Andy Schultz at the top of the climb rising out of Skull Valley on his way to winning the Whisky 50 in Prescott, AZ

Our head chef at The Cycling House just took his first win of the year at an amazing race called the Whisky 50!  The Whisky 50 is a 50 mile mountain bike race held in the outdoorsy high desert town of Prescott, AZ and draws mountain bikers from all over the Western States and beyond.  In the longer mountain bike races (usually over 30 miles) Andy has always been one of the best in the country.  His main competition in this race was Tinker Juarez, arguably one of the most decorated and successful professional mountain bikers in the world.

Andy keeping an eye out for dangerous ax toting fans

Once the race turned hard and the climbs got the best of the nearly 300 racer field, it came down to Tinker and Andy all alone. Tinker pushed the pace hard at the top of the hour long climb out of Skull Valley and crested the top with a handful of seconds on our boy.  Andy, nursing a flat on the descent into town, kept Tinker’s gap manageable but couldn’t quite chip into the time that he needed to get back.  At some point during the last couple of miles of the race, knowing that Andy was chasing hard, having over 3 hours of incredibly hard riding in his legs and fatigue setting in, Tinker made a fatal mistake. He missed a well marked turn in Prescott that cost him the race.  Andy, being attentive enough to follow the signs to the finish (which is the riders responsibility) rode across the finish line thinking he took 2nd. Spectators and announcers notified Andy that he had won the race and broke the course record by 2 minutes in the process.  As you could imagine, there was a little confusion that followed and Andy lobbied for Tinker to take the win beings that he was ahead of him during the last few minutes of the race.  This didn’t fly with the race promoter, fans and the city of Prescott for they adored Andy for his valiant effort during the day and chivalrous act of allowing Tinker to still take the win even though he didn’t cross the finish line first.

Andy ripping the descent on his Felt 29er.

By the end of the day Andy officially took the well deserved win and stood on top of the podium with a whisky flask in one hand and Hammer Nutrition bottle in the other.  It was a great day.

Brendan Halpin likes to go fast

The Cycling House Staffers, Brendan Halpin and Jen Luebke raced the Tucson 10k on Sunday and found themselves to be right on track in their training for the upcoming triathlon season. Brendan placed 4th overall and Jen surprised herself by beating her goal for the race.

Jen Luebke at her best.