Village of Perg, Austria

A drive through Perg, Austria. While racing at Windhaag bei Perg, the week of 6/3/2007. We stayed in this village 8 days.

SALSA CYCLES, JEFF HALL @ Park City, Utah: NMBS # 4 (6/17/07)

Melissa has a clean towel and cool water at the finish.Park City, Utah was the start of a final run at a strong finish to the NMBS racing. With a 10th place finish here, it showed the fitness that was needed. Only 5 seconds behind 6th place Todd Wells.

Olympic Long Team 2008

Check out the Velo News link on my blog. Look at the Race Coverage / Nov. 21: Mountain Bike News & Notes, article for info on Olympics.

Thanksgiving Snow, Ya!

20 degrees & flurries: the way Thanksgiving should be.

How's that for posting a snow picture a couple days earlier to have it delivered on Turkey Day.

Winter Thoughts

SALSA CYCLES, JEFF HALL @ Laabentaltrophy 2007: Austria Cup at Brand-Laaben, Austria (6/10/07)

A RECAP OF EUROPE AND SOME STATS ALONG THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD

Howdy,

It's me again, I am looking at my notes in my log from the trip. We have been in Europe for 2 weeks so far on this race adventure. The trip started in Zurich, Switzerland, we drove right up to Offenburg, Germany the day we arrived. Spent the first 2 weeks in and around the Black Forest region for the World Cup in Offenburg. The roads and villages in that region were incredible. We were able to go on rides and I went on a few hikes in the forest. There was some logging going on and I also found some deer stands in the forest. On one hike I climbed up into a stand, it was about 20 feet high on the edge of a clear-cut. I ate lunch and enjoyed the view. The country inn we stayed at had wireless Internet, so we were able to communicate with our families back in the USA and race promoters in Austria. Just to put things into perspective, this trip and the trip to Belgium back in April, Jeff and I stayed in rather small villages. There was only one or two people in each of those villages that we had contact with, that could speak English. Each day was an adventure in itself. The situation made you realize how self sufficient you have to be in another parts of the world. You can't take things for granted!

All in all it was a pretty incredible experience to be over in Europe twice this summer. Jeff was representing the USA at all times whether he was riding his bike on a training ride in the country or racing at the different race venues. We drove about 950 kilometers on the Belgium trip, and 4000 kilometers the second trip. We were able to travel through Germany, Luxemburg, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Jeff raced at 4 races over there. Two World Cups, and two Austria Cups. He earned a 7th place and a 3rd place at the 2 Austria Cup races. Jeff earned 37 total UCI points in Europe, which goes toward his Olympic bid. It is now November, and Jeff has 130 UCI points for the year of 2007. That ranks him at 161 in the World and 8th American. In the USA National rankings, he was 13th in the series. At the USA National Championships, Jeff finished 9th. A very solid racing adventure year of 2007.

Mike

SALSA CYCLES, JEFF HALL @ Asvo Osterreich Grand Prix: Austria Cup at Windhaag bei Perg, Austria: UCI Level 1 (6/3/07)

Howdy,

On the second weekend in Europe we find a race in Austria at the village of Windhaag bei Perg. It is a level E1 UCI race. Equal or above a USA National race. The race promoter is very pleased to have 2 Americans, Jeremiah Bishop, of Trek out of West Virginia is also registered. The race is loaded with top riders in the World Cup standings. For the womens race, the Chinese National Team shows up.

The race starts right in the middle of the Village. It drops into the local forest. The course is full of steep climbs and 2 vertical drops, one of which is between 2 huge boulders with a tiny opening. Very challenging!! Jeff had a good race with a 7th place finish. Jeremiah takes 3rd. Christoph Soukup of Austria wins. In the womens race a member of the Chinese Team wins. The award ceremony was very impressive, the whole village was there, including the Mayor.

A neat fact about the course was that it circled around an old castle in the forest. The castle was built in the 1200's. We went back up during the week after the race and Jeff used the course for training and I did some trail running.

The racing at this point is going very well, with Jeff picking up another 16 UCI points in Windhaag. That gives him 49 points in the last 3 races! He was moving up in the world.

Mike

SALSA CYCLES, Jeff Hall @ Offenburg, Germany: World Cup #2 (5/27/07)

TEAM SALSA: Pro Mountain Bike Racer, Jeff Hall & Team Manager/Driver/Wrench/Travel Coordinator/Language Uninterpreter, Mike Hall. Spreckin sie English any-one, eh?

The plan: Fly into Zurich, Switzerland, drive into Germany. Race at Offenburg, the World Cup. Find a race somewhere in Europe on the 2nd week-end, to pickup UCI points, then race the World Cup at Champery, Switzerland. Come home, simple eh?

Raced at Offenburg in a total mud fest. Had a top 95 finish. This is good. Thousands of spectators braving the rain and mud. Bleachers full of fans in the middle of the woods eating brats and drinking beer in a pouring rain. Yelling as the racers slide, slip, sprint and ride by in the gumbo mud. The fans have a passion, there is no doubt. Biking in Europe is a true sport.

.

SALSA CYCLES, Jeff Hall @ Maplelag MTB Spring Opener: Callaway, Minnesota: UCI Level 2 Race (5/12/07)

The great thing about sports, a chance to fight another day! 3 keys to a great turn-around, Family, Handle on allergies, no dust and Home turf! Jay Richards & Crew put on another excellent event. Course was challenging and it was in some real live woods, Minnesota Style.

It was a much needed win and along with it came 30 valuable UCI points. It was a great way to set up for the trip to Europe. It was good to have my family with at this race.

SALSA CYCLES, Jeff Hall @ Fontana, CA: NMBS #3 (5/5/07)

I stayed out in California for the week, seeing that both Nationals were with-in a few hundred miles of each other. The plan was to drive up to Big Bear Lake in the mountains rent a cabin and train in the fresh alpine air for the week. My allergies were out of control down in the LA valley! Norm flew home to punch the clock for the week, then flew back out on Friday night. He got up to Big Bear about 2:00AM and slept in the rental car. After a quick breakfast we started down the mountain. This is the area of California that has all the wild fires. The mountain road is twisty, narrow and drops like a rock. Norm chased me down the mountain with his rental Chevy Cobalt and me in a Toyota 4Runner, good times!

Back to the mountain bike racing. This is the race that used to be the Big Bear Race but somehow it got shoved down into the LA basin, to a burb called Fontana. It is a big dusty foothill alongside a drainage channel, next to a strip mall, go figure, yippy!!

The race started out great with a first lap in the top 12 riders. The dust got to me after that and the rest was just survival, it sucked! Finished somewhere in the 30s'. Not what I needed, 2 dusty lousy races for me. The tickets were already purchased for my 2nd European World Cup trip. It didn't look good for the Team Salsa from Minnesota.

SALSA CYCLES, JEFF HALL @ Chamberlin Ranch: Los Olivios, CA: National Mountain Bike Series #2 (4/28/07)

SALSA CYCLES, JEFF HALL at Houffalize, Belgium: World Cup #1 (4/22/07)