NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN AGAIN SOON-ANGEL FIRE -MSC#3 =STXC XC & SD

...not quite the hat trick....

WOW, what a great Memorial Day weekend in New Mexico. We used the 5 day vacation to combine the best of interests in family and racing into a neat package under the conifers and clouds of Angel Fire Resort, New Mexico.

Strouse clan L to R, papa, Tori, Bethany, Shyala, Joshua, Anthony, Chris, Teresa and Kaitlyn.

I've finally figured out the formula to actually end up on the top wrung of the podium... Leave your series competition in Denver and beat one local and a no-show.
Sarge's first Super Downhill (SD) race was a bit more intense than expected. The volcano trash deposited a million years ago was daunting enough as it formed a trail of jagged ridges you were suppose to race over. But the start line mentality was bizarre. These guys ARE SERIOUS about SD and the start line reminded me of scenes from Braveheart as they raced on foot from the start line to the bikes. Part of the ritual included a starting position of one knee and one elbow on the ground, facing the opposite direction of the waiting overweight steeds 50 yards away.

Grandson Anthony and I were way too laid back for the super downhill crowd so I was happy to finish 20th out of 22 starters.

Scoring a 2nd place victory in the 40+ Short Track Cross Country race behind fellow teammate Carry Dunn was another highlight of the weekend. And I HATE Short Track!! COMotion dominated the Cat 2 30-40 yr. old class and the weekend bringing home a near perfect 972 & 986 score extending the lead on the way to the 7th championship year.

Crested Butte- here we come!

SHORT BREAK FROM BIKING CHASING GOBBLERS

Just spent four days of solo brain-drain turkey hunting along the Purgatoire River in Southeastern Colorado. The hunt site was about as far away from civilization in Colorado as I could find. Twenty five miles south of La Junta, then 23 miles of dirt road to the ranch headquarters, 4 more miles into the ranch to the campsite and a final 2 1/2 mile mountain bike ride each morning to the roost area.





I wasn't entirely off the bike. Days before the hunt were spent outfitting the race retired 2007 ASR with a shotgun rack, GPS mount and hiking boot friendly platform pedals. The head strap mounted Petzel provided enough light to follow cattle trails on the pre-dawn rides in.
I believe I'm safe in declaring that I'm the first person ever to baptise an XTR crankset in the Purgatoire River crossing it twice a day to get to the roost areas.

Continental Mountain King tubeless 2.4's worked great in the land if prickly pear and cholla catus, sandburrs and yucca. Evidence of many punctures were present but the Stan's did its job every time.

In 1982 the Sarge was living in Oklahoma and feverishly involved in the out-of-doors. Before the passion was mountain bikes, I was chasing wild turkeys and slaying monster large-mouth bass every chance I had. I'm twenty seven years old in the photo above with one of my first birds.

During the last 27 years, the birds have gotten smarter. I evidently have not. After setting up on the same lone gobbler and his hens three mornings in a row, the closest I could call him in was about 75 yards. Just out of shotgun range. God bless him!

SECOND INSTALLMENT ON THE MSC TOUR COMPLETE

Back in 2006 when I competed in the cow pattie XC race at Nathrop, I ran the 3 laps in 2 hours and 6 minutes to finish 7th.. This year, the identical course (log jump #3 worn down from crank strikes considerably) took 2 hours and 8 minutes to finish 4 out of 5. Three years older and only added 2 minutes? Could be worse.

The course was a blast with long flat road sections, off camber sandy technical drops and twisty turny singletrack avenues along the banks of Chalk Creek. Mount Princeton served as a spectacular backdrop for the second race of the season.

Sunday morning quiet time with the girls, biscuits, eggs, bacon and coffee proved too tempting to roll out for the early AM short track race.

We did make it over to the venue to watch a bit of the gravity events on Sunday. Pretty cool. These kids ride on adreneline and spikes of testestrone to beat the other guy to the timer.

Cat 1 COMotion racer Matt Juth saw heavy competition on the short track.

Still early in the series, I have time to knuckle down and get serious about training 3-4 days a week, spending time in the weight room and cutting down on junk food and brewskis. It could happen.