snow shredding

adrenalin project member Sean Fey making the most of life and ripping some snow on his fatbike.
http://m.pinkbike.com/video/342526/

Jason gets hairy at EPIC MT CHALLENGE

Gecko's Epic Mountain Challenge in Pagosa Springs turned out to be an amazing even with an overwhelming amount of support and organization.  But the real story is the amount of muscle that showed up to compete for the $60,000.

This event is a 2 day stage race combining 4 races.  Day 1 is a half marathon trail run in the morning and a 20 mile mountain bike in the afternoon.  Day 2 is a 10k road run followed a few hours later by a 4k mountain bike hill climb. I only completed day one.  2 days of racing with Xterra Worlds just 3 weeks away probably was not the best training.  So I told myself if I was in the running for top 5 I would keep racing day 2 otherwise I would call it early.

Lining up for the start of the half marathon was a small group of maybe 60 or 70 runners but 50 of them felt like they belonged in the front row. And when Morgan started us off I realized immediately that they all did.  It was like racing a 400 up the first hill.  The entire front end of the group was flying.  I stayed back and tried to keep a steadier pace.  After about a mile I started passing a few people and after 3 or 4 settled in with 2 other solo racers, Kyle Leto and Ben Allen.  We went back and forth for a while, Ben and I railing the ups and downs while Kyle would just real us back in on the flats.  Some of the downhills were very loose and steep along with some of the uphills.  But the course was a good mix of hills and flats.  Unfortunately the scenery wasn't there but I was staring at the ground for the entire 94 minutes anyways.  On the final techie decent and climb Ben and I dropped Kyle until about a half mile left and we see Kyle flying through the switchbacks to run us down.  We both put in that final kick to finish Me, Ben, Kyle only about 7 seconds between each of us.  Such a great time racing with 2 guys at the same level. Josh Merrick, Jason Donald, Josiah Middaugh, Howard Grotts, Brian Smith was the order of  solo men 1-5.  I came in 8th.  There were 3 duo guys ahead of all top 5 solo men. These guys were crazy fast.

After the run Alexis and I took Edgar for a walk and then headed to Farrago's for lunch (so good we went back for dinner, even better for dinner!).  I used every bit of fortitude I had to not eat the entire basket of sweet potato fries that came with my panini.  Then we headed back to the hotel to put the legs up and read for an hour.  2 o'clock came and I was out the door pedaling around trying to loosen up the legs the best I could.  I put in a few short hard efforts only because I was worried about getting stuck behind a crowd by the first single track.  The start line was the same as the run.  One small group all gunning for the front.  Morgan started us off again and same as before it was a sprint up the hill.  I managed to tuck in behind Greg Krause and Brian Smith which left a nice wake for me to cruze up the hill in.  I hit the single track in a good spot but still got stuck behind some guys on the first two descents.  The 2 lap course only had 2 techie downhills and couple of tough steep climbs per lap.  The rest was a flat power course on single track.  The first lap I had absolutely nothing. My legs were as flat as could be.  I struggled on every uphill and flat.  But about a 1/4 the way through lap two I suddenly felt amazing. I was standing on every hill, I road away from the guys I was with on lap one.  Passed a few spread out guys and finished with way too much left in the tank.  Not sure how that works but I obviously did something wrong between the two events.  Howard Grotts, Dan Hugo, Josiah Middaugh, Brian Smith, Thomas Spannring was the order 1-5.  I was 12th.  Believe it or not there were 2 duo guys ahead of Howard Grotts. Sorry, no individual names only team names listed.

We ended up leaving early Sunday morning because of a family issue, but I had told myself that if I did not have a shot at the money by the end of day one I would cruze through day 2.  I had Xterra Worlds coming up in 3 weeks and I didn't think it was wise to race 4 events in 2 days just for fun. 1 day was great anyways.  My run was fantastic and my bike felt strong.  It gave me great motivation for Maui.

After I left day 2 went on but the results did not change much.  It was a battle for first place with Josiah Middaugh 2 minutes ahead of Howard Grotts, followed by Brian Smith, Jason Donald, Bradley Weiss, Josh Merrick, Dan Hugo, Travis Macy, Kyle Leto, Ben Allen and 12 more guys.  I didn't mention it mostly because this is already a long post but the women's field was just as impressive with Emma Garrard putting in a dominating performance.  What an insanely competitive field.  My hats off To Morgan, Mike, and the rest of the Gecko crew who managed to pull off such a unique and AMAZING event.  I'm in for next year 100%!  

 

4 passes run

Killer 28 mile run around 4 passes loop! Casey, Jason, Luke.

Leadville 100 run, Leadman (luke jay)

 

Luke Jay wrapped up Leadman 2013 with a solid 3rd place overall in series. The last event was the epic Leadville 100 mile run. He finished 14th overall in 20:14.  Read his report here!
http://lukejay.blogspot.com/2013/08/leadville-100-run-report.html





                   SEEK AND ENJOY

 

LEADVILLE 100 MTB

Such an amazing race that has turned into a legendary high profile event. Leadville is at 10k feet so the air is thin and racing 100 miles on the mtb there is no joke. 2000 people started the race and 1300 finished. Great day for the adrenalin project!

TRAPPER rode a phenomenal  time of 7:15 (that's really fast) to place 23rd overall with a huge pro field. He also got some great shots on cyclingnews.com.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/leadville-100-2013/100-miler/photos/276124
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/leadville-100-2013/100-miler/photos/276015

LUKE JAY rode a solid 8:10 to move up to 3rd place in the Leadman competition. He is racing the final event which is the 100 miles run this sat in Leadville. Both earned their "big buckles" ! Luke's race report:  http://lukejay.blogspot.com/2013/08/leadville-trail-100-mtb-report.html

Huge Thanks to CHAMPION SYSTEM for our kits. GIRO for shoes, helmets, gloves. SWIFTWICK for socks. LIFEPROOF for the best adventure phone cases. ADRENALIN CYCLES for keeping us rolling strong.

silver-rush 50 and updates

Leadville silver rush this last weekend...Trapper, Luke, and honorary project racer Wade. Cool race a big field. Not the best luck, as Trapper had a gnarly crash and had to go to doctor to check out his bleeding face/head/lips/legs/back.... He got away pretty lucky but could have been really bad! Flat legs and a couple flat tires later Luke finished in 4:28 and Wade finished in 5:37....we backed it up with a great time at the local distillery tasting some fine moonshine mules and sausage!

Check out Luke's blog here http://lukejay.blogspot.com/ to see his full race report as he racing the full Leadman.

Big race coming up next weekend! We  will have Will Kelsay, Hairy Jason, Patrick Valetine,and Jason Hilgers all toeing the line at beaver creek for the XTERRA Mountain Chapionships. Stay tuned.   

Bailey Hundo Race Report (Jason Hilgers)

The Bailey Hundo is a 100 mile mountain bike race in the Bailey/Buffalo Creek area of Colorado. It’s by far my favorite race of the year. Buffalo Creek is one of my favorite places to ride and I try to make the hour long commute to ride there at least once a month. The race included 6 miles of dirt road to start followed by 50 miles of trails. The final 40ish miles are on mostly dirt roads with some pavement thrown in. This is the third year I’ve done the race and was my second time on the single speed. 100 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing, on a single speed: Let’s go. The Spot Rocker belt drive was souped up with some carbon Reynolds wheels pre-race thanks to Adrenalin Cycles.





I was lucky to have two of my brothers crew for me during the race so I didn’t have to worry about stopping at aid stations or bag drops. I have my nutrition dialed in for endurance racing, which consists of a bottle of water, bottle of grape First Endurance EFS, and a flask of First Endurance EFS liquid shot every two hours or so. I would be relying on nothing but liquids for the roughly 7.5 hours of racing and would be getting hand-offs roughly every two hours. I didn’t have high hopes going into the race as the single speed field was relatively stacked. I finished 2nd overall in the single speed category last year in a time of around 7 hours 42 minutes. The previous year’s winner (Jeff) was signed up (who bested me by 10 minutes last year), as well as the Rocky Mountain Endurance series leader in the single speed category (Carlos) and a handful of other strong riders (Dan et al). I also had to deal with old man Ed Oliver who decided to throw his He-Man legs into the single speed category. I had a 3:30 AM wakeup call Saturday morning to get some breakfast in me and make it to Bailey for the 6 AM start. I picked up Ed Oliver on the way and we rolled into Bailey just after 5 AM. After the gun went off (literally) there is about a mile of slightly downhill pavement that puts the single speeders in a bit of a hole. I spent the following 5 miles working my way through the masses to get near the front. I passed last years single speed winner just before the turnoff onto the Colorado Trail and the start of the singletrack. I figured I was somewhere near the top 25 overall at that point. Once on the trail if was difficult to keep the smile off my face. I love riding these trails. I tried to keep is smooth on the flats and downhills and push the hills. I felt pretty good early on and rolled through the first 40 miles with a pretty steady pace. After passing through aid station 3 I saw Carlos up ahead and new I was in relatively good position. Carlos is pretty damn strong (to say the least) and the fact I was near him was encouraging. I lost some time to him on some flat double track and when I stopped to swap bottles and EFS flasks. I rode with some geared riders through a long portion of the Colorado trail and then caught up to Carlos again on a steep climb. I dropped the geared guys to bridge up to Carlos and the made my way past him about 2/3 the way up the climb. I noticed the way he way cranking that he was probably had a bigger gear ratio than me. Once I went by Carlos I got a huge blast of motivation to keep pushing hard. I met my brothers near aid station 4 and they said I was the lead single speeder. This added to the motivation and I just kept pushing. I caught a geared rider at about mile 55 or so who said the next single speeder was less than a minute ahead. I realized that I was not longer running scared at the front but running in2nd. I just kept pushing and got a glimpse of the leader (Dan) on a steep climb. At the top of the climb it was about a 4 mile descent down the Platte River. I kept on it the best I could but the sandy descent was working me over. I hit the Platte River and met my brothers for a quick refuel and I was off on the 12 miles of flat pavement and dirt road into Deckers. I let my brothers know that there was still one single speeder ahead of me. This flat section was brutal on the single speed. Some quick 130+ rpm bursts with a quick coast, then repeat, for an hour. A geared guy caught me, which was a welcomed relief and I drafted him for a while. He throught the lead single speeder was up ahead but we could never see him, even with the long open roads. I was thinking to myself Dan must have one hell of a big gear on his bike. Another couple of geared guys caught us and three geared guys rode off into the distance leaving me all along once again. About 4 miles from Deckers I was caught by another geared rider who said there were two single speeders about a mile behind. Apparently, Dan was getting some nutrition from his drop bag when I passed and was now riding with Carlos. I was the first place single speeder. Shortly thereafter, my brothers came rolling by and said I had a 1.5 mile gap on the two single speeders. I knew Carlos and Dan were riding with a larger gear ratio than me so I kept the cadence as high as I could to keep them from closing the gap. I thought that if I could make it to the Stony Mountain Pass climb in first it would be tough for the two to close the gap. With the help of a geared rider I was able to make it to the base of the Stony Mountain Pass climb with the lead. It was all in my hands (or legs) now. I may not be the best technical rider (especially descender) but I can power up smooth climbs with the best of them. By the way, the Stony Mountain Pass climb is the most difficult part of the race. It starts at about mile 75 and 10 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing later you summit the pass. There are three climbs to get to the summit with a short descent in between each. They get progressively longer and less steep, with the first being a nasty, steep, loose, sandy, kick in the ass. I kept my butt in the saddle and kept pushing only having to stand for a few short segments. Near the end of the first climb it was getting hot and I was hurting pretty bad. My brothers rolled by and said I had a 6 minute lead. I told them it didn’t matter because I couldn’t go any faster if I wanted to. I kept my head down staring at my “Pedal Harder Sissy” stem cap and kept mashing. When I reached the summit I wanted to stop and kiss the ground, which probably would have made me cramp so I kept rolling along. The next 15 or so milers of rollers were a blur of pain, agony, near constant cramping, and absolute joy when I came to a downhill segment and didn’t have to pedal. I rolled through the finish in 7 hours and 13 minutes, 1st single speeder, 12th overall, and 4th amateur overall. I was floored. I took almost 30 minutes off my 2012 time. I stood in shock until by brothers rolled in. We exchanging some high fives and a bunch of hugs. It was probably the best result I have put up in my 6 or so years of racing. It felt pretty damn good. I have to thank by brothers (Justin and Jordan) for all the support and motivation through the day. Without them I never would have been able to put up the time I did. I also have to thank Luke Jay and The Adrenalin Project. All the fast guys have forced me to step up my game. Thanks to Adrenalin Cycles for being the best shop in Denver and knocking out my endless array of bike related issues as fast as they do. Also thanks to all of The Adrenalin Project sponsors whose gear helped power the way including Champion Systems, Giro, LifeProof, Skull Candy, Swiftwick, and Oakley.

new race reports!

Patrick Valentine took 2nd overall at the XTERRA Curt Gowdy. check it.
http://patrickvalentine.blogspot.com/

Luke Jay took 8th overall (4th leadman) in the Leadville Marathon.
http://lukejay.blogspot.com/

GoPro Games (luke jay)

GOPRO games was awesome. I raced the Ultimate Mountain Challenge again and although bettering my times from last year I dropped a spot and finished 4th place. Its cool though because the three dudes in front of me are all real deal fast ass pro athletes. Josiah Middaugh won again (for like 5th straight year) and Travis Macy as always was right behind in 2nd...and Adam Wirth (xterra buddy) from Idaho brought his fast cycling legs to Vail to claim third. So sat morning starts with the 4mile downriver kayak down gore creek (class 2/3) ...20:00 min later and its over. No swimming or major mistakes and I'm stoked. A few hrs later all 8-9 Pro UMC guys lined up behind the huge PRO mtb field. Its a brutal course of 3x6mile laps...lots of climbing. I felt ok but lost enough time to Adam that I knew a podium repeat would be tough. Early sunday morning at 8am we are all lined up with a very fast and large field to race the 10k trail run (11k) ...its at 9,000 feet and we climbed 2k in just 6.5-7 miles...its brutal. I felt strong on the run and could tell all my running helped (weird huh?) I finished 16th overall (with some very strong pro runners) and beat Adam by 5min. (54min finish time) Next was the classic Vail TT up vail pass. 9.8 miles up to 10,000 feet. Once again my legs felt decent but no "snap"...I finished 4th place overall Pro after the 4 events. It was a great weekend with Becca and Ryder. Ryder had a blast at the games doing the zipline, slackline, free stuff, biking, and watching pro BMX dudes jumping. Its rad to see him hyped on this stuff and he yelled at me to "drop the hammer" a few time during the races...so good!  Got home late on sunday from the games and was pretty tired ...but Monday I had a 3hr trail run as Patrick told me I had to run on tired legs...it went solid and I did 20miles with 3k+ of vertical.

A few "gear notes" ....For tires I have been running the GEAX AKA and really like this tire for 95% of Colorado conditions. GIRO aeon helmet has been awesome! super light and comfortable. I'm running the GIRO code mtb shoes this year and have been super impressed with the fit, comfort and stiffness. I used swiftwick socks for all the events and will be using these socks for all my Leadville races including the Leadville 100 run. Don't underestimate the need for good socks and swiftwick is the best in my opinion.  The badass dudes at Adrenalin cycles keep my bikes running smooth and have everything you need for cycling or racing.

Supporters of the project

Huge thanks to Champion System for helping us with the new kits. They are top notch. Shoot me an email and i'll get you in touch with their custom rep if you are interested in getting some custom kits (great pricing!)
Also a shout out to GIRO for shoes, helmets, gloves, and LIFEPROOF for the amazing waterproof (bikeproof) iphone cases. Seek and Enjoy!

300 miles of ________

"Is this the hardest thing you've ever done?"

"yes it is...you?"

"yes....this is harder than i thought it would be"

"I'm so thirsty"

300 miles of riding. Mostly hard singletrack. Tons of hike-a-bike. Arizona sun, cactus, rocks. This is the AZT300 in a few short words, minus the cuss words one feels during this amazingly hard bikepacking race.
It was brutal and as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Finish time was 3day 3hrs. 75hrs total and of that we rode/hiked for 58 hrs!The lows and highs were extreme. Patience and fatigue was tested to the limit. It's pretty amazing what the body can do if you really will it or just believe you can do something. It was a deep and hard experience but something I am glad we did.

Here is my best recap of what happened. Myself (Luke Jay) and Adam Vaughan drove from Colorado on Thursday for the Friday start. We got stranded on a closed 1-25 (near Trinidad) due to ice and snow on the road. 12 hrs later we met up with Casey Hill and Jason Michalak at the finish trail head (picket post, Superior, AZ) We prepped the bikes and drove to Tucson that night. Our buddy Steve Osborne (bikepacking forum) picked us up early in the AM and drove us to the start right near the Mexico Border...THANKS STEVE! Jason, Adam and Myself rolled out with about 40 other racers at 9am. It was pretty warm by 10-11am and me and Jason just forced the early calories down knowing we had a few LONG days of saddle and suffering ahead. Casey's bike had some tire/tubeless issues late the night before so he decided to get brand new tires on Friday morning in Tuscon and meet us in Patagonia...he would miss the start and first 30 miles but Casey is punk rock and was ready to roll when we came into Patagonia. We filled up the bottles and headed out (all 4 of us together)...we knew if probably wouldn't stay this way as there are way too many variables out on the trail to stay together. In Sonoita Adam decided to sit and refuel as he wasnt' feeling great. We later found out his stomach was pretty messed up and he was dehydrated and cramping. He rode all the way to Kentucky camp before making the wise decision to pull the plug and then having to ride all the way back to Patagonia...brutal. So it was Casey, Jason, and Myself cruising along feeling good with the first 60-70 miles under our belts...we didn't know what lay ahead, oh what naive littlet boys we were! At roughly 85 miles in Jason's light was stuck on dim and we were on tech single track...Me and Casey trudged on and left Jason to handle himself. He was fine but just moving slow. We figured we would cross paths soon enough. About 100 miles in me and Casey had almost no food left...we decided to push to Tucson (122 miles) and make sure we had food and water first thing in the AM. It was a serious push and we rolled into Safeway around 3am. We grabbed some warm junk at gas station and found a good spot to camp near school. We slept in a bit and rolled to Starbucks about 7am...we where pretty shelled and tired so we took our sweet time. Casey proceeded to order 2 Venti Coffees and down them both in 10min.

We stocked up with food at Safeway and where back on the trail by 8am...after some serious climbing and missing a turn we where cranking away the slow miles in the heat...it was getting brutal. Almost ran out of water and filtered some from a sketchy "stream". After a massive hike-a-bike out of some canyon we made it to the bottom of Mt Lemmon...refill with water...Casey pooped for 10min...We started the long 18mile haul up Mount Lemmon and Casey hammered the climb like the roadie he is...I passed Max Morris and Aussie Ross on the climb and we all rolled into the Summerhaven cafe about 7:50pm (20min behind Casey)...we ate alot! Sweet potato fries, coke, coffee, pie, hummus, chicken wings. We felt good and full and decided to ride as much of Oracle as possible..well 5 min into Oracle we realized it was "hike as much as oracle" as possible..our plan was to hike till 1 or so and then sleep. We saw a light catching us from behind, it was Neil. The dude had to buy a new fork in Tuscon and had made great time and caught back up to us. He was speed hiking like a runner and had his headphones in and was jamming. The three of us passed Dave Wilson in his bivy and he yelled something funny about us missing our campground. The three of us rode/hiked till 1-2 am then found a good bivy spot. Amazing sunrise and then Dave rides by as we are getting ready. Neil took off after a few minutes of riding and me and Casey kept moving along.

We rolled into Oracle (gas station) about 9am and bought a ton of food and ate as much as we could (about 18hrs later we found out we grossly underestimated how much food we needed) a few hrs of pretty fun riding and things are a little less clear after this...i think because i was focused on the GPS, worried about water supply, etc....we just basically went into "tunnel vision survival mode" and do what you need to do to keep moving. We suffered in the heat and my rear tire was getting bald...so i had to take it easy on the rocky sections and descents...I hear my tire go psssssss! crap!. Hopped off and turned the leak down and within a couple seconds the Stan's plugged it up...but our stress level was pretty high as we are 60miles from anywhere and its almost 90 degrees, no shade, no water for 20+miles. Pray and hope we make it. We finally hit the Freeman water cache (mile 226 ish) late that afternoon (2nd day) and our bottles where bone dry (after no water antelope) as the sun was going down we stopped for bit (15min) to eat ...we saw two guys behind us and realized it was Jason and Ross...seeing them was a good moral boost and the 4 of us rode together. I was still pretty worried about my tire (geax aka) as it was getting more and more "bald" with each mile. Ross kept hammering leaving Jason, Casey, and myself back together again. The "Bro-muda triangle".

As we started getting later into the night I truly feel this was the time where the real challenge started. It was dark and technical and the miles where barely ticking by. The smallest things seem to aggravate us. It's hard to focus and your mind really "wonders"...you start "seeing things" and your butt hurts. Knowing we still had 50-60miles left of really hard terrain was extremely hard to digest and accept. We rode late into the night thinking we might be able to push up and over through the night. We had almost no food left. After some debating back and forth we finally just stopped and camped
around 2-3am.

We had about 30 miles left. We woke up at dawn and where back riding by 5:45. The sun and heat came way to soon. We made the decision to filter water from the Gila river. Its gross and metallic but we needed water so be it. We all had spread out to suffer solo at our own slow paces...but making sure we stopped and could at least see each other. I saved one single GU for when/if things got "bad enough"  I took it around 10am. The final 9 miles was downhill and took forever but we made it around noon. Casey finished about 30min in front of me and Jason was a 15-20 minutes behind me. I had zero food left and 10oz of water left. It was 92 degrees. My tire looked like a road tire. Blistered hands. Jason's hub axle broke in the last 1/2 mile. Numb toes. Adam was waiting with some gatorade, coke, snacks with Ross. I think i just sat there for 10-15 minutes decompressing....it was done. Loaded up the car.  "Let's go get some pizza".   

bikepacking for Arizona 300

If  this picture doesn't evoke an awesome feeling of adventure and fun...then something is wrong with you. Here are a couple of our setups for the upcoming AZT300. We will be pedaling 300 miles across the AZ desert (self supported) ...follow along with us here!    http://www.trackleaders.com/aztr13     its starts friday at 9am (april 19th). 

AZT 300 mtb ride countdown (1 week away)

This feels more like a small expedition than a race. Checklists, logistics, gear, gps files, more gear, getting water on course, bike prep, etc.... The feeling is accurate and I am being 100% honest when I say our goal is to finish. We will be riding 300 miles in the desert of Arizona next week. Fully self supported. No drop bags, no support crew, just us, our bikes and the legs (hopefully) to get to finish. The crew will be Jason Michalak coming off a 3rd place ride at 24hr of old pueblo covering 250+ miles in 24hrs. Our buddy Casey Hill coming from oregon with enough power in his legs to race in Europe (he did). Our other buddy Adam Vaughan who just rode 150 miles at the "anti epic" on his CX bike last weekend, and Myself, Luke Jay.  Stay tuned as i will post links to spot trackers, bike setups, gear lists. SEEK AND ENJOY!

 AZT Rules: No entry fee, no prizes, absolutely no support1. Complete the entire route, under your own power.
2. No support crews
3. No caches
4. No motorized transport or hitch-hiking, even off route
5. Gear - Nothing required, nothing prohibited

The Arizona Trail 300 is a self supported, wilderness mountain biking race held on a portion of the cross state Arizona Trail. The race follows the trail as closely as possible from Mexico to Superior, AZ, covering some 300 miles of varied terrain (elevations range from 1600 to 8100 ft). The trail surface is primarily singletrack, but the race will detour on dirt and pavement to bypass wilderness areas the trail passes through. This is not an organized or sanctioned event in any way. It's simply a group of friends out to ride their bikes on the same route at the same time. We'll probably compare times afterwards, but more importantly, we'll compare experiences -- the highs and lows the trail and mountains offered us.

warming up

"Seek and Enjoy"...it's a play on the classic "seek and destroy". But happier and It fits our "mission statement" as a collective of endurance athletes. We are all gearing up for the season to start, pound our legs, and race our face's off. Racing and training is what we love. Spending time in the Colorado mountains is truly a gift.

Here is a quick snapshot on what we are all gearing up for. WILL KELSAY, PATRICK VALENTINE, and JASON MICHALAK are all hard at work getting ready for the XTERRA pro national tour. Most will kick of the season at XTERRA Las Vegas. TRAPPER STIENLE is piling on the bike miles whenever possible (after just having their second kid!) and gearing up for a solid summer of mt endurance racing. Look for him at Leadville as well as the RME races. JASON HILGERS and SEAN FEY have teamed up to tackle the uber tough BRECK EPIC later this summer. They will be both be racing a solid mix of mtb races, xterra , and endurance events in preperation for the big show. Keep and eye out for JASON MICHALAK and LUKE JAY as they tackle the tough AZT300 in arizona starting april 18th...its a 300 mile self supported mtb race along the AZ border.

***Also check out our instagram page....instagram is a rad platform for capturing pics of everyday training and playing. Follow along with us for good times.   Instagram: theadrenalineproject

sneak peak (press release)

Amazing new team kits are coming soon from Champion System. We are very stoked to have them helping us out with the adrenalin project and couldn't be happier on the design. Huge shout outs to Giro who are providing killer shoes, helmets and gloves. Also very excited to have Lifeproof   providing us with their amazing cases for Iphones which allow us to document our adventures with waterproof, weatherproof, tough cases. We also believe in supporting your local bike shop and that's why we ride with adrenalin cycles check them out for the best product and service in Colorado.

Will Kelsay, Trapper Stienle, Jason Michilak, Patrick Valentine, Luke Jay, Sean Fey, Jason Hilgers



my 24hrs -JASON MICHALAK-

Three weeks prior to the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo I looked on the race facebook page and saw someone looking to give up a solo spot.  I took it and started riding the trainer with a few February Gunnison road rides mixed in.  I showed up in Arizona only to see if I could finish a 24 hour MTB race without stopping.  Turns out I ended up racing and surprising myself....

I hit up Joe from Primus Mootry the week before the race to pick up the new frame... Beautiful by the way.  Then stopped by Wheels Manufacturing on my way home to borrow some lights from Ed and talk shop with Dave (Wheel's big Dog) to see what new stuff they have coming out.  That place was impressive.  Only a few days later and I was on the road thursday 5am.  I found a camping spot no more than 5 feet from the race course.  It was amazing how crowded the place was by thursday late afternoon for a saturday noon start time.  If you are coming down with an RV you better get there early for a good spot.  With a small tent you can basically find a spot anywhere at any time.  I wanted room for a large standing room tent and my Element.  It's close quarters, and I camped between a very helpfull guy from Arizona and a group of great local guys.  Yes, I already forgot everybody's name.  I spent friday working on my laptop all day at a local Diner, then pre-rode the course friday afternoon.  Pre-ride was the first time on the new wheels.  Definitely something off (Just my stupidity... I'll get to this).  And man it was stiff compared to last years Epic Evo.

 

I got up saturday morning and started preparing all of my stuff.  

Here's what I prepared that was useful.... 

-Honda Element backed up to the race course as my pit

-10 water bottles filled and ready to go (I would have done more if I had more)

-shamy cream

-Aleve (I took 5 throughout the race)

-chain lube and rag (3/4 the way through I switched from oil to wax based, wax based lasted 3-4 times as long)

-food. 1 Cooler of cold food, 1 cooler of non-cold, 1 bag of bars (bananas, PB&Js, Potato chips, yogurt, tortellini, coke, anything easily shoved into my mouth)

-Water, 3 gallons (2 water bottles/lap during daylight, 1.5/lap during night. And drinking at the car each lap)

-clear lens glasses for night

-tool box (I grabbed my chain tool and a link when I realized the lube sucked)

-lights (helmet with Dinoette light mounted, L&M 300 dual with 3 sets of batteries each. I ran each on medium all night, 12 hours.)

-Clothes for cold.  Tights (very thin), long sleeve (lightly insulated), my PI wind breaker, and wool socks

-Spare bike (2011 Epic)

 

Here's what I prepared that was not useful....

-extra bibs, jerseys, and socks (I raced in 2 pair of socks only because I wanted warmer socks for night)

-baby wipes (I thought for SURE I would need to keep things clean down there, but no baby wipes used and no issues)

-cygolight and night rider lights (thanks Ed, but I never needed them)

-food to heat up

-5 hour energy, monster, & redbull (I did drink some Monster and 5 hour energy for the last lap, it was pointless)

 

Here's what I wish I had...

-support

-Ergon handlebar grips (I have grip shifters and Ergon grips, but they don't work together)

-sunblock

-more coke (I only had 1 can)

-headphones (I didn't listen to music, but at 2am I sure wish I could have.  We even had 3G coverage, I could listened to Pandora or a 2am pep talk on the phone with the right headphones)

-more bars. (I went through 1-2 bars/lap)

 

The course is 16.1 miles, fast, no sustained climbs, twisty, rocky (but not technical), and covered with cactus. You have 2 options, one bypasses 'The Bitches' with a single track, but it is 0.2 miles longer. The other option is a dangerous but not super difficult 10-15' very steep rocky descent that saves you about 15 seconds. 90% of the time I took the faster options. Basically it was a very fun course, I liked it.  Here was my goal going into the race.... Cruise for 12 hours. At midnight if I feel good then pick it up. Do not stop. Finish. That's it.The race is a Lemans start.  I crowded into the middle somewhere and we took off at a jog.  If you want to run fast you MUST start in front.  I ran slightly faster than the middle of the pack.  The first lap is slightly changed so we start on a very hilly power line road appropriately named 'The Bitches'.  I started the race on my Epic.  As you can imagine the first lap is crowded but not horrible.  The road really spreads you out.  I was in just the right spot to where I was cruising at a moderate pace and passed only a handful of people that first lap.  It was fun riding at this comfortable pace.  No stress, no worries about passing (there was a lot of passing), no close calls, just cruising.  By the third lap things were spread out completely and I was feeling really comfortable. I also decided to give the Primus Mootry a go for one lap.  Turns out I just needed to turn in the handlebars, I didn't hop off of it untill the finish.  By the fifth lap things were spread out completely and I started passing a lot of people.  Passing on this course was easy.  My pit stops at the Element were almost every lap for about 1 minute. Basically I would grab new water and food, apply shamy cream, and wipe and lube my chain every few laps.  You get 6 hours of daylight which go by very fast compared to the next 12 hours of darkness.  Once midnight came and I was still feeling good I decided to start pushing the flats, but I kept taking all hills at a moderate to easy pace.  Pushing it down those twisty trails at night was a blast. Sometime around midnight the guys camped next to me checked my number against the race results and told me I was in 8th.  I was surprised.  Of course now I want to move up a couple of places.  So now I'm taking the flats and downhills fast.  By 5am I am vocally asking the sun to rise.  About this time both of my lights would not come out of low.  I think the Dinoette bulb can only go 10 hours on medium, then it's stuck on low.  Low is worthless.  The second L&M battery went quicker than expected, so it was stuck on low too, but that's no such a big deal. You really need a bright helmet light so you can scan the trail ahead and prepare to corner.  6am Finally LIGHT!!  From midnight until now I kept telling myself that if I feel good when the sun comes up I will just start gunning it and see what happens.  Well I felt great at 6am. When I came in to pit the neighbor guys were up and they told me I moved up to 6th.  So now I've got 6 hours of race left, I feel great, and I moved up two spots from midnight.  Now I'm racing.  I started gunning everything, then die at the end of the lap.  Then do it again with a new boost of adrenaline for each lap.  Sometime around 9-10 am the guys told me I moved up to 4th.  What sucks is I had no idea who I was racing. By this time everybody in a kit was 3rd place.  I felt amazing for laps 16 and 17.  I was trying to make the noon cuttoff to get in one more lap, thinking maybe 3rd would be right in front of me. I made it by 20 minutes.  What I did not know is that I passed him somewhere in lap 16/17 and he wouldn't finish until after noon, which means I was good.  Lap 18 was hell.  Seriously. I was beyond exhausted, everything hurt. I made it 23 1/2 hours feeling great, then my body just fell apart. I crawled across the finish sometime after 1.

Looking back I think I would do it just the same. Friends, wife, support, etc.. would have been much more fun over the weekend as a whole.  Starting slow I think was good to keep my motivation up through the entire race.  If I attempt another I will start faster, but I will definitely take all hills easy untill at least the halfway point.  I was surprised at how long you can keep up a mod/hard pace.  I thought for certain I would have a hard time staying awake, but that was definitely not a problem.  I was in ok shape, but not riding much didn't seem to make that much of a difference.  That all said... I would like to race another one. 

24hrs of old Pueblo

So our mountain man member Jason Michalak has been busy down in Arizona. He wrapped up racing the 24hrs of old Pueblo yesterday (sunday). He raced solo with no support crew! He made his own adventure by suffering through a very tough race. He kept it clean, consistent, and strong from start to finish and pulled out a very impressive 3RD PLACE in the solo male division riding 18 laps! I talked to him after his impressive podium and he quickly informed he was treating himself to a hotel, shower and ordering a pizza. Stay tuned for a full race report and recap.

 

The Collective

Proudly introducing the adrenalin project roster for 2013. Learn more about the amazing crew we assembled.

Will Kelsay is a professional off-road athlete specializing in XTERRA triathlons, mountain biking and trail running. If it's adventurous, dirty and fun, you can expect to find Will there with a smile on his face and dirt in his teeth. Since 2000, he has earned 18+ overall career wins and 70+ top 5 overall finishes. In 2012, Will finished 3rd American at both the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship and the XTERRA USA Championship. In the XTERRA USA Pro Series he is ranked 4th American (6th overall). This year Will plans to tackle 15+ races around the world including endurance mountain biking, trail running races, XTERRA triathlons, adventure races, and more!

Jason Michalak is a professional Xterra triathlete who has been spending the last couple years branching out with an assortment of endurance racing and adventures.  Last year consisted of multiple backcountry 100 mile mountain bike races, running the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim, winning the Moab Adventure Xstream adventure race with teamate Luke Jay and tons of Colorado backcountry adventures.  This year he plans to focus on Xterra, racing the entire US pro circuit and the Xterra world championships in Maui.  This will leave plenty of time for more adventures like racing mountain bikes for 24 hours, running unsupported across the pristine and massive Weminuche Wilderness, flying across Arizona with his teammates in a 300 mile continuous mountain bike race, attempting his own Colorado backcountry ironman distance triathlon, and a many more days in the mountains.

Trapper Steinle  was born and raised in Colorado, as a youth he rose to the ranks of State Champion in Alpine skiing and defended that title.  Born with the spirit of competition, skiing was just the bacon on the end of the stick.  More recently Trapper has focused on the multisport world and completed nearly 60 triathlons of varying distance, and stood on the podium at many races.  Trapper's modest demeanor and "never fail" attitude has dubbed him "creeper" by many of his friends and competitors.  He earned a coveted spot in the 2010 Xterra world championships from a stellar race at the Xterra Mt championships in Colorado.  Trapper went on to compete in the last year the race would be held at the iconic and sacred Wialea venue.  After that race, Trapper narrowed his focus to XC and endurance mountain biking. Trapper has finished the Leadville 100 MTB race three times under 8 hours with his most recent time at the 7:30 mark.  Trapper earned his international pro license in 2011 and plans to continue racing at an elite level until he can pass the torch to his sons Talon (4) and Triston (new born). 

Luke Jay has been competing as a top amateur athlete in Xterra triathlons, and cycling over the last several years. In 2008 he was Xterra national champion (age group). Since then he has remained focused on Xterra as well as competing in multiple endurance races and epic challenges. In 2012 he ran the infamous Grand Canyon R2R2R(44miles). As a true all around endurance athlete Luke excels in long events with multiple disciplines. He was 3rd place pro in the Ultimate Mt Challenge at the 2012 Teva Games which included kayak, trail run, mtb, and cycling. He and teammate Jason Michalak have also won several adventure races (Moab, Summit). For 2013 he is tackling the AZT300, and the incredibly tough Leadville Leadman in which he will attempt both the 100mile mtb and 100mile run only a week apart. You can find him chasing his two rowdy boys (age 5 & 2) for extra training.

Jason Hilgers has been competing as a top amateur athlete in Xterra and on the mountain bike over the last several years.  He competes in running, mountain bike, and triathlons events including the Pikes Peak Double (marathon and ascent), Leadville marathon, Leadville Trail 100 MTB, Bailey Hundo, Firecracker 50, Laramie Enduro, Xterra triathlon series as well as local Colorado events.  He was the Xterra Mountain regional champion in 2011 and has finished consistently in the top 10 amateurs at the Xterra National Championship.  In 2012, Jason finished on the podium in the pro field in several local Colorado mountain bike races, finished as the second singlespeeder overall in the Baily Hundo 100 mile mtb, and within the top 100 of the 2000+ field in the Leadville Trail 100 mtb race.  For 2013, Jason will continue his diverse racing schedule with a primary focus on the Breck Epic 6 day mtb stage race, Bailey Hundo, and Xterra race series. 

 Sean Fey has competed in a handful of Xterra races and several ultra distance mountain biking events during his brief time on a bicycle. A former motorcycle racer, he has quickly found a passion for the "self propelled" version of the two wheeled sports, and has a number of podium and top ten finishes to his credit..  His main focus for 2013 will be the Breck100 and Breck Epic mountain bike races, while encouraging others to tackle their own adventures through his bicycle shop Adrenalin Cycles.

 Patrick Valentine started his athletic endeavors with the sport of swimming before the age of 5! He then went to college at Purdue University and was a “walk-on” to the swim team and continued on to swim 4 years as a varsity swimmer. He tried his first triathlon at age 14 was hooked. While in college he a member of Purdue University cycling club and triathlon club. Since moving to Colorado in 2009 he worked his way up the ranks as a consistent top amateur triathlete finishing as 20-24 age group National Champion, and then earned the  honor of making the switch to a pro triathlete. At any given you can find him involved in everything from Xterra triathlon, Adventure races, and just about any other activity that involves the great outdoors.

seek and enjoy

Here at the adrenaline project we love to mix it up...two of our team members are doing just that.
Will Kelsay just competed in the dirty dozen 12hr mtb race and Jason Michalak recently tried his hand at some fat bike racing in Crested Butte. Out of the people that I know and love  (and don't love) I will say these two guys love racing no matter what it is. 100 miles or a 5k...they are down to suffer. A couple years ago we called Will last minute to come race with us during the adventure racing national championships. He got back from Xterra worlds the day before....drove to Moab...slept 3 hrs...and then raced his face off for 26hrs with us, and was pretty much stoked the whole time! He did fall asleep once on his bike but luckily i was "towing" him so he didn't even crash. Jason is the hairy beast that doesn't shave (like most endurance geeks) but will crush people...he loves being in the mountains and will literally giggle with little girl excitement at any cool race or adventure. He is always hatching plans for crazy epic rides and runs. Keep it up dudes and thanks for kicking off 2013 proper.

Read about Will's 3rd place finish in Texas here...http://willkelsay.com/2013/02/a-mental-battle/

Some cool video from the race (not him)...

support these brands

So as we are getting geared up and finalizing our plans for a rad season of racing and adventures we want to take a moment to tell about three great brands. We believe in these products and wouldn't use and trust them if we didn't.

1. Champion System  is a great company that makes the very best in custom apparel. They got you covered for cycling, running, triathlon, and anything else you are doing and need to look rad. We are very proud to have them outfitting us for 2013. Go check them out for all your custom needs!

2. Giro makes incredible helmets, shoes and gloves. We will be using a solid mix of Giro products and couldn't be happier. Look for their CODE mtb shoe! A classic brand that we happy to support.

3. LIFEPROOF cases. This is seriously one of the coolest gadgets money can buy. Fully waterproof cases! for Iphones, Smartphones, and Ipads. You can toss in your jersey or bag and not worry about getting wet or ruined. You can take amazing photos and videos underwater if you feel crazy. These are perfect for the "rough" lifestyle we live and love.

4. Adrenalin Cycles is the very best shop in the entire Denver metro area. Top of the line gear but more importantly a killer staff that are chill, helpful, and smart. Great mechanics and the owner is a bad ass mountain biker.

what we do...

We (the adrenlin project) creates compelling, cool, authentic results for our sponsors through these adventures. Real world content for social media, photo, magazine, catalog, and more. We are top of the pyramid athletes competing and training at a high level. Our Goal is to motivate and inspire people of all walks of life to get out and make adventures!

We will be utilizing all social media platforms to promote the project and our partners. Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook. We bring a fresh approach to these endurance sports and an even more creative way to chronicle our adventures, athletes, partners, and sponsors.

2013 News!

Our small select crew of athletes and adventurers will tackle these events in 2013!

-AZT300 (self supported 300mile mtb race in AZ)
-LEADVILLE 100 (run and mtb)
-BRECK EPIC (6day mtb stage race)
-XTERRA Triathlons (US and International)
-Adventure Races (US and International)
-WULONG Mountain Quest (3 day adventure race) China
-VAIL MOUNTAIN GAMES (mtb,run,kayak)
-MTB racing (24hr and XC distance)
 -Trail Ultrarunning (all distance)

"go be rad"