OS Performance Nutrition began after a euphoric experience at the top Mt. Graham in eastern Arizona, the highest peak in the area at 10,720 feet and home of the Mt. Graham Observatory due to its high elevation and consistently clean air. The story goes something like this. Dave was riding in the Pacific Atlantic Cycling (PAC) Tour, an excellent ultra-distance cycling camp run by the infamous Lon and Sue Halderman, at one of their Arizona Desert training camps held in early March.

The fateful day began after 4 days of 100 mile per day riding in the PAC Tour Desert Training camp from Tucson, Arizona through Tombstone, down to the Mexico boarder and back up through New Mexico. At the end of an exhausting day 4, Dave remembers looking at the peak of Mt. Graham and thinking about the 137 mile challenge ahead the next day with a beyond category climb of 5,000 plus feet up a steep, winding, beautiful, snow covered mountain right in the middle of the high altitude desert course.

It was intimidating to think about the challenge ahead on day 5 as he viewed the mountain top from the hotel base camp in Safford, Arizona at an already high altitude of roughly 5,000 feet 30 miles away from the base of the mountain, where the climb begins. The crazy thing is that it was not mandatory that the PAC Tour riders climb Mt. Graham. You could simply ride up to the PAC Tour aid station at the base of the mountain and proceed to Lordsburg. The course is rated at only 91 miles, but when you add the 23 miles straight up the mountain and then race back down you have added another 46 miles to the course. To add complexity to the challenge, the ride up the top was unassisted. You are on your own to plan appropriately for the climb, carry what you need mentality. Mt. Graham is a pristine and primitive state park with no commercial retail or grocery stores within its boundaries just like it should be. It is just you, your bicycle and nature.

Why would anyone add 46 miles to an already long day and climb Mt. Graham unassisted if you did not have to? Dave thought it seemed like an interesting challenge, but he knew it should not be underestimated and preparation would be paramount. The other thought was how many times in your life do you get an opportunity to climb such a beautiful mountain on a bicycle.

What does this have to do with OS? Well up to day 5 of the PAC Tour that year, Dave had only paid attention to physical training, mass market off-the-shelf nutritional supplements with solid food and water at each aid station stop. This strategy seemed to work as he did ok on all of the prior rides, however they were fairly flat Arizona and New Mexico desert rides. It was during the week, that PAC Tour brought in a nutritional scientist to present the idea of nutritional strategy and how best to fuel your body while riding long distances on a bicycle. The presentation was inspiring and refreshingly new information to Dave similar to the bike fit clinic. It seemed amazing the benefits you gain when you focus on minute details of performance.

It was on day 5 of PAC Tour and the big Mt. Graham climb that Dave knew he needed something more than physical training to conquer the mountain. A friend at the camp helped him create the first batch of OS with the recommended raw, all natural high quality ingredients as suggested by renowned nutritional scientists, with no simple sugar and no flavor additives.

Armed with OS batch 1 in two water bottles and one water bottle in the back pouch of his jersey of straight water, Dave comfortably rode to the first aid station 30 miles into the ride at the base of Mt Graham. All of the other riders, roughly 50 in total, were talking about the climb and had heard that the mountain was closed due to 12 inches of new snow that had fallen at the top of the mountain that night. Dave remembers the frustration of all the preparation only to be shut-down by weather.

Defeated, but still inspired Dave thought at a minimum he was going to ride up the mountain and touch the crossing gate at the highest point possible on Mt. Graham before turning back to head toward Lordsburg. All of the other riders wrote off the climb, and Dave could not entice even one rider to climb up to the first crossing gate approximately 3 miles up the mountain past the first aid station. They thought it would be a waste of time and effort.

So riding alone Dave thought he would take a quick jaunt up the mountain to appease his curiosity and go as far as humanly possible up the mountain by touching the crossing gate. The thought was that he could then quickly catch back up with the group after tempting fate. With the sound of snow plows working the mountain ahead, Dave road from the aid station to the first crossing gate. To Dave's surprise the first crossing gate was open. There were snow piles on each side of the road, but past the first crossing gate was a clear, black, beautiful asphalt road with an intense desert sun acting as a solar blanket to warm the road ahead. It was kind of like Moses and the parting of the seas Dave thought, something like a religious experience. The snow plows must have just plowed the wet snow to allow for a clear path.

Another 40 minutes and 5 miles later the second crossing gate was also open. Hallelujah! It appeared that the snow plows were working fast enough to keep well ahead of Dave's riding pace up the steep mountain. Along the way the mountain terrain changed from desert floor to scrub brush to a pine forest. The air was clean; the sun was bright, creating perfect conditions for the ride. Two hours into the ride Dave remembers drinking OS1 along the way and not sure if the nutritional science was going to help. He drank it anyway and kept riding.

After passing the third and final crossing gate at mile 18 Dave knew the top was within reach. The views of the surrounding valley were incredible. The road behind was like a winding black snake up the mountain. The valley views to the West were crystal clear and looked far away like a view from an airplane. The mountain side was an amazing fairytale like setting with a dense forest of snow flocked pine trees and the mountain fresh scent of crisp, clean Christmas pine.

Dave remembers how difficult it was to get to the third crossing gate with 5 miles to go to reach the top. The road was not just steep, but also the temps had dropped about 20 degrees Fahrenheit along the way from the 60 degree temps at the dry arid floor to a cold 40 degree temp at the top of the mountain. Dave had all the right gear - long riding tights, extra warm wool socks borrowed from a friend the night before, riding gloves and the extra jacket to keep his engine warm. Dave's heart was pounding louder than normal it seemed at the high altitude. Each pedal stroke seemed harder than normal, but he kept to his regimen of sipping OS1 every 15 mins up the mountain.

After 4 hours of riding and 3 hours of constant climbing Dave reached the top of Mt. Graham. A glorious moment of achievement that quickly turned to adrenaline laced excitement as he turned around at the end of the pavement and looked down at the long winding road that he just climbed. His heart was pounding due to the lack of oxygen and the expectation of a fast and furious, no pedaling scream of a descent down the 23 miles of twisty, turny clean black pavement. After just 10 minutes of his no-pedaling descent, his hands shivered from the constant clasping of the brakes and the cold wind whipped temps near the top. The lack of physical activity amplified the cold. The temps eased noticeably as the descent wound through the pine forest to scrub brush and the view of the desert floor ahead. It was only 40 minutes of a pure adrenalin rush to the bottom and back to comfortable 60 degree temps at the base of the mountain. Many years later this still remains as one of the most exciting climbs of Dave's life.

The remaining ride from the base of Mt. Graham to Lordsburg was unremarkable other than it was long and flat with occasional rolling hills. Since Dave was the only rider that day to reach the top of Mt. Graham, the support wagons were long gone and packed up thinking that all riders did the 91 mile route. Well this is where OS batch 1 came in handy. Dave was not sure if the two bottles of OS and one extra pure water bottle was going to be enough. It was a lonely 61 miles, but Dave made it in surprisingly strong fashion.

"I remember rolling into the hotel 3 hours later than the last riders and Lon Halderman, camp owner and famous ultra-distance rider, said Dave what are you doing still out on the course. Dave remembers telling Lon "I did Mt. Graham." Lon said "you did what?" "I did Mt. Graham." Dave remembers the great feeling of achievement - reaching the top of Mt. Graham, riding farther than anyone else and feeling strong at the end. Dave knew that something happened on that day, something important, something organic!

This is the story of the genesis of OS Performance Nutrition. Since this fateful day, Dave and the team developed a complete line of nutritional products based on a simple philosophy. design all natural nutritional products that achieve optimal performance for the conditions. Our OS line of high-end nutritional performance products are specifically designed for pro, elite and amateur endurance athletes that appreciate the feeling of real nutritional performance.

All it takes is one drink of OS on a long hard day to understand what I am talking about.

If you ever get a chance, you need to ride to the top of Mt. Graham at least once in your life. Just be sure that you are prepared and of course take OS Performance Nutrition with you.