Jul
7
2009
I’ll finally post a report from my epic race tonight or tomorrow. Looks like I’ll be moving the blog over to a new server as well in the process. Come back soon!
Jul
1
2009
GT Dirt Coalition Central
Greetings from my air conditioned living room. It is currently 92 degrees outside and since the heat has not treated me well over the last week I’ve decided to write a recap on my race over the weekend. So this was race #4 sporting the GT Dirt Coalition colors and so far I have had a great start to my season.
Saturday’s race took place up at Winter Park ski resort about 90 minutes from Denver. Winter Park runs what could be the best mountain bike series throughout the mountain states. I have been heading west to Winter Park for their annual mountain bike series since I moved to Colorado in 2002 and they continue to put on a top notch event. The race on Saturday was an 18 mile loop dubbed The Super Loop. The start was like most of the other races and began with a long climb straight up the ski area access road. This climb is a great way to gauge your fitness around the other racers and it usually strings out the pack as well. To be honest this climb usually sets me to the middle or back of the pack, but on Saturday I surprised myself and I was able to stay with the top 5 before we hit the singletrack. My legs were feeling incredibly strong for this anaerobic effort off the start line.
The Drive Home Heading up Berthoud Pass
So enough about the first death climb, the rest of the race was a lot more fun than a climb up a dirt road! My GT Marathon performed as well as my body did the entire day. Every time I ride this bike I am continually impressed by it. I have been tinkering with the suspension the last couple of weeks and I think I now have it completely dialed. This race had some serious climbing to the tune of 3,200 vertical feet over 17.6 miles. The Marathon took all the climbs in stride both seated and out of the saddle.
Elevation Profile
So with all the climbing there was definitely a fare amount of descending on this course as well. I think that my downhill skills on the bike have drastically improved over the years and I owe it mostly to skiing. I felt extremely confident on the downhills the entire day. Unfortunately I lost most of my time on the downhills getting caught behind slower riders and not having any safe opportunities to pass. I think next race I’ll have to take some chances on the downhill to get around everyone. One of my goals this year is to finally win a mountain bike race. This is now my 14 season of racing and I have yet to earn a W.
In the end I missed the podium in the Expert 25-29 category by 1 spot taking the 4th spot and only 4 minutes off the lead pace. Overall, this race was a success and great training for Leadville in August. The next race on the schedule is the Firecracker 50 on July 4th which should be quite character building!
See ya,
Admiral
Jun
26
2009
Tomorrow morning I’m heading up to Winter Park for round 2 of their ever popular Epic Singletrack Mountain Bike Race Series. My bike is currently getting worked on up at the Performance Bike Shop in Boulder, but hopefully it will be ready to rock for tomorrow. It looks like my cousin will be joining me on the trip up to Grand County in the morning and he’s even going to try out mountain biking for his first time in probably 10 years.
Google Earth map of the course tomorrow
The race tomorrow is called the Super Loop and is just 1 huge loop of a race course that covers about 17 miles of terrain. I’m guessing the elevation change will be around 5 – 6,000 feet and after all the rain this week, I’m pretty sure the trails will have some mud. Not to mention the stream crossings should be interesting as well. Hopefully my oxen doesn’t die while trying to ford the river tomorrow!
Marty Caivano another Dirt Coalition rider from Colorado will also be in attendance tomorrow. Full race report will be up on the site Sunday night.
Fast – Few – Dirty,
Admiral
Jun
24
2009
Today Wednesday June 24th marked the official Bike to Work Day for the state of Colorado. Many events are being put on across the state to commemorate the day. After all, Colorado is one of our nation’s premier cycling friendly states. Denver is home to over 650+ miles of paved bike paths and is second to only to Minneapolis which is a city I have still yet to visit.
So while many events are taking place around the city today and tonight, I got up early for the second morning in a row and volunteered with Bike Denver in leading a bike to work ride from my neighborhood. I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 6am and honestly had no idea why this horrid noise was disrupting my sleep. But alas, it was Bike to Work day and I had to get to the ride start by 6:30. Being only 3 miles from work I can usually stroll out of bed as late as 8:10 and be in the office by 8:30, so the early hour of 6am usually only sees me rising for skiing or catching a flight.
So the ride I helped out with today was a Bike Denver Peloton which was graciously sponsored by New Belgium
32nd/Lowell Bike Denver Peloton
Brewing, Denver Water, and Performance Bike Shop. The idea of the ride was to bring together the cycling community explain to riders how to be safe while commuting and how to access downtown without becoming a hood ornament. It was an interesting experience and nearly 25 riders showed up for this 1st annual event. Other cities that have run successful “Peloton” campaigns on Bike to Work Day include San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Probably the highlight for me was wearing a bright yellow safety vest while riding sweep for the ride.
Mayor Hickenlooper addressing the crowd
Our ride ended at Civic Center Park in downtown Denver which is home to the Capitol Building and many of our state government offices. The park was packed with thousands of cyclists and many vendors giving out food and other refreshments. Mayor Hickenlooper addressed the crowd and talked about his commitment in making Denver the premiere cycling city in the United States. Hickenlooper participated in another Bike Denver Peloton and he regularly commutes by bike which says a lot coming from a guy helping to call the shots for the city.
Jun
23
2009
Me and the team tent!
Alright, this post is long overdue as the race was over a week ago, but better late than never. So here is the race report:
On Saturday June 13th both Erica and I headed south from Denver for about an hour and we landed in Colorado Springs. I honestly cannot remember the last time I set foot in Colorado Springs so I was really looking forward to my first mountain bike race in the city. The race took place at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. For those that don’t know about Cheyenne Mountain, it is also home to NORAD or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which provides defense systems to the entire North American continent (thanks Wikipedia).
Cranking hard on one of the few flats on the course!
The race took place just beneath the actual NORAD facility and was the final stop of the US CUP mountain bike race series. My race kicked off at 9:45 and the race flyer indicated 4 laps on the 5.5-mile course with almost 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. This was going to be a fast grueling race, however a minute before the start of the race the promoter decided to cut the race back to 3 laps. So in my mind all this meant was that the race was going to be even faster than before. Not really my kind of race since I am training for endurance events and not short power races. So the start gun went off and all 200+ Cat 1 racers were on course. Luckily I got to the start line early and had a front row start. I did my traditional off the front off the back routine and held the 2nd place for the first 15 minutes of the race and quickly faded after that. Someday I’ll learn how to not go so fast off the start line, but for now I will probably keep with my ritual.
Cutting some singletrack!
As the race wore on I realized that this course was definitely a race where a pre-ride would have been worthwhile. Though most of the course was rideable, there were quite a few technical sections where I put my cyclocross skills to work. I got to say that my technical riding abilities are definitely lacking right now, but after a few more races and some big mountain rides I think I’ll be up to snuff.
Heading into my second lap my legs started to feel a little recovered after the initial blast off from the start line. The problem I encountered during this race was that it really consisted of a half lap of climbing and then a half lap of downhill. Once I started to head back up the hill again my legs were cooled down from not pedaling for almost 2.5 miles and I definitely lacked in the power department. What I did notice was that my lap times did improve each lap, but I attribute this to knowing the course and not because of fitness and getting into a rhythm.
So after racing around in circles 3 times the race was finally over and I finished in just over 1:30 for the 3 laps and rounded out the top 10. My finish was definitely nothing to write home about, however it did qualify me for the National Championships in July. So my goal for the day was a top 10 finish and I barely made that goal, but hey I hit the goal!
The next race on the schedule is race #2 in the Winter Park Mountain Bike Race Series. I’m definitely looking forward to heading up to Winter Park on June 27th. The team at the Winter Park Competition Center put on THE BEST mountain bike races in Colorado hands down!
Catch ya lata,
Admiral
