Cholla

Doug, Tanner and I made the quick trip to St. George for the Cholla Challenge in Hurricane. Last year was hot and miserable but this year the weather was ideal, mid 70's and little wind. They changed the course this year to run the opposite direction from the past and added a new sandy, soft section. The changes turned a pretty good course into kind of a mess. It had no real flow and a bunch of slow slogs through sand and gravel. However, other than the course it was a good race and a nice time in the warm sun.

Tanner continued his solid racing and remarkable improvement. He won the 16 - 18 Expert against some good competition. He beat the kid who has dominated their age group the last few years for the first time. When Tanner passed him on the last climb, he was more than a bit surprised and couldn't respond. Tanner rode in for a comfortable win. It's really amazing to see Tanner's improvement over the last year and I'm very proud. It's going to be a lot of fun watching him this year.

Doug raced in the 57+ and was much more competitive to finish 4th. He's getting the hang of riding a mountain bike and for the first time really felt like he was racing. He's also made dramatic improvements and I'm glad he's continued to give it a go.

I had a solid race to finish 2nd in the 40+ Expert. I had a good start and led for a while but fell to 4th by the end of the first of three laps. However, the top 4 were all within a minute of each other and I could see everyone so I remained motivated. I got by Brad Keyes (only because he was on a single speed on a course that's impossible to gear for) mid lap and Bob near the end of the lap. I could see Fred Porter up a head and slowly closed to within about 15 seconds half way through the last lap. I thought I was going to catch him, but he saw me and increased the gap on the last climb. At that point, I knew I wasn't going to catch him and lost motivation the last couple of miles to finish a little over a minute back.

I was pretty happy with my fitness and my ability to ride at or above threshold the entire race. However, I didn't have any top end to pull back Brad on the last lap. It was fun to be in the mix and have a good result. I have to enjoy these races before we get to the climbing courses and I really suffer.

The team had a good day overall with Michelle dominating the women's expert and Rico taking 5th in the pro. Also, Dave won the first stage in the Triple Valley Stage Race in a sprint finish after Chrispy was in a two man break for 60 miles.

All in all, a very good trip with good company.