LIVESTRONG Team for 2010

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Cottonwood Cycles opens 2nd store

Our 2009 sponsoring bike shop is officially opening their 2nd store in Aztec, NM today at noon!

 

Yea Cottonwood!

Keifer

Verheul takes 3rd in TT, 4th Overall at Hillsboro Omnium

 John Verheul rode a fast TT for third place, and held steady for 4th overall in an aggressive RR on Sunday. Great  job John! John Stadick placed 4th in the Masters Omnium. Nice!

JV before the TT

1st Win of 2009- El Paso Puzzler

It was 6:12 hrs of rocky, knarly trails, but the 2009 EPP is in the bag. I led the race until Jennifer Tribe-Wilson (Titus/WTB, PRO women) passed me going up the loose and steep Mundy’s Gap climb, at about 3-1/2 hrs. She ended up putting 14 minutes on me at the finish. I was crawling, and walking the last few climbs, believing somone’s gonna catch me.

I think everyone was hurtin’ at that point. I’ve got serious chammy burn now, and the whole body is sore. This endurance race is extremely challenging! You have be be alert the whole race. One false move, and your in a cholla, or prickly pear cactus. The cacti are right on the side of the narrow, rocky trail, so its real easy to get poked.

A befitting Trophy

Special Recognition to Dave and the BMBA crew. They had volunteers all over the course, and it was organized quite well. Dave and Jen (yes that WTB/Titus Pro rider is his wife!) are swell people.

Special Shout-Out to Ralph and Pete at our bike shop, Cottonwood Cycles, in Farmington. They provided my 29er GEAX 2.2 TNT Saguaros tires that worked very well, with no problems. They also provide my Hammer Nutrition products too! Hey Pete: the Thompson Masterpiece seatpost works great!!

The GF Superfly took a lot of rock punishment today, so I’ll have to give it a good look over to make sure it’s ok. Lots of rocks smacking the downtube and chainstays. I couldn’t see anything obvious after the ride.

Update: I’ve inspected the bike, and there’s not even a scratch on the downtube! Looks like the Superfly handled the rocks well!

I need some days off, I don’t think I can even sit on a bike seat anyway.

Keifer

Truchas Team Ride

Our first 2009 team ride happened on Saturday Febuary 13th in Los Alamos/Espanola NM. We had Warren, Mark, Hugh, Irene, Gretchen, John S., and Keith in attendance. We rode the famous Truchas loop, which takes you NE into the mountains above Espanola to Truchas village at 8000′. Lots of climbing on the way up, and way fun descending coming back. A beautiful day (about 45-50 degrees) with lots to look at, including multiple historic Catholic missions. I wish I had a real camera! I had my cell camera, and here’s a couple pics:

John, Irene, Warren (behind kite) and Hugh in Truchas

Mark in Truchas

From the Selby’s house and back, I got 78 miles and 4:49 Ride Time. Glen GPS’d it at 6300 feet of climbing. Great training loop!

Keifer

2005 TP to TA Pic

2005 TP to TA A Race Start, Brian, Keith, John S.

Another memorable photo…

New Years in Scottsdale- Perfect!

I spent five days, the 31st through the 4th in Scottsdale, AZ riding. It was 70 degrees the first 4 days, and beautiful! LOTS of riding. The legs were tired after the first big road ride, but I kept riding every day. I knew I was going back to old man winter in the Rockies, so I wanted to get as much riding in as possible. Three long road rides (base training) and three really fun MTB rides. I was really stoked to MTB due to all the trails being muddy or covered in snow up in Farmington area. Its going to be road only in the four corners for a while.

Kinda stressful driving back though. From Flagstaff, AZ to 10 miles south of Shiprock, NM it was very slow going due to snow, and snowpack roads. I was even driving 5-10 MPH in I-10 at the AZ/NM border for a while. THe weather turned a 6-1/2 hour into 9 hours. I was glad I was driving a AWD vehicle (FORD Edge). Bailey, our Schnauzer slept through most of the stress.

Brian Palen getting Dirty at McDowell Mtn Park Competitive Tracks

 

Most of the road riding was in NE Scottsdale area, along Pima, Happy Valley, and Cave Creek roads. We did one road ride that climbed up South Mountain to the top, and a few spurs. The main climb is 7.7 miles to the towers. MTBing was at the Phx Mountain Preserve, South Mountain Desert Classic Trail, and McDowell Mtn Park Competitive tracks.   Thanks to Brian Palen for showing Jeanne and I around the Mtn Preserve Trails!

The Shiprock sunset from Hwy 541

Keifer