'Exorcism via shredding'

Thank you, Mr. Chorlton, for the kind words in your article about the CB Classic 100. It was certainly a great way to spend a day; riding in the beautiful fall colors in and around Crested Butte beside some of the best people I know.

The lead-up to the end of my 2010 cycling season has been a ton of fun. I've been doing some new races and spending time with new, as wells as familiar, friends.

A couple weeks ago I traveled to Sundance, WY to race the Bear Lodge Mountain Classic with friends, Dave and Kevin. (both from the Sturgis/Spearfish area) With extremely steep and loose climbs and a pretty unnerving descent, this race was hard! Making it harder was Dave Olson looming right around me! In the end, I escaped with some scrapes from what must have been a humorous scene of me hitting the deck - hard. Dave rolled in 2nd and we thought we'd pull our fast Chilean friend, Christian, onto the 'podium' for a quick pic.



Last weekend was the CB Classic - a race I look forward to every year because of the trails, weather, and most of all, people. Dave Ochs, ride organizer and team director of Team Alpine Orthopaedics, makes this event. His good natured vibe and general passion for putting this event on makes it worth the trip alone. Every time I see Dave at races, you know you can expect to see a smile.




The route takes you out on 3 monster laps on the trails outside of Crested Butte, with the home-base being the Brick Oven in downtown CB. Each loop is different and the total elevation gain is roughly 13,000 feet - over nearly 100 miles. Ouch. The race went well sans a few 'foggy' areas on the last lap. Brian Smith was knocking on my door near the end, making it a pretty close race!


(Thanks for the photo Fred!)

Brian is a good friend of mine and ex-teammate, and I know how fast he is. He just came back from a major injury, with the Classic being his first race this year. Man, you were flyin'!



One of the coolest parts of the weekend was hanging with my friend, Wes, who was essential in getting me into bike racing. Wes taught me many lessons as he would drop me up climbs - and down descents - when I got into riding. My first 24 hour mountain bike races were spent trying to hold up my end of the deal in our duo category attempts. Those were the days Wes!

Next up is Moab. I'm humbled by the support from my family, Libby, friends, sponsors, and the crew who are making the trip out to the desert to help me out. Next weekend is also a big weekend for a few friends...

Chris Lieto and Julie Dibens (as well as a few other Trek K•Swiss athletes) are gunning for the Ironman world championships in Kona Hawaii. Chris and Julie - good luck out there! I'll be getting reports Saturday afternoon.

Eszter Horyani (US solo 24-hour champ) is in Australia aiming to win the solo 24-hour world championships. Keep on pushing E! I'm bummed I won't see you in Moab, but you'll be flying in OZ.