The 2009 Specialized Epic S-works.

The press has hyped the bike up and Susi won the XC World Champs on it, but DANG, I was especially surprised by: a) the suspension and b) the weight. And, yes, it is a really pretty bike.

As you can see in the background, I tested the bike on a not-so-old lava flow at Edison snow park outside Bend, to see how the new Specialized Armadillo Elite (Fast Trak 2.00) tires would hold up through the sharp lava. I ran into big lumps of sharp lava as hard as I could (to test the tires for tire cut resistance) but every time the suspension just ate up the much anticipated jolt. When the suspension is not active, bike is 100% rigid- unlike anything I’ve felt since… well, since my Tarmac road bike. The New Epic’s suspension is definitely a few cuts above the “old” Epic. And I’m sure many cuts above anything else out there.

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I needed to get out of the condo and daily town life, and headed up the Cascades and camped at the foot of Broken Top. I camped and trained at 2000m, (the same alt as Tahoe- XTERRA USA Champs is in 2 weeks) enjoying the nice weather and the changing colours of approaching of fall. (Autumn) I put in some really big sessions in fun surroundings- so it felt like holiday.

Of course, in true Caveman tradition, I try to carry everything at once.

Just a quick blog before prize giving.

This “Mountain champs” really  lives up to its name. Tons of climbing (ow), high altitude (ow), but fortunately also plenty of single track (yay) and lots of rocks. (yay)  Snow basin was the venue for the previous Winter Olympics and appart from the excellent venue, the organization here is top class, and  the people are very motivated to showcase Utah as a sports destination.

The pros swam without wetsuits and the amateurs with- resulting in quite a punch up all the way to the 1st bouy. Then most  people blow up. (too fast, too much altitude and maybe too much punching and dunking) I lost some time in the swim, I guess about 1 minute to Seth Wealing, Craig Evans, Brandon Rakita, Linda Gallow and  Mike Vine was less than a minute back.

My legs felt a bit rusty to about halfway up the 3000ft climb, but then it started getting better. I took the lead at about 1/3 of the way up and had no idea what was going on behind.

The water point volunteers were admiring the natural beauty when I got to the 2nd water point, so I missed the bottle (by about 10 meters) and it quickly became “situation critical mate” as I only had I sip left in my bottle. Quite worrying as I needed water to take my Clif Shots with.

Right at Snow Basin (T2 and finish) Mike Vine came up from behind. On the loosest, steepest part of the climb I dropped my chain, and lost about 5 seconds putting it back on. Mike passed me there and the TV camera loved it! I had to run up the rest of the hill (it was too steep to get back on) and soon Mike spun out and had to run too. So we ran head to head, eventually remounting and then trading the lead up the really steep climb to 8000ft. The TV crew was on a dirt bike ( yes, I was jealous) and captured the suspense on tape. Or SD or whatever they use in TV cameras nowadays.  At the very summit I gathered all my strength and sprinted past Mike to lead into the twisty, rocky single track back down to Snow basin where the run starts. (7000ft)

I rode the single track pretty well, but stayed cautious as I could not risk getting another flat this year. To be in the running for my 6th XTERRA USA Series Champs title I needed a solid result here in Ogden.

I started the hilly run with a minute lead on Vine, and of course the water point people were so surprised to see the 1st runner they forgot to give him water. Even though he yelled “WATER” at the top of his lungs in his best American accent.

So I tackled the ski slope (in the upwards direction) with a dry mouth and only 1/3 of the calories I usually take in a race.

Fortunately I still have some blubber left over from our European trip and my energy levels seemed fine. Parts of the run was extremely rocky and there was no way of picking a line- it was nothing but rocks. I ran in the Avia AVI Lite which offers a fair amount of cushioning over the rocks and mine shaft descend for only 10.2oz.

With about 2 miles to go I thought I could ease back a bit. Wheazing for air and stumbling at a snails pace was getting old really quick. I looked back and of course there, about 20 seconds back comes a charging Vine. I tried to pick up the pace and of course right then the blubber on my backside voted me off the island.  It said: “No more lifting and putting down of feet untill we get some carbs”  Carbs were out of the question as the finish was 10 minutes away and of course I had no water. And even if I did have water I would have blown a gasket if I had to hold my breath for the 2 seconds it takes to swallow. So I told myself “you are the World Champion, cowboy up and behave like one”. I summited with maybe a 10 second lead and then plunged down the 1 mile deep mine shaft to the finish. Of course the TV crew was on it but by then I was falling so fast hurting so much and muscles were cramping so badly (dehydration) that I wasnt not even ogling the pretty dirt bike. (it was a Suzuki DRZ 400)

I did a 4 hr ride with a short hard run off the bike. I started in Sisters, just outside my home Bend, Oregon. I rode up and over the lava covered McKenzie pass and dropped down to the green lushiousness (its my blog, I can make up words if I like)- of the west side of the Cascades to almost sea level, (500m) before turning around and climbing back up and over the arid 1600m peak. Nothing but climbing or descending for 4 hrs- great training mixed in with soul riding. About as much fun as road riding gets…

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This smoothie is amazingly tasty. It doesnt even have ice cream or sugar! Amber dreamed it up early summer. We often have a big glass of ice cold, thick, orange smoothie after training.

Into a blender:

– 4 ripe Oranges. Peeled. Duh

– Soy milk

– 0-2 scoops of French Vanilla Clif Bar protein powder. Depending how much protein you think you need. The the Clif protein makes the smoothie nice and thick like milk shake…

– Ice cubes

Blend.

Enjoy.