Mike Vine's XTERRA Road Trip

Hello all,
thought I'd send a report on my latest road trip, a triple header with XTerra events in WA, CO, and the Mountain Championship in UT. Three races in 13 days which was welcome after 7 weeks without an XTerra. With 2 wins and a close 2nd the racing was a total success... think I'm back in the game!!!

First up was a new venue called XTerra Black Diamond located near Seattle. For me this was a low key tuneup race, which I always enjoy. The Pac NW needs a quality XTerra and this one is it with superb venue and ideal course with some of the twistiest mtb trails of anywhere. Best part was the organization was top notch with full community support. What a treat to finally race on some rooty and slick trails in the Pac NW. I had one decent wipeout which wedged my shin bone hard however it hardly slowed me down and I finished in 2 hrs flat, 9 minutes ahead of 2nd place... not bad with a field of 175 racers.

6 days later we were in Vail racing against the Colorado guys on their home turf at the Beaver Creek Resort XTerra. This one had a decent payout, almost as much as a USA Pro Tour event so there would be no holding back, even with the big Mtn Champs race looming 1 week later. With course designed by AR and MTB World cup champ Mike Kloser it was sure to be tough, and it was - there was 4000+' net vertical with racing at elevations from 7500' up to 9300'. Oddly I always race at my best up high, even coming from sea level. I had a great race and won. Swam my best swim of the year and fastest bike split landed me into T2 with a big enough lead to hold over the upstart Branden Rakita and the local favorite, turbo-runner Josiah Middaugh who also happens to be winner of the last US Pro Tour event in Richmond. Although... I could have been fortunate that Josiah was feeling a recent 5-day Adventure race in France.

Ann and I spent the next week in nearby Keytsone CO staying at 9300' which was fine for acclimating however trying to recover at that elevation i wasn't doing a whole lot of exercise! We should have gone to Utah sooner however staying in Summit County and riding there at the bike park for the first time in 3 years - the site of the original Mtn Championship course - was a trip down memory lane and a total blast.

So we drove to Utah on Thursday and reconned the Mtn Championship course at Snowbasin( site of the 2002 Olympics dh ski ) on Friday. While riding, Ann was stung by a hornet on the lip which became scary when her face swelled up. we're talking mutated space alien here... Hee Hee!!!
luckily not anaphylactic, just really bad swelling however she went to the hospital for a shot to be sure.

In the race Saturday I was snailbait off the swim start and figured I'd blown it coming out 2 min down on the three leaders( the last week in Vail i swam in right behind Branden Rakita, one of this week's 3 leaders ). However Conrad Stoltz, the reigning world champ and race favorite, came out only a minute ahead and even better on the early stages of the climb i could see I was gaining. I lost some ground on the middle section with a 5 min descent I hadn't pre-ridden, then continued past Seth and Branden and caught up to Conrad by the lodge at 6400'. He dug in and battled hard and we exchanged the lead several times going over the top, which was at about 7200'. Heading into the descent Conrad went ahead. Here i was thinking I would take it... it was just a matter of keeping Conrad in range until T2 then outrunning him. Little did I know. Conrad had that descent nailed( only ~800' drop to T2 but lots of pedalling and blind corners ) and surprised me with nearly a minute lead by T2. Over a short 30 min run that would be tough to catch him. So I nearly ran him down but not quite... i was 10 seconds behind at the finish. The results are actually inaccurate saying I finished 31 sec behind... the gap was 10 seconds and there is the picture to prove it. i finished in 2:21:41(not 2:22:03 like the results say!), exactly 10 sec behind. I was going to leave it and not be a weenie about it but since I found the picture I decided the results will have to be corrected.

Note this was a high profile event with 30 min tv episode which will be nationally syndicated in 2009 as part of the XTerra Adventure Series.

The big races are coming up now... USA Champs in Tahoe Oct 5 is next. A near identical course to Utah with altitude and elevation profile.

Many thanks to my sponsors... they're the best.
Intense cycles, Fox Racing Shox, Mizuno Footwear, Michelin rubber, Maui Coupon magazine, blue Seventy, Vega.

and our homestays on this trip... we stayed with great people in every town.
Matt and Kathy Morrisson in Black diamond!
Dan and Carmen Weiland in CO!
good to see Dave Clymo in Keystone after 3 years!
Rachel and Andy Waters and family in Ogden Utah!