Check out Park City TV for more Mountian Biking footage and Air Times for the Deer Valley Race. Check around minute 3:00 for the monavie coverage!

Saturday was the kick off of the National Ultra Endurance 100 series in the Piney Mountains of Tennessee on the border of Georgia. The race started at the whitewater facility of the 1996 Olympics.

100 off road miles with major climbs totaling 12,000+ feet, combined with a tough field of racers, made for a great challenge.

 My training had not fully readied me for a 100-mile race at this point in the season, but I was really excited for the challenge of a new race and my first big challenge of the year for ultra endurance racing.

 At the start, a lead group was established when Chris Eatough set a blistering pace on the first 10 miles of single track. That separated the contenders out of the main field. Chris Beck, Jeff Schalk, Chris Eatough, Mike Simonson, Josh Tostado, Sam Koerber, Chris Peariso and I made the cut.

 Jeff Schalk attacked as the rest of us pulled into the second aid station to look for our bags. I chased and closed the gap down after 10 minutes. After an epic battle with Jeff (last year’s series winner) for the better part of six hours, I experienced some cramps on the last climb. I rallied to finish just a half a percent off the pace and netted second place in my first 100-mile race of the year in 6:25! Not shabby.

The contrast between competing in the 20-min short track at Sea Otter last Sunday and racing just six days later for six and a half hours is amazing! 

 I’m looking forward to continuing the upward trajectory of my fitness now that things are settling into a great groove here at home.  

 -Jeremiah

Nice green dress!

Sea Otter is more than a bike race. What began in 1991 as a mountain biking competition with 300 participants and 150 spectators has grown into the world’s largest cycling festival with close to 10,000 athletes and 50,000 fans.

For team Monavie-Cannondale it was also an opportunity to bring the entire 2009 squad together and meet the people…

In the course of 3 days, with the help of some amazing Monavie distributors and lovely models the team poured 6480 individual shots of Monavie Active and Monavie Pulse. It was estimated that 80% of the visitors to the booth were 1st time consumers while the other 20% were distributors, regular users, and other Professional athletes seeking out the nutritional benefits of the Acai berry.

The media also had an opportunity to meet the team, sample the juice, and check out the hottest race bikes at the event. Monavie riders fielded interviews with Velonews, Mountain Bike Magazine, Mountian Bike Action, Bicyling Magazine, Cyclingnews, MTBracenews,  Cycling dirt, and the local Monterey Hearld to name a few.

Now for a little rest before reloading for the next one…

The Sea Otter Classic held at the Lugana  Seca Raceway in Monterey, California is quite possibly the most civilized venue and race course we will see all year. The terrain is mild and provides very little technical challenge and the weather is generally cool and overcast, as one would expect for April in Northern California.

This year, race day arrived right along with some serious summer like tempertures. Afternoon high’s peaked out at an all time record of 96 degrees and proceeded to decimate the Pro fields.

Did the Monavie-Cannondale crew survive?

-Jeremiah Bishop  got the hole shot and lead the first 7 miles of the race. He showed his hand early and put it all on the table for the win. The heat was to much and with a cold wet Virgina home base his acclimatization was less then ideal. He soldiered on for 7th out of  150. Impressive!

-Burke Swindlehurst races full time on the road for the  Bissel pro road team and part time on the dirt for the Monavie-Cannondale squad.  After racing 3 hard days on the road where his team won 2 stages and Burke spent 25 miles off the front solo in the road race, Burke lined up for a “4th stage” in the Pro men’s cross country.  Burke undisputably takes the ”Iron Otter” award as he not only competed in all the events but started the XC in 148th position and  passed 127 guys to finish 21st. Not bad for his 1st MTB race in 3 years.

-Bryan Alders put together a smart race way beyond his years and expereince. Smooth sustained effort just below the level  of overheating to finish a very solid 33rd out of 150 of the top mountain bike racers on the planet. Congratulations man!

-Bart Gillespie was ski touring the cold powder of the Wasatch just the week before and was by no means ready for the oppressive heat of the day. After wrenching on bikes right up to the start he found himself moving up towards the top 20 in the 1st part of the race before “the lights went out”. Things got desperate after that and it was pure survival including stops in the shade and finding bottles in the bushes. He drug himself to the finish line in 54th out of 148.

-Alex Grant had a similar fate and after 20 minutes of solid racing found himself in the serious “heat locker”. Nausea, chills, double vision, and halucinations are all signs of heat stroke and were experienced by AG for the next 2 hours as he was determined to finish.  Surely he stockpiled some mental fortitude today!

-Ben Sontagg was well into the top ten early in the race. And then…(German accent)  ”You know, sometimes, when you can’t remember anything, and then  you wake up in the bushes”. Ben passed out from the heat but fortunately was not hurt and was able to get himself  back to civilization safely. “Oh well, s–t happens!”

-Mitchell Peterson’s big red mop was not designed for un-acclimated heat racing.  He found himself in a similar fate as Ben with some unconscious time on the side of the trail and the rest of the afternoon at medical for an IV. He will be back to race another day.

-Tinker Juarez, because of his legend status lined up on the front row  right next to the world champion. He follwed the leaders until the linguring fatigue of the Cape Epic caught up with him. Surely Tinker had the most cheers on course, the life of a legend!

-Sue Butler the lone female XC racer on the squad survived the transition from the frozen Cyclocross Worlds in February to the death valley style heat of Sea Otter to finish 16th.

Stay tuned for the Sea Otter wrap up, we handed out a lot of the acai juice…

The compound was hopping

Monavie anyone?

2 time Olympian working the umbrella for Sue Butler

Jeremiah Bishop digging deep in the Short Track

Podium time!

JB post race interview

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2009/apr09/seaotter09/index.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/seaotter09/seaotter098/men100

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2009/apr09/seaotter09/index.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/seaotter09/seaotter098/men118

More racing tomorrow, 8 monavie men in the Cross Country…

Members of Team Monavie-Cannondale are slowly trickling into the compound from around the country. This may be the only time all year the whole team is together at one event.

When you combine good weather and possibly the  largest celebration of cycling in the world you get a lot of  happy people on bikes, and really what could be better?

 Check out Jeremiah’s Team Scalpel.

Pouring more monavie shots tomorrow…

West Virginia/Pennsylvania:

Jeremiah Bishop found a way to make a hard road race even harder. Chase solo for 12 miles, hit a dog  head on (this is normal in West Virgina), catch the 2 man break, and then attack it 2 miles out for the win. There’s got to be an easier way!

 Durango, Colorado:

As reigning Collegiate National Mountain Bike Champion, Ben Sontagg is a marked man at any collegiate race. Upon return from South Africa andthe grueling Cape Epic, Ben foundthe Fort Lewis College home road race a perfect opportunity to wind up the legs in preparation for the big show at Sea Otter. In the snowy Criterium Ben was watched closely,  nipped at the line., and had to settle for 2nd. The following day was a more selective course where Ben was able to use his raw power and drag race up a 10% grade to the finish with enough time to celebrate the win . Looks like he’s ready for the Otter!

Tooele, Utah:

Mitchel Petersen, who is known as a road  hill climb specialist decided to line up for the pan flat Tour of the Depot Stage Race in Tooele, Utah. In his support was Team Director Matt Ohran,who after a 3 year hiatus from road racing nearly stole the show on the final stage. Matt worked himself into a 2 man break 35 miles from the finish and hung on to the end, once again leading by example. Mitchel then blew the field apart in the final miles to finish 3rd.  

Not a bad for a Mountain Bike Team!

This weekend I pinned a number on the thigh and gave it a go in the Wasatch Powder Keg, my 1st ski randonee  race.

Early start rockin the Monavie-Cannondale  jersey.

Being a stop on the USSMA national series it brought the top racers from Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho to Alta, Utah to tackle the 10 mile and 5800 ft backcountry course. I had a good time, learned a ton, and ended up in 6th place and 1st guy from Utah.

transition from down to up

A few things I learned in my 1st randonee race:

-It’s hard , just like bike racing. The gun goes off and you pin it until the finish line. No rest on the downhill!

-Preparation and specificity are key. I do a lot of fast ski touring but that does not make me a fast rando racer.  A fast bike rider is not necessarily a fast bike racer!

-Racing is fun! Bikes, skis, shoes, paddles, whatever you choose its always fun to pin on a number and push yourself, find and extend your limits!

-Like mountain bike racing, the 90/10 rule applies to randonee racing. 90 minutes up for 10 minutes down!

-Mountain bikes are the most efficient means of traveling the mountains in the summer and randonee is the most efficient means of traveling the mountains in the winter. Efficiency=distance=exploration=satisfaction!

-The people make the event, or is it the event makes the people!  Either way the warm, relaxed, inviting personalites of the races make you want to come back for more. Skiing or biking!

Race on, of any kind!