The EPC Xterra Team Presented by Wheat Ridge Cyclery had a stellar season debut in the Las Vegas desert last week at the first Championship Xterra event of 2010. The Xterra West Championship brought out many of the best amateur and professional racers from across the country and after the dust had settled EPC’s “Hairy” Jason Michalak (pictured) walked away the as men’s amateur victor while finishing 8th amongst the pro’s! His incredible swimming power, continually improving mountain bike skills and steady running speed allowed him to lead the amateurs out of the water, keep the second and third place amateur males in sight on the bike and blow by them as they wilted under the desert sun in the closing miles of the run. One spectator even commented after the race saying she heard him mutter “check this shit out” as he ran past second place to take the lead with his zipper pulled down and shorts hiked up high. Well I think it’s safe to say that everyone was checking him out (especially the ladies) post race as he stood atop the podium and collected his medal. Well done!
HJ was not the only age-group victor in Vegas for EPC. Danielle Kehoe, despite a nasty head on collision on the bike, managed to gather herself and fix her bike 10 plus minutes later and continue on to finish 4th overall (20 seconds behind 3rd) in the woman’s amateur race, easily winning her age-group. She finished only 11 minutes behind the woman’s amateur winner, so there is no doubt she would have been in the mix for the win if she could have avoided that crash. Look for her to win some races in the coming months!
Rickey Tolliver and Ed “Legs” Oliver were putting the hurt on the men’s 40-44 age-group. Early season races are tough on these old guys, but they raced hard and battled each other out there finishing 3rd and 4th in their AG respectively. Rickey took a digger, almost losing a nipple, on the run but bounced up, dusted himself off and kept on going to his solid early season performance. Old Man Ed, racing a loner bike from WRC, was heard explaining after the race “the legs kinda let me down today. I was talking to them all race trying to inspire them to give that extra little bit I needed, but they refused. I think I may need to give them a bit more attention when I get home this week.” Well some good rub-downs and a little TLC to those babies should get them ready for Waco in a few weeks time.
Nils Holten, men 50-54, slashed something like 15 minutes off his swim this year, cruised the bike course like it was nothing and chugged home on the run into a 3rd place AG finish! Way to go Nils. This guy has been working hard all winter and will be one to watch this year at all the big events. Cary Kinross-Wright, still early in her training season, raced Vegas as a training race and still managed a solid 4th place AG finish in the always competitive woman’s 35-39 group. In another month or so she will be coming into form and likely battling Danielle Kehoe for the overall top spot. Sandi Garcia raced to a 5th place AG finish aboard her new bike. Also a bit early in her training season, she will continue to improve while attempting to make a redemption trip to Maui in October.
On a disappointing note, Jason “wattage cottage” Hilgers was riding into strong position on the bike setting himself up for a strong run when he ripped his chainring right off his crankset that led to a DNF a short bit later. Hilgers was looking for a strong early season finish in Vegas, but will have to wait to crush the field until June in the Alabama hills.
In the Xterra Team competition the EPC Squad tied for 1st place with some other team. Hard to believe, but apparently it’s true. Read more. Expect everyone to be on their game in Texas next month as we do battle in the woods of Waco.
Go Team!
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