The journey continues…
After growing up in Sault Ste. Marie and racing XC way too seriously I moved to Colorado where I picked up an ultra endurance addiction and a habit of climbing to the top of things. I swore I wouldn’t leave but when a company came knocking down my door to offer me a new life designing bikes in Connecticut how could I resist? Life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy the ride.

Jesse J

Windham Report
7/13/2008

Can you say DFL? I can, and I was one spot away from being it after riding just about as hard as I could ten minutes into the race. The pro field was as hyper as a kid on pixi sticks after doing the math that our race was only 4 laps long. Racing time was looking to be almost a half an hour shy of the normal 2 hour winning time putting riders extra focused on the importance of getting the hole shot before the first tight single track only a few hundred yards from the start. Starting fast isn’t my forte but I wasn’t giving up without a fight. After hacking through the woods on foot trying to get through the initial 70 rider singletrack jam I found my place in line and did what I though I could hold for the 20 minute climb to the top of the lap. Half way up I had a glance back on switchback and realized despite my heart rate being pinned at 188 bpm there was only one guy behind me and everyone else in front.

Fortunately a lot of those riders were way over their heads cause while this was going to be a short xc race it was still over an hour and a half effort with lots of good climbing in 30C heat. The next two laps were huge moral boosters for me. Alicia was handing me ice cold energy drinks to slug down while I gritted my teeth and surged up. The course was super awesome and really dry. The first half was mostly uphill, half single track and half rough fire road and the second half was a chain of cool single tracks taking us back to the bottom to complete each 5 mile lap. By the end of the race my pacing paid off and I worked my way up to 23rd place with nothing left in the tank and dead even lap times. Somehow I managed to sustain an average hr of 185+ for each lap up the hill. I gotta get a Powertap for my mountain bike cause I can help but wonder what my wattage was for that.

In relation to my seasons goals I’m pretty happy with that but I was even more pumped when I found out how well my old buddies from Ontario did. Derek Zandstra was duking it up with the front group and ended up 7th, Eric Batty overcame two flats to finish 12th and Adam Morka was one spot up in 11th five minutes in front of me. My old gears team mate Mat Toulouse shocked the field and took the win narrowly out sprinting Adam Craig.

More stories to come on the weekend.