The Center of the Universe

This past week Subaru-Trek spent some time in Missoula, Montana before the Pro XCT finals. Sam has always claimed Missoula to be the center of the universe and after checking out the town a bit, there is some truth to that statement. As we rolled in from Sun Valley, ID Monday evening Schultz took us on a tour and showed us the good places to eat. The town reminded me a lot of Durango for some reason. A river flowing through it and the older buildings perhaps.

The next morning Sam came to the hotel and gave the team a tour of some of the local trails. The trails were really fun and had some good flow to them. It was really hot that day so Kerry and I decided to hit the river. We found a cool bridge to jump off too!

The group riding some prime Missoula singletrack.

Later that night Mr. and Mrs. Schultz hosted us for dinner. We got to see a lot of Sam and Andy's old school pics. I really liked this one of Sam. No footer!

Wednesday the HIJHK's wanted to ride the course as did I so we headed up to see what he had on tap for the weekend. The course was by far the best on the circuit this year. It had everything; double track climbing, singletrack climbing, switchbacks, fast descents and a massive A-line gap jump/huck. The A-line was pretty nerve racking because it was ~5 feet high, you had to jump ~8 feet out to clear it and the run in involved a 90 degree turn right before the lip. JHK was the first to hit after scoping it for a bit. I however, wasn't feeling it that day and didn't do it. After a few laps JHK and I went for some more riding. We hit a really awesome trail called Ewok. It was so fast and flowy!

Eventually I maned up and hit the A-Line.

Thursday I kept it low key and just went for a nice spin with Kerry and Jack. The Ewok trail was so fun I took them on it again! Afterwards, we returned to the river we jumped in earlier in the week and Jack stepped it up and hit the taller one that was 50+ feet. It was crazy! He didn't even hesitate. We then head to a restaurant for an amazing lunch at a location called Hob Nob. This place was recommended by Schultz. I had an amazing chicken mango sandwich.

"Honey Badger" Hinkens jumped off the top bridge. Kerry and I jumped off the lower one.

The Hob Nob was my go to restaurant. I ate there 6+ times!

Friday came and I knew I had to hit the A-line today or I was going to be boo'ed the whole race. Ha, peer pressure! Luckily, I hit and and to my surprise it wasn't that bad. I was really excited because I knew a lot of people wouldn't be hitting it in the race.

Race day finally came and I was quite excited. After a morning spin with Kerry and Jack followed by a stop at the farmers market, I began to get ready to head to the venue. I was feeling pretty good in my warm up and was hoping to wrap the Pro XCT series up with a solid race. The gun went off and I quickly found myself 3rd wheel behind Sam and JHK for a bit. I guess that's what happens after doing a few world cup races.. Anyways, the rest of my race went well and I found myself floating around the top 10 throughout most of the race. On lap 3, however, I hit something that gave me an instant flat. I rallied the downhills and had to run for a bit to the tech zone where I grabbed a new wheel. I had some chasing to do, but finished in 17th. I was happy with it. The race was awesome, so many spectators came out making it feel like a world cup. I was glad I was hitting the A-line every lap in front of them. If you haven't heard yet Schultz took the W! I'm so pumped for him. That's got to be a good feeling to do in front of the home crowd!

Photo courtesy of Dave McElwaine

I'd highly recommend visiting Missoula if ever given the opportunity. Between sweet trails, Big Dipper Ice Cream, great places to eat, farms markets, nightly concerts, a cool community and the small town feel it's a blast!

Kayaking and man made boat races just one of the many things to do, on a Thursday!

Now I'm back in Colorado Springs for a few weeks before heading to Germany for some final Worlds prep. Starting August 3rd I'll be living out of the Olympic Training Center with Kerry and Jack. I'm taking the next few days pretty easy to recover from the last few weeks of racing; 15 races in the last 7 weeks. This weekend I'm heading to Winter Park to do some lift riding and perhaps race my new singlespeed!

I love the simplicity of my singlespeed.