The Laramie Enduro

Jo, Doug, and I rolled into Laramie around 2pm on Friday morning. After picking up our race packets and checking in at the hotel I spent a couple hours preparing my bike and my equipment for the race. In my camelbac I carried 80oz of water, 1 spare tube, 2 tire levers, 1 multitool, 1 big air cartridge, chain lube, rag, chamois butter, a small turkey wrap, 1 protein bar, and a long sleeve jacket. On my bike I also carried a tube and a big air cartridge. Next I planned what I'd pack in my jersey pockets: 18 GU's, 2 bars, and a chapstick. Lastly, I wanted to experiment how long it would take to vent 5 psi out of my tires. I planned on riding them at 30 psi for the first part of the course and then dropping down to 25 psi for the last section. It took 3 seconds to vent approx 5 psi.

Bars and GU

With the bike and nutrition dialed we headed out for dinner in downtown Laramie. I laid out my maps and exchanged briefs with Jo and Doug. They had ridden the section of the second loop that I missed on Recon Mission 2. I gave them all the beta I could from both recon missions and they filled me in on what I missed in the second loop. After a quick stop by Safeway we headed back to the hotel for an early night. It had stormed all day and a spectacular cell moved in just as we settled in. It was a rough night of sleep filled with pre-race anxiety. Just after midnight Jo caught me eating a bowl of cereal. I was trying to time my crunching with the air conditioning fan, but got out of sync and woke her up. She caught me in mid bite!

Stormy Sky

We woke up before the sun at 4:45am and after breakfast headed up I-80 to the race start. As we climbed up the hill, Happy Jack recreation area was shrouded in the left over clouds of Friday's storms. We stepped out of the car to a cold mist and I was overcome immediately by my (now standard) pre-race need to "evacuate" a few pounds. Fortunately, there was a highway rest stop just down the road. I made it to the start check-in just in time to see Jo off and get staged, there was no time to warm up. The open class and single speeders started five minutes before the sport class.

Jo in the Mist

Doug and I found ourselves staged at the back of the pack, so far back that I didn't even hear the start signal. Everyone just started riding and so I took off with them. The first 1/4 mile of the course was an uphill climb along a dirt road before it funneled into a short singletrack section. I wanted to get as close to the front of the pack as possible before the inevitable log jam that would ensue at the singletrack. I guy in a Ultra 100 Jersey in front of me made a move to the outside on the left and I followed. We worked together to jump close to the front of the pack and were in a good spot by the beginning of the singletrack. It worked and I missed the log jam which gave me the opportunity to drop another half-dozen riders before the trail opened up into dirt road again.

Doug caught me on the dirt road and we rode together until the next singletrack section where I stopped to pee and let air out of my tires. My original plan was to wait until after the 4th aid station, but I could tell 30 psi was too much. It was going to be a long race and any rolling resistance gain I might get was not worth the abuse the higher psi would cause my back and body. On a hardtail 29er 5 psi makes a difference. I was off the bike just over a minute, but it felt like an eternity. As I was clipping in I looked back to see a huge pack of riders heading my way. I sprinted up the single track settling into a small line of riders.

Early On

Three of us broke away and rode together up the short but steep singletrack climb where we caught all the single speeders who were walking. I spotted another Phoenix Multisport jersey up ahead that could only be Jo. As I passed I wished her a good race and told her I'd be thinking of her. The guy in front of me was wearing a skeleton jersey and we seemed to be evenly matched. His name was John and we would spend portions of the race riding together. The singletrack descended a steep knob and opened up into doubletrack, then fire road. I caught Doug who was in a medium sized group at the bottom. There wasn't a good place to pass, so after a while I bunny hopped a puddle to get by. The road continued in a long gradual descent which I sprinted at first and then settled into a sustained big ring cadence to the bottom.

Jo Killing It

The course made two 90 degree right turns and started up a long gradual climb that was a mix of false flats and steep bumps. I thought I had opened up a gap on the group Doug was in, but they soon caught me. With the groups and break aways the race felt like a road race. I would break away only to be reeled in by different groups. My plan was to go out hard and recover on this climb for the next singletrack climb that lay ahead. It was time to stop sprinting and stick to my plan. Doug, John and I worked together to slowly ride off the front of the group by the first aid station. I was happy to leave them. Everyone seemed to be frantically racing each other for every little bit of ground they could get and I didn't want to get caught up in it.

We rode through the first aid station without stopping and soon found ourselves at the base of the next single track climb where John pulled ahead followed by Doug. I was tempted to go with them, but I was starting to feel my long distance groove. I rode alone to the top with the plan of trying to catch Doug on the downhill. Since loosing my last race in the downhill I've been tuning my technique. I've found I can save my back and abs by keeping my arms comically loose, imagine two dead fish extending off my shoulders! Even though I cursed them at first, the bar ends help lock my hands from slipping off the ends of the bar. It's a riding style that brings me back 10 years to when a hardtail was all I knew.

I caught Doug at the bottom of the descent and we caught up on how each other's race was going. In a lapse of positional awareness I didn't see a sharp right hand turn coming up. Doug didn't either and we were both going too fast to make it. He veered into me, our bikes locked and we crashed in slow motion into the brush on the side of the trail. I managed to stay on my bike while Doug somehow ended up facing rearward caught in a hammock of young trees. It was pretty funny.

We rode together through the mostly flat singletrack to aid station 2. It had been about 30 miles and I was really feeling settled in my groove. Doug broke off to fill his bottles, while I stuck to my plan and didn't stop. I never saw him again. The terrain opened up into rolling hills and the course followed a mix of fire roads and singletrack to aid station 3. This was the section I didn't ride in either of my recon missions. The only real surprise was how much of it was singletrack and how bumpy it was. It was like riding on cobble stones. The challenge for me was to balance my speed with body fatigue from the bumps. If I went too fast I found myself expending too much energy acting as a shock absorber, if I went too slow I was loosing time.

In my Groove

I caught up with John at aid station 3, where I stopped to pee, exchange bottles, grab two handfuls of GU's, and shove 4 fig newtons in my mouth. Total time off the bike was 1 minute, John and I left together. Trying to chew 4 fig newtons at the same time with a moderate heart rate on bumpy singletrack almost ended in disaster. I was coughing them up for the next 5 minutes. Doug and Jo's brief on the next two climbs was invaluable, there were no surprises. John and I rode the next climb together which was a good distraction from our pain. He turned out to be a real class act. He's 44 and only had time to ride once a week in training for the race. I couldn't believe how strong he was and can only hope to be that strong when I'm 44.

After the climb was a short singletrack descent followed by long gradual climb to aid station 4. As I rolled through aid station 4, I grabbed another hand full of GU's, exchanged my bottles and dumped a bottle on my head. It was getting hot and the cold water was shocking but instant relief. For the rest of the race I every time I hydrated I would also squirt a shot into my helmet. On the short climb after aid station 4 I managed to snort a fly into my right nostril. It went in deep and I couldn't blow it out. The feeling large dead fly lodged in my upper nostril / sinus area while already breathing hard is a horror I will never forget. After a fit of hawking I managed to dislodge it from the back of my nose, down my throat and spit it out. I made so much noise a race photographer thought I was having an asthma attack and asked if he should call the EMTs. Disgusted at the experience I said no and pushed on.

Soon the dirt road ended in a campground and the course followed the singletrack section I blogged about in Recon Mission 2. I stopped in the campground to pee again and re-chamois butter. I felt like I had to pee the entire race, which was annoying, but meant I was hydrated. This is where I planned to begin my race. The first 50 miles was just getting to this point so I could start racing for real. I was alone and didn't feel super strong, but I made it a point to start a slow acceleration to whatever race pace I could muster. John was just behind me and riding strong. I could hear him for the first half of the singletrack down to Middle Crow Creek. There the singletrack started a climb through Sherman rocks up to aid station 5. This is where my pre-rides and training really paid off. My legs came alive and I started to catch the back of the pro pack on the climb. I was super focused on my effort level, picking good technical lines, and staying loose to prevent my upper body from fatiguing. I was sucking down a GU almost every 15 minutes and even forced a bar down to delay the onset of bonking.

The only hitch was a crash at a steep rocky drop where another rider had stopped looking somewhat dazed. The cleanest line was over the steepest part of the drop, about 3 feet. I rode it on recon mission 2 and made a mental note of the line. He was standing right in the middle of it at the top. I had no choice but to go left where even through the drop wasn't as steep it required a lateral hop to the right through some shark fin-type rocks. I hung up my front tire trying to make the hop and endoed off the trail. As I was getting back on my bike I asked him if he was okay and said politely "Hey man, that's a bad place to stop. Your standing in the line." He lashed back at me, angrily; "This is unrideable!" The adrenalin from my crash turned to instant anger, but I maintained and uttered a measured yet intense reply. "Dude, just because you can't see the line or aren't able to ride it doesn't mean everybody else can't. Your a pro and you can't ride this? WTF??" Enough time was wasted in the crash, so I moved on. Besides, ultimately I had only myself to blame for crashing. Once I realized he wasn't going to move I should have walked the section. It was a bad decision and I take responsibility for it.

I was definitely riding in the back of the pro/open field. Other than the guy who snapped at me above, everyone was super strong and had a very professional and courteous demeanor. It was great company to race with. I picked my way through the back of the pro field all the way to aid station 5. Fresh bottles were crucial as my camelbac was now dry. On my roll-through I grabbed another hand full of GUs sucking 2 down immediately. The course followed a false flat to the base of the final singletrack climb through Happy Jack on the Headquarters Trail.

Top of the Last Climb

I was hurting bad, but in a twisted way it felt good. The last time I had reached that level of suffering was in the 2005 season before my knee injury. I finally felt like I was back and it felt so, so good to be suffering for real. My goal was to put in a final sustained effort up the last climb conserving enough energy to sprint to the finish. I was in pain and my demons were loud, but I felt completely in sync with my bike and fought to stay positive. I thought about the people Phoenix Multisport is trying to help and what it would represent if I did well. I was riding at my limit and passed two more riders on the way up. At the top of the climb were a couple miles of unrelenting technical singletrack. The trail was filled with constant rocks and roots. I compared it to the Sourdough Trail in my previous post, but it was way worse. I tried to stay focused and proactive, keeping my arms and shoulders super loose. Towards the end my abs were starting to cramp and one of the guys I passed on the climb soon caught me. I fought through the cramps and soon the rocks gave way to smooth singletrack. Before long, I could see the trail head and the road to the finish. There was only 1/4 mile left. I dropped into my big ring and quickly spun out sprinting for the finish. I held off the guy behind me crossing the line alone.

70 Miles of Dirt

All of a sudden it was over! After a couple cool down laps around the parking lot and I found myself craving just a little bit more. That quickly faded once my heart rate settled and I found some shade and sat down. The GPS showed a moving time of 5 hours, 56 minutes and only 4 minutes stopped. I had no idea how I did, but I didn't see any other sport bibs around. After about 10 minutes John rolled in looking strong. I sat without moving for about 20 minutes, neglecting any recovery drink or stretching. My only motivation to get up was when I saw a results sheet being posted. My name was at the top of a short list of sport riders who had finished so far with a time of 6 hours and 5 seconds. The second place guy was 8 minutes behind me. John was 1st in his age group and 3rd in sport overall. We congratulated each other and I met his wife and 1 year old twins. I was super grateful to have had his company throughout the race. He definitely pushed me and distracted me from my demons.

Awards Ceremony

Since the race I've been riding high on a pink cloud and amazed at how well it came together. I finished 1st out of 68 in my age group and from what I can tell 26th overall out of a total field of 350. If I had raced in the Pro/Open class I would have finished 5th, which begs a point that maybe it is time for me to move up. This is my first year back after 2 years off and if I'm picking up where I left off then this will definitely be my last year in sport. The recon missions 1 and 2 were invaluable and paid off huge. The last minute saddle change to the Gobi was a gamble, but it worked out. My arss hurt, but not as much as it would have on the Bontrager Race X Lite.

Water, Mountain Dew, & Root Beer

Glad to be Done

Jo finished 4th the female single speed class, loosing 3rd place by 51 seconds!! It was bittersweet for her loose a podium spot by 51 seconds in a 70 mile race, but I'm super proud of her. She rode strong the whole race finishing in 7:17:51. Doug was on his way to a top 5 finish until the 4th aid station, where not eating and drinking enough caught up to him. He made a smart decision to abandon rather than do any permanent damage to himself. Thanks to Jo, for your support and encouraging me to do the race, Doug and John (who I met at the race) for pushing me during the race, Jean-Paul for pre-riding the course with me on Recon Mission 2, and to Ramine for the many training sessions and strategy talks. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to represent Phoenix Multisport and everyone there for your support.

T Minus 31 Hours...

It's 31 hours, actually 30:56 until the start of the Laramie Enduro. I'm sure everyone is getting a little sick of me talking about it, as it's been an obsession for me. I've been itching to avenge my DNF at the Durango 100 in 2005. Sure I'd did a couple 24 Hour Solo races after that, but those are different. My goal was to make the Durango 100 my peak race this year, but they cancelled it which is what lead me to the Laramie Enduro. Other than feeling a little tired from poor sleep last night I feel prepared. My goal is obviously to win my class, but I'd be happy with a top five finish.

I'm going to make a last minute gamble and break a sacred rule of racing - Don't make any changes on or right before race day. After riding the Triple Bypass on the Superfly I realized that the Brontrager Race X Lite saddle that came on it may not be the best for marathon type events. After hustling quite a bit I found a saddle that is. The Fizik Gobi. I even managed to get a limited edition one in white. I test rode it on a short ride today and it was noticeably different. The Race X Lite is narrower and harder. The Gobi is designed for longer rides. It has a flex wing system that absorbs shock on the edges and a softer pad on the center. It also is slightly longer and wider. I noticed this the most. My muscles and ass are conditioned for the Race X Lite so riding a 70 mile race after only 2 rides (including tomorrow) on a new saddle is a bit of a gamble. After riding today I'm going to leave it on and take the risk. I just hope I don't regret it...

Brontrager Race X Lite

Fizik Gobi

Laramie Enduro Recon Mission 2

As I mentioned in the training update below, I went on another Recon Mission to Laramie last week. After the first one I knew I had to go back (see Laramie Enduro Recon Mission 1). I just hadn't ridden enough of the course to feel prepared for the race this Saturday. After the first mission I thought about selling my GPS and trying to find one that I could upload the course tracklog into. This turned out to be prohibitively expensive and excessive as I would only use it for the race. Besides if I could just find a good topo map the GPS would be moot.

In the first post I ranted about how there was no good map on the race website. Well I rescind those rants and admit that I am an idiot! There is a good map on the website; I just couldn't seem to find it in the fog of my sleep deprivation the night before. Right under the Course Map title on the webpage is an "Open Full Map for Printing" link. I'm not sure how I missed this, but I did. I saved the larger map and used Photoshop to further enlarge and sharpen it. Then I cropped it into 2 main sections of each loop and cropped 6 enlarged sections for navigating through the many intersections. Here is each loop:

Loop 1

Loop 2

Unfortunately, I cleared all the waypoints out of my GPS after the first mission so I had to re-enter them all. Before, I connected them into a route which showed a course of straight lines between them. Trying to follow the straight line course on a trail that was anything but straight was a huge distraction. Instead, I just added more waypoints, but didn't connect them. On the ride I displayed them on the map page and used them as a backup for my primary navigation off the topo map. It worked like a charm, although it took forever to enter all the waypoints again. Just like the night before Mission 1 I was up until the wee hours of the morning.

Real Map this Time

I woke up at 7:45am Wednesday morning on a mere three and a half hours of sleep. I was hurting bad, but determined to do the ride. I met Jean-Paul at Whole Foods and after some last minute nutrition we were on the way to Laramie by 9:30am. Driving the Civic through morning rush hours of Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, and Ft. Collins took forever. We finally arrived at the trailhead about 11:45am.

Finally on the Bike

I wanted to ride the entire loop, but we made a plan to play things by ear and see how we felt. It only took 25 minutes to get to the second barbed wire fence were Jo and I turned around the first time. We dismounted, dropped our bikes over the fence and hopped it, careful not to tear any lycra or testicles. Barbed wire fence crossings would be something we frustratingly encountered way too often throughout the ride. I'm assuming they will open all the gates for the race. If not it's okay because by the end of the ride my fence hoping skills were quick and solid.

Jean-Paul Hopping one of Many Fences

The first loop went quick. After the fence crossing where Jo and I turned around, the course followed a long gradual fire road descent. After two 90 degree turns it started a long gradual climb, which with the exception for a few bumps was a long continuous false flat. Although the fire roads were boring (which would become a theme for the ride), I'm glad we rode it because I could see myself pushing too hard on this section and cracking later. During the race it's going to be early and I'm going to feel strong, I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to keep myself on a leash.

After the long false flat the race course crossed two narrow valleys and then spit out on paved Happy Jack Road. Across the paved road it turned into single track and climbed back up to the end of the loop. At the top of the climb the course turned left starting loop 2 with a long switchback descent. It was fun to be back on trail and with the exception of a few fence crossings we enjoyed it. Soon though we found ourselves back on fire road. Jean-Paul was coming off a 50 mile race followed by a long training block and the risk getting immune compromised wasn't worth the reward of riding miles of flat boring fire roads to him. I couldn't really blame him and not knowing what the course entailed I didn't give him a proper warning of what we were in for. I wanted to ride the entire course, but it was starting to get late and neither one of us had brought lights. I agreed that we should cut the second loop short, but cutting out the section East of Happy Jack road. This turned out to be a wise decision, especially considering how late we finished and that a closer look at the topo map showed we would have had wet feet from 6 creek crossings. I read the creek crossings on the Eastern Section are like the one below:

Middle Crow Creek

Wild Turkey

Aspens

Wildflowers

Beaver Pond

Vedawoo

We picked up the course near Vedawoo. This would prove to be the most crucial portion of the loop to ride. Once we were back on course, the fire roads soon gave way to single track. It descended along the edge of the Sherman Mountains to Middle Crow Creek. It was less established and ridden than Front Range single track. The trail was narrow and overgrown in places with plenty of tech sections and a few swamps. I rode Sourdough with Jo on Sunday to simulate this section. After the creek it began a net elevation gain all the way to the end of the loop. The trail winded its way through the rocky crags of the lower Sherman Mountains to the last major climb up to the top of Brown's Landing. It wasn't a long climb, but it was technical and being at the end of a 70 mile race it's going to hurt.

Laramie Singletrack

Overgrown Trail

Jean-Paul Riding through a Swamp

My Shoes Still Sink

We got back to the car just as the sun was slipping below the horizon. Jean-Paul was great company to have and rode strong as always. He rides with a competitive drive that most mountain bike racers would do well to have, I was stoked to do the ride with him. Even though we decided to cut the second loop short, we still ended up riding 65 miles that day in just under 6 hours riding time. It was cold, late and we were tired and hungry. After some foot long subs at Subway (the healthiest place we could find in Laramie) we rallied home. I walked in the door just past midnight.

Sunset

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE COURSE:
If I could describe the race course in one sentence it would be as follows: 50 miles of mostly flat fire roads with short single track sections followed by 20 miles of semi-technical single track with short fire road sections. The challenge for me is going to be to meter my energy in the first 50 miles so I'm competitive in the last 20. In the past I've used Nat Ross's endurance racing strategy and gone out hard early on, settling into a sustainable groove as the race wore on. I don't think that will work for me in the Laramie Enduro. I'm going to pre-ride the section we cut out Friday so I have a complete mental picture of the entire course. If I can get through the first 50 miles with enough energy to avoid cracking on the last 3rd of the course I think I will do pretty well. The ball is my court to be disciplined and focused, to ride my own ride and not get caught up with other people.

Training Update 7-21-08

I'm a little behind on keeping the Lee-Side up to date. This is Monday's training update.

Last week I rode 14 hours covering 138 miles over 5 rides. All were mountain rides except for a short Morgal Bismark loop on the road bike last Monday. Wednesday Jean Paul and I did another Laramie Recon mission which I'll post about next (I'm still editing pictures). Friday I rode Kenosha Pass with Doug and John (posted below). Sunday, I rode Sourdough on the Superfly with Jo. Sourdough is filled with rock gardens and is very similar to the singletrack sections of the Laramie, it was pure training. Monday, I rode the blue dot trails in Nederland with Jean Paul, Doug, and Ramine. Jean Paul led the way pushing us all to ride fast. It was great intensity training, that really opened up my legs. All 4 mountain bike rides were about 8000' and 2 took me above 10,000'.

Kenosha Pass - Reunited with the Superlight

Friday morning I was supposed to do a Phoenix Multisport team ride with a reporter from VeloNews. He ended up cancelling so I rushed to catch Doug and John who were on their way to ride Kenosha Pass. Kenosha Pass to Georgia peak is one of my favorite rides in the Eastern Rockies. See Colorado Trail - Keep it Open to Bikes, Kenosha Part II (pics). This season I've spent a lot of time strengthening my climbing and made a concerted effort pick lines that won't abuse the carbon hardtailed Superfly. As a result my tech skills and descending have suffered causing me to loose 1st place in the Cross Country Superloop in the descent. It stung bad! Riding Kenosha would be a perfect opportunity to brush up on descending and tech skills.

The Superlight was the obvious bike choice for the ride. Since it spent most of the summer on the East Coast I haven't ridden it much. Going from the Superfly to the Superlight (it's purely coincidence that both my bikes have the word "super" in their names) is a noticeable change in geometry. Compared the Superfly the Superlight feels like a BMX bike. The punchy, smaller wheels along with the longer head tube and more rearward CG are noticeable. As Doug found out, wheelies in the parking lot easily result in going over the back until you get used to the change in geometry.

I've had the bike 7 years and easily have 10,000 miles in its saddle so it didn't take long to feel at home on the Superlight. By the top of the initial climb it felt completely natural. After riding a hardtail all season it was nice have a little suspension to soak up the roots and rocks. The quicker maneuverability of the Superlight was also a pleasant surprise. One of the tradeoffs between a 26er and a 29er is maneuverability and the 26er definitely wins.

As we descended the backside of the initial climb the ominous sound of thunder echoed through South Park to the North. It turned out to be more show than substance and other than a few sprinkles we dodged any major weather. It was good to ride with Doug and John the latter who I've never ridden with. He's a strong rider, never keeping Doug and I waiting long. After rolling through the lower sections of the trail, a few rock gardens and a short climb we crossed the creek at the base of the climb up to Georgia Pass. It was so fun to not be afraid of cracking carbon. I made it a point to pick the hardest lines, huck off anything I could find, and ride everything without fear.

The climb up to Georgia Pass was just as rewarding. It's filled with semi-steep tech sections followed by longer flatter sections which suits my riding style nicely. Knowing the climb, I like to power through the tech sections in a big gear and then recover on the flats. The overhanging cloud cover kept the temps cool and because it was a weekday we didn't see a soul on the way up. Near the top it was getting pretty cold and I was glad to have brought a jacket. I didn't get much sleep the night before and started feeling it as we broke out above treeline. It took us 1:35 with stops to get to the top, definitely one of my fastest trips up.

After a bar and a GU we turned our wheels downhill and the fun really began. I wanted to get my abs and back to cramp like they did on the descent of the last race so I stood the entire time and only braked when absolutely necessary. It was some of the best descending I've done this year, though it would have been ugly if I crashed. The only carnage was a near miss ducking under a fallen tree at the top. My camelbac took most of the impact, allowing me to ride out of it. By the end of the descent I felt like I was back. I felt in sync with the trail and the bike and never could get my back to cramp.

At the bottom I had plenty of power left in my legs to speed through the aspen groves on the edge of Deadman's Gulch. I've been riding a lot of the same training rides this year and breaking the monotony with a ride like Kenosha couldn't be more refreshing. Doug took the lead up the last climb as a testicular injury from a small stick and many stops to take pictures opened up a gab between us. He rode strong all the way to the car.

At the end of the ride we were smiling and sore. I felt a regained confidence in my tech skills and descending and enjoyed being reunited with the Superlight. Sometimes it's just nice to get out, ride, and enjoy the scenery without worrying about training.

First Annual Phoenix Multisport Fundraiser

The Phoenix Multisport's first annual fundraiser was last week at Boulder's swank St. Julian hotel. To find out more about Phoenix Multisport click Here. This is by no means a complete post. I couldn't divert into full journalist mode and represent the team for the guests at the same time. As a result, I didn't get pictures of everyone I wanted to for which I apologize...

I showed up at the St. Julian early on Thursday to help unload. It was amazing how many members turned out. There was more help than work to be done which is a great testament to caliber of Phoenix's members. After determining that I was more of a distraction than a help I headed home to get Jo. Scott gave all of Phoenix's sponsored athletes cool Phoenix Multisport collared "shop" shirts. It's the same type of shirt I used to wear when I fueled airplanes, but much more stylish. The best part is I can spill de-greaser all over it and not hurt it. All my clothes should be like that!

Jo Modeling her New Shirt

I After we arrived back at the St. Julian I ruined five name tags before I figured out how to correctly spell the word athlete. If you read my blog regularly, this should be no surprise. Once my name tag was in place, Jo and I mingled with guests, donors, and met other members and athletes of the team. There was a silent auction with all kinds of goodies. The premier item was a BMC Team Machine road bike donated by Sports Garage, a Phoenix Multisport sponsor. It's similar to the bike Floyd Landis won the 2006 Tour de France on. Only the rider of this bike will be steroid free! The winning bid was well below retail, someone got a great deal!

Scott, Jo and Ben

A & J

BMC Team Machine

Tim, Jo, and Jon

A fly fishing casting contest was next on the agenda. The prize was a private guided fishing tour hosted by former Denver Bronco Bob Swenson, including dinner cooked by the man himself. I was recruited to be the judge which I did my best of with considering I know nothing about fly fishing. Contestants were judged by their ability to cast closest to the bull's eye on a flat target on the ground. Here's Ben explaining the rules with Bob in the background followed by some pics of the contest I took between judging.

After the contest we settled into a dinner of speeches and stories. I was honored to be asked to represent Phoenix and share my experience in the role cycling has played in my life with a table of guests. It was a little weird at first, but once I found my grove the words just flowed through me. Everyone at my table was super interested and we all shared a few laughs at some if my embarrassing cycling stories.

Jo and Rachel

After Dinner

As the evening wound down I met up with Chris, one of our guests who also owns an M Coupe. After a short diversion, I rallied back to the St Julian to help with the clean up. Again, the volunteers were plentiful and everything was almost done by the time I got back. It was an inspirational evening and I was amazed at how much Phoenix has grown in the short time I've been involved. I am super grateful to be a part of it and proud to sport the red, white, and black jersey. As I race the Laramie Enduro next weekend, when the miles wear on and the pain sets in I'll try to remember that I'm not just racing for myself. It'll be easier to suffer, knowing it's for a good cause.

The End of a Great Night