Jari wins 24 hours of Moab - National Champion!

Jari is the National 24 Hour Solo Champion AGAIN! Jari rocked 15 laps in high fashion and won by over 2 laps on Chris Cannon. Jari was awesome through the night, showed some expected fatigue, but never kept fighting and crushed it out there.

The fellas took 5th in the National 4 man race, and had a great time with no mechanicals or light issues, but showed some late season fatigue and didn't have the mad firepower to throw down fast lap after fast lap. Jon Brown rallied for the fastest of the laps, besides Travis almost breaking the hour mark on his second lap. Ethan rallied a sick mullet from the Mullet Militia crew and good times were had.

Great weather, great support, and damn good times in Moab once again. Big thanks to Jefferson Lewis, Dawn Passant, and Laura and Jeff Irwin/Anderson for some really good crewing and motivation!

7th CB Classic - Sept. 25th 2010

Sick day at the 7th CB Classic. Mad props to Kelly Magelky and Heather McDowell, Heather coming down to the wire to take the win on the Dyke trail by 2 minutes. Becky Sears had the lead going into the final loop, but Heather caught her out there and took the win. Brian Smith put in a massive effort to try and catch a 'demon plagued' Magelky on the Dyke trail but finished 2nd. Big Dan Loftus threw down as usual and rounded out the podium. Huge thanks to the Brick Oven and Avery Brewing, to Amelia and Karyn, and the other good folks that were out to support and drink beers on a perfect Saturday in September. Photos by Johnny Biggers. For results and story check out CrankCollective.com

http://www.crankcollective.com/viewnews.php?id=58

AO Junior Cycling Team Members in the High School mountain bike league.

AO junior cycling team member TJ Curry is continuing his stellar summer of biking in the new Colorado High School league.  The first race was this weekend and TJ showed that the training this summer paid off with a time that not only put him in first in his current Freshman category but would have placed him in first in the Sophomore Category too.  He is now in the overall leaders jersey for the Freshman class.

Overall the Gunnison Valley had a good showing with alot of kids from both CB and Gunny showing up.  Congrats to all of the riders who raced in Chalk Creek.

 

Full Results: http://go.madmimi.com/redirects/f6781266171528080c9026c5b50846d3?pa=1854092581

Jon Brown is BACK!!!!!!!

It's been a while, and I need to get on here and update more, but this one needs to site asap. Sponsor and racing guru over the years here in the Gunnison Valley is BACK in action, and racing like a man possessed. Jon Brown of the Go To Guide won the Single Speed category in all 3 of the last MSC races. Here he is decorating the podium up in Winter Park.

Get Tested to Improve Your Training!

Fall is here in the Gunnison Valley which means lots of things.  Mountain bike racing is wrapping up, cyclocross season is starting, we can begin to see the end of our ability to ride bikes and the start of snow season (damn it…summer is never long enough).  But here is one more item for the list of Fall items; get into the High Altitude Performance Laboratory (HAPLAB) and get your self tested to find out where you stand at the end of this racing season.  The HAPLAB at Western State College is equipped with state of the art equipment (same as what the US Olympic Training Center uses) for conducting all sorts of test such as VO2 max, Lactate Threshold, Power tests, and body fat analysis to name a few.  Even if you do not know what any of these terms mean or why they are relevant to you as a racer (we explain them to everyone who gets tested) you should still come on down and get tested.  But why, you say.  There are many reasons but just a few are to improve the way you train, and to keep track of the effectiveness and progress of your current training.

However, for the AO team the best reason is the fact that it is FREE because HAPLAB is one of our sponsors.  The PRO team gets unlimited free testing and the club team gets one free test battery (VO2, Lactate Threshold and a consult) and then ridiculously reduced prices on any other testing.  How sweet is that!

If you want to schedule a time to get into the HAPLAB to get some testing done just contact me (Tim Curry) @ curry.mtb@gmail.com because i am currently in charge of the operation of the HAPLAB.

Later,

-Tim Curry

Lead Exercise Specialist – HAPLAB

More Telluride results

Team AO Cycling rocked Telluride on the whole, with Travis Scheefer taking 3rd in the Pro Men, and Laura Anderson coming in HOT with a 2nd place in the pro Women. The year may be nearing an end, but watch out for LA ladies - there's more racing to be had.

Jungle Jeffrey Irwin had some mechanical issues, then got taken out in the Super D - but hot damn that boy was up there!

Nice work to the Jr Team - it's too bad the year is at it's end - school is nigh! Man they go by fast! We're gonna have to get those Curry boys some foam filled tires that don't flat!

Telluride

The last official junior team race of the season occurred this weekend at Keystone.  First up, the junior 14 & under rider on the team Pete Landry put in a strong 4th place finish on the long, yet fun, course at Keystone.  TJ Curry was putting in a killer performance until he blew his tire off the rim. The set back to put a tube in the tire caused him to roll in in 6th place.  Once again, the Curry duo had the same issue occur when i put a rock clean through my front tire and was forced to stop and put a tube in.  After falling from 3rd to 5th (thanks to the flat) i managed to claw my way up to a 4th place finish in the XC; the next day i pulled out another 4th place in the hill climb.

Overall, the junior team has had a great season with a state title to it’s name along with one 1st place, six 2nd places, two 4ths, and three 6ths.

KEYSTONE JUNIOR RESULTS!

The AO junior team had an awesome weekend at Keystone with some killer results.  First off, Arly Landry is the new State Champ in CAT 2 19-29.  To follow that off, her brother Pete Landry took 2nd place in both XC and short track (AKA STXC).  Finally, TJ Curry followed up a great, but slightly off podium, result in XC with an exciting 2nd place finish in STXC. 

As for myself (Tim Curry), I managed to capture a solid 2nd place in STXC after a disappointing XC race the day before. 

All in all, the junior team (along with their coach) ended up with 1 Gold (State Champion title), and 4 Silver Medals from Keystone.

More photos are coming soon!

 

View Full Album

Keystone Pics by Jeff

Keystone Revival - CO State Champs

Great weekend over in Keystone - details to come!

Passant Wins CTR!

A time of 4:13:44 - in gnarly weather it seems, Ethan has won the Colorado Trail Race for the 2nd time. More to come!

Just another great weekend

I would like to take this moment to say that I can't believe how amazing my teammates are. How did I get so lucky to ride along side these wonderful people? Stu, you saved me. Thanks for the water when the aid station wasn't there. When I couldn't eat anything because my mouth was so dry and you gave me your water bottle to wash down my food, I knew then that I was apart of something special. That was the best part of my entire 9 hours and 59 minutes of racing. And Jeff, for pushing and encouraging me and Laura, making believe that it was all possible. THANKS!!! And of course, for Alpine Orthopeadics for making it possible, for letting me have the opportunity to even start the race.
So, now you know how I feel you need to know what I did. It was the Breckenridge 100. Which is a sweet 100 miles mt bike race in Breckenridge, CO. Any time you think you want to race a 100 miles on your mt bike and you hear about the Leadville 100 remember this, it sucks compared to the Breck 100. You could either ride 100 miles on a road (in Leadville ) or you could ride sweet single track and mt passes in the Breck 100. Which, of course, is what I did. We do three different loops, the first one topping out at 12,500 feet on single track with a sweet little steep sketchy decent. More single track back to the pit area. Next is the lap with 4,600 feet of climbing, which keeping in mind means you get to descend 4,600 feet. Part of which is the famous Colorado Trail. Then the last lap over another pass to Como with a steep climb but lots of single track and one impossible long (at least for that time in the race) climb back to the pass for the FINAL descent. Yep, there are such things as final descents and they are things of beauty and wonder and all things good. And that is just how I felt when I knew it was all downhill for a little more than 8 miles.
And then the finish line. Ahhhhh. What a wonderful site. And as it worked out I was able to pull off a first place.
So here's to great weekends in the mountains with Great Friends and Teammates.
jari

Greetings from a very green and flower filled Colorado. It has been a few weeks of training and racing and I just wanted to keep you in the loop.

First, I placed 2nd at the Teva Games in the All Mountain Challenge. It was a great weekend with 4 hard fast events. The first was a bit scary because the water level was above flood stage and I ended up swimming in the white water portion of the event. It was cold and fun but a little stressful. Then a mt bike race with 30 pro's. SWEET. I was able to get a great night sleep and then the 10 trail run first thing Sunday morning. It wasn't like any trail race I have ever done. It was really just a hike strait up then as fast as you could strait down, repeat a few times. All followed by then uphill time trail. Which I can't believe I could do after running strait down Vail mt. All in all it was a great weekend and I can't wait to do it again next year, without the swimming part.

Three weeks again I raced the Mountain States Cup, here in Crested Butte, the Wildflower Rush. The 44 mile course was perfect and at the day was ended up 6th. My best MSC race finish to date. Finally I am getting into my grove.
Then this last weekend I went to SnowMass and did another MSC. It was only a two hour race with the last ten minutes pouring down rain and hail. I pulled out a 6th place and feel like I am ready for the Breckenridge 100 this weekend. So wish me luck and hopefully I will have good things to tell you come Monday.

Till then

jari k.

MSC #5 - Blast the Mass

Team AO had a great showing this past weekend in Snowmass at Blast the Mass - round #5 in the Mountain States Cup Series.

Young Gun Travis Scheefer has been working with Dr. Griggs all year and is coming into shape as planned. He rocked a 2nd place finish in the Short track on Saturday despite the hail that was landing, and then 4th on Sunday in the XC. Travis was incredible in the XC race, duking it out at the top of the climb on the 2nd lap with none other than Jay Henry (Tokyo Joes). A flat tire ended the possibility of throwing down with Jay at the Finish, but to be there riding with Jay at the top of the climb - well that says it all about what kind of shape he's in right now. Even with the flat, 4th place was rather awesome.

New cat to Team AO, Bryan Dillon in his first pro race, got 10th. Bryan is only 22, has been in 2 races this year, and he won them both, and in good fashion. In applying for his first USA cycling license, he was put right up into the Pro category with the results he's proven so far, and he proved it with a 10th place finish in his first pro race - and with a crash. A bit shooken up with the crash and being up against the big dogs, he had quite a result. Jeff Irwin dogging a little mid-season malaise in the legs finished 14th.

For the Pro Ladies, Jari Kirkland finished in 6th, and Laura Anderson 7th on the rather unrelenting Snowmass course. Laura finished just as the heavens were releasing their fury again this past weekend.

Dave here got 3rd - Cat 1 (30-39)- thanks to a little assistance by Doc G! I was pretty bummed about my race in Breck the previous weekend, but Doc G has advised me with a training schedule to keep my sights in focus, and try to eliminate those doldrum days. Stew Gross rocked another 5th place - Cat 1 (19-29). Stew has been on the up and up all year - keep at it man!

The Team AO Juniors Blasted their own Mass and rocked the scene over there.

Pete Landry got 2nd - Jr Men 14 and under, his sister Arly got 2nd place - Cat 2 women. Then David Duesbout got 11th in Cat 2 - but had some mechanicals.

All in all - great weekend, and the good stuff is still to come. Team AO RULES!!!!!!!!!

Firecracker 50

Travis Scheefer put in a huge effort to crack the top 10 at the US National Marathon Championships. Travis rocked a 9th place finish, 22 minutes behind 2 time Champ Jeremy Horgan Kobelski. Travis rode real smart and put in a solid 2nd lap to jump places and eventually get into the top 10. The lad is getting the distance down, once he gets that to match his speed - watch out Past Marathon Champs!

Heather Irmiger took the title for the ladies, keeping it in the family with JHK being her husband.

Gunnison Legend Dave Wiens turned on the heat himself to knock off all the younger fellas and slot into 3rd place, 11 minutes behind JHK. Wiens picked em off one after another on his 2nd lap. Damn Leadville is going to be good this year!

Awesome event in Breckenridge, sick weather, and a HUGE result for Scheefer and Wiens.

Allison Gannet's Rippin Chix Camps

Over the course of Fat Tire Bike Week, Alison put on some Women's clinics and had a sick turnout. I heard nothing but love for the time spent and the girls seemed to really pick up a good bit of advice, tips, and support.

Alison had several local ladies out there as additional instructors/support. Missy Ochs, Sydney Fuller, Stacey Van Aernum, and Sarah Ballantyne amongst them - nice job ladies!

Check out Alison's Camps at http://www.alisongannett.com/Alison_Gannett/Rippin_Chix_Bike.html

SICK weekend for Team AO cycling right here at home in CB. Many a race were contested and the top step on the podium was realized in both the MSC Fat Tire 40, and the Open Wildcat 40. Travis Scheefer won the Fat Tire 40 with commanding speed and newcomer and youngster Bryan Dillon took the win in the Wildcat 40. Travis' winning time was 3:43:46 while Bryan won in 3:53:57. Totally awesome having AO on the top step for both races. Ethan Passant placed 4th in the pro race, just missing the podium but riding super strong.

The pro ladies had some good competition, and Jari Kirkland took 6th place overall. Our other Fat Tire 40 contingents were Cat 1 riders Stewart Gross and Tim Curry. Stewart rocked his way to 5th, while Tim Curry and seemingly the whole Curry contingent flatted twice and took 11th. TJ curry had the same mishap, and didn't get to finish. Pete Landry took 8th in the Junior men MSC race as well - rep'ing the Jr's with some toughness as he came across the line with only one hand on the bar. Apparently he had a mishap with a tree, but hung in there to ride with one arm.

In the Open Wildcat 40, we had Bryan on the top step, and roadie hardman Nicholas Kempin rocking a 10th spot, Torrey Carrol just behind in 12th, and super groovy sponsor and rider Paul Pike took out 19th - just surviving some locked legs coming across the line.

The ladies were awesome little Wildcat's - raaarrhhhhh (cat noise) with Dawn Passant taking out 4th place, Missy Ochs in 5th, and Sarah Gillis in 6th. These ladies were 1,2,3 in their 30-39 category, and stole all the podium there too.

Topping things off, Junior Downhiller and recently attached at the arm to his new honey Melissa, Teo Bradbury totally stomped his run and took out 2nd place in the Cat 2 15-18's. He would have

been 4th in the Cat 1's, and 30th in the pro field. This boy is only on the up and up and the DH racing is just starting up in earnest.

quick wildflower update

The AO pro team had a great result this weekend with Travis winning the pro men category.  The AO team also scored wins in the wildcat men catedory and a fifth place in CAT 1 19-29.  Here are some shots of Travis on his way up to the podium:

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The junior team did not have the strongest opening race with only half the team at the race (the rest of the team had prior commitments), and during the race TJ had a double flat and was pulled then Pete got up close and personal with a tree on the course and had a injured shoulder for the rest of the race (however, he still pulled out a great finish and was right up at the front of the pack).

That is the short version of what occured at the Wildflower Rush; wait for the full version of what happened this weekend from Dave Ochs.

Teva Mtn Games and Angel Fire - MSC #3

Nice weekend of racing all! Tim and Stuart were duking it out in the heat down at the MSC race, (see post below) while Travis and Jari were over in Vail throwing down with some big names on both the mountain and road scene. Travis took out 10th place in the Pro Men XC race with not much time for him needed to get in the top 5, and Jari took out 18th in the Pro Women XC, and 2nd in the whole shebang - the GNC Ultimate Mtn Challenge. Travis went on to rock 14th place in the Uphill Road Time Trial, throwing down with some of the big name domestic scene Pro Roadies.

Our Downhill rider Teo Bradbury had a good start in the preliminary runs down in Angel Fire, but wound up tangling up with a rock and kissing a tree on the run that counted. The downhill phenom bent his bars, but he walked away un-harmed, and is glad to have the first one out of the way. You always need one race to get the race back in ya', so Teo's psyched to be into the season and looking forward to the next race, MSC #4 - the Wildflower Rush here in CB.

Angel Fire MSC

It was a hot one down in Angel Fire New Mexico for the third stop of the MSC with race start temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees.  However, that did not stop new club rider Stewart from taking a huge lead in the first lap of the CAT 2 19-29 race and holding on to it for a win (by several minutes!).  Big props to Stew for kicking some butt at Angel fire in the sweltering heat.

Yours truly (Tim Curry) did not deal with the heat as well.  At the end of the first lap i was sitting comfortably in second feeling awsome and then the heat got to me.  At the beginning of lap 2 I found one of the nasty side effects of hot weather called heat exhaustion and, in turn, dropped like a rock to a finish in 12th.  Guess thats what happens when you go from riding in 60-70 degrees to a race at 90 degrees.

Congrats again Stewart on the big win and photos from the race will be posted as soon as i get them!

CBMBA Budd Trail workday

Super Groovy Sponsor and Trail Maintenance and Advocacy group - the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association had a huge workday this past weekend. Over 180 people came out to lend a hand, swing a tool, and create the Budd Trail. Connecting the North end of the Woods walk with the top of the Upper Lower Loop Climb, the Budd trail is 1.4 miles and crosses Land Trust, Peanut Mine, and Budd Family land. Click on the CBMBA link below for more details and stories, check out CrankCollective for more groovy details, and don't forget to come out and support CBMBA in all that they do.

The AO riders that weren't racing at the Teva Mountain Games and Angel Fire (MSC#3) were there in force, we had Junior's helping out there, and a great day with great trail education was had.

AO's famed trail maker, and creator of many a classic trail at Hartman's Rocks was on hand to help out in the preceding weeks to get the best line we could out there. Thanks Jeff for helping CBMBA and the time you gave!

LA Birthday Ride

Last Thursday we rocked out the first 'bandit' ride of the season with a little fun ride for Laura Anderson's 40th Birthday. You wouldn't know she was 40 - that's for sure.

Chalk Creek Stampede - Nathrop, CO

Not too bad a showing in Nathrop this time around. And finally some stellar weather and minimal winds taboot. I think more important than anything, the three of us that did just the XC on Sunday saw signs of good things to come, and some decent legs to throw around for the day. In the Pro Race, young Travis Scheefer took off quick and got himself right up there with the big dogs. Notice Dylan Stucki unable to control the adrenaline and hitting the front right away (far left). Travis on the far right.

Irwin had a good race compared to other Nathrop excursions and finished 30th out of about 45 fellas but was consistent and able to keep chugging - all good signs of the upcoming 'Summer of Jeff part 2'.

Georgia Gould did beat over half of the men's field and you can see a stellar picture of her crushing it and our buddy Jeff just behind. Little can you tell by the picture, that Georgia went by Jeff, and said to him - 'Hey, you have a nice backside, and I really dig those AO team kits'.

Tim Curry, our Jr. Team Coach, posted a 3rd place in the Short Track on Saturday, but maybe soured up the legs a bit, and Sunday didn't have his best XC race, but damn did he look good out there in his MTB skinsuit. (Check it out ladies - it's a bit see through)

As for myself, I had a good race and finished 3rd in the Cat 1 XC. My best showing at Nathrop to date and although the legs aren't going full bore, I had 'good feelings' and was "molto tranquilo" - if I may quote my favorite Italians when they feel good.