As you can tell, I’ve been leaving the blogging to Heather lately. I have been doing a bit of writing, just not here. I recently finished up a column for the next print issue of VeloNews, where I render a less-than-enthusiatic verdict on the new World Cup courses and trends in UCI course standards. Without getting into it now (I’ll re-post it here after the VN issue hits newsstands), I think the trend in shorter purpose-built courses is having a negative impact on MTB racing as the new UCI standards trickle down to regional and local events. I could write a lot more – but you’ll have to wait….

In any case, other than racing around 5k loops in Europe, here’s what I’ve been up to for the last month: After FINALLY digging my way out of the illness I picked up in South Africa, I am feeling really good on the bike after a few weeks of great training at home. I kicked off my time in Colorado with a victory at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail – one of my favorite races, and definitely one of the best mountain bike races in the U.S. It’s a great showcase of so many outdoor sports and Heather and I spent our post-race afternoon checking out the ‘Extreme Vertical’ dog jumping contest as well as a Bouldering World Cup.

My dog would do this if our mailman was hanging from that bar

Huh, taking a really good existing event and making it a World Cup. Imagine that...

Following that I’ve been filling my days with long rides and quite a bit of work around the house and yard. Heather and I are in the final phases of some very long-term remodeling projects, and it has been awesome to see them actually get finished.

Slightly classier than the piece of paper I've had taped to my mailbox for the last seven years

The last piece of the puzzle will be a detached 16×20 garage/moto/bike workshop that I have wanted for years – and I’m hopeful that my man-cave will be finished by the time I head to Mont. Ste Anne. Equally exciting is that this is a final prototype of some pre-insulated, pre-finished, larger structures that Studio Shed will offer next year.

Soon to house six motorcycles, shop, couch, mini-fridge.... CANNOT WAIT.

This June has been a fantastic time to be a mountain biker in Boulder. We’ve seen the opening of some great new singletrack at Betasso preserve, as well as the long-awaited Valmont Bike Park. I attended the ribbon-cutting of the bike park and it was incredible to see the city council giving speeches with a backdrop of dirt-jumpers hucking the huge features that are always open, free, and will be city-maintained. It’s really impressive. Sam Schultz (who was in town for some tire testing with myself and the Bontrager tire engineers) and I hit the slopestyle courses post-training ride, and rode all the fun drops with XC bikes, high saddles, and decked out in full team kits. I’m sure all the local groms could feel our coolness… We may have started a trend though, as the next day teammate Emily Batty was twittering pictures of her doing likewise. Ah, a it’s been a good showing in the bike park thus far for the Subaru Trek team.

New awesome singletrack in Boulder, I so excite!

So after all that – my batteries are fully recharged heading into the second half of the season. I’m off to Wisconsin tomorrow, and stoked for the Subaru Cup event there. I’m excited to catch up with all the people at TREK, which is just down the road from this event. I’ll be sure to ask them when I can get a hold of a nice dirt-jump bike for the bike park…. Thanks for checking in.

With my time in paradise (read, Maui) behind me – it’s time to get down to business and race some bikes this year. Between my tired legs and the time I’ve spent on airplanes and in extended-stay hotels in the last two weeks it’s clear that the race season is underway. From here on out, my time at home will be measured in days, not weeks, so I’l be trying extra hard to enjoy every minute of it.

Definitely not Hawaii.

Returning to Boulder after a month in Hawaii and California was a small shock to the system (see above), I was even feeling the altitude after a month of oceanside living. Spring is in the air in Colorado though, and despite the snowy training ride or two, it was great to get a few days at home before the next big stretch of traveling.

My beloved Andreja - the best part of being home.

Heather gave a good recap of our first team gathering and photo shoot in California – you can check it out here. It was a short break until our next team outing, the second stop of the ProXCT series in Fontana, CA.

You know it's steep when it even looks like it in the photo. Heather getting it done in the Women's XC.

I’ve always liked the Fontana race, it’s a great example of a legit MTB race with great courses right in the middle of a sprawling city. We first raced here in 2006, and it has been interesting to watch half of the original course become 1) bulldozed homesites in 2007, 2) brand new faux-Tuscan style homes in 2008, and 3) a sea of foreclosures and short sales in 2009. The Inland Empire’s housing woes aside, the US Cup crew put together a great XC course this year. They extended an already super hard little-ring climb, and added a great flowy and fast singletrack section at the top of the course.

Climbing out of the urban jungle...

...descending back into it. (Thx to Dave McElwaine for the photos)

I felt very good at the start and led both the start lap and first full lap before settling into the mix in an ever-smaller lead group. I didn’t quite have the punch to go with the eventual race-winning attack, but felt solid the whole way and ended the day on the podium in 5th. I felt really good in Sunday’s STXC and tried my luck with a big attack on the last lap, but didn’t quite have the legs to make it stick over the top of the final climb. Still, ending the weekend with 2nd places in the STXC and USCup overall was a pretty decent way to start the year – and it gives me a nice confidence boost that everything is on track to really be firing by the World Cup opener in South Africa next month.

Time to break in the sadly thin one on the right.

For now, it’s back to Boulder for two whole days and then off to South America and the Pan-American Championships in Bogota, Colombia. I love racing in South America, and I am super excited for this trip. I will be breaking in a new passport this weekend too – I finally had to retire my last one after 10 years of global travel. Kind of sad, actually, my old one had 20 extra pages added to it, over 100 visas and stamps from 40 countries. It will be interesting to see what my new one looks like 10 years from now. Thanks for following along – I’ll keep you posted.