Hello everyone, it has been a worthless winter here in Breckenridge, CO, which means I am in awesome shape coming into the 2012 race season!  I can’t wait to catch up with all of my friends on the circuit this season.

Follow my  2012 season here.

2012 Race Schedule

May 19th Syllamos Revenge
June 16th Lumberjack 100
July 14th Breckenridge 100
July 21st High Cascades 100
August 12th – 17th Breck Epic
September 1st Park City P2P
September 14th – 16th 24 Hours World Championships

I will be racing in the World 24 Hour MTB Championships or 2012 in Canmore, AB (September 14 – 16, 2012). Checkout this media event with Tinker Juarez, Cory Wallace and Leighton Poidevin.  It’s sure to be a blast and a great kickoff to a great new event for 2012!

Thanks, Josh

For 2011 the 24-hour National Championship had a change of venue from Moab to Palmer Park in the heart of Colorado Springs. When I first arrived at the venue I was a little skeptical of the quality of riding because of the proximity to strip mall land. The riding at Palmer Park turned out to be great a good mix of technical single-track dirt road and pavement sections.

I was a bit disappointed with the absence of Kelly Magelky and Tinker Juarez, both of whom had registered but were not in attendance because of illness. As it turned out the guys that did show up made for strong competition all the way through the race. Nate Ginzton and Jonathan Davis were the main players fighting hard all the way to the end.

For the first 6 hours of the race I wasn’t feeling well at all. With a temperature in the mid 80s it wasn’t super hot but I felt like I was riding on the surface of the sun. I rode steady through the afternoon and waited for nightfall, as soon as it got dark, it was on! I really love racing at night there’s just something about it that really gets me going and I seam to have my best laps at night and this race was no exception. I pushed really hard all the way through the night and when the sun came up I had lapped the entire solo field! I was really beat up from going hard all night but that left me in a good position to take it easy until the end of the race. Nate and Jonathan on the other hand were battling it out. Nate came back strong for the last couple of laps and finished in a well-deserved 2nd place with Jonathan in 3rd. I have to give a big thanks to my crew for siting around for 24 hours with no sleep for me and I know that they have it almost as hard as I do. I also think that they have just as much fun as I do and anyone who has seen my crew in action will attest to that.

For 2011 I have to give a big thanks to Santa Cruz for letting me ride such great bikes! Shimano and Maxxis make a product that is so good it’s silly. Niterider lights make riding in the dark easy and fun, the technology in their lights is unbelievable! Thanks to all my other sponsors who have helped me this year, I am very gratefully for all of your support; it makes my race season possible! See you next year!

The 2011 Breck Epic ended 5 weeks and 540 miles of racing for me. Coming into the race, I was ready for a break but first I had to battle the beast that is the Breck Epic. And an epic it turned out to be, it seems like this season I just can’t get through a race without some sort of trouble and with 5 flats and a destroyed rim the Breck Epic was no exception.

It was clear from the start that the Epic had an incredibly competitive international field! Making the trip to Breckenridge included the 5-time La Ruda champion – Ramirez “Lico” Federico, multi-time 24 hour national champion – Cameron Chambers, U23 national champion and 2011 Firecracker 50 champ – Colin Cares and bike racing icon – Travis Brown. In addition to the big names, there were a ton of other strong guys, Macky Franklin, Ben Aufderheide, Blake Harlan and Nick Truitt just to name a few.

My luck ran out quickly in the first stage with 3 flats and a destroyed rim from riding it for several miles after I ran out of tubes! Luckily I got a replacement wheel and was able to finish the stage, even though I was almost 30 minutes off Lico’s pace. After the unfortunate first stage I went out everyday and just put my head down and raced hard and I was able to get on the podium every other day except for the last day. Each day in the Epic, the pace was high and the course brutal and it was a blast racing with everyone. In the end I was able to fight my way back to 3rd in the GC, it was one of the hardest racing experiences I’ve ever had. By the final stage I had nothing left in the tank and really had to dig deep to hold it together. Thanks to Mike Mac and all of the race staff and volunteers, you guys really know how to put on a great race and I’m already looking forward to next year!

This was my first trip to the Pierre’s Hole 100 at beautiful Targhee ski resort in Wyoming. The scenery around Targhee is magnificent with views of the Grand Tetons from the course; it looked like a movie backdrop on every lap. At 6:15 AM the race started with nice temps and a perfect forecast for the day. The course began with a ski area service road climb and then quickly dropped into the first decent that dropped us about 2000 feet into the valley. Jeff Schalk, Cary Smith and I quickly formed a group of three. We were working really well together and dropped the rest of the field on the first road climb. We stuck together for most of the first lap, until near the end, when I got a flat. Unfortunately I had tore my sidewall, and tried a quick fix on it, which is always a mistake, that I always make and it never works out… The only thing I accomplished was wasting one of my co2 cartridges. Then I worked on putting a tube in and grabbed my second (and last) co2 cartridge and had it explode in my hands! Since I don’t carry a pump, I was completely screwed and had to stand around waiting for someone to come by! The first guy had no co2 but the second guy stopped and donated his co2, I don’t know his name but he saved my race, so thanks! Finally I am able to get back on my bike, but now Jeff and Cary have a huge time gap on me. I was more upset at myself for screwing up the tire fix than the actual flat itself but I had about 80 miles to race so I had to put that out of my head and go to work.

By the second lap I forgot all about the flat tire, the riding was great, the volunteers at every the aid stations were super supportive and the views were so incredible that it looked fake. I was in a similar position in my last race and when I had to chase guys that are as strong or stronger than I am, it’s really hard to make up ground! I just kept going hard, but I just was enjoying the day talking to fellow racers and I was able to rally some great sections of trail with some high caliber riders. By the end of the race I pedaled back to 3rd place and got enjoy some great riding in a new and beautiful race venue!

This was my second year racing the High Cascade 100 and it has become a must do race for me. Even with the huge amount of snow (still blocking some of the course from the previous year), race promoter Mike Ripley put together another outstanding mountain bike race.

The hardest thing about this race is the 5:30 AM race start, which was damn early! With the temps in the upper 30′s, it was damn cold as well! On the other hand the best thing about this race (besides 80 miles of single track) is the mellow paced start up a paved climb. Once we hit the dirt it was on to a double track descent for 3 or 4 miles, it was a dicey decent with guys jockeying for position. I wasn’t comfortable with these antics, so I jumped to the front and hit the gas. I continued to push the pace into the first single-track section and after about 15 minutes it was just Cary Smith and myself. I continued the pace setting and was feeling great when we came into a descent with a bunch of banked turns and some rhythm sections leading to a section of rollers. I decided to gap one of the doubles and got loose on the landing and slammed straight into a small tree, the impact stopped me dead and all the force of the dead stop snapped my saddle in half and it fell of leaving the saddle rails sticking up, ready to impale my nether regions!

My first thought was “you are a complete idiot” and I continued racing on, out of the saddle, unable to sit down. After some doubts of being able to finish the race, I figured I could make it to the start / finish area, which was about 20 miles of (standing) racing away. There I could beg, borrow or steal a saddle. Luckily race promoter Mike Ripley was on the first loop at a jacket drop and I informed him of my situation, he said he would try to find a saddle which gave me some hope, all I had to do was make it back those 20 miles and I could sit down again.

If you have ever broke a seat off of your bike then you know my pain, if not let me tell you that standing on the pedals at race pace for 20 miles, especially in twisty single track is not cool! I was really taking it easy, regardless my legs were pumped the whole time. Finally I made it back to the aid and Mike was waiting with a saddle! I have to give a huge thanks to Mike for making it happen, he is an outstanding guy. After a rather long saddle change, I was off and running again, and what a relief it was to be able to sit down. Then I went to work, I wasn’t really focused on catching back up with Cary, but I was going to destroy myself and ride as hard as I could until the end. That’s what I came to do anyway and with such great weather and great single-track to ride, it was a blast as well.

In the end I didn’t catch Cary but I did make a good comeback to second place, I had a great time and overcame some big obstacles and I think that’s what racing is all about.

I can’t believe that the 2011 Breckenridge 100 is my seventh time competing in this race, time flies when you’re having fun, and the last seven years have been a complete blast! The 4 am wake up call never gets easier but I would have to say the more early starts I do, the more I learn how to prepare for it, and this year I got some good rest the night before.

The morning of the race was a beautiful, with perfect blue skies and warm temps for 6 am as we started the hour long climb to Wheeler Pass. I got in a group with two others right from the start, Kelly Magelky who is having a great season and looked really fast and Jeff Schalk the 2010 NUE champion and in my opinion the strongest 100 miler in the country. Kelly and Jeff where pushing hard up the ski area climb so I just sat back and let them set the pace. Just before we hit the singletrack I sprinted ahead to get on the wheeler trail first and put some time into the duo behind me heading over the pass. On the descent down to Copper Mountain, I put even more time on them and hit the bike path with a minute or two lead. I decided not to push to hard on the paved decent to the peaks trail because I knew that they would be working together to catch up and by the time I got to Frisco, they had. We all hit the Peaks Trail together and rallied back to Breck. About halfway through the Peaks Trail I took the worst crash I’ve had in years. I went down really hard and my hip and arm took some good scrapes and bruises, once I gathered myself up I was a bit of a mess, but still in racing condition.

Heading out onto loop two, my legs were felling good so I set pace up the first couple of climbs. About halfway through we hit the west ridge climb of the Colorado Trail and Jeff was in front and really pinning it. At this point Kelly was having some chain suck issues and started to fall of the pace. Jeff and I pushed hard through the rest of loop two and had a really fun decent down the Colorado Trail.

On loop three we were together until the Indiana Gulch climb up to Boreas Pass. Jeff started to really kick up the pace and slowly pulled away from me, by the top Jeff had built a two or three minute lead. I rallied super hard on the Gold Dust trail to Como and made back some time on Jeff. Coming out of Como back up the pass I could see that Jeff was about 2 minutes ahead and I just put my head down and gave it everything I had. Of course Jeff was also giving it his all and I couldn’t reel him back in. I pushed all the way to the tape but Jeff had come across the line almost 5 minutes ahead. He had an incredible race and it was a pleasure to compete with him in such a hard battle. Jeff is a true champion, he beat my on my home course, showed why he is the best and I tip my hat to him. Nice work Jeff!

The 2011 Mohican 100 course was looking great with nice weather the week before the race and into race day it was best conditions I’ve seen for this venue. The start of the Mohican is always a hard one with sprint out of main street Loudonville straight into a steep climb at full effort. This year I felt great from the start and was able to jump to the front of the pack into the first single track section. This is a good place to be on this course because of several short steep climbs early in the race cause bottlenecks for the main pack. I jumped into the lead to stay out of any trouble in the single track and set the pace with Brandon Draugelis through the first 30 miles of single track. The high pace shed all but 5 riders, myself, Brandon, Jeff Schalk, Michael Simonson and Christian Tanguy (winner of the first two 2011 NUE races). Our group worked together well the first 55 miles, then I started to really feel the hard work I had done early! Jeff and Michael were able to pull away from everyone and I dropped off the back from all 4 riders.

The day was really heating up at this point and even hit 92 degrees, far hotter than I’ve ridden in all year! I was in a bad way for about an hour, but I started to feel better towards the end and was able to hammer the final 10 miles of single track to hold on to 5th place. I’m very pleased with the result and I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt for this time of year. I still have about a month or so to really hit my stride but I think it’s going to be a great season!

After one of the longest and snowiest winters I have seen in Breckenridge, the first race of the season had finally come, it was time to start racing. Having not been to Cortez in about 6 years I was looking forward to riding Phil’s World, where the race took place. I was not disappointed! The course was incredibly fun with fast pump track style sections mixed with techie rock sections that traversed beautiful canyon rims. The views from the course were outstanding, at some points you looked out to Telluride and the San Juan mountain range and at other times you were looking into Mesa Verde where ancient Anasazi once lived.

The race started out with a fairly short la-mans style run start. I got my bike quickly and jumped to the front and got out to an early lead. I was in a group of four guys who were competing in the team category that were really hammering, it was super fun so I stayed with them for the first lap and came in way ahead of the other solo riders for the first lap. After that lap I settled into my own pace for the rest of the race. By the 6-hour mark I had a good lead of 30 minutes but I wanted to push myself and really went hard for the next couple laps. The temps were in the low 80′s and not having ridden in much heat this season, I was starting to feel it. The riding on the last couple of laps was really hard, but I rallied with a solo guy named Stew on the last lap and got a burst of energy, it just felt like we were out on a ride and that was a great way to end a really fun race.

The 12 hours of Mesa Verde is a great event and I would recommend it to any one who likes to ride super fun singletrack!

This year’s 24 Hour National Championship at the 24 hours of Moab was looking to have the best conditions ever! With heavy rain the week before the race the course was in the best condition I have ever seen it in.

My biggest competition was Kelly Magelky who was back for round two of our head to head dog fight for the national championship. Some other strong men that made the trip were Cary Smith, Ben Koenig, and Ernesto Marenchin. The race kicked off with the usual Le Mans running start and I got to my bike in about the top 20 and quickly moved closer to the front. Kelly quickly took control once we hit the trail and started to throw down a hard pace, we were out front with one guy in front of us, Jay Henry. We were about 50 feet behind Jay and I remember him looking back at us and then a minute later he was just gone, that dude is fast!

I came into lap 1 with Kelly and we both charged out for lap 2 his pace was very fast and he pulled away from me on the first climb, I was content to let him go and settle into my own pace. Then I noticed something funny was going on with my bike as my crank arm was banging against my chain stay! Now I’m no genius but I knew that this was bad! It turns out that I had broke one of the linkage bolts and the rear end off my bike was flexing with every pedal stroke, but I could still ride thankfully!  I was expecting my bike to just fall apart but I babied it through the lap and made it back to the pits.

I lost 5 minutes on the lap so I grabbed my other bike and got back to the race while my pit crew worked on fixing my bike. My crew had to go into town to beg, borrow and steal the parts necessary for the fix! The next couple of laps I started to make the time back and by about lap 5 I had caught back up to Kelly.The next lap was the first night lap and Kelly just took off again pulling away from me on the first climb but by the time we got to the back side of the course I had reeled him back and was really starting to feel good and pushed the pace up the backside climb, we came in together and I had quick transition and went back out.

The night is my favorite part of 24 hour racing and I was really getting into a groove, my NiteRider lights worked flawlessly all night. The temps were perfect and with very little wind it was a perfect night for riding. Now I started to put a little bit of time into Kelly on each lap, but I didn’t want to get complacent so I kept the pace high and made very quick transitions.

By the morning I had about 50 minutes on Kelly but I didn’t want to slow down, I still felt good and want to just push it as much as possible. For a long time I have been thinking about pacing to finish 18 laps and kind of had that in the back of my head, but during the night and early morning hours I lost count, I just knew I had to keep pushing until noon. The last two laps were very painful my whole body hurt, especially my feet and I just wanted to be done! At 11:52 I came in and figured I was on my 17th lap and just couldn’t go on another lap as my body and my mind were shot, I had given all that I had! I shed blood, sweat and tears and had won another national championship.

About a half hour after I had finished someone told me that Kelly (he was still on course) and I had done 18 laps! I thought they were wrong but it was true that the lap I couldn’t do would have been number 19!  This was a huge surprise and made the weekend even more special. Finishing 18 laps before noon is a course record and previously there has only one other person to finish 18 laps at all in this race!  Kelly is an incredible guy and competitor he really pushed me to my limit. Fortunately I was in my top form for this race because to beat a guy like Kelly you have to be on it. I don’t think this is the last time we will battle for 24 hours and that’s scary to think about, but that’s what I love I about racing it pushes you way beyond the limits you thought were possible.