The couple weeks spent in Colorado have gone by awfully quickly. Weekend races book-ended weeks full of great riding. There’s been a lot of afternoon rain showers out here so the mountains are borderline lush. Having just my 29er here has meant some extra time spent on the trails enjoying the thin air, the green and the mountain trails.
Climbing Vail (by Brian Schaning)
Teva Games was to be a practice race for the Colorado Springs Pro XCT race. Having raced Teva the past two years I knew that it would be a good test of the climbing legs with some fast, fun descending. Nothing too technical, but enough to test to the skills a couple times. A lot of guys had a similar idea to use Teva as a warm up since a lot of the series guys were there in what made it a more competitive field than ever. Twentieth was an alright result all things considered. Chloe and I met up with Brian post race to take in some of the festivities that make the Teva Game unique. We watched some fly casting, rafting, trials, and rock climbing before getting a pizza and eventually making the drive back to Boulder. It was an action packed day trip for sure.
The following day was a 50 mile mtb ride with Chloe. Experiencing the Heil-Picture Rocks-Hall ride was awesome. The singletrack was built for bikes and it flows like no other. I had to go back on Wednesday to do it all over again…
STXC Action (by trailwatch.net)
On Friday we raced STXC and Saturday was the XC in Colorado Springs. It was odd having a Sunday w/o racing but I made due. The STXC course was fun to ride but 100% not suitable for more than 15 or 20 racers. I’m sure that the course used works well for their local series, but it was a joke to have 40 or so of us out there at once. With no call ups given for over 1/2 the field and the widest sections at about eight feet wide, to say that moving up was a challenge would be a huge understatement. From the back I made my way up to 23rd before being pulled. Maybe next time they’ll have a suitable course for us otherwise I won’t be too interested…
Up and Out! (by trailwatch.net)
Saturdays XC was going to be tough. The climb wasn’t necessarily steep, but it definitely wore on the legs. It was after 12 minutes or so of climbing that we encountered the rocky technical challenges on the rolling terrain of the upper part of the course. And the downhill was never a no-brainer. It was consistently inconsistent with changing surfaces from rock to dirt to gravel with fast corners, tight corners and plenty of boulders to negotiate. I felt alright about the course but knew the technical nature of the loop would be my biggest challenge. I had an excellent start and rode in the top 20 for the entire first lap, following Andy Schultz on the descent. A large number of riders gained on us while descending but I mostly maintainedposition the second time up the climb. The second time down the descent was my fastest, but significantly slower than what other riders were doing. At the start of the third lap I had lost some ground despite more or less doing the same pace. It was probably seven riders or so that went by me on the third lap and the fourth and final lap was the same story as I finished 35th. Sure it’s still just better than mid pack, but that’s not really what I was going for. The fitness was mostly there for a top 20, but the skills were glaringly lacking. It’s frustrating, but simple – I just have to learn how to shred more!
Up next is a return to WI for the Subaru Cup. The fitness is good and I’m pumped with the idea of racing fast with the Brians, Lalondes, and my 212 bros. After doing three nationals it’s refreshing to think about being in the front end of a bike race once again… See you there.
Thanks to Adventure 212, Specialized, and all of my family and friends for helping to make all of this bike racing possible. The racing community thrives on thegenerosity of many and I’m grateful for the opportunity. Next time I return to CO Springs, I’ll be rallying that downhill faster! -TJ
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