what weekends should be!

last week was big... in many ways. first and foremost it was our 2 year anniversary. as far as training goes i finished up the biggest (highest volume + intensity) two weeks i have ever put in on the bike. race-wise we raced in the first race of the Dirt Dog XC series on saturday and beth raced in the Surf Town Triathlon on Sunday. and last but certaintly not least, good times-wise, we went to the Stone Brewing 13th Anniversary festival on saturday.

riding wise i feel like i am really starting to see a major change. all this riding has definitely made me stronger and will ultimately make me faster as we start to reduce the volume and get me ready to throwdown at the end of the season races. the last two weeks were challenging for sure but i was never over it. i really do love riding my bikes and get stoked to tackle tough workouts. this week will be all about recovering from the 600+ miles of put in my legs over the past two weeks and also getting ready to race the final race of the Rim Nordic series next weekend.

saturday was tough one. we raced the Wild Duck 5k at Guajome park in oceanside. beth and i are both running for Team BSK/Running Center this year in the SDTC's Dirt Dog XC series. It's always fun to actually be doing the same races from the time to time. it makes things pretty simple.

my race went better than expected considering the run training i have been doing which has basically consisted of 2 runs a week of 45-60 minutes and no interval work. mainly just hitting the trails and running by feel which i usually about 7:00-7:15/mile pace. defintely nothing to get me prepared for how hard the XC running races are. i know i am really "fit" right now with all the riding i am doing but my leg turnover running-wise is just not there... and doesn't really concern me right now. it'll comeback.

i decided to start conservatively so I hopefully wouldn't blow up and could finish strong. i actually ended starting way to mellow and before i knew it i was probably in about 40th of 180 as we hit a narrow trail. i had to run my way through the crowd to get back near the front and was working harder than i wanted to. that was pretty much the story of the race. i worked my way consitently towards the front, got passed by a couple of guys, but then passed them all back with a final strong kick in the .25 miles. i think i got 5 guys in the .25 so that was good.

making a move on the finaly uphill grass section.


when i crossed the line the clock read 16:57, but when they posted the results they had me at 17:00... gotta love manual timing. either way i'll take it. i was 18th overall. i knew the race was going to be tough and was thinking before the race that i would be happy with anything around 18 minutes on the rolling course. i am really looking forward to running the rest of the series and building my running back up as the mountain bike race season ends and the the Dirt Dog series progresses the championships on 11/14.

i was also stoked because it was my first race in my 2009 Avia Avi-Bolt II's. they were awesome, super light, and comfortable. i can't want to race in them again.


after the race on sunday i jumped on my bike and rode 40+ miles home and it was probably the best thing i could have done for my legs. i was worked after the race and the first 30 minutes of the ride was a full-on sufferfest but then after that i felt rad... and got in some solid miles, and felt great waking up sunday morning.

Beth had two really good races this week. she is definitely getting her running legs back. she had a solid 5k on saturday and then we were up mega early to head down to Imperial Beach (borders mexico) where she killed it at the Surf Town Tri. check her blog for the details. i watched her race and hung out with a bunch of friends before jumping back on my bike and riding home. it was long ride going through downtown and the harbor wasn't too fun but i got it done to finish my biggest week of riding... ever. 310 miles (286 road/24 mtb).

view from my sunday ride home from the top of mt. soledad.


ok... all training and racing aside. the real highlight of the weekend was attending Stone Brewing's 13th Anniversary Celebration. saturday afternoon after riding, running, and relaxing a bit we headed over (it was 5 miles from our house!). there were 40+ breweries on hand, each with multiple beers to try. for the price of admission you got 10 x 5oz tasters.

putting together our plan of attack.


i was on an IPA mission! hopefully i'll get around to posting a more detailed review on the beer blog, but for now i'll let the photos show how much fun we had and how good the beers were. definitely some new favorites and ones i want to drink more of.

comemorative tasting glass.


beth was a champ. she drove us there and only had a couple of tastes, which meant me and our crew had a couple of extra tastings to go around! i owe her for sure.


since beth was taking it easy Kerri stepped up and was my tasting teammate. she went beer for beer with me! she really like the Brew Dog Punk IPA.


i thought it was just OK.


as usual i made some new friends. these were the "Arrogant Bitches". Huge stone and IPA fans and have been to every anniversay fest. dedication. i love it!


beth did find one Belgian Beer she really liked.


me and nikee... she loves IPA as much as I do!


our crew. good times.


TIME FOR SOME REST!