Date: March 13, 2000
Event: Race for Chocolate XC - 2000
Class: OPEN
Category: Pro/Expert
Length: 20 mi.
Time: 1:37:34
Conditions: High 70s - Dry - Fast, hard packed course
Bike: Custom- Steel Frame (Reynolds 853) XT components -
           Mavic Crossmax Tubeless Wheelset
Tires: Hutchinson Pythons
           Dave ran them at 40 psi today - but has been able to go
           as low as 25 psi without a problem when necessary!

Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

Nothing special.... just a normal work out and a normal week. I came out here and felt pretty good today.

In the last week or so how did you train?

Monday I took off....... Tuesday a did a training race. I rode to the training race and then rode home after it..... so it was about a three hour ride. Wednesday was just a short 1 hour and 45 minute ride.......
Thursday I went out for two hours and then yesterday (Friday) I went out real easy....... just an hour and 45 minutes on my mountain bike just making sure everything worked.

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

I'm probably averaging about 10 to 12........ holding down a full time job and then racing is very difficult but I'm managing to get out for about 10 to 12....... but there is a lot of quality involved with that. I don't get the quantity of miles that most guys do but I make up for it with the intensity. I usually have two intense days a week which is more than most people. Most people will do one intense day a week but I have two in order to compensate for not getting the miles.

Were you strong from start to finish?

Absolutely. I had felt very strong from the start and I could have gone another lap or two out there today. I felt really strong.

We could tell watching you today that you were really strong.....

I've got a bit of a mission to prove this year....... I start grad school this fall....... so this is my last year racing at the pro...... (high) level of racing that I have been doing for the last couple of years. Losing sponsorship in the middle of March this year after riding for a team for 4 years kind of motivates me to go out there and prove that I was worth more than what the company thought I was. It's a real motivating factor.

When did you put the hammer down?

I rode pretty hard the whole way through but I definitely think the last lap........... the first half of the last lap I concentrated on breaking away from the guy that finished second. That was pretty difficult to do. I had to work really hard for about ten to fifteen minutes there and I think that was where I made the decisive move.

Did you have any unusual problems?

I ate the hay bales in the one turn....(laughs).... I couldn't quite maneuver the turn....... I was carrying too much speed into it.......
I just glanced it..... so I didn't hit really hard and it didn't slow me down that much. That was the only unusual thing out there....... besides having the 60 second handicap and having to work the whole way through the Expert field to get to the front. That was actually an interesting concept because I didn't get to slow down at all during the race. I had to keep fighting the whole way to get to the front. I think it's an interesting concept for some of the local, smaller races.

I loved it. I loved it....... it was tight, technical but extremely fast. You can get out there and roll and pretty much stay in the big ring the whole day and just fly through it if you were "on". It was technical enough to shake those that couldn't ride their bike very well.

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

Yes. Absolutely.

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

Probably not. Everything worked out and when you win you can't really look back and say things went poorly. You want to do it the same way again.

Is there anything you would like to add?

No I think we covered basically everything but I would like to thank Team Harrisburg for putting this race on. They did a very good job organizing and making sure the course was well marked....... they laid out an excellent course.