There is often talk of what it takes to complete a multi-day ultra mountain bike race. Is it fitness? A simple mantra of eat, ride, sleep? Or, something more intangible like mental toughness and the ability to keep going when it gets really tough? Naturally I have my own ideas. In my experience, the #1 […]
Category Archives: Race Execution
Dixie resources
So you are thinking about doing the Dixie Lite or Dixie 311 but not sure how to plan for so many unknowns? Here are some tips to get you started. Start with Google Earth. If you don’t have it yet, download it – it’s free. Next, download this file: Dixie Resources. (right click, save as…) […]
Moab 24 Hour Nationals
Last weekend we earned matching jerseys. 24 hour solo single speed national championship jerseys, that is. This one has been a long time in the making. As recent as 3 years ago I thought riding a SS was a freaky fringe thing – as all non single speeders do. After bombing out of Moab in […]
Kaibab Adventure!
KMC is a course of contrasts. Lots of singletrack. Wide open desert country, Vermillion cliff backdrops. Miles and miles of alpine deep forests. A recovering burn area. Grand Canyon views. And, this year: an alternate option to go 200 miles instead of the tried and true 130 option. Which do you think we chose? Right…it’s […]
Racing the Grand Loop
When I did the Grand Loop in ’07 it was a completely consuming affair. Everything about it was so new, so foreign, so promising, so freightening…I was green to multi-day self-supported racing (still am, really). Having that first one in the books removed much of the unknown about the event this time. By far, Grand Loop […]
NOAA’s puppet
The man has got me bouncing around like pinochio. The weekend weather is gonna be catastrophic, oh wait no it’s ok, oh wait it’s is going to be the end of the world. I woke up to this: A POTENT PACIFIC SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE REGION THIS WEEKEND. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AS […]
Payson Plums
Payson, AZ is smack dab in the middle of my old stomping grounds. Way back when – before I rode bicycles in earnest (think disco and polyester) – I lived on the NE side of the Phoenix metro blob and escaped to the Tonto national forest on a weekly basis, sometimes to the 4 Peaks […]
Payson Stampede 24 Hour Mountain Bike Challenge
…is the next destination. September 20-21. I talked with an official at USA Cycling who confirmed this is going to be the venue for the 2009 and 2010 NORBA National 24 hour Mountain Bike Championships. Well I haven’t done a 24 hour solo since Worlds last year and am in just the right mood for […]