Slow Motion with D

Caravanned to the Mountaineer and Squawkercross UCI races in Gunnison and Durango Colorado this weekend with JT, Natasha, Amy, Nick and Joachim.  Long drives and a super hairy pass, along with some great racing and good people, is what was on tap for the weekend.  

The first day was on the Western State College of Colorado campus.  Upon arriving, entering the parking lot was more like a Saturday race in Eugene than a UCI race in Colorado.  No offense to the Eugene races, but you know what I mean.  These races were a bit out of the way and whereas the fields were fast, they weren’t as deep as they could have been.  Was this a perfect scenario for me to score some UCI points?  Unfortunately no.  Oh well.  The course was actually pretty cool and challenging as it snaked its way around the campus grounds.  Fast, off camber, twisty grass made up all but 100 yards of the course.  The rest of the mix was 2 short and 1 long stretch of pavement.  Upon pre-riding I came to the barrier section and noticed that they were pretty short.  Bunny hop?  Why not, I thought.  So, I did.  Easy cheesy.  Now I know some of you can bunny hop well, but I can’t…and a double barrier?  Forget about it.  These guys were short though and spread out perfectly.  Every warm up lap I hopped them, but I never felt confident enough to do it in the race.  Oh well, it’s a start.  Maybe next time I’ll give it a shot.  The field was deep enough that I’d have to have a good race to score a 10th or better for some UCI points.  Almost!  I didn’t have the start I could have and played catch up for the remainder of the hour.  I also went down on the first lap just as I was about to make contact with a good group who ended up racing for 6th.  The course was challenging and other than the fall on lap one, I felt good about how I raced.  I was able to bridge up to people and ultimately drop them, as well as attack when needed.  The legs were there, but in the early laps the luck (or skill) wasn’t.  The altitude didn’t seem to bother me at all, even though we were at nearly 8000 ft and I got 14th place, pretty close to 13th.  Cash money!  $49.  So pro!

Sunday’s race was in Durango on the Ft. Lewis campus.  The course was pretty similar to Saturday, held on the campus and primarily on grass.  Off camber sections, some tight corners, along with some longer power sections and a tricky 3 turn down up, down, up barrier made for a technical course.  Again, the field wasn’t big, but it was plenty fast.  Especially with Wells, Kabush and Parbo taking the start.  Again, if I had a good race I may have been able to get a point or two, and again, my start foiled my plans.  First off, 3D racing guy, when everyone gets off their bikes for the tricky running section, why are you trying to ride it in the middle of everyone?  That was only one thing that messed up my start.  The other was….going down again on a little left hander off camber around a tree….right smack into another tree!  No harm done, but I was dead last after that and at the end of lap one.  Boo.  After that I just took aim at the guys off in the distance, picking them off, one by one.  I was good enough in the technical sections and really strong on the power sections.  Finally, my legs are coming around!!!!  Too bad I couldn’t get to the next group up the road.  They raced it out for 9th and the final UCI points on the day.  I think if I would have hooked up with someone else riding strong on the straights, we could have got them.  Unfortunately the guys I hooked up with were good in the corners, but I would have to do the majority of the harder work.  A good battle formed with a guy for the last few laps.  I would power away and let up a bit hoping he could help, but again, I was left to do the work.  Over the barrier for the final time, just as I was getting ready to attack, he dropped his chain.  With him gone I took off after the only guy I thought I could still catch.  Tad Elliott a member of the U23 national team had been just in front for the last few laps.  In the end I fell about 20 yards short and coasted in for 13th place.  I’ll take it.  I wasn’t too far off of a point this time and the legs were feeling good again.  Hopefully this carries through the final month of the season.  Everyone else in our caravan scored points this weekend with Amy Dombroski getting the W both days.  Good times had by all.  

A new hat for V from Bread Bakery in Durango.

Well, sort of…Half ass’n it anyways! After last weekends UCI butt kickings in Boulder, CO, I filled my time with various short rides and spreading the Pedro’s word. Ft. Collins, Golden, Glenwood Springs and Aspen were all part of my travels as I tried to spread out the work as an excuse to stay in Colorado for another UCI weekend down south. Some people think this job is the perfect job if you want to race bikes fast(ish)…well, I’m here to tell ya, that it’s hard. Driving around all the time, trying to ride in unfamiliar places, take care of the dog, eat well enough not to feel like a stone, rest etc. Not as easy as I thought it would be. The upside is that each trip gets better, especially as I make friends and return trips to areas.

The highlights of the week would be getting to know Joachim Parbo, the Danish National Champion of cyclocross and riding bikes w/the Spot employees. Joachim has been in the states for a few months now seeking out UCI points to improve his starting spots in future Euro races later this year. He’s a good fiend of Molly’s and I was happy that we got to meet and hang out a bit this week. He can get pretty silly and has opinions on most everything American. He’s had to make his way in cross this year by promoting himself like crazy. After the Bjarn Riis confession, he said that sponsors ran for the hills. He wrote an article on doping in his homeland and was able to garner a lot of positive attention for himself. From there he got invited by the Boulder promoters to come back to the states to race again, and he’s made a 2 month trip out of it. Nice guy for sure and probably one of the only guys with hairy legs that can beat Tonkin.

Riding the new Spot belt drive single speed mtb was a hoot. I headed out on a 2 hour ride, right out of the Spot parking lot. Colorado mtb’n is a bit different than Bend. It’s pretty much straight up the hill, a little rolling, then down. Being my first real single speed mtb ride, it was a challenge for sure. Oh well, I was supposed to do power work anyway, so it was perfect. The weather was great, though a bit windy and the trails were sweet and rocky. Props to Jen Gersbach for pretty much dominating the technical sections as I kinda flailed around on the 29er. I pretty much want one now. Spot’s evil plan to get me to buy another bike worked!

Now I’m hanging out in a café in Durango getting ready to visit some more shops before I start the trek home. Living the dream? Well, ask me on Sunday after I drive 20+hours to make it home, not to mention work stops, for the Cross Crusade state championships….hope I have some legs! See you Sunday!

With all the Northwest racing pride K-Man has, I wonder if he would be on blog overload living in Colorado. Here’s just a small example:

Last Sunday after the Boulder races had Dinner with: Barb Howe, Jen Tilley, Joachim Parbo, Lance Larrabee (TRP Marketing guy)

Then met up with: Megan Monroe, Tim Johnson, Michael Cody, Jeremy Powers, JHK and wife Heather I, Travis Brown, Ben Day a Bissell guy named Garrett and Ivan Stevic.

Next day for dinner: Joachim Parbo, Nick Weighall, Ivan Stevic, Garrett, Karl Menzies and Ben Day. That was a cool mix at a table. 2 Aussies, 4 Serbians, a Dane and 2 Americans.  Oh yeah, it was at this guy’s Italian restaurant (Gaggioli).

Not to mention the various industry folks here: Velonews, Challenge, Yet, Spot, Slipstream training camp….and more. That’s just a fraction of Boulder. There’s still a whole state out there! Got to check out all of Tom Danielson’s sunglasses and played reindeer with Tom and Kristen’s cat in Durango last night.

Just a warning K-Man.