Colorado Springs Races

For the second Sat race, I rode in the 4-5 crit, on a course that was shorter than Iron Horse, but with a hill very much like it. I hung in for the entire race; field was about 40 riders. It was really windy, and even though guys would get off the front, nothing would stick. As we came through S/F with one lap to go, 2 guys got a bit of a gap, maybe 20-30 meters. We were heading towards a 180 degree turn around a boulevard, so I jumped across, bringing another guy with me. Karen got a great shot of my move. The 4 of us consolidated the gap, made the 180, and bang, an old woman drove onto the course right passed a four feet tall barricade. We all sat up, freewheeled just a second or two, and the group came back just as we were getting ourselves reorganized. Meanwhile the old lady, freaks out, and goes speeding down the road on what turns out to be the wrong side of the road/boulevard. I wound up finishing 21st -- such luck.

The Saturday TT was 12.75 everything but flat miles. The race was Open category with most of the 54 rider field being 1's, 2's, and 3's. I finished 37th overall, but 3rd when the results are broken down by category.

Sunday, I raced 3-4 for the RR. It was pretty much a 3’s race. Field of about 75. Super windy with a steep downhill, tailwind start. We hit near 60mph on the descent, had to bang a right hand corner with all that speed, turns out there was a crash in Pros who started 10 minutes prior. On the sides of the road, was a van and an ambulance, and about six guys laying in the gutter with broken bikes, wheels, and what looked like a couple of broken collar bones. The van on the left side was in my line, so I locked up by bike, skidding but staying upright. I was not the only gripped riders; you could smell burning brake pads in the group. I missed the van, but by now the group is stringing out single file. I spent the next 5 miles or so, on the rivet, trying to stay out of the wind as we approached the 4-5 mile climb back to start finish. Needless to say, I was gassed and was one of the many guys coming unhooked from the group about half way up the climb. On the descent, the second time, I caught another rider, but he wasn’t too interested in working with me. Even though he had better legs than me on that flat headwind section, he thought he could make the next group up the road without me, and I had to let go. So I rode the climb into the cross head wind, alone. Then I decided to pull the plug midway and get an early start on the way home.

Vuelta A Bosque, Day 2 (Criterium)

OK, I was never in this one. Legs were like lead and I was dropped by the middle of the 2nd lap! Still, I came here to race, so I kept at it, basically a 40 min time trial. And, I did not finish last - catching and passing another dropped rider about half way through. Finished about 2 mins down. Eric was up there for a while, before he got spat out the back as well. He had a long drive back to Texas, so decided to get a headstart on that.

So for the weekend, I was 9th out of 15 starters, 10 finishers. I'm pretty happy with that, considering this was a training race and I did not taper for it. Learned a lot for the Tour of the Gila in a week and a half. (Spencer Compton of Durango Wheel club won the TT, RR and GC for the weekend - go Four Corners cycling!).

Anyone got a set of aero bars I can try for the Gila? That will make a huge difference in the time trial if I can get comfortable at high speeds with them. Let me know!

Vuelta A Bosque, Day 1

It started early with a 7 mile time trial at 7am. Very nice course on excellent new roads with little traffic, south of the ABQ airport. 1/2 mile 7% hill in the last mile and a half - ouch! I ended up in the middle of the pack at 18:19 - quite satisfied for my first racing time trial.

Hooked up with new Ciclistas member Eric Strong before the start of the road race at 1pm. Eric is a friend of Doug's and joins us from west Texas - where he says he can't find enough racers to train with.

40 mile out'n'back road race with a 20mph headwind going out, tailwind returning. I felt great for the first 15 miles, and then got on the wrong side of an echelon for far too long, and got dropped on the rollers at mile 22. I was dead last at that point! Up ahead the accelerations in the bunch were starting to shell more people, including Eric. I caught up with him (siempre los farolitos rojos por los Ciclistas!) and together we started to reel in more. Caught two more on our way to the finish, and nearly caught another pair at the line, just 3 seconds down. Good strong finish, I just gotta figure out a way to get through miles 20-30 without getting dropped! Times have not been posted yet, so I'm not sure how far back of the bunch we were.

40 minute criterium tomorrow - goal for me is to finish without getting lapped!

Lessons for Ciclistas

Don't raise your hands until you've actually won.

College A race in Fruita, CO with the reigning National Crit Champ getting pipped at the line.

Sunday Ride Time Change

Let's meet at 10:00 AM in Flanders Park-- temps should be in the mid 40's, warming to near 60. Plan on at least 2.5 hours with an option for another 1.5 hours. If we have a large enough group, we will work once again focus on the long pull.

Mad Cow Classic Weekend

Saturday's RR: Long, windy, with a whole lot of grinding false flats ...

...and the guy on the ATV looked to be having more fun as Ciclistas riders suffered through and finished in the latter half of the field.

Sunday's Crit: Windy and Fast. We averaged 24 mph in spite of the 30+mph wind gusts. The group stayed pretty much together with the race coming down to a sprint finish. I took a flyer with 1/2 lap and three turns to go. I led into the finishing straight, faded, and was overtaken by a group of six in the final 30 meters. We met and raced with a Dr. Steve, a friend of Jim Hanosh's. Nice guy who comes to the 4 Corners from time to time to work with Mac Wyman. Later I learned that woman you can see is Tiffany Pezzulo, a former National level crit rider, described by my friend Renee, who's a national champ on the track, as "really freakin' strong."

Steve chasing hard and wondering: "Just how exactly does 45 minutes in Fruita translate into 12 hours at Mesa Verde? "

Mad Cow Classic results?

How did everyone make out up in Grand Junction? How were the racing conditions? Did everyone enjoy the race? Please update those of us who couldn't make it with all of the details.

Thanks
Jeff Fox

Hill Laps, anyone?

Thinking of doing some laps on CR31 above the high school on Wed eve. Meet at Flanders park about 5 'til 6:00, short warm-up ride out 145 for 5 miles and back, then 3 laps up and down the hill. I usually do 1 sitting all the way, 1 standing all the way, and one however I feel. See you there!

Riding with NM Velo Sport Cycling

When I found out I would be traveling to Albuquerque for Easter weekend, I started looking for a group ride I could join in with so I could get my miles in this weekend. On the NM racing series website I found group rides for the state and the NM Velo Sport club sounded like a good bunch to ride with. I emailed a club officer about it and he said I was welcome to join in. I met up with 21 other riders at 9am at a parking lot next to Perfection Honda used car lot at the intersection of Academy and McKinney. I was one of only a couple of people who drove there as most of the other people rode their bike to the start. After a little discussion between members about which route we would take that day (some wanted to climb and some wanted to roll the flats) it was decided we would climb on this day. The route was as follows -McKinney to San Pedro to Tramway at the Interstate- up Tramway to Central -East to Tijeras and then South up Tijeras canyon. Once we topped out on a mesa up Tijeras canyon we turned around and retraced our route back to the start. It was right at 70 miles and 3hours 45 minutes of hard riding. They ride hard but they do slow down and regroup at the top of any big climbs although getting that many people through traffic lights is challenging. It was a good ride and I met a lot of really nice people and I would reccomend this group ride to anybody that finds themselves in Albuquerque on a Saturday morning with a little time on their hands. Hope you guys had a good ride on Sunday and I will see some of you in GJ this weekend at the Mad Cow Classic.

Steve

Tour of the Gila update

As of this morning, there are only 36 slots left in the Men's 4/5 category race (cap at 85). This race has always filled, so make sure you sign up soon!