Blue Sky Velo Cup CX

Results

• 2nd, SM3 – Ryan Taylor
• 17th, SM3 – Ciro Zarate
• 21st, SM 4 – Jon Maule
• 23rd, SM3 – Paul Shumate

Excel Sports Monarch High Cross

Results

• 2nd, SM3 – Ryan Taylor
• 12th, SM3 – Ciro Zarate
• 20th, SM Open – Brad Sims
• 23rd, SM3 – Paul Shumate
• 28th, SM3 – JD Whitney
• 36th, SM4 – Jon Maule
• 41st, SM4 – Kirk Groves
• 42nd, SM 35+ 4 – Jon Maule

Race Reports

Christian Long – SM 35+ 4
This was my second cross race and it was a little bit more of a challenge than the first one a few weeks ago. The course was really different than Valmont and I’m pretty sure I like the Valmont-style course better. I like to push hard on climbs and breath a little coming down. This course, I didn’t feel had much room where you could breath. Are courses generally like this one or more like Valmont?

Anyway, I rode the course a couple of times in the morning. About 10 minutes before the start, I realized I had a flat. Ran to the car to fix it and came back about 1 minute before the gun. Of course, I was at the very back of the field. After the initial nerve-racking straight-away, the maze-like features slowed everything down quite a bit. After one lap I figure I passed about 20 guys or so. I managed to pretty much keep my position except for 1 guy passing me (first time I’m passed in a cross race!) at the beginning of the 2nd lap. Then, about half way in the second lap, my front felt very squirly and yes, got another flat. I guess I didn’t fix the first one properly or I need a new bike. So, I unfortunately had to quit. I wish I had been able to finish. I do admit though that, mechanical aside, I had more fun at the Valmont course.

Jon Maule – 36th SM4/42nd SM 35+ 4
Thanks to pre-registering somewhat early, I had a 4-5th row start which can make a ton of difference in the usually packed 35/4′s (which seemed somewhat light today – didn’t look like the normal 120+ field).  I had a good start and a pretty good first lap sitting in around 15-20 but I screwed up by not really “racing” this one.  I wasn’t feeling it and I really wanted to focus on the afternoon race.  I was about ready to pull the plug on the second lap but decided to sit up and wait for Christian to ride by and let him know I’d be there to help him however I could.  As we now know, that didn’t happen.  Next time I’ll be sure to point out my wheels and pit bike (if I bring it).

This course is a lot like Xilinx in that it’s really fast and there aren’t many places to recover.  Just to be clear, I wasn’t (likely) a threat to win either of these but I think I might have been able to finish in the 10-20 range if I’d either raced in the morning or skipped the morning and raced only the afternoon.  I ended up 42nd in the morning and 36th (?) in the afternoon (after nearly winning the holeshot)

And now a plug for Ryan’s employer (which was recently voted one of the top places to work in the North Metro area!!!)  I think that training plan (Hunter Allen’s 12 week intermediate 12-15hr/week on TrainingPeaks) is going to pay off by the end of the season.  It’s a little late to start it now (and I probably should have started it a few weeks earlier but I’d give it 3.5 (out of 5).  It’ll kick your a$$ if you’re not used to consecutive days of intervals (me) and early on I just didn’t feel like I had anything left to race on Saturday but I’m aiming to “peak” in December so these early season weekends are just kind of part of the workload.

Day 1 – Saturday

• 8th, SM4 – Dave Vogel
• 25th, SM2/3 – Brad Sims
• 28th, SM2/3 – Ryan Taylor

Day 2 – Sunday

• 26th, SM2/3 – Ryan Taylor
• 27th, SM2/3 – Brad Sims
• 60th, SM4 – Kirk Groves

Day 1 – Dave Vogel, 8th SM4
Today was a combined category of open 4′s and 35+ 4′s. Race start race a cool 8am send off with a slight hint of rain/snow mix but nothing overwhelming. I got to the race about 6:15 (picked up my race number last night) and chilled with my pre-race ritual. Gotta say, an early start makes a nice difference.

I got a call up that put me in the first 1/3rd group (row 5ish) due to registering early and thank goodness for that as there were 88 guys lined up. The race whistle blew with no warning and I got jammed and couldnt get my pedal to click in and guys were flying by. Once I did, I was off and running… in about 50th place. From there I picked off big groups of people because I studied the “slower” spots really well during warm up and was able to get by the masses a little at a time.

About midway through the race a spectator was yelling 8, 9, 10, etc., and I happened to be 11 as in 11th position. From there I got a little excited and thought, I’m cracking this top ten and preceded to do so. Hell, I thought I was about 20th or so. I past 9th and 10th position pretty easily then started reeling in #7. Air slowly leaked from my front tire right around this time and had to muster racing the last lap with about 15-20lbs of pressure. All I knew to do was not pull out of the race and ride smooth as not to roll the tubular or do anything stupid. With 1 lap to go I had a firm grasp on 8th but no way of getting 7th at this point cause I just couldn’t corner well. 9th and 10th passed me at one point however on the final straight going into the finish I nabbed them both and secured 7th on the day.

Day 1 – Ryan Taylor, 28th SM2/3
I’ve been looking forward to doing this race again ever since racing it as my first ever cross race last season. The forecast for the entire day was cold and rainy. It had been raining hard in Broomfield that morning but luckily it was still dry in Ft. Collins when we arrived but it was pretty chilly out.

I was hoping to get in a few laps of the course but we could hear the announcer saying over and over that the course was closed during the races that were going on before ours started so I opted to try to get in a decent warmup on the trainer instead. I usually prefer getting in as many practice laps as possible instead of doing a trainer warmup but trying to squeeze in a lap or part of a lap between the races didn’t seem like the best option for getting my body going this time.

I ended up lining up somewhere around the middle to back half. The whistle blew without any warning and caught quite a few of us by surprise. We started without any issues and I set out trying to pass as many people as possible. I felt good and made some steady progress but on the second lap I must have set my bike down too hard after the first stair run up and dropped my chain. I wasn’t able to easily get it back on so I ended up sitting on the side of the course messing with it as I was passed by a handful of riders. I got going again and once again set out trying to pick off people one by one until I couldn’t close any more gaps and it was just me and the course. On the last two laps I could see Brad ahead so I did my best to get as close as I could to him and stay there for as long as I could. We rolled in close to a couple other riders and I finished 28th while Brad timed his final surge well and overtook a rider for 25th right at the finish.

Starting that far back seemed to make knowing the course a little less important since I was able to keep my eye on everyone in front and react to what they were doing. It seemed to work out ok but I was still figuring out better and more efficient lines until the end of the race. I think that knowing some of those things a little sooner would have helped me get a better result.

The course was very similar to last year’s, but dry and dusty instead of frozen mud ruts. We really lucked out with the weather, it started pouring not long after our finish. Even though I wasn’t in contention this time it was great practice and the race was fun with all of the spectators that were out.

Day 2 – Ryan Taylor, 25th SM2/3
After our race on Saturday it rained hard for the rest of the day. As I arrived at the race venue on Sunday I was greeted by a mudbog of a parking lot. The course was in the same condition. I lined up in a similar place as on Saturday and we actually got 1 minute and 30 second warnings before we started which was a nice change from the day before.

And we were off. The start grid and start of the course is on pavement and turns off onto the dirt. As the lead riders transitioned from the pavement to the mud they must have slowed since everyone in front of me slowed very quickly. It was quick enough that I had to grab a handful of brake and connected my front wheel with someone’s rear wheel. At the same time someone ran into the back of me. The next thing I knew I was on the ground (and the only one on the ground), directly in front of the announcers, on the only stretch of pavement on the course. By the time I got back up and on my bike I was dead last with a small gap between me and the back of the field. Fortunately, there was enough of a bottleneck on the first twisty section that the field slowed quite a bit and I was able to regain contact quickly. I then went slightly ballistic trying to get by people as fast as possible.

The rest of my race went beautifully – I passed a lot of riders, there were lots of spectators plus Kirk cheering us on, I felt comfortable in the mud and my new Crank Brother’s Candy pedals worked great.

I thought I felt fine during the race but when I finished I was hit with a really bad headache mixed with some nausea. I had to get off my bike around the corner from the finish and sit on some steps and put my head down for a while. I’m not sure what happened but i had a hard time even getting back to my car and when I did all I wanted to do was lie in the back seat which i did for about 20 minutes. I finally felt decent enough to pack up the car and drive home but I was pretty much wiped out the rest of the day. I’ve never felt like that after a race so I’m not sure if it was the crash, my effort afterward or a combination of the two that made me feel so horrible.

I’m happy to report I’m feeling pretty much back to normal now. My bike needs a little work though, I bent my derailleur hanger and my front wheel is no longer straight. Despite the couple mishaps it was a great weekend!

Day 2 – Kirk Groves, 60th SM4
My race can most apty be described as ‘meh.’  I arrived early had a good pre-ride.  I took both my Blue Norcross and my full-suspension 29er to the race.  My plan was to use the 29er as my pit bike in case of a mechanical.  After walking the course and see how greasy it was I decided to do the majority of my pre-ride and warm-up with the 29er to keep my Blue clean and shifting well.  I noticed during the pre-ride that I was able to get better traction than the folks on cross tires so I decided to race the 29er.

This year my nemisis has been getting a good start.  I’m going to have to wait a week to get that monkey off my shoulders.  I was staged in the 5th row, middle right based on my time of registration.  We had a good countdown and I was making a bit of progress through the group.  The start was a pavement strip that narrowed a bit at the start/finish line.  There was a hard crash on the left side, the guy hit the barriers and did a magnificent cartwheel.  It isn’t called the Crash 4s for nothing!  My line took me right and I was next to barriers.  As the pack moved right to avoid the guy cartwheeling the rider in front of me tangled his bars up into the barriers.  He was able to keep his bike up-right but he dropped his chain and we were both stopped dead in our tracks.  I attempted to mount my own violent chance using wide lines and taking advantage of the 29er’s traction, but I dug a bit too deep and ended up paying for it.  I’m not sure if it was the early morning, the temp in the low 40s, the course layout or an off-day from a physical standpoint but my average and peak heart rates were both 10 below what I’ve seen in the other 3 races this year.

It was a ton of fun playing in the mud, but I ended up with a mediocre result.  From the coverage on CyclingDirt I had no idea how hilly the course was in person.  The climbs hurt me in big way.  Ohh yeah, that and a general lack of fitness!

United States Grand Prix – Fort Collins, Day #1 from Steve Carpenter on Vimeo.

Ever have one of those days where things are just off? Well yesterday at Frisco CX was one of those days for me.

I arrived early so the kids could play around on their bikes at the new Frisco Bike Park. So far, so good. I registered several hours early and got a low number for the SM4s at 3:05, I’m on a roll! As I was gearing up to do some practice laps I noticed that I apparently I left my kit at home – a sign of things to come. I rushed to the Pearl Izumi store in Silverthorne to buy some cheap shorts and I rode in a t-shirt.

As a result of the low race # I was in the 2nd row, things are turning in my favor. I was well positioned about 3/4 of the way to the first corner until the eventual winner decided to ride over me instead of around me. I slipped back a couple spots while avoiding going down. I held my position the first lap until I downshifted before the 2nd run-up. Crunch, crunch, crunch… what an awful sound — I shifted the derailleur into my spokes. 7 or 8 riders zipped by while I getting everything back into order. After the run-up I noticed my Garmin was gone – ouch. While tempted to stop racing and search for the Garmin, I continued on.

From that point on I just wasn’t feeling it. Instead of holding wheels they were slipping away from me, I’d lose a spot every time up the bike path and so on. I chalked it up to fitness, a competitive field and the altitude. I hadn’t enough fun so I decided to lay the bike down on a nice soft 180 corner, no damage, just a chance to eat some dust. Right after seeing 2 to go the eventual winner decided that he wasn’t done playing Nascar and decided to bump me again — I was insulted and lapped, first time I’ve been lapped this year. He lapped me on a 10′+ wide bike path while climbing, he could have easily taken another line. He’s fast and he’ll soon be playing bumper cars in the SM3′s — watch out guys. I pulled my sorry carcass through the finish line and called it a great workout. I was 32nd, a good result for me in a race of 80 riders, unfortunately there were only 36.

As I was loading my bike on the car I noticed that my rear wheel was fairly taco’d and stopping after half a turn when I’d try to spin it. That helped me explain some of the ‘off-day.’ I checked for the Garmin at the PA stand and then searched the course for half an hour while cheering on Ciro — great performance man! For some reason I decided to swing by the PA stand one more time — success, someone had turned in the Garmin!

We drove home and I noticed that my kit was actually in the car — like I said, one of those days. Can’t wait until next week!

Re-fuel: From the park we’ll head to Big Daddy’s bagels in Lafayette for a snack and some coffee.  We’ll be there from about 10:15-10:50.

Game (ride) 2: Dirty Bismark ride.  Meet at the shop at 11:00.  We’ll ride the Dirty Bismark loop at a easy/moderate pace.  Bring a cross or mtn bike, should take about 2 hours.  I’d recommend a little higher pressure than normal in a clincher cross tire as the trail has some nice square edge hits.

Come for the whole event or any part and please invite anyone.
Keith Holart Park at 9 am
Big Daddy’s Bagels at 10:15
Foxtrot Wheel and Edge at 11:00

It was great to get the first call up spot for the mountain bike marathon national championship on a cool crisp day in Bend, OR.

The 5 miles of pavement was easy until the last 1/2 mile before the singletrack when a failed attack produced a second one and I found myself about 5th going into the singletrack. I almost missed a turn and ended up on the ground and out of contact with the leaders. When we started climbing on the singletrack I started to pass racers and was soon in contact with a group of 4 racers and in 7th place.

In a technical section I lost contact again due to untimely issues passing a slower age group rider. Passing the first aid station I regained contact on the 4 racers and started a winding climb up to the high point of the race. Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way up I hit the wall and slowed drastically. Cramming everything I had to eat and drink into my system was the only choice I had and hope that it would not take to long to get to the downhill and a chance to recover.

I felt like I lost about 10 min. on the long crawl up and had a number of racers pass me. Finally I reached the top and used the downhill to recover. I rode the 6 miles of gravel road and doubletrack up to the second aid station strongly and did get a glimpse of the same 4 racers and was thinking I could get on the podium, but the second trip up to the high point was more destructive to my race than first time as I hit a rock, throwing my wheel out of true and burping some air. I had to stop and air up with riders passing me.

From the top we turned east on a different downhill section of singletrack and I was set to ride down as fast as I could to get on the podium. It was not to be as the tire lost more air and I had to stop and put a tube in. A large number of riders passed me as I tried to get the tube in, but my race was over. I had no chance at catching the podium. I enjoyed the ride back to Bend. I finished 16th.

We jumped into the car and drove to Boise that night and made it back to Longmont on Sunday evening.

We had a good showing at Xilinx with Brad, Jon, Kirk, Dave, Ryan and Paul out there throwing down in the dust on Saturday. Here are the reports.

Jon Maule – 51st, SM35+ 4
Pretty fun day all in all. I’m pre-registered for the series in SM4 but my “plan” called for 2.5hrs so with this course being one of the faster ones around (read as fat guy friendly – relatively speaking) I thought I’d double up and race 35+/4 in the morning and then get my ass handed to me by the 13 yr olds later in the day.

I like this course as it’s pretty non-technical, pretty flat and even though its cross and there’s really only one section where you can recover (heading South on that path), you can meter out your efforts in key places and my middle of the pack self generally ends up gaining more places than I lose. I wonder if we’ll ever get to use the volleyball courts again?

I got there somewhat early figuring they’d do call-ups based off of the race number. Well in true 35+/4 fashion, the class was nearly full from the get go and I ended up with essentially # 105. I saw long lost brother Mr. Vogel and we lined up near the back. What a cluster($#&@. The Xilinx course is a pretty long course but with well over 100 racers no matter how stretched out it gets it’s never enough. Things were better after a couple of laps. For the first three laps I was about 10-20 seconds down on Dave and was planning to reel him in by the last lap. Between having a couple of people go down in front of me and Dave kicking on the jets, I lost him for the last lap. All in all the race went well given our handicapped start. Probably some foreshadowing but there is a set of double barriers just before a 180 turn that is maybe 200yds from the finish. Well, as I’m “attacking” the barriers and running through the people fumbling the remounts, one of the other dudes inadvertently kicks my rear brake sending it under the rim. I end up going nowhere fast and lose about 5-7 places while I’m fidgeting with that. I ended up finishing 51st out of 110 finishers. 45th would have been better but maybe next time.

It was already pretty darned hot by the time that race finished so I ran home to put a cage on for the 4′s. Not a bad idea as my car registered 87 as I pulled in to park. I met up with brother Kirk and we went out to get loosened up. A couple of short efforts let me know that I didn’t have very many matches left for this one. No call ups for this race because I sucked so much at Kiddie Prison and Valmont (my last three races have dropped my crossresults score by 80 some odd points). However, pre-registering got me in about the 5th row! Kirk lined up just to my right. At the start I didn’t want to run the first 100 yds of dirt like I did earlier that day so I spent a couple matches trying to get in decent position before the only real “technical section” (I ran that little log each time not wanting to wait in line and chance it, anyone else?). The first two laps went well but on that same double barrier near the finish line I went to lift my leg over for a remount and my groin complained. A few years back I had the same damn thing happen on the same damn course and it took about 6 weeks to heal up. I got back on and pedaled another half lap before pulling the plug.

Dave Vogel – 29th, SM35+ 4
It was fun to shake the dust off my bike and legs and bang bars with the 35+ crowd. I ended up 29th on the day. How funny was our start? We had to be in the back 100. What a group.

So, I banged up my knee pretty good when I missed a dismount (rookie move) and won’t make tomorrow at Lafayette. The announcer said “And its looks like Dave Vogel is having a little trouble with the barriers”

The race course was pretty good. I think a full suspension MTB would have been the ticket! Since I’m a slacker and really haven’t been racing I felt pretty good overall. My big race will be here in Superior at Interlocken and I think a power course will be the ticket. Today’s course was bitchin’ but was suited to lungs and guys who can ride bumps. I have lungs of a baby. Newborn baby.

Oh yeah.. I’m a few lbs heavier in my skinsuit and really am pushing the zipper to its limits. Might have to upgrade Is there a stretchy pants option for skinsuits??

Paul Shumate – 10th, SM3
What is up with the small 3s field? All the other categories are pretty thick with racers! I’ve been pleasantly surprised with my first two cross races. I still corner like poo but I actually was able to ride with someone the whole race which helped keep me motivated and the pace high through out. I almost pulled a “Joey” on the last set of barriers. I clipped my front wheel cause I dismounted real late due the bumpy section so conveniently located right where I would normally begin my dismount. I’ve been racing without gloves and kinda like it even though my hands get pretty sore and raw. Eventually I hope my hands toughen up. That is all.

Brad Sims – SM Open
So despite me not showing up in the results nor sticking around after to cheer for the 3 or 4s I did try and race again. I’ve accepted that I’m racing into form this season and the Sept/Oct are going to be a little rough but yesterday didn’t go as planned. Somehow in the dusty mess that was the first barrier section I dismounted weird and pulled my left quad pretty badly (guess that is what I get for doing no cross training this season). From there on dismounting, running, and jumping barriers was really painful. I had to do a weird one legged hobble which was pretty slow and probably pretty funny to watch. I felt ok pedaling seated and was determined not to DNF. I kept at it even though the barriers where killing me. I was actually doing ok and holding a couple riders off. Now for some serious TMI (as Dave likes to put it). I started have some serious stomach distress with 3 to go and had to back way off. With 1.5 to go I reached code red and had to evac to the port-o johns (which where a comfortable 150 degrees inside). So anyway I ended up with a DNF and learned to never eat Santiago’s breakfast burritos on race day.

Ryan Taylor – 2nd, SM3
I was so close to winning today!

I a got a front row call up and had a great start in a small field of 26. I’ve been hesitant to take the early lead in a cross race and blow myself up so, as we approached the transition to dirt, I eased up a little and was in third position as we hit the first technical section. As the race went on I drifted back to fourth at one point but kept my tempo steady and I soon was back into third with first and second in view. I lurked behind them and on one of the middle laps I catch a glimpse of a dust cloud and the two leaders scrambling to get back up. One of them, Spencer Downing (who’s 16!), got back on his bike pretty quickly. The other guy was a little slower to recover but was able to get back up and keep going in front of me as I sat on his wheel for a bit. When we hit the last set of barriers he pulled off the course with a mechanical possibly leaving Spencer and I off the front.

Spencer is was putting in little attacks here and there trying to drop me but I kept things steady and he wasn’t able to get rid of me. I think the attacks took their toll because before long his pace started to slow and I took the lead which lasted for part of the penultimate lap and all of the last lap. I think that’s how long I led anyway, the race is a little fuzzy.

I tried to push the pace as hard as I could but I couldn’t shake Spencer and going into the final part of the lap he showed me what good barrier technique can do. As we went over the last set of barriers he passed me, clearly able to carry more speed but I stayed pretty close. After the barriers there was a straight bumpy dirt section with a 180 degree turn onto the pavement followed by the finish. Now that I was behind out sprinting him was my only chance and I thought I probably could do it. I thought I needed to stay in the small ring going into the slow speed 180 turn and then I tried to get into the big ring as we hit the pavement to sprint. Nothing. I couldn’t get into the big ring as I watched Spencer pull away. I tried to sprint in my little ring but as soon as that happened it was over. I probably should have shifted before the turn but it’s hard to say since it was a tricky, slow speed corner.

It looks like I have a few things to learn but the race was a blast. I’m looking forward to some mud and cooler temperatures.

Paul Shumate represented the Cat. 3 team over Labor Day weekend at the Steamboat Stage Race and won the criterium on the last day.

His race report from that day consisted of “I won today with authority out of the bunch sprint (and made sure to celebrate after I crossed the line)! More later…”. Luckily he was a little more descriptive for the other races. Here’s his account of the first three stages.

Prologue
Aero helmet, check. Skinsuit, check. Loaner TT bike, check. Ciro and I started off by pre-riding the course. It was advertised as 6.5 miles, but everybody said it was actually 7 miles. Pretty straight forward, non technical course which included one right hand turn, a couple of nice kickers, a nice long section in the middle with really bumpy pavement, and a long false flat straight heading into the finish.

Anyhoo, it was super easy to start too fast which is exactly what I did. Shortly after the start, the nose of my saddle was pointed at the top tube so I had a fun time trying to stay far enough back so my knees wouldn’t hit my elbows. That is totally my fault thought cause I was messing around with seat the other day and must have not tightened it enough. My legs were not feeling good at the start but I eventually found a decent rhythm. I passed my 30 second and minute guy in the last 1 to 1.5 km. I finished 9th 38 seconds down and Ciro 23rd about 45 seconds further from me out of 37 racers. Tomorrow is the Wildhorse Crit, so there shouldn’t be to much of a shake up on GC.

Stage 1
The Wildhorse Crit was located at the base of the resort. There is a small elevation gain but not enough to split the race to shreds like the circuit race in the past. The course was 1.4 miles with lots of turns on fairly narrow roads.

The race started out pretty fast and due to the technical corners and high speeds things were fairly strung out. About 20 minutes in, we went through the first turn and I saw something fall off Ciro’s bike and it looked like he had dropped his chain. It looked like he was out of the race but the next lap he was able to jump back in again.

Then 30 minutes into the race, we were rounding the 180 degree corner when the guy right in front of me clips a pedal, can’t recover, and crashes right in front of me in the apex of the turn. There was nothing I could do except roll my front wheel right over him and then crash. My left side took the brunt of the impact but we were going fairly slow so it wasn’t too bad. My bike survived with only scrapes to the shifter and cuts on the bar tape. My skin suit also survived!

I took my free lap and jumped back in and the pack so generously let me lead for two or three laps. The last few laps I was feeling good aside from some slight stinging from my hip. I moved up on the last lap, and thought I was sprinting into a 3rd place and 10 second time bonus but I didn’t realize that 3 guys had gotten away and finished in front of the pack. So I actually sprinted into 6th place today. Ciro finished the race but only being able to use the little ring up front from a snapped derailleur!

I got some supplies from the drug store and with luck I’ll get some good sleep and recover a bit. Hopefully I’ll see Ciro at the start with a new front derailleur. Tomorrow’s road race should be very interesting!

Stage 2
The group stayed together until the longer climbs near the end. Then
it was just plain fast! I stayed with the select group until the second climb, and then had to ride on my own. I was riding steady and passed a couple more people that popped off the back. I was really suffering but thankfully a Primal Guy caught me and he towed me up the remaining climbs. We eventually caught one more and rode almost all the way to the finish until the last two kickers. At the second to last climb I put it in my easiest gear and was just trying to claw my way to the top and finish and dropped my two companions. I rode alone to the finish in 10th place. I sit at 10th overall on GC but can’t move up any, unless I get in a breakaway in the crit today. Yeah right! Ciro finished 24th on a tough day of racing.

The real story of the day is that Chmielewski from RMRC Turin broke away with another guy about 20 or 30 minutes into the race. There was not any real urgency to chase until those final climbs I think. He won the stage with the closest person finishing more than 3 minutes from him.

At Foxtrot Wheel and Edge in Lafayette. We will be celebrating the end to a successful road season.

Interested in joining the team? Stop by the party for information.

As the elevation increased and miles passed, I was able to keep a good pace and picked up a few other stragglers. At the half way point I took another bottle and a gel pack. That energized me enough to drop my posse and manged to pass one more in the last kilometer. Out of the 38 racers I managed a 12th place finish.

• Gain 7000 feet
• Distance 28 miles
• Time 2:16

I’m happy.

• Thursday September 8th at 7:00 PM at Foxtrot Wheel and Edge, 776 W. Baseline Road, Lafayette, CO

Foxtrot Racing will be having a team recruiting party on Thursday September 8th at 7:00 PM. This informal party will be at Foxtrot Wheel and Edge in Lafayette and the team will provide some food and drinks. This will be a good opportunity to meet some of the team and we will discuss membership and goals for 2012.