Probably one of the greatest things to see though was the fact that their was a corn field next to the camp site which reminded my of back home in Indiana.
After the campsite was ready to rock we headed off to Loma for a little riding through some great local mountain bike loops and got introduced to some of the other teammates. We had a great couple hours of riding before dark and then went to Fruita for some excellent pizza at the Hot Tomato Cafe.
That night I got my day early birthday present with some excellent goodies from all of the awesome sponsors including: Bontrager, SmartWool, Boa, Smith Optics, Nuun, Honey Stinger, Chamois Buttr, and Voler. Good way to end the night and get ready for another great day of riding.
Saturday brought a new day and I could not complain getting to ride the MTB all day long on my birthday celebration. We headed off after breakfast to Rabbit Valley to pre-ride the Mountain States Cup TT and XC Course as well as hit the Western Ridge Trail. All of us are getting setup and ready to rock.
We headed out in a couple of groups to ride some of the best trails I have seen in Colorado to date. Of course it was not always the easiest to enjoy the views when I was getting hammered keeping up with this fast team of guys and gals. Although nonetheless still had a smile on my face after stopping to eat a good Honey Stinger Waffle to fuel me for the next portion of the ride. After all I was better off than Kelley who was back there changing the flat tire in the background!
Overall we did about 38 miles, 4000 feet of climbing, and 4 hours of total ride time and it was awesome the entire time. The best was being on top of one of the plateaus overlooking the valley and seeing the Colorado River flowing throughout the state.
The only downside about the ride was that we got a bit muddy so we had to do some bike cleaning upon returning to the camp. I must say the fleet of bikes looks pretty cool in this picture.
That night at camp the team had Qdoba catered in which was delicious! Must say best burrito I have ever had while on a camping trip! Of course the night would not be complete without a little camp fire and s'more making. To tell you how awesome my teammates were they even surprised me with a birthday cake with candles and all. If that does not say something about the camaraderie I do not know what does.
Thanks bunch to Zach and Caitlyn Vestal, who are pictured below, who drove into town to surprise with a cake and the s'mores. You guys rock!
The next day we had another fun filled day as always. Started off the camp with some team photos to get a shot of all of us looking sharp in our new team kits. Watch out off-road racers out there this team looks fierce.
After the Zoolander posing and giving everyone the Blue Steel we hit the road to the Colorado National Monument in Fruita, CO to hit the Lunch Loop Trail System. While there we did a couple more team photos and some warming up on the pump track before hitting another great day of 3 hours of MTB riding on some awesome trails! It is amazing that we never hit the same trail twice and we barely scratched the surface on how many trails there are in that park. I do believe Adam and I will have to go back and do some more exploring that is for sure.
Even though the day of riding was a blast, all great things must come to and end. So we packed up the car and hit the road back to Colorado Springs, CO.
All I have to say is that I had an awesome weekend riding in Fruita, CO and meeting some great new teammates and friends. Thanks to Len Zanni, Colin Osborn, Honey Stinger, and all of the other great sponsors that not only did all the work to make this camp and team happen but for also setting us set up for a great year of racing. Should be one heck of year racing in 2011 and I can not wait now until the first race coming up April 10 in Las Vegas, NV!
