photo by Rich Cruse

Just a quick blog before prize giving.

This “Mountain champs” really lives up to its name. Tons of climbing (ow), high altitude (ow), but fortunately also plenty of single track (yay) and lots of rocks. (yay) Snow basin was the venue for the previous Winter Olympics and appart from the excellent venue, the organization here is top class, and the people are very motivated to showcase Utah as a sports destination.

Read on …

This race is really important because in order to keep me in the running for my 6th XTERRA USA Series title, I need to have a strong race. Amber, Kona, and I arrived in Ogden on Tuesday night to get ready for the race. Wednesday was a hard “training day”, flew with a small plane flight to the Green River in Wyoming for a day of fishing. Yesterday I did some actual training and checked out a section of the bike course which had changed from the prior two years. Less climbing and more rocky singletrack.

You can find the complete start list on xterraplanet.com

Green river Brown trout caught on a ‘Hopper. (Fish- talk for imitation grasshopper) Read on …

Just a quick post. Its 1am and time for bed.

I raced the Avia XTERRA Snow Valley today. On top of a 30 hr training week it was not a cake walk, but the race went well. Felt strong all around. Also, I got to spend the weekend with the folks from my shoe sponsor Avia: Ed, Ike, Kenny Souza and fellow pro Shonny Vanlandingham. Shonny continues to improve at XTERRA and won the womens race and got 3rd overall. She almost “chicked” James Walsh from Mud, Sweat and Beers fame. But then he spent all day moving yesterday, and all I can say is “dude, I know your pain.” (See next blog.)

I am absolutely honored to be helping in the design of an Avia trail racing shoe. Today I tested a new sole pattern and the loose, sandy conditions here was a perfect test. We are hell bent on building a race winning shoe, so expect something light, fast and flashy. The shoe may even bear my name. W O W.

Ed in the “Victory or death*” shirt. Me with the silly grin. Ed’s wheels- the green ones. My wheels- the silver 29er. Specialized Stumpjumper.

Read on …