Peak Cycles – BikeParts.com Blog

If you ever get a flat, take some advice from this “playa”… and just carry 3 extra wheels with you!

Every race season I battle the urge to put the XC bike down for a day and ride my other bikes. I find I never pull out the trials bike or dirt jumping bike because I am too busy trying to stay up on my “training” or don’t wanna break my nose or collar bone in the middle of the season, like I did when I was in college. So, once the last race is over, a little part of me is sad, but another little part is smiling because it knows whats coming up. Here are some photos of the last couple weekends! Tyler and I went out one day to the BMX track and then I went to some dirt jumps with a guy from work. Here is to those worry free days of fall!

To everyone on the team, I wanted to say thanks and congrats! It was a long season with lots of good times (Tylers butt) and a couple tough times (Brendan crashing out). In the end, we did 1000 races with 1000 podiums, not too bad for a first year team! Thanks for racing fast! – Jesse

Once again, the final MSC race is here! Every year, I look forward to this race. Its not because the season is over and I can get that “I gotta ride” monkey off my back. I think its because everyone is there, the mood is good, the condo is full and we are having fun! The races went well and I am happy to say it didnt snow or hail! Check out the Keystone Photo album for race photos from the Super D and Cross Country!

Congrats to Colin McKernan for winning the Winter Park Race Series in the Single Speed class! After 6 races, and a couple of wins under his belt, Colin won the series with 241 points, just 3 points ahead of 2nd place! Kick butt Red!!!

Team Gofast/Bikeparts.com pro racer, Josh Bezecny, made a HUGE showing at this weekends MSC race in Eldora. He finished 3rd in the wet Short Track and 2nd in the Cross Country! While the rest of the team was there racing, this blog is all about Josh showing Boulder County how to keep riding strong through the long season! Way to go Josh!!! Check out the Eldora Photo album for some race picts!

Yeah… I was riding with Tate this evening and hit a stupid property sign that was on the edge of the trail! 😦

The NORBA National Finals were in Snowmass again! The team headed to our “home” territory for some Super D, XC and Short Track racing! Tyler was there cheering everyone on, which was nice of him… until I saw my last name on his ass in the middle of the race!! No matter how hard I try, I will never forget that moment! By the end of the XC, I finished with a busted pedal, Josh had some technical issues with his bike and Colin crashed hard. However, Tim did well in his XC! Super D went much better even with the dust! Check out the Snowmass Photo Album for more picts! – Jesse

So, yesterday I got my new ML8 built up from Maverick. The name on the headtube badge is Kujo, so I figured I needed to take up to Keystone an attack some trails like a rabid monster! – Jesse

After the race in Telluride, I went back to my old college stomping ground at Fort Lewis College in Durango. I rode some classic trails like “Raider Ridge” and was reminded of what makes Durango so special to everyone who rides here!

a picture is worth a 1000 words.

So, moving up to Pro and Semi Pro is nice! You gotta pay your dues as a sport racer with those early start times. As you move up, the later start times are sweet because you get to sleep in, take your time getting ready and can eat breakfast at a reasonable time. Normally I would be very excited about the 1:00pm start, but with the recent afternoon showers, I knew during todays race we were going to get wet! I wasn’t too excited about the clouds rolling in, plus the XC course in Telluride is steep! Colin Osborn, Matt Unger, Brian Laiho and I represented the team in the 20 or so pros at the start line. We ended up getting about 2 laps done before the rain came in. It was nasty out there as my wheels started slipping on the start of the 3rd climb. I thought the race organizers were going to call the race after that 3rd lap, so I attacked on the climb. I moved up from 6th to 3rd by the end of that lap and came through the start/finish sopping wet, hoping to be done, but as I rolled through, I heard the announcer say “You got one more lap!” In the end, I was able to hold that position through the last lap in the rain. I was pretty excited to place 3rd at such a hard, nasty race, but even more happy team mates Matt and Colin stuck out the rain and mud to finish 5th and 6th! I got hosed down like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, then put on some dry clothes just in time to get back on the bike for the Super D race that was starting in about an hour… Be sure to check the Telluride photo album for all the dirty picts! – Jesse

The 4th race in the Winter Park series was another good one for Team GoFast/Bikeparts.com. The singlespeeders were in almost full force as some brave souls were crushing the field over at the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville. Nevertheless, myself, Mohawk Matt, and fellow teammate Brian Chimeleski led the pack up the main climb to the singletrack descent. Just before we dropped in Mohawk Matt dropped a ten-spot out of his jersey pocket, so I slowed the speed down a little so he can catch back up. That’s how we do in the singlespeed circle. I took over the lead from Brian when he decided to walk a steep section of climbing. Once I had that lead I just kept the pedals turning at a nice pace. It was then that I realized that the fit that I received from Nat Ross over at Probikecenter.com really paid off. I was motoring on sections that I had struggled with two weeks before. It wasn’t until about two miles from the finish that Matt and Brian caught back up to me with their 29er bikes. I knew they had the momentum advantage on the flatter sections of the course near the end of the race. After giving up the lead for a moment I got jiggy with the bike handling skills and dropped the bigged wheel boys. At the finish I watched as Matt and Brian battled for second with a sprint finish. The Mohawk took it away from Brian but we had two GoFast/Bikeparts.com guys on the podium! – Colin

After doing a sweet ride on the Government Trail from Aspen to Snowmass and back this morning, Matt and I stopped along the river for a little swim, or should i say dive. – Jesse

I recovered from the Boulder Short Track in time for Snowmass, where I guess I felt pretty good… considering I finished pretty good. I got 3rd which I was not expecting to happen. After racing the previous MSCs, I was beginning to think that a podium finish was impossible… the competition this year is outa hand!! But, I guess I’ve successfully raced myself into shape… which was my plan for the year. I felt good… I was able to move up a couple spots throughout the race and kept second place in site most of the time… never saw Jay though… he’s completely on another level this year. – Josh B

Tim Barnes leaves the Colorado racing scene for a couple weeks for a different scene, Ghana Africa. Read his blog here

Tim, Tate, Colin, Jesse and Matt all showed up to Winter Park for the Crankworx Cross Country race this past Saturday. Each class had a ton of people and in the end, Team Gofast/Bikeparts.com had some impressive results. Tate took off at the start in the Expert class.

Colin placed 3rd in the SingleSpeed category with a time of 1:14:51 only 4min and 45 secs off the leader.

And in the Pro class, the race winner was none other then the lengendary lung, Ned Overend at 1:51:40! Jesse finished 2nd at 1:58:35 wtih Matt chasing him down the straight only seconds behind and placed 3rd with 1:58:42. Way to go Team Gofast/Bikeparts.com!!!!

HUGE! Thats the only word I can use to describe how big those guys go. The drops they were hitting were so overwhelmingly big! Its one thing to watch a DVD of the tricks, but another to see it up close. Some of the coolest tricks were the back flip up to the wooden step up, or the FRONT flip. Check out the photo album here, or check out this video!

Super D was the first event of the Crankworx in Winter Park, Colorado. The race started with a super short run into a longer uphill climb then into the fast descent on Long Trail. After a couple broken pedals and Matt’s harsh crash, Team Gofast/Bikeparts.com finished in the top 10! There were 39 guys racing and Jesse Swift finished 2nd with a time of 16:19 only 5.9 seconds behind the leader. Colin Mckernan finished 4th with 16:45, 31.2 seconds down and Matt Unger got 8th 17:12. There is still 2 days left of the race with downhill, cross country, big air contest and slopestyle to experience! Keep checking the blog for photos from the events!

The last stop on my road trip was Ashland OR. On the way there i drove through the dozens of stoplights and by the gigantic Walmart in Medford and started to get a little worried. But that was all in vain as I turned off the highway and rolled into Ashland. Its a cool small town quickly reminding me of Golden, Colorado. I was there to meet up with a friend from college. We use to ride a ton down in Durango at Ft. Lewis College back in ’94 – ’97. I haven’t seen him in a few years and was looking to riding with him again and hang out like the good old days. We ended up doing close to 50 miles in the 2 days I was there. The trails near Ashland are out of control with tons of tree jumps, doubles, gap jumps, steep descents, and rock rides. We did rides like Time Warp, Sketchy #1 and Sketchy #2, Needlepoint and lots of other ones with crazy names. The crew in town have those trails down solid!! One shuttle run we did, there were 9 people and 8 bikes in a truck! I think Ashland and its trails are a little northwest secret but have heard of Mark Weir and the WTB guys going there for the local Super D. All in all, it was one of the best stops on the trip and I am glad I got to see my old friend and ride with him again. While we are both growing old, got girls and into our jobs. But days like that make me feel like I was 21 and careless again! 😉 – 7.1.07 – jesse