What a great race.

You really can’t go wrong with 57 miles of racing, where (I would estimate) less than 10% was on a road.

I’ll start off by saying that the Prescott Monstercross was, hands down, one of the funnest courses on the AZES circuit. The trails made a great loop around Prescott and the variety of riding was just dumbfounding. There were rocky technical climbs, stream crossings, buffed twisty singletrack, ripping downhills, leg-searing uphills, lakeside views, and dusty descents. Really, you couldn’t have asked for more.

Well, not in the course planning at least.

My legs were another story. I felt OK, but not great. I finished pretty strong and didn’t cramp up, but I always felt like I should have been able to go faster and the power just wasn’t there. I guess 7 hours on the bike is tough no matter how you slice it. Especially with my serious lack of biking lately.

I guess it’s just about time the freight train known as ‘riding season’ rolls through flag anyways. It’s getting to be that time where every day a leg is thrown over at least one (usually two) bikes. The trails are primo, the weather is spectacular, and the motivation is high.

The strength will return. The legs will start crushing again, and hopefully it all happens just in time for 12 hours of mesa verde.

Team HandlebarSandwich (Adam and I) rolled in after Taylor and Dan for a shared third place appearance at just under 7 hours elapsed time. We rolled up, discarded our stylish chamois, chowed down on some pizza and greeted the rest of the participants as they rolled into the costco parking lot in Prescott.

Thanks to Dan and Dave for putting together this course, and thanks to chad (as always) for taking the lead on the AZES race series. I highly recommend anyone out there who hasn’t done much riding around Prescott, grab the GPX file and go shred some of these trails, they are incredible.