Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Gunnison Growler Race Video (recap to be posted soon)

There  I am 57 seconds into the video representing Rocky Mountain Racing (in Halloween colors)! Lots of RMR riders throwing down and Tim Allen killing it!

2011 Gunnison Growler Race Video

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Schwalbe Sponsorship Support

Just got the word that I'll be getting individual sponsorship support from Schwalbe!  You better believe I'll be rolling Racing Ralphs this summer at the races.  Some love their collection of shoes, sunglasses, or watches and a few of us love our tires.

My new shoes.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

100K and Counting...

Since it's getting close to tapering for the Gunnison Original Growler, I'll cap off the last month of training since I won't revisit the blogging world until after the Bailey Hundo.  It's been a fairly productive month despite having trouble with executing on training rides last week.  My goal lately has been to incorporate more variety in workouts to balance my capacity for all types of terrain.   Some other keywords for the month were trust, justice, redemption, and execution.  For a brief explanation, for as much as I've trained my body this winter, I've focused more on training my mind.  Now, I just have to trust that.  I've lost count for how many times I've ridden for justice, which is as powerful as a hand on my back propelling me forward.  For days that could have been but were never realized, I seeked redemption all last week and got it by execution.  I realized the inability to complete workouts successfully was determining my headspace.  On the next day I was determined to ride three hours in freezing rain and snow via canyon roads to get my mojo back. See Garmin stats here.


The ride for redemption worked! This ride had a ripple effect towards a great finish to the past 30 days which I need to be satisfied with...
Stoked about 100,000 feet of climbing in the past 30 days all on a mountain bike.   It's good prep for those incomplete thoughts that are circulating somewhere in my head about what exactly I'm aiming towards in mountain biking.  At the end of the day (or in mid-ride), I think it looks like this for next year...Breck Epic.  And dreaming bigger after that...Claro Brasil Ride. Anyone up for this to be a duo team?! Aside from training, I think it's only a matter of getting enough $ to make it all happen.
After visiting Gunnison for a course recon of the Original Growler, I am even more excited about the next race which takes place on Sunday, May 29th.  After seeing the tiny town and epic trails, I instantly thought of retirement there. Gorgeous!



There will be casualties.




Upon the first waking moments yesterday, I contemplated whether or not to ride due to some hard efforts lately.  I next remembered what fellow racer Ben Welnak stated earlier in the week.  I immediately threw the comforter off me as an expression of determination. An idea dubbed by Ben as "breaking through small plateaus" isn't something that's been far from my mind lately and helped for a killer ride.  Thanks Ben! Here are some pics of the ride amongst thunderstorms, pouring rain, sleet, and mud batter.  Cold, but so damn fun.  There's so much peace to be had in braving the elements!

En route to Mt. Falcon and LOTB.
Literally, 100 feet of visibility at the top of Lookout.
Is my bike glowing or is it just me? Pretty much summed up how I've been feeling after my rides.
My mud collection.

See you on the trails,
Tim

Monday, May 16, 2011

CarboRocket Sponsorship Support

I received some very exciting news lately that CarboRocket will be providing me some hefty support for the 2011 season!  I'm currently receiving tons of support from my Rocky Mountain Racing team who are amped for the upcoming season and set a great pace on Saturday with a team ride from White Ranch to Golden Gate Canyon and back. See Garmin stats here.  Also contributing major support has been the Golden Bike Shop who have a killer shop staffed with fantasic people. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them.

Before we get into the meat of the season, I do have to thank Brad and the folks at CarboRocket for this opportunity and their support to fuel my goals and dreams for this season.  After first experimenting with the Half Evil 333, I was hooked and knew that I couldn't dare go this season without it.  Also, thanks to fellow enduro rider, Ben Welnak, for kicking off this opportunity for getting me in contact with them.  Here's to a great season!

The ultimate recipe: I've done my fair share of research for endurance racing and training nutrition.  Supposedly, my body should be able to digest 76 grams of carbohydrates per hour so CarboRocket Half Evil 333 is right on the money.  Also, I've tried almost every nutrition product for endurance training and haven't seen anything that compares to all five electrolyte levels that CR provides in a single formula
My first order of CR with another order already in mind!

See you on the trails,
Tim