Date: April 29-30, 2000
Event: Xcelerate Twilight XC AMBC / Fat Tire Crit / Athens, GA
Class: OPEN
Category: Pro
Length: 25 mi
Time: 1:46:31
Conditions: Sunny - 75+ degrees
Bike: ORYX
Tires: Mavic Wheels / Hutchinson Tubeless

Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

No, we're in a training camp right now and have just been doing a lot of big miles. This weekend was fun. We wanted to do three days and go really hard. It worked out well for sure.

In the last two months how many hours a week have you trained?

Right around 20.

Were you strong from start to finish?

Yeah, they had a 50 dollar prime on the first lap and I got that prime. I had a bit of a gap and just tried to maintain it all day.

When did you put the hammer down?

Third lap I opened it up a little bit but the two guys behind me stayed 15 to 30 seconds. On the last lap I opened it up - and then sat up for probably half a lap. I had enough of a gap to be able to ride fairly comfortably.

Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

No, the tubeless tires are great. You don't have to carry a spare - so the wheels are fine. The chain really dried up cause it was so hot and dusty - but the bike was fine.

You won the Fat Tire Crit last night and the time trial. Were you out front most of the time in the crit?

We were hired guns for this weekend and we wanted to have a real strong presence of yellow in the front so - we had a team meeting before and just wanted to be yellow in the front all the time.

How do you rate the course?

It was fun. It's different than a lot of the courses that we have in Canada. We usually have more hilly mountains. Whereas here the technical is really more tight turns - so it's different for us but it's all good bike handling.

Yes, I think we started at 10:02 - so we started on time, everyone's got their prizes - everyone's got their checks. So it was good.

Do you race mostly in Canada?

Last year I did all of the NORBA Nationals. I'm racing here for four weeks then I go back to Canada. I'll be doing the National Series in Canada.

If you could do the race again would you do anything differently?

No. Our team got first and third today - it was pretty much a perfect day!