The Best Of Bollywood...

Being able to ride a wheelie for any distance is an elusive skill I've yet to master. Sure, firing off a photo with the zoom lens at 20mph while riding no-handed I've got down. But the wheelies, I leave to others...

Studies have shown that mountain biking improves neuromuscular control far more than other, more conventional sports.

Furthermore, the activity may even help prevent early onset of Alzheimers. Take a look at my recently-installed "Yeti-Cam" and you'll see why. (Sound for the full effect) How are my lines?

YetiCam from TwoWheeledWorld on Vimeo.

As long as you're gonna be trainin' the brain it might as well be fun~

Standby 1...

Testride HelmetCam from TwoWheeledWorld on Vimeo.

Latent Heat...

Had I not made a beeline for the Utah state line when I did, I probably wouldn't have made it...

April weather in Colorado is like playing Russian Roullette... Remember, I was driving to a mountain bike race...

Mountain States Cup #1: Fruita, CO
Time Trial and Cross Country

I traveled to Fruita, CO for my 2009 professional debut.

Saturday's quick and dirty 7 mile time-trial put racer against the clock - a perfect way to start the season. Want a taste? Click the link - then come back here for the rest... and look closely at the back of the start house for some sweet blue and yellow skinsuit action...

http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1324/92/

I put up a solid 11th place finish. Saweeeeeeeeeeet.

Sunday's epic cross-country course was a 30 mile symphoy of desolate, sandy, rough and rocky desert terrain. Riding in Fruita is a lot like it might be on the surface of Mars; if Mars had a suitable atmosphere for, say, pinon trees.

And a single epic loop made one feel as if they were racing for their very survival - the remoteness of this place is in the front of your mind constantly. Ill prepared? You've got a long hike out.

I'll let you in on a little secret: these types of courses don't exactly suit my strengths. They're relatively flat and very rough - not good for a clilmbing specialist.

So what do you do when you're up against a course that doesn't suit you? Go like hell and hope that it sticks.




I took advantage of the fact that I thought I was closer to the finish than I was by prematurely setting up a late-race charge. I paid for it by fading hard in the final 5 miles and cursing my energy-sapped legs.

Hard lessons that I've learned so many times before...

But the charge stuck and I ended up in a very solid 10th place in the Pro division; and only 2 minutes out of the top 5. Not bad for a field that included former National MTB Champion and Mountain Bike Hall Of Famer Travis Brown, former XTerra champion Brian Smith, and current Elite Marathon National Champ and good friend Jay Henry.

Want a little taste? Check it out:

http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1325/92/

Storm Clouds...

"Eeet eeeez time!"

See all that blue below? Could pose a real problem for western Colorado between now and Saturday. Ain't nuthin I can do about it either. Fruita, CO is full of the stickiest clay dirt west of the Mississippi and if it's at all wet, it'll be a disaster.

The legs have been simmering for months, now. The flavours have cooked in.....

Let stand for 5 minutes to set. Serve hot.

The racing season is here.............

.........Catch you on the flip side...

The Neon-Clad Rivalry Within...

I reached another "you know you're Pro moment" as I poured myself into uniform and stepped outside...

You know your pro when the Stunt Double calls and says, "you're on your own, dude...you're pro you have to get out there... I'll be walking around the house with my National Championship jersey on again. Late." Two others called with the same message...

The metabolism must be gearing up for a long season cause lately I can't get enough food.

A restaurant-sized portion of French toast made with 4 scrambled eggs, iced in butter and drowning in syrup didn't even seem to do it prior to this day's rally. And I'm just a little guy. But the competition waits for nobody, and alas, one must do what needs to be done - solo or not.

As beautiful as these rides are, they aren't always what you'd like to be doing on a gloomy Saturday. 4-and-a-half hours in 30 degree wet snow isn't all that fun.

But you stick with it, you perservere, and you see things in a different way...

You only live once and constantly remind yourself that the pain of a lonely, cold, and wet day in the saddle is merely temporary...

I don't know what's worse on a day like this; the pain of climbing 5300 vertical ft, or the pain of the sweat freezing on the descents...

As I headed for home with my tongue draped over the handlebar I couldn't help but think about all those 75 degree days that are so routine; yet how days like this burn in the mind forever...

Nor could I stop thinking about the armada of sushi I'd later claim as my medal for the day...

Happy Easter, everyone...

Routine Was This Theme...

7:38am - Coffee. Look outside. foggy and 38 degrees.....

8:16am- Coffee. Garage. Remedy new wheel situation.

9:30am- Coffee. Depart the criznib on mountain bike. Hasn't warmed up. Mmmm- new jacket is toasty like a Quizno's sub....

9:38am- Realize coffee has its consequences - stop at a tree.

10:19am- Legs feel heavy. See coyote at 20 yards. He has no fear of me. I throw a stick to see if he fetches. He does not. Decide to name him Hogan.

10:43am- Ponder integrating Wii FIT into the training program....

10:58am- Wonder how long my white saddle is going to stay white...

11:10am- See red tailed hawk circling overhead. Wonder if he and Hogan are in cahoots...

11:27am- Ponder what it would take to become a model for REI. Stop, take a catalogue picture of self to begin assembling a headshot portfolio.

12:10pm- Try to understand why Colorado Springs Porsche has not stepped up and offered team riders demos for the season. To do: start building a business case.

12:43pm- Start craving one of those 7-Eleven hotdogs on the little rollers at the counter......mmmm savory....

1:03pm- Arrive at home. Turkey, salamie, provolone, 'mater sandwich. Apples. Peanut butter, chocolate soy milk. Nice.

The countdown continues.... I may have gotten the last of the skiing out of my system. Good thing, too, cause at this point it's either sink or swim...

P.S. I got a line on a helmet cam....could take TwoWheeledWorld into a whole new dimension......better recover quick tonite cause I hear the Stunt Double has it in for me tomorrow...

A Little Like Using A Tin Can To Call Europe...

I should really start training soon....

...............but dammit, we all have a weakness...

It's a good thing that ski season and the racing season fall on different sides of the calender. Cause times like this I'd have trouble choosing. But with race #1 a dangerous "it's-too-late-now" 2 weeks away, days like this are a big time guilty pleasure.

But this was the one we've been waiting for all season. Once it started snowing, it just didn't stop. The sun didn't show for days. And a 17+ inch Saturday morning left all remnants of a training ride a distant shred of a memory.... One more storm - one more chance - one final April gift...

But really, I should start training soon. Ya I could have piled on the clothes like I've professed about doing all winter long, like many of my teammates and competitors have been doing, but I guaran-frickin-tee ya' they didn't have as much fun as this...

Besides, sponsorships aren't about results, anyway, they're all about image. Which is why I've been spending extra time practicing my victory "six-shooter" guns in the mirror while the cat rolls his eyes at me with his, like, "what a frickin tool" attitude.

The '09 team kits are in and I've got to get my new skinsuit broken in. Skinsuit: kind of like a onesie for adults who wear spandex.

But ready or not, the off-season turns into the on-season in less than two weeks with a two-stage time-trial and cross-country in Fruita, Colorado. Rumor has it the team car just got an oil change and I have every intention of making the 5 hour drive over to Fruita take no more than 3 and a half...