We decided to check in with XSI Athlete and Mountain Biker, Nate Miller of Park City. Where have you been hiding Nate? Earlier this summer, we first welcomed Nate Miller as an XSI Athlete, right after his outstanding 5^th place in the 2010 Laramie Enduro. This grueling race takes bikers through high grass plains, aspen and pine forests, and various cattle trails of the scenic Vedauwoo Recreation area of the Medicine Bow range in scenic Laramie, Wyoming. This is a must see for someone who has never watched an endurance race.

Nate told us that the Laramie Enduro Race Support Team was outstanding at several locations on this 75-mile course. And even better, a great feast awaited the racers after the race.  Nate said this feast alone was worth the ride!

Shortly after the Laramie Enduro, Nate got a bad case of bronchitis that kept him off his bike for 6 long weeks this summer.  This of course kept him from racing.

Nate did manage to get in a good fall race season though, despite his bout with Bronchitis this summer.  Getting back on his bike back in the middle of September, Nate said it felt like the very start of the season all over again.

Nate’s first two races this fall were both at Sundance Resort, over two consecutive weekends. The first race was the Sundance Single Speed Challenge. The following weekend was the 2^nd race, 12 hours of Sundance. Fall colors were in bloom for both of these races at Sundance. If you can ever get out to watch one of these endurance, mountain bike races next season at Sundance, you’ll enjoy some of the most beautiful fall scenery that the mountains have to offer.

The first weekend at Sundance, Nate finished 4^th place. For the first time back on the bike racing, it would be hard to see what the next weekend would hold. Nate decided to enter the next race at Sundance in the solo category, with the simple goal of just finishing the 12 hour race. Working into a steady pace and watching the laps go by, Nate ended up winning the Pro Men’s Single Speed Category and the overall for solo men.

With a few mechanical problems and a major crash during the race, both of the Sundance races proved to be challenging and Nate remarked that, “pacing yourself is crucial versus trying to race.”

What next? CYCLOCROSS! This was a great way for Nathan Miller to finish up the season. Cyclocross racing extends the season for an additional 3 months. More and more cyclists are taking part in this, as it is the fastest growing segment of the sport.

Cyclocross races are typically one hour, the pace is relentless, and the laps last from 8-12 minutes with sections of the race that have stairs that the riders must run up, and barriers that riders must dismount and run with bikes in hand. Watch some video of a Cyclocross race at this link: http://www.flahute.com/2010/11/01/utcx-5-hooters/

Nate also traveled to southern Utah on November 6^th and 7^th for the 25 Hour Frog Hollow race on a four man team. Nate’s team, “Dolly’s/Endurance” took the victory! His teammates included: Chris Peters, Keegan Swenson, and Troy Lupcho, (photos and results can be found at another popular mountain bike race site: www.mtbracenews.com.

The following weekend, Nov 13^th-14^th, Nate entered the USGP New Belgium Cup in Fort Collins, Colorado.   This proved to be one of the most challenging weekends of racing Nate has ever participated in. These races are stacked with professional riders, including national champions and world cup riders. Nate said it was a great experience to line up alongside some of the country’s top riders and experience this level of cyclocross.

Happy winter to all as the race season comes to a close on Dec 18^th. We’ll catch up with Nate again when his race season begins again in the Spring of 2011.

Attention Riders: If you’re planning a ride out in eastern Utah this winter, talk to the boys at “Altitude Cycles” in Vernal. Take a day trip and you can discover some great trails to ride in the winter months. Between snow storms of course!

“Nate Milller and Team_Frog Hollow”

“Dolly’s/Endurance” took the victory at the 25 Hour Frog Hollow Race. The team included: Nathan Miller, Chris Peters of Endurance Cycles, Keegan Swenson, and Troy Lupcho.

“The Angry Snowboarder” was anything but ‘angry’ with his affordable insurance from XSI.  In fact, this snowboarder’s story about his injury is worth reading because it reminds all of us how easy it is to get hurt. We at XSI are glad that his injury is healed up and even more glad that he had the insurance coverage to pay for it.  For $29 and change per month, this is money well spent.

“A while back I wrote a post about Accident Insurance featuring the XSI brand. For those that don’t know what XSI is, it’s a supplemental insurance to cover you in case an accident occurs. They offer a variety of packages to pick and choose from so all your needs are met. If anything having this gives you peace of mind while out on the slopes as you’re not going to have to worry so much if you decide to get a little too gnarly for your own good. It’s also a solid option for the snowboard bum types who are prone to having low income but need coverage. But like anything that sounds too good to be true there’s skeptics that consistently question how good it actually is and if they’ll process your claim in the event of an accident. Well unfortunately for me my peace of mind was shattered and I had to file one of these claims.”

“Instantly my hand was greeted with immense pain as I basically performed a hand spring and found myself sitting in enough powder to cover my body up to my neck. As I sat there with this now shooting pain in my hand Kevin was able to burrow his way up out of the snow and look at me. I looked at him he looked at me and we laughed then I said, “You know every time I follow you shit like this happens.” To which he responded, “Then don’t follow me!” So while we both pondered why we ride together and are friends I pulled the glove off my right hand to see that it no longer resembled a hand but more like a engorged meat block pulsating in pain. I looked at Kevin then back up to Jordan and said, “Well I’m pretty sure I just broke my hand I’m going home.”

“After you fill out those forms and mail it off there’s a bit of a wait for it to process. I think it was about 4 weeks before my claim processed but once again since the lady at the hospital kind of screwed things up mine is a bit off from a standard claim from what I gathered. They cut a check to the hospital for $1,200 out of my $3,200 bill. Then sent me a check for another $550 to cover expenses and pay it how I saw fit. $1,700 bucks out of $3,200 is pretty damn good compared to paying it out of pocket. Plus with the money being allocated to you directly you can pay things how you want.”

“I have the Signature Gold package from them and since my accident claim I haven’t had my rates go up or my coverage dropped. I still pay $29.50 a month and know that these guys will take care of me if I decide to continue to get too gnarly for my own good. Have my thoughts changed since this about the company? Not a chance they’ve done their job 100% to what they promised me and I’m content knowing that this is truly the most affordable option I could have covering me”

Click here to read his full review- “How good is XSI Insurance?”

My name is Jesse Delgado, I am a sponsored snowboarder and avid surfer. My sponsors are: Gramicci, Vans, and The North Face.

I spend my summers in San Diego surfing and skateboarding, and my winters in Salt Lake City Utah snowboarding. I heard about XSI last summer at the ASR trade show in San Diego, CA. I was hyped to find a company that insured athletes and the prices were super cheap. That following winter I packed up all my gear, bought a $90.00 dollar one-way ticket to Salt Lake City, and caught a taxi cab to the Alta Peruvian Lodge, located just up the street from Snowbird Ski Resort. I had planned to stay and work for the winter and compete in “The North Face Masters” a three stop tour for big mountain snowboarders, that kicks off at Snowbird Ski Resort in Alta, UT. Two days before the competition I hit up XSI and signed up for there “Signature” insurance policy.

The stage was set for what is to be another epic “TNFM” at Snowbird Ski Resort, the comp had been postponed two days due to huge storms, low visibility, deep snow, and avalanche danger.  I was the 9th rider out of the gate that day, I made a few turns and straight lined into my first huck, about 30 feet out I clipped rock and fell another 20 feet to the ground. Everything went black for a few seconds and I knew I was seriously hurt. I flagged down Ski Patrol and was rushed to The Mountain Medical Center. In the end I tore up my hands, suffered from severe hematoma, fractured 4 vertebrae, and had a hairline fracture on my hip! I spent two days at the hospital before I was released. Right away I hit up XSI and filed a claim, a month later I opened my mail box and I found a check for $5,500 dollars. Needless to say I was extremely relieved and happy to see how much I had received. If you are a athlete, who plans on pushing his/her own ability’s in any sport I would definitely recommend you check out XSI!

The second night was quite the opposite, we returned from a late dinner at the Salmon Bake restaurant and during dinner the coulds had opened up into a torrential downpour.  The original plan was that we were all camping in a 1950s army wall tent.  However when we got back from dinner we all found our sleeping bags pads and pillows sitting in a small lake which used to be known as the bottom of the tent.  That was a miserable night, we all split up between sleeping in the rental van, the guide’s pickup truck backseat, and his toy hauler trailer where all the bikes were.  Looking back it was a good way to toughen us up for the rest of our time in AK, dealing with pretty much all the seasons each day.

It was beautiful up there with amazing views all around, and we watched the fall colors coming out while we were there, it was full on fall by the time we left.  We also saw some great wildlife; bald eagles, moose, and fox just to name a few.  We didn’t see a bear the whole time, but they were around, we saw tracks everywhere, and didn’t go anywhere without our bear bell and bear spray.  You can see my backcountry toilet in one of the photos!!

Another unique experience was that Jason, the owner of the Salmon Bake bar and restaurant invited us to ride across the bar one night to put on a show for his customers, I thought this was a pretty fitting thing to do with my bike considering my homebrew beer graphics!  So we all took turns riding around up there and threw some tricks off the end, pretty sweet!  It was an extremely tiring trip with all of the time we spent hiking ridgelines with our bikes, working on trails, and of course riding every day.  We ended up eating a ton of Clif Bar products throughout the day to keep us going, since we usually missed lunch because we were out on the hill.

On the last day we ended up lucking out with the weather and getting an amazing sunset, which enabled us to finish shooting at this really cool zone with some awesome berms and a couple big jumps.  As the light was almost gone I finally stomped my big trick for the trip that I had been saving till the end because of the danger factor, and it couldn’t have been more golden light when I did it!  As soon as it was done I sprinted down the hill to the car, immediately took apart and packed my bike, and drove to the airport arriving 1 hour before my flight, just in time!  All in all it was one of my favorite trips I’ve ever been on, and I’m sure I’ll be back next year!  Big thanks to Clif Bar, Gravity, Haro Bikes, Cannondale, and Contour HD for making this happen!  Also thanks to Jason (www.denaliparksalmonbake.com <http://www.denaliparksalmonbake.com/> ) for all his help, and my wife Megan for all of her local AK knowledge.  I apologize for the photo quality on some of these as they are all iphone photos, you’ll have to wait for the article and videos to see the real thing, this is just a teaser!

Eric Porter

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After much contemplation on the accident risk associated with his daily activities, Nate finally decided he was too smart to trust fate any longer and got on one of XSI’s affordable insurance plans. XSI is not just mountain bike insurance, but insurance that covers Nate even if he trips while walking down the street.  The best part is that the Signature plans from XSI start at $15.40 per month. Not bad for a starving artist in a ski town.

Nate has been riding and racing bikes for a long time. With bumps and bruises along the way, he felt it was time to secure an affordable insurance plan. Good thing he did. With a series of top ten mtn bike race finishes from 2008 to present, on and off road, Nate should have some kind of coverage.

Nate has had top results in some of the popular mountain bike and road races in the western states. Some of which include a top ten finish in the Breckenridge 100, The Galena Grinder, Pierre’s Hole 100.  Nate also finished 12th place at the 2009 Single Speed World Championships.

In 2010, Nate placed 5th at the Breckenridge Fire Cracker 50 (Marathon National Championships), 2nd at the Galena Grinder, 5th at the Laramie Enduro,  and has had top ten finishes in road bike races throughout the rocky mountain states.

When asked what type of racing Nate prefers, it’s hands down the marathon cross country races. This type of mountain biking has been around for some time. Most people have heard of the infamous Leadville 100 in Colorado. For many years, this was one of the few marathon cross country mtn bike races of its kind.  These days, there are a number of these events all over the country.

Marathon racing consists of a whole day in the saddle, racing in grueling mountainous terrain, through national forest areas, forest service access roads and mountain passes. Covering distances between 50 – 100 miles and total elevation gains between 10,000 – 20,000 feet or more!

Does that sound ridiculously hard or what? And we really are talking, up a mountain and through the woods here, not just a bike in the park.

We’ll continue to watch Nate Miller as he finishes out the rest of the 2010 mountain bike race season.  Nate, we hope it will be an injury free season!

Accidents happen. That’s a fact, right? Everyone knows that. But people tend to think it won’t happen to them. Have you considered what you would do if you tripped on the front steps of your house, fell off a ladder, got poked in the eye, or stepped on a shard of glass? These things happen to the safest and most careful every single day. Household accidents are the third leading cause of death in the US according to a recent study.

Then why don’t we think we need an accident plan?

Recent industry studies show that the most common reasons people think they don’t need an accident plan are:

• Most people are not aware that accident plans exist as stand-alone policies.
• They think their major medical plan will be enough to cover their expenses.
• They won’t qualify.
• They can’t afford it.

Luckily for consumers, none of these objections are valid. Here’s why…

Accident plans have actually been available for many years. Until recently, however, they have not been an area of focus for marketing organizations and health insurance agents because they have been focused on other products. With the up coming health insurance reform and rising health care costs, agents and organizations have begun to look closely at providing this vital coverage for their clients and members and are getting the word out.

Companies such as XSI Sports Insurance, are committed to putting the emphasis on accident coverage that these products deserve, according to Andrew Scott, Inside Sales Agent. “We find that people don’t even know these plans are out there,” Scott adds. “They are so valuable. I get excited offering XSI accident plans to people because I know how much they need it!”

What happens if you get injured while working around the house or playing basketball? What if your child is injured on the playground at school or on the soccer field? And now you can’t go to work on Monday. Your major medical plan will not cover you for that lost time at work. Most accident plans will!

If you had to take an extended time off of work because of an accident or injury do you have the financial resources to cover your living costs? If not, you may need an accident plan even with a major medical policy in place. It also might be helpful to remember the deductibles, co-pays, and share of costs associated with most medical plans. Accident plans are designed to help pay for these unexpected expenses.

Accident plans are so easy to qualify for and afford. Many plans are guaranteed to be issued, have no pre-existing condition exclusions, have a short 1- 2 page application, and begin at $12 a month for substantial coverage. Online submission, electronic signatures, and credit card payment options make getting an accident policy fast and easy.

To find out how an accident plan can help you specifically, it is best to speak with a licensed health insurance agent. There is a good amount of information available via the internet as well. With the cost of these plans being well within the average family’s and individual’s budget taking the time to research accident plans, no matter how you do it, may be the best time you have spent in protecting your family against the expense of an accident. An accident plan can give you security, knowing you’re covered.

Major Medical Health Insurance is a HOT topic today. Everyone is thinking about it and talking about it. Maybe you are asking yourself questions like:

• Do I have enough coverage?
• Why are my premiums so high?
• What does my deductible mean?
• What are exclusions?
• How can I be sure that I’m covered but save money on my premiums?

These are common questions. Below we will help answer these questions and help you understand what major medical is and how to get the coverage you and your family need.

Do I have enough coverage?

Knowing whether you have enough coverage can be a difficult thing to determine. Basically you need to ask yourself a few questions:

Do I have enough savings or financial resources to pay the entire cost of a major illness or accident? (Remember, these amounts could be in the millions of dollars on average.)

How much of my financial resources do I want to spend paying for medical needs?

After you have determined the answers to these questions, it is valuable to work with an experienced agent to research the available options and how each addresses your individual situation. You can also research on the internet various plans and programs which may be right for you.

Supplemental medical policies such as critical illness, cancer, or accident can help ensure that you have the maximum coverage in the specific areas that are of concern to you.

Why are my premiums so high?

Premiums are determined by many factors such as age, sex, risk class, etc. But basically, premium is controlled by three things:

1. Choice
2. Share of Cost
3. Features

The more choice and features and the lower your share of cost your policy has, the higher your premiums will be. Adjusting those will also give you the most flexibility in premium. For example: you may choose to limit the number of doctors you can see and take a greater share of the cost by raising your deductibles or co-payments in order to keep the features you need at the cost you can afford. But there are many combinations insurance companies offer today that give you control of the plan and the price. One of the least expensive, fastest, and easiest ways to keep features and choice high and share of cost low is to add a supplemental health insurance policy such as an accident, cancer, or hospitalization plan to your major medical plan.

What does my “deductible” mean?

Deductibles are simply the part of your medical cost you have agreed to pay before the insurance company begins to pay their part of your medical treatments costs. Deductibles can run anywhere from $500 to $15,000 on average. Some policies with deductibles pay 100% of all costs after you have met that deductible. Other plans may pay 80%, 70%, or 50%, which leaves a significant amount of the cost of care for you to pay.

Deductibles are an excellent way to reduce premiums and keep features high. If you think you are paying too much in premium you can reduce that cost and save hundreds of dollars each month just by increasing your deductible and adding a supplemental health plan to your insurance coverage. By combining your high-deductible medical plan with a low-cost, feature rich supplemental health plan you can ensure that you have the maximum coverage at the minimum cost.

What are exclusions?

Exclusion are the types of treatments, services, procedures, etc. that your plan does not cover and therefore, your insurance company will not pay for. Exclusions vary per policy but there are general exclusions on most major medical policies such as acts of war, elective surgery, fertility treatments, as well as many others. It is critically important that you know the exclusions of any policy prior to purchase. A knowledgeable agent is one of the best ways to ensure that you not only know, but understand the exclusions of your policy and how they may affect you. Having a supplemental medical policy can cover some of those exclusions if an excluded service is of concern to you. Speaking with a licensed health insurance agent can be the safest and easiest way to explore the options you have in regards to exclusions and supplementing them with a specialized policy for your individual situation.

How can I be sure that I’m covered but save money on my premiums?

Spending money for health insurance you don’t feel you use and may not understand can seem like a frivolous expense during tough economic times. But having major medical insurance with a supplemental policy is an ideal way to ensure that you have the best coverage for unforeseen accidents and illnesses. The combination of the two gives you the maximum control of features and cost available in the health insurance market today. Supplemental policies can be customized to your unique situation, are available to individuals and families, and cost as little as $10 per month for significant levels of coverage. Generally, supplement plans do not have the underwriting requirements of a major medical plan and can be issued immediately, in some cases. Once you have chosen to add a supplemental medical plan to your coverage or if you have specific questions, speak to a knowledgeable health insurance agent, research the plans via the internet, or call your current health insurance company. However, an experienced health insurance agent will be able to detail how to reduce your major medical premiums and customize your coverage to your specific situation. In addition, a good agent will be able to explain the costs and benefits of each option so that you can have peace of mind knowing you are covered at a price you can afford. Anyway you decide to explore your options, it is a good idea to know that your medical costs are going to be covered without spending too much to have the protection you want and need.