Just over 2.5hrs on the mtb on Saturday out at Frisco peninsula. It was awesome to finally be riding dry singletrack out there. Sure it's not the great trails Summit County is known for, but still dry dirt trails just a 15min drive from my house. Bike felt good, and wearing a HR monitor for the first time in a while (thanks Helen and Nike), it was cool to see that on some steeper climbs I could still get my HR up to 188. I prob rode around or above LT for good chunks of time, in the 165-175 range. Sunday I got up early and rode Vail Pass and back to the house to shed some layers.
Then I met up with Filip Meirhaeghe for another couple hours. Filip has been coming to Breck every May or June for several years now. Coincidentally he stayed in a condo my office managed, and ever since we've tried to get him a good deal when here training. His career has been a shooting star, going from overall mountain bike xc World champion to a banned rider due to a failed drug test due to EPO use. In this article, Filip states "I took EPO for the first time in my career seven weeks ago during a training camp in Austria. I absolutely did not want to fail at the Olympics, which was my ultimate goal," he continued. "As soon as I heard the positive result I knew it was the end of my career."
He admitted the pressure was overwhelming for him to be the best in the world. Now after his 2 year ban ended, he was back with a different sponsor racing most of the World Cups, including a few top 10s and a final 10th overall for the 2007 series. Surely there are riders who still hate him for what he's done. But he seems sincere in his approach now, and says he served his ban and is back training. He and his wife Kelly had a baby boy 11 weeks ago. Between his new family, his ongoing work restoring his old house, Filip tells me his motivation is changing. He is fortunately an auto-qualifier for the Belgian Olympic mtb team, so that is his final carrot if you ask me. The world championships in early June (Olympic year), a few World Cups for training, and then the Olympics. After that, who knows for him.
