Preparing for 2015

Autumn is now a golden memory in the North Eastern United States as we pass by the shortest days on the calendar. 

After an extended late season race trip in Europe, Mary and I checked back into our home town in Massachusetts just in time to experience the tail end of the warm and colorful fall days that define New England, right up to the cold and dark days that now grip the area.  We loved just about every minute of our time spent there. 

We savored being at home - whether it was a quiet moment out on our favorite trail, catching up with family and friends after a long time away or just scratching around making improvements in the back yard - it felt like time well spent.  With this relaxed attitude the weeks passed easily and we were happy to reflect and consider all that has passed this season.   Always hoping to remember and learn as we move forward, dreaming up future possibilities as we continue to refine our team program.

A favorite morning ritual

Our stay at home was a time spent on recuperation and re-building after an intense 10 months of racing and travels.  The trials and tribulations that go hand and hand with performing to the best of your ability day in and day out can really stack up and leave you physical and mentally exhausted. 

It was not our smoothest year on the bikes proven by us both sustaining significant (though thankfully in the bigger picture not all that bad) injuries.   The adversities presented reminded us of the realities of partaking in extreme sports.   The message that really drove home was that it is not just about preparing to be fast but of equal importance of being prepared to stand up to the daily grind and the "what if's" that are clearly a part of competitive cycling. 

If you put your body to the test daily for an extended period of time, you are likely to feel something from it in return.   Pretty darn certain that with the right preparation, the positives will far outweigh the negatives in the long run, even in the case of an ultra active lifestyle.  With this squarely in mind, Mary and I took this year's late Fall and early Winter period as a time to try to buffer our bodies to sustain the onslaught that we are excitedly planning for in the coming months. 

Our daily workouts have been aimed at balancing out the wrongs we have done to ourselves with the bike by enhancing overall flexibility, balance, strength and of course with a special focus on any recently broken/compromised body parts.   A variety of strength and conditioning with time on the yoga mat and various balance training equipment was in the background daily.  

Playing on the Slack Line...

Alternative sports really came to the forefront in our training and the benefits of working some of the under-utilized muscle groups was immediately  obvious.  The best thing was that we were motivated out of passion and the training just came along naturally.   We especially enjoyed having the time dig a bit deeper into the endurance training side of stand up paddle boarding, surfing when the conditions presented themselves, and hiking/running to fill in the gaps.

getting barreled

Flying Mary

Enjoying a flat water paddle board mission...

As always we stayed dedicated to riding…but were more focused on refining technique on our performance oriented trail bikes.  These days tapping into the potential of what is possible on a 5 inch 29er dual suspension bike takes a bit of growing into.  Even after long careers of racing mountain bikes professionally and  countless hours in the saddle Mary and I still find ourselves growing into the expanded opportunity that modern bikes and equipment offer riders!   

Incredible new technology is not limited to the bikes and this was so apparent as the the temps dropped below zero.  At this point getting out to train starts to take a lot more preparation and utilizing the right layers/equipment to handle the condition is really crucial.  It has been truly amazing to take advantage of some of the newest refinements in winter riding and surf technologies which have kept us comfortable in all that we need to do year round in some really tough conditions. Although in certain cases a plane ticket to milder climates might be cheaper.

bundled up for winter riding

Kenda Tires' Slant Six on a snowy single track ...

Speaking of plane tickets we just got ours down to Chile for a return to race the Trans Andes Challenge ...

Extremely excited to be headed back to our favorite part of South America where it is high summer, the mountain biking is big and the days are long.  Doesn't hurt that most of the country is positioned just a short drive from an incredible beach, likely with a decent left hand surf break…  Chile is currently experiencing an explosion of mountain bike stoke and it is easy to see why - this country is blessed with so much remote and amazing terrain making for an incredible racing of mountain bike experience.  Looking forward to sharing more from our travels here in Chile.

Hope you are all finding some time to commit to figuring out the path to making your dreams your adventures. 

All the best, 

Mike and Mary

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