After Furious3 Fernie, I headed south and stopped in Whitefish, MT for a sweet ride with Clint Muhlfeld and Tim Noonan. After a brief stop to see my old friends at Hammer Nutrition I continued on to Missoula. It was Fourth of July and I had heard about a sweet little weeknight MTB series on the PROXCT course at Marshall Mountain so I decided to give it a go. Despite being tired from the stage race and having the SSXC Nationals in Sun Valley just a few days away, it was a great time. If I was still into XC racing I would be all over that course–what a great one! Anyway, it was a good chance to dust off the single speed legs and get blown away by my old buddy Sam Shultz who is on the way to the Olympics! I still managed 3rd overall and sampled some of the sponsors goodness before hanging out with the local MTB crown and celebrating our Nation’s Independence Day!

Stage One

Howdy from the Kootenay Rockies and the second annual Furious3 mtb stage race. For those of you who haven’t checked this one out, it is a 3 day tour of some of the raddest trails imaginable! Read more »

This was the first ever self-proclaimed 6hr World Championships (isn’t this how SSWC and SSCXWC started and continue today???) in Capitol Forest near Olympia Washington. Also known otherwise as “6Hrs of Capitol Punishment”. After a day or two of summer, Junuary started again the night before this event with steady rain continuing through most of the race. I chose to ride single speed again–why bother with silly gears if they aren’t going to work after a couple laps anyway?! Read more »

Some of you may remember posts in previous years about the Test of Endurance race. Several years ago this event started as a two lap 50 mile race that is held outside the tiny village of Blodgett, Oregon on the way from Corvallis to Newport. Corvallis (home of the Beavers) is also home to Barry “WicknastyB” Wicks and has a storied history of mountain bike events and sweet trails dating back to the 80′s. Mike Ripley, owner extraordinaire of Mudslinger Events, has threatened to add a 100 mile version for several years but there has never been much interest in a four lap 100 mile race.
This year he planned to make the hundy a reality by starting in Corvallis and riding to Blogett then completing the customary laps there before returning to town for the finish. I was pretty stoked about that and since I am two time TOE50 winner, I decided to come back for MORE after not attending the TOE for a couple years. Unfortunately we had a late winter with numerous snow events down to the valley floor in March followed by very wet and warm storms. This provided near record flooding in some areas and ended up washing out a bridge crucial to the Corvallis-Blodgett loop.

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This race took place at Washougal motorcross park. This is a world famous MX track that has been used for AMA national events for as long as I can remember. They have also opened it up for cycling events periodically but usually these events take place outside the moto season (spring/fall). Unfortunately loamy moto track doesn’t mix well will rainy northwest spring so against my better judgement Ryan and I headed north two hours after a week of showery weather. Read more »

Just like Cascade Chainbreaker, this year is the first time I’ve done this race. And it won’t be the last!  Weather couldn’t have been more perfect, cool and sunny in the morning with high temp expected in the mid 60’s with some light winds. The rain (and SNOW) earlier in the week made for some perfect trail conditions, not much dust for a change.

Who was there? Well, darned near EVERYONE! Looks like the numbers were in the mid 500’s for a turnout rivaling Echo Red-to-Red.  All the Cat 3’s were staged and started together at 10:30 with a cowboy leadout. I believe the early start was in an attempt to have all the Cat 3’s done before the fastest riders were coming through.  Interesting concept and it looks like it worked.

But it also meant that I was in the last group of starters, all the Cat 2 Women.  It was the biggest group I’d ever seen, pretty close to 50 riders.  They compacted the starts and we were on our way about 5 minutes sooner than expected, chasing the Clydesdales hard through the field and out onto the dirt roads for a few miles before the singletrack started. Kind of strange to have so much wide and flat course to get started, and the group stayed fairly close together as everyone sized up the competition and settled into place. Read more »