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Having a good race is the best feeling ever. Sometimes I forget how good it feels to come across the finish line knowing that you just gave your all, minimalized your mistakes and put together a great race. And having a great result to go with this makes it even better.

This last weekend in Germany we had a full schedule of racing on our hands. I really wanted to make the best of these last races and also both of them sounded like they would suit me relatively well. The first race on tap was an 11.5km hill climb in Buhlertahl. I was really excited and was hoping to capitalize on my climb skills, but things did not go as planned. I felt like I got a really good warm up in, but come the start I felt flat. This was not a course to not be 100% on since the first few paved sections were extremely steep. I got a decent start, but soon found myself falling backwards. I felt like I was overheating until around 6-7km in I seemed to regain my composure and finished better than I started in 30th place. Not the result I was looking for, but that's racing. That night we packed up all of our things and left the Hostel in Kirchzarten.


Needless to say I became very attached to Kirchzarten, I plan to return very soon. After leaving the Hostel, we pressed north to Solingen for a really sweet race out side of town. The course was super fun, with a lot of different terrain that was a pleausre to ride. It was 4-5km in distance and had some super fast power sections, small climbs and a very technical rocky turn before climbing back up to the start/finish.

After a decent start, I was able to move up a lot, but got caught in a bunch of traffic on the first lap. I made my way through the clutter and got into a grove. I finally feel like I got my race legs back. Last year I had my race in Deer Valley where I felt like I was riding at my best, and that last day in Soligen I felt the same. I was able to keep consist laps and felt strong the entire race. It's moments like that when you really remeber why you give up so much for racing.

I crossed the line in 9th place, putting me 16th in the elites. My best race of the season so far. This whole European trip for me has been a dream come true in many ways, the entire trip to me now seems surreal. After coming back I have regained focus and my love for racing my bike. I can't help but thank the people around me who made this whole experience happen. Thank you again to everyone! You have all proved once again that I can count on you for anything when I need it.

Große Abenteuer

The riding here in Germany is pretty amazing. It took a little while to find all the sweet rides, but once you do, you are stoked. I can honestly say that Germany has some of the best biking I have ever ridden before. It's a lot different from the stuff that I am used to riding back in Colorado, but it's super fun. I have been doing most of my riding with Tad. He keeps me in place, making sure no matter what I don't get too big of a head. Even when I am feeling my best I will look over and see his heart rate, and its always 15-20 bpm lower than mine. Always.

Another person who I have been riding with a lot is Jimmy Deaton. For those who don't know, Jimmy is awesome. He is an amazing rider and even better person. He used to kill the NORBA XC and UCI World Cup DH Circuit in mountain biking primordial days and is here with USA Cycling coaching some of us and helping keep things running smooth. Its a fun crew out here. I also got a chance to meet up with another friend who lives about 5-6km from where I am staying in Kirchzarten, Calle Friberg.

Calle took me on a very fun ride that was a bit epic. The climbs here are a lot steeper than they are in the states and, they go on for quite a while. To add to it, they have a lot more roots and rocks, but still so fun! We climbed up for well over an hour and saw everything. It's sweet having such a knowledgeable guide here. He even showed me this sweet spring where you can fill up your bottles with the freshest tasting water ever.

Right before the amazingly fast, super sweet downhill, he got a picture of us and the valleys. Being here in Germany, eating really good food, riding even better single track with good friends and not working 6-7hrs a day has been a god send. I really have been able to relax. That's something that I have not been able to do in a while. It's really nice to go out and enjoy my rides, and come back and be able to truly relax and recover. I know it has been helping me out for these past few races.


This past weekend was the Bundesliga, Bike the Rock in Heubach, Germany. The course was awesome, straight up, straight down. It was muddy, it was a really good course for me. The day before while pre-riding I was feeling terrible. My legs felt like lead and I was struggling with putting everything together for a race run. Then the morning came and I got going with my warm up and I started feeling a lot better. I got a really good call up, like 4th row out of 12-13 (over 100 racers started the U23) and I went to the outside thinking I could dodge some traffic, and luckily it worked. We had a sharp left corner right out of the start and then after 80 meters or road we took another sharp right up a steep, wet, rocky, climb. The gun went off and I just went where there were openings, somehow I managed to go at all the right places and I found myself in the top 15 going up the climb. Instead of trying to go with the top guys, I set my own pace and settled after getting passed back by a lot of others who got untangled. As the race went on, I kept feeling better and better and I was working my way up lap by lap. Unfortunately, the top guys were throttling it, and I only made it 4 laps in, in 41st place. A really good finish for me. I feel like if I was just a bit fast on that first lap I could have made it one more, maybe even two, but, coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Although 41st isn't the best finish for some, or doesnt really sound that great, it is for me. It felt really good to be out enjoying my race, having a bunch of fun and riding well at the same time. I know that if I was able to stay in the race a bit longer, I would have been able to move up more. Its great to be having fun on my bike again. It took a lot of hard work to get here, and now I feel like I am really reaping the benefits. Well I am off to bed, I am hoping to get in some quality hours this week to set me up for these last few races here and the next portion of the year. And once again a huge thanks to all who have helped me, John Polli at Bikeparts.com/Peak Cycles, Marc Gullickson, Jimmy Deaton, Joey Ernst, My parents and all other family members, Sam Jurekovic, Mike Stoll, Chris and Jen from RGP's, Nelson Oldham from Dos Gringos Burritos and many many more! Thanks!

Europäische Rennen

Well I finally cut my teeth on the European race circuit. First up was the Swiss Racer Bikes Cup in Solothurn, Switzerland. The Racer Bikes Cup is what replaced the Swisspower Cup, but is the same thing. There were 80 starters, among them, Nino Schurter (4x World Champion, Olympic medalist) Florian Vogel, Mathias and Lukas Fluckiger, Marco Aurellio Fontana etc. It was a small World Cup basically.

The course was really crazy, about 70-80% of the race was on pavement, but the rest was on relatively difficult wooded single track sections with some really techy steep climbs and three pretty steep chutes/drops. It was really fun, and SUPER fast. I had an okay start, we started right inside a tunnel of a some huge castle in the middle of town. The gun went off and it was full blast. Things were going good, the start was actually not that sketch, the Euro's are really very comfortable with pack riding/racing and it was the best mass start race I have probably been in. Things were going good for the first lap, moving up little by little. Then on the second lap, right on the second chute, I burped my front tire of the rim and went down hard. I got back on right away and then tried to fill it with a CO2. It wasn't sealing though, so I had to take it easy on the pavement since I have around 10 psi in it. I limped my way down to the start/ finish where Marc Gullickson and Jimmy Deaton had another CO2. They pumped me up and I kept going. As I got up the first ramp (in photo) and went around a bark chip corner it dropped air again. I quickly put a tube in, used the remaining CO2 left in my canister and then had to nurse about 15psi back up to our mechanic, Joey Ernst in the next tech zone. I got to him after going around 75% speed and he got me going again soon. Around the end of lap two I got lapped by Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel who were going so fast. I hung with them up a single track section then they easily dropped me on a flat. I got to ride the descent with Marco Aurelio Fontana, (5th at the Olympics) and then once we hit the road sections I was dropped. I finished 3 laps down, in last place. Not the best start, but still really fun, and a great experiance.

Today, we did a smaller race in Wittau, near Freiburg, in Germany. We rode from Kirchzarten to Wittau, which took us around an hour, then we did a few laps on the 3km course and then proceeded to warming up on some steep roads. We were doing 10 laps today, and it was going to be FAST! After having a poor race yesterday I wanted to prove that I had some legs, but even I caught myself by surprise.

I moved up past like 12-15 people and pretty much lead the first super steep climb. I moved back into 5th for the second lap then kind of blew apart towards the end. I still managed 25th place and also kept some dignity. The race today was super hard, once again. No where near as hard though as the Swiss Racer Cup. I hope to keep gaining some fitness and carrying that into the rest of the season.

Maybe if I stay on it, I can have some more moments like these, just without the blow up. Until then!

Eine Fun-Bike Ride

Today we went for a really fun bike ride around Kirchzarten and surrounding area. Found some cool roads and a few little climbs. Its a really cool area nestled in some really beautiful mountains. Everything here is SO green. Such a difference from typical Colorado.

Got to ride with Tad today as well. I haven't done that in a while. Tad is one of my favorite people to ride with in Durango. Its kind of weird coming across the ocean and riding with your typical riding partner. He is going really well right now and should have a good race tomorrow. Speaking of which we are racing the Swiss Racer Bikes Cup in Solothurn, Switzerland tomorrow. Super excited for my first European race. Wish me luck.

Exzellentes Essen

   This cereal is so tasty! So far German food is some of the best food I have ever had. Wook up from 12 hours of sleep, some of the best sleep of my life after staying up for 30 plus hours and an hour of riding and had a huge bowl of SCHOKO. Really good stuff. The coffee over here is pretty damn good too. Well its time for another session of awesome German biking! 

A World Away

Today I landed in Frankfurt Germany. Wow, I can honestly say I have never been any where like this. Its a combination of some many other places, but has its own feel to it that is really amazing. I landed this morning at 9:30am, German time. I didn't sleep more than one hour on my 12hr flight, then we drove from Frankfurt to Kirchzarten, about 2hrs and then went and rode for a solid hour to try and spin out the legs.


Like I said, Europe is its own thing, the trails are very different, but still super fun. Everyone sees us riding by and kind of gives us a different look than I am used to. Its less of look at these idiots, and more like, wow, check out these mountain bikers. The first race is this weekend in Solothurn, Switzerland. I am really excited to ride the course and to be racing again. Well, I will keep you all updated when I can. The internet here is kind of slow. I am off to bed before I collapse. Check out my photos link for more shots so far.

Back Home, Then Euroland

    It feels so good to be back home. Although I am only here for a day, I feel like I can really relax here. I am sitting in Dos Gringos Burritos/Cafe Ole, I forgot how awesome the food and coffee is here. I apologize for the last post. It was during a bit of a hard time for me, sometimes its difficult to keep your head up when things are not going as planned. Anyways, I leave for Germany/Switzerland on Wednesday. I couldn't be more excited. I have got my bike running well, and I am putting in some good time in the saddle to try and do my best there. The whole experience of just going over there is going to be so incredible to begin with. While I am over there I will be staying with the U23 National team for a bit and also meeting up with my friend from Sweden, Calle Friberg. He lives close where I am staying and should be able to show me around. It will also be nice to have someone else over there who I know. Well my coffee is getting cold and I need to go ride. Can't wait to ride Sopris, last time I did it was August.