Saturday, August 21, 2010

Athlete Update from Andy Schultz

After Nationals I have gone into hibernation from racing. Prior to Nationals I raced five weekends in a row and I felt like it was time to take advantage of a gap in the schedule to focus on training and getting faster as opposed to tapering for races every weekend. My training block started off with a bunch of long high country rides in Durango. These rides are all over 10,000 feet so the weather window to ride them is really small so it was nice to have a chance to take advantage of them. The air is so thin up there it feels like you are breathing through a straw but it is worth it to ride ribbon thin singletrack with a backdrop of peaks and wildflowers. The monsoon season is here which means we get some rain almost every afternoon. This leaves the trails tacky and my Small Block 8's stick to the them like white on rice and I've been ripping some really fun descents. After I got my fill of thin air I began to draw down the volume and bring up the intensity in preparation for the final races of the season. This weekend I'll crawl out of my hibernation cave and stretch with a Mountain States Cup race in Telluride, CO and then it will be time to hop on a plane and head to NY for the final big race of my season, the Windham World Cup.