A big, fat, old Blue Moon setting over the Colorado countryside as the first shuttles left the venue this morning in Crested Butte.
Anneke Beerten makes last minute preparations to her bike before she sets off this morning.
Greg Callaghans hand. The doctor says that the bone is as strong as it will get and his range of movement hasn't been damaged, but after weeks without being able to move his hand the muscle isn't 100% yet.
Not only do Chris King make some amazing components, but Chris King himself is at the event making breakfast for everyone. Pancakes, eggs and bacon for the win!
It was a pensive Florian Nicolai who set out this morning. He doesn't feel this race suits him, yet headed out without a backpack this morning and smashed his way to another solid top ten, just behind his championship rivals, Rude and Leov.
Stage one was a tough one for wheels and tyres. I counted five smashed carbon rims being walked past me this morning...
Kelli Emmett knows the trails here in Crested Butte well and it shows - she stormed her way to third this evening.
You have to take your hat off to Anneke Beerten. Not only was she the fastest woman today, but she rode most of the day with a gashed knee that required a hospital trip this evening to get it sewn back up.
Not the best day for T-Mo, but you can't win them all. Fifth overall on the day--fifth on stage one and fourth on stage two. And while she may be nearly a minute back after a single day of racing, there are two big stages tomorrow, as well as the remaining stages on Sunday. So don't count Moseley out.
This weekend was always going to suit Francois Bailly-Maitre. Coming from a cross-country background he has the legs and lungs for this kind of racing and he's a big guy to hold the bike steady on the fast, rough straights.
His performance last time out in Samoens seems to have brought Thomas Lapeyrie to life and he holds fifth this evening.
Rene Wildhaber went on a mission on stage two, visibly looser and faster than anyone else who came through to claim the stage win and bring him up to fourth this evening, just six seconds off the lead.
The transfer to stage one was not too terribly awful on the eyes.
Meggie Bichard finished 8th today, pretty solid for a privateer racer.
Ines Thoma, 7th place at the end of day 1.
The working man's hero: Joe Barnes was smooth as glass in some of the rougher sections of track... good enough to land him in the top 20 despite living at sea level.
Justin Leov didn't have the best of days, finishing in 9 overall for the day.
"It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll" -AC/DC. Adam Craig channeling AC/DC on transfer stage 2. The final mile climbed 600 vertical feet, depositing riders at 11,500 feet above sea level.
Cecile Ravanel finished second today, 11 seconds back of Anneke. But with Beerten sustaining an injury that required stitches in the first stage, she must be wondering what happened.
Jerome rode with a full face today, and while it may feel safer on the downhills, it must have been a little bit painful on the long climbs of the transfer stages. 7th place at the end of the first day and well within contact of Graves with two big days remaining.
See that dust cloud back up the trail? That's where Graves took a few seconds to throw in some cartwheels on the top of stage two. Not a worry, though, he's still on top, but a three second lead over Nico Vouilloz, the alien, is hardly a safe lead with two days of racing remaining.
Heather Irmiger out of the gate on stage 2 with nothing but blue skies and a rock and roll trail stretching out ahead of her.
Mike West. Old man West is still kicking ass on the race course. 11th place for the day and top American.
Isabeau Courdurier has been working her way up through the womens ranks, and managed a 4th today. Can she keep it up?
Greg Callahan won the second round of the EWS this year in Ireland, and followed that up with a second in Scotland. Unfortunately he went on to break his hand, and is now trying to work his way back up the ranks.
Marco Osborne was only 16th today, but he managed to win my personal photo of the day award with this shot.
You can never count out Fabian Barel, 6th at the end of the day, and only 21 seconds behind Graves. Competition is tight.
Only three seconds between Nico and Graves after an epic day of racing... this promises to be a battle royale over the next two days.
Only two weeks ago this kid stood on the top step. Richie Rude may be some 31 seconds back right now, but with two days of epic racing to go, he's not to be counted out.
Jared Graves crashed pretty hard in the meadow on stage two, but still managed to pull out the overall win for the day.
Anneke Beerten was on a tear today despite a crash that cut open her knee on stage one. She never complained about the knee, instead calmly going about the business of taking over the top spot on the day.
Enve's or not, if they are on EWS bikes they are going to be a brand-name and not light bike or nextie. I'd be curious as well to hear Matt's round-up of the carbon wheels destroyed.
Seems like if you are wearing knee pads they should prevent a gash over the patella. Maybe wrong level of padding chosen by the rider within that brand's options? Poor design? Anyone have experience with those pads? Mine have a full plastic shield over the knee, aren't very noticeable when riding and I think would have prevented this. But hey stuff happens.
CB is a great town with super-friendly locals. It's different from the rest of the ski-town BS along the i70 corridor. It's a bit harder to get to but worth the extra effort. We'll be spending our labor day there and I can't wait.
It is a tyre plug tool for closing thorn type punctures on tubeless tyres: I bought this one instead for my riding: Dynaplug® Micro Pro - Tubeless Bicycle Tire Repair Kit: www.dynaplug.com/bike.html