The Eatough Interviews

What Would Eatough Do?

Your my boy blue!

If the physical task of simply riding your bike for 24 hours straight isn't hard enough, try doing it with a little of mother nature's fury mixed in. The race has been called an hour and a half early due to severe thunder and lightning.

Eatough has been crowned 24 hour national champion and has managed to do so by lapping the entire solo field. Nat Ross, who has done more 24 hour solo events than anyone in the world, finished up the day in second. Much respect to everyone out there for pushing their mind and body beyond its limits. Here's to being hardcore....

Wee Hour Ramblings

It's nearing 4 am.... Do you know where your kids are? There is a point during every 24 hr race where you can physically see a switch has been flipped, no longer are the riders/staff functioning at a normal level of consciousness. Your motor skills begin to play tricks on you and if you were to take a sobriety test, you would probably fail...

Wisco Style

Only Twelve Hours To Go?!?

Chris's support crew runs like a clock and is one of the main elements that sets him apart from the rest. This allows Eatough to spend all his time on the bike, stopping no more than 8 minutes at one time.

Six Laps And Counting

Lap eight just finished up and Chris is rolling on a Ham sandwitch and looking casual. The time splits from the chasing top three contenders are:

28 minutes back, Nat Ross
41 back, Mark Hendershot
45 back, Ernie Marenchim

And the clock ticks on...

Nat Ross And Eatough Lead The Charge

Eatough's National Championship Quest

Starting in just a few hours, Chris Eatough will try to recapture the Norba 24 Solo National title at the 24 hours of 9 mile in Wausau, Wisconsin. You can either follow his quest at the race website, or you can stay tuned here as Trek/VW's Team Manager, Jon "Poz" Posner will be calling in audio updates every other lap or so....

Please send Chris and his crew your good vibes and positive energy, this one will not be easy. Severe storms have rolled into the area this morning and then severe heat is predicted this afternoon and tomorrow morning. The big show rolls on from 10 am to 10 am tomorrow morning....

A Single Track Mind

This season I have put the road bike aside and have saddled up on my mountain bike, day in and day out. Bottom line is this, train on what you are going to race, a tip that I have put into practice from mentor T. Brown. Besides, nothing beats the roadies reactions when you pull up to your local group ride wearing muddy shoes and a camelbak while rolling on 30 psi.



If you are looking to step it up even further, pull to the line with blood dripping into your socks.... And hang!





Talk about skillz, try taking photos of your training partners while they are being attacked by dogs. This kind of business happens all the time on the farm roads of the Midwest but here in the mountains it is like a holiday when you get chased by a dog.



Speaking of roadies, I tried talking sense into Tommy D but he wasn't feeling it. Hearing the tales from the trenches is fascinating, especially when it's coming from someone who is really a mountain biker deep down beneath those layers of aerodynamic lycra. Back in the day, we were just a bunch a grommets piling into a 15 passenger van..... Today he is the great white hope.



Our team's massage therapist, Andrew Bettinger, is showing off the his view from on top of the 403 trail in Crested Butte. If this isn't inspiration to get out and explore this weekend than I don't know what is...

To A Clock That's Blinking 8

There is something about getting out on a bike that can offer clarity to a complicated world. No matter how congested and chaotic my world may feel, a good helping of peddling usually simplifies things to a manageable level.



This past weekend I retreated to Vail's high country in search of new singletrack, cooler temps and new training partners. Underneath Vail's preconceived blanket of wealth lies a hardcore community of athletes and culture. Hands down one of my favorite places to roam in Colorado....



This is what happens when there is no food in the fridge and The Tour's status has been reduced to re-runs. Time to re-live the break dancing moves of ole...



and polish up the balance board skills....

This past Sunday I really didn't have any big plans, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, I didn't know how much time I had so I decided I would crash hard and dislocate my shoulder. Not fun, but all systems are back to go.... Talk about things changing in a blink of an eye.



Insert creative caption "here".

Six Ways To Sunday

Second chances make the next time 'round even sweeter. My friend Parker had one of these moments while riding his road bike up Wolf Creek Pass the other day....



A rock had worked itself loose from the mountain cliffs above, crashing down only to miss Parker's head by inches and peg him on the shoulder. In shock, he continued riding, neglecting to inventory the damage..... Until his bike started feeling sketchy. (note the scrapes on the arm from the close call)



Here's to being thankful! We are glad you are around to pedal another day Parker! Get out and play before tomorrow becomes today.

Slow Spinning Redemption

This heat wave is sucking the life and motivation out of me.... After 3 hours of surfing the net, the computer started to burn a hole through Rad Ross's shorts but he refused to step down. (Ross 1, 'Puter 0)



The Trek crew hosted an underground mustache contest out in Sonoma. Everyone had two weeks to prepare and bring their finest facial hair art forward. (Jeremiah needs an entire year so he was an automatic DC) Ross had what it takes but due to a technical error (the definition of a stash states that the upper lip must have a distinctive end) was DQ'd. Pity...

(As soon as Poz sends me the pics, I will reveal the winning stash)



By now I have learned that it is always an adventure whenever you roll out with Mike West. He is still working on getting his site, bushwackwithmikewest.com up and rolling so stay tuned. Mike's famous last words, "Don't worry, this trail is going to start to clear out soon" are always followed up by, "you just need a little more speed and you can launch off that"?!!?!?

Playing For Keeps

Whoever said that mountain bikers don't have style, hasn't met Brian "The Ladies Man" Fuentes. The Mexi-Stash/Blueblocker combo is making a comeback and Fuentes is leading the charge.



Instead of going "National" and heading out to Sonoma, I went back to my roots and hit up Colorado's local series. It reminded me of "how I got started" in this sport, camping out every weekend with friends and bouncing from one end of the state to the other. We rarely crossed the state's border but we were exploring nonetheless. Cheers to every state's local scene and to those who don't forget their roots.



After a little regional confidence boost at Snowmass, Ranno and I saddled up in the "Bumping Touareg" and headed to Denver to make an appearance for JBL at one of their car audio shows. It is a tough job but someone has to do it...



I thought the Touareg was making me deaf.... Apparently there is always someone out there that has to "one up" you. Talk about a reckless abandonment for one's hearing. Speaking of reckless abandonment.... check this out.



At 6'4" Ranno could barely climb up into the haus....



In typical American spirit, if one is good.... Then eight is great. It takes something like eight alternators to power this guys stereo system. I am at another loss for words, mainly because I am still hearing static.

More Cow Bell Please

In an effort to stick it to "The Man," I am protesting nationals and have returned home to Colorado to enjoy real trails, in real mountains with real dirt.

This is the kind of stuff that gets my chamois all up in a bundle..... NORBA should be trying to progress our sport and racing with courses that highlight mountain bikes features.... Scope out Colt's pics of the course.... Enough said.



Regardless.... Here's to getting dirty! Good luck to all my peeps out there representing for the good ole U.S. of A.



My money is on Rad Ross for the break through of the year award, he has a chance to podium in every event (If they gave him a full face and a DH bike he would podium in that too) and I pretty sure he will.



Bump a couple foreigners off this box and Ross is nearly on top. The regional flag looks pretty good up on the podium.... Keep it up ya'll.

These Tales Of Change

There are days when things miraculously fall into place. This weekend's XC was one of those days, with everyone on our regional team having a break through effort. We dominated 25% of the top 20. Rad Ross introduced himself to Kabush and lead the charge, flexing for two solid laps in second place. (That's Ross in the front, hammering out of the saddle and leading JB and Kabush into the second lap)



If you have had the privilege to race in a pro XC you know how crazy it is to break through the top 20.... It has taken me two full seasons to finally make the jump. If you hestitate for one moment or start to show any sign of weakness, there are 5 guys waiting to blow by you and take your spot. Everything has to click...



The biggest story of the day featured Jenny Smith, being interviewed here by Fred Drier of Velo News, breaking into the top 5 with her first NORBA podium effort. Regional or not, our squad is stepping it up and showing that we can hang with the best on the National circuit.



When you have to go, you have to go. With one minute till take off, I had to ask Poz for an emergency bottle, where I preceded to dump it out and fill 'er back up. This is one bottle that never made it back to the dishwasher.

BTW, thanks Poz for once again being my photographer in the trenches!

Also, Adam Craig pussed out and opted to go geared instead of rocking his single. He still managed to pull off a solid 4th place effort but it would have been a whole lot cooler if he would have man'd up in his skinsuit and rocked the 1 x 1.

The Hack

This is what I get for leaving my computer opened at a team accommodation...

"This is Jeremiah Bishop..

I have successfully hacked into Nick Martin's web page. Hoo hoo Haaa haaa.

Am now downloading a virus that will destroy his site in 16 min s, then everyone will have to read my page Jeremiahbishop.com even though i barely update it.

JB"



So just for that, I am going to reintroduce "The Hair". That's right folks, Jeremiah Bishop is the proud owner of that beautiful mane perched on the top box. Just imagine the time and primping those glorious locks required.

There Is Always Room In Life For This

Road Trip 101: It can get pretty interesting when you throw a bunch of cyclists, with a metabolism of a horse, into a vehicle for 8 hours. In an effort to keep ourselves entertained, Rad Ross showed off his abilities to utilize all the free condiments at the gas station. It's true, in his single ads he describes himself as a "sandwitch artist" who enjoys long walks, making dream catchers and collecting snow globes. Ladies beware.



I choose to stick with the tried and true Pria Bars. It is easy to rationalize eating the whole box when they are only a hundred calories a piece. Ahh the lifestyles of the not so rich and not so famous...



It has been a ritual of chance for Adam and I to preride while at the Norba's. He straight up killed me on the singlespeed and if he ends up rocking it tomorrow I am predicting the first Pro XC singlespeed podium effort. No pressure Adam....

I have no expectations tomorrow, I dug deep at The Firecracker 50 and my legs still feel like the remains of a war zone. Until then....