Bike Season is Almost Here...

....and I can't wait. Going to strive to keep things a bit more up to date here in the blogosphere. In the mean time, here's what my team is going to be up to in 2013. Pretty lucky to get to race with such an awesome group of committed folks who are doing great work in the world.

MTBracenews.com Press Release

March 21, 2013

The Epic Brewing/MTBRaceNews.com team is returning all five team members for the 2013 season as well as many of the sponsors that helped make the 2012 campaign so successful. Epic Brewing, Utah's premier microbrewery, is returning as the team's title sponsor. Epic Brewing's biggest move of 2013 however will be the opening of its newest brewery right in the heart of Denver, Colorado. Our team is also proud to represent some of the most trusted names in mountain biking today including Stan's No Tubes, Pivot Cycles, Kali Protectives, Ergon, CarboRocket, Continental Tires, DNA Cycling, Honey Stinger, Go Ride Bikes and Xpedo pedals.

The team will be competing on the all-new Pivot Mach 429 Carbon and Les frames in all racing formats from cross-country to enduros to hundred-milers.

The team's strong female contingent includes Karen Potter (Shrewsbury, MA) and Jen Hanks (Salt Lake City, UT). Karen has been an elite level mountain bike racer for over 10 years, with the last five years focused on ultra-endurance racing. Career highlights include a 2^nd place women's overall at the inaugural Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic Stage Race as well as podium finishes at multiple NUE races including multiple seconds at Shenandoah 100, Lumberjack 100, and Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race. When not riding, Karen works as a massage therapist on both humans and horses! The rest of her time is spent walking her adorable pug Bruschi.

Jen Hanks finished the 2012 season as the Utah State Championship Series overall Pro Women champ. She is two for two in 2013. She won the pro women races at ICUP #1 and True Grit 50. In addition to racing, Jen facilitates numerous women's skills clinics where often times over 40 women participate to hone their skills. She also volunteers at Utah High School Mountain Bike races as a girl's category sweeper where she encourages high school girls new to racing. When not racing and volunteering, Jen works as an occupational therapist in the public schools helping students with disabilities access their education.

The men’s side of the team includes Shannon Boffeli (Salt Lake City, UT), Matt Williams (Waterbury, VT), and Jens Raz (San Diego, CA).

Shannon Boffeli, the founder and inspiration behind MTBRaceNews.com, has been racing mountain bikes since 1992, and as a pro for ten years. He created MTBRaceNews.com to fill the gap in mountain bike race coverage that left some of America's premier MTB events without media attention or national recognition. Career highlights include top-10 finishes at TransAlps and TransRockies, plus a third place singlespeed finish at the 2013 NUE #1, True Grit 100. Additionally, Shannon is co-founder of the Park City Point 2 Point and the Utah State Championship Series. It is also rumored that he is behind Salt Lake's uber-popular, top-secret, underground short track racing series, Bush League Short Track.

Matt Williams is a perennial leader in the Northeast Mountain Bike scene. He has coached collegiate mountain bike teams, promoted races, raised money for mountain bike scholarship programs that provide bikes and mentorship to middle school girls, and conducted skills clinics and bicycle repair clinics.

Matt is also pretty darn fast too. He is a 5x collegiate national championship podium finisher. He also has finished 2^nd at the Swank 65 MTB race, 5^th at the Vermont 50 MTB race, and 5^th at ORAMM. Matt races as a Pro in everything from short tracks to hundred-milers to enduros. He was on the top step of the podium four times in 2012.

Jen Raz is a mainstay in the southern California endurance racing scene. You name the race and Jens will be there. Raz is a frequent flyer on the expert/Cat 1 podium too taking top finishes at the Big Bear 50 and several installments of the 12 Hours of Temecula. Jens is just as fond of racing on the Velodrom as off-road! He has been involved in numerous mountain bike skills clinics exposing new riders to the joy of mountain biking. Jens’ biggest accomplishment in 2013 is becoming a first time dad.

The Epic Brewing/MTBRaceNews.com team will be attending some of the biggest, most exciting races around the country. Look for them sporting their kelly green jerseys at Whiskey 50, Sea Otter Classic, Marathon Nationals, Trans-Sylvania Epic, multiple legs of the National Ultra Endurance series, and many more.