Its 1 week to go until the start of my 2011 MTB race season. I have been training hard all winter under the coaching of Mark Orton (a pro MTB racer...check out Speedworks Coaching link at the right) and made significant progress. But....right now is kinda like a boxer who has been training very hard for a fight, but has yet to actually fight. I have no idea how I'll do but I know I'm enjoying every minute of the training and will enjoy the racing even more.



For this season, I'll be racing the Niner Jet 9 which is an absolute rocket with full suspension. The bike has won a number of awards over the past few years, so hopefully I won't let it down!!!





Below are 2 very interesting pics....1 of me 6 months ago weighing close to 240lbs, and the other taken a week or so ago weighing 185lbs. My goal weigh is 175lbs.

Fat Elvis!!


Skinny Elvis!!


This week's race is the Mountains of Mayhem (former 12 miles of Hell), which is ironic cause it's never ever been only 12 miles.....usually 15-18 miles. The course itself is an extremely technical course located on the Ft Sill army base near Lawton, OK.

My goal in this race is simple....survive in 1 piece. The season is long, and the races I'm hoping to peak for are the longer endurance races (think 60-100 miles on a bike) along with a few Tour De Dirt races (6-8 miles).

I'll post up later in the week how my training and preparation went this week for the race, then next Sunday with a race report.

Oh yeah....as to the horseoutside blog name.....I may reveal where it came from through the season.