XTERRA Northwest Cup Race Report and Video

After flying into Portland to put on several clinics and pre riding the XTERRA Portland course, Erin and I caught a ride with Justin Barnhart (assistant race director for XTERRA Portland) and Matt Berg (top age grouper) out to Idaho for the Northwest Cup. With 4 bikes, loads of stuff, several cups of coffee, and enough energy drinks to kill a horse we made quick work of the drive.



The venue for the race was Farragut State Park just north of Coeur d'Alene. The race director told us all about the kick ass trails there were around (like in the pic below), but then informed us that we wouldn't be riding any of them. Go figure...

Just being a spaz as usual

Saying that race prep for this one was a bit hectic is a total understatement! 3 days out from the race the course was set. 2 days the bike course changed. 1 day out the swim course changed. The day of the race, the run was changed. But it all got sorted out in the end and with a shot gun start (the race director actually used a shot gun to start the race), we dove into some rather chilly and EXTREMELY choppy water.

You can't win the race in the swim, but you sure as hell can lose it. The current and choppy conditions affected everyone, but definitely made more of a difference for the weak swimmers such as myself. I lost nearly 7.5 minutes to the leaders in 1500m! Ouch that is painful. Gotta work on that swim...

The bike was a hammer fest! With only one "climb" in the entire course and a total elevation gain of probably around 400 feet, most of the day was spent hammering in the big ring. I was pleased to post a bike split similar to the top guys, but its to bad I was minutes behind because of the swim.

I was excited to start the run because I had done most of the second lap of the bike by myself and was a bit lonely. As I rolled into T2, there were 2 other guys with me. I blazed through T2 and was hot on the heals of one of them. We flew along the lake at a good clip, but he was just to fast up the big climb in the middle section. I finished strong to cross the line in 11th

Cuts and bruises for Team Timex at this race!

Check out the race video!

Pre Ride in Coeur d'Alene

XTERRA South Central Preview

On my way back from the XTERRA Southeast Championship in Birmingham, AL Angela and I stopped in Little Rock to pre ride the bike course for the up coming XTERRA South Central Championship. It was a really fun, muddy, mesquito infested ride. Check it out below.

Bama Race Report

The XTERRA Southeast Championship in Birmingham, AL is definitely one of my favs on the XTERRA circuit. Our homestay Jerry is total hoot and the race venue is absolutely beautiful. All and all its a great race.

That's Jerry on the left

On to the race. My overall feel of the race was a bit of frustration. I have just been so far behind everyone out of the water, I am unable to compete with the top guys.

I had a decent swim (for me) sitting on Shonny Vanlandingham's feet almost the entire time. Danelle Kabush was on my feet to complete our nice little train. I tucked my uniform top into my shorts to give myself a nice muffin top look in the swim.

As usual I had to work my way through a load of age groupers on the bike. It slowed me up a little bit, but the big kicker was the fact that I rode about 2/3 of the bike completely by myself. After passing most of the top age groupers and pro women in the beginning single track, I did the climb and the rest of the course alone. It was really hard to push myself when there is no one around. I was psyched though to see that the photographers got some good shots of me on Blood Rock.

The run was similar to the bike in the fact that I hardly saw anyone. I cruised in to a 9th place finish, which has been my best placing so far this year. I was excited because that now ranks me 10th in the Pro Points Series. Now I have to work my butt off to keep that.