new! Fall in Canada... - Finally holidays!
This is my first autumn here in Canada. The leaves already started to change color since the end of September, each day the view is more and more beautiful, it is like being in a dream, colors everywhere: dark green, yellow, orange, rose, red…wow so many tones, so magic, so good smell!
It is getting cold and the changing of the colors is a sign that the winter is coming soon. It is a nostalgic time, the frizzing wind carry the leaves that already fall. Sometimes rain, but most of the time it is blue sky contrasting with the colored trees. In two week we will celebrate Halloween and the people here already started to decorate their houses. I don’t know yet how it works because it is not a tradition in my country, but at the next edition I will let you know my impressions. [see pics]
Miss you all and have a nice spring or fall wherever you are!

St-Ferreol-Les-Neiges - When the things don't go so much as planned
After training a few days on the beautiful desert singletracks around Moab, Fruita and Grand Junction, we headed on to Boulder, Colorado, where we spent our last night in a motel (after 58 nights in a row!!!). The next morning, we drove our car for 38 hours non stop and arrived in St-Ferréol-Les-Neiges (Québec, Canada). St-Ferréol is a small village nearby the circuit of the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup (name of the ski mountain nearby). There is a large variety of MTB trails for all levels, for lovers of cross country, freeride or downhill, and, in the winter, this place is the second largest cross-country ski center of North America. The Mount-Sainte-Anne Provincial Park offers many facilities for practicing sports and making contact with the nature. The community is very active and the practice of sports is a way of life to stay healthy. "Mister Energy" Les Parsons runs the initiation and development ski programs offered to the kids of the community and he works very hard on promoting sport in the local schools.
When we arrived in St-Ferreol-Les-Neiges on april 29th, we were expecting good weather since the spring already started more than a month ago on the calendar, but to our surprise it was snowing, 8 inches of fresh snow had fallen during our first night in St-Ferréol!…wow, how will I train now? This is where I learned how to adapt to all weather conditions…we went for a cross-country ski training session, the first day we did 3 hours, the second day we did 3 hours and the third day we did a 5 hour ride of back-country skiing in the northern wilderness. I am still learning proper technique, but it is a great way to get a general aerobic workout as it works the cardiovascular system in the same way as Mountain Biking. Check out the pictures of “Jackie the X-C Skier” in the gallery. Soon, more pictures from the trails here will come, but without the snow. Don't miss it...

Moab / Fruita / Grand Junction - The three special bike spots in USA
Moab is a small village that the American bikers visit very often seeking for adventure (It was my favorite between the three). We arrived in Moab by the end of the day after a very long trip coming from Monterey, were I participated in the Sea Otter Classic. We were very tired and I hadn't done training yet, so we parked the car at the Tourism Information Center and started to bike toward the famous trail called Slick Rock. It has this name because the entire ride is on huge slick rocks. It is very different and a great way to train power. We biked until the sunset and we were lucky that it was full moon night and we could bike until 9 o'clock. The following day, we rode in another cool trail called Porcupine. It starts by climbing a dirt road that becomes a very technical uphill with big natural steps. After this comes the fun part, a very long and technical downhill finishing at the Colorado River, amazing! Moab pictures
The second village is Fruita. I find it strange because it is a very flat city. The city welcomes the bikers and there are a lot of information about courses, rides and races. The trails are out of the city. When we arrived at the trailhead parking full of cars, I was impressed by the number of girls biking. There are trails for all levels, the most difficult are very technical with tight curves; sometimes I wished I had a full-suspension downhill bike to descend. I recommend the "Troy Built" and "More Fun" trails. The third city for mountain bike riding is Grand Junction; it is 10 minutes away from Fruita. There are a lot of trails also, easy to find, very fun and technically challenging as well, with a nice view of the nearby canyon. That's all for now and you can check out the pictures at the gallery.

Flagstaff
If you are searching for a place for altitude training, the city Flagstaff could be a great option. I discovered this city by searching information about high altitude cities in the USA on the internet . I fell on an article that was talking about the high altitude preparation of the Brazilian national swimming team in this city. Since the Norba #2 was in nearby Phoenix, I had no doubt to choose this location for my altitude preparation.
Flagstaff is located at 6906 feet of altitude (approximately 2100 meters). Many tourists stop by while visiting the famous Grand Canyons park or following the historic Route 66. The largest local employer is the Northern Arizona University (NAU). There is a high altitude training center in the NAU as well, and they offer special packages for athletes, but the prices was a bit too high and so I decided to stay in a simple hotel nearby, according with my budget. Some days it was snowing, but it was possible to bike at altitude during most of the days, sometimes we hit the snow on the trails so we had to walk until the trail was clear again. Sedona is 40 minutes away, so we were able to do good quality mountain bike specific skills training. [See photos in the Galery]

A paradise of mountain bike trails
Hi fellow cyclists! Everything fine?
I am in the US since March, preparing myself for the American World Cups. I already participated in two stages of the NORBA series and now I am in Flagstaff doing altitude training for the Sea Otter Classic that starts on April 14th. I am working hard and not having much luck in the Norba Series Races, in the first race, I could not ride my bike after it got all clogged up with mud and in the second a flat tire in the Short track forced me to start last line on Sunday's cross-country... but I really liked my Norba race experience debut and it is always difficult to start something new.
... there are still many races to go this year...
Yesterday, I had many memories of my hometown, remembering the trails of Belo Horizonte... "Perdidas", "Retiro", "Desaparecidas" mountain bike trails... rocks, steps, red soil,... dust. That's because I rode in a paradise of mountain bikes called SEDONA. It is a city in the Northern part of Arizona State, surrounded by red mountains and canyons. The ground is the same as my homeland, hard with rocks and red soil like the "Retiro" mountain bike trail, except that there is one big difference... you are always pedaling on single tracks (no roads), 300 milles (500 km) of trails around the city. Can you imagine?
I was lucky to meet Chewy (a bike mechanic and downhill racer) and he showed me the trails that the people ride on. You will find some pictures in the Gallery and I really want to share this trail with you. I was riding (4 hours of very technical single tracks). If you ever plan to travel to the US, don't forget to visit this place... it is simply fascinating!
That's all for now, miss you all,
Jaque
PS: I met Laura and her husband Lance in Sedona. She is a brazilian friend who does adventure racing and we rode together for a day, it was really fun, and there is a picture of her as well.