Altitude of race course

I’ve had a few MTB races in the past including a 24 hour team event, but after 3 consecutive hours of racing on the saddle the ball game shifts into a new level. I noticed that my legs starting cramping after a 2 hour, 3000 foot, ascent to the apex where the downhill started. I polished off my 300 oz’s of hydration around mile 13 without knowing the distance till the next rest top and this is when things went awry. I noticed that my heart rate dropped below 135 bpm when it should have been averaging 175 bpm so my heart was ready to attack but my body was lacking energy to deliver. After another 7 miles of exhaustion I finally reached the must needed rest stop. I shoveled in about 300 raisins, 5 oranges, 2 bananas, and another 300 oz of hydration and felt soooo much better.

Here is a picture of the fearless NI team that attended this race. As you can see, we all had our game faces on except I’m stuffing my face with a powerbar.

This was by far one of the best organized races I’ve been to from the volunteers and race markers to the pasta party and awards ceremony. I hope to attend this race next year with a few extra bottles of water!

The final results are here

All and all we had a great time! Chad, a long time buddy of mine from Stillwater, and some coworkers from NI Italy decided to spend the day ice skating to escape the hustle and bustle of big city shoppers making their last minute purchases for Christmas.

Then Chad and I headed up to the Swiss Alps (Cervinia) on Sunday for a little snowboarding and skiing action. The weather was absolutely perfect and we grabbed ourselves a few Bombardinos.

I’m not sure if it was the Bombardino or double black diamond that Chad and I accidentally went down but we got separated on the back side of the mountain and Chad almost ended up spending the night in Zermatt. They close the lifts after 3 pm for skiers to cross back over to the Italian Alps from the Swiss Alps and Chad was about 15 minutes late. Needless to say, we pulled the I’m American Card and got him back across. If you see him sometime, make sure to ask WHY he was 15 minutes late…

Just got back from Switzerland for a little adrenaline rushing stomach wrenching canyon jumping excitement! Amanda and Tracy made a trip to see me this past weekend and we took our vacation to the next level. I can’t wait to show everyone the pictures and videos and be sure that I will update everyone as soon as they arrive. For now, feel free to enjoy the short video below containing one of the scariest experiences of my life… CANYON JUMPING!!!

What a great weekend! Four of us went snowboarding and skiing in Switzerland last Sunday and the conditions were perfect. We decided to hit up Andermatt-Gotthard for a day trip so we left Milan around 7 am, arrived at 9 and skied till 5 pm. Now, Andermatt is not for the light hearted… 80% of the runs are either black or double black diamond with plenty of trees… unforgiving trees… I know from first hand experience… so does my camera – The LCD is officially broken. I wasn’t able to take as many pictures but I got a few good ones before it broke. I also recorded one video in the snow park of some rail slides… check it out!

So we headed downtown Milan to party once more before our long trip. Lolapaluzua style! Girls jumping on the bar, old men scaring Natasa, and just a grand ol time!

note: Stevo and I were trying to sing in this picture as loud as possible… it sounded good!

Then we made the 14 hour drive to Prague… The peanut gallery in the back got some sleep while the fearless road leaders charged on!

As we passed through the alps, we didn’t necessary take the fasted route but it gave me a chance to practice my S turns, while making Natasa and Brandon Nauseated… sorry guys!

Another interesting spot was the German Autobahn… no kidding, speed limits are only suggested. Stevo maxed the Picasso out at 115… we noticed excessive vibrations coming from the rear so we backed off… all the mean while flagship beamers where sailing past us like the tortoise and hare.

Ok so we arrived in Prague around 2:00 AM and Stevo and I went out for a beer. When we came back around 5:00 AM we passed out only to be woken up around 7:30 by the crash of something outside our door. Then, the door opened! NATASA! She had woken up in the middle of the night and the food she had eaten the night before most have been poisoned or something because she was in some serious pain. Stevo and I were a little freaked out at first but once we made her chug some water everything was good to go.

THEN NEW YEARS!

What do you get when you mix beer, fireworks, and no rules?

video to come early next week….

I thought I would throw a video up here of this last weekend. We took a 2 hour drive up to the mountains for a little snowboarding. Fortunately, the season just started so the lines were short and we also found some powder at the top.