Team Blue Sky MD’s preparation for their San Juan hut-to-hut mountain-biking excursion is taking place NOW. Four members of Blue Sky, MD are participating as a group in a seven-day, wilderness excursion in which they will be riding between 30 and 40 miles a day to huts along the San Juan Mountain Range. These huts will be stocked with canned goods, water and sleeping bags. The arduous trip begins in an alpine area (above tree line) and finishing in desert, crossing what is also categorized as high dessert plateau.
The team has weight control specialist Yuri Eliashevsky to thank for their participation in such an adventure. Yuri has wanted to partake in this excursion for at least ten years and was hoping to do it with Dr. Dave (Dr. David LaMond) following their success at the Pisgah Stage Race a couple of years ago. During that event, the team raced five days back to back to back. They couldn’t fully enjoy themselves or let their guard down since each day they had the pressure of keeping their time and standing. Now, they’ll be covering 200+ miles with no timeline or set schedule.
In order to be ready, Team Blue Sky MD is kicking their training schedule into gear. This past weekend Yuri accumulated 40 miles of mainly off-road travel while experimenting with his gear set-up. On Sunday he dragged Jon Cartwright, another team member going out west, out of Asheville for a bike-packing shake-down. Dr. LaMond and Matt Sand (Kinsay Sand’s husband) headed down to Clemson, SC Sunday morning to pre-ride Isaqueena State Forest’s cross-country loop.
This follows their participation (and placement!) in last week’s Asheville Chamber of Commerce’s 5K. Bret Pacheo, Blue Sky MD’s Certified Public Accountant and Matt’s co-worker, also had participated in the 5K and is accompanying the team to Durango. Geoff Bergmark (Lisa’s husband) was in town this weekend readying the family for their move to Maine. Besides getting the house, family, and bike ready for relocation, Geoff has been racing his cross-bike in Upstate New York and kayaking and canoeing in his “free time.” Geoff as always remains in tip-top shape and the group looks to him to be setting the pace. Scott Unfried, owner of Hendersonville’s favorite restaurant, West First, is a late addition to the team, having signed on in May. Scott favors long days in the saddle at a casual pace and does so primarily in Pisgah, taking part in such events as the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race and the Pisgah 111. Scott has been readying his gear and coordinating his logistics since joining the team.
In early July, Team Blue Sky MD will start their journey off-road beginning in Durango, CO and finishing in Moab, UT. The Team’s start date of July 3rd is right around the corner, and they anticipation is building! Stay tuned to hear how it all turns out!
To learn more about their tour, check out this link.
