Singletrack Dreams

There has been an interesting transformation in my brain this year--never before have I been neck-deep in powder skiing (okay, maybe knee-deep) and found myself dreaming of racing bikes.  I mean, the turns are REALLY good in the Tetons right now, but visions of anaerobic singletrack are floating through my head.  Kind of like sipping Glenfiddich while dreaming of High Life.  Both satisfying drinks, but very different and not often consumed together.

In that vein, Erica and I sat down recently and came up with a schedule that will hopefully work to balance my competitive itch with family time.  A bunch of ultra races (too many?) peppered with some shorter stuff.  The NUE changed up the rules this year; now we have to race in 5 events to compete for the series championship!  That's quite a few miles to fit into a 3-month season, especially when there are limited event options in the western half of the country.  (There a few races early-on that make it look more like a 6-month season, including the True Grit 100 in March, but with everything under snow around here until late spring it's hard to see myself ready to race that far before June.)

In any case, here's what I came up with:

• Knobby 9-to-5
• Tatanka 100
• Breck 100
• High Cascades 100
• Pierre's Hole 100
• Teton pASS Kicker
• Park City Point2Point

I'm hoping to add in some racing in Lander as well; word is they're going to expand the Jurassic Classic beyond just the one event.  So much potential there!  And the Breck Epic stage race is high on my list, but that's going to take some financial wizardry.  It just fits so nicely between Pierre's Hole and the Point2Point, and looks amazing!

Of course, this assumes that I am actually able to get into all of these races.  (The PCP2P sold out in 4 minutes this year.)  Part of the win at High Cascades was an entry into this year's race so that one should work, but for the rest?

Sitting at the computer with credit card in hand 10 minutes before registration opens...