The Hustle

Another last minute decision to head up to Phoenix turned out to be a great weekend.

Lots of riding, lots of coaching, and lots of work on the upcoming race season.  Cooper Dendel was in town and we did some serious shredding...both on the road and on the trails.  Last Sunday was really big with a successful Tour De Cure followed by a Bugs shuttle run in the afternoon!  The dirt was amazing up there....

Bugs Hike a Bike w/ Cooper

After Cooper left I was pretty smashed and had to go for a massage....it was one of those massages that was pretty serious and almost left you more worked over than before you started....which probably meant my body really needed it....

Friday I headed out for another good Bug Springs run w/ Jake and Kenny from NoTubes.  My legs felt horrible after the massage...at least for the first hour.  Or maybe it was just pedaling the Remedy up the mtn for 5,000+ ft.



I was just making sure the bike was ready!

The race was just really an excuse to skip town and hang in PHX with good friends, but as soon as the race number goes on things change.  This time I raced Andrea's Remedy which is a solid 2 lbs lighter than mine.  Its really is crazy how much 2lbs makes a difference in accelerations and on the steeper climbs.

The race started and pretty quickly it was whittled down to 4 guys, but I had a feeling it was going to be another tactical battle with Trav.  He crushed me on the climbs...just enough that I couldn't get around him for the descents.  This went on for the first 2 long laps...he even gapped me a few times, but I made sure to sit on him on the last climb of the lap into a headwind and jump him before the final descent before heading to the 2 tech laps.  I had just enough of a gap to push on and extend my lead on the first tech lap.  As the race approached its final lap I started to fatigue.  Trav put 30 seconds into me on the last lap, but I had a large enough gap to hang onto the first victory of the year!  Andrea proceeded to match me and won her race as well!


I was pretty smashed after and we didn't party Saturday night, but was feeling good enough for another sweet ride w/ Tim Racette and his fiancé Evelyn on Sunday.  We did just about everything in the Maricopa County Park system including the race course at McDowell which I hadn't done in a long time.  Finished 'er up with some Senor Taco.  Perfect way to end the weekend.

Next up:  New race equipment for the 2014 season!  Bye Bye Remedy hello Superfly. Can't wait!