MY STORY
MY STORY
I grew up on southern California.
From an early age, I loved riding bicycles. I wasn’t great. My friends were faster, more skilled. But, I loved it. I loved riding, and I loved learning tricks. Jumping, skidding, wheelies.
Once we could all drive, we got into surfing. Saturday mornings went from riding around town to waking up next to the shore and jumping in the water. I wasn’t the best, my friends had more talent and guts. But, I loved it. Riding the waves, learning the tricks and hanging out with my buddies.
I went away to college and fell in love with the mountains. Saturday mornings were spent up high. Hiking and skiing. I wasn’t the best, my friends had more talent and guts. But, I loved it. The solitude, learning tricks and hanging out with my pals.
One day a roommate brought home a road bike.
The next day, I rode it 6 miles.
The day after, 12 miles.
I was hooked.
When I moved back to Southern California, I did some racing on the road. It was a lot of fun. I wasn’t the best, my friends were all faster. But, Ioved it. Being in the zone in a crit brought me peace and happiness. I worked up to a Cat 2.
Kids came.
I quit racing.
Mountain bikes were a thing. I got one and loved it. The skills from my BMX days with the fitness from road racing. We got a little group going on Saturdays. I was better than most of my friends – some had fitness but no skill, some had skill but no fitness.I did a few races, when I could.
In '99, my friend Jeff challenged me to do Leadville. 100 miles, off road, at 10,000-12,500’ above sea level seemed insane. I trained for it as best I could. The skills were there, but the actual workouts were a mystery to me. I rode a lot and watched my heartrate. Looking back on it, I’m amazed I finished at all. My goal the first time was to keep my heartrate just under 180 beats a minute.
I went 3 years in a row, and each year cramped and limped across the finish line.
Because I’d cracked the magical 9-hour mark, and received a big belt buckle, I figured I knew what I was doing.
I didn't have a clue.
About that time, my friend Kevin challenged me to go under 9 hours at age 60. I was 39 at the time, and busy with work and family. It seemed so far away, and it was. This turned out to be one of the greatest blessings in my life because it was always in the back of my mind. It reminded me not to get too out of shape.
I was riding less and less, spending Saturdays with the kids on motos or surfing. If we were in town, I’d get up early and be home by 830 ready to play with the littles.
That changed.
They got older, wanted to do their own things. Went off to college.
I started riding more regularly, and reconnecting with the community.
In the early 2000s, Super-D burst onto the national scene. Promoters took the long DH of an XC course and timed it. Talk about an event tailor made for me: short, I wasn’t too fit or light; fast, I was used the moto speed; technical, and still pretty handy on my MTB.
I won back-to-back National Championships.
The key?
I did way more prep than anybody else, pre-riding the courses. Most showed up in baggies and pads, I showed up in a skinsuit with moto goggles and an aero helmet.
My 20 year goal, was getting closer.
I started to think about that date with destiny… sub-9 at 60.
Around 2012, I went back to Leadville and clocked 8:30. That marked 4 tries. 3 between 8:28 and 8:38, 1 at 8:20. I felt good about my chances of cracking 9, and figured I’d go back one more time between then and 2022.
A year or two later, our oldest got into road riding and racing, I followed him. Bought a road bike, started to get back into some light racing. It was the funnest two years of training I ever had.
He moved back to Southern California and returned surfing.
At that point, I started this incredible journey.
I had the time, kids were gone.
I had the curiosity, how to go faster than ever at Leadville?
In 2019, I went back. I’d learned a lot over the years about my body, about training, about bike set up, about going fast.
I decided to go for a PR.
It all came together, and I went 8:15. I was completely blown away. How did I just go faster than ever, at 57 years old?
The next 3 years, I studied more, tinkered more, learned more. I developed a philosophy of how to pull it all together and have a truly great day on the bike.
In 2021, I did the Leadville Stage Race with the solitary goal of qualifying for the Silver Corral. This would allow me to start with pros and other incredibly fast races. In a race with 1000s, starting position matters.
With the start assured, I was now ready to put it all together.
And, I did.
I started to feel so good in early 2022, I wondered could I do another PR… at 60? I believed I could, if everything was perfect on raceday: my body, bike, preparation, and the always iffy weather.
I set my sights on a truly absurd goal: sub-8 hours.
Only one person over 60 had ever accomplished that, and he was an ex-pro who had the race outright back when I did an 8:20. He beat me by an hour that day.
The day came in 2022. Everything, and I mean everything, went perfectly.
7:57.
I was stunned, my friends shocked.
But, was I really?
No.
I had cracked the code to ripping on raceday, and I knew it.
It started with the simple idea of exploring what is physically possible for me?
What am I capable of?
I’m fascinated by that question… in all areas of life.
Now it’s time to share the keys to mastering ripping on raceday.
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164.1 lbs
8 hrs
1 Rip On RaceDay Circuit
10 minutes recovery
120 minutes reading + Journaling
