It's been a busy July the Kenda - Felt Mountain Bike Team. The month started with the Firecracker 50 which doubled as the US Marathon National Championships. Although we had high hopes for this event, luck was not on our side. Colin Cares, running in a podium spot suffered a catastrophic flat from the detritus on course ending his day. Andy Schultz also ended his day early with a header on the first lap causing him a slight concussion. Amanda Carey also struggled to find her rhythm ending her sting of wins on the marathon circuit. As we say, that's bike racing.
The following weekend the team headed to Colorado Springs for the final event on the ProXCT calendar. This was a 2 event weekend with both time trial and cross country events. Colin and Amanda took top 10's in the TT with Judy Freeman rounding out in 11th place. We'll note here that Judy hadn't been able to train all of June due to family emergencies (more on that later). The following day, Judy took the top 10 in the cross country with Amanda following close behind.From there, the team headed to Granby, CO for the US National Cross Country Championships. Again, Judy put on a strong performance taking a top 10 in the cross country and following that up with a 6th place in the short track. On the men's side, Colin had one of his finest days since moving up to the senior ranks taking 7th place in the short track. Andy was close behind finishing the day in 11th place.
The last event for the month was the Teton Pass Hill Climbs, a combination event with back to back road and mountain climbs. Best cumulative time wins. Amanda Carey took on this challenge with delight, winning the event and setting new course records in the MTB portion and the overall.
August will be a busy month for the team. Andy, Colin and Judy are attending Crankworks this coming weekend, then heading to the Keystone Revival Mountain States Cup on August 7th. Amanda will be participating in the Leadville 100, Fools Gold 100 and the Shennandoah 100 on Labor Day. She is going for the overall win in the NUE series. With 2 wins already booked, she is on track to complete that task. Towards the end of August, Judy will be racing at the Windham World Cup where she hopes to ride as a member of the US National Team. Colin will take on the Breck Epic stage race.
We also want to pay our respects to Judy's family after the loss of her father in late May. Judy and her family were fortunate to be with him in his last days. We're reminded again of the importance of family and that the bikes will be there when the time is right to ride.
Until next time,
Kenda Felt MTB Team
