Team Alchemist Blog

Brett continued his dominance on the Xterra circuit with another win at Beaver Creek. The man is on a mission for World dominance.

John P. rode like a man on fire at the Hundito to earn this 3rd place podium spot in the Singlespeed cat. I went out fast, but couldn’t hold him off, as he went by me at mile 30 like i was standing still. Strong work, Pavlik!

Hooge (middle) busted out another impressive Trail Run Podium at the Quad Rock 25 in Fort Collins. This was one of his shorter races, normally competing in some of the hardest running Ultras on Earth.

Drew went to Italy to compete in the 24 Hour Solo Worlds. Two years ago, he won the 50+ group in California. The competition is traditionally much stronger in Europe, but Drew, as per usual, showed up with guns ablazing.        “In just about 13 hours I will start the 24 Hour world championships in Finale Ligire Italia. Start is 10 am – about 2 AM your time. I have an ace support team with more than 30, 24 hour races between them – 2 mechanics, 1 ⅓ therapist, 2 camp “moms”, 1 photographer – of course this is all  3 people; Toni, Wesley & Nick. We have the system dialed. Hopefully I put in the work over the past 6 months to ride well.
The event is huge – 400 solo riders. We are all on a 10 k course so things will be tight. Lots of “ciao”, “grazie”, “tranquillio (calm down). It will not be lonely out there.  I did well in the WEMBO worlds in 2015 in California but this is a whole different deal. We are in the heart of cycling here. No expectations for placing, just hope to ride well.”

He rode so fast the cameras didn’t have time to focus.

Railing a turn on the way back into the transition point.

Some pretty spectacular night photos. Drew wore his custom Team kite with WEMBO World Champ Stripes and the American flag. The ghetto number plate was his backup. Bike #1 crapped out, so he had to ride Bike #2 for much of the race.

Drew’s doppelganger joined in the on the fun.

Drew’s impeccable crew. Toni, Wesley, and Nick. Loads of 24 hour experience between them.

“Sorry – this mail never went out. We are in Italy after all. Anyway, the internet crashed so there was no line timing anyway. Just finished the 2017 World Championships. I finished 3rd in the 55 year old age group. The winner, Peter, from Australia was 2nd behind m I. The 2015 Weaverville worlds and he won the 3016 event in New Zealand. He was just too strong all 24 hours. He led from the start, I got close but never close enough. It was back and forth between the Belgium in 2nd and I and he prevailed. I rode really well on a tough course. Very, very twisty the entire course. Rocky, steep loose technical climbs. A bit too hot for my liking. I had some trouble eating enough (editors note: he was puking his guts out) and had to take a break at 2am – something that won’t work if you want to win. I recovered well (editor’s note: after two hours of tossing his cookies, he dragged his ass back into the saddle and pedaled like a warrior poet) and moved back up the field. Very fun race. This is a huge event with concerts and parties all going on while we raced. Our course goes across the stage. My crew was of course, perfect. Now a little down time on the Mediterranean coast of Italy.”

Well done, Drew. Makin us proud!

Josh stomping the dirt at the Gold Rush Gravel Grinder. Is that Blue Steel?

Noel and Russ competed in the Glacier 360 in Iceland. Those two adventurers are no strangers to exotic and hard-ass riding. They raced La Ruta a couple years ago.

Spectacular terrain. And wet feet.

The duo were strong day in and day out in the exposed and rugged conditions.

Job well done, Fellas!

Gangsta

Max has become a force on the MTB circuit. He is riding for Boulder High, and he dominated the Short Track C series this past summer. Here he is on his way to winning the Short Track race, cape and all! Justin G. was hot on his heels and took second in the race. Way to go, fellas!

Laurie completed her first Half Ironman. She is normally an ultradistance cyclist, knocking out ridiculous 1200k rides in one sitting. She just started running and swimming this year.

Way to go, Laurie!

Another sub 5 hour century in the books. The fall edition was impressive. “Solid turnout yesterday, sorry we missed you! Not sure if you’re still keeping the Alchemist blog up to date? Regardless, here is the first of a few emails with my pictures from yesterday’s effort. No Hooge professional photog out there today — just me trying to capture the chaos while red-lining my heart rate and holding on for dear life to the wheel in front of me. Oh, and I hoped not to take anyone down in the process… 16 started: Geer, Vigil, Schaeffer, Brunner x2, Asnes, Pierce, Youngblood, Kellagher, de Kerf, (unknown), Doriese, Fross, Kreidl, Swanson.”

The start was strangely foggy. Here is the group riding into the pea soup.

Mike runs a tight ship. If you don’t keep a dialed paceline, you will be flogged.

The day cleared up for a great day of riding.  Mercifully, I was committed to a U10 soccer game, so I had to miss the fun (i.e. didn’t have to get spit out the back of the peloton)

Brett is still on fire! “Well, we got some hardware today. One spot off the top of the amateur podium, but I snagged my first Xterra Pan-American AG Championship and my first Xterra U.S AG national championship. Not a bad day in ogden after been sick for so long. All the love to Nick Truitt and Sydney Truitt at Breck Bike Guides and my main man Jeff Wu with Alchemist. Kappius Components for helping keep me on the absolute best wheels on the market. So many more to Thank! Also congrats to Kiki Silver on her AG U.S Championship. Representing the Colorado Athletic Club Boulder crew! #paincave #xterranationals A few others that must be thanked and they know why. Lindsay TackSabrina HuffakerWill KauanuiLindsey Ness DeNeenBlair Carroll MurphyErin HanselWhiting Dimock LearyRussell Herbert and of course Marcus Allen Hille”

Big thumbs up! Brett has several wins this year along with being the Pan American Champ. He will be representing Alchemist and the U.S. of A. at the World Championships in Maui later this month. Get some, Brett. Want to know more? You can follow his training and competition blog here: http://bretttack.com/