Nationals- 8 days down and 8 to go!

For those of you wondering, we are alive and well. To state the obvious, the riding out here is phenomenal. Our first stop was Brian Head, UT for the NMBS race. The XC course was 27 miles of fun, well except for the 1800 ft of climbing in the first 4 miles reaching about 12,000 ft of elevation. During my race I came around a corner and there was a big, brown, shiny cow’s butt in the middle of the trail. After realizing I wasn’t hallucinating I noticed 2 more cows on the side of the trail. Free-range cows on the course- that’s a first for me. My goal was to finish the 27 miles which I thought I did, but after I crossed the finish line I realized I missed a turn and went off course about a ¼ mile before the finish chute. So I turned myself in for a nice DNF- damn. Now for the real fun- Super D. The course was sweet, a lot of climbing for the big bike (mine needs to go on a diet- STAT) but wow was it rippin’ fast on the descents! The race was tough- the start was a sprint on your bike uphill which was so, so hard especially at altitude. Glad I survived it all. Now on to more fun in Snowmass, CO.

-Amanda


Yeah all Amanda had to say pretty much applied to me too! Oh the 2000 lbs bull and the cows! That was the weirdest things I have ever seen and probably will while racing my bike. Thought I needed to eat some gel for something. The XC course was Sweet! Just what I like! some of the about a mile in the woods felt like PLRA with the rolling hills roots and rocks, but that didn’t last long. Then came the red dirt roads. I some how cought a few pro women, that was a nice change, some of you guys know what I’m talking about! Besides all that the XC course was HARD!!! And hell at the same time! But I’ll do it again! Oh yeah I got 9th. The Super “D” race was fun. Even though we were coughing up lung tissue after the race! The rain pre-riding it wasn’t nice. I was stuck on a 20-minute chair ride in the hail and rain. Then had a 15 min ride down the mountain. The race…I had a great start was up the hill second but lost a spot to a guy on a XC bike then flatted, but rode it out and still didn’t get last! After this great coffee at Starbucks its off to Snowmass to stay in the Kona-Pro condo, how I hooked that up I don’t know! Mark is awesome! Oh yeah Amanda just reminded me that last night we stold Georga Gould’s campsite for those of you that don’t know she’s one of the many hot girls that ride for Luna.

Dan

And a link to some photos http://dansypniewski.smugmug.com/gallery/1755024/1/86930445