Boulder Valley Endurance Racing Team

2010

2009-12-10T09:17:00.004-07:00

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, and you haven't stuffed yourself as full of goodies as I have over the last few weeks!

It is COLD here in Boulder! With snow, wind and cold (-20F lows!), it has been an early year for getting on the bike trainers. Fortunately, North Boulder Park has been groomed for nordic skiing so we have been getting out the skate skis for lunchtime jaunts!

The team is going to be going through some changes in this off-season, and we are really looking forward to 2010. We are working on offering our sponsors more opportunities by competing in more MTB races, off-road triathlons, Randonee Races, and more while still competing at a top level in adventure races!

Unfortunately, GoLite is unable to continue as our title sponsor for 2010. We have had a great time and great resutls racing for GoLite over the past seasons, and thank them for supporting our team. We are currently looking into other sponsorship opportunities and look forward to finding another great partner for the future.

More info to come.

Berryman Adventure

2009-09-22T22:03:00.002-06:00

All packed up, leaving tomorrow for MO for the Berryman adventure! Getting AR gear for 4 plus gear for 4 days of camping in one car is gonna be TIGHT!

We are still unsure if the race is going to start on Friday night, or early Sat. morning.

Check out the race website here

Live tracking, maps, and race updates can be found at checkpointtracker!

Drop us a shout out and wish us luck!

Getting Ready for Berryman

2009-09-13T20:15:00.015-06:00

We have been busy, busy, busy getting ready for the Berryman Adventure, coming up in only 2 weeks! check it out! This race promises to be a good one, and a lot different race than we generally do around here.

Tiffanie's little Brother JT was staying with us for a week, so we tried to get a lot done! A couple of good days hiking in the hills just outside of Boulder, we even got up to the top of Green Mountain to see the swarm of ladybugs who have taken over the summit of the peak. After that, we took an overnight backpacking trip up into the James Peak Wilderness area to Crater Lakes. After a short little 4 mile hike up into the wilderness, we had an incredibly warm night and woke up to take a fun hike up to the top of the continental divide at over 12,000 ft. It was a fun free-form hike up a high ridgeline along an old power or telegraph line. The clouds cleared up just in time for us to summit out on the divide, but the smoke from the California wildfires proved to take a fair bit away from the view.

Since then, lots of training for all of us. Tiffanie, Boyd, and I have been really having a great time exploring all of the trails that Nederland has to offer. There are trails EVERYWHERE, a veritable maze. Fun, swoopy singletrack in every direction, there is no way to decide where to go except just going, and trying to figure out where you are later! Many of these rides we have been joined by friends and fellow racers, with occasional teammate Mike Thompson and his friend Jeff Oakey providing plenty of comic relief once, and Shane Sigle going out with us for an epic trying to figure out just where all of the trails go!

Finally about a week ago, James got back from his whirlwind tour of Germany and China, and we were all excited about training together before the Berryman. After attending my sister's engagement party (Congrats Gwen!) in Pueblo over Labor day weekend, Tiff and I drove down to Salida and met up with Boyd and James to do the classic MTB epic over Monarch Crest.

The Monarch Crest trail is listed by IMBA as one of the top 5 rides in the US, and once you ride it, there is no arguing with that. Generally the Monarch Crest ride is done as a shuttle. Most people park in Poncha Springs, then drive to the top of Monarch Pass in another car. We decided that 32 miles of singletrack wasn't enough riding for the day, so we decided to add in the 18 mile climb of Monarch Pass. Starting around 8am, we did the 18+ mile climb up US Hwy 50 to the top of Monarch pass in a little under 2 hours. Monarch pass is a great climb, starting in Poncha Springs at around 7,550' the highway climbs at around 4-6% grade for the first 12 miles. For the last 6 miles, the average grade jumps up to around 8% until you hit the summit of the pass at 11,400'. From there, a quick snack, and on to the singletrack. Climbing further on dirt trail, we hit the ridgeline for the 12+ miles along from Monarch Pass to Marshall Pass at over 12,000'. We had a ball riding along the high ridge, and despite James being at sea level for over a month, we all felt great at the high elevation. From Marshall Pass, the fun begins. Descending for over 4500 vertical feet on buff singletrack is the reward for all that climbing. We had a blast - everyone felt strong, and even adding the 2 hour climb up the pass, did the ride in about the same time as most people do as a shuttle!

Since then, we just keep going. Tiff, Boyd, Shane, and I headed down to Colorado Springs for an orienteering meet with the RMOC. We had a great time at Fox run, with Boyd, Tiff, and I doing the Red course and then the green course as a team. Shane did the opposite doing the Green then the red. Fun times, if you have never tried orienteering, it is a Blast!

I especially want to thank Alta Physical Therapy and Jeff Staron Massage for getting me back going again! I was having some pretty horrible knee pain on longer runs, but after a few sessions with Mike Kohm at Alta PT and Massage from Jeff Staron, I am running pain free! Check out Alta!

Cheers! Talk to you soon, and thanks for supporting our team!

Therefore I GoLite

2009-09-03T11:37:00.003-06:00

Bike shoes are my heels & mud is my make-up.
Therefore I GoLite.

GoLite just launched a new website, and they're holding a contest to celebrate! We love being GoLite athletes, and now you can too. Enter to win, and you'll be featured with a spread on the new website as well as $500 in GoLite gear. The contest deadline is September 28th -- simply submit your story, photos, and own personal "Therefore I GoLite" line. Just for entering you get a 25% off coupon, which is pretty cool. If you become a GoLite fan on Facebook and leave a comment, you can get another 15% off coupon. To find out more, check out the GoLite contest link: http://www.golite.com/Meaning-of-Lite/Community.aspx.

-Tiffanie

Where did the summer go?!?!

2009-08-25T19:26:00.010-06:00

Looking back now that it is almost September, it seems like we didn't do that much this summer! Some nagging injuries, trouble getting the team at the same place at the same time, family issues, etc, it just seems like we didn't race near as much as we are used to! Although we have missed racing, we certainly have enjoyed a slightly slower pace, even though we have still been really busy. After the sudden, untimely death of my stepdad in July, we have slowly tried to get back to a more normal schedule. We had a great time at a long distance orienteering meet near Woodland Park with the RMOC. 6 hours of long distance orienteering proved to be critical for some of the races we have done since then, not to mention that getting 6 hours on foot bushwacking is always good for the body! Looking to get more time on the feet, we decided to get a few folks together and go for a long run. We realized that we always travel and go places to get on our mountain bikes, but we always are content to run right by the house! With over 100 miles of amazing hiking trails within 5 minutes of our front door here in Boulder, it is pretty hard to get motivated to get in the car to go running. However, Tiff and I rounded up Boyd, our friend Brian Corff(Congrats on 5th overall at the Xterra Brian!) and Dan Brillon (Good luck at Transrockies Dan!). We headed up to Estes Park, CO and the gates of Rocky Mountain National Park. The twin owls loop is an 11 mile loop around a rock massif called lumpy ridge. the run starts just behind the Stanley Hotel (the backdrop from "The Shining") and immediately heads uphill into RMNP. After running a few miles STEEPLY uphill, we finally reached the saddle on the Northwest edge of Lumpy Ridge and let the fun begin. A gorgeous gentle downhill into the valley with the wildflowers going off was incredible! Freewheeling down the valley we were all laughing at how lucky we were to be running in such a lovely place. The laughter soon stopped when we had to turn up another REALLY steep climb. Fortunately, the climb was rewarded with the arrival at the top at Gem Lake. Gem Lake is a small little pond in a giant granite bowl on the top of Lumpy ridge. After a few minutes of relaxing and taking the views at gem lake, we headed back down the last stairstep descent to the car.

Plenty more to come! We'll have a few more updates in the next few days!

When it rains......

2009-08-24T19:28:00.003-06:00

Sometimes, you just don't really feel like training. There is nothing better than having a teammate give you a call and get you out on a ride. A little motivation can go a long way to get out there and have some fun. Boyd and I went for a ride a few weeks ago, and lo and behold, at the furthest point away from the house, the skies opened up in a way that only people who live in Colorado can understand. With dry, packed trails quickly turning to sticky, hellish clay mud we couldn't help but laugh at how a casual afternoon ride could turn into such a slogfest! After an hour to finish the 30 minutes left in our ride, it was time to clean the bikes off and get warm!

The good part. After multiple horrible mud events, my Powercordz still shift like new! Every nasty ride, I groan thinking about having to change my cables and housing, but they always are in perfect adjustment, and never any friction. I have been amazed at just how resilient these things are! Decreased weight, increased durability...... perfect. You should check some out!

Get 25% off at checkout at powercordz by entering code "GoLite" (Caps Important). Get some, save the same amount weight as paying $700 for that new XTR crankset, and ride on!

Team GoLite Podiums Again!

2009-08-20T14:37:00.016-06:00

Team GoLite Multisport
AXS 18 Hour Adventure Race
Summit County, CO, July 25-26, 2009
1st Place 2-Person Teams, 2nd Team Overall

Summit County always provides a great area for racing -- beautiful scenery, fun singletrack, and great trail access. With James out of the country and Boyd busy for the weekend, Brooks and Tiff headed up to the Breckenridge, CO area to put our training and navigation skills to the test. We’ve been training hard on our team navigation, participating in several orienteering meets put on by the Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club (and they do an awesome job!). Brooks is getting to be one heck of a navigator, and this race would give us a good opportunity to do a lot of navigating and also test out our brand new Suunto Arrow racing compasses, which we were super-excited to receive before we headed out to the race. Always excited to help new racers out, we also had the chance to help some other teams out and do a little map & compass clinic before the start of the race with some of the teams doing the 12 Hour and Sprint races. We remember learning all of these skills in the beginning and it’s nice to be able to give back a bit.

The race started at midnight with a fast 1 mile run to get from the start to the Lake Dillon marina. After hopping in the kayaks, we tried our best to discern all the islands and inlets despite the moonless night, and found that we could track the lake well and came out of the water right with the the fastest teams. With the pre-dawn morning upon us and wet from the paddle, we shivered as we ran back to the Frisco Nordic Center attempting to warm our bodies back up on the way before the Orienteering course. Brooks was thankful for his recent practice and our ultra light and super bright Ay Up lights, and was able to move quickly through the O-course. With precision and skill, he pointed us directly to each control, making the orienteering a seamless and fast section. Off the course in just over two hours, we beat the next-fastest team in this section by almost an hour. With the trek looming ahead, we transitioned once again, keeping our headlamps on for just a bit more.

The most memorable parts of this race happens during the trek. We’ve often been directed to hit the summit of Wheeler Pass between Breckenridge and Copper, and the views from this vantage point never fail to be stunning. This morning was no exception. Our reward from the fast orienteering was the beautiful sunrise as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain (and we were so bummed we didn't have our camera with us!!). Running changed to trekking, and soon our trekking poles were pulled out for the final bid to the summit. Peaking out at over 12,500 feet just minutes after sunrise, we definitely felt the affects of the altitude, and immediately started running on the downhill to help our heads and stomachs recover.

Running out of the mountains, we descended to the bike path between Copper and Frisco. With Brooks sporting inline skates and me a scooter for the 7% downhill grade, I fought to keep control and constantly watched as Brooks confidently skated along -- let’s just say he’s a good skater, and I am a bit more challenged in this discipline!

I made it to transition in Frisco once more, very thankful to be alive as the descent on the bikepath always gives me a bit of a fast heart rate! But from here on is one of our favorites -- the mountain bike -- and for this race we get to have lots of fun on copious amounts of singletrack. Big climbs, swooping downs, and fast trails don’t always show up in the adventure races, so we
made sure to have as much fun as possible. A small tactical error on where to get on the trails simply gave us bonus singletrack, and even though in the end it cost us the overall win, we still value the lessons we learned, as well as never forgetting the “bonus singletrack” we earned. Ahhh, gotta love it when you climb a bit too far, but the prospect of a few extra miles of singletrack and making the best of it and fighting back is a fact of adventure racing, and we
handled it well.

We came off the course clearing all checkpoints and narrowly avoiding the evening thunderstorms. We rejoiced missing another torrential downpour (as we expected to happen) and also coming in 1st for our division (Coed Duo). It was an even bigger bonus to come in 2nd overall just a short bit behind the leading team, knowing that we were in close contention for 1st
place for all teams.

We continue to be really excited about our races and our great finishes -- and there’s still more to come!

-Tiffanie Beal

Tiff wins Open 19-29 Marathon MTB National Championship!

2009-07-07T21:59:00.008-06:00

Team GoLite Multisport

Firecracker 50 Marathon Mountain Bike National

Championships – Breckenridge, CO

July 4th, 2009

A holiday weekend and racing are great combinations, and we were excited to head up to Breckenridge, CO for the Marathon Mountain Biking National Championships at this year’s Firecracker 50 rac e. With 50 miles of grueling trail, the Firecracker always presents a huge challenge to even the best of mountain bikers. The course yields over 10,800 feet of elevation gain, with an average elevation well over 10500 feet, testing legs and lungs alike. Steep

climbs, screaming down hills, rocky terrain, and sweeping single track combine to make this one of the biggest races of the year. All the competition showed up, as the National Championships were on the line.

Brooks took off first, taking part in one of the first waves to lead out the town’s 4th of July Parade. Breckenridge takes this event to the next level, giving the racers celebrity status as they lead the parade, giving out high-fives to the little kids, and then veering off to the trail systems. Crowds lined the streets and cheered as the cyclists streamed by. Tiffanie’s wave headed down Main Street soon after, and the long day in the saddle began. Fighting through lines of racers and diving between people on single track, the race began to spread out as the race went on. Brooks held on despite the mud and some cramping on the second lap for a clean finish, proving stronger than last year and ascending the podium with an impressive 5th place finish in a very tough field of Men’s Open 30-34. Tiffanie, pushing through a flat tire in the final miles, sailed into the finish line in 1st place for her division Women’s Open 19-29, giving her the stars & stripes jersey and crowned National Marathon Mountain Bike Champion in her division for 2009.

Stay tuned for more – the race season is just getting into top gear!

James wins AXS Purgatory Challenge overall title!

2009-07-07T21:49:00.006-06:00

Representing Team GoLite Multisport: James Kovacs

Purgatory Challenge, Durango, CO

June 19, 20, and 21, 2009

Representing Team GoLite, James headed to Durango to put all my endurance to the test. Put on by the Adventure Xstream Adventure Racing crew, the Purgatory Challenge asks for both skills and endurance. A stage race of epic proportions, the first day begins with a 20 mile kayak race, 10 miles of which are upstream. Day two dawns with a 50-mile mountain bike race through mostly single track and tough terrain. The last day ends with a mountain marathon – 26 miles on trail with enough climbing and rocks to make your legs go numb. All three days, all in a row. Bring on the Challenge!

Day 1: 20-Mile Kayak

The morning of the kayak race came with the anticipation of trying to race a kayak both downstream and upstream. Starting up the winding Animas River, kayakers jumped into all sorts of boats, ranging from down river kayaks to sea kayaks to an eight foot white water boat. Starting out a moderate pace not knowing what to expect of the competition, after the first couple of bends I was out of sight of any competition. The scenery was great, the wildlife was spectacular, making the kayaking all that more enjoyable. At eight miles was the turnaround and the start of the much anticipated trip back down river. After meeting the closest competition about seven minutes after the turn-around, it seemed my lead could be the potential event winner. Not wanting to leave anything to change, I dug deeper for the return and ended up with a 15 minute lead going into Day 2 , a good place to be!

Day 2: 50-Mile Mountain Bike

After a good night’s rest at the local campgrounds, day 2 came thinking about some mountain biking fun. The weather looked good; sunny and cool in the morning. The local crew of pro mountain bikers leapt off the start, making for a good legs and lungs burn to the top of Purgatory ski area. At this point, the clouds rolled in and brought the rain, which settled in for the remainder of the race. As the rain became heavier and heavier, the rain felt as if it was coming from every direction, creating mud bogs that coated bikes and riders alike. A few serious stream crossings helped to clean up the bike’s drive train a bit before the last six mile climb back to the top of the ski area, finishing with a quick and rocky descent to the finish. After a rough day in the rain and mud, I was relieved to find out that I was still 15 minutes ahead of the nearest competition in the Challenge, and still in the lead heading into the final day.

Day 3: Trail Marathon

With the realization that I had 15 minutes on the nearest competition, I came to the start line on Day 3 feeling great. The plan for the day was to pace with the nearest competition and see what would happen. The start gun went off, and all the racers ascended up 2 miles to the top of the ski resort. Trying to go conservatively, I started the downhill and let my competition take the lead for a bit, but always within sight. The scenery was awesome; the wildflowers were in full bloom and running next to the creek proved relaxing and calming for my tired body. Running a bit faster than what the race director was expecting, another runner and I arrived at the first aid station without them being ready. Hurrying to get us water bottles, I grabbed one and continued on my way again. At about mile 20, my fellow runner and pacer during the race began to slow down and at that point I saw it as my chance to take off on my own. Running my own pace through the end, I crossed under the finish line

in under 4 hours, what I considered a great time for a trail run in the mountains on the third day of tough competition. In the end, I put an additional 10 minutes on my closest competition, winning the overall title!

The weekend proved to be an amazing time, another amazing finish for Team GoLite, and one more win for all our sponsors.

Teva Mountain Games 2009

2009-06-21T20:48:00.004-06:00

Vail, CO played host to one of the biggest weekends in athletic events, once again bringing the Teva Mountain Games to town and attracting talent from all over the nation. With the current economy, Teva proved to be an attractive draw for many top elites and pros, as the significant prize money could more than make up for the reasonable entry fees. Competing in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, Brooks and James took on 4 events to race for the overall crown. The Ultimate Mountain Challenge consisted of 4 events over 2 days; the white water down river kayak sprint and mountain bike cross country race on Saturday, followed by the 10k mountain trail run and the Vail Pass road bike time trial hillclimb on Sunday. Tiffanie joined in by competing in the same mountain bike and trail run races.

James arrived for the weekend with a nasty stomach flu, yet joined in on all the fun and never let it stop him. With a clean run in the white water, he continued with a solid mountain bike and then ran a blazing time in the trail run, finishing 19th in his age group. At this point, he was 7th overall for the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, and held on to his position as he raced through the snow, hail, and rain during the final road bike leg. Upset stomach and all, James sailed through the competition and finished 7th in the pro division of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge.

Brooks went up against James in the Challenge, also racing in the pro division. He quickly checked off a clean run in the kayak, and followed with a solid race in the mountain bike. The next morning dawned with the trail run, and Brooks posted a great time, finishing 23rd out of 77 in his age group. Finishing up the weekend, he fought through the same afternoon storms to race up to the top of Vail pass in the road bike. Setting a strong pace, Brooks managed to join the ranks right next to James, finishing in 6th place overall in the pro division of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge.

Tiffanie opted to play just twice during the weekend, starting with the mountain bike cross country race. Fighting through traffic on the technical single track, she managed to find her own space halfway through the race, and held on to a podium finish. Her 3rd place finish (W’s Expert) earned her a trip to the awards ceremony, and gained her recognition in a national-level race. The next day brought the 10k trail run, and she continued her strong showing by placing 4th out of 52 runners in her age division.
Thank you to all for helping us to gain recognition and great results at the
always popular Teva Mountain Games. As always, stay tuned to http://
boulderarteam.blogspot.com for more information and news!.

Gearing Up for Teva!

2009-06-04T11:05:00.002-06:00

The team is preparing for the Teva Mountain Games this weekend, to be held in Vail, CO. Tiffanie will be competing in the Sobe XC MTB race in the Expert division on Saturday and the 10k runoff trail race on Sunday morning. Both James and Brooks will be competing in the GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge - a 2 day, 4 event competition with a 4 mile downriver paddle (Gore Creek) Sat. Morning, the MTB race (Pro division) on Sat. afternoon, the 10k trail race on Sunday morning, and the Vail pass hillclimb on Sunday afternoon! Should be a weekend filled with fun and pain! I will try to post updates throughout the weekend as I get a chance (and an internet connection).

Cheers,

Brooks

Rando Racin'!

2009-04-30T20:57:00.006-06:00

Ever wonder what the Elite adventure racers do in Colorado during the winter? As it turns out, they are all Ski mountaineering (randonee) racing. Geared up with some light-ish gear (at least compared to the 1100 gram setups the top guys are using) Brooks headed up to Arapahoe Basin for the Marmot Grind, the last race in the COSMIC (Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup) series for the season. Being my first race, I had sort of rigged up a good setup, and decided to sign up for the pro race division.

The race started at 8:30am at the base area of A-basin. Start with a 100m run to your skis (already skinned up) then climb up High-noon, across to Chisolm, up wrangler, and then up Grizzly road to the top of the Pali chair. My start included not getting the touring locks set tight enough, and immediately blowing out of both skis upon trying to skin uphill! After watching everyone tear up the hill as I fumbled with my bindings, I finally got going, and set off trying to catch the lead group. The first descent was down Pali run, which was in prime frozen coral bumps condition, down to the base again. Luckily, I was able to capitalize on those years of skiing and pass quite a few people on the way down. After skinning back up at the bottom, another ascent, but this time all the way past the top of Pali to the Snow Plume Refuge. Ripped skins on the ridge, took the Zuma Cornice(while trying to get down some gel) dropped the cornice, and skiied down to the bottom of Montezuma Bowl. Skin back up, head up an insanely steep run and across a ridge traverse to the top of North Pole. This is where my inexperience reared its ugly head! I was starting to get tired up the last skin (did I mention it was really steep!) and was having trouble getting my skins to hook-up. I started traversing the hill, while others were able to go straight up. On the ridge, I opted to try to ski down with my boots unbuckled, bindings in tour mode, and skins on! Needless to say, after falling a few times on icy hardpack, I just pulled off the skis and booted it. Much faster! After a ski down the tight couloir I hit the East Wall traverse, strapped my skis to my modified GoLite pack, and boot packed it up Willies Wide. The ski down Willies was painful!From the bottom of the wall, across the base and back down to high-noon and the finish! I had a great time. In the mens division, the race was won by Pete Swenson, followed by Mike Kloser and Travis Scheefer in 3rd. The womens race was Monique Merrill, just nipping Sari Anderson at the line, with Jari Kirkland in 3rd. I placed 14th overall in a little under 2h, 30min. Not too shabby for 5300 vertical feet in my first race!

Lot of fun (in a painful way). Looking forward to doing the series next year! See you out there!

Moab Spring Training

2009-04-30T20:36:00.006-06:00

Been more than a month ago now... ugh... At the end of March, the team headed out to Moab, UT for some spring riding in the warm desert! Unfortunately, that was not what we got! After driving through a horrible blizzard to get out there (30 ft max visibility over Vail Pass), a late arrival and camp pitch, and a shelter which ripped out of the sand in a windstorm in the middle of the night, we were ready to ride Thursday morning! Starting riding up Kane creek road, over Hurrah pass, and down into Jackson's hole, the skies turned dark, and alas another blizzard was upon us! Jackson's hole is a sandy valley adjacent to the Colorado River, and when the sand gets wet, it sticks to EVERYTHING, most notably your drivetrain!

As it continued to snow sideways, we did the vertical hike-a-bike up Jacob's ladder, and finally descended down Amasa Back, cold, wet, and amazed with how much it had snowed!

Over the next few days, we would also ride our standard Porcupine rim loop, volunteer at registration for the Adventure Xstream race, (which James raced and placed 5th overall!), and then on the last day rode Gold Bar, Golden Spike, and Poison Spider.

Despite the cold weather, we still had a great time, out riding with our friends. The new Sparks are awesome!

Powercordz!

2009-04-30T20:25:00.003-06:00

We are happy to announce our new partnership with Powercordz! Powercordz are the world's lightest bicycle control cables - and being smooth and non-corrosive, might just be the most durable as well! These things are 75% lighter than standard steel brake and shift cables, so quit saving up for that XTR crankset and just get some of these! We can't wait to get some on our bikes!

Moab 12 Hour Adventure Race - Adventure Xstream

2009-04-03T11:21:00.003-06:00

March 29th, 2009

Saturday morning greeted 350 eager adventure racers with warmth and sunshine; ready to kick off the first Adventure Xstream adventure race of the 2009 season. Butterflies took hold as I waited for my first solo race to begin, mostly from worry about not remembering to punch my racer passport at all the checkpoints along the course. The race started on bike with a blazing peloton towards Long Canyon as its steep climb to the top of the mesa. The climb pulled apart the peloton and I traded drafting positions with others up the canyon, passing all but one solo racer. Pulling up our bikes at the 350 ft rappel area, I quickly strapped on my climbing harness and enjoyed the ride down the rope. At the bottom, I pulled out my running shoes in a sprint back to the bikes, in total about a 6 mile dash through the sand. I strategized about how to catch the one man out front, and all that kept running through my head was my best Goose impression from Top Gun "there are no points for second place today!". Back on the bike, the course brought us down to the final leg: the kayak section. At this point I knew that I had to get into my eleven foot white water boat and paddle as quickly as possible, but needless to say my boat choice was no match for the carbon shells that sliced through the calm waters around me. I finished in 5th place overall, not bad considering this was my first race against very experienced athletes and world-class paddlers (with awesome boats). It was an incredible day and a great result for the Team, taking just over 5 hours to complete! Special thanks to GoLite, our wonderful title sponsor, Scott Bicycles & Boulder Cycle Sport, who got us new Spark bikes just in time for the race and made the rocks and sand so much more enjoyable to ride, and Tifosi for providing us the best eyewear to transition seamlessly between sand, water, and rock!

-James Kovacs

Back in the swing...

2009-03-23T21:11:00.002-06:00

Finally, things are getting back to normal. Tiff is finally fully recovered from her heart arrhythmia procedure, and another mild ankle sprain (nothing sets back a setback like another setback..... say that 3 times fast :)) I am finally making enough free time to make sure I get in my training EVERY day, after a few weeks of missing days here and there.

We just had a great weekend of mountain biking! We finally got the Sparks (after lots of anticipation), and they are FAST, FAST, FAST! Buffalo Creek with our friend Lee Mebel on Saturday, and Chimney Gulch, Apex on Sunday. Tiff and I felt great after longer back to back days in the saddle at easy efforts, and are looking forward to upping the pace and duration in the following weeks! This week we head to Moab, UT for our spring "training camp" and will be looking to put together 3-4 days of 6-8 hours of riding. Although we aren't doing the Adventure Xstream Moab race as a team, teammate James is going to rock it solo to get some more experience.

Cheers! hope to have some great pictures to share next week! Oh, and after 3 rides, seriously - go to Boulder cycle sport and buy a Scott!

Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon 2009

2009-02-25T21:15:00.005-07:00

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!

2009-02-10T06:54:00.006-07:00

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.

Suunto Watches Rock

2009-01-13T12:05:00.002-07:00

1.13.2009

Brooks and I are very excited to incorporate new Suunto watches into our training and racing!! I'm using the brand new training tool, a watched sized and colored specifically for women, called the t3c (http://www.suuntocampaigns.com/tseries/). The color Deep Green and low-profile face makes it fashionable for everyday, yet still features all the needs for athletes in training. The newly-designed heart rate belt -- termed the comfort belt -- is by far the most comfortable belt I've worn, and I hardly notice that it's on. Even better, it immediately picks up my heart rate (and I don't have to fiddle with the thing to get it going, dipping into my valuable training time). I opted for the additional footpod, which is a tiny little thing that clips to my shoelace and stays put. It's smaller and much lighter than the one I used previously (and made by another un-named company). I'm still playing with all the features of the watch, and I'm having a great time discovering all the input it can give me about my performance.

Brooks, as our team navigator, has been using the new All-Black Core (http://www.suunto.com/suunto/Worlds/outdoor/main/Product.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198674007088&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302759905&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395903525&bmUID=1231874458288).
It's the newest version of a classic product, featuring an altimeter, barometer, and compass. For adventure racing, this is a must-have tool to both find where we are on a map as well as help us to predict the weather. It even has a storm alarm that goes off if the barometric pressure drops off and a storm front starts coming down the mountains...

Thanks to Suunto for this great new product, and we can't wait to report back as we continue to play with our watches!

-Tiffanie

Ski-O Eldora Nordic Center

2009-01-13T11:37:00.005-07:00

1.10.2009

Early Saturday morning, Brooks and I headed up to the Eldora Nordic Center just 30 minutes outside of Boulder to participate in the Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club's Ski-O. Battling 30-40mph sustained winds and below zero wind chills, we strapped on our skate skis, grabbed our maps, and headed out on a timed orienteering course.

Eldora's terrain is famous for its steep up and down hills, making you feel like you're often navigating your skate skis over alpine terrain! However, it's a fun place to go and get a great workout while still enjoying the great wintery outdoors. Mainly based upon trail navigation, the course contained 16 checkpoints and stiff headwinds (you can see me finding one of the checkpoints). Trying to balance big gloves, maps, and punchcards, we quickly realized the wind and cold were going to significantly slow our pace. Brooks found a system that worked, and teamed with his experienced skiing, tore up the course.

Brooks blazed the course with crazy speed and finished in 1hr 12min, good enough for 3rd place. I followed up, a bit behind, finishing in 1hr 45min and 8th place. A successful day all around, considering I was able to convince myself that blowing snow was fun and get out of the car in the first place. But, as always, once you're out it's tons of fun, and we got in some great off-season orienteering competition to build on our skills for next year.

-Tiffanie

Giving Back: The Conservation Alliance Legacy Fund

2008-12-30T12:31:00.002-07:00

12.30.2008

At the beginning of the 2008 racing season, all the members of Team GoLite agreed to give back to the environment in which we race and donate 10% of our 2008 sponsorship money to a non-profit association dedicated to conserving and protecting our lands. We believe there's more to racing than just winning, and we hope to prove as much by lessening our travel impact, off-setting the CO2 emissions that we could not reduce, educating at clinics and races, and then giving back to supportive organizations.

Today, we made a donation in the name of GoLite/Team GoLite to the Conservation Alliance Legacy Fund. The Conservation Alliance is the outdoor industry's collective commitment to protecting our wild lands, and its Legacy Fund Campaign will help to ensure that it remains a force in conservation and be a permanent figure in the future. The Legacy Fund will provide a stable source of operational funding, and our contribution will help them reach their goals to create a solid foundation for the organization's future.

Please check out more about the Conservation Alliance: www.conservationalliance.com. They are working to support and provide funding for so many worthy causes, many of them probably in your own backyard. For more information about the Legacy Fund, please visit www.conservationalliance.com/about/legacy_fund.

Have a great New Year!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-29T16:56:00.010-07:00

Hope everyone had a great holiday season! We have been out and about, never a dull moment around here! Tiff and I jetted off to Italy in early December to visit one of Tiffanie's best friends near Venice. It was a whirlwind tour from Venice, to Aviano, to watching Shelley's husband Greg taxi and takeoff (he is an F-16 pilot in the Air Force), to Cortina, and back. After nearly a week of missing our train connections, we were home, just in time for me to head out to Cleveland to visit my boys Davis and Chad, and to hit-up Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park. Pretty cool concept, lots of fun, can't wait for Boulder Indoor Cycling to open now! Davis's Christmas party was off the hook, and I am pretty sure I had as much fun as a Boulderite could possibly have in the Cleve! Since then, it was down to Pueblo, CO to visit the parents for the holidays, then a quick jaunt down to Crested Butte to take advantage of the 50" of snow they received last week! Luckily, Tiff and I were able to catch up with JB, Wick, and Jari from Team Salomon/Crested Butte, and had fun skiing with Wick and JB. After trying out Wick's Rando race kit, I think I am hooked, too bad I can't even afford a pair of race bindings! Hopefully I will have out the "Heavy Metal" this year and can do some COSMIC (Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup) races, albeit much slower than Wick, JB and the boys on their race gear!

Cheers and Happy Holidays. Still looking for New Years plans.

(Pictures are Brooks and Tiff in Cortina, Italy; Skinning up Crested Butte mountain at dusk on Wick's "crack" Ultralight race gear. )

-Brooks

Ultimate XC 20-Miler in Moab, UT

2008-12-23T13:31:00.003-07:00

November 15th, 2008
James Kovacs 1st Place Open, 2nd Overall
Chris Boyd 8th Place Open

From the viewpoint of Chris Boyd:

Moab, UT -- a must visit for any adventure-loving individual or really just anyone with an eye for the astonishing imagination found in nature. This year, Moab was the home to the Ultimate XC, a new offroad trail running event catering to the adventure lovers in us all. The race director Dan Desrisuers is a friend of mine from when we met at his notorious Jay Challenge in 2006. How does one describe Dan accurately, giving him credit for his immense passion for creating unique, enormously challenging and rugged course design? I'm not sure I have the words to do him justice other than by saying "This guy takes pleasure in seeing you hurt, in a good way J". Yeah, I suppose we all self-diagnose by showing up at one of these events as being, how do you say, a little 'off', but the challenge we set out to overcome is unique to each individual. For myself, the Ultimate XC 20-Mile trail race was a motivator, a mechanism for keeping my mind hungry and my body ready for a new challenge. Coming toward the end of a racing season, it is all too easy to hunker down and wait out the cold and snow, but for James and I and about 248 others, we looked to the Ultimate XC Moab as a spring board to help us catapult our physical shape through the winter and into an even greater 2009.

As I eluded, Dan is never one to disappoint, and this race certainly lived up to the promise it had advertised. 20 miles through canyons and high points of the slickrock, monolith-covered back trails of Moab, Dan and race director Danielle Ballange set a course that any trail runner should look forward to running. The start was up what I believe was Pritcher Canyon, which was a rocky, loose, rutted and boulder-filled 4x4 trail that snakes its way south and then west, heading away from the Colorado River and the town of Moab. Coming out of the canyon, you steadily gain altitude as you sneak your way to the top roof of the canyon before dropping down into a rutted out hole in teh rocks, finally hitting a service road. A stunning run up a riverbed, through and under arches and large rocks carved out by thousands of years of flowing torrents left the area with many soft edged rocks and evidence that nature's power had been at work in these parts for many years. Coming out of this river bed after grabbing a checkpoint punch, I looked to my GPS which read 3 miles further than the maps said we would have traveled up to this point. Hmmm, might my watch be broken?

Flashback 2 years to the Jay Challenge on day 3 while competing in the 65-mile mountain bike leg of the race (day 1 was a 27-mile flatwater paddle and day 2 was a 36-mile trail run which if I tried to describe now would cause me to lose focus, but let me just say it was HARD) and coming to find that after riding for 71 miles I was still a mile from the finish line. The story behind the over-delivering on mileage is one I recall Dan telling before the run leg of the Jay Challenge that year (which I believe was supposed to be 31 miles). He said something to the effect of, "last year some of youz guyz (use your best French-Canadian accent here) GPS-d my course and complained I was 5 miles short on the run. This year, you won't be disappointed, believe me". That must have scarred Dan because in all teh races I've done of his, he always 'over-delivers' and that came to be true in the 10-miler (actually 12.5), 20-miler (actually 23.5) and the 50k (actually pretty close to right on but probably a mile extra).

The version of the ending of the race I most prefer ends with me telling James (who by the way WON the Men's open category finishing 1hr 15min ahead of me...wow) that I was right on his heals, just around the corner, close enough the entire race where I could see him but he could not see me. Then about a half-mile from the finish I just sat down. Yup, one the dirt, sat there and waited. Here I am waiting...waiting...waiting. 30 minutes, then 45, then 1hr, then 1hr 10min. I decide now I can get up to finish, allowing him a solid cushion to secure his dominance over a field of uber-fast athletes and also me.

Put this race on the calendar for 2009. The race was an amazing experience and one I look forward to repeating. Rumor is there might be a mountain biking race next year on day 2. Think about it.

Boyd

USARA National Championships

2008-12-23T13:06:00.003-07:00

November 7, 2008

Friday morning arose with darkness and fog settled in across the valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Northern Georgia. Over 70 teams gathered at the town gazebo, ready for instructions to begin the Adventure Racing National Championships of 2008. This was the first time we as a Team had stepped foot in this area, notorious for difficult navigation, unmarked trails, and unreliable maps. With a grand start, we all boarded the scenic byways train in downtown Blue Ridge, travelling to a destination unknown.

Looking back at the week before the race, we really would like to recognize Charlie Merrill and Alta Physical Therapy for the help they gave Tiffanie. Just days before leaving for Georgia, Tiffanie sustained a grade II ankle sprain. Charlie worked with Tiffanie over the weekend to help her achieve the quickest healing time possible, and his coaching and advice enabled Tiffanie to get to Georgia and get on that train Friday morning.

We received "prologue" points while on the train. Already armed with the majority of the race points from the map pick-up the previous night, we would begin the day with a fresh set of checkpoints to get us from the train to the canoes. The "prologue" consisted of 4 checkpoints by foot; a quick segment to see who could get to the boats first. With this quick beginning in the "prologue", we were in the canoes before we knew it. Sunshine was finally beginning to drench the river, and we headed downstream.

The canoes only had 2 seats, which meant Tiffanie had to brace herself on the floor of the boat. James and Brooks continually leapt from the canoe to carry it across shallow waters and portages. With such a low water level this time of year, the canoe portion had quite a bit of running involved (and plenty of getting wet in the process). After about 17 miles on the river, we finally made it to the shore and our first official checkpoint on map. From there, we carried the canoe another mile to the drop-off, which I can tell you is no easy feat. As we dropped the canoe, the rain began to fall. We ran 10 miles along the river to our bikes, dropped off the night before at the only "transition" of the race. Not allowed to have any extra gear or food at that transition, we simply picked up the bikes and were on our way. The rain continued to fall, and as night descended, we finally made it to the first run section. Donning our favorite Ay-Up Headlamps, we set out with lights ablaze for an adventure on foot. And as usual, we have the best lights out there -- we even discovered that the burn times of the 3-hour batteries can actually sometimes last you through 5 hours -- awesome.

As I mentioned before, the maps of the area aren't always inclusive of all trails, and even some trails on the map no longer exist. We climbed and crawled our way up the steep slopes, trekked along unmarked horse trails, and ran whenever we could find a reasonable surface. Rain kept pouring down as we unearthed ourselves from the dense brush and remounted our bikes. Our Rocky Mountain Bikes continued to handle the tough terrain of rocks, roots, and sludge, and our Maxxis Tires held descending steep slopes slippery with wet leaves and roots. We were drenched to the bone, without a single piece of dry gear to wear. We ran out of water, and as a result had to forage for streams to treat our water. Thank goodness for Nuun tablets, which helped mask the taste of chlorine dioxide and kept us wanting to stay hydrated! Arriving at the next run section, we were colder than we couldn've ever imagined we could be.

The night continued, and with 13 hours of darkness, we plowed through the cold and wet. When the morning rose, we welcomed it with open arms. The rains finally began to lift, and so did our body temperatures. We finished the race in good spirits and good health, crossing the finish line after being on the course for almost 28 hours.

Although we finished mid-pack in 37th place (out of 70+ teams), we learned a lot in this race, and continued our growth as a Team. We had hoped for a better finish, but we're proud of our showing at Nationals, and are even more proud to represent the companies who support us. It was amazing to pull our Tifosi sunglasses out of our packs after a night of wet and dirt, to see them intact and perfectly ready for the sunshine of the morning dawn. Our Smartwool socks kept our feet protected throughout the whole race, and not one of us suffered a blister, even though we trudged through wet and sludge for hours on end. As far as we've seen, we're the only Team to get to Nationals completely carbon neutral, and we only hope that more will follow suit next year (and we'll be recommending other teams to have Native Energy do that for them!). And big thanks to GoLite, for helping us to get to Georgia, providing us with the best packs and clothing for racing, and for believing in us all season long. We've really enjoyed all the adventures we've had this season, and look forward to many more to come!

Nationals

2008-11-01T22:19:00.000-06:00

Gearing up for USARA National National Championships in Blue Ridge, GA this week, the team will be flying out on Tuesday for the race which starts Friday at 7 am. This is going to be a 30 hour race, and the team is looking forward to racing hard and having a great time in a new location for us. Unfortunately, team member Tiffanie Beal, in her final preparations for the race rolled her ankle exactly (within 10 minutes) 1 week before the start of the race. We are working hard to rehab that ankle and have some of the best doctors, physical therapists (Forrest Walker and Charlie Merrill at Alta Physical Therapy), chiropractors (Dr. Larry Frieder of Boulder sport and spine), and Massage Therapists (Jeff Staron - the man) that Boulder has to offer.

Wish Tiff luck on a speedy recovery, and hope for our sake that she is fit and able to race come Friday morning. 6 days is a VERY short recovery from an ankle sprain, but she is working hard, and she is tough as nails, so if anyone can pull through it, it is Tiff. Shonny Vanlandingham just took 3rd at the Xterra World Championships with a similar injury, so we have high hopes for Tiff this week.

Congrats to our good friend Sara Tarkington who just placed 9th (Pro Women) at the Xterra World championships.

Also, good luck to our friends and fellow racers who are set to start tomorrow afternoon at the AR World Championships / EcoMotion Brazil race. Shane, Travis, and everyone else, stay safe in the jungle and we wait for the stories when you return.

Anyway, for more information on the USARA National championships, check out www.usaranationals.com

Cheers!

King of the Rockies!

2008-09-03T16:28:00.001-06:00

This Labor Day weekend brought the Winter Park Resort Tipperary Creek XC race, which the locals refer to as the "King of the Rockies". Brooks, Tiff, and longtime friend Doug headed up to the race to give it a whirl. This was the first time at this race for Brooks and Tiff, and the 3rd go-round for Doug who spends most of his time kicking butt on the Mountain States Cup circuit.

The race started at 10:02 am for us boys with a 3-4 mile road section. It was a good, controlled pace, and Doug and I were able to stay in the top 4 spots in the paceline. Several hundred meters before the singletrack climb started up Tipperary creek, I pushed to the front, and was able to set the pace up the long climb. With my head down but going at a reasonable pace, as we approached the top of the climb I imagined all the angry riders I had held up on the singletrack, just trying to maintain myself for later in the race. To my surprise, as I looked back, only Doug was behind me and he let me know I had "shelled" the rest of the field on the climb. Needless to say, Doug and I battled for almost the entire 26 miles, exchanging places during his amazing uphill endo, and my air-headed unclip as I hit a pedal on a rock. In the end, Doug took second in the Men's Expert 25-29 division behind a former professional road rider, and I took 3rd around 2 minutes behind Doug (he really put it to me on the last climb!).

As for Tiffanie, well, she pretty much killed it! Tiff easily won the Womens Expert 19-29 divison by over 2.5 minutes. I think I smell an upgrade to the Pro division in her future!

Congrats to Doug, you have deserved to put it to me all season, and I just kept putting together good races. Good job mate!

Congrats to Tiffanie on her win! It has been amazing to see someone go from bike-commuting only, to being a top-level Mountain biker in only 3 years.

On a future note, the team is now committed to racing in the USARA (United States Adventure Racing Association) 24 hour National Championships in Blue Ridge, GA November 7th-8th. We are looking for a good race to do between now and then (besides local cyclocross races), and we will keep you updated on where we go!

Thanks for your support of our team, and thanks to our sponsors who make all of this possible.

Cheers!

My how time flies!!!!!!

2008-09-03T15:45:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the long delay since I last posted! Life has been very hectic around here with racing season in full swing, and lots of changes in the personal lives as well!!!

Lots to report on, so I will get going!

First, the team had a great race waaay back at the end of June at the Adventure Xstream 24 hour in Breckenridge, CO. Starting at midnight, we ran with our paddling gear to the marina, and braced for a lap around Lake Dillon in the painfully slow duckys. After some good navigation by Boyd and James getting around some small inlet islands, the team was tied with Eolus and Boulder Performance Network for the lead arriving at CP 3, the halfway point of the kayak. After battling a fierce side/headwind, some seasickness, and a back spasm for the remainder of the kayak, the team lost some time on the last leg, but was feeling strong again after the run back to the nordic center, and TA1. We hit the Orienteering course hard, and managed to maintain our deficit to the top teams, and went out on the trek ready make up time and conserve energy for the bike. Heading out at around 7 am after 4.5 hours in the boats, and 2.5 hours on the O-course, it was a beautiful morning as we crested the Continental Divide on Miners Creek, and headed down toward Copper Mountain. As we hit the intersection with Wheeler Trail about 1200 vertical feet below and West of the divide, we took a hard left, and headed back up to the top of Peak 9 above Breckenridge resort and our 2nd divide crossing. Passing another team on the Way, we crossed the Divide again heading East, and started the long descent down Breckenridge Ski Area. Thanks to Boyd's "local knowledge" we had some good Navigation down the mountain, and hit TA3 in Breckenridge just as the skies opened and started pouring rain! With Boyd and Brooks on inline skates, and James and Tiffanie on kick bikes, the team flew from Breckenridge to Frisco despite the rain, and the practice paid off with our team having the fastest inline skate of the whole race!

Once on the mountain bikes it was a long climb up Tiger Road, but the climbing was only getting started. After a looonnnggg climb to CP15 on the Colorado Trail just below Georgia Pass, it became all worth it with an amazing CT singletrack descent made even better by ultra-tacky trails following the rain. Unfortunately, the long climb had taken its toll on the team, and although our team and strategy was strong, we missed a time cutoff by only 5 minutes, and was unable to proceed to CP19. The 2 hour penalty dropped the team two spots in the final rankings, but we are still happy with 5th place. The team dynamic was amazing, and we nearly all agreed that this was the most fun we had ever had in a race.

As usual, special thanks goes out to our sponsors. Our GoLite Virga jackets and Smartwool socks performed flawlessly in the high-alpine downpour, our Maxxis tires made a tricky descent sooo much fun, and the testing at BPL and Alta PT paid off in our training. As usual, our AY UP lights were the envy of the Orienteering course, and our Tifosi optics not only look great, but kept the muck out of our eyes in the rain and mud.

Cheers!

Tiffanie Beal takes 3rd at USA Marathon Mountain Biking National Championships

2008-07-08T15:32:00.001-06:00

4th of July in Colorado means Fun, Fireworks, and the Firecracker 50! A 50 mile mountain bike race in Breckenridge, CO, the Firecracker is a brutal race, with (2) 25 mile laps and a top-out elevation well above 11000 ft! This year, the Firecracker was the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Biking National Championship.

After just over 5 and a half hours in the saddle, (and a ridiculous amount of dust inhaled) Tiffanie Beal came home 3rd in the 19-29 Womens Open Field. A great result, and having finished only 10 minutes behind the eventual winner, Tiff is sure to return next year with a win on her mind!

On a sadder note; Brooks, Tiff, James, and Mike all wish the best to team member Chris Boyd, whose mother fell ill on Independence day. We're all thinking of you and your entire family Boyd, and wish for the best.

Fat Tire Classic Clinic - XC Super Loop

2008-06-30T18:52:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-06-23T22:08:00.001-06:00

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

2008-06-23T21:24:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-06-23T20:47:00.000-06:00

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

2008-06-16T09:24:00.000-06:00

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

2008-06-16T09:02:00.000-06:00

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!

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

Team GoLite in the Community

2008-05-15T17:25:00.001-06:00

Several members of the team took some time off work this week to provide a bike maintenance clinic and answer questions at the City of Boulder bike/walk/bus commuter of the year award ceremony. Tiff, Boyd, Colin, and Brooks had a great time, and although the rain chased off a lot of people, we were able to help educate people on how to maintain their bicycles.

Not only did we have our bike stands and tools, we had the fleet of Rocky Mountains bicycles, Ay Up lights, Tifosi Sunglasses, and Maxxis tires on display.

This was just a start, and the team is already looking forward to more opportunities to give back to our community. Not to mention we got to reload after the last race with some delicious Glacier ice cream!

Cheers!

Team GoLite Finishes 4th (preliminary) at AXS Buena Vista 24 hour!

2008-05-15T16:32:00.000-06:00

What a race! I don't even know where to begin! Maps at 5pm Friday, CP's 1-4 given at start and Cp's 7-10 given at the Kayak-Bike transition. The race start at 11:50pm was a pretty calm one, with everyone getting the coordinates of CP1-4, plotting, and putting a strategy together. We started out at a reasonable pace, keeping in stride with Team Eolus and Team Salomon/Crested Butte. After 7 miles on trail, we headed into the woods to get CP1 at a high point at 9262’. Straight uphill to the CP, and straight downhill to the road at McGee Gulch at 8900’. No rest, and straight back uphill to CP3 on a ridge at 10130’. This where it got interesting! Scrambling hands and feet avoiding 40’ sheer rock faces on the climb up, the skies opened up and began dumping wet, heavy snow. By the time we reached the summit, between the clouds and heavy snowfall the visibility was les than 15 feet! After a quick, blind search for the CP, we found it and headed off for the beginning of the O-course at CP-2. We got a few points on the way to CP4, ran the long distance to CP4, and then back on the o-course to get some more points. We determined that we had to leave for the ropes course by 7:15am to get there in time, and headed out right on time. After the beautiful but grueling 400’ Tyrolean Traverse, into the kayaks for a trip down class II and class III water on the Arkansas River. At 1250 cfs, the river was raging, and Brooks and Tiffanie ended up going for a bone chilling swim when they got caught in a nasty hydraulic. After pulling out the boats and trying to get warm again in a nasty wind, we got our new CP’s, plotted the maps, and headed out on the bikes. A long, steep, sandy ATV road climb really tested the new Rocky Mountain Elements and Maxxis Monorails, and they performed flawlessly! A quick trip through the second O-course and a downhill-singletrack to the finish. It was a great race, and the conditions really tested the toughness of the team. Although we finished in 3rd position, we were plagued by O-course penalties from injuries, and were relegated to 4th place by a team that finished behind us. Lots of adversity, lots of bad weather, and lots of great teamwork: we had a great time, and are now looking to get everyone healthy again for the 24hours of Erock. We will also be doing some community outreach—providing a bike maintenance clinic and Q&A session for the City of Boulder Alternative transportation awards Ice cream social. Keep tuned to the blog for information!

Rocky Mountain Bike Demo

2008-05-05T15:46:00.001-06:00

The Team met up with our Rocky Mountain Bikes sponsor this past Saturday at Heil Ranch as they teamed up with Sports Garage to put on a bike demo. Eph, our rep from Rocky Mountain, proved to be as cool in person as he is in emails. For the first time, we tried out our new Element 90 Bikes, which rode like a dream. We're all really excited to have them in time for our race this weekend in Buena Vista. The Element 90s are among their top-of-the-line cross country bikes; check them out:

www.bikes.com

Brooks and Tiffanie continued on Sunday to train and get a little more time on foot in preparation for Buena Vista. After summiting Flagstaff, Green, Bear, and South Boulder peaks in one shot, they ended their day after 4.5 hours of running and major elevation change. Now, a little taper time until the next race begins at midnight on Friday...

Tour of Front Range

2008-04-29T10:33:00.000-06:00

First off - Here are some pictures of the Epic rappel in the AXS Moab 12 hour race!

Last Sunday, Mike, Boyd, Brooks, Tiff, James, and Mike's buddy Rife put in a long day in preparation for the AXS Buena Vista race. Starting at the bottom of White Ranch we Mountain biked up Longhorn to the top parking lot, across to the top of Belcher hill, down Mustang, back up to Longhorn, and down to the base. After a quick stop at the cars, we hopped on Hwy 93 and rode to the bottom of chimney gulch. Up chimney gulch to the top of lookout mountain, across the top and down Apex. Unfortunately, Enchhanted Forest was still snowed-in, but we still had fun. Back climbing up grubstake loop, and back to the bottom apex. From there, back to White Ranch, a quick stop at the cars to put on the running shoes, and back up white ranch on foot. It was a great day, and we all had a lot of fun. We were all really excited that we felt pretty good after 7 hours of climbing, and looking forward to the race in 2 weeks. This Wednesday, most of the team will be heading to the Boulder Theater to check out the new Collective mountain bike movie, Thursday evening, some of us will be going for a run/trek across boulder OS PARKS, while Tiffanie will be checking out the Environmental Sustainability of the New Belgium Brewery with GoLite. Saturday, Brooks, Tiffanie, Colin, and possibly Boyd will be checking out the Sports Garage Demo days with Rocky Mountain Bicycles, and it sounds like Mike will be in Nathrop, CO for the MSC Chalk Creek mountain bike races. Busy week for the team!

Cheers, hope you are all doing well!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

2008-04-22T09:11:00.000-06:00

Happy Earth day everyone! We hope you are doing well, and encourage everyone to do what they can to help the environment today! To that front, please check out the link below, to see what one of our sponsors, Native Energy, is doing to help the environment in a local Colorado town.

A Wray of Hope

Just one reason (among many - check out their site) that we believe that Native Energy is THE best environmental offset company available.

Cheers, and remember- do what you can to make our world a better place today-and everyday!

Brooks takes 7th in Arkansas Point Challenge MTB race

2008-04-22T09:05:00.001-06:00

Brooks headed down to Pueblo, CO this past weekend to visit the parents and race in a mountain bike race at Lake Pueblo State Park. It was great fun, and the 28 mile course was fast, loose, and flat. The expert class had a lot of fast racers (including several semi-pro riders) and although he was holding down 4th place for most of the race, a flat tire around the 22nd mile pushed him back to 9th place. Luckily, 2 hours is a really short race for us, and he was able to push hard at the end when other riders were slowing down and made it back to 7th at the finish.

It was a great time. This is a race to check out for next year!

Physio Testing

2008-04-22T08:33:00.000-06:00

Friday Apr 18, Brooks and Boyd headed down to our newest sponsor; Boulder Performance Lab to get some physiological testing done. Unlike the standard VO2 max, Lactate profile tests most athletes have done, we were looking for something a little different. Jason Smith at BPL was great to work with, and designed a fully custom test protocol to address our physical needs/concerns. The information we got was amazing, and we are excited with what we can do going forward with the results of the tests! Thanks so much to Jason Smith, what you do is amazing. If you want/need any physiological testing done, go see Jason at BPL! (click link under sponsors for website and contact info!)

Team GoLite Places 7th in Moab Adventure Xstream 12 Hour!

2008-04-22T08:19:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but we have been busy! We once again headed out to the high Utah desert for the first race of the season, the AXS Moab 12 hour on April 5th. The race consisted of a ~7 mile paddle on the Colorado River, 50miles of mountain biking, ~8 miles of running, and a breathtaking 275' rappel. The team for this race consisted of Tiffanie Beal, Chris Boyd, Brooks Beal, and new team superstar James Kovacs. Despite the deep sand, and some other small problems (how often has your seat fallen off your bike?), we had a great race and a lot of fun. Although we were in 5th place for most of the race, we are still pleased to have placed 7th against some of the top teams in the US.

We would especially like to thank all of our sponsors: GoLite and GoLite Footwear, Smartwool, Native Energy, NUUN, Maxxis tires, Tifosi Optics, and Ay Up Lighting systems. It was a good start to the season, and we are working hard for the next races coming up!

Tifosi!

2008-03-25T11:22:00.000-06:00

The Team would like to thank Tifosi Optics for supplying us with sunglasses for the 2008 season! After our long Moab weekend, we unanimously decided these were the best sunglasses we have tried (and believe me, we all have a LOT of sunglasses). If you are in the market for sunglasses, you have got to check out Tifosi.

Moab Training Camp

2008-03-23T19:24:00.001-06:00

Check out all the Pictures HERE

Well, this is about as much fun as you can have and still call it training. With just 2 weeks until our first race, the team headed out to Moab for the weekend to work on mountain biking and team dynamics. As expected, everything went great! Tiff and Brooks headed out Thursday evening to secure what was the last campsite at sand flats (thanks Jeep Safari!) and the rest of the boys headed out first thing Friday morning. With some time to kill, Tiff and Brooks rode Amasa Back in the morning, then met up with the boys around 1pm at the Gemini Bridges trailhead, to take a spin on Gold Bar / Golden Spike. We had a great time, everyone rode well, and besides a sore elbow, a great time was had by all.

Saturday morning, we woke up early to tackle the Porcupine Rim, Slickrock loop. It was a blast, and after a long day in the saddle (and some huge confidence building moments for Daddy True) the boys headed back to Boulder. Tiff and Brooks were planning on staying another day, but decided it just wasn't the same without the guys, and headed back home.

GREAT WEEKEND! Here are some pictures to tide you over. We'll probably post more soon too!

We'll have the Training with a side of more Training...

2008-03-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

Training continues. Today Brooks, Tiff and Colin headed down 93 out of Boulder to ride the Belcher Hill Trail out of White Ranch. This long and steep 45 minute climb worked our legs as well as our lungs on trail that is more technical than what we expect to see at the race in Moab. After a fast descent we started to recall all the first rate teams we noticed that were signed up for AXS Moab...and we turned around and went up the hill again.

Getting ready to climb

2008-03-09T16:10:00.000-06:00

Historically speaking, the Moab race in the Adventure Xstream series is largely a bike race. It kicks off with paddling, transitions to the bike for a long, steep climb to a rapel, transition to running and than back to the bikes to the finish line. The bike sections are known to include 40-50 minute climbs up steep fire roads and potentially some Moab singletrack.

With this in mind, long mountain bike climbs up steep fire road has been the name of the training game lately. This week found the metro-Denver/Boulder area dealing with two separate snow events that mucked up our trails in the foothills. So this past Saturday (3/8), Boyd and Colin found themselves heading north to Fort Collins, which was spared the white stuff, to try and find some good training ground. What they found upon riding at Horsetooth Mountain Park was a place that has been added to the short list of great places to train. With fun singletrack and a killer long fire road, Horsetooth had everything we were looking for including some great views of Longs Peak and the divide. The fire road is very close to the climbing that we'll (potentially) have to do in Moab so it's a fair bet to say that we'll be heading back to the Fort the next couple of weekends to get our climbing legs ready for the race. The trails were dry as promised, aside from a few snow patches, and the singletrack is technical enough to make it fun, but not enough to keep it from being a fast ride.

Sunday found Tiff and Brooks skiing in Telluride, Boyd riding at Vail and poor Mike in China on a business trip. Being the only one in the Front Range, Colin did a hill-intensive road ride including the "Wall" on McCaslin Blvd. No pictures, but Colin's quads are screaming right now!

First Race: AXS Moab!

2008-03-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

We are registered for our first race, Adventure Xstream's 12 hours of Moab in early April. Training is in full swing and we're all getting pretty pumped to get out there and race. For this one, it looks like the team is going to be Brooks, Tiffanie, Boyd and Colin. Based on past experiences it should be bike intensive race which is also famous for it's 250' rapel.

Last weekend Boyd and Colin got out to do some training on the Mountain Bikes in the glorious sunny weather with temps in the 70's. We headed south of Golden and rode the trails on Green Mountain to get some good climbing in on the Mtn. bikes, but since then, we've had two snowstorms here in the Front Range so the team may be relegated to road riding this weekend if the trails don't dry out. Ahh, the pleasures of a Colorado Winter.

Updates should be coming more regularly now, so please check back to see what we've been up to as we prepare for a great 2008 racing season!

-Team GoLite

Training, it can be fun!

2008-01-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

First of all, we are incredibly happy that Chris Boyd (formerly of team Timberland) has decided to join our team. We always have had fun racing and training with Boyd, and can't wait to race with him as part of the team. We have been training in earnest for the last month or so, and with Mike, Tiffanie, and Colin getting ready to go to Outdoor Retailer next week, the team is looking forward to a recovery week. Brooks will be pushing ahead for another week, before a recovery week the following week while he is in Orlando, FL for a conference on amusement park ride safety. We have been having a great time training as a team recently, so here are some pictures!

Our Rocky Mountain Elements have been ordered, and we can't wait to give them a whirl. We have been promised that they will be FAST, and we are excited to see what they can do. Thanks to Eph and Rocky Mountain for giving us this great opportunity! We would also really like to thank Jason Williams and the guys at Sports Garage here in Boulder for all of the help they have given us over the past couple of weeks. If you are ever in the area and are looking for the best bike shop around, head to Sports Garage.

Love The Ride!

2008-01-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce a partnership with Rocky Mountain Bicycles for 2008! RM makes some of the finest bikes in the industry, and we are all looking forward to getting a taste of our new RM Elements. Thanks to Rocky Mountain, we can't wait to rip on those babies!

Active Hydration!

2007-12-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

The team would like to say thank you to NUUN for sponsoring our team for 2008. As the leader in fluid electrolyte replacement, we don't have anything else in our bottles, ever. We use NUUN for pretty much every workout we do, and are excited to spread the word. If you haven't tried it yet, Get some NUUN!!!

GoLite Warehouse Sale this Weekend!!

2007-12-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Golite will be conducting a warehouse clearance sale this weekend, December 7-9 at the Denver Merchandise Mart, at I-25 and 58th Avenue in Denver, CO. All GoLite Products will be 30%-80% off retail prices! Unlike the sales in Boulder, this sale will include GoLite Footwear, and as I've said before, these are the best shoes on earth! Come and check out some of our favorite gear, the Rush and VO24 packs, the Wisp and Ether wind shirts, and the Sun Dragon shoes!! Plus, if you are looking for familiar faces, Brooks and Colin will be working the footwear section, and Tiffanie will be manning a cash register all weekend. The sale will be open from 8am-8pm on Friday, and 9am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday!

Hope to see you this weekend!

Sweet New Rig!

2007-12-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Colin!!! Colin ordered a new bike today, a Rocky Mountain Element. It is going to be a sick one!!!

Training has begun!

2007-12-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

December 1st, preparations began for the 2008 racing season. We decided to start the training with a group 1 hour run in the mountains in South Boulder. Colin, Brooks, and Tiffanie had a great time, and can't think of a better way to begin prep for a great season. We all couldn't believe what better condition we are in right now than last year at this time, and we are all very excited for next season. Also included are some pictures that we took on 11/27, on a run right after the snowstorm.

Picture Pages

2007-11-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Picture pages, don't forget your crayons and pencil. Below are some pics from our past few rides at Buffalo Creek, Hall Ranch and Centennial Cone.

The team along the rim of

Clear Creek Canyon on the

Centennial Cone Loop.

Brooks ripping it up on the rocky trails at Hall Ranch.

Tiff and Colin hamming it up at Hall Ranch.

Tiff and Brooks take a breather with Team Timberland Captain Chris Boyd

Beautiful view of the Continental Divide

from the top of Clear Creek Canyon on

the Centennial Cone Loop.

New Sponsor!

2007-11-20T17:35:00.001-07:00

We would like to thank Native Energy for sponsoring our Carbon Offsets for the 2008 racing season. By helping to build wind farms and other renewable energy sources, Native energy makes the most of your offset dollars. By sponsoring our offsets, Native energy will allow us to donate more money for 2008 to other needy environmental causes.

Great Ride

2007-11-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Still recovering from Saturday's fun, Tiff, Brooks, Colin, and Chris Boyd (Team Timberland) went for a mountain bike ride at Centennial Cone park in Jefferson County. This was the first time any of us had ridden the trail, and it didn't disappoint! The people who cut this trail did a great job, and it was some of the best singletrack I have ridden in quite some time. Boyd is doing a race in Guadalupe, Mexico next weekend with his girlfriend, and he was excited to get out and do some riding before the big race.

Colin has some picutres. We'll upload them soon!

Training Day!!!!

2007-11-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Tiffanie and Brooks went for a "walkabout" last Saturday. We joined up with the likes of Elite adventure racers Shane Sigle and Travis Macy and starting from the town of Golden, we basically bushwacked along every ridge, peak, and gulley we could find just west of Golden. After finding our way back to town 3 hours later, we hopped on our mountain bikes and took the long climb up Chimney Gulch with the same group plus the addition of recent rim-rim-rim record holder at the grand canyon and fellow GoLite athelete Dave Mackey. It was a great day, but we were pretty worn out in the end. We have been taking it pretty easy since our last race in September, and Tiff has just been resting her ankle which seems to be back to 100%. These guys were preparing for a race in Abu Dhabi in 2 weeks, so they were fast!

All-in-all, a great day. Colin couldn't make it, but we will punish him another day!

Sorry no pictures, we were going too fast just trying to keep up!

2007-10-25T17:50:00.000-06:00

Our team would also like to announce our partnership with Native Energy. Of all the options out there, we feel that Native energy provides the best rewards for Renewable Energy Credits and Offsets. Rather than just feeling good about offsetting, Native shows you where your money is going, and is using the offset money to help promote renewable energy and build renewable energy farms. For the 2008 Racing season, we will be using Native Energy for our Carbon offsets.

The best socks and baselayers EVER!

2007-10-25T17:36:00.001-06:00

We are proud to announce that Smartwool has agreed to sponsor us for the 2008 racing season. We all race exclusively in Smartwool socks, and can't wait to see what other Merino wool goodies we can test for next season. I have had serious wool aversions in the past, but since I started wearing Smartwool I am hooked. The small fiber merino they use doesn't itch, and it really is one of the best technical fibers around (not to mention it doesn't make you stink). A big thanks to Smartwool, we are definitely excited for the new partnership.

Red Course!

2007-10-17T09:44:00.000-06:00

Well, I certainly learned one thing this past weekend. Orienteering solo is a whole new ball game from working with a team. With Brian in Australia, Tiff still laid up with a bum ankle, and Colin prepping to go to DC, I went to the RMOC orienteering meet in Nederland this weekend solo.

Going for the red course (highest difficulty and longest length), everything was going great for the first 5 points. Looking for CP 6, I got hopelessly off course - (I think my compass is broken, you'd believe me if you saw the way it works) and spent 30 minutes trying to find where I was. Although there were other teams around to ask for help, I wanted to dig myself out alone, and finally found the way. After reaching CP6, I just took it pretty easy, and spent more time trying to discover tricks and just having a good time. All-in-all, finished around 30 minutes back from the other Adventure Racers there, so I know not to get lost next time!

Orienteering meets are great fun, and the people are great. Even with the cold weather and rain (which destroyed my map) it was a blast, and I am hoping to do another this weekend at Kelly Dahl campground again in Nederland. Hope to see you all there!

Remember, when in the woods, stay found...... being lost sucks.

-Brooks

More running and a trip east

2007-10-16T15:07:00.000-06:00

While Tiffanie is making great strides with her injured ankle (she made it out on a road ride on Sunday...no one hammers like Tiff Beal) Brooks and Colin continued some more off season training and fun. Last Wednesday, they went for a run with elite ultra-runner and fellow GoLite athlete Dave Mackey up Flagstaff Mountain. The three of them bagged the summit and made it back to the trailhead at Chatauqua in just under an hour.

On Saturday, Brooks ran an orienteering course near Nederland to continue to hone his already sharp navigating skills and Sunday was Tiff's aforementioned day back in the saddle.

Colin also went out on a road ride on Sunday before leaving for a business trip in Washington DC. After the mountainous terrain of the greater Boulder area, Colin was expecting some nice easy terrain and thick, oxygen enriched sea level air. Since his group was staying in downtown DC, a road run was in order Monday afternoon. Call it a lack of road running lately, but Colin's legs are on the sore side today after only a 50 minute run! Needless to say he's looking forward to getting back on the trails in Boulder!

We're going to make more of an effort to carry a camera with us and add more pics to this site, but in the meantime, check out this link to the video from the Adventure Xstream Vail race. Brooks and Tiff get a great close up during the rogaine section!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGlobXIczj8

Bear Peak

2007-10-08T10:28:00.000-06:00

Much to Tiffanie's dismay (icing her ankle), Colin and Brooks decided to take a run on Saturday... To the top of Bear Peak @ 8461'! As usual, we started from the house, ran up Bear Canyon, and then up the Bear Peak West Ridge Trail to the summit. 5 miles and 3000 vertical feet later, we were finally there. By the way, the last 1/4 mile is really steep! A quick descent down the very steep Fern canyon got us back home in around 2h:30minutes. It was a great run, we definitely took some time to enjoy looking at the new snow up in the Indian Peaks, and chat with other people on the trail. I wouldn't say it was leisurely though, Colin runs uphill like a gazelle!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Sorry no pictures, but neither of us felt like carrying a camera up the mountain!

Club Foot!!!!

2007-10-08T10:23:00.000-06:00

During a short run from the house up to Mallory Cave here in Boulder last Thursday night, Tiffanie had a little mishap, rolling her ankle on the way down the hill. She was able to "walk it off" and make it the 2 miles back home under her own power, but a trip to the doctor on Friday morning revealed a severe sprain. After a mellow weekend (which is not easy for Tiffanie, she is not one to take days off), the swelling has subsided quite a bit, and she is able to walk with very little pain.

Hope for a speedy recovery!

Our Favorite Shoes!

2007-10-04T15:51:00.000-06:00

We are proud to announce GoLite Footwear as an official sponsor for the 2008 racing season! We have all been racing in the "Sun Dragon" shoe for the past year, and I'll be the first to tell you, these shoes are AMAZING!! Having chronic foot problems in races for the past 2 seasons, switching to these shoes has been incredible. No more foot pain, no more knee pain while running downhill. Not to mention the Precisefit system, which allows you to customize the insole depending on your foot width and volume!

You need to get some of these shoes. Trail running, hiking, lightweight backpacking, you can't go wrong.

Buffalo Creek!

2007-09-27T09:21:00.001-06:00

Brooks, Tiffanie and Colin took a Sunday trip up to Buffalo Creek last weekend. Got a good early start and ripped up the trails for a few hours. The aspens are changing right now, and it made for some beautiful scenery in some of the aspen grove valleys on Green Mountain and Gashouse Gulch. Colin is amazingly fit right now, especially after the hectic summer he has had, and the stress of moving cross country and starting a new job!
With the season being pretty much over for us, we took it pretty easy and just had fun and worked on the basics!

New blog!

2007-09-26T16:53:00.000-06:00

Well, here we go. Time to get started with this whole blog craziness. More to come when we get a chance.

Oh yeah, support our team!