Intermountain Cup #2 - Hurricane, UT

As if the chaos of moving earlier in the week wasn't enough, I needed to pack for an upcoming race that was only days away now. Holy lord, my head was spinning. I had no idea where anything was, had limited time and really needed to pack and....oh yeah.....and unpack too. How was this gonna work?

In addition I was in the process of getting my new bike all built up by the weekends race. Everything always happens all at once doesn't it? All good stuff this time though!

Revolution Mtn Sports was awesome enough to get my new Felt Nine LTD frame all fresh and built up with my Shimano XTR parts just in the knick of time. Chris Tolsma at Binghams gets a big thumbs up too for getting my rig in and out all measured up to my specifications/measurements at the last minute. Whew, that was a close call.

Here she is in all her glory:


Check out the protective plate. Big flying rox + carbon = bad news bears.



Ok, got the bike so now it is officially time to pack........seriously??? Pack? OMG!!!

I know my bike shoes are somewhere.....Bueller? Bueller?

And I suppose I may find my sports drink at some point too if I am lucky

So 8 hours and tired Kathy later, I had found all that I needed for the weekend and was FINALLY packed for my second race of the season in Hurricane, UT.


Upon arriving on Friday with my new never ridden (NO, not even a pedal stroke - no time!!) I had flatter than flat tires. Yep, doing the jingle jangle with the ole Stans method on some new Kenda Smallblocks at kinda the last minute was the name of the game. Well that and crossing my fingers it would decide to miraculously hold by tomorrow morning. Oh man this was gonna be an interesting weekend.

My only goal became to just feel better/faster than I did at the first race of the season. Not the greatest goal on the face of the earth but lets get real. I was exhausted.

The Pro Ladies line up!

That goal was somehow realized after two mediocre laps and then a 3rd faster lap when the legs decided they wanted to do some work. Got 2nd place in the end.

And, my tires even held up for the most part. I think I might have pumped them up a good 20-30 times before the race in the last 12 hours though. I was pretty obsessive about it. I do know that I only had 18 lbs in the front tire when I got done with the race so it wasn't quite sealed completely yet. But they got me through and are bound to be sealed soon.

The venue


LOVING the 29r. It took about 29 minutes to get used to it too....just as long as it always takes me personally to get used to new bikes. Some people warned me that I may not like the bigger wheels in the corners but it cornered on this particular course phenomenally. For not EVER having ridden one, I am liking what I am seeing!

I nicknamed her "The SteamRoller" as the bike rolls over anything. There is none of this business of looking at a line and thinking there are too many rocks in it and going for the other smoother line instead. With my 29r you see the line you want and you take it - it doesn't matter whats in the way because it will get you there. I couldn't be happier with my new Felt!!!