Hey everyone, it’s Tucker.  I wanted check in and give you an update on my mountain bike racing.  This summer I’ve been racing at Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minn.  I’ve been able to race six of the eight races so far and am having a blast.  Penn Cycle puts on the races and it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to hang out.  It’s been a nice break from racing, even though it’s still racing!

Mandi, with the help of Mellow Johnny’s (Lance Armstrong’s bike shop in Austin, Texas), hooked me up with an awesome bike for my birthday – check out the photos on my website.  I’m just getting used to it but am already noticing huge improvements.

This past week I finished 13.  It was my second best finish and my second race with my new Trek.  I haven’t made any changes to the bike but plan on switching out the suspension for Fox Racing Shox and might change the tires.  I’m learning a lot about bike set-up and how much it can make a difference.  I guess it’s just like any other type of racing.

I’m going to skip Buck Hill this week because the Spring Creek motocoss national is this weekend.  After this weekend, I have a three-week break from racing motocross so I should be able to get in more mountain biking.  My goal is to continue to improve each week and hopefully tighten the time gap between the leader and I.  It’s a new sport to me so I’m learning something new everyday.  I love it and am completely addicted.  Good thing Mandi likes riding too.  She hasn’t raced yet but is signed up for the Short and Fat at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival in September.  It’s a 16-mile race that both Mandi and my best friend Rob are racing.  I’ll be in the 40-mile race with my buddy John.  I raced it for the first time last summer and it was the gnarliest race I’ve ever been in.  Sometimes I wonder why I signed up again!

Okay, back to work.  There’s a lot of stuff to get done for this weekend.  If you’re in the area, I hope you plan on being at Spring Creek in Millville, Minn on Saturday.  It should be a great race!