2014 Oak Ass 100, Bham Alabama

I've been burning up I-65 the last two weeks. I've been between Nashville and Mobile a bunch preparing for my move back to Nashville, interviewing for jobs etc... It's been great because I was able to pre-ride Oak Mtn alot and re-familiarize myself with my old training grounds for this race. Oak Mtn is amazing. There is a TON of  good riding there, we didn't touch all of the dirt to be had there but Chainbuster's and Co. made sure to set up a killer 25 mile course we would complete a total of 4x for a sure fire 100 mile, painful race!

The race start was MUCH faster than I anticipated for a 100 miler. They started the 100 milers with the 50 milers, so while I was doing 4 laps, some of the guys/gals would only do 2. I got on the front and set a decently hard tempo hoping I could get the hole shot with ease... Brian Toone(100 miler) quickly swung to my left like a rocket, Ty Magner(50 miler) would ultimately get the hole shot. I was 5th into the woods. I wasn't sure all that were ahead of me, but I did know Craig Evans(50 miler) and Justin Lowe(100 miler). The pace was high leading into the double track fire road climb. Craig got on the front for the 3 mile climb, there was about 7 of us total leading charge behind Craig's pace. Craig's pace was perfect. He was going hard enough no one attacked but easy enough I was able to recover and attack for the KOM at the top of the climb. I went about 75% max effort with only 2 guys to chase me for the KOM, I eased up and took the KOM with more ease than I was expecting.

Ezra Lusk(50 miler and eventually winner of the 50), Gordon Wadsworth, Barnabas Froystad and myself would break away from everyone else at this point leading into the most technical section of the trail, Jekyll and Hyde. Craig would have been with us, however he ended up having 3 flats!

I led charge on J&H and the rest of the first lap. Going into the 2nd lap, I sprinted with Barnabas in-tow to get onto Gordon's wheel all while scarfing down some food. Barnabas took lead and holy cow his pace was furious! He was laying it down! Going into the fire road climb the second time, our split was actually faster than lap 1. Gordon was on a SS and Barnabas was on an Epic. Much respect to Gordon, dude was CRUSHING it on his SS. I know a lot about Wadsworth through the grapevine of his much respected and good reputation in the MTB endurance world. No doubt both he and Barnabas were stellar dudes and fierce competition.

I had a big advantage in my corner. My great friend Andrew Sorey gave up his weekend to come support me in the race. I took that advantage with a very fast pit leading into lap 3. Andrew had me bottles and food in a matter of seconds and I was off. I never actually had to get off my bike the entire race thanks to his help in the pits, thanks Sorey!!

I used the 2nd lap to study how Gordon and Barnabas were riding. There was no question they were both super smooth(smoother than me) and I only felt like I could recover on the climbs. So come lap 3, I had a gap with my fast pit and I rode the climbs as hard as I could and recovered everywhere else I could to the best of my ability trying to stay off the brakes and keeping momentum.

I had another fast pit coming into lap 4. Sorey lubed my chain, gave me a Coke in a bottle and I was off like a rocket. I started thinking I may have the win at this point. On top of the fire road climb, I had a huge sensation of fatigue that I wouldn't shake until riding J&H the last time. I really had to use the bathroom. So..... I did just that, haha. I felt much better after that! I was nervous to give up any time gap I had, but when you gotta go, you go. I was also really hot. I'm not sure I have re-acclimated to the humidity and heat in the South. I rode to the finish with my bibs off my shoulders and my jersey unzipped.

I was lucky to take the win. It was hard fought and I am very blessed with great friends and a family who support my racing shenanigans! Special thanks to John K and Chainbuster's for the top shelf event and professionalism and to Barnabas and Gordon for the killer competition and sportsmanship.

Until next time.
-KT

2014 Chainbusters 12 hour Nite Nationals

I heard about this race a few months ago. I'm not sure if it was Mike Bergen or Bec Bale that told me about it but at the time I was living in Colorado. Even though my parents live only 3 hours from Auburn, Alabama(where the race was held), I wasn't sure I could make the event. No doubt, the payout was attracting the attention of endurance racers all over the Country, I am a little bit disappointed in the turnout especially considering the professionalism and high stoke level of Kenny and the Chainbusters gang, I've raced all over the Country this year and they do it up right! I haven't lived and worked in Colorado for about 3 weeks now, I just so happened to be visiting my family in Alabama. I hit up a friend, Brian Toone to see if he was interested in a long ride this weekend and he told me/reminded me about Nite Nationals, I'm glad he did! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to race.

My parents came to support me for the race. They haven't made it to a race in about 2 years. I was super excited to race in front of them, I've gotten alot faster since they last saw me race and I love to make them proud, so there was extra motivation there for sure. This pic is prior to the start, my Mom helped me mix bottles and lay out food.

The race started at 9pm and was to end at 9am the following day. I've some good night training already this year, racing the Vapor Trail 125 which starts at 10pm and recently driving home from Colorado, I drove through the night, I knew staying awake would be a none-issue for me.

The race was help at Chewacla State Park in Auburn. The park was beautiful and reminded me of everything I love about riding in Alabama. Lush green forest, tons of water, springs and waterfalls: tight, twisty hand-built singletrack, rocks and roots, opossums, raccoons and deer were all abundant. The course was relentless, 100% singletrack, it demanded constant pedaling, there was never a time to take a break and recover,

The only 2 guys I knew would be giving me a run for the money was Eddie O'dea and Jeff Clayton . I've raced Eddie in a few NUE's and I remembered Jeff from Snake Creek Gap 2 years ago. Both of those guys are tough and very fast several hours into a race, and the first few laps are not what matters!

The race start was about what I expected. A fast tempo but not too fast. I was 3rd going into the woods and I quickly became 2nd wheel to Eddie who was upping the pace a bit. Eddie was bobbing a bit in the rocky loose turns and I was scrubbing speed and having to brake in corners, then accelerate out of them(using more energy than needed) so at the start of lap 2, I made a move to take over the pace making. No one came with me and I was alone all the way to the finish. I used the 2nd lap to 'test the waters'. I would rail corners and make mental notes of where I could save energy and where I could drink fluids, this is a VERY important part of endurance lap racing, one I think too many people oversee. From lap 3 to the 13th, I was like a machine, I would brake, bob and weeve and I would drink and act just like the lap before, trying to keep things consistent as possible.

Most of my laps were within 5 minutes of one another, I spent about 7 mins total in the pits over the 12 hours of racing. That including swapping batteries, grabbing food, chatting with my Dad, lubing my chain and an air adjustment to my fork.

I'm happy to come away with the win. This was the 1st annual Nite Nationals and I have a feeling it will grow big time in the years to come!

I'd lke to give a special thanks to my parents, they have alway been my biggest fans. Ergon International for making killer grips I can hang onto for 12 hours at a time and a saddle still comfy after 12 hours as well. Felt Bikes for making the best hardtail MTB I've ever had. And Swiftwick socks, I rocked the Pursuit 7's and they were warm and comfy all night long.

Here's a few more pics:

Right after the race, I was happy to sit down ;)

My Mom is adorable, she was cold all night long but tuffed it out!!

My bike after the race. It was very dusty.

Crossing the finish line.

Overall podium finish: 1st, Kyle, 2nd, Jeff Clayton, 3rd, Eddie O'dea

Thanks for reading everyone!! Until next time...

Pedal 50 Gravel Grinder

Ben Welnak knows how to put on a show. Who promotes a ride or a race that is unmarked, has zero aid stations and still knocks it out of the park, that dude! I really enjoy his events. Did I mention the races are free? Check out Ridinggravel.com for more of his shenanigans. It's so awesome that a FREE event can raise more money for charities than if the promoter were to charge an entry fee. Cyclists are a cool bunch.

The ride starts with a neutral roll out led by Ben. It was a good warm up for me, I was late getting there so I was thankful for that. I didn't eat at all leading up to the ride, which started at Noon. I helped a customer early this AM and was tied up and in a rush to make it, I didn't even stop for food. Bad idea really. But I guess my coffee held me over.

Shortly after the roll out, we hit this incredibly fun stretch of singletrack and double track in the Greenland open space. The pace was high and I wasn't happy with my positioning so I lit a match and passed everyone but the lead guy on a  roller. I'm glad I did because we soon opened a gap on everyone by this point. I took over pacing with Mike on my wheel, he was strong but I wanted to climb just a tad faster and make sure no one else bridged back up to us. I recognized Mike from last years Greenland Gravel race and he was super strong then, so I knew if we kept it steady, we could stay away from the chasers. Colorado is rad because you never know who you are racing and at what level most these guys race. Mike had a stocky build and was absolutely drilling it when he took pulls. Honestly, he could have dropped me early on if he would have pulled just a tad harder on the flats and false flat sections. He was climbing fast as well, but I wasn't going to go down easy.

 About 2 hours and 37 miles into the ride, I knew we had our gap. It was windy and we were working well together. I had a tough decision to make, I knew if I let things continue how they were, Mike would take me in the end if it came to a sprint or the last stretch of road(mostly downhill) at the finish. Mike was a pro roadie and apparently a very accomplished track racer, I don't have any business trying to sprint against him. I threw in some hard attacks on some rollers, about 7 attacks within 10 mins but I couldn't shake Mike and if I did, the gap was so small he would catch me on the downhills with ease.

For the next 8 miles we worked together again, taking hard and equal pulls. Mike, if he was hurting had the best poker face I've ever seen. Rock solid upper body, with no movement in his shoulders. I noticed when he would get behind me when I would pull that he would wince a bit and I knew he was hurting. I made a great move on the last climb of the day(which happened to be the steepest, reaching about a 13% max grade). I left it all out there, knowing that there was a long 2 mile downhill finish, If I were to go I'd have to commit and never look back. Thankfully, it all worked out!

Thanks to Ben and company for an awesome event. I'm stoked to hear we were able to raise over 2200 dollars for Kids on Bikes. There are such cool people in this world doing really rad things, very inspiring.

2014 Vapor Trail 125

Whew, what a week! I'm sitting here gnawing on a burrito, after a wild week in Las Vegas for InterBike just trying to figure out how time flys by so fast and how all the crazy things we anticipate and look forward to in life come and go oh too quickly.

I knew the Vapor Trail was going to be a rough week being that Jon and I literally loaded up and drove to Vegas as soon as I finished Vapor around Noon this past Sunday. Ill try and keep things short and sweet, but a quick run down on Vapor: 125 miles, 10PM start, high altitude, 18k feet of climbing, incredibly rough terrain, hike-a-bikes and oh so much fun. If you are looking for THE premium backcountry endurance test in the US, this is it, hands down. No one who has raced it will disagree.
Last year, Vapor was rough for me. I was new to Colorado, new to racing/riding high alpine terrain, for lack of better words, I got my ass handed to me by not only the course but the incredible talent this race draws in. I vowed to come out swinging in 2014...

Jon was kind enough to loan me his Industry Nine rear wheel(mine is toast and Ive been breaking spokes on it alot lately) and an entire XX1 drivetrain. I was in hog heaven, even though I was rocking a hardtail for such a brutal course, I had great gear with my Felt HT, a KS dropper, Jons parts and I decided to run Maxxis Ardent races, front and rear. 2.25's. They were the perfect choice for the chunk.

The race started off much slower in my opinion than in 2013, I wasn't complaining. I wasn't breathing hard at all leading into climb up towards the Colorado Trail. Some really cool guy from the GO team from Gunnison was in the lead group with just myself and Jesse. Cary Smith and Josh Tostado were just behind us. I couldn't believe I was already ahead of such strong dudes and I wasn't even in the red(which is NOT where you need to be in this race, ever).

Jesse and the GO rider dropped me on some of the chunky rock sections about 2-ish hours in, I wasn't willing to take the chance of descending quite as fast as they were. I rode my tempo and held 3rd for a while. As quickly as the race started and I felt great, I hit a wall. I literally bonked after aid 1. All I took from Aid 1 was a bottle of Tailwind Nutrition and it did NOT sit well with my stomach. Near alpine tunnel, Cary had passed me and I just couldn't hold it any longer, I had to use the bathroom. I kept talking to myself over and over, "this cannot be happening". I wasn't able to eat or drink, I could hold down NOTHING for the next nearly 5 hours. I dropped a ton of places before meeting Jon at the Snowblind aid station around sunrise. I wanted to quit sooo bad, afterall, my goal was to win this race, not just finish, but win. I knew if I had the perfect race, I could. Jon was a great help, he made me down a Coke and I was able to eat a Twinkie in the comfort of the aid and with all the support from people, I decided to push on. And I am glad I did. I had a killer second half of the race. I lost nearly 2 hours from alpine tunnel to snowblind, I walked alot with my nauseous stomach. That sugar kicked in and gave me just what I need to finish the last 6 hours strong. Oddly enough, I barely drank and ate anymore even for those 6 hours, but I had a great hard tempo going and nothing was stopping me, I passed nearly 13 racers in the last half earning 7th overall in the race.
Coming in behind names like Cary, Josh, Jesse, Kerkove, etc... and all in the name of having a bad race, I was stoked. Take what you can get in Colorado because everyone is crazy fast and the talent pool is unbelievable here.

I wrapped up my race with a burger before the drive to InterBike in Vegas. I had a killer week in Vegas, there is LOTS in the works for 92Fifty', Elevated Legs and myself. I will keep you all posted as things progress. I apologize for being the worst blogger, pretty much ever. I promise to change that in the upcoming season, I will be bloggin and on social media alot pimpin' out the new year! Thanks for reading, now go ride yer bike!
-KT

2014 Whiskey 50

I was never super nervous about this race, perhaps because I knew I never stood a chance at cracking even a top 20. It's a humbling thing, racing literally the best in the Country and a few from all around the world. Looking back at this race, I think I finally feel like I belong racing in the Pro class. I know my weaknesses now more than ever, I also know my strengths. One thing never changes, suffering during a bike race is the best worse feeling ever, I can't seem to get enough.

I don't have tons of pics yet so I will make another blog later with pics. I just wanted to re-cap my race while it is somewhat fresh in my mind.

http://www.strava.com/activities/135293506
Here is the link to the race. Whiskey is a 50 mile MTB race that has a little bit of everything. Great climbs(an HC climb at that), killer singletrack, maybe some of the best I've ever ridden. Fast double track and a few miles of pavement. On paper I knew the HC climb would suit me well. Unfortunately, I ended up climbing it alone.

The race start was mellower than I thought it would be. Jockeying for position was tough but decently easy enough to move through the field. The pavement climb at the start turns to dirt for about 2 miles then funneled into singletrack. My only regret in the race was not jumping ahead 5-10 spots before the singletrack, honestly, I had the legs and it would have been easy and would have allowed me from getting held back. I was afraid to light a match too soon with the HC climb 1:30 into the race. I was on Jason Sager's wheel so I thought it was good enough.  I was maybe top 50 at this point. The pace in the singletrack was perfect, hard but not too hard. Then comes the waterbar climb before the 1000ft descent. I was a wee bit frustrated here, a few guys were bobbling around and I couldnt believe some guys had to walk the tech sections, def lost some time there.
The 1000ft descent before the climb to the feed I knew would be tough for me, a mix of super fast flowy high speed singletrack with a little chunk thrown in. I still feel a little discomfort in balls to the wall descents, I am getting better everyday but I gave up all the positions I gained on the waterbar climb on that descent. Onto the feedzone I couldnt help but think about the HC climb after dropping into Skull Valley, it was haunting me a bit.
I was in a group of 5 leading down, Sager, Uhl, Troy Wells, and some other guy from Colorado. I ended up getting dropped on the 3000ft plunge. I can blame my gear (32x11) or my lack of skill. Not sure, I fought hard to stay on the train, I only had so much leg speed at 35mph+ with this guys pushing bigger blades, I should have ran 2x10 for this race. No one to blame but myself.
I started the climb up to the summit, 14 miles and 3000ft of climbing and I was solo. It took me 59 mins, I was about 3-7 mins off the times of the Elite riders ahead of me who all had the advantage of working together. I couldnt be happier with my performance. There was a chase group of about 10 behind me and none of them were able to bridge the gap to me, I was extremely pleased with holding my position until the end of the race, especially considering the techy singletrack descent back into town. I did catch a group of guys on the climb(Geoff Kabush, Ben Bonstrom and Sager) Sager and Kabush ended up catching me back with 4 miles to go.
I will def race Whiskey again. I ended up 37th out of 93 Pros. Most will agree this is the most stacked Pro field race the US ever sees and judging that by my 3:18 finishing time and how it would have landed top 15 the last 2 years, I'd say it'll prob get even more competitive next year & I hope it does.
I want to thank all of my friends and family for supporting me thru this race, it's just one of many this year but without a doubt the biggest race of my life so far and I couldn't be happier with my fitness.
Thanks and congrats to everyone who raced!
-KT

True Grit 100 NUE

This past weekend was stop no. 1 in the NUE series. True Grit 100 in Saint George, Utah.
Desert chunk and great weather to be promised, the 92Fifty' crew was plentiful and stoked to be soaking up desert sun all weekend.

After preriding the some of the course thur/friday with friends, I was becoming somewhat skeptical of my skill level in such technical riding. Billy and Jon were killing the tech stuff and once you let Mr. Negative in your head, he's a hard man to rid of.

Jeff Kerkove and Richie headed out to preride from the hotel.

All the ladies want a piece.

One of my best friends from Nashville came to race, Billy had a killer race for his first 100 mile MTB race ever. 

Lining up at the start, I was never nervous. Completely calm, it was as if something in me changed. I was ready to race and I believed in myself 100%. I have busted my ass all winter long training in the cold and snow at altitude where most people would never train. I came to race! I fist pounded my friends, wished everyone good luck and the race was on.

The race started with a 3ish mile jeep road full of slate chucky washes in and out, up and down. Guys are flying in every direction at 20+ mph so I quickly made my way to the front with Josh Tostado, Drew Edsall and Cary Smith. Drew was feeling spunky and made his move early, pretty much as soon as we hit singletrack, he was gone and would solo for the win the entirety of the race. Brave, and very impressive.

I stuck to Cary Smith's wheel the next 10 miles or so, we traded pulls on the open sections. I had never felt so comfortable riding in the front group of an NUE race. I was hammering and everything was under control, HR was perfect, I was on top of the world. All of the techy stuff I was fretting in preride I was clearing with ease at a fast pace. I was gaining confidence and race adrenaline was blocking out one major issue that soon led to a DNF for me.

We had a training camp prior to this race in Moab, I injured my finger there and the injury got progressively worse the week leading up to True Grit. A cactus needle or some foreign object lodged into my finer and it was swollen like mad. Unable to grip my handlebar with full force, I just toughed it out in training and pre-ride. As fatigue set in during TG, the pain became overwhelming, my hand was slipping off the bar in tech sections and I was having too many close calls for comfort. Braking was becoming an issue as well.

As I was fighting for position in the top 5 after mile 50, I was lead off course by some markings on the slickrock for the trail run they were also having in the area. I climbed a 400ft jeep road that circled back to part of the trail I had already ridden. At the time, I was livid. I lost at least 20 mins. I no longer knew what place I was in. I started think about dropping out of the race at this point.

No sign of a cactus needle in my finer, just full of nasty puss :/

It's not easy to quit a race. But I quickly became at peace with my decision. This would be only the second DNF I've had in bike racing. People give you a hard time and it just isn't an easy thing to do. I didn't want to crash and ruin what I train so hard for, ruining the season before it even starts. I feel like I made the right choice. Perhaps going off course was my saving grace so I would quit, stopping me from crashing later in the race because I was too stubborn to race with a hand that couldn't hold onto the bars or apply the brake.

I am beyond pleased with my fitness. I am feeling stronger than ever. I just want to get my finger healed and continue training. True Grit was a heck of a lot of fun and I would like to come back next year! Congrats to Drew for the win and all of my friends for a great race!

2014 True Grit prep trip in rainy, horrible Moab, Ut.

This past weekends trip to Moab was so rad I figured it was blog worthy. I've been itching for more singletrack and warm weather ever since Old Pueblo, so Moab was the perfect dose of medicine. Jonathan Davis, Anthony Thorton, Richie Trent and I all headed down and found a killer campsite that was completely empty and set stage for 4 days of desert fun.

Richie "tic-tacing" not paying attention to anything but Lil' Wayne.

The first 2 days were cloudy although we had good temps and no rain.

Setting up camp. Jon sleeps on top of his transit, cool setup fo sho.

 We rode Pipe Dream on the first day out, good trail for getting the bearings rolling. We wanted 3+ hours on Friday and got 3.5. Saturday would be the long day as we all wanted 6 hours in the saddle.

 Moab is stupid amazing, the views are stunning and never ending. The La Sals are a backdrop you'll never get out of your head if you see them in person.

 Moab on a hardtail sucks but it can be done! I was chasing the boys all weekend long on their "big bikes".

 Jon's so fit, like whoa.

Richie breaks mo' damn chains then anyone, ever. MTBjesus has an endless supply of new chains, gold chains.

 Headed to Amasaback and found new singletrack Hymasa that connects to Captain Ahab. Killer new trails, seems like Moab is really pushing for more trails. New stuff every time I go.

Duke was happy to see us when we got back to camp. He was super stoked to eat!

 I didn't take many Pics on Saturday because we were alittle more in race mode. Jon flatted coming out of Mag7 taking a big drop. 

 Richie and I climbed to the turn around at LPS and found some mud and snow still lingering. The conditions in Moab right now are stupid sick, tacky and perfect.

 Pee break?

Stopped at the store for a burrito and headed back to camp, rode just under 80 miles on Saturday.

Sunday Jeff Kerkove met up with us and we wanted to show him the new singletrack up Hymasa and he took us to a killer overlook.

Anthony talked Richie and I into using some embro(Em-brah) on our legs... After an hour in the desert sun my freakin legs were on fire, but glistening nonetheless! 

 Jon topping out on the climb.

Richie and Kerkove.

Sick lookout Jeff took us too.

The Fashionable Anthony.

Richie and I stopped in Loma on the way home today(Monday) for some more trail action.

Loma is alot different than Moab, although geographical close, smoother and faster terrain.

 Colorado River, reminds me of 'Into the Wild'.

 Famous, Infamous Horsetheif. I could never dream of clearing this but it does happen and I've seen it done. Blows my freaking mind what people can do on a bike.

Dopers ?

Thanks for checking out the bloggage. 20 hours on the MTB this week, we all had a blast and I am feeling good leading up to True Grit March 15th! Thanks to all my friends for the amazing time! You rock.

-KT

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo.

By far, this was the coolest 24 hour event I've been to. 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is the largest 24 hour race in the country, if not world. With 3,000 racers and 5,000 people crammed in the Arizona desert, it's a guaranteed good time. For good reason, they call the Ranch we all set up at camp, 24 hour town.

This pic was taken on a preride night lap just at dusk, over looking 24 hour town.

I have only raced 24 hour races solo. Curt Wilhelm(MTBcoach.com) asked me a while back if I would race Duo with him, as if he had to ask...

I was more nervous about being on a team than I would ever be racing solo. It's one thing to only rely on yourself but to uphold your strength, speed and lap times for another teammate is alot of pressure! We were racing to win. I was stoked to escape the harsh Colorado winter at 9250' and ride in the desert! I am on a new Felt Nine HT mtb and this was my first time to ride it off road.

My new Felt next to some infamous Cholla Cacti. It hurts like hell.

On the 15 hour drive to Tucson, Curt and I had a lot of time to discuss strategy and race tactics. The race starts with a Le Mans run to your bike, it was about 1/2 run. We decided I would do the first lap of the race since I have a running background. We would then alternate every other lap for the duration of 24 hours. This way, we could do "hot laps" with all out efforts and minimize our tiredness with short breaks in the evening and night laps. Getting too comfy is nto what you want in the wee hours of the morning when the race really counts, 18 hours in.

I would also like to mention, the 92Fifty' gang is freakin' rad. I had so much fun and can't say enough about how awesome everyone is/was. We had an amazing camp with 2 sprinter vans plus Jon's Transit. Power stations, tons of food, shade, help from Eric's wife Jen and friend Ben. I am beyond stoked to have such great friends. 92Fifty' had 3 solo racers, 3 guys racing Duo and 4 in co-ed Duo. Jon raced with his 14 year old son, Tanner. And Brian Sells raced with his 12 year old daughter, Bailey.

Pre-race chillin' @92Fifty' camp.

The first lap of the race was nuts. I mis-judged where I thought Curt would be to hand off my bike to me. The run to the bike is insane, thousands of people, bikes everywhere, nuts. A small group of guys were already in a train when I jumped on my bike. I punched it and chased after them. I was redlined to catch the lead group. I kept telling myself over and over, "Yo dude, this is lap one, you're prob going to do 11!" I eased off the gas and kept things comfortably hard for the remainder of the lap. By far, lap 1 was the fastest of the race for me in 56 mins. (16 miles). Flying in the desert!

I used my time in between this lap while Curt was out doing his thing to ordain how I would get in the groove and systematically prepare for my next laps. Charging batteries for night laps, food prep, etc...

Before I knew it, Curt was almost done and I was in the exchange tent to go out on lap 3 for our team, lap 2 for me. Curt had a very impressive and fast lap time. Things were solid. My second and third laps were the most frustrating of the race. With literally over a thousand people on course, passing was insane. Cactus is everywhere and passing is somewhat limited in areas. I was full of adrenaline and burning matches accelerating like mad everytime I passed someone to make up time for having to slow down so much. I quickly learned I just had to dial it back and keep things steady, they are there to race too. I did count or try to however, one lap I passed over 200 people in a single lap. NUTS!

A few pics of the race thanks to Eric and Jen Lord.

One of the fondest memories I have of the race, was on my first night lap. I was passing someone on singletrack and got a huge Cholla ball stuck in my leg at mile 1 of the lap. That baby was STUCK in my leg and wasnt coming out! You cant use your hands to remove them for obvious reasons, so I left it in there for the next hour as I raced. Literally at the finish the ball separated from the spikes, leaving the spikes in my leg. I guess an hour of riding makes enough movement it could separate. That was just a little painful, It took me over 15 mins to remove all the spikes. 

A few days after the race, starting to heal.

The race was a blast, trading blows with Curt hour after hour. We held on to finish 2nd. We got beat by Aaron Gulley and Cary Smith, those guys were flying and simply just had more consistent times than us. 

Duo's are difficult because of the time you are off your bike. The durations you are racing are extremely hard. I literally rode every lap as fast as I could. I would do one again, it just may take more convincing! Solo's are alot of fun too! 

Huge thanks to everyone that helped us out, supported us, cheered for us etc. What an unbelievable treat it was to get away for a break in the desert for some all day bike racing. Just a glimpse of the 2014 race season to come! 

On the podium with Curt. Thanks for your hard work buddy!

Next race for me is True Grit, March 15th in St George Utah!

Thanks for reading.

-KT