I suppose that since I haven’t blogged much recently, the riding I did while in Colorado could be considered ’secret’. Spending a couple of weeks in Boulder was a great way to split the travel from Tucson to Wisconsin. There are so many mountain roads to explore that the rides seemed to go on and on. And that’s a very good thing. It felt really good to get into the riding groove again as for a while it seemed as if I was only racing and recovering. Getting back to big rides on consecutive days was just what I needed for the body and mind.
My CO stay ended with the Teva Mountain Games which once again proved to be a super fun weekend. There aren’t many races out there where cycling is part of a bigger festival, so it’s a nice change of pace and a good chance to see what ‘other’ people do. The huge prize checks made for some highly competitive racing which was a lot of fun. There were quite a few fans who hiked the mountainside to watch the xc, but this number was tiny compared to that of the other events. The World Cup climbing and kayaking competitions seemed to draw the most fans.
The XC was your standard slow motion altitude climbing race where it always seemed as if I should be going faster. But as soon as the effort is increased so is the fatigue since there’s not much oxygen available up there. This meant that nice and steady was the name of the game. I might have been one of the fastest sea level guys there so that’s got to count for something…
For the hill climb I was super pumped about the massive tailwind we would have. Last year we weren’t so fortunate so it was easy to take a big chunk of time off. I rode the flat part of the course conservatively so that I could let it rip once we started up Vail pass. This negative split seemed to work well as I turned in a pretty solid effort. No records were set on my part, but both the Men’s and Women’s winners set new course records.
Chloe blogs less than me these days so I’ll let you know that she had an awesome weekend, placing 5th in the xc and 3rd in the hill climb. She made some big payout and enjoyed the occasion. She even got to practice with some TT gear before really putting it to the test at the Nature Valley Grand Prix where she’ll be racing as part of a collegiate ‘all star’ team. This is an awesome way to experience the high level of women’s road stage racing. Six races in five days ought to be great.
Up next for me will be the Subaru Cup. I’m pumped to be back in Wisconsin and the thought of hitting up all the local stuff is exciting. It ought to be a good time as the local scene will be more hotly contested than ever this year. See you there,
-TJ
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