Schampa supports NOVA

Schampa will be at all the MBAA state races with their team trailer supporting the kids of NOVA with a place to get ready for their races!

CX Season

Cross season has been rockin pretty good this season....Startin at CrossVegas with a bang and a bad crash I've been rockin a broken campy lever all season but doin pretty good with it! Finally got the ride over to tribe for the new lever installation just before State Champs. If it goes well, I'll be tryin to make it out to Kansas for Cross Nats! It is gonna be muddy and cold, better than this water bottle on the cross bike weather we've been racin here out in the SW.

Check out Jen taking the overall of the state Cross Series at www.azcross.com....I managed the overall for the men and hope to cap it off with a State CX title which hasn't been mine for a few years now.

The mbaa.net race season is upon us and finally they have a couple northern arizona races! It won't just be a Penix series anymore which is nice!

2009 Jersey's will arrive May 9th!

2008 Jersey's

Here is the first draft!

Fontana

WOW! What a course. Fontana has a reputation for being a bit urban and it didn't let me down. I drove out to Fontana with Tim from Voodoo cycles and we arrived on Friday afternoon to our Motel 6 in the urban outskirts of L.A. Fontana is certainly a diverse area with all sorts of characters roaming around. The motel had explicit directions for users to ensure their safety and the safety of their belongings. Sure does make you feel safe. Aside from the seedy nature of the hotel, the room was only a ten minute drive to the race venue. After arriving on Friday, Tim and I quickly got changed and rolled over to the venue to preride the cross-country course. The course was in good condition and it featured some pretty bomb singletrack climbs and hairball descents. The xc course crossed a number of cement colverts and drainages so you had to be on your game or you would be off your bike. There was no shortage of "urban art" on the rocks in the mountains and on the drainages that you rode through, lending a sophisticated feel to the course (not to mention the occasional couch to sit on to really absorb the scenary). Saturday morning the semi-pros rolled out at 8 a.m.. I got an hour warm up to prepare for what was certain to be a fast start. Unfortunately, due to field size and my warm-up, I got a less than ideal starting position in around 50th place. Anyhow, after the manic start I moved myself up in the field when possible and was feeling really good on the descents and climbs for the first time this year. After the hardest climb on the course, near the end of the the second lap of three, I bombed down a twisty, rutted, loose-assed descent and crossed a cement/rock section when I heard my rear tire blow (first ride on that tire!). Four or five riders that I had passed on the climb quickly passed me and gave me their condolences (genuine I'm sure). I tried not to panic and pulled off my tire and tubless valve and reached for my tube when I noticed that my tube had no valve core-a frickin' defect! Sick. Anyhow, after a number of riders passed, someone finally offered a tube and I got the flat changed. Pissed as hell I rode to the conclusion of the second lap and began asking if anyone in the feed zone had a tube for me for the last lap. No luck=DNF. I rode over to the Mavic tent to have the guys work on my wheel when Dan (who had done awesome work on my wheel on Friday replacing pauls and a free-hub body) showed me that I had ruined my tire by gashing it open and exposing the tube. Sweet. Anyhow, Sunday I got to short track, even though I had a horrible starting position, it was fun and super painful. Tim had a great weekend in the pro field, kicking ass in the xc, short track and getting on the podium in the Super D with Adam Craig and Barry Wicks! Insane. Anyhow, off to Nova this weekend and I'm hoping for some better luck. Covergirl

Gardner Canyon

If we were at a bar drinking Guinness and playing darts someone might say “Nice group.”, but it’s not darts at a bar, it’s bike racing and instead of feeling drunk at the end of a night, I end up feeling like the dart board. Gardner Canyon is a long race in the middle of nowhere with lot’s of wind and boarder patrol agents. Thankfully MBAA had the insight to shorten the race, too bad they did not use that same insight when ordering the port-a-potties. Four port-a-potties at a bike race is not enough. Anyway, as for the results, I got 5th again, Jen won due to a lack of competition again, and John was 10th. Scott had to drop out due to a faulty tire but did extra laps to help find a lost junior racer. Like I said, nice group. Gramps out.

Estrella

Estrella is over and I have finally had my saddle surgically removed from my ass. Unfortunately, the doctors were unable to locate my kidneys. I think they are still out there on the course somewhere. Congratulations to the rest of the Schampa riders who survived the beating. Jen won the pro women’s category and seems to have scared off all the competition because none of the usual competitors showed up. For the rest of us, survival was the name of the game, John finished 11th, Josh came up 9th, and I somehow hung on for 5th. The weekend was not all bad though, the weather was nice, down right hot at times, and getting 5th place won me just enough money to buy Jen and I an In-N-Out Burger (we had to share the drink). Oh Well. Next stop, Garner Canyon. Gramps out.

Whitetanks

Congrats to all that raced last weekend. Many of the Schampa riders raced at Whitetanks, the second of the MBAA series, while others opted for the road and the McDowell circuit race. The weather in Phoenix was incredible and it was a welcomed change from the Flagstaff wintery conditions. The mountain course was in great condition and the team had a great showing from everyone (aside from yours truly). Jen ripped it up and got second in the women's pro field, while Grandpa shredded the men's pro category and pulled out fourth! Sawasky tore it up and scored a top ten finish and Keller and Powers also represented well for the squad. After the hardest climb on the course, four Schampa riders (Powers, Keller, Sawasky and myself) were all in a line and rollin' in solid position tryin' to keep Grandpa in sight. Just after the climb, we entered the tech section on the course and there I encountered the infamous rock drop. Before I knew it, my front wheel dropped off into an abyss and I thought to myself (as I had ample time in the air) "Oh damn, here's the drop! There's no way out of this and it's gonna be ugly. Didn't Sawasky mention that they usually take the race photos here. PERFECT. This is classic and they could give a clinic on what it looks like to go over the bars. After my body was slammed to the ground, I felt all the adrenaline leave my body and I became dizzy, sleepy, and I began shaking. NO GOOD. Some riders that were behind asked, "Damn Chief, are you alright? Holy Sh--!" I mumbled a "Yeah, go ahead," and I began collecting my water bottles that were ejected during the flight. I did a once over to check and ensure that I still had all of my body parts and I limped out the tech section and crawled with one hand on the bars back to the start-finish area, during which time I was passed by the many pros that we had dropped before the climb. Scott's mom, who always knows how to take care of you, hooked me up with some ice for my shoulder. After cheering a lap, I began the long, long drive home to Flag; demoralized by the wreck but determined that next time I'll keep the rubber side down and go like hell. Covergirl

#1 Curse

Have you ever been #2 and tried your butt off to be #1 only to achieve your goal and wish you were #2 again?

Well thats where I'm kinda at. I am glad that I won the state title last year, but this year I'm riding the #1 plate and I've had 2 really horrible races, matching my worst result of last year, not once, but twice! I can't remember the last time I've placed exactly 13th place in a state race consecutively. But thats ok, its only motivation to start riding more!

I rode to work today only to find that the rocks at red rock crossing were washed out, so I was knee deep in freezing cold water!

Anyhow, I have also been running my West Sedona Mountain BIke club quite successfully which is pretty awesome I must say. I had 7 kids race from 4th graders up to 8th graders and they did awesome! Check out my school MTB webiste for more details:

http://webpages.sedona.k12.az.us/~keller/?OpenItemURL=S00687686

Well the kids are runnin wild, better get back to work!

Holy Road Races

Even though I was feeling under the weather this weekend, I signed up for my first circuit race of the year and had a blast..No it wasn't dirt(I apologize to all of you Devoted Dirties). But DAMN it was fun. I ended up placing 13th out of a small field of 35. I made a few attacks and kept the pace high,which did drop quite a few of the others. I'm I would have a better result if I had paid attention to the lap count. Just as the pace picked up I latched onto the back of the pack and we were started really moving ... ...then they stopped?? I said "Hey, we just dropped the rest of those guys...Lets keep moving!" and one of the Procon guys said " UH....that was the sprint finish dude". HA! All in all, it was a great time and it was great to see all those roadies I havn't seen in nearly a year. Some already know me as "one of those guys"(meaning a Dirtie), and the rest of them will soon :)