Does it get any higher than New Mexico?

Living in Denver you tend to think that you are acclimated to high elevation. But I guess with some mountain bike racing, you are truly bike racing-- up a mountain.

The base of Angel Fire, New Mexico stands at a mere 8,500 feet. That's where we started. The course consisted of 60% technical singletrack and 30% fire roads. The long loop was approximately 9 miles and climbs up to 10,500 feet each lat with about 2000 feet of elevation gain. This we did twice. So yes Nick, when I said I felt like I climbed 4000 feet, I wasn't kidding!

My warm up hurt pretty good. When you look down and see 182 on your heart rate monitor, and you're spinning about 60 RPM, you're doing some major climbing. The good thing though, it that you aren't the only one suffering. When the race kicked off, our pack moved like jello up some of the steepest sections of the course. I knew I had to settle in pretty fast, otherwise it would be an anaerobic burnout. I gradually moved up to about 5th place by the top of the first lap. I was stoked on the final technical climb that I was outclimbing girls. I told myself I would just keep pedaling until I fell over, and sure enough I just kept going.

I have been gaining major confidence in my technical riding skills as I have become more acquainted with my Yeti. This was the first race where I could rely on my technical downhill skills to gain ground as opposed to losing ground. I was only passed by one gal in my class (Expert 19-29) on the downhill, and considering she was the Women's Open Super-D the previous day, I didn't feel too shabby.

By the end of the first descent, I felt more exhausted than at the top of the descent. Apparently it served no recovery. I could barely shift into my granny gear from round number two of the climb. Overall, I finished sixth. It was rough, but I'm not too disappointed considering the circumstances coming into the race: moving furniture the day before instead of pre-riding, still being physically hungover from the Tribe Gathering, sleeping with a dog on my head the entire night, and well, being there and just finishing was good enough.

As of now I am third in my class (Expert 19-29). I am ready to get back into some "training." Today I am going to go and ride Lookout Mountain and see where I am at fitness wise. Yesterday I had the most incredible commute to work, I climbed up Chimney Gulch trail from my house in Golden to the very top of Lookout Mountain and then descended down Apex to work. What a way to start the day! I think that will have to be my new morning mountain biking commute. Screw the bike path!

I'm headed into the heart of race season soon. The Rio Stampede on June 7 was cancelled. It was rescheduled for August 9th. Unfortunately I'll have the miss the 12-hour bonanza for a friend's wedding. In place of the Rio Stampede, I'll be doing the Teva Mountain Games XC race on June 7. It'll be a good time to see a friend coming in from out of town to race and to race with a gigantic pack. Looking forward to it.

So I realized finally I need to replace the rechargeable batteries in camera. So no new pics from the weekend. I do have a few pictures of the downhill racing that was going on in Angel Fire. It was 4X Nationals also that weekend. A little peak into what I may be getting myself into up in Keystone this summer. (Actually this looks very similar to the descent on the XC course, funny how that works!)

The 7th Annual Yeti Tribe Gathering

It's been a while since I have last written, but that only means I have been busy playing on the dirt! A lot has happened since racing the Rabbit Valley Rally in Fruita, Colorado the beginning of April. Since then I have raced the Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop, been riding with the kickass Yeti Beti's every Tuesday night, built up my brand new steed (the luscious Yeti AS-R Carbon built to finally fit me!), and accomplished a big milestone in burgeoning career in the bicycle industry: The 7th Annual Yeti Tribe Gathering.

Finally, I'm nailing the wheelies, one pedal stroke at a time- May 15, 2008 Fruita, Colo.

So I'll start in the present and work my way backwards. The Yeti Tribe Gathering. This was my first whack at planning an event of this size and caliber. I had over 200 people come to Fruita, Colorado to ride the Kokopelli and Taubeguache trails. The Yeti Tribe Gathering originated back in the Durango days of Yeti, where the freaks would come out of the woodworks to celebrate the fat-tire. It was evolved into an official event, which picks a different location in Colorado every year. Last few scenes have included Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Monarch and Aspen/Snomass.

I was hired to put all of this together for this year, and boy was it a task. The week leading up to the tribe was a little hectic, but when it came down to it, Dale's Pale Ale was flowing, people were smiling and worn out from long, technical rides out in the sun, and I only had one girl fall off a 12-foot ledge. All-in-all, mission accomplished. Even had the leisure of getting a bit snockered Saturday night off a bottle of wine (my sure bet that I wouldn't be hung-over the next day, wouldn't be too great of an event planner if I was). I strayed away from Bike Limbo, barrel racing and the bunny-hopping contest, as I'm not sure how I would be without 100% coordination in effect, so I made a much better announcer and timer.

On Saturday during the day we guided the groups down The Ribbon, a massive stone slab with earth-shaking cliffs on both sides. Somehow at the end of the ride I ended up with Conroy (Yeti President), Matt Phillips (editor, Mountain Biking Magazine) and Taff Darner (the most kickass 40-year-old woman out there) and I was suppose to know what trails connected to what on the Taubeguache Lunch Loops. Truth be told, I was shit lost, and luckily their names held true and we were eventually looped back to the parking lot, with perhaps a bit more pedaling that even I would have liked.

Sunday was spent cleaning up and sending people off on their own excursions on the Kokopelli Trails. Luckily I had three days prior to the event to do some exploring with Anthony Sloan, the demo guy for Yeti and my second hand for the entire weekend. My favorite was Horsethief Bench--a little sidekick loop to Mary's Loop that has the perfect mix of tech, flowing trails and fantastic views of the Colorado River. Even the lizards came out in their best Yeti colors for the weekend.

After Saturday's guiding adventure, I realized I should have paid more attention to the trail when I pre-rode it with Anthony on Wednesday. I almost led my entire group off of a cliff, and then realized we should have gone one more slab to the right. But riding it with just one other person, you get going so fast! It's almost kind of scary, riding you bike feels like chattering skis going 50mph over corn sludge snow. Except the consequences seem much more severe when it's you've only got skin and Lycra covering you.

The last two weekends leading up to the Yeti Tribe Gathering were filled with lots of racing! I watched as a CSU alum the 2008 Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals which were held on home turf in Fort Collins, Colo. (darn early graduation!) Oh well, it was probably more fun to watch from the side than to be out in the gail force headwinds in a race. My Vanderkitten teammate Amanda Miller took fourth in the omnium for the Division I Women's racing. Rock on! As much as I love a little spin on the road, I am loving mountain biking more and more.

I raced at the Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop, Colo. the weekend before May 3-4, 2008. The property is owned by Keith Darner, and has a full on XC course, 4X, DS and short cross course. What a place to live! Except for the sand . . . .

When I pre-rode the course on Friday evening, I was cursing the sand left and right. I was still riding a demo at that point and didn't realize that my tire pressure was over 40 psi. So after lowering it by more than half, and getting a few "Quick Nick MTB Lessons" I was good to go. We camped out at the campground across the street, and boy did I get cold! Good thing I wasn't racing until noon.

I wouldn't say my warm-up was great or anything, but boy was I ready to race. This XC course was a 7-mile lap, four times over. The women were groaning at the start line that we had to do 28 miles. For some reason it didn't even phase me. I had a great start, and really felt like the racer I knew was deep down there. Every time I saw someone up ahead I had the mental game to give it a push to pass them. I ended up in 5th place, which was far better than second to last in Fruita. I guess three weeks of more structured training paid off.

The short track race on Sunday encompassed portions of the XC and portions of the 4X course. This was the type of race where starting position was crucial. Luckily I had a chance to pre-ride a lap, but unluckily it stuck me at the back. Passing in the sand pits was nearly impossible, and going over the jumps--well let's just say I got too confident on the first two laps, then cased it, and wrecked right in front of the Yeti tent/trailer and pro riders. Score.

Tonight I leave for Angel Fire New Mexico for the Mountain State Cup No. 3 Chile Challenge. This is a huge event, more on the gravity side, but I hear for the XC course on Sunday, it's a climber's course. Hope my legs are ready to give it full throttle. I have been riding my mountain bike a ton lately, but mostly just for fun. So it'll be a good measure of what is the best kind of training, on the mountain or on the road.

It'll be me, my new carbon baby (which I crashed on concrete this afternoon skidding off of Apex Trail onto the bike path) and the dirt. Hope it goes well, and I'll be giving much more frequent updates now that racing is in full swing and life is not so hectic (wait a minute . . . it's always hectic!)

My new carbon baby: a black full XTR AS-R Yeti Carbon!