Our MTB national series opener went off today and most things went fairly well out there. Early season racing is always hard to figure out but things were more ‘on’ than ‘off’ for me.  My plan was to manage the start by getting/maintaining good position while not maxing out the effort so that I could have plenty left for the duration of the five lap race. Given the demands of the course with the sizeable initial climb this was no easy feat, but things actually played out all right. Once to the top it was steady lap times and keeping on the gas until the finish – never backing off too much or surging too hard.  Finishing 31st will help with the Sea Otter call up and it gives me some confidence that things are close to being in order. I know that I’ve got more in me and even better results aren’t far off. Being that we raced a more demanding course this year it was good to get a result far better than any of my three previous Fontana performances. 

The 2009 season ought to be fantastic and Fontana was a nice way to start things up with the Adventure212/Specialized team.  Chris made the flight out so that he could get in a race prior to Sea Otter and placed well considering that most of his ride time has been on rollers coming from WI…  It’s been a fun weekend and the support of the team has been a great help.  Colt @ CyclingDirt.org has done well with creating the MTB dedicated ‘inside scoop’. If you haven’t seen the site, you’ve got to check it out – and often. The newly organized US Pro XCT series seems to have a good vibe going and the racing fields were as big or bigger than I’ve seen them during the past four years. I say this is the year that mountain biking starts it’s comeback!

Sea Otter is the next goal on the horizon.  Thanks for the support,  -TJ