McCall ID

So this past week Conor Ben and I travled about 100  miles north of Boise to McCall ID to get some altitude training in for our upcomming races. We spent a week out there getting some great riding in and some time on the lake. We were spoiled while we were there and sad to leave but its almost time to race. We arrived back to Boise today and will leave Saturday morning for Reno for the Tour de Nez crit on Sunday. After the race is done we will travel to Salt Lake for a few days to ride with the Colorado Squad then head to Chichago for the Tour of Elk Groove. This will be my last race of the year. I am really looking foward to it and had a great summer so far and hope to go out with a bang. I am also looking to sometime off and being back in Colorado for sometime during the off season. Here are some pics from the week.

View off the back deck

Top of White Bird Climb

A look down the switchbacks(Awesome Climb)

Something you don't see everyday, a goat on a leash

Rough Life

My team backpack

Canadian Photos

Photos from Greg Descantes

Boise Twilight!!

This weekend was full of excitement. Friday night we had a team Exergy BBQ to get pumped for the Twilight Crit in downtown Boise; this was the first time all year the whole team was in one place. My parents and little sister flew in from Denver to watch the race and hang out for a few days. It was really nice having them here for the short period of time. Saturday morning we had a community group ride and spun the legs out and went to lunch right after. Got home took a shower and laid down for a few hours before we had to head back downtown to prepare for the race. We arrived with the earlier races going on and had a meeting in a hotel room and received our new kits for the rest of the year. They are all WHITE, a lot cooler in the hot sun! Then we went and raced our hearts out. A lot of sponsors were there to watch us race so we wanted to thank them with a hard effort and a good performance. Early in the race I was up front covering all the early moves and keeping it together. With 15 to go Fly V took control and drove it. With three to go a crash in corner 1 stopped me in my tracks. Carlos was positioned well with Freddy setting him up and ended up 4^th.

After the race got to hang with the parents and sis until Monday afternoon which was really nice just to relax and take my mind off of racing and training for a couple of days. Tomorrow Conor, Ben and I are going up to McCall Idaho to train in some altitude for our upcoming races. It will be nice to ride somewhere new and have the lake in the back yard to soak the legs.  The rest of the team is Racing Cascade Classic!

Canada....eh

Just got back from Canada a couple of days ago. Going to Canada I didn’t know what to expect with my form since my last race was Tulsa and I have never been to Canada so I was pretty excited to see what it had to offer. We left Thursday morning to make the trek, when we hit the US/Canada boarder we had to present our passports and answers a few questions. One of us must have said something wrong to set off a red flag so they made us park the car and walk inside to talk to another guy as he ran our passports. After only about 10 min we were on our way again and shortly after reached the host houses. I ended up staying at a house literally on the boarder of the USA. It was pretty cool is was a cement line a few inches about the ground to indicate the boarder and a US patrol border man sat on the other side off and on throughout the week.

Racing began with the Tour of Delta on Friday with a crit on Friday and Saturday and a Road Race on Sunday. Our plan was to win the overall, and it being an ommnium it was based on points the whole weekend. . The first night was a fast crit with a nice riser and a fast decent. We got a teammate up the road early in a break that stuck the most of the way. With 3 to go we didn’t want to drive the pace because we would catch the break so with 1 to go we hit out and caught the group on the last corner. Andres got 2^nd and Carlos 4^th I believe. The next night plan was to get Carlos the leader’s jersey and we did just that. We rode the front and were very aggressive. Carlos ended up 3^rd I believe but that was enough to put him in the Jersey! The next day was a rolling RR and we had to get Carlos to the end without doing much work. We rode the front early and stayed there all day. We let a break go with no threats and a couple of them stayed away. Carlos ended up losing the Jersey to United Healthcare by 1 point so that really hurt. Monday we had a day off from racing and Tuesday was another crit from a different event, BC super week with races the rest of the week but we could only do Tuesdays because we had to get back to Boise to get ready for Boise Twilight!! The crit on Tuesday was on the UBC Campus with it being a big rectangle. Carlos ended up getting in a break and Winning from it!!! Ben ended 5^th

With tomorrow being our home race right downtown Boise there is a lot of pressure to perform. My parents and lil sister are flying out tonight to see the race so it will be nice to see them and hang out for a couple of days. Tomorrow is a big day for the team; write up sometime next week about it. 

New red bont shoes so everyone can tell Conor and I apart

Boise

Well since the last post I am currently in Boise Idaho living here for the rest of the summer. The accommodations are awesome and don’t get much better than this. Currently Conor and I are living with teammate Sam Johnson and it’s a good time. Been in Boise for about a week. Went to Sun Valley Idaho over the weekend to do a crit of the 4^th of July and it was an eye opener. Coming from altitude and been racing in it for many years I was not concerned of the altitude that is in Sun Valley. However during the race I felt like I was breathing through a straw. The legs were there but the lungs were burning more than normal and everyone on the team was feeling the effect. We rode very aggressive and went for a lot of primes. In the end we came up short for the win but still managed to grab 2^nd with Remi and 3^rd with myself.

Next stop Canada. We are leaving tomorrow morning to arrive in Canada tomorrow evening and race Friday. Friday and Saturday are crits and Sunday a Road Race. The 3 day event is called the Tour of Delta, follow along at http://tourdedelta.ehosting.ca/. Then we have Monday off and another crit on Tuesday for BC super week. Then we travel back on Wednesday to get ready for the EXERGY Twilight downtown Boise on the 16^th. This is the team’s home race and having the top teams from across the Nation coming there is a lot of pressure to perform. I will update after Canada!