With all the training, eating, sleeping, and work, the adventures are piling up faster than I can post about them. I am not complaining, but here are some highlights of things over the past month and a half. Hopefully I’ll get in a better rhythm of riding and posting.

Here are some pictures from 24HOP, Seattle, and just whenever else I was out riding somewhere and had a camera.

The 24HOP race went well and I rode my first “dirty” century in one sitting. I then got very mentally fatigued rolling the same terrain over and over again and dreamed of rolling the AZT300 instead of that hamster-wheel nonsense. I rolled an extra 2 laps in the morning and made for a total of 8 laps. Not too shabby considering I was rolling easy and still snuck in a good 11 hours of sleep.

Seattle was just rainy and I rode around the whole city and got to experience the cool commuting lifestyle they have going there. I also got to go to the I5 Colonnade MTB skills park which is this amazing set of skinnies, rock gardens, wooden coasters and all kinds of amazing obstacles to roll. I wished I had my AM bike while I was there to attack some of the meaner stuff, but I still had a blast and rode until I busted the rear derailleur on a tight left on a skinny. Some good SS action ensued.

Speaking of riding SS. I have recently added a squishy fork and gears to the mariachi. Hopefully these will aid me in finishing the 300 since my shoulders and upper back tend to fatigue a bit earlier on the rigid and the gears are so nice on the knees and core when it comes to making hard miles on a loaded bike. I have also finally finished up building my kit with a ton of Revelate Designs gear including a salsa/revelate designs-branded frame pack, bar bag, seat bag, and jerry can for the mariachi. Everything is made very well and the bike now feels super dialed. The race is 13 days away and I am very excited to finally set out on the great adventure. Still don’t know what the AZT300 is? Learn a little bit about the Arizona Trail 300.