increased number of military check points where teenagers with HUGE guns make you get out of your vehicle while they go through and make sure you're not transporting drugs or fruit. The drive is always an adventure but it seems to be getting even worse so we'll probably just fly from now on, the town of San Pancho however is getting nicer and nicer. 

I spent a lot of time doing this. 


 

My family and Meg's came down with us for a week this year, her family has been coming to this town for almost 20 years. This year Meg's mom had some bad luck and got stung in her bad foot by a Sting Ray. She spent most of her vacation like this: 

 
In bed hooked up to an antibiotic IV drip. At least she had HankMed concierge style treatment at home with a doctor that made house calls and an around the clock nurse(do they even offer that type of treatment in the US?). She also had a pretty sweet view and a custom IV/broom handle/cooler IV holder.

When I wasn't hanging out with the family I was hitting the new golf course in town, Las Huertas, it's a 5 minute walk from the house with my clubs. Yes!

T-Box for the Par 4 number 9. Club house in the middle, ocean in the background. 

The course is only a 9 hole but it's got 1 Par 5, 3 Par 4s and 5 Par 3s. Plus it's only $25 with a cart and water so you can't go wrong. That Bermuda grass sure is hard to put on.

Here's another view:

We made it back to Tucson for Christmas/my birthday, had a great hike up in the Tortolita Mountains on the Northeast side of town: 


 Now I'm back in saddle training for 2012 and looking forward to the first World Cup and my first ever run at the Cape Epic. These long endurance stage races are so cool, I can't wait to see what the Epic is like. 

I'm running out of time for this update, my new teammate and Windham Junior World Cup winner Howard Grotts is in town and we're getting ready to head out on a ride. Then I have to meet up with my triathlon teammate Ben Hoffman for a few holes up at Starr Pass.

I wonder what Rudes' doing right now......

La Ruta

What a race! La Ruta was everything it was billed as and more. The climbs go on FOREVER! and they are super STEEP! Like, how am I going to ride up that steep. And just finding the correct way on the course is a challenge, the direction signs are small and if you're not with a moto or someone that knows the course, good luck. The hiking wasn't bad, just a lot of on and off the bike. The railroad bridges were crazy, not because you're going to fall off but it's very easy to slip and cut your leg or foot on the old ties. Oh yea, you might get your bike stolen at gunpoint as well or get stung by a bunch of bees while crossing one of the bridges. All that said it was awesome. 

I was lucky to have a great first day and get enough time to hang onto the jersey for the rest of the week. On day 2 I was still pretty good but had some bad luck with a flat tire and lost time to the guy in 2ne. Day 3 we climbed for what seemed like forever and I was in the box the whole way. Rom(Costa Rican from Specialized in 2nd) had me under pressure for all 7,000 ft of the volcano climb, luckily I caught him on the descent and he cracked less then 10 K from the finish so I gained half the time back I had lost to him the day before. And the last day had two climbs at the start, about 15-20 min each that hurt really bad. I came off a bit on the 2nd steep dirt road climb but was able to get back on before the flat section of road, dirt road, railroad tracks and beach.

Then there was my support crew, they were the key to everything. I had Meg, Benno(Specialized Factory TM/Mechanic), his girlfriend Manuela, Carlos(Specialized Costa Rica Distributor) and his friend Roberto. We had two land cruisers fully decked out with Thule racks and boxes. I had both my Stumpjumper 29 which I raced the first two days and my Epic 29 which I raced the last two days. The crew would make it to each aid station regardless of how remote or how fast they would have to drive to get there. They almost flipped the vehicle multiple times on the steep, muddy dirt roads(paths) used to access a lot of the zones. There are no street signs or addresses in most of the places we went in Costa Rica and the course map is almost nonexistent so if you don't have local knowledge, you're not going anywhere.

After racing around all day to feed me and give technical assistance, Benno and Manuela would completely rebuild mine and Reba's bike to get them ready for the next day. Meg would clean all my other stuff and the Specialized crew would do store runs and whatever else was needed, including taking care of their normal jobs. And did I mention the races started at 6 am so we would normally be up by 4:30 AM. The team was incredible.

The Costa Rican people were awesome and it was cool to catch the race on the news at night while flipping through the channels. The scenery was great and finishing at the Caribbean sea on the last day in Limon was definitely a highlight. We rode on the beach for 8 of the last 10K and it was awesome. After the race we had another race to get to the Pacquare Lodge, a 5 Star Eco resort nestled in the rain forest of Costa Rica. There are 3 ways to access it, down a 6 K dirt road/trail that takes about an hour to drive in a real 4X4 and then you have to zipline across the Paquare river to the other side, by raft or by helicopter. There is no electricity and it's the coolest place I've ever been. Here is a little peak at the main lodge:

Meg and I had this for our room:

And of course every room needs a personal infinity pool:

And an outdoor shower:

We 4x4ed in but we rafted out, here are a few of the better rafting pics...

There were tons of rapids, most class 4. 

We stopped at a cool waterfall:

Benno's boat:

Time to get back to work, got to get out for a spin so we can go jet skiing before we have to head back to San Jose. Thanks Costa Rica for a great time, Pura Vida. 

 

I wonder what Winstons' doing right now....

Cyclocross Season is here!!

I don't know what it is about barriers on course but they sure do cause a lot of havoc. I'm not immune by any degree after my antics last year in Ft. Collins. This though has to be the best barrier crash I've seen in a long time from the Rapha Focus GP yesterday: 

 

I had a few good crashes myself this weekend. I don't know what it is about switching from the MTB to the CX bike but I usually lay it down a few times early in the CX season. Saturday I found myself on the attack halfway through the race. That lasted all of 1 to 2 minutes when I managed to pile drive myself into the sand pit and break my shifter lever. I lost the group and had to ride to the pit in my easiest gear. By that time the group had 15-20 seconds and the only person I saw from it before the finish was Chris Shepard. I caught him right before the finish and was able to out sprint him. Yup, I out sprinted someone.

I'm surprised I don't have more crashes in the beggining of the CX season. I am usually seeing cross eyed for the whole race just trying to hold the wheel in front of me. In other words I'm riding over my head on a bike that is completely different then my MTB and I'm trying to make up time in the more technical sections because I'm flat out on the pedaling sections.

It feels awesome to ride in the National Champ jersey on the CX bike this year. It's real honnor, especially with so many guys stepping it up in the US. And the field here are getting insane. I think Cross Vegas probably had 10 countries represented this year. Even the World Champ from just a few years ago chose to start his season here. The US promoters have done an amazing job growing the sport.

Sunday I improved on my result from Star Crossed and finished 4th. I was chasing Rob Peeters with Wellens on my wheel on the 2nd or 3rd lap but he dropped my and bridged across to his teammate in the sand. I kept it upright in the sand on Sunday but the Belgies were riding it perfect every time and I only got it right 2 or 3 times. One time I did a pirouette trying to hop back on in the middle, it was something to see. Page caught me in the last 3rd of the race and dropped me in the sand also. I clawed back to him but he dropped me again in the sand on the last lap and I had to settle for 4th. At least I'm getting closer to the podium.

It is awesome racing so much. I am feeling better and better just like a stage race. I will have 5 races in 10 days and then I have a small break. I wish we could race everyday. Each race I have been more and more part of the race. It sucks just hanging on but it's so much fun to be able to attack and chase stuff down. It's also cool when I can actually accelerate instead of just being pinned at one speed the whole time. 

Meg and I are heading back to Durango for a day before I'm off to Gateway Cup in St Louis. Looking forward to checking out Mesa Cycles since I've heard so much about the shop from Richard. 

I wonder what Winsons' doing right now....