TJ Woodruff ONLINE

It was a relationship that dates back to my high school years. The Taurus wagon and I have been through it all – the highs of the mountains and the lows of the valleys. Good races and bad races, the Taurus was always there willing and able to carry me home safely and reliably (except once in phoenix last fall). From California to North Carolina and everywhere in between the Taurus always got the job done. It was a true race vehicle.

With 223,000 now I wanted to end our relationship on a good note before setting off on the next road trip adventure. It’ll make for a great set of wheels for someone else, but for the long haul it was time for me to move on. So, all of this begs the question, “Well what are the new wheels?” But of course there is only one answer to expect: Another Ford Taurus wagon of course. That’s right, gone is the ’96 and in is the ’05. A sportier looking front end and the option to burn e85 are the two biggest of the minor changes. The color was listed as ‘lite green’ but most folks would agree that it’s a tan/grey hue. Whatever the color, the price was right for car that still smells new. It was an easy deal to make.

Now I can return to business as usual without spending hours searching the craigslist or auto websites every evening. More important duties such as blog updating can now resume…

The riding has been going well and I’ve fully adapted to the hot and humid climate that seemed so foreign just one week ago. The WORS race ought to shape into a dogfight and I’m hoping to get in on the full action. Competing with old rivals on the turf of my alma mater, Eau Claire, ought to make for an excellent weekend. I hope to see a lot of familiar faces out there. I miss the WORS vibe when away, so I’ll be looking for a full dose. Don’t miss out on your experience either. Until then,

TJ

The four lap times tell the whole story: 36 minutes, 36 minutes, 43 minutes, 50 minutes. You could say that I cracked out there and it would be an understatement. Two strong laps had me in the top 30 and feeling great. Not long into lap three and my body tuned against me with an angry stomach, hot feet, a gook bonk headache – the lights had gone out. For some reason I decided to complete my fourth and final lap which turn into a desperate act of completion as I could hardly make it up some of the hills. This put me into more hurt than I’ve experienced all season. I’m somewhat recovered so I’ll give it a go today in the STXC. At least it can’t go any more poorly than the XC did. Awesome rides were had on the parts of Jenna Zander 9^th, Chloe Forsman 12^th, and Jen Gersbach 14^th in the pro women’s XC. Mike Phillips did the sea level folks proud with a strong 6^th place ride in the Semi Pro XC with a time that would have had him top 30 pro men. Nice riding,

-TJ

The Teva Games Mountain Bike race went off yesterday here in Vail, CO.  Our 4 pm start time meant lots of anticipation with plenty of quiet day-time hours spent waiting. At the start there were 50 of us pro Men, a sizeable field for a one-off event. The fans were out in full force, making more noise than I’ve heard at any other race.

And of course Floyd was racing so people offered him some largely undeserved hype. Come on VeloNews, Floyd sucked it up racing while under suspension and somehow he gets the press.  How about Jay Henry and his recent domination of the Colorado racing scene? Scandal continues to sell issues apparently. There’s lots of uncertainty about Floyd’s situation, but I can testify that his Testosterone has surely worn off because he was breathing harder and going slower than all of us up that first climb…  If you read the linked article, I appreciate Travis Brown’s comment the most. Well said.

We were off and underway for 3 laps that closely followed the route of the 2001 World Championship course. Two climbs of five minutes were followed by a sustained climb of fifteen minutes. In and out of the woods the singletracks nicely intermixed with the service roads. The descents were great; switchbacks, bermed corners, drop ins and just enough roots and rocks for some extra flavor.

Lap one I was back a ways on the first climb, but regained a bit later on that lap. Lap two I rode into the top 20 and by the top of the course a small group had formed with Ned Overend and Josh Bezecny. Ned had flatted on lap one so he was quick to drop us climbing on the final lap. Josh and I battled it out, going back and forth all the way up the climb. The only problem was that he was on a 5�? travel bike and I was on the hardtail with 80mm up front. I chased in earnest on the downhill, but he was able to open the gap before crossing the line. All things considered I was very pleased with my ride and how I felt out there.  I could go hard and better yet, I could recover and do it again when I needed to.

Today is the Hill Climb up Vail Pass on the skinny tires. It should be about a 30 minute effort that is sure to burn.  I’ll have more to report after the race, so this is all for now.

TJ