This past weekend I got to go to Sol Vista near Granby, CO for the annual Mountain Bike National Championships. I went to watch some of the riders that I have been working with show how all the hard work and training has paid off. While I’m stoked on how all of the riders who have been using my programs fared there were a few notable performances I wanted to highlight.

On the girl’s side,  Jacquie Harmony scored a second place in both the 4X and DH races. Riding for Team Vixen, Jacquie started using the Ultimate MTB Workout Program this last off season and epitomizes the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed at that level.

The men’s Pro 4X final saw two MTB Strength Training Systems clients take first and second. Team Yeti’s Ross “The Crusher” Milan edged Team Gerinomo’s Brian Buell to take home the Stars & Stripes jersey. I’ve been working with both teams and Brian, who has been steadily rising through the Pro ranks, has been using my programs for the last few years. I’m really stoked for Ross, we had a talk at the beginning of the season about how hard it was to juggle being competitive while being a dad – glad that he is able to do both!

On the DH side of things the real drama was who was going to get second and how close could they could get to Team Yeti’s Aaron Gwin. Gwinny worked like a mad man this off season after tasting what was possible towards the end of last season and the work we’ve done, combined with his extra year of experience, has taken his riding to a level no on in the US can touch. He crashed hard in qualifying and worked his thumb so bad he thought he was going to need to tape his hand to the handlebars to he could hang on. Despite having to set the pace right off the bat and noticeably being in a ton of pain he was still able to lay down a 2:21 and win by 3.5 seconds.

However, the good news did not stop there. Tyler Immer is one of the up and coming Yeti riders who I met at the team camp and has been working hard using my DB Combos program to get in shape during the season…that’s right, he’s been using it during the season and improving rapidly because he did not fall back on the “I don’t strength train during the season” excuse. He railed down the mountain to a 3rd place finish, missing 2nd by a little over .2 seconds.

So, on the men’s side, 2 of the top 3 finishers in both the DH and 4X use programs and strategies from MTB Strength Training Systems. On the women’s side we saw a double sliver medalist who also uses the same programs and strategies. I don’t think I really need to say much more…

Congratulations to all the riders who competed this weekend, it takes a lot of guts to line up and lay it all out there. No matter where you placed or how you trained you have my respect.

-James Wilson-