Fat Tire Classic Clinic - XC Super Loop

This past weekend Team members James Kovacs, Tiffanie Beal, and Brooks Beal headed up to Winter Park, CO for a weekend of mountain biking fun. This weekend was the fat tire classic, a mountain bike classic to benefit the American Red Cross, and the National Sports Center for the Disabled. After most of the riders had trickled in from their ride, we were there to host an adventure racing clinic for all interested. The clinic was fairly informal, and we were able to distribute some 20% off coupons to GoLite, as well as raffling off some GoLite Rush packs to some lucky soon-to-be adventure racers! We had all of our gear on display, and there was a lot of interest in everything, especially our super light Ay Up light systems and GoLite Packs.
On Sunday, it was back to race mode for the team, with the three of us competing in the Winter Park Mountain Bike Series XC Super Loop. It was a great race, with lots of technical climbing and descending, and the team had a great performance. Tiffanie won the 19-29 womens expert division and was the 2nd place expert woman overall. In the Mens 19-25 Expert division, the team represented well with Brooks taking 4th place, and with James taking 13th after some mechanical difficulties.

Fun weekend! Brooks and Tiffanie will be competing in the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge, CO on the 4th of July. The firecracker is the USA Cycling Marathon National Championship this year, so there is sure to be LOTS of competition there. The training load doesn't stop there, as they will probably get out on Saturday after the race to scout-out some of the singletrack typically used in the Adventure Xstream Summit race, only 3 weeks away. Hopefully, they can meet-up with some friends currently live overseas and help guide a group of folks from New Zealand for the first couple of days of their Colorado / Utah Mountain biking tour. Lots going on!

Cheers - talk to you all soon.

Primal Quest!

Primal Quest Montana 2008 started today, with all of the teams having to climb to the top of Big Sky resort. it was a fast paced start by many of the top teams, and it will be interesting to see how everyone's strategies play out going into the first dark zone. While we were not able to be racing at PQ this year, we have many friends who are racing, and we wish them the best of luck. Kyle and Keith of Team Basecamp, Travis Macy of Team Merrill, and everyone else we know, train with, and race against - have a great race, go fast, and be safe!

www.ecoprimalquest.com

MSC Crested Butte - Wildflower Rush

Brooks and Tiff headed down to Crested Butte June 20-22 for the Mountain States Cup Wildflower Rush. Both raced in the Cross Country race in the 19-29 Expert class, and both had a good day! The weather was good, the course was fun (especially the section "in the tape" of the downhill course!) and the competition was fast! Tiff fought through dehydration after dropping her water bottle/nutrition on her first lap, and still managed to pull out a super-strong 4th place finish, while Brooks had a good effort to take 5th place in a competitive field.

A special thanks goes to Alison Gannett for letting us stay at her beautiful straw-bale house in Crested Butte, and play with her awesome cat. We had a great time and were comfy just checking out the awesome view from the couch! We can't wait to go back once the rest of the trails are clear of the snow!

Happy Birthday!

As a happy birthday present, Tiff went in to get some lab testing last week with physiological guru Jason Smith of Boulder Performance Lab. Just to make his life difficult (we like to do that), Tiff had him work up some custom protocols, and as usual, Jason hit it just right. Since our races tend to be won less on VO2 Max and more on proper nutrition and aerobic fitness, Jason works perfectly with our needs to determine what's important, and what we don't need to worry about. He is great about discussing his test ideas with you before the test, and even better about discussing your results after the test and working with you on any questions you may have. Bottom line - Tiff is getting fit, so watch out ladies, (and guys for that matter!), she is coming for you!

And everyone should really get in to see Jason at Boulder Performance Lab at Alta Physical Therapy. It is the best lab testing around, and available at a great price. It is amazing what we have been able to do with the data Jason has given us, and our racing has really benefited from what we have learned. Check him out, and go get your suffer on! It really does pay off!

Teva Mountain Games

Team GoLite Adventure Racing—Post Race Report
Teva Mountain Games, Vail, CO — June 7-8, 2008
SoBe Cross-Country Mountain Bike Race
- Tiffanie Beal, 3rd Place Overall, Women’s Expert
- Brooks Beal, 17th Place Overall, Men’s Expert
Ultimate Mountain Challenge
- James Kovacs, 11th Place Overall, Individual

Professionals and Amateurs from all across the world converged upon Vail, CO last weekend to participate in the highly competitive Teva Mountain Games. Brooks, Tiffanie, and James represented Team GoLite in the games, with Brooks and Tiffanie going for the Cross-Country Mountain Bike Race and James taking on the Ultimate Mountain Challenge.

The mountain bike course proved to be brutal, including lung-busting climbing of 4,000 vertical feet and screaming fast singletrack downhills with large rock and log drops. With the new Rocky Mountain Bikes and grippy Maxxis Tires, Team GoLite proved to be contenders and made impressions on the field. Brooks, racing in a large group of semi-pro and expert men, turned in an impressive 17th place finish out of 47 in the field. In her second mountain bike race ever, Tiffanie finished her race in third place in the women’s expert division, climbing her way on to the podium.

The Ultimate Mountain Challenge began the first day kayaking down the raging Gore Creek and finishing with the intense cross-country mountain bike course. The second day opened with a 10K Trail Run through steep terrain and finished off the weekend with the road bike Hill Climb from the center of Vail to the top of Vail Pass. Through all the elevation gain and challenging courses, James finished the weekend in 11th place, quite the feat given the competition in the Teva Games.

The games were an awesome venue with lots of activity, exposure, world-class athletes, media, and spectators. Check out more information about the games and event pictures at the following link:

http://www.tevamountaingames.com/default.cfm

Team GoLite would like to thank all of our sponsors, GoLite and GoLite Footwear, Smartwool, NUUN, Tifosi Optics, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Native Energy, Maxxis Tires, Ay Up lighting, Boulder Performance Lab, and Alta Physical Therapies. We thank you for your continuing support.

Click here for more photos or use the link under pictures!

24 Hours of Erock

Team GoLite Adventure Racing—Post Race Report
24 Hours of Erock presented by Optic Nerve—May 30-31, 2008
2nd place Coed 4-5, 2nd place overall

Call it a going away present, call it a change of pace. As teammate Colin True’s first and last team hurrah before moving back to the East Coast, the team assembled to race in the 24 Hours of Erock, part of the Elephant Rock weekend in Castle Rock, Colorado. This race was a 24 hour mountain bike relay, so we all got a chance to eat real food and get some sleep between laps, rather than our standard go until you are finished race strategy! Not to mention we got to set up a great support area, with GoLite shelters, 10’x10’ canopies, and sponsor banners abound!

The race started at 6:30pm on Friday with a 200yd sprint pushing your bike, a cyclocross mount, and a lap. The first lap was a fast one, covering the 8.2 mile course in less than 28 minutes. From there, the team got into a groove, and despite a heavy crash and a trip to the EMT’s, the race went according to plan. 24 hours later, the team emerged in 2nd place overall, less than 20 minutes behind the leading team.

The course was fast, with good passing opportunities and some spots with lots of sand. Despite the fact that the majority of the winning team was riding cyclocross bikes to take advantage of the smooth trail, our Rocky Mountain Elements were super quick, and did a great job. When the night came around, our Ay Up lights performed flawlessly, and the team had to answer the questions: “where did you get those lights?!”, “can I borrow your lights?”, and “awesome lights” throughout the entire race. Beyond that, our Tifosi glasses (with our new clear lenses!), GoLite Jerseys, Smartwool socks, NUUN hydration tablets, and Maxxis Monorail tires gave us the competitive edge, and kept us racing for the victory right until the last minutes.

For more information, please check out:

http://www.elephantrockride.com/24_hours.html

As always, Keep tuned to the blog for information!

Team GoLite would like to thank all of our sponsors, GoLite and GoLite Footwear, Smartwool, NUUN, Tifosi Optics, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Native Energy, Maxxis Tires, Ay Up lighting, Boulder Performance Lab, and Alta Physical Therapies. We thank you for your continuing support.

Please see the photots or find the photos frame on the right side.