Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon 2009

Hello, this is my first post and try at this blogging adventure! Hope you enjoy the race report as much as I had racing the Quad. Sorry I don't have any pictures...was racing too fast.

The morning of the race was quite crisp and sunny with little wind, and it all began with a twelve-mile road bike ride towards Mt. Taylor. We started at a pretty mild pace; I stayed tucked into the lead pack until about three miles, at which point I went ahead with a couple of other riders to put a few minutes on the main group. The first transition area was well organized and as I arrived I realized my number was already relayed into the transition area where upon my running shoes were ready for me at transition -- what service! After a fairly calm run of five miles the dirt road turned to ice and snow, yahoo!

At the next transition I strapped on my lightweight AT gear and started skinning the two miles up the mountain. This section was a great deal of fun and served to warm me up as the reports from the top of the mountain were coming back to us with strong wind gusts and cold temperatures. At the final transition I dropped off my skis and boots and traded them for snowshoes for the final mile up to the top. The snowshoe gradually climbed for the first half mile, but the final half mile proved daunting as the pitch turned aggressive and the winds picked up. As I approached the summit and the elevation sign signaling 11,301 ft, I had a quick chance to look out and enjoy the view. It was really quite amazing how far I could see! Such a beautiful view; too bad I was headed back down as soon as possible.

The snowshoe down was a lot of fun, slipping and sliding down a steep half-mile pitch followed by another half mile of easy running. The snowshoe to ski transition proved to be more difficult than I wanted it to be. I was trying to get my feet into the boots which were already attached to the skis, sounds easy enough, however I managed to click out of my bindings and sent a ski barreling down the hill without me. After wrangling my ski back I was off, screaming down the switchbacks at what I hoped to be super-g mach-two speeds. The run down was a bit difficult as well, the ice that I had seemed to forget about now plagued me as I carefully picked a route.

As I approached my last transition there was one athlete left in view and one event to go. The first three or four miles of the bike were well sheltered prvoed to be a very fast downhill and lots of fun. After I crested a little pass I was looking forward to more downhill flying, but to my surprise I met a horrible headwind (we are talking about 20-30 mph headwind - ouch!) and after already racing for about three and a half hours it didn’t make things easy. Some points of the last six miles on bike I had to look at the trees just make sure I was still moving. Although I felt a world of hurt, during this time I apparently gapped the last athlete within reach to finish in third place overall!

The Mt. Taylor Quad is a fun experience and if you're ever up for a good winter challenge this is certainly the race for you. The support is phenomenal and the volunteers were amazing! I have done many multisport races, but this one stands out as having the best volunteers. I would like to thank GoLite for the super lightweight clothes and pack, Smartwool for great wool socks, Tifosi sunglasses for protecting my eyes and Nuun for the hydration tablets to help me get to the top of Mt Taylor and back!

Have a good one.
James

Boulder Cycle Sport!

We are really happy to have Boulder Cycle Sport and Scott bicycles on board for 2009! Boulder Cycle Sport is bar-none the best cycling store in Boulder, and was rated the best new U.S. bike retailer in 2006. With a super friendly and knowledgeable staff, they are definitely the shop we go to keep our bikes running well, despite the fact they are the furthest from our house. We really want to thank the owner Brandon Dwight for being amazing with us, and going above and beyond the call of duty to help our team. He is amazing to work with, and about the nicest guy you will meet in the bike industry (not to mention he is FAST!). On that note, we are super excited to be riding Scott bicycles for 2009! The Scott Spark is one of the lightest, stiffest, fastest mountain bikes in the world. With their proprietary trac-loc rear suspension, the sparks are perfect for when you need to hammer on pavement, fly up fire-roads, and then rip apart technical singletrack. These bikes are beautiful, and we can't wait to put rubber to dirt!

Save the economy - go to Boulder Cycle Sport and buy a Scott right now. I promise it will be worth it.