The Endurance Factor Team, based out of Florida, has taken an early lead in the team race for the Florida State Championship Series (FSC). For those of you unfamiliar with the FSC, it is a mountain biking (yes, there is mountain biking in Florida!) series consisting of 8 races that cover most of Florida. Surprisingly, there are some very good and technical mountain biking trails in Florida. Every year, riders throughout Florida race for both the team and individual top spots (see www.goneriding.com) .

Pro/Semi Pro field start in Gainesville, Florida

The Endurance Factor team is full of some very strong clients this year including Pro rider Martin Cox, junior top rider Jamie Knight, and women’s XC-2 leader Char Fosmoe.

Professional XC Racer Martin Cox racing for Endurance Factor in FSC #1

Martin Cox has had a great year of racing. After putting in some serious, quality miles this summer in Durango, CO, Martin headed over to Mount Snow where he won the National Championship in the 19-29 Super D class. In addition to this, Martin also won the overall National Series in the 19-29 Super D class. Recently, Martin’s ambitions led to his upgrade to Pro. He is working very hard to make his way up in the pro ranks for 2008-2009. So far, he has shown impressive results with two back to back 4^th place finishes in the Pro/Semi Pro XC class in the FSC.

Another Endurance Factor athlete, Jamie Knight, has started the FSC with a back to back winning streak in the single speed class. At 16, Jamie is racing against the top single speed racers in Florida and doing excellent. He gained a lot of experience this summer racing in many of the National Calendar races including the NOVA National, Santa Ynez National, and the National Championships in Mount Snow, VT.  The possibilities for Jamie are endless and with consistent improvement, he is on his way to a great start as a young mountain bike racer!

Char Fosmoe leading the Women’s XC-2 in the FSC #1 

To top off the Endurance Factor team, Char Fosmoe is racing in the Women’s XC-2 class. Char signed on with Endurance Factor six months ago. Her results have been impressive! Along with placing 3^rd Overall in the First Coast Xterra, Char won the first FSC and placed 2^nd in the second FSC. Currently she is leading the Women’s XC-2 class.

With the continued success of these clients, the Endurance Factor team is in excellent position of winning the FSC team title. They are currently leading by 9 points! The next FSC is this weekend in Tallahassee, FL, which is one of the most demanding courses in Florida. The Endurance Factor team will head into the race with great fitness. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and keep up the solid work. The results will keep coming!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to compete against some of the legends in the sport of mountain biking. I didn’t expect too much when heading down to Farmington, NM for the 2008 Road Apple Rally, but when I rolled up to the line there were two very familiar faces next to me. Ned Overand and Travis Brown, both residing in Durango, CO, decided to show up to the race. No longer was the race a “training race”. It was now an epic moment where I had the opportunity to race against some of best known racers in the country!

From left to right: Travis Brown(2 time Olympian), Jittery Joe’s Pro Roadie Matt Shriver, Ned Overand, Myself

A year ago I would have never dreamed of lining up and competing against guys like this. A lot of training under Doug Bush, and moving part time to Durango, CO, has made some surreal things happen including a Pro license and now competing with the best of the best. Another example; this past weekend after the epic Saturday race with legend Ned Overand, I went out for a nice long 4.5 hour ride. About 30 minutes along I ran into one of the top Pro’s in the Nation, Kenda/Titus racer Andy Schultz (had two top 5 finishes in National races this summer, also brother to Gary Fisher/Subaru racer, Sam Schultz). I was lucky enough to have met him a few weeks ago, so we rode together and talked about racing, training, local Olympian Todd Wells, other local athletes such as the two top collegiate mtn bike racers in the nation and now residing in Durango, CO also, etc.!  It amazes me how packed Durango is with amazing top caliber athletes! You never know who you will run into.

Bring it on Ned! (And that he did! He broke away with three others about 10 minutes in! That much more motivation to get better!)

So I will leave you by saying this. One year ago I was living in Fort Myers, Fl, with one 10 mile mountain bike trail and high expectations. Now I am living and competing with some of the top Pro’s and legends of the sport and have hundreds of miles of mountain bike trails. Talk about getting better, show up to the local short track once a week and compete against the top Pro’s in the nation! That will make you better if it doesn’t destroy you in the process! On top of that, I get to choose from many different trails to ride every day. If you ever get the chance, drop by Durango, CO for some of the best riding in the nation along with the possibility of meeting the legends of the sport! All I can say is the possibilities to improve in an atmosphere like this are endless! High altitude, endless trails, top competition, and a great coach to guide me along the way! Bring it on! I can’t wait to see what I can do in the 2009 season! Bring it on!