Cyclocross season is here!

This past weekend was my first cyclocross race of the year in Breckenridge. I was really excited to start racing cross again and to see if I remembered how to dismount and run with my bike. Before this weekend I only road my cross bike for about an hour the week before and I felt pretty good but that was with no barrier in front of me. Once you actually have to jump over something it becomes a mental game. I was a little worried about running because two weeks before this I crashed pretty hard in a collegiate mountain bike race. I smacked my upper thigh pretty hard onto a rock and could barley bend it for a couple of days. So when I ran it really hurt. But I was not going to let that stop me from racing my bike.
I got to Brek about two hours before the start of my race. I warmed up really good and pre road the course a couple of times and really liked it. It looked like it was going to rain but it held out until the last lap so that was nice. The start of a cross race is very important. If you have a good start it is a lot easier to do well in the race. Unfortunately that was not the case for me. I got to the start about five min before the race but everyone else was already lined up, so i started near the back in the middle, and with the course pretty much shooting into a single track right off the bat I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I started moving up pretty quick and starting to get closer to the leaders. I was feeling really good and finally caught up to Conor and Robin and worked good together. Then it was Conor and I chasing the leaders down and really working hard but feeling good. With three laps to go I got a flat rear tire so that was my race. I was to far to get a wheel change so I just had to pull out. Kind of a disappointment that I had to pull out but at the same time I was feeling good so that a plus. It is early in the season so I will have many more opportunities. This weekend I will be racing again on Saturday in Boulder so I cant wait. You can feel the chill in the air now and that only means it is CYCLOCROSS season. I am really looking forward to the season and getting some good results. Can't wait.

Off to a rough start

Well this past weekend was my first weekend racing collegiate MTB of the year. I was looking forward to racing and testing out my new bike. We got to Beaver Meadows were the races were held at about 1030is at night and set our tents up and went to bed. woke up early the next morning for the short track race. it was a pretty cool course. I had an ok start and felt pretty good throughout the whole race. ended up 16th or something so not too bad. Then we ate some food and went to go pre ride the XC course for Sundays race. It was a pretty cool course with some good climbing and technical descending and i was feeling confident. Saturday night was cold, with some flurries and rain. Sunday morning was a lot nicer, the sun was out and it was warming up. Lined up at the start with probably around 50 or so racers ready to pin it to get to the single track like a min up the road. It started very fast like i was expecting and 30 sec into the races this metro guy tries to squeeze through a gap which was to small and clipped the csu riders bars right in front of me and they both went down hard, had to jam on the brakes and wait for them to move and i continued on. Started chasing and was feeling good climbing. then just about when the decent was starting I was coming up to a river crossing where I was going to dismount and run across, when i was just about to get off i believe i hit some roots and went flying over the bars. Smashing my upper thigh and shoulder hard onto a rock. I tried standing up and continue racing but i tried standing and couldn't. I thought i broke or a bone or something. So i sat there on the side of the trail as everyone else was racing. i sat there for about twenty min and then Garrison came through and carried my bike across the river and i walked across the river and then sat there for about ten min until i could get on my bike. I pedaled on legged down the trail because i could not bend my left leg very well or put any pressure on it. I found a fire road and coasted the rest of the way down. I got some ice on it and just waited to leave. Today my leg hurts really bad and i cant bend it that much. It's weird there is no bruises or anything, very tender to touch too. I am hoping it feels better soon. Planing on doing the cross country mtb race this weekend in sol vista and race my first cyclocross race of the year on Sunday just really hope my leg feels better by then,. But it is still early in the cross season so if it still hurts by this weekend i will just have to rest and let it heal up.


Short Track


Short Track


Short track


XC racers


Icing my leg after the crash

MTB Season

Looks like I will be doing some collegiate Mountain Biking again this season. I actually have a nice bike this year that is mine. A stumpjumper FSR 29er it is a really fun bike. Heading off to Fort Collins today at 3 for some racing this weekend. The other day I went over the bars pretty good so lets hope I feel ok this weekend and stay up right. Hope it is not too cold. I am off to class now to take a test, I will post something on Monday recapping my first MTB race of the season.

Ride your Bike!

A Reason to Bike from Brighter Planet on Vimeo.

Learn Cyclocross from the best

Need to touch up your skills or want to learn more about cross. Here is your chance, it is a great camp and you will learn a lot even if you are a begginer or a competitive racer, all skill levels. Cyclocross us almost here.

Over due

I have not posted anything in a long time. Summer is going well, almost done with, i start school on the 17th already. Racing has been going all right. Cascade and Nationals were all right, nothing great. I finished so that's good. I was starting to feel really good on the bike after Nats and was ready to race this past weekend. There was two crits. Saturdays race was short and technical. I felt really good the whole race fighting to stay up front, otherwise your race was over. Five laps to go it got very hectic up front. On the last lap my leg cramped really bad, the same place where i cramped in cascade. I ended up 17th which was not bad. Then yesterday was a longer crit with Shit pavement. Big names showed up for the big payout. I knew it was going to be fast and hard but i was ready, besides my leg was killing me where i cramped the day before. if felt like a knife stabbing be every pedal stroke. And today it is worse, it hurts to even walk on it. so i am going to take a little break and let it heal. I leave Wednesday to go back to GJ. I am ready to go back but not to start school. Where did the summer go. I now have a twitter account, i don't know why but i guess it is the cool thing to do.

Not what I was hoping for.

This past weekend was the Dead Dog Classic in Wyoming. It is a two day stage races with 3 races total. Conor and I headed up to Fort Collins Friday night to spend the night and leave for Wyoming early Saturday morning for the RR. We were running late and when we got there hoped out of the car, picked up our numbers and got ready and rolled to the start. Didn't get to spin the legs before the race. Going into the day I knew it was going to be hard, a lot of climbing which is not my speciality. So i was hoping to hang on. It started a lot faster then I thought. But as i expected I got dropped on the climb out. Kind of disappointing.


Saturday was the Crit and i was looking for revenge. The plan for the team was to keep on attacking like crazy until one of us got in the break. there was three of us so we took our turns attacking and finally Ian got in a break with about 8 other guys. All i could do after he got in the break was hold on for dear life. Teams had there whole teams on the front and count bring back the break. ian ended up 7th and i managed to hang on and finish with the main group. Kinda disappointing i was hoping for better but at least our teammate was in the break.

Then the TT was right after. They said it was a flat 10 mile course and i really did not want to race since I was well out of a good spot in the GC. I looked at my start time and barley warmed up, i was so unmotivated to race. I rolled to the start a min or so before my start and the official said i was suppose to go off a min before. So i guess i missed my start so that made me even more unmotivated so i pretty much just road the TT. No real hard efforts, just wanted to finish. O and it was far from flat. i don't know how they consider that flat.
So my next race is next weekend a crit which i hope i can do well. Then Boise twilight, Cascade, then u23 nats.