""Having been 2nd and three times 3rd place at Mountain Bike National Championships, I was anxious to get a win."

Colin Cares
This past weekend brought the Kenda-Tomac-Hayes riders to Sol Vista, CO for one of their most important races of the year, Mountain Bike National Championships. The past two years, National Championships have been held in Mount Snow, VT and East Coast riders who excelled at the muddy, rooty, riding also excelled at the race. Being that all of the Kenda-Tomac-Hayes riders live at altitude in the Rocky Mountains I think that we were all happy to have Nationals return to the dusty, long-climb, high-elevation West.

The first race of the weekend was the Under-23 (U23) National Championship race. It was Colin's last year as a U23 rider and he was racing near where he competed in his first ever mountain bike race so I think he was looking to put his stamp on the race. And he certainly did that. Colin took the lead early in the race and never looked back. I'll let him tell it:

"Having been 2nd and three times 3rd place at Mountain Bike National Championships, I was anxious to get a win. This year, preparation and good fortune were on my side, and I held a small gap over Rob Squire to win the U23 National Championship. As a Colorado native, I love long aerobic climbs and was able to stretch my gap each lap on the course’s long lone climb. Rob would reel me in a little each descent, which kept the race exciting and stressful right until the finish. I remember reaching the top of the final downhill with a comfortable gap and vowing to ride a safe and smooth descent. Seconds later, I washed out my front wheel in a corner and went sailing over the bars. Fortunately my bike was unharmed, and I jumped back on with so much adrenaline that I didn’t notice my skewed handlebars or the rock lodged in the front of my helmet. I can say with confidence that the final switchbacks and finishing straightaway of the course were some of the most fun bits of bike riding I have ever done. On the one hand, riding well was so much fun that I immediately get motivated future races. On the other hand, winning nationals makes me think back on all the support that has gotten me to this point. Great family, coaches and friends, and exceptional support from USA Cycling and great companies like Kenda, Tomac, and Hayes, and Hammer have made it possible to pursue this dream. "

So Kenda-Tomac-Hayes has a National Champion on their team. I've attached a couple of photos of Colin. I think red, white, and blue are his colors.

Saturday was the elite men's and women's cross country race. It was a tough course with a long, sustained climb and a rough and dusty descent. Zephanie was the best finisher for our women with an 11th place finish. In the men's race I battled for 4th and 5th all day but in the end the race was one lap too long for me and I had to settle for 6th.

Sunday we all woke up with sore legs and bodies from digging deep and/or crashing yesterday but we all saddled back up and competed in the short track race. It was a very atypical short track course. Generally in a short track you never have to leave your big ring and there might be a really short, steep climb to contend with. We faced a course that went straight up a ski hill run and came straight back down. It was by far the longest climb I had ever seen in a short track. Again, Zeph was the best finisher for the women with a solid 10th place. In the men's race I finished 8th and Colin was 10th.