Here's my best guess on how some things will take shape in the new year...
Lynda is going to win a big enduro race - outright. That's right, she's gonna chick every guy present in some big event somewhere. I just hope it's early season cause the rehab excuse will only last so long ;) She's getting into the flow of relentless intensity, big volume, and dialing in the details - and getting better all the time. If you've ever ridden behind her you know she's got some whack biomechanical issues, but they've all but gone the way of the dodo. And her tech skills just keep on getting better. This revelation jumped right out at me while she was kicking rocks in my face for 4+ hours on the Gem trail last week...
Here she is kicking rocks in the face of one of the fastest guys from the UK in TR last August. More of that to come! (no pressure Lynda)
Events: the bar is getting raised for '07. There are two more big events in our neighborhood, 7 and Boris' E100 Ultra. Those are biggies, dream vacations for crack addicts. Then there's the undergound movement in motion - KTR is alive and kicking with new blood, a new direction and interesting tactical changes...new events in Moab, Nederland area, the Colorado Trail Race - the self-supported racing movement is taking endurance MTBing back to it's roots of self-sufficiency and away from Big Brother along with all it's disregard for those whom it is chartered to advocate. The multi-day self supported ultras will continue to stand on their own, isolated by the difficulty to start such an event, but the growing number of no entry fee ultra's that can be completed in a day are going to compete with the organized, supported ultra events. In order to stay alive, promoters are going to have to sweeten the pot to stay alive - especially in the west where entry fees are (generally) high and payouts (generally) low or non-existant.
Competition: speaking of USADA (US against dedicated athletes), the bar is also going up for competition. There are 3 obvious characters in the west who we'll likely see toeing the line at enduro events who typically are gunning NORBA events. The thing is, when these guys start doing enduro stuff, they are going to (re)discover why they race MTB in the first place. A child-like enthusiasm is about to overtake these gents...it's contagious too, so look for others to bail out of the grip of big brother.
Everyone's doing it these days...
Finally, I see a week of unbounded crack coming to team Desert Cyclery/HealthFX starting July 1 in Victoria, BC. It's official: Lynda and I are registered for the Seven bike race, a 7 day epic in western BC in the same vein as Trans Rockies. Hot damn, there's rocks to be kicked up there!
