2010 MTB National Championships

This weekend, all the MTB heavy hitters made their way to Sol Vista, Colorado for National Championships.  No desrespect to all the guys and gals who toe the line in the pro field, but I’m gonna give you the low down on what went down in the one category that really matters…singlespeed.  I personally didn’t race, I suck at altitude, hated the course last year, and feel the cost of entry is too high.  Instead, I chose to cheer/support/heckle my friends who did choose to sign up.  First things first, Ned Overend decided to come out and race the singlespeed class.  Yeah were talking about THE LEGEND, everyone else is just gonna be racing for second, because even though he’s over 50, he can still destroy anyone on a bike.  Anyway, the announcers do a call-up for Ned, then give Dejay “The Living Legend” Birtch a call up as well.  It was quite the sight on the line, and my apologies for the photo sucking, but there you have it Dejay and Ned one the start line.

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As expected, Ned took the win, making everyone else look foolish out there.

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Once all the racing of the day was done, and the trip back to the sleep quarters were made, I got my gear on and headed out for a ride.  I had heard that just across the road, and a few miles up the gravel road was a trailhead.  I was told by some folks that, the trails were great and that there would be no disappointment if I made my way over there.  Turns out they were right, I got to spend a tad over two hours riding some fine Colorado singletrack, I didnt have to worry about going too hard and destroying my lungs.  I didnt have to worry about focusing on my line through a shitload of dust, and being unable to enjoy the scenery.  I didnt have to deal with the all the annoying sounds that come from racing on a XC loop.  Basically the decision to not race Nationals, and instead just getting to ride some fine trails was a great choice.  And to top it all off I got a six pack in the fridge of Wynkoop Brewing Company’s Rail Yard Ale, life don’t get much better than this.

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Stopped here and enjoyed the view.

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Can you really go wrong with trails that are named “Zoom”, “Chainsaw”, “Flume”, and “Creekside”?

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Bumped into this kid who was probably ten years old and rocking the unicycle, he’s a fucking badass.

About 40 Hands

A fan of riding bikes with one gear, malt liquor, riding without knowing how many miles I’ve covered, and strip clubs that let you bring your own keg. I typically have a stupid grin on my face, it is because deep down I know that no matter what, my mom thinks I’m cool. Denver, Colorado, USA

26 Replies to “2010 MTB National Championships”

  1. Hey, good to see you posting up here. Bringing some of the old flavor back, less politics and more bikes. We all have enough other stuff in out lives, and usually not enough bike. Me, I get around town plenty by bike, but fewer “real” rides than when I lived in Flag or Tucson. Not enough people here down for a Thursday night ride at the “close trails” when they involve poaching. But good to see you’re still Living the Dream, “40 Hands.”

  2. Great post. Wonderful times. I’d like to have some of that in my life. Thanks for the window into yours.

  3. Great post 40. Sounds like you went to nationals and ended up a winner as well. Bet you have no regrets, eh?

  4. Good to See Ned up there, still throwing down after all of these years. Makes the heart feel good, that a man who was literally there are at the start of mountain bike racing, can still throw it down on the trails. And, he’s still riding for the same team, more or less, since he started. That’s longevity people, Long-Fucking-Gevity. I have seen Ned a couple of times at the Mt. Washington hill climb in NH, and again, the man is impressive.

  5. …props, wellsey…old vet todd wells picks up a deserved win in the cross country…

    …guy is a solid mtb & cx pro who’s been giving his best for years so it’s nice to see him add an elite mtb nats to his palmares…

    …still hard to read race reports referencing “stopping in the pits” @ an mtb race, though…never should a’ been allowed to happen…

  6. …well, well, wellsey…

    …just realized senor wells won both the short track & the cross country…

    …major props…

  7. “Crime against nature.”…very apt…

    …& no doubt, huh ???…one of those little “u.c.i. – euro” touches to satisfy who in particular, i wonder ???…

  8. MTB tubulars creeping into racing are why, as if the UCI XCO discipline needed to be any more distanced from your average mountainbiker and how/where/what they ride.
    Cool post, long live the racing of bicycles and ensuing good times for all.

  9. …we tested prototype vittorio mtb tubulars, ie: sew-ups, 20 years ago when i worked for gary fisher, pre-trek…

    …specialneedz…one of the cool things about the early days of mtb-ing was the simplicity…& while ‘back in the day’ i applauded the initial early technical advancements in the burgeoning industry, nowadays, despite the advantages provided, i’ve kinda come full circle…

    …maybe i’m “old school” or perhaps the “get offa my lawn” factor is creeping up but i’ve preferred riding my cx bike for years…

  10. I hear ya, whilst I own a 7″ front/rear wonderbike that I sold my soul for, it’s refreshing how much fun riding my cobbled together rigid singlespeed with V-brakes is without all that shit. In the end, it’s about going for a bike ride, not what bike you ride.

  11. Same here… Just riding on simple farmers tracks here with the CX on 26 road tyres is great fun, slow, but fun.

    G

  12. …it’s nice to have a great/cool bike to ride but you’re absolutely right, it’s more about “going for a bike ride”…or as somebody wrote & i can’t think who it was, “it’s not about the bike”

    …g-fish & see-kay once (in the beginning) gave me a murray baja…i rode that bike into the fucking dirt…literally…

    …& if you owned one of the awesome, cool mtb’s they built & were fortunate enough to go for an evening shop ride, i made it my business on that baja to remind you that “it’s not about the bike”

  13. Damn, that colorado single track makes my heart ache.

    Deadly Nedly sure seems to be living The Life. Wonder what it’s like to race while having super talent/fitness? Probably fun almost ALL the time rather once in a great while.

  14. “In the end, it’s about going for a bike ride, not what bike you ride.”

    And that right there is some serious simple wisdom.

  15. Nice, I bet is what hot at Nationals.

    @bikesgonewild What is with the ellipsis usage? I bet you have something to say but I just skip over everything posted because I can’t stand that you don’t use any proper punctuation or capitalization. Honestly, I can’t read it and I here thought only people who typed with “texting” abbreviation drove me nuts.

  16. Hi Colin M,

    A few observations,

    BikesGoneWild is a highly respected member of the forum & a senior statesman, (Sorry BGW).

    He can ellipsis his ellipsis as much as he eclipsing wants to.

    Absolutely agree with you on TXT SPK, but a few dots? You are not obsessive compulsive are you, (not that there’s anything wrong with that)….

  17. …colin m…if “the rules” of capitalization & punctuation are that important to you, by all means disregard me…i could give a rats ass..

    …but when you compose a statement(???) like “Nice, I bet is what hot at Nationals.”, well i gotta go “hmmm…”

    …& hurben…dammit, man…“a senior statesman” ???…Y, U MTR-FKR, I’L KCK YR ASS !!!…

    …i’ll bet it got cycle-lonely out there without d.c., huh ???…

  18. Hi Ya BGW,

    Yes it did, I was extremely committed to not coming back to here but once the Tour De Pharmacy started, I eventually broke down & decided that there was one commentary that I needed to hear.

  19. …couldn’t a’ been here in america…

    …nobody was tasered, gassed or shot for insubordination in a public place…

  20. Colin M,
    Two authors you should avoid if you can’t see beyond punctuation: Cormac McCarthy and ee cummings… just sayin’ If you think bgw’s style is text speak, then you don’t deal with texters much…